BFSA Beacon Shining a light of hope through our students' service and activities

Volume: 2 Issue: #3 Spring 2019 Visit our Webpage

Annual Appeal Campaign Information regarding BFSA's Annual Appeal Campaign is coming soon. This campaign helps to fill the gap between tuition and operating expenses and is essential to keeping Catholic education affordable to families in our community. Please consider a donation to the campaign, every gift counts!

Message from Mr. Reese Dear Blessed Francis Seelos Academy Families, I know many are counting down the days until the end of the school year and looking forward to summer break and vacations. As this year comes to a close, I am already looking forward to next year! We are beginning to plan for all the events and activities that will accompany our academic program. I hope everyone has enjoyed our PTG events, athletic offerings, and all of the activities brought to us by the enrichment fund. Thank you to all of our parents and volunteers that have made these happenings a success! Over the summer we will be increasing our wireless capacity to help our teachers and students access technology in the classrooms and you will come back to a new look for the Ryan Center! Teachers will be taking classes and looking for new and exciting lessons to bring back to school.   As we inch closer and closer to the final day of school, I always like to remember that even though the doors of the school are closed for awhile, our mission continues throughout the summer. The doors of our churches are open all summer to welcome us and help us stay close to God, even as we put our book bags aside for a while to relax.  I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing summer filled with friends and family. We all look forward to welcoming new and returning families in August. Enjoy your time away!   God Bless,    Mr. Reese

In the Classroom

EIGHTH GRADE GRADUATION Congratulations to our eighth grade class! We pray that they continue to grow as Children of God as they being the next chapter of their school career. The last day of school for the eighth graders is May 31. Graduation will be help June 4, at St. Alphonsus Church. EIGHTH GRADE DANCE Seventh and eighth grade students are invited to party "Beach Style" to celebrate the graduation of the eighth graders. The dance will be held on Monday, June 3 from 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM.

LIVING WAX MUSEUM On the evening of Tuesday, May 21, the 4th grade presented a "Living Wax Museum". The children dressed as a historical figures and prepared presentations. When a spectator stopped at a student's booth, the student "came to life" and did their best representation of their historical figure. After the presentation, the student went back to "wax form" until another parent or student stopped to hear the presentation again. Julie White, school parent, was very impressed with the children's work: " Thank you so much Mrs. Huerbin and Mrs.Riley for helping the students to bring these historical figures to life. It was magical!"

POETRY CAFE On Friday May 10 th  both Kindergarten classes honored their mothers with a Poetry Café. Moms were invited to a wonderful performance that included sixteen different poems read by the students. The moms enjoyed such classic poems as “A Handprint Poem for Mom” and “Mommy, I Love You”. The children were dressed in their finest attire to impress their moms. After the poems, all enjoyed some delicious treats to celebrate Mother’s Day.

FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL On May 17, the seventh grade students, along with Mrs. Smolter and Ms. Depalatis, visited the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, PA. The students spent the day visiting the nation's memorial to the passengers and crew of Flight 93. They took time to listen to the four chimes installed in the Tower of Voices. When complete, this tribute will ring with 40 chimes, one for each passenger and crewmember. It was especially moving for the group to visit at the same time as a family of one of the passengers or crewmembers that was aboard the flight on that fateful day. Prior to the field trip, the students learned about this flight and the tragic events of 9/11 in social studies class.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION Over a few weekends in April and May, our second grade students received the sacrament of First Holy Communion during Sunday Masses. They prepared for the sacrament with their teachers, Ms. Elizabeth Colcombe, Mrs. Debra Hammel, and Mrs. Lois Titus. May God continue to bless our children!

MAY CROWNING On Tuesday, May 7, students led a beautiful May Crowning service at Saint Alphonsus Church to honor Mary during this month of May. Representatives from each grade presented bouquets of flowers to the Blessed Mother Statue at Saint Alphonsus Church. The second grade class wore their First Communion outfits to help make the ceremony even more special.

SEELOS GARDENS The Seelos Student garden has been planted! Students along with their teachers have cleaned up the garden and have it planted already and are enjoying watching their seeds sprout up already!  A variety of herbs such as parsley, rosemary, cilantro and basil have all been planted. The children also planted a great variety of vegetables. Tomatoes, peppers, carrots, a variety of lettuce, red beets, pole beans, radishes were all planted by the children. New this year are potatoes and "rainbow" carrots. If the harvest is fruitful the children will make homemade salsa when they return to school in the fall. The pond remains untouched as the children anticipate the arrival of frog eggs. They hope to establish a population of toads and try to develop ways to identify them during the next school year.  On nice warm days a few teachers also use the garden space for a quiet space to teach religion or just go to recite a decade of the rosary.

FABLAB RETURNS The Intermediate Unit 1 Mobile STEM FabLab is back – this time for two weeks – May 13-17 and May 20-24. Sudents will get a total of 160 minutes in the lab, rather than the 80 minutes they received in November.    Students will complete an exciting homeroom project, take home a personal trinket with their own artwork on it, and get to work on some new programming technology that they didn’t see in November.   The homerooms will create a custom pin flag for the Community of Wexford Golf Outing on June 12 that benefits the school. The golf outing funds Learning Enrichment, and Learning Enrichment brought in the FabLab for STEM exposure and hands-on learning. What better way to create these pin flags for the event than with a program funded by Learning Enrichment.    One flag per homeroom will be produced. It will be used on the golf course at the June 12 golf outing. Flags will be removed from the course and available for purchase after the outing. All proceeds go into the Learning Enrichment Fund. To learn more about the golf outing and the Fund, please see below .

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE The Seelos Academy Learning Enrichment Committee worked with the Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media through their Artists in Schools & Communities Program to bring a “resident artist” to our school to work hands-on with all Kindergarten through Eighth grade students. Professional Artist, Laura Jean McLaughlin, is on campus for mornings once a week for 10 weeks beginning April 1. She is working with a core group of 8 th  graders each week. Additionally, each homeroom will have one scheduled time to work with Laura. Together, the students will be making a large mosaic that will hang near our school lobby when it is complete. Students will design, nip tiles, glue tiles, grout, and more.

LEARNING CAN BE SWEET Seelos Academy 4th graders went on a field trip to Lutheran Environmental Education Program at Camp Lutherland in Prospect, PA. The students not only identified and tapped a maple tree, but they counted the drops of sap per minute and converted this per hour and per day to calculate the amount of sap required to make a gallon of pure make syrup. They also studied how maple production is traced to the Native Indians and the transportation of water, minerals and nutrients in the tree's trunk.

Faith In Action

SEELOS SAMARITANS Seelos Academy proudly announced the creation of the Seelos Samaritans Club Earlier this year. Nearly 80 students in this acts of kindness club met for the first time after school in March. The student members, with the help of some school parents and the teacher and parent advisors, will focus on service projects throughout the community including Earth Day and Hone Flight Pittsburgh. During the introductory meeting, students painted “prayer rocks” that were included with a prayer inside fish fry bags. These hand-decorated bags, along a personal note from a student, were delivered to the homebound of the Wexford Catholic Community.

EARTH DAY Nearly 100 people participated in the Seelos Clean-up Day, on Earth Day, April 22. Parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles joined with students to pick litter and debris along Church Road and campus. Special thanks to the teacher moderators, Mrs. Grice and Mrs. Hammel, the Northern Regional Police and the Township of Pine for lending the road signs and safety vests.

WELCOME HOME VETERANS  On Saturday, April 27, about 60 Blessed Francis Seelos Academy students, families, and teachers, participated in Honor Flight Pittsburgh. Honor Flight Pittsburgh recognizes American War Veterans for their sacrifices and achievements by transporting them via deluxe motor coach to Washington, D.C. to visit those memorials dedicated to honor their service and sacrifices.  The Seelos community participated in the veterans’ “welcome home” from their trip.  Many of these veterans did not have a “heroes” welcome when they returned from their service, so the community provided them with a welcome home that they deserve. Students made signs and waved flagged as the veterans disembarked from their bus onto a red carpet.   This trip consisted of two busses and included veterans from many different branches of services and veterans from WWII.

WORLD INCLUSION DAY Blessed Francis Seelos Academy joined the National Spread the Word Inclusion to End the Word Day. Since 2009, Spread the Word has been recognized to help reduce the use of hateful words toward people with Intellectual Disabilities. After 10 years, they asked everyone to put their slogan into action. “Language affects attitude. Attitude affects action.” Seelos students were encouraged to start in their own classroom and school. They signed a pledge to Spread Inclusion and made donations toward the St. Anthony’s Program in honor of Spread the Word INCLUSION Day.

Activities and Athletics

PJAS STUDENTS COMPETE AT STATE FINALS  The Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) State Competition will was held on May 19, 20, and 21 at Penn State University. Seelos Academy students who placed first at the regional competition this past January had an opportunity to compete with other first place winners throughout the State of Pennsylvania. Blessed Francis Seelos Academy had 16 students participate at the state finals. The following 8th grade students placed First:  Luke Ball , Hayley Baranowski , Michael Gill , Brendan Maddigan , Dillon Maddigan , Jonathan Maffei , Lauren Rajasenan , and Bella White . The following 7th grade students placed First: Anastasia Davis , Lily Karsman , Amelia Perri , and Marco Perri . Four students placed Second:  Nate Ball , Alex Brown , Emma McCosby , and Matthew Price . Amelia Perri won the Duane Keen Science Award which included a plaque and a check at the Special State Awards Ceremony that followed the PJAS Awards. Dr. Blozowich, former Saint Alphonsus teacher, Mrs. Snyder, and Saint Alphonsus parishioner, Dr. Baker, coached the students.

SPELLING BEE Katie Dudkowski represented Seelos Academy at the Diocesan Spelling Bee on May 15, 2019 at Saint Louse de Marillas School. She competed with the other schools' representatives from grades 4,5, and 6. Katie worked very hard to prepare for the competition and finished in the top half of the group.

COVESTRO On Friday, March 29, nine Blessed Francis Seelos Academy students attended the 80th Covestro Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair at Heinz Stadium.  Two of our students won 4th Place in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Category. Hayley Baranowski and Marco Perri received a medal, certificate and monetary award for their projects. Several of our students received a Certificate of Excellence. These students included McKenney Martha , Mary Zagrocki , Emma McCosby , and Amelia Perri .

FORENSICS Seven of our Forensics Team members participated in the Diocesan Forensics League All Stars competition on Saturday, March 16. Eighth grader Caroline Marschke received first place for Drama and seventh grader Mary Narvett was named one of four finalists in the Poetry category. The other All-Stars included  Alexandra Aiello ,  Hailey Baranowski , Brendan Donnelly , Megan McLaughlin , and Sydney Rovnan . Mrs. Mary Smolter and Mrs. Anne Olon are the team coaches.

HONORS AND ALL STAR BAND Also on Saturday March 16, twenty of our band students were selected to perform with the North District Honor’s Band. After two days of practice, the combined band of over 90 instrumentalists performed a concert at North Catholic High School. Blessed Francis Seelos Academy, under the direction of Mrs. Janet Dineff, had the largest representation of the Northern Area Schools. Congratulations to  Anastasia Davis ,  Rowan Carrico ,  Nico Johns ,  Julia Martin ,  Mary Narvett ,  Connor Peoples ,  Carli Rivetti ,  Sydney Rovnan ,  Alexandra Sepcic ,  Amelia Perri ,  Marco Perri ,  Valeria Vasquez ,  Maya Wanamaker ,  TJ Wanamaker ,  Nathan Warecki ,  Katarina Walko ,  Bella White ,  Jack White ,  Gregory Zagrocki , and  Mary Zagrocki .

Additionally, TJ, Katarina , Bella , Maya , Sydney , and Nico were selected for the All-Star Band that performed in April.

TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS The sun was shining Saturday, May 11 on our Developmental Track Team. The boys and girls each won 1st place in the Diocesan Championships held at the Robert Morris Sports Complex making both Developmental teams back-to-back champions. The team took home 33 individual medals in a very large, competitive meet. On Saturday May 18, After a damp, chilly morning, and a crazy temperature switch to a very humid afternoon, the Varsity and JV track teams brought home many individual medals and two team trophies at the Diocesan Championships. The Varsity Girls Team took home the 3rd place title and the JV Boys were the 1st place Champs! Congratulations to all of the r unners, throwers, and jumpers and the coaching staff led by Jack White.

DEVELOPMENTAL CHAMPS

JV BOYS

VARSITY GIRLS

JV BOYS VOLLEYBALL The JV boys volleyball team finished their spring season in second place. Congratulations team!

RYAN CENTER RENOVATIONS Changes are coming to the Ryan Center! The current bleachers and floor will be replaced beginning in June. The red bleachers will be replaced with navy. The floor will have a new look, but retain the dedication to "Father Murphy Court". The Saint Alphonsus sports banners will also be auctioned off this spring through electronic bidding. Details on how your family can own a piece of history will be published soon.

FALL SPORTS REGISTRATION Fall registrations for co-ed soccer (1st-8th grade), cross country (2nd - 8th grade) and girls volleyball (5th-8th grade) will take place May 21 - June 6 with a late fee added until June 12.

Fundraising & Events

HOW CAN I AFFORD CATHOLIC EDUCATION? Click the button below for information on reducing your tuition bill through financial aid, grants, and tax credits.

Reduce My Tuition!

GIFT CARD PROGRAM Families earn tuition credit by purchasing gift cards through the school. The program generates additional revenues used for the operational costs of Seelos Academy. Order online at bfsafundraising.com, at either campus office, or Sign up for ShopwithScrip and make gift card purchases from your phone on demand. For more information, contact Sue Dudkowski . AMAZON SMILE! Blessed Francis Seelos Academy receives cash back from Amazon Smile! Simply log in to your Amazon account and type "Amazon Smile" into the Amazon search engine. Select Blessed Francis Seelos Academy as your designated charity that will receive 0.5% of each of your eligible Amazon purchases. If you have any questions, please send them to   Tara Aiello .

BOX TOPS Clipping and submitting Box Tops is an easy way to help earn money for Seelos Academy. This fundraiser has netted thousands of dollars over the years. For more information, contact Michelle Martin . CHICK-FIL-A Save your Chick-Fil-A receipts from the Wexford and Cranberry locations and return to school. Through store credit earned for reimbursed receipts we are able to provide food items for the school community, including our annual 8th grade picnic and teacher luncheons.

SHOP N SAVE Register Seelos Academy under your personal Shop 'n Save perks card and earn money for the school. When you shop at the four Miheloc Shop n' Save stores, Shop ‘n Save will gift 2% of qualified purchases back to Seelos Academy in gift cards. Contact  Sue Dudkowski for more information. GIANT EAGLE Giant Eagle® supports local schools through the Apples for the Students™ program. Shop and earn points during the school year, and Giant Eagle will donate back to Seelos Academy. Visit the  My School Programs page, register your Giant Eagle Advantage card and select Blessed Francis Seelos Academy as the school that you’d like to receive points.

LEARNING ENRICHMENT FUND The Seelos Academy Learning Enrichment Fund provides financial support to the faculty and school for professional development, classroom materials, and school-wide programming. If you would like to donate to the fund or sponsor the annual golf outing, the fundraiser for the Fund, please contact Lisa Riley or Kevin Riley. You can also contact Lisa or Kevin if you would like to be part of the Learning Enrichment Committee or volunteer at the golf outing.

GOLF OUTING & KIDS DAY Join fellow parents and supporters for The Community of Wexford Golf Classic. This Annual Golf Outing benefits the Seelos Academy Learning Enrichment Fund. Begin the the day with Mass under the Pavilion, golf, meal at turn and sit down dinner with Guest Speaker Father Joe Freedy. Sponsorship packages available. Visit tinyurl.com/ForeLearning2019 for more information on the Golf Classic. Kids can spend the day at the Kids Activity Day with our very Mr. Ohm. Join us for a day of activities, sports, and hands-on learning centered on Seelos Academy's core values of faith, stewardship, compassion, and leadership. Visit tinyurl.com/ForeKids2019 to register.

SAINT ALEXIS FESTIVAL Preparations for the 2019 Saint Alexis Festival are under way. This is one of the largest fundraisers for the school; 100% of the profits to remain with our school. We will need help and participation from our school familes to make this event a success and to make it a fun time for all! There are many opportunities to volunteer your time and provide donations. Please visit the festival website at www.stalexisfestival.com .

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