November 11, 2021

Important updates in this week's Tidbits:

Mustang News
Making Waves
Gingerbread Shop
Altar Servers
Mustang Sports
Principal's Points
Good Afternoon St. Stephen Families,

Today is report card day for grades 1-8. PK and Kindergarten will receive a report card in the second trimester. Please watch for an email with the link to view the report card.

Making Waves is tomorrow! This morning we hit the $10K mark in donations. We have crossed the halfway mark to full participation by all families. Please reach out to friends and family and ask them to support our school so that we can reach our goal. The requirement is $200 in fundraising for the year ($100 for Making Waves and $100 for the Spirit Raffle). If you do not meet the $100 goal for this event, you can always make it up by selling more raffle tickets in the spring.

If you missed the morning show today, you can click on the link below and watch our prayer service this morning honoring veterans. We thank you all for your service and in particular to our own veteran, Mrs. Lisa MacLaren. Today, PK 4 surprised her with a poster and a big thank you for all she did in service to our country.

Today we announced the winner of the Making Waves door-decorating contest. And the winners are.... in Angel's Wing - 8th grade and in the main building - 1st grade. 8th grade created a beautiful 3-D octopus and 1st grade did a great job of showing us the before and after effects of recycling on a beach. Great way to Care for Creation 1st Grade!! See the pictures of the two doors below and on Facebook.

On Thursday, Nov. 18, after the morning show, we will be presenting our Saint Awards. Each class researched one saint and created a poster for the saint and his/her characteristics. Then the class voted for the student in the class who best exemplified the traits of that saint. Please be sure to tune in and see our saintly students. If you want to see all the posters, you can see them on our latest Facebook Live event.

Please be sure to read through the entire newsletter to stay informed.

Peace,

Linda Umoh
PK 4 thanks Mrs. MacLaren for her service!
Upcoming Events
Nov. 12 - Noon Dismissal
Nov. 12 - Making Waves
Nov. 13-14 - Holy Card Weekend
Nov. 15 - Holy Card Free Dress
Nov. 19 - Fall Shirt/Jean Day
Nov. 22 - 26 - Thanksgiving Holiday No School
Dec. 3 - Student Advent Retreat
Dec. 3 - Noon Dismissal
Dec. 6 - 10 Gingerbread Shop
Mustangs rally to support SVDP
by providing hundreds of cans
of donated food.
All grades did an amazing job and made our first can drive of the school year a success. 
Special mention to our Kindergarten students as their excitement to help others is contagious. They had a class goal of 75 cans and donated 119 cans. Thank you to all school parents who consistently help us teach our students the meaning of service and charity.
Check out our
Mustang News morning show!
You can join our Mustang News team each morning at 7:50 as we stream live on YouTube to begin the day with prayers, the pledge of allegiance, and news. Subscribe to our channel here.
If you are not receiving text messages from the school, please be sure we have the correct phone number. You should have received a text on Wednesday with the link for the morning show. If you did not, please contact Flo Pesquera to update your information. Thank you!
 
Class Room Baskets For Silent Auction 


Thanks to all room Moms and school families for the amazing and creative silent auction donations for Angels. Plan on coming to the Gala on 2/12 in the FLC so you can bid on winning one of these great baskets. Seat reservations will be available to purchase at the end of December. 
REMINDER
Drivers PLEASE drive slowly, carefully, and wait until the whole line of cars move before leaving the morning drop-off line. Thank you!
If your child has an interest in becoming an Altar Server, there will be two training sessions in November. The training takes place in the main church. 

Nov. 13 - 1 pm to 3 pm (This is a time change from the original notice)

Nov. 14 - 2 pm to 4 pm


Students who are trained and scheduled for weekend Masses are able to altar serve at school Masses. Please have your child attend one of these training sessions if they are interested in joining this ministry.  
Everyone needs to be updated with their safe environment and fingerprints in order to volunteer in the school or to chaperone a field trip. Safe environment and fingerprints are good for 5 years. Attached below are the instructions on how to get your safe environment certificate and to have your fingerprints done. If you have any questions please contact Karen Biase at [email protected] or call the front office at 813-741-9203 ext. 1100. Click the link here for information regarding fingerprints. Click here for more information on safe environment.

  Making Waves is Almost Here  

Please read the following information regarding our November 12th event called Making Waves. This event is one of the two PTCO yearly fundraisers for the school. Thank you to all who have already donated. The link for donations is https://givebutter.com/MakingWaves 

Information and the link to donate are also on the school website for your convenience. If you prefer, donations can be sent to the school office in an envelope clearly marked with students' names and grades. Read about all the fun activities students will be experiencing at Making Waves. Click here for more information. You can find the letter for friends and relatives here.

During Making Waves, a representative from the St. Stephen Church
Men's Club will be selling raffle tickets, cash only accepted.
The raffle cost $10 and only 400 tickets will be sold.
There will be 31 winners and all the prizes are cash.
Take a chance to win some extra Holiday cash!
Great Stocking Stuffer
SSCS aluminum water bottles are available for purchase in the school office for $10.00 each, cash or check will be accepted.
The PTCO has been working hard to keep our tradition of a Christmas gift shopping experience for the students. The Gingerbread Holiday Shop will be open December 6-10 for students to shop for family and friends. A budget form will be sent home the week before the shop opens, so parents may help students decide whom to purchase gifts for and how much to spend. Volunteers are needed so please click on the signup genius link for more information on volunteer opportunities and to sign up.

More details coming soon about this fun tradition (formerly known as Santa Shop)!  

PTCO Gingerbread Holiday Shop Volunteer Signup Genius link:

To purchase gift cards click the link below.

MUSTANG SPORTS
Happy Veterans Day to all of the men, women, and animals who have served and protected this great country. God Bless America!

The girls flag football and boys track teams have a couple of weeks of practice before the games and meets start.  
The Mustang's first game is Tuesday, November 30 vs St Peter Claver here at St Stephen at 4:00. Seven of their eight games are here at St Stephen. Please see the school website under Athletics for the complete girl's flag football schedule. There is a flag football parent meeting today after practice at 5:00 in the FLC.

The Mustang's first meet is the Field Events on Friday, December 3 at Christ the King at 3:45. The Running and Relay meet is the next day on Saturday, December 4 at Jesuit High School from 1:30-5:00. A listing of all of the boy's track event dates is on the school website under Athletics. There is a boy's track parent meeting today after practice at 4:30 in the FLC.   

GO MUSTANGS
Coach Green
St. Stephen Catholic Church is looking for two part-time maintenance employees. The maintenance staff is responsible for and personally maintains, renovates and sees to the cleanliness and upkeep of the buildings including the mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems. In addition, he/she is responsible for the maintenance and functionality of all tools, vehicles, and power equipment. The maintenance employee may supervise and/or personally conduct grounds maintenance, preventative maintenance, safety and energy conservation audits. This position is a part-time, non-exempt hourly position without benefits. For more information and for the application form, click here! Please email the application to Tom Doyle at [email protected].
Effective communication is one of the most important tools for evangelization. The communication coordinator assists the pastor, parish staff, school staff, faith formation staff and parish ministries to effectively fulfill the mission of the Church to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. The communication coordinator implements and monitors communication strategies and tactics of the parish. The coordinator plans and implements mass media promotional material, including digital and print. The coordinator tracks analytics on marketing campaigns and coordinates parish events. The coordinator also communicates as a public relations professional, communicating internally and externally within the organization. Communication ranges from evangelical material to financial reports. The communication coordinator at St. Stephen Catholic Church must be an active Catholic and member of the parish.
He or she is to observe all the policies of our parish and diocese as found in the employee handbook. For the full job description and to apply, click here! You will need to download the application form and then email it to Tom Doyle at [email protected].
Black Friday is coming!
Join Amazon Smile and help
support SSCS!
It's simple to give money back to SSCS when you shop on Amazon, and now is the perfect time to sign up before you do all of your holiday shopping!
Here's how:
1. Visit https://smile.amazon.com
2. Sign in with your Amazon.com credentials.
3. Choose a charitable organization to receive donations, or search for the charity of your choice.
4. Select your charity.
5. Start shopping!
6. Add a bookmark https://smile.amazon.com make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile.
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Public Library Haal Pass
The Haal Pass allows our students to access public library resources with just their student ID number and Pin. Students will use their student ID number (from FACTS) and their password of 4321 to log into the HCPLC.org site. This allows them to check out physical copies of books as well as digital books, audiobooks, and any other materials available from the public library. Students can also use this account to check out ebooks on Overdrive or Libby, the digital reader programs used by the public library.
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