Parent Bulletin
November 19, 2020
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Thanksgiving is one week from today, and that day a majority of Americans will be saying grace as they partake in their holiday meal. You may have never pondered this, but did you realize the phrase “saying grace” has a long history, stretching all the way back to early biblical times? In the book of Deuteronomy, God said, “And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God.” Later, we know Jesus engaged in saying grace, as can be seen at the Last Supper when it is said, “And He took bread, and when he had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them.”
Food is a great gift that sustains us and keeps us alive, and God is the ultimate creator of it all, providing everything that we eat. Thus, it is fitting that we give thanks to God not only for our food, but for those who grew, shipped, or prepared it. Our food can be seen as a “grace,” and so it is fitting that when we give thanks to God for our meal, we call this “saying grace.”
Of course, saying grace is not foreign to you St. Louise families, and your kids are used to saying grace daily before eating lunch at school. Unfortunately, for a high percentage of families - St. Louise or not - grace before daily dinners, and not just on special occasions such as Thanksgiving, is not as common place as in past generations. If your family isn’t already saying grace together before every dinner, consider making this a nightly routine. Besides being the right thing to do to thank God for our bounty, saying grace daily also helps build in us the reminder that praying to God shouldn’t solely be about what we want God to do for us, but needs to include praying about what we appreciate about God.
I have found at times that when I pray I can often fall into the selfish routine of only saying prayers of petition, without realizing all I seem to be talking about to God is what I want from Him. My prayers of petition that are often a cry for help - e.g.: “God, help me do well on this exam” or “Jesus, please cure my illness” - are fine to make. However, I shouldn't make that the dominant type of prayer I recite. I need to keep reminding myself in my daily prayer time that prayers of thanksgiving must be just as often used in my prayer repertoire, lest I come off as selfishly only talking to God when I need something, and not when I am grateful for something. Think of it this way.
Prayers of thanksgiving are when we just want to say, “Thank You, God!” to simply acknowledge the good we have in our lives and the good that God is. Examples of prayers of thanksgiving could begin with us saying things like the following when we talk to our Almighty Father, whether as a family at grace before nightly dinners, or privately during a routine morning or evening prayer time:
- “Thank you, Lord, for the love and protection you have shown us throughout this day….”
- “Blessed are You, loving God, for giving us friends to be with us in times of joy and sorrow, to help us in days of need, and to rejoice with us in moments of celebration…”
- “For the gifts of my children, I thank you, Jesus. They are your precious gifts to me…”
- “Thank you, Father, for the strength you give me each day…”
On Thursday, November 26, when sitting down in front of a tasty turkey dinner and delicious pumpkin pie, I know 100% of us St. Louise families will say grace, praying prayers of thanksgiving to God for all He has given us. My challenge to you - and to myself - is that on Friday, November 27, 100% of us will continue to thank God when we pray that next day before a meal of cold leftovers.
Have a happy Thanksgiving!
Blessings on your day,
MR. FITZ
p.s.
Enjoy a relaxing break next week as you celebrate Thanksgiving with your family! Don't forget that three important, school-related events begin right after Thanksgiving:
1) Advent begins Sunday, November 29 - Your kids will be praying morning Advent prayers during their 3 weeks of schooling, and families are encouraged to have their own Advent Wreath so you can pray evening prayers for all 4 weeks. HERE is one way to make an Advent Wreath.
2) SKYBALL - CHARGERS ARE FOREVER Virtual Silent Auction Week begins Monday, November 30 - See the article below about this fun week for parents to shop, buy raffle tickets for a chance to get free tuition, and have a virtual party on the closing night, December 4.
3) No School Day on Monday, November 30 - No classes are held the Monday after Thanksgiving. The school is closed to give teachers a workday to prepare 1st trimester report cards, which will be distributed to grade K-8 students on December 17.
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CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Today
- Sweet-Treat Sale for entire school, run by 7th and 8th graders; prepackaged treats and sweets will be sold for $1 each at lunch time; proceeds go to junior high activities fund
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Live, Virtual Open House on Zoom tonight at 7PM; let your friends and neighbors with school-age children know about it; have them go HERE and click on the "Attend an Open House" button.
Tomorrow
- 1st Trimester Ends; the Skyward portal will be closed temporarily for a few weeks, as teachers begin inputting final grades and comments for report cards
Monday and Tuesday, November 23 and 24
- Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences are held on these two days (or on December 9); parents are to signup for a specific day and time via their child's teacher's SignUpGenius link
- No School on these days; no online classes; Kids' Club closed
Wednesday thru Friday, November 25-27
- Happy Thanksgiving!
- No School on these days; no online classes; Kids' Club closed
Monday, November 30
- No School on this day - teachers' workday to begin working on 1st trimester report cards
- No online classes; Kids' Club closed
- Virtual Silent Auction Week - begins today and runs through December 4
Friday, December 4
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Rumor has it that Saint Nicholas himself will be visiting St. Louise school this morning! Ask your child about this after he/she finishes school today (but "Ssshh!", don't let them in on the surprise prior to this morning)
- All grade 2-8 classes will be going to Eucharistic Adoration in the church today for a 20-minute silent time of prayer and adoration. The pews are cleaned before/after use, and we will continue the 6-foot-separation rule for everyone when we sit and kneel in adoration.
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Grade 5 will be holding a Flavorful Friday Sale today, as they raise money for Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos orphans. Ice cream bars will be sold for $1 each.
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The weeklong Virtual Silent Auction ends today with a 7PM Live Event on Zoom. We will be broadcasting the event live from the school lobby. Go here to be a part of the fun!
Wednesday, December 9
- Please note the change from the original calendar - December 9 is a NO-SCHOOL DAY for all students; teachers will be using the morning time to receive technology training and the afternoon time to hold parent-teacher conferences
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Kids' Club childcare will be open from 8:00-5:45 on this NO-SCHOOL DAY; if you are a current Kids' Club member and wish for your child to come to the Lavelle Center on December 9, please email Maria Zambrano and let her know what timeframe your child will need supervision. If you are NOT enrolled in Kids' Club, but would like to give it a try, contact Maria about the opportunity to have your child attend Kids' Club on this no-school day for only $5 for half the day or $10 for the full day.
CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE SCHOOL CALENDAR HERE
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Virtual Open House Is Tonight; Tell Your Friends & Neighbors to "Attend" by Clicking Below and Registering |
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Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences Begin Next Week |
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Thank you for using your teacher's SignUpGenius link to choose a date and time for your requited Parent-Student-Teacher Conference. For grades 1-8, we ask that the student sit in on the conference.
This year, we are giving teachers the option to hold their November 23rd and 24th conferences in-person or virtually over Teams. If over Teams, your teacher should have emailed you a link to log in. If you can't find this link, please contact your teacher today to confirm. If your conference will be in-person, the school will be open all afternoon and evening this Monday, and all Tuesday morning. Since the teacher is on a schedule of conference-after-conference, please log-in early if meeting online or arrive early to school if meeting in-person.
For parents who are unavailable during our Thanksgiving-Week conference days, you should have chosen a conference for the afternoon of December 9 (a no-school day).
Thank you for meeting with your child's teacher so you can celebrate the successes of your child's schooling and discuss any areas needing improvement. This partnering with your child's teacher is fundamental to your child's educational success, and the teachers appreciate the super support of our St. Louise teachers!
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Virtual Silent Auction Week Runs from November 30 to December 4 |
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We are planning a super fun event immediately after we return from Thanksgiving break! Although our school Auction & Dinner has moved to April 17, we are having a weeklong Skyball – Chargers Are Forever VIRTUAL Silent Auction from November 30 through December 4. Here's how you can participate:
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Bid on auction items throughout the week including the latest Oculus Quest 2, loads of restaurant gift cards, and an outdoor movie set! We'll send a link to you the day before the auction begins so you can get set up and ready to bid to support SKYBALL - Chargers Are Forever!
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Register here now to attend the Mix & Nosh Event on Friday, December 4. We'll livestream a super fun event where our auctioneer, Stephen Kilbreath, hosts a Chef and expert Mixologist from Ascend Prime Steak & Sushi. You can pre-buy a kit from Ascend to participate, or forage for your own ingredients (ingredients list will be posted on the auction site soon!). Or, if you don't want to cook and mix along, that's okay too, just join us for the fun bidding and excitement during this event!
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Our Golden Raffle returns! Reserve your $100 ticket now. Only 100 will be sold. If all 100 sell, then the winner of the drawing wins free tuition for the remainder of the year! If we sell under that amount, the winner will receive a dinner gift card valued at $300!
Follow the auction on Instagram @stlouiseauction for the latest details!
And thanks for supporting our school's largest fundraiser! We are grateful for you!
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Child Care Available on our Upcoming No-School Day |
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Kids' Club childcare will be open from 8:00-5:45 on our upcoming NO-SCHOOL DAY on Wednesday, December 9. Not only current Kids' Club members, but also school families who are not enrolled in Kids' Club, may come to the Lavelle Center on the 9th for supervised childcare. Current Kids' Club members, please email Maria Zambrano and let her know what timeframe your child will need supervision.
If you are not enrolled in Kids' Club, but would like to give it a try, contact Maria about the opportunity to have your grade K-8 child attend Kids' Club on this no-school day for only $5 for half the day or $10 for the full day.
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The St. Louise Speech Team participated in its first tournament of the season last Saturday with a tournament took place virtually via Zoom. Our 6th through 8th grade students did a tremendous job, as this in-house tourney served as a “warm up” for the Bishop Blanchet Virtual Speech Tournament coming up on December 12.
Thirty-three St. Louise middle school students competed in seven different events in front of parent and alumni judges in Zoom breakout rooms. A BIG thank you to Rebecca Nightingale for all her hard work coordinating this tournament! Thanks also to the following people who helped judge at the St. Louise Speech Tournament:
- parents - Kat Caso, Kristy Charles, John D’Costa, Susie Goett, Sangeetha Kanicka Dass, Melody Litovkin, Erika Mervin, LeRoy Munar, Colleen Nowak, Vimal Stephen, Sharon Victor, and Shannon Wallis;
- alumni students - Daniela Castillo, Ellie Charles, Madeline Clinton, Rachel Cunneely, Katie Goett, Jack Kehoe, Raizel Lagunero, Natalie Nowak, Alice Vimal, and Savannah Wallis;
- faculty advisors - Mrs. Patterson and Mr. Gallant.
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Thanks to our judges and congratulations to our team! |
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Sweet-Treat Sale Is Today |
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During typical times, our 7th and 8th graders sell home-baked goods on a monthly basis to raise funds for junior high activities. For the time being, these Bake Sales will convert to Sweet-Treat Sales, and the 7th and 8th graders will be selling prepackaged, commercial candies, chips, fruit rollups, and cookies.
The first Sweet-Treat Sale of the year will be today during lunch time.
Every student has the opportunity to buy packaged candy, fruit rollups, chips, and/or cookies at lunch time on the 19th for $1 per purchase. All proceeds benefit the junior high program. If you allow your child to shop for a Sweet-Treat, please have him/her bring the exact amount - a $1 bill (or two or three...) to school this morning. Thanks for your support.
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Shopping on Amazon Can Support St. Louise |
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With the Christmas season approaching, are you planning on shopping online? Do you know that just by shopping via Amazon you can contribute to St. Louise School?
- AmazonSmile is a program that donates 0.5% of your eligible purchases on Amazon to a charity of your choice.
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All you need to do is start your shopping at smile.amazon.com or set your mobile app to earn donations.
From your desktop: Sign in to smile.amazon.com on your desktop or mobile phone browser. From your desktop, go to Your Account from the navigation at the top of any page, then select the option to Change your Amazon Smile charity, and search “Saint Louise” (spell out "Saint").
From the mobile app: Sign up on your web browser as instructed above. Download or update to the latest version of the Amazon Shopping app on your phone. You can find it in the App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android. Open the app and find ’Settings’ in the main menu (☰). Tap on ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone. (AmazonSmile in the app is not available for iPads and other tablet devices.)
Thanks for helping your kids' school earn some easy cash, which will go toward supporting St. Louise's general operating expenses.
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Welcome Our New St. Louisers! |
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We have been busy accepting new families transferring to our school this November, and we want to make sure we give them a warm St. Louise welcome!
(Photo #1 at top) Welcome the Dworkis family - parents Shannon Stewart and Eric Dworkis, and PreK student Westlyn. Fun fact: Shannon is a St. Louise alumna, Class of 2000!
(Photo #2) Welcome the Baker family - parents Kjersten and Ryan, and kindergarten student Evan & PreK student Emry.
(Photo #3) Welcome the Sturgilll family - parents Julie and Daron, and 5th grade student Bodie.
(Photo #4) Welcome the Chan family - parents Marla and Kevin, and 3rd grade student Nathaniel & 2nd grade student Betsy.
(Photo #5) Welcome the Enke family - parents Marti and Andrew, and 3rd grade student Anderson.
(Photo #6) Welcome the King family - parents Angela and Gavin, and 2nd grade student Olivia and kindergarten student Spencer.
(Photo #7) Welcome the Forman family - parents Stephanie and Joel, and 4th grade student Spencer.
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Thank you to:
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Theresa Nguyen for adding all the silent item photos to the auction database
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Arlene Isaksen for opening, sorting and tracking auction items
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Amy Wilken for taking photos at Mass and other special events, as well as addressing thank you notes
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Joni Hoffman (alumni parent) for tracking and entering all the auction donations and packaging them for our upcoming online auction event
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Gretchen Wiseman for opening, sorting and tracking auction items
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Tiffany Neuman for posting yard signs and putting together our first Trunk or Treat
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Kristy Charles for posting yard signs
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Liza Podaca for putting together care kits for our remote families
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Edna Hewett for sorting and entering online auction items and for researching preschools in the area for marketing contacts
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Penny Williams for creating a Constant Contact email list for preschools in the area
Our community is grateful for your work and support!
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Credit Card Fee-Free Week Ends Tomorrow!
If you use your credit card for purchases by tomorrow, Friday, November 20, there will be NO FEE for the transaction!
You can pay in person with your credit card at the sales window tomorrow between 8:15-9:00 a.m.
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Skip the line and submit your order online or on paper, and then pay by credit card online when we send you an invoice for payment. Email us if you'd like more information on this latter method of paying online.
Everyone shops around the holiday season, before you purchase all the fixings for your Thanksgiving Feast and before you buy great deals on Black Friday – let’s do your shopping via Charger Cards and support St. Louise School!
Three Ways to Use Cards for Thanksgiving
Here are three example of how Charger Cards can help you get ready for Thanksgiving Break...
Thanksgiving Dinner:
- QFC or Fred Meyer (5% rebate)
- Safeway (5%)
- Nordstrom (4%)
- Gifts – Amazon (2.25)
- Walmart (2%)
Thanksgiving/Black Friday Shopping:
- Amazon (2.25%)
- Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic /Athleta (18%)
- Nike (5%)
- TJMaxx/Home Goods (9%)
- Nordstrom (4%)
- Under Armour (9%)
Thanksgiving Staycation:
- iTunes (9%)
- Dominos - easy family dinner! (12%)
- Papa Murphy (8%)
- Chipotle (12%)
- Trophy Cupcakes (20%)
- Shell, Chevron, Arco, 76Gas (2%)
If you miss Friday's window sales or we do not have your cards in stock, Charger Cards is doing an additional order for cards today - Thursday the 19th - before 10am. Get your order in before 10am this morning and your cards order will be ready to pickup at the school office this coming Tuesday November 24, from 8AM-1PM.
For more information on additional brands/cards available for purchase 24/7 please go to shopwithscrip.com.
Thank you for supporting St. Louise Charger Cards!
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Returning from Thanksgiving Vacation |
You are aware that Governor Inslee put out a proclamation for the coming weeks that advises all of us to be cautious with our family gatherings and traveling during Thanksgiving vacation. For everyone's peace of mind in our St. Louise community - families and faculty - it's important that we all do a thorough assessment of how all our family members are feeling before returning to school on our first day back from vacation - Tuesday, December 1.
Please err on the side of caution, and stay home that first week in December if you are showing any one of these symptoms:
• Fever (100.4 or higher)
• Chills
• Headache
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny nose or congestion
• Fatigue
• Muscle pain or body aches
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• New loss of taste or smell
• Diarrhea
• Nausea or vomiting
It's a great option with our online-learning availability, that if your child stays home the week of December 1st out of caution, he/she can always join classes via Microsoft Teams that week.
If you have questions about your child's symptom, please call or email Mindy or Tracy in the office (425-746-4220), or email Jane Reynolds, school nurse.
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We appreciate you partnering with us to ensure the safety of all St. Louise students and staff. Yes, it's stressful to have to follow the new, strict procedures, but if we are going to keep St. Louise open, we need to be more prudent and vigilant than typical. Thanks for your cooperation, which allows us to continue to keep open our school for in-person schooling.
If you want to get COVID-19 testing done, please contact your pediatrician and/or check out the number of testing options in the area:
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Allegro Pediatrics is doing the rapid tests at their Bellevue Clinic by appointment;
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Additionally you can find a listing of free King County Testing sites here.
- There are a few other testing facilities in the area that do rapid testing but it may be at an increased cost.
- https://www.bellevuewellness.com/covid-19-rapid-test/
- https://www.solvhealth.com/wa/c/bellevue-wa-srv-covid-testing
- https://www.atlas-genomics.com/covid19-test/
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Supply Drive Substitutes for Thanksgiving Drive This Year |
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Due to changes in how the St. Vincent de Paul Society is assisting families this fall, we are not able to hold the school's annual Thanksgiving Baskets Collection Drive this November, in which we used to partner with them. However, we are excited we are teaming up in 2020 with the New Bethlehem Shelter for a Supply Drive.
Our all-school Supply Drive is running now through Friday, December 4. During these time, all St. Louise School families are asked to consider donating items that are used to stock the shelves at the shelter for the families who are temporarily experiencing homelessness and need essential services including showers, laundry, and social services. The New Bethlehem Shelter, located in Kirkland, assists adults who have school-age children and need assistance.
Take a look below at the items the shelter needs, and if your family can donate any of these, please deliver your donations to the boxes in the school lobby by the 4th. To help your children feel the good that comes from helping others, it might be a good idea to let your child pick out one item he/she would like to help donate, and be a part of picking up that item at your next shopping trip to a store like Fred Meyer.
With the current restrictions in place, we are also accepting these donations via Amazon delivery. Simply purchase the items you want to donate through Amazon and have them shipped directly to St. Louise School - our address is 133-156th Ave SE, Bellevue, 98007.
If you have questions about our all-school Supply Drive, please contact Julianne Read. If you want to know more about the New Bethlehem Shelter, please talk to fellow parent Rebecca Nightingale, who serves on the NBS steering committee.
Thanks in advance for you and your children helping the less fortunate just in time for the Advent Season!
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Thursday's Theology: Advent Begins the Sunday After Thanksgiving
click on the picture for information on how to make your own Advent wreath
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