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Enter to Learn. Go Forth to Serve.
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This week, we will have the Blessing of Animals and Saint Francis Mass. Saint Francis (1181-1226) is the patron saint of animals, and his feast day is Oct. 4. Saint Francis is one of the best known and most beloved saints for Catholics and the world. Here are 12 fast facts by
ChurchPOP about this incredible saint:
- He was one of seven children
- He was named after the people of France
- He was a POW for a year
- He was inspired by Matthew 10:9
- He had 11 followers within one year
- Pope Innocent III decided to support the Franciscans after a supernatural dream
- He attended the Fourth Lateran Council and met St. Dominic there
- He traveled to a Muslim Sultan, preached the Gospel, and challenged them to a trial-by-fire in order to prove the truth of Christianity
- The body of a dead Franciscan performed too many miracles, causing problems with crowds, so Francis prayed the miracles would stop and they did
- He received the stigmata during a 40-day fast in preparation for Michaelmas
- The foundation stone for the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi was laid by the pope the day after he was canonized; which was less than two years after his death
- His tomb was lost for centuries until it was rediscovered in 1818
Saint Francis is an incredible example of faith. Visit
Catholic Online for a full biography.
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BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS & MASS AT O'HARA THIS WEDNESDAY 
This Wednesday, October 9, will be O'Hara's Blessing of the Animals and St. Francis Mass. All students are required to wear Uniform Mass dress. Please read below for more details.
Our Blessing of the Animals will begin at 8:30am. Students will gather on the playground; parents & visitors should meet their student(s) outside. The west playground gate will be open for parents to walk around if they are bringing an animal for the blessing. Once everyone is assembled, Fr. Ron will begin the morning in prayer and then students will line up for their animals to be blessed. (Students are welcome to bring a stuffed animal for a blessing.) Following the blessing, students go directly to the gym for Mass.
We welcome you to bring your pet to school for a blessing, but ask that you please read and adhere to the following guidelines:
-Please have small animals in carriers and large animals on leashes.
-If your child has animal allergies, please take necessary precautions.
-Parents need to bring animals to the back playground where they will meet their students for the Blessing.
-Please do not bring any animals into the school building.
-Following the Blessing, animals must go back to cars or be taken home.
St. Francis Mass will begin at approximately 9am.
We welcome parents and visitors to join us for Mass. If pets are left in cars for Mass, please take care to make sure they are safe & secure inside a vehicle. Pets may not be brought into the school.
Dress Code Reminders:
All boys
must wear a white button down shirt and a plaid uniform tie, with khaki or navy uniform pants. Shorts are not permitted.
All girls must wear one of the following:
Plaid uniform skirt & white button down shirt
Plaid uniform jumper with collared white shirt underneath
No pants or shorts are permitted
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A PROUD LEGACY. A VISION FOR THE FUTURE. KICK-OFF EVENT
These are ex
citing times at O'Hara Catholic School with the launch of our A Proud Legacy. A Vision for the Future. Capital Campaign. Our planning goals are to preserve and update our 70-year-old building, create a 21st-century learning environment, increase student safety, and carry on a special sense of pride in our facilities for generations to come.
The first-tier projects are the priority of those who responded to our recent campaign assessment. Our goal is to raise $3 million over the next three years to fund the first tier of our master plan vision:
* East wing siding replacement
* East wing roof replacement
* Upgrades to main-hall restrooms
* East parking lot improvements
* Indoor lighting upgrades
* Heating and cooling system replacement
Join us on Wednesday, October 16, from 5:30-6:30pm, in the O'Hara Gym as we kick off our capital campaign. We will highlight the upcoming projects, answer questions and tour our completed summer projects. Please
RSVP here
. We look forward to sharing our vision with you.
Please note, this is an adults-only event.
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VETERANS DAY ASSEMBLY - PLEASE SEND PICTURES! 
As part of our Veterans Day Assembly again this year, we would like to collect photos of O'Hara parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. that have served our country. We will use the photos to make a slide show. We would prefer photos of veterans pictured in uniform.
If you would like to participate, please email your photo(s) to mmeador@oharaschool.org and include the following information: Name, Branch of Service, Rank, Dates served and also the connection to O'Hara (for example, John Smith's grandfather.) The deadline to submit pictures & info is Monday, October 28. Thank you!
*If you sent pictures over the last few years, no need to send them again, we will include all the pictures from previous years. If you'd like to send updated information or a new picture, please feel free to do so.*
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CHRISTMAS CARD ART PROJECT OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS 
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SCREEN FREE WEEK: OCTOBER 13-19 
O'Hara will be participating in a Screen Free Week during the week of the Jog-A-Thon. We invite families to participate at home, as well!
One great way to participate at home is to have a Device Free Dinner.
Here is a great website about the Device Free Dinner movement, including a fun Sesame Street video about this topic.
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THE GREAT OREGON SHAKEOUT ON OCTOBER 17
On Thursday, October 17, at 10:17am, O'Hara will conduct an Earthquake Drill as part of the The Great Oregon ShakeOut. This drill is an annual opportunity to practice how to be safer during big earthquakes:
Drop, Cover & Hold on. The ShakeOut has been organized to encourage people and communities to review and update emergency preparedness plans and supplies and to secure space to prevent damage and injuries. For more information, please visit the
Great Oregon ShakeOut website.
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BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION - NOW ONLINE! 
If you haven't heard already, Box Tops for Education is going digital. It is so easy to make the change. Just download the Box Tops app to your smart phone and register O'Hara as the school you want to receive the money. Then, keep your receipts after shopping and scan those receipts with your phone using the app. It will automatically count any box tops products that you purchased and give that money to the school. That's it!! As a bonus, while they are in the transition to using only the app, please continue to clip box tops when you see them and bring them in to school. We can "double dip" and get credit for the clipped tops and the tops you scan as well. That's double the money for one box top! They are a great way to earn money for O'Hara. Check out
this link for a complete list of products that carry box tops, and any other information that you may need. If you have any questions, please contact the school's Box Tops coordinator: Meredith White: 541-513-1568.
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O'HARA'S 2019-20 GOSPEL THEME SONG
This year's Gospel Theme Song is
Build My Life, by Pat Barrett. O'Hara students are learning to sing and sign the song. We will be making a video of our students singing the song in sign language and sending it to St. Rita's Catholic School in Cincinnati, Ohio. St. Rita's is a school for students who are deaf. Mrs. Jones' son is serving the Lord as a Catholic Missionary with NET Ministries and will be working with students at St. Rita's throughout the year. We thought it would be a wonderful way to reach out to another school and make a connection, serve them as our Gospel theme calls us to do.
Below is a link to the Gospel theme song, as well as a video that teaches the sign language.
Please encourage your students to practice the song!
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ST. MARY CATHOLIC CHURCH IS HIRING
St. Mary Parish has a job opening for a full-time Administrative Assistant / Communications individual to join their office staff. They are looking for an organized, energetic individual who is a self starter, with strong computer, communication (including social media) and secretarial skills. This person should be active in the Catholic faith and have a deep understanding and love of the faith. Bilingual a plus. Click
HERE to view the complete job description & duties. Contact the church office at 541-342-1139 or email
Rose Burke with any questions.
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Jog-A-Thon is less than 2 weeks away - Keep those pledges coming!
Did you know you can view our leaderboard in real-time?
CLICK HERE to view our current cumulative total and totals by grade.
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Congratulations to the classes who won free dress at last week's incentive! Great job to all the students who reached their goal of $120. Click here to see the list of students who get pizza lunch on Thursday, October 10.
Stay tuned for next week's incentive.
JAT DRESS CODE
Click
HERE to view the JAT Dress Code
VOLUNTEERS
Thank you to all of the volunteers who have signed up! All volunteer spots have been filled, but if you would like to get your name on a waiting list please contact Michelle Campbell.
PLEDGE A STUDENT
QUESTIONS?
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PUMPKIN CARNIVAL & COSTUME STRUT
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Please join us on Friday, October 25, from 4:00-7:00 for O'Hara's Pumpkin Carnival! It's a fun-filled night of carnival games and candy prizes for the whole family.
Dare to walk through the 8th-grade Haunted Hall. Try your luck at winning live goldfish.
Spend time creating your own Halloween decorations! Walk the cakewalk to win a yummy baked good item. VOTE! for a free dress day for your grade.
Concessions will be sold in the cafeteria: Pizza, drinks & snacks will be sold.
Each game costs one ticket to play.
Buy your game tickets in the front lobby on the night of the carnival.
10 tickets - $5
20 tickets - $10
40 tickets - $20
Each family is asked to bring a bag of treats or trinkets for the carnival. Please drop your donation off to the front office by October 24.
Each family is asked to bring a store-bought bakery item for the cakewalk.
Please drop your item off at the front office on Thursday, October 24 or Friday, October 25.
Volunteers Needed!
Many volunteers are needed to help with this fun night for our students. If you can help, please visit the links below to sign up for specific times/duties. Please contact
Teresa Gray
with any questions.
Class Booth Signups (during the carnival):
Classroom Booth Set-Up (morning of carnival):
Pumpkin Carnival General Set Up:
Clean-Up:
THANK YOU
for making this a fun-filled night for our kids!!
Teresa Gray & Christa Kirkpatrick-Junge
Pumpkin Carnival Co-Chairs
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HALLOWEEN COSTUME GUIDELINES
As you begin planning, making and/or buying Halloween Costumes, we want to remind you of O'Hara's guidelines.
-No devils, gothic characters, anything immodest, violent or unkind toward others.
-No cross-dressing.
-Sleeveless costumes require an undershirt with sleeves.
-No blood or weapons as part of any costume.
-Masks are allowed during the Costume Strut but must be taken off for the remainder of the day.
-Masks should not be scary or violent.
-No costumes of a political nature. (This means no President, previous Presidential candidates, or former President costumes)
Things to note:
-Students who are not in compliance with our guidelines will not be permitted to participate in the costume strut and will be asked to change into uniform.
-These guidelines apply at our Costume Strut as well as at the Pumpkin Carnival.
-Please note that these guidelines apply to all students, parents, and guests who attend our Pumpkin Carnival as well.
We want our Halloween festivities to be a fun celebration for all our students. Thank you for partnering with the school to ensure success.
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PUMPKIN CARNIVAL VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Click
HERE to learn more.
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AUCTION PHOTO VOLUNTEERS
We are looking for 4 volunteers to help our Auction Decoration Chairs with student photos. Volunteers are needed on October 22 - 24 from 8:30am-12pm. If you are interested, please email
Michelle Campbell with which days you are available.
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LINKS: 
Reminder for students with the Annual Plan:
Please remember, the default meal selection for your student is the hot lunch. If your student would like the Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Vegetarian option, then that option must be selected in the online ordering system at least 2 weeks prior to the meal date.
If your student would like to select the Salad Bar and/or the Hoagie Sandwich option instead of, or in addition to, the Hot Lunch, that selection must be made in the online ordering system by 9am.
Volunteers are needed to help in the kitchen, please contact
Tracy if you can help.
Hot Lunch Contact:
Tracy Whalen, Kitchen Manager (541-485-5291 x 303). Email is the best way to contact Tracy.
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NEWS & INVITATIONS FROM MARIST
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YOUTH SPORTS NIGHTS AT MARIST!
Students in grades 5-8 are invited to the following athletic events as a guest of Marist.
Girls Soccer:
Tuesday, October 8 vs. Cottage Grove, 6:30 pm*
Volleyball: Thursday, October 10 vs. Siuslaw, 6:30 pm
No RSVP required - free admission at the gate (including one parent per 5th-8th grader).
Come cheer on the Spartans and have some fun!
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MARIST MAGAZINE
Marist's summer 2019 magazine is online! The issue includes a number of O'Hara alumni & current parents.
Click here, or on the image, to browse their most recent publication.
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MARIST ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME
On Friday, October 18, Marist will hold their first ever Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
Congratulations to all the inductees- and an extra special shout out to O'Hara alum Kayla (Braud) Berney.
Inductees include:
Kayla (Braud) Berney '09
Joe Holvey '81
Coach Ed Hummel*
Kristina (Andersen) Mosley '97
1973 Football Team
Details
Date: Friday, October 18
Time: 4:30pm (social) | 5:15pm (dinner)
Location: Marist Gymnasium
Click
HERE for more information or purchase a table/tickets.
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O'HARA'S ANNUAL MAGAZINE 
O'Hara's 2019 publication is now
available online. Hard copies were mailed to all of our families this summer - if you didn't receive your copy, or would like another, please
send us an email!
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TIES FOR SALE
O'Hara has uniform plaid bow ties and traditional ties available for sale. Bow ties are $20 each, and one size fits most. Regular ties are $10 each and come in 3 size options. Please stop by the office to purchase.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL CHROMEBOOK INSURANCE
Parents of students in grades 6-8 are highly encouraged to purchase insurance for their child's school-issued Chromebook. Information about the
policy and
claims process are available on the O'Hara website. This is a 3rd-party provider so parents should send the
application to the company directly. Contact
Mrs. Seaver with any questions.
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2019-20 VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS: CASE TRAINING
All volunteers have requirements to fulfill before being eligible to volunteer at school this year. Per the Archdiocese, online updates to your volunteer training are not available this year, and anyone who wishes to volunteer must attend one of the in-person training sessions. The dates and times of the upcoming sessions are listed below, and further instructions are on our website, please
click here to learn more. Please contact
Stacie Seaver with any questions.
October 7 - 6:00pm - O'Hara Library
October 22 - 1:15pm - O'Hara Library
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COMMUNICATIONS INFO FOR OUR FAMILIES
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NEW CONTACT INFO?
If your family has a new address, phone number, email address, etc., please make sure to update us with your new information. O'Hara's 2019-20 School Directory will be going to print soon, and we want to make sure we have everyone's information correct! Please fill out
this form
, or email
Barb Whitford
if you have updates to share with us.
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O'HARA WEBSITE UPDATE
O'Hara uses a password protected portion on our website for important resources for our families. The password is: HOUSE
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EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS FROM O'HARA
Please make sure to add the following email addresses to your safe senders list and/or your address book to ensure you receive O'Hara's weekly email bulletins (sent each Sunday afternoon during the school year) and other important updates:
Parents wishing to add an additional email address (work, grandparent, nanny, etc.) to our weekly bulletin distribution list should email that request to:
communications@oharaschool.org.
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O'HARA'S APP FOR SMARTPHONES
O'Hara also uses our app to send push notification reminders for special dress days, early release days, Mass days and more. We request that all parents download our app.
O'Hara's app is available
HERE, or by searching the app store for: web4u ocs
The app includes quick access to the following:
School Calendar
Student Lunchtime Schedule
Dress Code
Weekly Bulletins
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SCHOOL CALENDAR
O'Hara uses a Google calendar as our school calendar. Parents can access this calendar via our app and our website. It can also be added to iPhone calendars. Please visit our
school calendar page on our website for the link to add the calendar to your phone.
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CONTACT INFO FOR O'HARA STAFF
All O'Hara staff members have a school email address. Email addresses are set as follows: John Smith = jsmith@oharaschool.org
There are a few exceptions to note:
Click
HERE for a complete staff listing.
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"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
-
Joshua 24:15
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