WOLFHOUND WEDNESDAY
February 10, 2021
Last week during Catholic Schools Week, students had a great time dressing up as the profession they want to be 25 years from now!
UPCOMING EVENTS:

Monday, February 15: No School - President's Day
Thursday, February 18: Early Release (beginning at 1:30 PM)
Friday, February 26: No School - Wellness Day
Wednesday, March 3: Home & School Zoom (10 AM)
Monday, March 8: SAC Meeting (6:30 PM)
QUICK LINKS:
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The O'Reilly Minute
Dear Parents,

Thank you for celebrating Catholic Schools Week and our 25th anniversary with us! Please see the story and pictures below. It was great witnessing the students' thinking process about their lives 25 years from now. I am amazed at the generosity of our students with the quarter collection for Feed the Kids Columbus. At last count we have collected over $27,00! Our 8th-grade leaders did a great job encouraging and inspiring our students to give generously to help others.  

Our annual Spelling Bee will take place this Friday. The event will be live-streamed for the school and parents. It can be accessed at our parish YouTube channel here. More information can be found in the story below.

On February 17th, our students will be virtually attending the 9:00 am Ash Wednesday Mass. Later that afternoon Deacon Paul Zemanek will be holding a short virtual prayer service and explaining to the children how they will be receiving ashes this year. Under the guidance of Pope Francis we will be distributing ashes just as they do in Rome and most other non-English speaking countries. Please read this article to learn more about this practice. 
 
By Vatican News
The health situation caused by Covid-19 continues to force changes on daily life, 
which are also reflected in the Church’s sphere. Ahead of the beginning of Lent, 
on Wednesday, 17 February, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the 
Discipline of the Sacraments has published a note laying out the procedures 
Catholic priests around the world are to follow for the distribution of ashes at the start of Lent. 

Following Deacon Paul’s prayer service, each teacher with a pod will receive a container of blessed ashes to distribute to the children in his/her pod. This will be a wonderful opportunity for our children to begin Lent by praying together with their teacher and to witness this age-old tradition.
  
This coming Friday we will celebrate Valentine’s Day a few days early! Students and staff may have a red dress down day and will enjoy a special Valentine luncheon of heart-shaped pasta and meatballs!
Sincerely,
Kathy O'Reilly
Photo Newsletters - 7th & 8th Grades
Click the images below to view this week's photo newsletters and see what the classes have been up to.
Catholic Schools Week Recap & Photos
We had a great week celebrating Catholic Schools Week last week! Thank you to everyone for participating and sharing your enthusiasm for our Catholic schools. It was a great way to also celebrate our school's 25th year and Saint Brigid's Feast Day!

Students enjoyed raising money for Feed the Kids through our quarter collection, spearheaded by our eighth-grade leaders. We are excited to announce we raised over $2,700 for the Feed the Kids organization! This money will be used to help children in our community who are facing hunger and poverty.

The children also enjoyed feast day parties, a surprise snow day, Saint Brigid anniversary Bingo, dressing down in school colors, Saint Brigid read alouds, two days of favorite lunches, and ending the week with dressing as their profession in 25 years,

Click below to view an album with many photos from the week.
Spelling Bee - Livestream this Friday
Each year St. Brigid School participates in the Scripps National Spelling Program which starts at the Classroom Bee level, and ends with the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.

Our School Bee will be this Friday, Feb. 12th at 1:00 pm. The School Bee will be held in the church with only the spellers and judges present. The event will be live-streamed for the school and parents. It can be accessed at our parish YouTube channel here.

Even our Classroom Bees were extremely competitive this year! Both 4th grade and 7th grade needed several tie-breaker rounds to determine who would move on to the School Bee.

Here are the 2021 participants:

Grade 4 Winners:
J.J. Dula
Frankie Dziewiatkowski

Grade 4 Alternates:
Alivia Cox
Evelyn Heise

Grade 5 Winners:
Charlie Ferrara
Charlie Malerich

Grade 5 Alternates:
Olivia McCoy
Maddie Mifsud
Grace Murphy

Grade 6 Winners:
MJ Burns
Leighton Stuebe

Grade 6 Alternates:
Andrew Hayek
Fritz Oberhammer

Grade 7 Winners:
Tanishka Prabhu
Will Davis

Grade 7 Alternates:
Maren Reville
Marcos Miller-Carmona
Emily Mifsud

Grade 8 Winners:
Hannah Steube
Elizabeth McLaughlin

Grade 8 Alternates:
Jessie Musselman
Michael Tobias
Dispatch Article: Inspired by Catholic Education - Helping in New Ways
The following article about Bishop Watterson students creating their own volunteer opportunities during the pandemic appeared in the Columbus Dispatch on Monday.

The article features four current Bishop Watterson students, three of whom are Saint Brigid of Kildare School alum -- Kate Drab, Sofia Roncone, and Amelia Pepe.

We are proud of our alumni and the service work they are continuing into their high school years and beyond!
Monsignor Spiers Service Awards Announced - Three Alumni Included

Three of our alumni at Bishop Watterson High School have been honored with the Monsignor Spiers Service Award for the 2020-21 school year, announced as a highlight of Catholic Schools Week. Congratulations to Kate Drab, Madelyn Moore and Leo Pavell!
 
Congrats Alumni on Second Quarter Honor Roll
Congratulations to our many alumni at Bishop Watterson and St. Charles High Schools who are on the honor roll for the 2nd quarter.
Virtual Family Conferences
Virtual Family Conferences will be offered during the month of February.

These virtual family conferences are optional due to the fact that many parents and teachers have been communicating already this year. However, we want to make sure that the lines of communication are always open, and we offer this as a chance for families and teachers to discuss both academic progress and emotional well-being during these challenging times. 

Click the link below to find the link to sign up for a conference with your child's homeroom/pod teacher.
Vaccination & School Update Letter from Superintendent
Superintendent Adam Dufault has asked that all schools send the attached letter to their families with information on the vaccination of our staff personnel.
Schoolbelles Uniform Store Update
The next Schoolbelles sale will be February 14-15, 2021. Please make sure to register with them so that you will receive the sale notification. You can register at www.schoolbelles.com/register to receive direct notification of future sales and promotions.


Also, below is an excerpt from a letter from Schoolbelles President Bruce Carroll, which he has asked to be shared with school parents:

As you know we had to close our store in Dublin this past year due to COVID restrictions. We have not selected a new location yet but we are committed to reopening a Columbus area store before the Back-to-School season. We will make you and your partners aware of our new location as soon as we select one.
Parenting Workshop: New Resources
Thank you to those who attended our parenting workshop over the last few weeks!

The presenter, Sarah Buffie, Founding Director and Trauma Responsive Care Trainer of Soul Bird Consulting, has shared some additional resources from her presentations. Click below to view.

Resources from Workshops:
8th Grade Parents: BWHS News
Parents of eighth-grade students who are interested in attending Bishop Watterson High School should be aware of these upcoming dates:
Mom to Mom Lenten Study Starts February 18
Join Mom to Mom on Thursday afternoons for a Lenten book study with reflections on Searching for and Maintaining Peace by Fr. Jacques Philippe. All Moms are welcome to attend! The group will discuss questions such as… What area of life do you struggle with the most to maintain peace? How can I let Jesus act in me? What are the stumbling blocks that hinder Him from acting in me? God speaks in quiet places. What are the places where you can get quiet enough to hear God?

Click here for more details including the links to the podcasts and group Zoom meetings.
KofC Family Rosary
The St. Brigid Knights of Columbus would like to invite all families of the parish to join us for a virtual Rosary on Monday, March 1st from 7:00 PM to 7:30 PM.   This event will provide us an opportunity to celebrate the Lenten season as a community while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Don’t worry if you are new to or unfamiliar with the Rosary, all prayers will be screen shared electronically for convenience and ease of following along. 
 
Please use the link below and credentials to sign in:
 
Meeting ID: 815 2208 9287
Passcode: rosary
 
For additional questions please email [email protected].
www.stbrigidofkildare.com