Learning, Loving, and Leading through Christ

October 14, 2022

From The Desk of Mr. Johnston

Dear St. Alphonsus Catholic School Families,

We had a great end to our week this week with all the students throwing water balloons at me as a reward for reaching our Fun Run goal! I want to take another opportunity to thank everyone who helped us reach our goal from the Fun Run. We did an amazing job and I am very proud of our school and our families.

Once again, please be sure to sign up for conferences on October 20th. Conference sign-ups will close Monday morning. Here is the link. We hope to see you all next Thursday!

Another fun event taking place soon is an Admirals Game! On Wednesday, November 9th our Kindergarten through 8th grade students will be going to Education Day at the Admirals game. This event combines the experience of an Admirals game with education. It should be a great field trip! All students will need to bring a cold lunch for this day, and permission slips went home today. Please note that for 4K students and Wrap Care, there will be no hot lunch or milk offered this day.

I want to thank everyone for the way that things went on Wednesday when we received the Tornado Warning. Our teachers and staff did an amazing job of helping our students do what we practice and get to our safe area. The students did an outstanding job of being patient and waiting until we received the all clear. Although this is something we hope happens infrequently, Wednesday was a good reminder of why we practice for this scenario because things could not have gone more smoothly in order to keep everyone safe.

Finally, please take a look at the rest of the awesome things in the newsletter this week. We have a wrap-up of our 7th and 8th grade DC trip, updates on the Library and Science Lab projects and much more!

As a reminder, the day after conferences, October 21st, there is no school.

Please enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!

Russ Johnston

Important Dates to Remember

10/20

No School

Parent Teacher Conferences

10am-2pm and 3-7pm

10/21

No School

10/28

Trunk or Treat

5-7pm

11/03

Early Release Day

11:30am Dismissal

11/04

No School

Teacher In-Service

11/23 - 11/25

No School

Gobble Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving

Special Dress Day for Halloween!

On October 31, students are invited to wear black & orange or Halloween-themed clothes for Halloween. Only students in grades 3K- Kindergarten are eligible to be in costumes.

This is not a normal Out-Of-Uniform Day; students out-of-uniform need to be dressing to the spirit day or wear their regular uniform.

November Lunch Menu

Make Sure to Join Us for Trunk or Treat!

Please join us for our first annual Trunk or Treat, on Friday, October 28th from 5-7pm.

Costumes are encouraged! Cars will be decorated and children can go car to car trick or treating. Whether you host a trunk or not, all are welcome!

It will be a safe, free, and family-friendly event with lots of fun activities:

Vote for your favorite pumpkin (carved by the teachers and staff of St. Alphonsus)
Each child will get a chance to win a Halloween raffle basket!
Try your hand at pumpkin bowling and other fun games!

We are also looking for volunteers to help the event run smoothly; please sign up here if you are available to help. Middle school students who are in need of service hours are also welcome to sign up to help run games or to help break down after the event.

There are also some spots left to host a trunk! Please sign up here by October 21st.

If you have any questions, please contact Dawn Eisold or Tricia Williams.

Scrip is Back!

Scrip is Back!

You can find out more information about how to Shop with Scrip below, and we plan to use this space in the weekly newsletter to keep you up-to-date on all things happening with the Scrip program.

As we get this program back up and running again, we are in need of a few volunteers to "man the Scrip table" on select Sundays from 8:15 to 11:00am. If you are available once every month or two, contact Vickie Major at 414-704-0526.

Milk Can Diner, Broad Street Coffee, and That's Amore have joined our local vendor list! We will have physical gift cards available for these vendors. In the meantime, check out more information about Scrip below!

DC Trip Update

The Washington DC Trip Was a Great Success!

This past weekend, 27 of our 7th and 8th graders along with Ms. Armstrong, Mr. Kneifl, Mrs. Bruhn and Mrs. Schermetzler traveled to Washington DC for four days. The group saw so many amazing things, and everywhere we went, we were one of the most well-behaved student groups around. We had multiple people comment to us about how great our students were and our tour guide, Debbie, even said that we were "the most well-prepared group she's had in her 7 years of touring."

While there, the group saw:

Arlington National Cemetery and the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Ford's Theater and the house where President Abraham Lincoln died
World War II & Martin Luther King Jr. Memorials
The White House
Tour of the U.S. Capitol
Library of Congress & The Supreme Court
Mount Vernon, home of George Washington
Air Force, 9/11 Pentagon, & Iwa Jima Memorials
The FDR Memorial
National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence
Tour of Washington National Cathedral
Embassy Row & Georgetown
Lincoln, Vietnam & Korean War Memorials
3 Smithsonians: The National Gallery, Museum of Natural History, and Museum of American History

We also went to Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which was a very special experience. St. Alphonsus Catholic School was welcomed by the priest during the mass, and two of our students were the gift bearers.

It was a FANTASTIC trip!

Library & Science Lab Updates

Look what arrived this week!

The new library furniture has been delivered. Mrs. Schermetzler will now begin working with Mr. Campbell and his crew to determine a timeline for installation. We hope to have minimal disruption to the library schedule, though the library may close to students for a few weeks later this fall.

In the Science Lab, demolition has started!

We are excited to see this space come to fruition in the next few weeks.

We will share more pictures of both projects in the coming weeks!

Halloween Costume Drive - Final Week!

The 5th Grade Girl Scout Troop is doing a Halloween Costume drive this year!

We are collecting new and gently used Halloween costumes of all sizes which will be donated to kids whose parents might not be able to get them one.

Our "Halloween for every kid" drive will go through Thursday, October 20. Costumes can be dropped off in the box by the office.

Costume accessories and unopened makeup are welcome as well. Please no toy weapons.

Thank you!

Jennifer Rekowski & Amelia Brost

Troop #10363 leaders

Other School & Parish News

Franklin Community Youth Race for 4K - 8th Graders is On Tuesday, October 25!

Attention 4k to 8th Graders!

The FHS Cross Country Teams invite you to join us for a youth cross country race at Franklin High School on Tuesday, October 25th. The race begins on the high school upper fields. There is a $5 entry fee which includes a t-shirt. The race distance is 1 mile and awards will be given for the top two in each age. To register, click here or click the photo on the left.

Serve others by making some baked goods to share with Southside Meal Program!

We have a great need for baked goods on October 19, 2022.

St. Alphonsus helps to serve and provide dessert to the people who come for dinner at the Southside Meal Program.

Please contact Karla if you can help - we need a total of 4-5 dozen cookies/bars/etc. Any help you give is greatly appreciated!

Mass Greeters Wanted: 4th Grade, this weekend!

Let's show our parish how welcoming our 4th grade students are at St. Als! All Fourth Graders are invited to act as greeters at Sunday's 11:00am Mass.

Students can come at 10:45am to the parish library before the 11:00am mass. No sign-up is needed, just come with a smile!

Please Join Us for a Brainstorming Meeting for the 2022-2023 Parish Auction!

As mentioned at Back to School Night, the Parish Auction Committee will be hosting a brainstorming meeting at Pastoral Council Member Debbie Sievert's house on Wednesday, October 19 at 7pm.

Please join us and bring your fresh ideas for this year's Parish Auction, our premiere social event for the year! RSVP to Debbie via email here, or via phone at 414-491-2561. For additional questions, you can also contact Sue Ruedinger via email here or via phone at 414-731-0537.

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.