Parent Bulletin
May 21, 2020

 MR. FITZ'S BLOG
I realize we are in a unique time with mandated home-supported learning that requires students to be in front of a screen for much of the day. But if you follow what I am about to say, I am not knocking technology or telling you to get your kids off their computers. I am knocking unsupervised use of technology by children and telling you to get your kids off of smart phones.

The nationwide average age that children are given their first smart phone is now age 10. I don't mean to be vulgar here, but would a parent give a 10 year old an X-rated video to watch? How about waiting until the child is 13 - is it now okay? Of course not. But when a child is given a smart phone, a parent is actually giving him/her access to a computer that is seconds away from seeing the most offensive and indecent images, and images that can never be erased from the child's memory. A child being given a smart phone is as if a porn-shop is being installed in his/her pocket. Free pornography has just become immediately available and anonymous. 

The average child is first exposed to pornography by the 5 th grade. Prior to the age of cell phones and the internet, this initial-exposure age was much higher. Besides the obvious immorality of pornography, kids are simply unprepared to distinguish the messages they encounter in porn and understand the feelings that emerge when they see actions that are disturbing and incomprehensible. This isn't like a generation ago when a young boy would catch a peek at a so-called “men’s magazine.” What is out there on the internet for today's generation is easier for kids to see - be it by accident or on purpose - and ten times as disordered.
 
If a parent says, "But my kids need their own phones in cases of emergency when they are waiting to be picked up from soccer practice or walking alone to the library after school," that's understandable. And that's why, if this is the reason you want to give your child a cell phone, give them one that isn't "smart" and can’t access the internet, as explained here . Wise parents will give their kids "dumb" phones, not smart phones. Cell phones that can't access the internet work fine for communicating with parents, family, and friends.
 
Besides wanting their children to be "safe" by giving them smart phones in the case of the soccer practice or walk to the library after school, the other reason parents give for why they buy phones for their kids is because it's how preteens and teens communicate. It's kind of the "everyone is doing it" reason. Well, every child is doing it because parents are allowing them to, by facilitating and funding this addiction to texting, gaming, and unfortunately, probably porn-viewing. I know there are St. Louise parents who do NOT give their kids phones. You won't be alone if you choose to stand firm and tell your children that they will have to wait until they get a job and can pay for their own phone.

Besides the X-rated worries, another worry about allowing children to have smart phones is we are raising a generation of people who have poor social skills. Your kids need to experience real life, not virtual life on social media. Perhaps without devices in every family member's hands, you'll be able to have a family dinner with everyone at the table actually participating in face-to-face conversations! How radical would that be?! Watch this interesting test  done on families where they stopped having devices out at dinner time.
 
Remember, no child has ever been morally or emotionally improved by being given a cell phone, or by having ongoing access to Snapchat, Fortnite, or crude videos on YouTube or TikTok. Conversely, every child to some degree has been harmed by being handed their own smart phone and/or exposed to these apps or websites. There are some studies that have shown kids who spend more than three hours a day on social sites are twice as likely to develop mental health issues. Other studies consistently show that social media is detrimental to a child's happiness and well-being.
 
Thank you for taking this blog in the spirit in which it was written - not for the purpose of chastising you parents, but out of concern for your children. I was one of those parents who had a 7th grader begging for his own cell phone. My wife and I told him no; he'd have to wait. He "hated" us then. I asked him now as an adult how he remembers that time, and he told me it was smart for us to not give him a phone when he was in middle school, and when he has his own kids, he said he's going to be just as firm.

I am urging you to educate yourself on how to make smart parenting decisions, by clicking on links I’m going to suggest below. Then, once educated, please set up strict rules for your family for computer and phone use, and please teach your child to make safe and moral internet and screen-time choices.
 
Remember, if you don’t have a filtering/blocking-type of program installed on every cell phone, video game console, tablet, or computer your child has access to, you are allowing your child to open the door of the virtual strip club and peek inside.


Setting up parental controls on a child’s cell phone:


Products to consider purchasing to create safety for your kids online:


Recommended summer reading for parents:
  • Be the Parent, Please: Stop Banning Seesaws and Start Banning Snapchat - by Naomi Schaefer Riley
  • Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today’s Young Kids - by Kristen A. Jenson and Gail Poyner
  • Take Back Your Kids: Confident Parenting in Turbulent Times - by William Doherty
  • Childhood Unbound: Authoritative Parenting for the 21st Century - by Ron Taffel
  • The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups - by Leonard Sax
  • Cleaning House: A Mom’s 12-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement - by Kay Wills Wyma
  • How to Raise Kind Kids and Get Respect, Gratitude, and a Happier Family in the Bargain - by Thomas Lickona
  • 30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family - by Rebecca Hagelin


HAPPY FEAST OF THE ASCENSION!


MR. FITZ

p.s.
Graduation of our 8th grader Class of 2020 WILL take place as scheduled - on June 3. We will live-stream the Baccalaureate Mass that morning at 9AM. We hope all school families, not just our 8th grade families, will tune in and watch the Mass. Then the evening of June 3, we will have a "drive-up" Graduation Ceremony in our school parking lot. This will allow our 8th grade families, in the safety of the vehicles, to participate in commencement in person, not virtually, and watch their children walk up to receive their diplomas. Because of the limited parking, this evening ceremony is only open to 8th grade families. Thanks for saying a prayer that God will bless our graduates, and that these students will in turn move into the bigger world and bless others with the knowledge and skills they have learned at St. Louise.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS

Today
  • No online-learning will take place today.
  • Students are asked to focus today solely on the Walk-E-Thon; use today to accumulate a lot of minutes exercising and moving; use today to contact neighbors and extended family members and ask for their support as you walk and exercise for St. Louise; they can give HERE.

Sunday, May 24
  • Feast of the Ascension of Jesus: Celebrate the Son returning to the Father!
  • The Walk-E-Thon ends! Please have your child's walking and exercising minutes uploaded HERE; please have all donations submitted HERE.

Monday, May 25
  • Memorial Day: God Bless Our Fallen Heroes!
  • No online-learning this day.

Saturday, May 30
  • Saturday Spruce-Up of the grounds from 8AM-12PM. (See the article below.)

Monday, June 1
  • Donations due from current school families for their 2020 Auction procurements.
  • Only specialists' lessons are on the schedule for today; homeroom teachers will not be sending any assignments or holding any online-lessons today; instead, this is a bonus day for specialist classes in computers, art, PE, and music; the specialists will be emailing families with today's lessons, and any assignments are to be worked on and completed today
  • The school is open today from 7:00AM-5:00PM; grade PK-6 families are asked to come to school to:
  • clean out desks or lockers;
  • find lost and found sweaters and jackets;
  • bring home PE shoes;
  • gather the summer-work packets the teachers have prepared for all current PreK-7th grade students;
  • pick up your Yearbook (if you ordered one);
  • drop off your CYO volleyball, basketball, soccer jerseys;
  • drop off a gift for your teacher (if you would like to gift him/her).

  • NOTE: Grade 7 families do not come to school today; they will sign-up for a check-out time on June 9 or 10; Grade 8 families only come to school today if they signed-up for a specific time

Wednesday, June 3
  • Class of 2020 graduates today! Watch our live-streamed Baccalaureate Mass at 9:00AM on the parish website


CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE SCHOOL CALENDAR HERE
Walk-E-Thon Ends this Sunday
Your kids still have a few days left to log in hundreds of minutes of exercises and movements for the Walk-E-Thon! S tarting this Sunday, May 24, please enter your child’s total minutes walked and exercised since May 11, on this online log .

Also starting Sunday, please have your friends and family complete their donations to https://app.99pledges.com/fund/StLouiseWalkethon . Remember that pledge donations are eligible for corporate matching!

If you have questions on logging minutes or collecting donations, please look HERE or contact the Walk-E-Thon chairs, Ann/Eugene/Jim/Cari .

A reminder that today, Thursday, is our final Spirit Day, so if your child is wearing a "Fancy Facemask," please send a photo or video today via this form .

There will be prizes given in the coming days for:
❖ Most Creative School Spirit (from those submitted photos and videos)
❖ Most Active Student (per minutes of activity in each grade)
❖ Most Money Raised (throughout the school)
❖ Most Active Grade (highest percentage of students who complete at least 180 minutes of activity)

Thanks for joining in the fun of the Walk-E-Thon - helping to raise spirits and raise funds!
Expect a Letter from Charger Cards
Next week, the Charger Cards team will be postal mailing each school family with their contribution/rebate status. This will help you know what amount you will need to please pay to fulfill your 2019-20 Charger Cards commitment.

As you know, each school family has a required minimum $125 contribution/rebate to make by June. (The exception is for a family who opted-out of participating in Charger Cards on their participation form , and instead paid cash.)
 
When you receive your personal contribution/rebate status letter in the mail, you will know if your family will need to pay a fee to make up the difference between the $250 opt-out payment and how much in contribution/rebate you’ve already earned. For example, if a family’s purchases of Charger Cards so far has earned the school a contribution of $50, and the family can’t foresee buying enough cards by June 1, to earn another $75 in contribution/rebate, they would need to pay $200 cash. 

If after receiving your status mailing next week you have questions, please email Marsha at chargercards@stlouiseschool.org . 
8th graders Ann and Lauren enjoyed logging in lots of minutes walking for the Walk-E-Thon last Saturday.
Only a Few Weeks Remain to Fulfill Commitments for 2019-20
Thank you during this unique time we find ourselves in this spring to still make sure you are fulfilling your commitments to St. Louise School. Families are expected by June to:


1) VOLUNTEER 40 hours or pay a $19.50 per-hour fee in lieu of hours less than 40; please read the next article below for more information on completing your volunteer hours;


2) Donate to the 2020 AUCTION with a minimum $225-value donation or procurement (for returning families only); see the Auction article above for more information;


3) Purchase CHARGER CARDS so to accumulate a minimum $125 profit/rebate to the school or pay $250 cash to buy-out of participating; please go HERE to remind yourself of what you committed to;


4) Participate in the WALK-A-THON with cash donations (no minimum amount required this year for our transformed "Walk-E-Thon"); please click HERE for Walk-A-Thon info;


5) Donate to the 2020 ANNUAL SCHOOL GIFT CAMPAIGN HERE ; please contact Cindy Wagner if you have questions;


6) Be consistent financial STEWARDS of your Catholic parish if paying the contributing-parishioner tuition rate; more information on St. Louise Parish may be found HERE .


If you have questions, please direct them to the head of each program/event or to Mr. Fitzpatrick. Thank you for fulfilling your commitmnts in support of St. Louise!
Final Call for Volunteer Hours and/or Volunteer Fee
We really appreciate the volunteering of St. Louise parents! As you know, the minimum amount of volunteering we ask of each school family is 40 hours. If it looks like you'll be falling short of 40, you have two options:

1. Donate a fee in lieu of hours, by giving $19.50 per hour for every hour you'll be under the minimum 40. (So if you have 30 hours completed, you would pay $195.00). You may pay for your volunteer hours in lieu of volunteering by going HERE .

2. Get in those final hours of volunteering by helping with some of the following needs (or with other jobs you know your teacher or a staff member needs help with)....


We could use more Mentor families - current school families who would be assigned a newly enrolled school family to contact from May to August to answer their questions, such as how to purchase school uniforms or what volunteer opportunities you suggest. Once it's okay to get together later this summer, as a Mentor family you would find a time to set up a playdate with your child and other kids in the class with the new family, as you would be assigned a newly enrolled family to mentor who has kids your same age. This is a great act of service, and we could use more Mentors! Please contact Daisy Mendes or Laura Bonner , our Mentor program co-chairs, if you would be able to mentor a new school family this summer. Note: The hours you foresee putting in to mentor over the summer can be applied to this 2019-20 year if you need more hours in order to fulfill this school year's 40 hour commitment.


Most years, your children help us wipe-clean the inside and outside of their desks during the last week of school. If we have any parents out there who could come into school anytime between June 2-5 to help with cleaning a classroom or two of student desks, it would be a big help to the teachers! We'll supply you with cleaning supplies; you just need to put in a few hours of "elbow-grease." If you can help with this simple cleaning, please contact Mike Fuerte and suggest a date and time that works best for you between June 2-5.


Look at the article below for two outdoor volunteer opportunities. We need help on May 30 at our Spruce-Up event (8AM-12PM). We also have ongoing needs for parents to join the Adopt-a-Garden program. You can find out about these opportunities in the next article below.
Note: The hours you foresee putting in to do Adopt-a-Garden work over the summer can be applied to this 2019-20 year if you need more hours in order to fulfill this school year's 40 hour commitment.


Another way to earn volunteer hours while staying away from others physically is to help us promote St. Louise School admissions. If you have a friend or coworker whom you think would be interested in enrolling their children in a Catholic school, tell them that St. Louise is still accepting applications for admissions for the upcoming school year. You can also promote us by tagging St. Louise in your posts about distance learning and by sharing
our school posts. You'll find our school posts HERE and HERE . Figure out the time it took you to email/text friends and/or to tag/post and count this as volunteer hours. We figure that connecting personally with a specific friend/coworker to discuss the benefits of enrolling at St. Louise can count as at least 1 volunteer hour, depending on how much time you spend with them. Also, each time you tag a post about our school on Facebook/Instagram, you can count this as 1 volunteer hour. So get your social media promotions going please, to help out your school and to earn some hours!


Finally, how would you like to earn one volunteer hour for simply typing a few sentences about why you love St. Louise School?! We would appreciate having parents write positive reviews about our school on the various sites prospective parents check-out when deciding on choosing a school. If you love St. Louise School and would be willing to write a few sentences about what makes our school special, please contact Cindy Wagner in the development office. Cindy will send you the link to the review sites that need your positive comments.
Show Up Next Saturday or Choose Whatever Day Works for You
Volunteering can't be any easier than our Adopt-a-Garden program. You are assigned a small area on the parish and school grounds, you come on an approximately monthly basis at whatever time works for you - weekend or weekday; evening, afternoon, or morning. You keep your "adopted garden" looking nice throughout the year with your weeding, raking, and pruning. If you'd like to learn more, please contact our Adopt-a-Garden overseer, Jonathan Taasan .

Note: The hours you foresee putting in to do Adopt-a-Garden work over the summer can be applied to this 2019-20 year if you need more hours in order to fulfill this school year's 40 hour volunteer commitment.

And if you can't commit to this year-round volunteering, you can join our Saturday Spruce-Ups. The next Spring Spruce-Up is Saturday, May 30, at 8AM. You simply come for the morning with your yard tools to complete a landscape project under the direction of our volunteer head-landscaper, Jeffrey Hummer . If you can attend on the 30th, please email Jeffrey now.

Speaking of Jeffrey, after more than two-dozen years overseeing our landscaping, Jeffrey will be ending this volunteer position. If you saw what our grounds looked like prior to 2000, compared to what they look like now, you can credit much of the transitions and additions to Jeffrey's vision and hard work. He has given so much to St. Louise Parish and School, and we are so appreciative! (Jeffrey is a past recipient of our Volunteer Extraordinaire Award .)

With the news of Jeffrey's "retirement" from this volunteer position, St. Louise is looking for a new person to help us with our Saturday Spruce-Ups. This person would work with Mr. Fuerte and Mr. Fitzpatrick, along with parish administrator, Jonathan Taasan, to come up with projects that can be accomplished on four select Saturdays during the school year (September/October/April/May). You don't need to have professional landscaping credentials, but just a love for working in the yard and an ability to help serve as a leader on these Saturdays, directing volunteers to various yardwork/landscaping tasks. If you are interested, please talk to Mr. Fitz .
The Ellis family walked for over 2 hours the other day, as part of their efforts in the Walk-E-Thon. Their view while walking was very nice - as they walked 7 miles back and forth across the 520 Bridge!
Auction News
If you arrived at school later in the afternoon last Friday, you would have found the Vesper Martini table empty. Not to worry - we can make more! At the next pick up day at school, we will have another table up with more drink kits, so if you didn't get one, please take one! Thanks to everyone who posted and sent pictures of you enjoying your shaken not stirred cocktails!
 
Just 12 days left to commit to your auction donation for SKYBALL!

All donation commitments are due by June 1st.

Thank you so much for your incredibly generous support! We still have about 117 families who have not made their commitment yet. If you are one of those families, please do the following before June 1st:
 
1.        Make a Cash Donation by clicking here .
2.        Commit to donating and item, certificate, wish or gift list by filling out your procurement form here .
 
The minimum donation required is $225, and if you'd like your kiddos to receive the coveted benefit of Free Dress for a date TBD in September, you'll want to donate $400 in cash or item value.
 
Physical items and gift certificates are not due to the auction office until September 18. For more information about our November 14th event, visit our website !
 
I'll be sending an email out tomorrow to all families with more detailed information about procurement and sponsorship. You'll be able to see if we've received your donation (or commitment to donate) as well.
 
Thank you so much for all you do !
 
St. Louise Parent & Auction Director
School Accessible June 1
All PreK through 6th grade parents are asked to come to school on Monday, June 1, between 7:00AM-5:00PM, to complete the following tasks:
  • Final opportunity to drop-off and/or pick-up assignments;
  • Claim your school Yearbook if you purchased one;
  • Pick up the Required Summer Work information that your child needs for June through August schoolwork to complete at home;
  • Last chance to find your Lost and Found sweaters, jackets, etc.;
  • Last chance to grab your child's PE shoes;
  • Clean out your child's desk and bring home school supplies;
  • Return any school-owned books and library books;
  • Return any CYO volleyball/basketball/soccer uniforms.


Grade 7 families are NOT to come on June 1. Your date to come and complete the following - plus return your child's laptop - is June 9 or 10. (Please sign up for your specific day and time with Mr. Weiss and Mr. Gallant.)

Grade 8 families are only to come on June 1, if that is the specific time you signed up via Mrs. Herridge.
Keeping Your Faith Strong During COVID-Time
Carmelite nuns began their religious order in the 12th Century near Mt. Carmel, an area in northern Israel. This order of sisters continues throughout the world and American today, as the Carmelites withdraw completely from the world and dedicate themselves entirely to a life of prayer and penance. Called to be contemplative and absorbed in God alone, Carmelites are also called to be at the service of the Church and of all people. One such way they serve is to be examples to Christians of how to pray. The following are practical prayer tips from some Carmelite sisters based in California that us non-cloistered laity can certainly employ.

  • Take a line from the liturgy of the day and repeat it during the day—a new line every day. The responsorial psalm and the Gospel Acclamation theme are good ones to use.

  • Let a spiritual thought from a hymn or a book or Mass be as background music in your mind during the day.

  • Take a holy card (or picture) of Christ and place it where you can see it so that you may think of Him.

  • Make a spiritual communion at least once a day.

  • Find a “trigger moment,” such as putting your keys on the desk, turning off the computer, or laying out clothes for the next day that can serve as a reminder to take a moment for short prayer.

  • Instead of a coffee break, take a short prayer break. In the mid-morning or mid-afternoon, get up and move into a different space and think of God.
Saint of the Week
please read this with your kids
How to Help Your Neighbors During These Times
Wondering how you might help during the COVID-19 crisis? St. Louise Parish recommends three ways to help our community

1. St. Vincent de Paul has seen a large increase in the request for rental assistance while food requests have remained relatively the same. Please click HERE   to help support our neighbors struggling to make ends meet. You can also drop off non-perishable food, laundry soap, dish soap and toilet paper to the parish office between 10-11:30 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Those who are not among the medically vulnerable can also sign up to help hand off and receive groceries on Tuesday and Thursday mornings in the parish office from 10-11:30 AM. Sign up  HERE  to volunteer.

2. Catholic Community Services is doing heroic work to serve vulnerable populations in our neighborhoods including homeless individuals and families. Please click  HERE  to donate. CCS is also looking for masks. Please email Erin Maguire for more information on how to donate masks.

3. Jubilee Reach has asked for help providing groceries to vulnerable families in our Crossroads neighborhood on Wednesdays for the next several weeks. Find more information and a link to sign up  HERE .
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