VBS Summer 2016
Welcome to  Cathletics!!!
 
Cathletics is the name of the summer Vacation Bible School here at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Parish.
 
"CATHLETES" age 4 - 6th grade are here to train to become
Champions for Christ! 
 
We are more than just athletes, we are Cathletes who train our spiritual muscles as well as our bodies...all while having a lot of fun!
 
Our Head Coach is the Lord Jesus Christ, 
the greatest of all Champions!
 
This daily email will tell parents and guardians a  little  bit about the goals and achievements of all your young Cathletes, while also giving you a glimpse of what they experienced each day.
 
Remember to check the end section for updates and reminders for tomorrow!

Monday, June 13th, 2016 
 
TODAY'S GAME PLAN:
A focus on the Greatest Commandments!
 
Today at each of our stations, we had fun learning about the Greatest Commandments. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.... And love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39)
 
We need to remember that we are all a part of a team: God's Team. We all have the same GAME PLAN: our game plan is learning to LOVE. Our focus today was on the greatest commandments: to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
 
What we did today at the 5 FAITH STATIONS:
What an amazing first day! You could feel the excitement and energy coming from all the kids, and they all looked amazing in their shirts!  From singing and learning the routines in music, to studiously listening to the bible stories, racing in the games, diligently doing crafts,  questions being enthuastically answered at community corner, to relaxing during snacks, the atmosphere was electric and all participants were being true "Champions for Christ"!

1) COMMUNITY CORNER
 
Virtue Of The Day : Excellence
 
We are learning to say "I'm a Champion for Christ" in Portuguese, the language of Brazil. We saw photos and learned fun facts about the Christ Redeemer Statue in Rio. We did a demonstration to show us what the virtue of excellence means to God.

Saint Of The Day: Saint John Paul ll
 
Today the Kids learned how St. John Paul II was very athletic and loved to play sports especially soccer and snow skiing.  He taught us what excellence and love really mean.

2) BIBLE STORY
Today's Bible Verse:
 
"For I know well the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to give you a future full of hope..."  Jeremiah 29:1
 
At Bible Story, we learned our first "Bible Verse of the Day Song".  We also had a lesson to help us reflect what our relationship is like with the greatest champion: Jesus. As we learned about the Greatest Commandments, it was clear that the ultimate goal of our lives is to LOVE by first giving glory to God in all we do by following His commands; and to love others as a way to please God by imitating His Son Jesus Christ in our behavior toward one another.  Because we love God above all else, we want to be with Him forever in Heaven! 
 
TODAY'S PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we ask you to bless our Cathletics VBS as we learn what it means to become Champions for Christ. Teach us how to make the great Commandments our #1 goal each day: to love You with all our heart, soul and mind.....and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Amen
3)  MUSIC STATION

Our VBS theme song is "Champion for Christ."
 
We also learned another song called, "King of All."  Ask your child to sing and do some of the actions to these songs.  Your child has received a Music CD of the songs they will learn this week, so that the experience of this VBS will remain in their heart all year long.
4)  CRAFT STATION

Students in Pre-K - 2nd grade made a "Commandments Banner"
 
Students in Grades 3 and 4 completed a "Group Project", searching for solutions when problems arise with friends and neighbors.

              Have your child show them the craft they made today!

5) SNACK & GAMES STATION

To kickoff the VBS "Cathletics" the kids participated in an Olympics-themed game of  "Pass the torch" Relay Race... because we are to be lights for Christ as we run the race of life!

Snack of the Day was Snyder's Mini Pretzels and Bananas.

GetREAL
 
What is GetReal???

GetReal is our special program for 5th and 6th graders only!  Although the participants follow the same theme and Catholic teachings as the younger kids, the GetReal Program is run by our Youth Minister, Sara Sheerin (15 year veteran) along with several high school volunteers.
GetReal offers a more age-appropriate curriculum for our older VBS kids, and they even have their own "space" up in the decorated library!  
 
Very special guest teaching with Sara this year is our visiting archdiocesan seminarian from Rome, Joe Heschmeyer!  
 
What a great start to Get REAL!  Today we were broken into our teams and we worked on coming up a country name for our team....it is the Olympics after all.  We did a few "Get to Know You" activities with the whole group and just our small groups.  We broke down the story of Noah and the Flood and learned what it means to follow God's Game Plan for our lives. 

After that we had a snack a watched a silly skit just for fun.  At the end of the day we worked on our "country flag" which we will work on and carry proudly throughout the week.
2016 VBS MISSION PROJECT
 
Be A CHAMPION FOR CHRIST and support one (or both) of our Mission Projects!

OUR LADY OF UNITY Sporting Goods Drive:
 
We are collecting sports equipment for our Companion in Faith parish, Our Lady of Unity in Kansas City, KS.

If you have not already done so, you may pick a flag with the name of a particular piece of sports equipment.  Please bring the new or "like new" item by the end of VBS week.
 
CATHOLIC CHARITIES FOOD BANK Summer Dry Goods  Donation:
This year's competition between classes will be to see which grade can bring in the most of the basic items. Although these items are listed on particular days, donations are appreciated and accepted all week!

Monday  - Dried Beans
Tuesday - Rice
Wednesday - Pasta
Thursday - Pasta Sauce
Friday - Cereal

We had a great start to our Mission Project. Many thanks to all who participated. The Catholic Charities food bank will be feeding the hungry with your contributions!
 
The item for collection today was dried beans. Here are the results of the competition between the grades:   
Gold medal Winners  - A TIE!  Kindergarteners and 3/4TH Graders - 15 Packets each
Silver medal Winners - Pre -K  - 12 Packets
Bronze Medal Winners -  2nd graders - 11 packets
Great showings from Get Real - 9 packets, and 1st grade - 6 packets

Tomorrow we will be collecting rice. If you forget to bring something one day, feel free to drop it off the next day!
 
Donated items may be dropped off in the labeled bins in the cafeteria as you enter VBS each day.   Please place items in appropriate bin/box labeled with your child's grade.  THANK YOU!

 

 

FAMILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

 

Parents are  the first and foremost Catechists of their children...both a huge honor and responsibility!   Help your child(ren) to get the most out of their VBS experience by following up at home or in the car with a couple of these sample questions:

 

 

*   What was the best thing that happened to you today?

 

*   Tell me one thing you learned from The Bible?

 

*   What are some areas in your life where you need to practice the virtue      of EXCELLENCE?    

 

*   What was your favorite station?: Games? Snacks? Crafts? Music?            Bible Story? Community Corner?  Why was that your favorite?  

 

*   What was the Opening Skit about?

 

*  Who was the Saint of the Day?

 

*   When did you feel the closest to God today?

 

*   When did you make God most proud of you today at VBS?

 
Parent to Parent note FROM THE DIRECTORS
 
Lisa Comfort and Jessie Mallicoat are our fantastic VBS Directors this year!  "We are so excited to spend the week with your children!  Our hope is that they have fun, learn a little bit, and strengthen their relationship with Christ."  --Lisa & Jessie
 
St. Michael the Archangel Staff Liaison is  Shawna Davidson, Coordinator of Religious Ed.
During VBS week, please call Shawna's cell at (913) 669-8288 for immediate assistance.  

 
  1. Mission Project - Don't forget to bring the bags of rice. Also, all week we are accepting the sports equipment donations for Our Lady of Unity from the "flags" you may have chosen.
  2. Shirts- Have you kids wear their VBS shirts all week.  (We would love to seen the kids wear them for Mass this Sunday too!)
  3. Family Picnic Friday - Look out for the email invitation and please RSVP by Wednesday as we will need a count for the food.  Thank you!