Saint Joe's Scoop: April 1, 2022

April 1, 2022 Edition

Dear St. Joe’s Parents,

“Oh, what a night! “Wow! That song of years ago could have been written especially for our Gala. Nearly 300 parents, teachers, and staff gathered at the Sheraton in Norwood on Saturday night for what turned out to be a fun and most rewarding evening. Thanks to Mary Beth Cox, our hard driving, relentless Director of Development, we raised an enormous amount of money. Through the online silent bidding and our live auction, successful bidders came away with treasured offerings ranging from Bruins center ice seats to a Wasik wine/cheese pairing party to serving as the Principal for a Day. The generosity of the crowd seemed to have no bounds. Once the live auction ended, a call came to “raise the paddle!” This year we identified the fine and performing arts at St. Joes as the recipient of donations. With Mike “Sarge” Riley prompting the enthusiastic audience, over 16K was added to the already remarkable bottom line. Thanks to all who joined the fun and opened their wallets so generously. As I was once again reminded on Saturday night, there’s not a better way to spend your money than on your child’s education.

Sincerely,

Dr. Joe Barnes

Interim Head of School

School Updates

Classroom News!

What’s Happening in Tech

Excel is the big application skill set we have just finished learning in technology class across the middle school. After a couple application projects practicing Excel, sixth-grade students expanded their understanding of how to research online with the help of our school librarians. The culminating project was their population report for the Country Report. Most students compiled data on countries and major cities, but some ventured into Covid statistics for their countries as well. After making line graphs in Excel, they were able to make pie charts, bar graphs, or chose the best graph display for their data. Students wrote paragraph summaries based on their research data to complete the population section of their country report. We have now transitioned back to PowerPoint presentations on theme topics of student choice.

In seventh grade, students also learned how to use Excel with the addition of simple formulas and customizing graph displays. Students completed two projects using Excel: personal budgeting and nutrition values at a fast-food restaurant. Additionally, seventh graders enjoyed creating and presenting PowerPoint presentations on a cultural event that impacted American society. Currently, seventh graders are using National Geographic info-graphic maps as research for interactive 3-D map story telling with Prezi, an online toolset.

Our eighth-grade classes practiced integrating the MicroSoft software suite with a project on amusement parks. They researched statistics on Disney to compile Excel spreadsheets and graphs. Our attention turned to basic economics, understanding industry sectors, and then creating a pretend investment portfolio in Excel that students update weekly using Excel short cuts and formulas. Parallel to this we have explored Google Earth and played GeoGuessr, an on-line geography game based on Google Earth.

Keyboarding continues to be practiced regularly with the focus on speed and accuracy. Practice makes progress! Middle School students can access their typing exercises from home with ease.

Mrs. Blair

Auction Thank You!

Thank you to the families, friends, faculty, and staff of St. Joseph School and Parish that gathered on Saturday at the Four Points Sheraton for the 2023 St. Joseph School Sparkle and Shine Auction and Gala. The night was a great success thanks to you! Over $170k was raised for our school and many went home with wonderful Live and Silent auction items.

The winner of the 50/50 which grew to $10,375 was Mrs. Lisa Grant, mom to Elizabeth PreK, William grade 2, and Isaac grade 4. Congratulations and thank you to all who participated.

The Auction was dedicated this year to our wonderful Faculty and Staff who Sparkle and Shine each day for our students and families. Please enjoy this video of THANKS to all our Faculty and Staff (Insert Video Link)

We will be sharing photos of the auction with you in the coming days.

Thank you again to our sponsors for making the night a great success.

Presenting Sponsor

Brian & Nicole Connolly

Chris & Susie Mitchell

Gold Sponsor

Fidelity Bank

Park Landscape Associates

Kilpatrick & Maureen Carroll

Patrick & Betsy Kraft

Greg & Daniela Jennison

James & Amy Barri

The Apicella St. Thomas Family

Silver Sponsor

Katie Klein Orthodontics

Meghan Sutherland – Pinnacle Residential Properties

Waves Car Wash

Newton Country Day School

Devaney Energy

Foley Palenscar Schortmann Insurance Agency

The Goddard School

Eric Hawkes – William Raveis Real Estate

Manuel & Grace Liza, Jr.

Mike & Jennifer Flynn

Nick & Anne Scola

Brendan & Elizabeth Cashman

Daniel & Isabel Zacharias

Andrew & Gia Jeas

Jacob & Meredith Giannotti

Robert & Lori Fernandez

Sean & Amy Maloney

Andrew & Mary Ann Brady

Patrick & Liz Sheehan

The Saratella Family

Kevin & Nicole MacLaughlan

Matt & Erin Cummings

Tim & Jennifer Corkery

Sparkle Sponsorship

St. Sebastian School

Louise Condon Realty

Ursuline Academy

Four Points by Sheraton, Norwood

Dedham Savings

Chestnut Dental

Roche Bros.

eclatantMD Aesthetics

Dr. Joseph & Ellen Barnes

Barbara & Tom Harkins

Kurt & Julie Steinkrauss

Thomas & Kerri Gillis

Kevin & Elizabeth Smith

Andrew & Erin Carroll

The Pineault Family

Greg & Tara Murphy

Family Sparkle Sponsors

The Johnson Family

The Hajjar & Saratella Family

The Gothie Family

The Delaney Family

The Leiberman Family

The Millsom Family

The Hamilton Family

Coffee and Conversations - PSA

Please join us on Tuesday April 5th after drop off in the HUB for our next coffee and convos. This month we are excited to extend a special “Welcome” the families who joined in 2020/2021, in the height of the pandemic. This is a great time to meet other Saint Joe's parents and chat with Dr. Barnes and Mrs. Solomon.

Come one come all!

Save the Date!

Save the Date

Father-Daughter Movie Night

Saturday, May 21st

More info to come!

Saint Joe's Buzz Off!

The Saint Joe’s One Mission Buzz Off Team

One Mission programs make living in the hospital less lonely and stressful, bring back joy and hope in a time of fear and uncertainty, and give children and their families the support needed to get through the emotional and financial challenges pediatric cancer brings.

This is the 6th year a team from St Joe’s will be participating in the One Mission Buzz Off. There are currently 16 team members but there is room for many more.

A special thank you to all who signed up during the promotion last week. The Saint Joe’s Team was awarded $1000.00 from an anonymous donor for recruiting the most team members during the promotional time frame.

This year’s shave will take place on June 5th at Gillette Stadium and it is sure to be a fun filled day.

If you would like to sign up for the team please click the link and select “join the team”.

If you are not able to shave, please consider supporting the team with a donation by clicking the link and select “donate now”.

https://secure.onemissionforkids.org/registrant/TeamFundraisingPage.aspx?EventID=367434&LangPref=en-CA&TeamID=975964

Grandparents Day Update

After a lot of consideration of logistics and the population that Grandparents Day includes, we will not hold an in person event this year. Students will participate in an activity in school that will be mailed to their grandparents/special persons. More information will come home soon from your child(ren)‘s homeroom teacher(s).

Color Wars!

Last week student council hosted the 3rd annual Color Wars. Younger grades were teamed with a middle school grade, and they competed as colors in different competitions throughout the week. Congratulations to TEAM BLUE – home rooms 6B, 6D, 5A, 5B, 5C and PK – on their victory!

One of the competitions throughout the week was Penny Wars. Each team had a bucket and any pennies added to it earned points. Paper money and other coins lost points. Thanks to all your generosity, we were able to raise $2,876! THANK YOU! All this money will be donated to the Crudem Foundation, an organization that helps to provide quality healthcare to the sick and poor in Haiti.

It was a fun week of community building and service!

Thank You - Lenten Haitian Mission

The Justice and Peace Committee would like to thank the students and families of St. Joseph's schools for their generous support for this year's Lenten Haitian Mission. Your donation filled 12 cartons with vitamin C lollipops and protein bars and will be distributed to the children of Milot, Haiti and potentially save lives. You are Jesus's hands and feet on this earth, and it is through your actions that His love and mercy is spread. Thank you for responding to the call to feed the hungry.