WOLFHOUND WEDNESDAY
November 18, 2020
First graders having fun playing in the fall leaves!
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The O'Reilly Minute
Dear Parents,

This week at school we are talking about being grateful and joyous! Our students have been invited to put a note into our Gratitude basket sharing their thoughts. I will be sharing some of these each day during morning announcements. We just started the project yesterday and already many notes of thanksgiving have been placed in the basket. The notes are sweet, insightful and thought provoking. Our students continue to amaze me each and every day!!!

Here are a few thoughts from some of our 7th grade students.

  • I am thankful that we all get to be together during a time when a lot of people are struggling. Also that politically and in general people are trying to make the world a better place.
  • What I am thankful for this crazy year is for us to be in school. I do a lot better when I am able to read, write and discuss in person. I think online school is organized and it helps some of my friends. I know coming to school is risky but if we follow COVID protocols we won’t shut down.
  • Thankful for family, laughs and happiness. All of my teachers and for school. For God. For all of my parent’s clients who keep my parents working and making money for our family.
  • Clean water, teachers, books, healthy family, medicine food and shelter
  • God, my family, my friends, my country and my dog!  
Our teachers and staff are hanging their notes of gratitude and thanksgiving on our Gratitude Wall. One of the things our staff, myself included, are thankful for is the support of our wonderful school community. Your positive and supportive response to “Wellness Breaks” is appreciated. Our teachers and support staff returned to school on Monday after the long weekend refreshed and energized and ready to be their best for their students!  

The research on the correlation to mental health and wellbeing and expressing gratitude is summed up in an article published by Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Here is an excerpt from the article….

People who regularly express gratitude for the positive things in their life are shown to be happier overall, leading to lower rates of stress and depression. Showing gratitude can make you more optimistic. Studies show that those who express gratitude regularly appear to have a more positive outlook on life.

This year Thanksgiving will be more important than ever as we take time to reflect and to be thankful. Normally this is a time of celebration in which we all gather with family and friends. This year perhaps the best way to show gratitude is to visit virtually. I know my family is planning on having virtual dessert together!

Quickly following Thanksgiving is the beginning of Advent. Advent is a time of waiting and anticipation. This year we are sending home a family Advent booklet titled “A New Light Shines”. We decided to purchase this book for each of our families to help support your efforts for celebrating Advent and preparing for Christmas during a pandemic. The introduction to the booklet states that we have been living Advent all year. As we waited for schools to reopen and watched every fever and cough that came our families’ way, we prayed. We lit candles. We began new family traditions. Our priorities have shifted. Our celebration of Advent and Christmas may change, but the true meaning Advent and Christmas won’t. We still wait and we will still celebrate the birth of our Savior.  

Your children will be bringing home this booklet next Tuesday. If you have multiple children, you will be receiving multiple books. Perhaps your family would like to spread Advent joy by sharing your extra books with extended family or friends. This could be a family discussion to make a plan about who to invite to join your family in Advent prayer and reflection. 

Gratefully,
Kathy O'Reilly
Photo Newsletters - Kindergarten and 1st Grade
Click the images below to view this week's photo newsletters and see what the classes have been up to.
Home & School Announcement
We would like to announce the upcoming 2021-2022 Home & School Vice Co Chairs: Anne Flock and Sherri Johnson. With several years of experience as parent volunteers, we look forward to welcoming them to this leadership role!

Blessings,
Joey, Nancy, Jen, & Leila
When and How to Quarantine?
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Cases of COVID-19 are on the rise in our community and in the world around us. Until an effective treatment or vaccine is readily available, quarantining is one of the best methods to control the spread of the Coronavirus. Quarantining is defined as isolating oneself from others. When and How to quarantine effectively become key to its success.

When to Quarantine:
  • Precautionary - when potential is high that you could contract and then share the virus (ie, prior to visiting grandparents or those with health conditions) or following travel to an area designated as a “hotspot” by the Ohio Department of Health/travel advisory (14 days)
  • Exposed - when you learn that you have been in close contact (< 6 ft. for > 15 minutes cumulative time) with someone infected by the virus (14 days)
  • Infected - when you or household members have symptoms or test positive for the virus (at least 10 days, no fever, and improving symptoms)

How to Quarantine:
  • Remain in a designated area of your home for the incubation period of the virus (10-14 days for Coronavirus).
  • Wear a mask in your house unless alone in your room.
  • Monitor yourself for symptoms of COVID-19.
  • Do not share a bedroom/bathroom/living area with others.
  • Remain in your room for meals using your own dishes/utensils.
  • Do not leave your home unless seeking medical care/testing.
  • No school, sports, activities, shopping.

Please reach out to your physician or school nurse, or consult: CDC.gov or Coronavirus.ohio.gov with any questions, or if help is needed. Take care!
Christmas Gift Sign Up for Teachers & Staff
Its that time of year again and Home & School will be celebrating the amazing staff at St. Brigid with a fun holiday theme, treats and special goods each week in December. In a year full of craziness, we are even more thankful for our caring and giving teachers and staff! Please sign up for as much or as little as you are able and help us to show our deepest appreciation for our deserving teachers and staff! We really appreciate the help! The staff love these little ´extras´ and are always so appreciative! Thank you!

****This is not to replace the Gifts of Gratitude donation! We want to take care of our teachers as much as they take care of our kiddos!****
New Spiritwear Items Added for Christmas
The Spiritwear store opens TODAY through November 29.
 
Items will ship 12/14 and will be available for for pick up on 12/14 and 12/15 by appointment or regular store hours beginning 12/16. 

Shop the new items at the link below!
Online Book Fair -- Books Delievered Before Christmas!
* Dates: Monday Nov. 16th - Monday, November 23rd

* Great selection for preschool through high school

* 25% of profits go back to St.Brigid

* Questions? mrs.desocio@stbrigid-school.org
Advent & Christmas at St. Brigid of Kildare
St. Brigid of Kildare Parish will be celebrating Advent & Christmas many ways (many of them virtual) for 2020. Click below to visit the parish website and see a full list of Advent & Christmas activities.

Please note that reservations will be required to attend a Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or New Year's Day Mass. Reservations will be live on the parish website (at the link below) at 9 AM on December 1.
Knights of Columbus 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, December 7th from 7:00PM to 7:30PM.  This event will provide us an opportunity to celebrate the Advent 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 shared electronically for convenience and ease of following along. Please use the link below and credentials to sign in:


Meeting ID: 870 5078 3647
Passcode: rosary

For additional questions please email family@stbrigidkofc.org.
Family Holiday Conversations
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Ask better questions and talk about what matters!

Whether you are safely gathering in-person or online this holiday season, holiday gatherings can be a great opportunity for authentic and meaningful conversations with the pre-teens, teens, and emerging adults in your life.

The Fuller Youth Institute suggests a two-question approach. In other words, follow up a question with another question. This approach shows your interest in a young person and increases your chances of having a real conversation rather than it feeling like they've been cornered into a pop quiz. Win-win!

Not every conversation prompt will work for every relationship, and you can probably think of even better questions. All we know is that you want to talk with young people, and they want to talk with you (it is true!). Here's a place to start:

  • How’s school going? ... Who’s your favorite teacher/professor? ... How come?
  • How are you staying connected with your friends? ... Tell me about the friend you’ve felt closest to during the pandemic.
  • What bands are you listening to the most these days? ... How would you describe their music and how it resonates with you?
  • What’s your favorite show right now? ... What do you like about it?
  • What’s been the most challenging part about this year? ... Where do you feel like you need the most support?
  • What apps do you use most on your phone? ... what makes them most useful for you?
  • How have you been able to connect with a faith community? ... What’s been the best [or the hardest] part of that?
  • What’s one of your favorite holiday memories from growing up? ... Why do you think it was so significant to you?
  • What did you think about the election? ... What issues were most important to you or your peers?
  • If you could travel right now, where would you go? ... Who would you want to travel with? Why?
  • Who do you feel understands your life the most? ... What qualities do they have that you admire?
  • What do you like and dislike about how we’ve been communicating this fall? ... What can we try differently for next season?
  • Remember that these aren’t formulas. They’re just simple ways for you to get beyond the first question-and-answer exchange.

Definitely be ready to answer these questions yourself, as they'll likely ask you the question in return.

Whether you’re sitting at the same table or Zooming together across miles, these are moments when connection and memories are made. Everybody wants that.
Reduce Your Tuition with Your Christmas Shopping
St. Brigid invites all school families to earn tuition rebates through the Shop with Scrip Program. Simply order gift cards from more than 300 retailers and receive a portion of the purchase price as a tuition credit for the 2021-22 school year. Participating families purchase gift cards at face value. St. Brigid receives these gift cards at discount (with a rebate ranging from 1 to 20 percent). One hundred percent of the rebate is returned back to each participating family.

There is a new mobile app – RaiseRight – that makes it even easier for families to use the MyScrip program while on the go.

Following are resources with more information about the program:
  • Details on the program and how to create your own account
  • Information on the program’s new mobile app RaiseRight, which makes it even easier to use the program on the go
  • 2020-21 calendar with the deliver days for traditional, non-electronic cards

If you have questions or need more information, please contact program co-chairs:
  • Christine Drab at cadrab@gmail.com
  • Susan Moreland at srfcmoreland@gmail.com
Congrats Alumni on First Quarter Honor Roll
Congratulations to our many alumni at Bishop Watterson and St. Charles High Schools who are on the honor roll for the 1st quarter.
BWHS Virtual Open House
Bishop Watterson’s traditional fall open house has gone virtual for 2020 and all are invited! Our Virtual Open House, available 24/7, offers an opportunity to hear from Deacon Chris Campbell, our principal, and learn about topics such as school counseling, college counseling, campus ministry, athletics, performing arts, service, student wellness, finance and scholarships and our Dominican Program. Don’t miss the virtual tour of our campus or the Zoom panel with current BWHS students! Start your “visit” by clicking to tell us about your potential Eagle and to be added to our communication list!
Upcoming PERC Dublin Programming
From tots to teens: What we know about parent involvement in organized sport and how it may change in a post-COVID America

November 30, 2020, 6:00- 7:00 PM

Dr. Travis Dorsch is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies with an adjunct appointment in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science at Utah State University. Dr. Dorsch’s research lies at the intersection of these areas, and is specifically targeted at understanding the impact of parent involvement in their children’s sport participation, the role of sport participation on family relationships and parent-child interaction, and the outcomes of parent support and pressure in youth and adolescent sport contexts. Dr. Dorsch’s research findings have been highlighted in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and TIME Magazine and are used by youth sport leagues, administrators, and parents to construct more developmentally appropriate sport contexts and to evaluate the role of parent involvement in organized sport.
Protecting God's Children (PGC) Zoom Sessions 
The Diocese of Columbus will be offering the following Protecting God's Children (PGC) training sessions via Zoom.

  • Thursday, 12/3 at 6:00 pm at Martin de Porres Center
  • Monday, 12/14 at 6:00 pm at St. Matthews

Please visit www.virtus.org for registration and meeting instructions. Click on First-Time Registrant, View a list of sessions, chose Columbus, OH (Diocese) - to see the current offerings.

Potential volunteers with children and youth must also complete a volunteer application, signed code of conduct, copy of photo ID, and submit to a criminal background check. Full details and forms can be found at https://stbrigidofkildare.org/safe-environment/ or contact Stacey Nerone, Safe Environment Manager at snerone@stbrigidofkildare.org.