"The education of children for God is the most important business done on earth."
|
From Mrs. Rowley
Happy Catholic Schools Week! We are off to a celebratory start. On Monday each student and staff member was given a wrist-band stating "I love St. Ambrose School" which they get to wear all week. On Tuesday we celebrated our students with a dress-down day, ice-cream and no homework! We also celebrated the talents of our drama club students with a play performed in the afternoon. Our week continued today with a celebration of our teachers and we are most grateful to the 8
th
grade for providing a delicious lunch for all of our staff. The week will continue with a celebration of our priests tomorrow, with a "vocations forum." And the week will end with a Blessing of the Throats on Friday (Feast of St. Blaise) and lunch with families. Our science fair will also take place on Friday.
Thank you to all of our wonderful parents tour guides and students ambassadors who helped with our open house on Sunday. We had a great turn-out and were so proud to show off our school. We also had a special guest when Fr. Fisher brought Bishop Matano from Rochester for a tour of the school. What an honor that was, and he was very complimentary.
Last Friday our 8
th
grade class joined with the parish youth ministry group and attended the March for Life. They first of all attended Mass and a Rally at Eagle Bank Arena on the campus of George Mason University and then went down to the Mall. What wonderful school ambassadors they are!
Thank you for all that you do to support our school - we are truly blessed!
|
 |
I'm In. Are You?
|
Spring Picture Day 2017
We will need 3 volunteers for the following photo day:
Candid photos for the yearbook will be taken as well as Sports Team/ Extracurricular club photos.
|
Community Corner
|
Faithbooking Retreat March 17-19, 2017
Faithbooking Retreat
March 17-19, 2017
Theme: Stones of Remembrance
Come and refresh your soul by gifting yourself this time of solitude.
Perhaps consider leaving a legacy by creating a Faithbook- which is a tangible, written expression of God's presence in your life. Choose the format that is right for you- a journal, digital story, or scrapbook.
Location San Damiano Spiritual Life Center, White Post, VA
Cost $280 through February 28, 2017; $300 after that date
2 nights in a private room, 3 meals on Saturday and 2 meals Sunday
3pm Friday through 3pm Sunday
Holy Mass will be celebrated Saturday evening.
|
|
Respect Life Infant Gift Basket Service Project ENDS THIS FRIDAY, February 3, 2017
The St. Ambrose Community in supporting the importance of "Respect Life" month will be collecting items for Infant Gift Baskets for the Tepeyac Family Center. Under the umbrella of Divine Mercy Care (DMC) a non-profit healthcare organization, the Tepeyac Family Center opens its doors to provide pregnancy healthcare to the poor and underserved. If possible, please join in helping others by donating any of the following (
new items, please):
- Newborn or Size 1 Diapers, wipes, rash ointment
- Sleepers, Onesies, outfit (male, female, gender neutral)
- Take Along Pack: baby shampoo, baby wash, baby lotion, baby powder, Destine, nourishing lotion
- Hooded towel with wash cloths
- Pacifiers, toys, rattles, bibs
- Bottles (small and large) (No formula/No food items)
- Nice baby blankets and receiving blankets
- Gift Cards, Cash or Check Payable to Divine Mercy Care (memo: Infant Gift Basket Fund or General Donation)
There will be boxes placed in the school foyer for donated items and any gift cards, cash or checks can be given to the front office or through the
Wednesday folder. If you have any questions regarding this service project please contact Clare Stalnaker at
clarestal@gmail.com. Thank you for your consideration!
|
|
From the Health Clinic
Mrs. Maureen Earner
It is no surprise that parents might need some help understanding what it means to eat healthy. It can be awfully confusing.
The good news is that you do not need a degree in nutrition to raise healthy kids. Following some basic guidelines can help you encourage your children to eat right and maintain a healthy weight.
Here are 10 key rules to live by:
-
Parents control the supply lines.
You decide which foods to buy and when to serve them. Though children will pester their parents for less nutritious foods, adults should be in charge when deciding which foods are regularly stocked in the house. Children will not go hungry. They will eat what is available in the cupboard and fridge at home. If their favorite snack is not all that nutritious, you can still buy it once in a while so they do not feel deprived.
Continue reading
here.
|
|
Last week in STEM Club we explored the idea of potential and kinetic energy. What is potential or stored energy? Can we build something with stored potential energy? Can we convert this stored energy into kinetic or movement energy? In STEM Club our answers to the above are a resounding yes! We decided to grasp these ideas of energy transformation by building catapults. Our students had a variety of materials to work with, including craft sticks, spoons, clothespins, rubber bands and binder clips. Most of our members chose to work with the rubber bands. In this case, our potential energy is an elastic energy; as the rubber bands are stretched we are increasing our potential to do work. Once the catapult is released, the energy becomes kinetic energy. This exercise also ties in Newton's Laws of Motion as well.
In our Kindergarten and 1
st
grade STEM Club on Thursday, we read "What Floats in a Moat?" by Lynee Berry. In the book, Archie (i.e. Archimedes) the goat wants to cross the moat. His friend, Skinny the Hen suggests they can just take the drawbridge. Archie counters and says "This is no time for a drawbridge. This is time for science!" They go on to build the SS Buttermilk, which sinks. They then built the SS Empty, which floated, but then rolled and tipped and goat fell into the moat. Finally, they built the SS Ballast, which sank and floated! This may be the best STEM club book we've read: funny lyrics to get the group going, great illustrations, and the underlying application of Archimedes principles throughout!
Afterwards we did a group experiment with an orange; will it sink or float? It will float. What if I peel the orange; will it still float? No, it sinks. This was a huge success and completely magical to the K and 1
st
graders. We didn't get into the depth of science of why, which relates to density, buoyancy and Archimedes principle, but the kids were excited and thinking, so we took the opportunity to conduct our own sink or float experiments.
The kids had a variety of objects: pennies, pinecones, Legos, spoons, etc. We even had a worksheet, were they had to take a guess or make a Hypothesis as to what would happen and then record what actually happened. This in itself was a great exercise at following directions as well as locating columns and rows on a chart. In the end, even items that started to float eventually sunk. Why? We had teams of 6-8 students and that many hands can always push an object way to the bottom of the water!
Click on the images to enlarge.
|
|
From the Editor
Please send in your submissions! I accept submissions from teachers, staff, and parents. If you know of something interesting going on in our community, or want to give a shout out to someone at the school, I'd love to add it to the Buzz. I especially enjoy pictures. Please contact
Mrs. Rowley to make sure that we have permission to publish pictures of every student in the picture and make sure the pictures are
less than 5MB. Submissions are due by
Mondays at 5pm. Thank you!
|
|
|
|
Next Meeting:
February 8th 7pm
|
|
Important Dates
(All events and important dates can be found on our website's Google Calendar!)
Thurs 2/2:
- Advanced Band Rehearsal 3:15p;15pm
- STEM for K-1st grade 3:15pm
- Set Up for Science Fair
Fri 2/3:
-
Science Fair Parish Center
- Drama Club 3:10pm
Mon 2/6:
- Strings Program 3:15pm
- Kolbe Kids 3:30pm
Tues 2/7:
- Choir 3:20pm
Wed 2/8:
- STEM Club for 2nd-8th grade 3:15pm
- PTO Meeting 7pm
|
|
-Think of ways to volunteer at the school?
-Tell a friend about the Amazon Associates Program?
|
Stay Connected
|
|
|
