St. Ambrose Buzz- 10/4/17

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" If men knew what eternity is, they would do everything in their power to change their lives."

- Our Lady of Fatima

October 4th, 2017

From Mrs. Rowley

On Friday October 13 we will celebrate the 100 th anniversary of the miracle at Fatima and the sixth
apparition of Our Blessed Mother. Our school choir will be celebrating in a special way; they will be
joining up with the choir of St. Andrew School to sing at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception for the Worldwide Children's Eucharistic Holy Hour. This will be televised live
on EWTN from 10:00 am-11:30 am. We are so proud of our choir and their service to our school and
parish.

Our school will be closed on Monday in observance of Columbus Day, and Tuesday we will have school
pictures taken, both individual and class groups. Winter uniform is required for that day, and we will
keep an eye on the long-term forecast regarding the permanent change-over to winter uniform. On
Thursday, October 12 our middle school will lead us in a Living Rosary in the gym following our weekly
school Mass.

I am leaving today to join all the diocesan principals in our annual retreat in West Virginia Please know
that I will keep you all in prayer.
Today is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, one of my favorite saints. Please join me in prayer, using his
words:

St. Francis Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may seek not so much to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Have a blessed week.

From the Editor

Please try to check out the Buzz each week! There is so much important information about what is going on in our amazing school. Make sure to tell other parents to read it, too! Thanks so much.

Just a reminder that I have completely redone the mailing list for the Buzz. If you know someone who did not receive this or last week's Buzz, please have them contact me. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, there is an "unsubscribe" button on the bottom of the page. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Rosie McGuire

[email protected]

School News

Gala Shirt Fundraiser- ENDS TONIGHT

The Gala is only 5 ½ months away! It promises to be a fun evening with a St. Patrick's Day theme of "A Lucky Knight for St. Ambrose". Many volunteers equal a successful event for OUR school! What are YOUR talents? Please contact Cindy Hollcraft at [email protected] and let her know how you can help.

Don't forget to support our Gala t-shirt fundraiser! Orders are placed online at: https://www.customink.com/fundraising/st-ambrose-gala-shirt. Order BY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT They are great for the whole family. Kids can wear them on SOME early dismissal days - don't let YOUR child be the only one in uniform those days! Order TODAY!

Oktoberfest!

Come enjoy some time with community and fellowship with some beer and brats on the side! The school PTO is sponsoring Oktoberfest in the Parish Hall on Saturday, October 21st from 6-9 pm. Enter a German inspired side dish or dessert to share and for a friendly food tasting competition, test your trivia skills with table trivia, and enjoy your beer in a souvenir Pilsner Glass. Tickets are $25 per person, $40 per couple, or $150 for a table of 8. Here is a flyer about purchasing pickets. You can also purchase tickets through the school office, the school website, or outside masses on October 7th or 8th. If you can sign up to help with this event, please do so here.

Trunk or Treat

The 3rd Annual St. Ambrose School Trunk or Treat will be Friday October 27th from 6:30-7:30 pm in the school parking lot. Keep an eye out for next weeks Buzz and weekly folders on how to sign up to enter your car and pre-order pizza. Not up for decorating your trunk? We welcome donated bags of individually wrapped candy to make sure everyone will get some treats. We also welcome donations of small gift cards to be given as prizes for the costume contest and best trunk decorations. Please contact Jennifer Charest ([email protected]) / 240-778-8977 with any questions.

Save the Date! 2017 Fun Run

The 2017 Fun Run will be here in no time!

Friday, November 3rd is this year's date.

Get your sneakers shined up and get ready to try to earn some great exercise and prizes. So, students, grab your address book to start contacting your friends, relatives and neighbors to sponsor you to work toward our best run ever!

Watch the Wednesday folders and the Information Screen in the Front Lobby of the school for more details!

Three Kings Gift Shop Donations

Please c

onsider helping us continue a great St. Ambrose School tradition- The Three Kings Gift Shop! The Three Kings Shop tradition is a Christmas shopping opportunity for our students. We stock the store with re-gifted items donated by our community that we sell for $1 or $2. All proceeds go directly to the school. The kids love it because they get to do their own shopping for their families with the help of our volunteer elves.

We are gladly accepting donations to stock our store! Please take a look through your closets, drawers, attics, and garages and see if you have items in VERY GOOD condition to donate to our shop. We could use gifts for moms, dads, children, teenagers, and grandparents. Things like jewelry, toys, games, stuffed animals, ties, gadgets, mugs, books, religious items, knick-knacks, and any item you might want to receive or give as a gift. No large gifts as the children must be able to carry the items home. We also need gift wrapping supplies, gift boxes, jewelry boxes, tape, and sturdy shopping bags. All donated items can be dropped off at the school office before December 8th. We appreciate your support! For questions please contact Maryellen DeWolfe at [email protected] .

In Need of a Service Chair Person

St. Ambrose School is in need of a Service Chair to coordinate monthly service projects across the school year. The projects have already been chosen and this position requires minimal effort. There is a binder of project information all set up and ready for someone to take the wheel. Responsibilities include advertisement, coordination with the Director of Religious Education, and dropping off the collected items to the particular charity for the month.

If you are able to serve our school in this way, please contact Sharon Driscoll at [email protected].

"Good works are links that form a chain of love" - Mother Teresa

Fourth Annual Coat Drive

The winter weather wear collection is underway and will end Tuesday, October 31st. We are doing this a month earlier this year. We accept coats, gloves, hats, scarves, snowsuits and winter wear for all age groups. We ask that you please donate only clean and in good condition items. We want to donate what we ourselves would be happy to receive. We have had such wonderful donations in the past, but we want to emphasize the items need to be washed or dry cleaned (Zips is cheap!) before giving to our less fortunate neighbors. Of course we also love to receive new items! There will be boxes in the entry and hallway of the school, and some of our students will be helping collect the items from each classroom. Last year we took our fantastic donations to St. James the Greater Catholic Church in West Virginia - they were simply overwhelmed with your generosity. This year we may team up, as we did 2 years ago, with St. Theresa Catholic Church in Ashburn as part of their very well organized Divine Mercy Outreach Program. Thank you in advance and may this be a wonderful year for St. Ambrose School.

Sports & Clubs Updates

Track and Field

We are so proud of our St. Ambrose Track & Field Team! Grades 3-8 participated in the NVJCYO Fall Meet this past weekend at Bishop O'Connell High School. Our athletes did a phenomenal job competing and represented St. Ambrose well with exceptional sportsmanship! Please congratulate all of our student athletes! Matthew, William, Nathaniel, Gabriel, Dean, Fort, Alex, Flavia, Nicole, Diana, Grace, Philip, Joey, Ciaran, Ian, Jullian, Sesinos, Zach, Jordan, Dominic, Will, Meghan, Samatha, Reilly, Abigail, Luisa, Danayit, Abigial, Nora, Nellie, Shopia, Grace, Isabelle, Teresa, Audrey, Selihom, Joseph, Alex, Delina, Zoe, AbbieMarie, and Camila!

Track Family and Friends, thank you again for spending the day at the meet -- we appreciate your unwavering support! Thank you to our meet volunteers: Blanca Reilly, Dinee Erikson, Dennis Grant, Patrick Leffas, Paola Solis, Angela Grant, Mayah Tiwari, Caryn Graham, and Tim Bogan.

Up next...cross country! Go Knights!

Click on images to enlarge.

STEM Club

Mr. Thieman, the science and technology teacher, will be working with our great volunteers to lead this year's after school STEM club to be held in the Art and Science Lab.

Activities will be a combination of directed hands-on, self directed hands-on that with an emphasis on science and engineering experiments and applied technology (open source coding, electronics, basic robotics).

The first STEM Club event for interested students from grades 4-8 is Wednesday, October 11, from 3:15pm - 4:30pm. Grades K-3 will have their first STEM Club gathering on Monday, October 16, from 3:15pm - 4:30pm.

Grade 4 - 8 will begin the STEM Club year with a "Build your own Catapult" project while learning about the science of simple machines.

Grade K-3 will begin the STEM Club year with a fulcrum experiment to examine forces and levers.

We will meet on the following schedule:

Grades K-3: 1 st and 3 rd Monday
- $35 fee for the 1 st Semester
Grades 4-8: Each Wednesday
- $45 fee for the 1 st Semester

Come with a desire to learn, participate and experiment.

Allergy free snacks will be provided.

See you there!

Mr. Michael Thieman

[email protected]

From the Health Clinic

Mrs. Maureen Earner

( [email protected])

The Importance of Sleep

Getting your child/children to bed early has more benefits than just a few hours of quiet time at night. New research explains how vitamin ZZZ may help children fight obesity, avoid colds, and succeed in school.

7 Benefits of Proper Sleep for Children

Sleep promotes growth.
Sleep helps the heart.
Sleep affects weight.
Sleep helps beat germs.
Sleep reduces injury risk.
Sleep increases kids' attention span.
Sleep boosts learning.

Continue reading here.

Shout Outs!

Mani Tiwari would like to thank all of the track volunteers for their time and selflessness. "Practice Coaches Angela Grant and Philip (Big Phil) Prifold; Meet Coach Sean DeWolfe and last but certainly most importantly, MaryEllen DeWolfe, affectionately referred to by the team as Coach Mom! I have come to find even in her third year of coaching, she prefers to keep a low profile and shine the spotlight on others. Well, sorry MaryEllen, the spotlight is on you this time! As previously mentioned, Mrs. DeWolfe has been coaching track and cross country for several years but, in conjunction, volunteers for a number of other school and parish events. She has been a staple for the kids often bringing them an after practice treat of popsicles or some other deliciousness. Her unwavering commitment and dedication have seen them to and through several meets always being the unsung hero. A picture is worth a thousand words...please find attached a few photos demonstrating the rapport she has with the athletes. Please join me in thanking her for all she does, and frankly, making us all look really good!"