Dear School of St. Mary Parents,

On Wednesday, February 13, the School of St. Mary had an engaging assembly entitled The Power of One . The Power of One is a skit-based production that provides a detailed overview of the bullying process. Students were shown various scenes that displayed the many roles of bullying (bully, target, bystander, upstander); types of bullying (physical, cyber, exclusion); types of bystander behavior (watching, cheering, ignoring); and proper actions that should be taken when bullying occurs.  The actors portrayed roles such as the bully, target and bystander, and taught our students what to do if they see someone being bullied. Students were taught to report the incident to an adult, walk the target away, or intervene when bullying is happening. During the show, student volunteers were asked to participate and play bystanders, to demonstrate solutions to bullying, and to discover the secret of the Power of One .  In the end, the lessons learned was that each and every one of us can help put a stop to bullying, and that all of us have the power to make a difference. It was truly an inspiring message that we hope our students will learn and put into effect.
In lieu of a Valentine's Day Party, our School of St. Mary Sixth grade students contributed to a very worthwhile community service project.  Our students watched a TV news clip on how much it meant to a Vietnam veteran to receive a thank you letter from a Sixth-grade girl during the war.  The soldier kept the thank you note with him for years and mentioned that it helped him through some dark days.   Following
the news clip, our students wrote Valentine's to the veterans at the James Lovell Federal Health Facility.  The facility houses hospitalized
  during active-duty veterans, temporary homeless veterans, those suffering mental illness, and long-term retired veterans requiring  care.  Sixth-grader Nicholas  Nassar then delivered the letters on behalf of the class to the Director of Community Services at the Lovell Facility for distribution to the veterans in North Chicago.  Thank you to our students for taking the time to make a difference i n the lives of many veterans, and to our Sixth Grade Team of Maribeth Carlini, Margaret Hogan, and Margaret Tazioli, along with our Room Parents, for setting this up. Great work everyone!

Developing  character strength  is essential to kids' overall growth and success - and, believe it or not,  kids can learn these key skills, including kindness, through media .  Of course, raising a kind kid takes a lot more than showing them good movies, but the films listed on the Common Sense Media website can spark conversations about kindness and why it's important. From learning to appreciate differences  to seeing the  importance of friendship , acceptance, and  tolerance , these movies might help inspire  random acts of kindness  in your kids:


This coming Wednesday, February 20, the School of St. Mary will be hosting a small Marriage Blessing in the Church of St. Mary, followed by a discussion with Judy Hehr.  Judy is a dynamic Catholic speaker
and author of the book Shattered.   I know Judy, her husband Bob, and their four children:  Carter, Chandler, Kennedy, and Kampbell personally. All four children attended St. Francis de Sales in Lake Geneva when I was Principal there.   I feel blessed to have had the privilege to have been their administrator and work with their family! Judy is unapologetically Catholic and a truly inspiring speaker. Her presentation will give you food for thought, while also being entertaining and engaging. If you can find time in your busy schedules to attend her presentation, I encourage you to do so.

Happy Presidents' Day and have a great three-day weekend!

Dave Wieters
Principal
What's Love Got to Do with It Speaker
Archdiocese of Chicago Tax Credit Scholarship
Save the date for the next Parent's Association Meeting
Buy your tickets now for the Hats Off to St. Marys Spring Event


Amazon Smile
AmazonSmile  is a website operated by  Amazon  with the same products, prices, and shopping features as  Amazon .com. The difference is that when you shop on  AmazonSmile , the  AmazonSmile  Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the School of St. Mary. 

To use amazon smile go to smile.amazon.com and then select School of St. Mary Lake Forest, IL as your organization of choice. Then just use amazon as you normally would you will be supporting the school without even thinking about it. 
 



Lake Forest High School: Parents Unofficial Guide to Freshman Year
Thursday, April 11
6:30 - 8:00pm
Raymond Moore Auditorium
Lake Forest High School East Campus
1285 N McKinley Rd.
Hosted by the Association for Parents and Teachers and Educational Services
Hot Lunch Orders
Please make sure you are placing your orders for hot lunch by clicking here .  We are happy to again be working with Kiddos Catering to bring our students hot lunches. For more information on our hot lunch program please read this story  from the AP about how they are changing school lunches.  If you need assistance with the Kiddos Catering program, please contact them  at support@kiddoscatering.com.
Crusader Cafe at Home Basketball Games
We are pleased to announce that at all home basketball games our Crusader Cafe  will be open for snacks and drinks. The cost ranges from 25 cents to a dollar for the items offered and all proceeds go back to the athletics programs. However, we can only run the Crusader Cafe with the help of our wonderful basketball parents.  If you would like to sign up to help us keep the cafe open please click  here .
Church of St. Mary Sacrament Schedule
Kids Heart Challenge 

Our school is thrilled to announce through our  Kids Heart Challenge program we are partnering with the  Chicago Bulls!
 
Students who collect donations using our school's Kids Heart Challenge website OR the Kids Heart Challenge app will have the opportunity to earn BOGO free tickets to Hoops Night on Saturday, March 23, 2019 and/or the Court of Dreams Experience from 2:00-4:00 before that evening's game!
 
TICKETS ARE LIMITED SO IF YOU WANT AN OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN US AT HOOPS NIGHT, ACT FACT!
All tickets must be purchased by February 28, 2019 and there is no limit to how many BOGO free tickets you purchase!
 
You can collect donations using our school's Kids Heart Challenge event website by going to  www.heart.org/kidsheartchallenge and search for our school name  ( https://youtu.be/g2QfIFvIaqE)or download the Kids Heart Challenge app from the app store on your iPhone or Android phone.  Once your student has reached their fundraising incentive level you will receive an email from the American Heart Association with a promo code and instructions.  Emails with promo code and instructions will be sent out once a week (on Friday), not immediately upon hitting the fundraising incentive level.
 
We hope to see you there!
 
 
** Tickets are limited.  Students are not guaranteed BOGO tickets or the Court of Dreams experience when they hit the fundraising incentive level.  Questions? Please contact Anthony Horton at  312-455-4160 or ahorton@bulls.com
School of St. Mary Calendar
February 18 - March 1

Monday, February 18
  • No School - Presidents Day
Tuesday, February 19
  • 3rd grade field trip to the Art Institute
  • UGC Mass at 9:00am at St. Mary Catholic Church
Wednesday, February 20 
  • Early Dismissal Day: PGC 2:00pm; UGC 2:19pm
  • Club photos taken at UGC during 1st period
  • PGC Mass at 9:00am at St. Patricks Church
  • 6th Grade Boys Basketball vs. St. Francis Xavier at 5:00pm
  • 7th Grade Girls Basketball at St. Francis Xavier at 5:00pm
  • 7th Grade Boys Basketball vs. St. Francis Xavier at 6:00pm
  • 8th Grade Girls Basketball at St. Francis Xavier at 6:00pm
  • 8th Grade Boys Basketball-Blue vs. St. Francis Xavier at 7:00pm
  • What's Love Got to Do with it talk with Judy Hehr at 7:00pm at St. Mary Catholic Church
Thursday, February 21
  • 6th Grade Boys Basketball at St. Norbert at 5:30pm
  • 8th Grade Girls Basketball at St. Norbert at 6:30pm basketball_closeup.jpg
  • 8th Grade Boys Basketball-White at St. Norbert at 7:30pm
Friday, February 22
  • 8th Grade Mass and Breakfast at St. Mary Catholic Church at 8:00am
  • 8th Grade Girls Basketball at St. Athanasius at 4:30pm
Saturday, February 23
  • 5th Grade Girls Basketball at St. Joan of Arc at 11:00am
Sunday, February 24
  • 3rd Graders attend Mass at 10:00am at St. Mary Catholic Church
Monday, February 25
  • 6th Grade Boys Basketball at OLPH at 4:30pm
  • 8th Grade Boys Basketball-White vs. OLPH at 4:30pm
  • 7th Grade Girls Basketball at OLPH at 5:30pm
  • 8th Grade Boys Basketball-Blue vs. OLPH at 5:30pm
  • 7th Grade Boys Basketball vs. OLPH at 6:30pm
  • 8th Grade Girls Basketball at OLPH at 7:00pm
Tuesday, February 26
  • UGC Mass at 9:00am at St. Mary Catholic Church
  • Open House at the Primary Grade Center at 9:30am
Wednesday, February 27
  • PGC Mass at 9:00am at St. Patricks Church
  • 4th Grade Field Trip: Milwaukee Public Museum 9:10-3:15pm
Thursday, February 28
  • Early Dismissal Day: PGC at 11:45; UGC at 12:15pm
  • Parent Teacher Conferences from 1-8pm at both the PGC and UGC
  • No Kiddos Catering Hot Lunch offered
  • No afternoon extended day offered at both the PGC and UGC
Friday, March 1
  • Normal Day of School
  • No Kiddos Catering Hot Lunch offered
          
    


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