Dear St. Alphonsus Catholic School Families,

I want to start by thanking everyone for their support of our Trunk or Treat last week. Thank you to everyone who hosted a trunk, attended and helped make the event a big success! It was a great opportunity for our families and our students to come together at school and have a good time. If you are looking for another opportunity to get involved with school, the annual Cookie Walk will be happening on the weekend of December 10th and 11th. Please contact me if you are interested!

Once again, please keep in mind that our students will be reading this weekend at 9am mass. We would love to have a bunch of school families at that mass. Feel free to have your student wear their JOY shirt too! If you have a student who is interested in reading at mass, please see the information below in the newsletter.

I have a bit of personal news to share with you. My wife and I are expecting our first child! Our baby girl is due in the first week of December. Once she arrives, I will be out of the building for two weeks. I will keep everyone updated and there will be more details coming soon, but I wanted to share this exciting news with you!

Many times you may wonder what our teachers are working on when there is an early dismissal or a Professional Development Day. This afternoon, our teachers are going to get a presentation on students with anxiety in the classroom. Tomorrow, for Sustaining the Mission, our teachers will be engaged in various activities, classes and workshops on strengthening their faith and deepening their understanding of the Church to be better able to live our mission as a Catholic school and be faith role models for our students. Sustaining the Mission is something that teachers take part in two days every school year. 

Finally, please remember that our dress code states that from November 1st to March 31st students are not permitted to wear shorts or skorts. Additionally, students wearing a skirt must have tights or leggings under their skirt. 

Stay safe and have a great long weekend!

Please check out all the great stuff below!

Russ Johnston

Our Student Spotlight column is back! 

This week, check out this awesome video of the 4th Grade singing Frere Jacques in music class! They have been working hard at performing music in the round. 

St. Alphonsus' annual Thanksgiving Food Drive for the House of Peace is under way!

Here are the items each grade should bring:

3K & 4K: 2 boxes of pudding/Jell-o and 2 boxes of cornbread mix

5K & 7th Grade: 2 bags/boxes of stuffing and 2 cans of cranberry sauce

1st & 2nd Grades: 2 32oz cans of sweet potatoes/yams and 3 cans of green beans

3rd & 4th Grades: 2 boxes of macaroni & cheese and 3 cans of corn

5th & 6th Grades: 2 boxes of cake mix and 2 containers of frosting

8th Grade: 2 boxes/packages of mashed potatoes and 2 cans of gravy (no glass)

You can also download a PDF reminder here!

In addition, we will be working with Christian Formation to assemble and pack the boxes.  Christian Formation families, School families and Parishioners have all been donating food to make this drive a success and now it is time to pack the boxes so House of Peace can pick them up to help families have a happy Thanksgiving!

We are meeting on November 14th at 6 PM in the Community Room. We are scheduled to be there until 8 PM, but if we get everything done we will end earlier.

All ages are welcome to sign up. Students in 6th - 11th grades should sign up in their own slot. Parents/guardians should also sign up in their own slot and add a comment if any children 5th grade and under will be helping too.

Thank you for your generosity!

Don't forget that we are still looking for students to get involved at Sunday Mass!

We are looking for lectors, cross bearers and gift bearers for these upcoming masses:

• Sunday, December 4
• Sunday, January 29
• Sunday, February 19

You can sign your student up here. Practices will be held during the week before your student will participate, and we will remind you! 

Dine Out Night At Cousins Subs!

Next Wednesday, November 9th is our next Dine Out Night at Cousins Subs and we hope to see you there! Dine in or carry out from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Franklin location, 7700 S. Lovers Lane Road. 20% of the sales will go to support St. Alphonsus. All students who bring in a receipt and give it to their homeroom teacher (remember, you can ask for duplicate copies of the receipt so you have one for each student) can be out of uniform the following day.

Come support our school and let Cousins do the cooking!

Dine Out Nights - the easiest and most delicious fundraisers around.

Have you ever wondered what it looks like to see the Gospel lived out in our world today? Have your children ever wondered what it looks like?

The Kinship Community Food Center is a place where you see what a community of generosity looks like. Our Youth Director, Karen Farrell, has been bringing families to this food center for the better part of the last decade - and she has never had anyone not like it! The food pantry allows children to volunteer alongside their parents. Children should be able to last about three hours (recommended ages are 4 and up). Children 12 and under volunteer with their parents, and children over the age of 12 can volunteer at a station next to their parents.

Families will help in a variety of ways: help select food with the shoppers, color with little kiddos while their parents shop, serve at a coffee station, stock shelves - it is all very simple and they give on-site training. 

It's a powerful, powerful way to show your faith in action! Join us on December 10.  For more information or to sign up, click here!

Do you have items for the newsletter? To submit them or for questions and submission guidelines, please contact Amy Schermetzler.

Please note that submissions are due by 5:00pm Wednesdays.

If you made it all the way through this newsletter, send Mrs. Schermetzler an email here with the subject line Happy Holidays and she will give your student(s) a little prize!