St. Pius X / St. Leo School Newsletter
May 11, 2018
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WE
SAY THANK YOU TO VERY SPECIAL SPSL COMMUNITY MEMBERS!
It is hard at this time of the school year as we say goodbye to members of our SPSL community. We have faculty and staff, as well as a parish priest, who are retiring or leaving our school after many years of dedicated service to the young people of our school community. We are so grateful for their sharing of their time, talents and treasures with our SPSL community and they will be greatly missed.
Miss Pam Botos - Pre-K teacher
Mrs. Margie Dunlap - 4th grade TA
Mrs. Teri Goertzen -1st grade TA
Mr. Mychal Lanik - PE teacher
Mr. Dave Ludwig - Maintenance Dir.
Mr. Bob Nowaczyk - Development Dir.
Fr. Mike Eckley - St. Pius X Priest
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(Skutt Speech Meet participants)
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(Some Kindergarteners enjoying lunch in the classroom.)
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(Students who earned awards from the Catholic Math League Press.
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St. Pius X / St. Leo School is a diverse community forming students in the Catholic faith to excel in academics and service to others.
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2018-2019 SCHOOL YEAR
If your child(ren) will not be returning to SPSL for the 2018-2019 school year, please let us know by calling the school office at (402) 551-6667 or by emailing Kathy Graney at kathy.graney@spsl.net.
Please reference the school website for information pertaining to the new school year (e.g. calendar, supply list, used uniform sale) . The information can be found
here
.
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DISTRICT SPEECH COMPETITION
The following SPSL students participated in the District Level competition of the Woodmen Speech Contest in late April: Audrey Ehlers, Sophie Owens and Kenadie Rudloff.
Congratulations to Sophie Owens who placed first at the district level competition and competed at the state competition earlier this week. Way to represent SPSL!
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ARCHDIOCESAN MATH CONTEST
Students from 22 local Catholic Schools met at St. Robert Bellarmine School on Saturday, April 28 for the Archdiocesan Math Contest.
The following students competed:
4th grade - Johnny Kelly and Maeve Wharton
5th grade - Nathan Bluvas and Tommy Novotny
6th grade - Owen Jensen and Guiliana Weber
7th grade - Caleb Hans and Trevor Gregg
8th grade - Jack Drew and Josh Townely
Algebra I - Meg Raabe and Abby Wessling
In the individual competitions, these students earned ribbons: Maeve Wharton (6th place), Tommy Novotny (7th place), Nathan Bluvas (8th place), Jack Drew (10th place), Meg Raabe (5th place) and Abby Wessling (10th place). In the Algebra team competition, Meg Raabe and Abby Wessling won the third place trophy. Congratulations to all these students!
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GOLF TOURNEY
Have you registered for the 14th annual St. Pius X / St. Leo School golf tournament? The $90 entry fee includes an 18 hole golf scramble, cart, prizes, dinner & FUN! The golf tournament is Saturday, May 19 at the Knolls Golf Course, beginning at 1:00 pm.
Click
here
for the registration form. Please call Kim Ramsey at (402) 551-6667 with any questions. The deadline for registering is Monday, May 14.
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USED UNIFORM SALE
It's time to pack up the jumpers, skirts, skorts, pants, sweatshirts and even soccer shirts that your children have outgrown and prepare them for the SPSL Used Uniform Sale. Donations should be dropped off at Elizabeth Biggs' house at 6701 N 118 Ave by July 9. Call Elizabeth at (402) 253-4935 with any other questions. The used uniform sale will be held on Saturday, July 14th from 8:00 - 10:00 am at St. Leo Church.
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Duke University in Durham, NC sponsors a Talent Identification Program (T.I.P.) for seventh grade students. In order for a student to qualify, they must score at or above the 95%ile on the standardized Terra Nova Tests in the math, science, language, reading, social studies or total composite area. This past school year, 18 of our 64 seventh grade students (28%) met these criteria.
Nine of these students chose to take the ACT or SAT assessment that is primarily designed for above-average high school students in the eleventh and twelfth grades. Out of these
9 students, six of our students are invited to a State Recognition Ceremony at the University of Nebraska at Kearney this month for their outstanding work on these assessments. These six students (pictured here) are: Will Brewster, Katie Coppard, Trevor Gregg, Caleb Hans, Erin Lemar and Patrick McMahon. Erin Lemar also qualified for the Grand Recognition Ceremony at Duke University. Congratulations students!
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STUDENT COUNCIL
The members of the 2017-2018 SPSL Student Council are the following students: 5th graders - Brooke Banker, Margaret Hiatt and Connor Smith; 6th graders - Philip Drew, Izzy Johnson, Charlie Mangan and Gabe O'Doherty; 7th graders - Aiden Brink, Katie Peklo and Jasper Sobetski; and 8th graders - Michael Bope, Julia Nubel, Wyatt Walters and Kyle Yosten. Some of the activities the Student Council led include: the Pulsera Project, food drive collection, EPS baby bottle drive, paper drive and two pep rallies and spirit week and the brain break day. These students along with their coordinator, Miss Mary McGuire, were great leaders for our school. Thanks for leading us and showing us fun ways to help others.
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LAW ESSAY
Each year the Omaha Bar Association sponsors an essay contest on a selected issue covered by the United States Constitution. The topic this year was "Separation of Powers: Framework for Freedom". This competition is open to all eighth-grade students in the Omaha area. Students are limited to 250 words, and the top three essays are awarded $150, $125, and $100 respectively. We are proud to announce that our school had the top three essays in the city. The following students were recognized on May 1 at the Omaha Bar Association awards luncheon: Gigi Salerno - 1st place, Meg Raabe - 2nd place and Abby Wessling - 3rd place.
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OMAHA GIVES!
SPSL is excited to be participating in Omaha GIVES! again this year. The event will be held on Wednesday, May 23 from midnight to midnight, and you can start scheduling your donations today at
www.omahagives.org!
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OPEN HOUSE FOR THE 2018-2019 SCHOOL YEAR
Open House for Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade will be held on Tuesday, August 14, 2018. The Open House will be from 5:30 - 7:30 pm. The classroom lists will be posted near the classroom areas that evening for students to find out who their teacher will be for the 2018-2019 school year. Families are invited to tour the school, visit the classrooms, visit with teachers and purchase Jersey Mike's sandwiches in the school cafeteria. Sandwiches will be available from 5:30 - 7:30 pm. A percentage of the profits from the sandwich sales are given back to the school. Students may bring their school supplies to their homeroom either this night or the first day of school.
The first day of school for Grades K to 8 will be Thursday, August 16th. School will begin at 8:15 am and will dismiss at noon (no lunch served) on August 16th and 17th.
Students will attend school full days, 8:15 am until 3:25 pm, beginning on Monday, August 20th.
Three day and five day Pre-Kindergarten classes begin on Monday, August 20th. Two day Pre-Kindergarten classes begin on Tuesday, August 21st.
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NOTE TO PARENTS OF 5TH/6TH GRADE STUDENTS
Our 5th and 6th grade musical next November 15th will be "Madagascar Jr - A Musical Adventure".
Auditions are held in the morning before the start of the school day at 7:30 a.m. in the music room. The students MUST come to auditions if they want to be considered for a part in the musical. The audition dates and times will be: Tuesday, August 29th at 7:30 a.m. for 5th grade girls; Wednesday, August 30th at 7:30 a.m. for 5th grade boys; Thursday, August 31st at 7:30 a.m. for 6th grade girls; and Friday, September 1st at 7:30 a.m. for 6th grade boys.
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NOTES FROM THE NURSE
Our school nurse, Karen Bakewell, would like to say Thank You to all the volunteers that helped with the various screenings throughout the school year. The volunteers' help ensured that the screenings ran smoothly.
Just a reminder for students who will be in Kindergarten or 7th grade this fall - health physicals and updated immunization records are due to the school office before school begins in August.
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SAVE THE DATE!
Join us in celebrating St. Pius X / St. Leo School at our annual fall fundraiser. SPSL - Community of One will be held on Saturday, October 20 at Creighton Prep.
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CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOLS' SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
The following students were presented with scholarships on February
13th. Representatives from each of the high schools listed below presented the following students with academic scholarships:
Creighton Prep - John Burns, Jack Drew, Drew Jensen, Parker Mooney, Ethan Noon, Joshua Townley-Thomas and Will Wharton; Marian High School - Elleiana Green, Elizabeth Monzu and Meg Raabe;
Mercy High School - Josephine Romano, Danielle Stolze and Abby Wessling;
Mount Michael High School - Michael Kult and Wyatt Walters; Roncalli Catholic High School - Tre Bridgeford; and Skutt Catholic High School - Wistrom Herfordt. Congratulations to all of these students and their parents who support them in their academic endeavors!
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ROTARY AWARD WINNERS
Five of our 8th grade students were selected as Rotary Club Honor Roll students. This award is given to students in the 8th grade for their outstanding achievements in leadership, presence, scholarship and character. Every year it is difficult to choose these students since we are limited in the number we can choose and we have many who qualify for this honor. This year's worthy recipients of the Downtown Rotary Honor Roll Award were: Abbie Bluvas, Anthony Bope, Garang Mathiang, Parker Mooney and Josephine Romano. These students, pictured here with Principal Cory Sepich, were honored at a luncheon on May 10th at the CenturyLink Center. Congratulations for being selected for this prestigious award!
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FINE MOTOR SKILLS
Taylor Menolascino, Creighton student, who has been finishing her practicum in OT/PT here at St. Pius X / St. Leo School has written an article on fine motor skills. To view the article, click
here
. We were blessed to have Miss Menolascino in our building to work with our students. She has since wrapped up her time here and will graduate this month.
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SPSL SOCCER CLUB FALL 2018 REGISTRATION
Registration information is not yet available for Fall 2018. Please check the SPSL Soccer Club website often for information regarding sign up (
www.spslsoccer.com). The fall season games normally start after school commences in the fall and wrap up by the third week of October.
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THANK YOU
Thank you to all who provided delicious treats for faculty and staff birthdays this year. Your generosity is appreciated. The birthday treats were a HUGE success! Thank you to Connie Schartz for coordinating the weekly treats.
Also, thank you to the Straight from the Heart group for all of the support given to provide wonderful treats to teachers and staff throughout the school year. Special thanks to all of the families whose donations made these special days possible. Many thanks to Jen Naughton and Jenny ten Bensel for all their time spent in coordinating all of the Straight from the Heart fun days!
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THELMA M. LANDSTROM SCHOLARSHIP
The Thelma M. Landstrom Scholarship gives students who qualify an opportunity for a full ride to Marian High School. Candidates must shadow at Marian, qualify for admission through the placement exam, write an essay, and a provide a letter of recommendation from SPSL. Eighth grader Shantise Pearson is this year's recipient of this prestigious scholarship. Over the years, four students from SPSL have been award the Thelma M. Landstrom Scholarship.
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LIBRARY RESOURCES
We’re excited to announce a great resource for reading this summer: Capstone Interactive eBooks! This summer, Capstone is providing free access to thousands of ebooks that can be read from school, home, or on-the-go. These eBooks can be used with a laptop or desktop computer or an iPad. For more information on the eBooks, click
here
.
There are many other exciting resources available. Please access Mrs. Vogel's classroom page on the school
website.
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BUY C.A.R.E. FOR YOUR SUMMER NEEDS
Please remember to buy C.A.R.E. gift cards during the summer! It is great to have on hand for all of your travels, treats and necessities. Certificates are available for theatres, ice cream shops, gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and so much more! For a complete listing of C.A.R.E. cards, click
here.
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PARISH HAPPENINGS
St. Leo Parish will be hosting Vacation Bible School June 4-7 from 9:00 am - noon. All children from age four through 5th grade (in fall of 2018) are invited to attend. If you would like to register your child(ren), please complete the registration form (included
here
).
Both St. Pius X and St. Leo Parish are in need of volunteers for their parish festivals. St. Pius X will hold their festival on Sunday, June 3rd. To sign up to help with their event, please click
here
. St. Leo will hold their festival on Sunday, September 9th. To sign up to help with the September event, click
here
.
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RACE FOR EDUCATION
Our 2018 Race for Education was a fun event and a great success. If requested, sponsors were mailed a receipt for their gift from the school. SPSL families are encouraged to send a note of thanks to those sponsoring their children. For your list of sponsors, please email
michaela.smith@spsl.net
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MCS NEWS
Congratulations to Vince Grenier (tenor saxophone), Caleb Hans (trombone), Patrick McMahon (alto saxophone), Sam Newell (baritone), Ethan Noon (trumpet), Noah Peaslee (percussion) and Alex ten Bensel (baritone), who were members of the MCS Honor Band this school year. All of the SPSL band students performed in a concert on May 7th at St. Margaret Mary. Special mention for Ethan Noon who was selected and performed in the Blair Honor Band this past April. Many thanks to Mrs. Joan Lovgren for her time and dedication to the band students here at SPSL.
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SPEECH CLUB NEWS
The SPSL 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Speech Club had a successful season. Congratulations to all the Speech Club members for their hard work and victories! The results of the speech competitions can be found
here
. Thank you to Alums who helped the Club and to all the parent and family volunteers who helped make the season so successful. A special thank you to Miss Megan McAuliffe and Mrs. Jen Martinez for their awesome leadership of the Speech Club!
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Want to learn how the every day things you do – eating, reading, traveling, surfing the web, shopping, can earn money for St. Pius X / St. Leo School? Click here for a list of all our
on-going fundraising efforts.
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p:402.551.6667
f:402.551.8123
6905 Blondo St, Omaha, NE 68104
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