The O'Reilly Minute

Dear Parents,

The St. Brigid of Kildare SPiCE program recognizes that each of our parish children is a unique individual with different learning needs. The SPiCE program supports serving the educational needs of our children in both the school and religious education programs.  

Working together with the support of the SPiCE program, the parish community, pastor, school administration, teachers and parents can help to provide understanding, information, materials, and staff to address special educational needs.

SPiCE is funded by generous donors and volunteers. Our signature event, Corks For A Cause, is on the horizon. Please consider attending the event and/or volunteering to support our SPiCE program. Read below for more information. Also, please make sure to support our sponsors for the event; they are also listed below. 

Sincerely,

Kathy O'Reilly

 

Photo Newsletters: 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Grades

Click the images below to view this week's photo newsletters and see what the classes have been up to.

SPiCE Skillbuilding Scoop: The Overprotected American Child

By Jeremy Johnson, Intervention Specialist

Being a parent is a challenging and sometimes thankless job. We here at the school want to partner with you as members of the school and parish community to raise faithful, healthy and independent children. It is important today to try to balance the freedoms that children are seeking with the responsibility of placing healthy boundaries on their freedoms. Many times it is hard to know how much freedom to give our children and how to best prepare them for being adults. It can also be a challenge to know how to best help our children when we see them struggling. 

There has been a rise recently in the levels of anxiety in children, which can lead to parents trying to minimize the struggles that children have to go through, but there can also be consequences to trying to remove challenges from our children. According to the Center of Disease Control, (CDC) the levels of anxiety and children aged 6–17 years increased from 5.4% in 2003 to 8% in 2007 and to 8.4% in 2011–2012. Anxiety has also increased from 5.5% in 2007 to 6.4% in 2011–2012. Attached is an article that gives practical information about some ways we as a community can prepare children for challenges and triumphs today. 

Please Help Us Treat the Clients of Hope Hollow! Gift Cards Needed

Through February 24, we will be collecting items to complete our treat bags for Hope Hollow’s clients - cancer patients who need help paying for food, lodging, and gasoline whenever they travel to Columbus for their cancer treatments.  

If you can help us, please send in the following items for the treat bags that we will assemble at our CARE meeting on Thursday, February 27th.

We are also collecting and still in need of $10 gift cards for groceries and gasoline.

 

Grade K - bottles of hand sanitizer (one ounce)

Grade 1 - travel size baby wipes

Grade 2 - granola bars

Grade 3 - chewing gum and lifesavers

Grade 4 - snack size boxes of raisins

Grade 5 - individual packs of tissues

Grade 6 - individual packs of chips or snacks

Grade 7 - individual sleeves of cheese and crackers

Grade 8 - 12 ounce bottles of Gatorade

 

Collection Dates: February 10-24

THANK YOU!

Corks for a Cause 2020: SPiCE Silent Auction & Wine Tasting

Step into the Roaring 20’s with St. Brigid of Kildare SPiCE’s Corks for a Cause: Silent Auction and Wine Tasting 2020! Tickets are now on sale for the fun event, which takes place Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 7 PM in Hendricks Hall.

Silent Auction Items & Wine Bottle Donations Needed

We are looking for donations of any size of silent auction items (e.g. sporting event tickets, gift cards, etc.) and bottles of wine ($20 or higher retail value). If you can help, please contact Sarah Moore at [email protected] or (614) 761-3734.

Altar Server Training March 1

All students in the Fifth grade and older are invited to become Altar Servers for the Weekend and Holy Day Masses.

Is the Lord calling upon your son or daughter to serve? Have them answer that call by becoming an Altar Server! St. Brigid of Kildare is encouraging all those in fifth grade and above to consider becoming an Altar Server. Attend one short training session, study one short section from the Liturgical Ministry Manual, receive three mentoring sessions with an experienced Altar Server, and they will be ready to serve the Lord as an Altar Server. What a wonderful, rewarding service!

Our next training session for Altar Servers is March 1, 2020, Sunday afternoon in the Church from 3:00 pm until 5:30 pm. Please register by February 24th, so we can be prepared to welcome you. To register online, please click here. For more information please contact Todd Pepe or Joe Feehan at [email protected].

Alum Rachel Weaver National Merit Finalist

Saint Brigid of Kildare School alum Rachel Weaver has been named a National Merit Finalist and will now be considered for 2020 National Merit Scholarships. More than 15,000 finalists are in the running for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships.

 

Bishop Watterson announced that Weaver was a semifinalist in the fall of 2019.

Spring Sports Registration Continues

You can register at www.gowolfhounds.com - and click the 'Register Now' menu.  

Please note - the Registration Site that we use has a new registration form and they have also added a Service Fee of $3.00 to every order - so group all of your family registrations and order them all at 1 time to save on the service fee.  And don't forget, for Track, Baseball, and Softball - you must also register at www.dioceseregister.com for your diocese parent consent forms (1 for every participant each season, each sport).

Family First / Mom to Mom Lenten Series

Lent begins February 26th! Please join Family First/Mom to Mom for a special Lenten DVD series starting Tuesday, March 3rd. “The Mass” DVD program by Edward Sri is a five-part series that reveals the meaning behind the Biblical words and gestures we experience during Mass. Take a tour of the Liturgy and learn to see everything in a new light!

Mom to Mom is excited to offer weekly both morning and afternoon sessions through the Lenten season! Led by Kathy Kelly, the morning group will meet in the Church basement on Tuesdays, 9:30 to 11 am. Please sign up for childcare on the signup genius at www.stbrigidofkildare.org/familyfirst. Kim VanHuffel will facilitate the afternoon sessions starting on Wednesday March 4th, 1:15 to 2:45 pm, in the Church basement. There will be no childcare available for the Wednesday meetings. 

Neither group will meet the week of March 22nd due to spring break. Please feel free to contact Erin Heise at [email protected] or Gretchen O’Reilly at [email protected] if you have any questions.