BK Alive
News and Information for BK Families
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THIS NEWSLETTER CONTAINS A LOT OF INFORMATION, AND THE LENGTH OF THE NEWSLETTER CAUSES IT TO BE TRUNCATED.
LOOK FOR THE BLUE LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE EMAIL THAT SAYS "VIEW ENTIRE MESSAGE" TO EXPAND THE EMAIL, OR CLICK HERE TO SEE ARCHIVED COMMUNICATIONS FROM BK.
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See You After Thanksgiving!
Enjoy Your Break!
Monday 11/29 - Periods 1-4
8:30 AM Start, 3:00 PM Release
Tuesday 11/30 - Periods 5-7
9:00 AM Start, 2:45 - 3:15 PM Office Hours
Wednesday 12/1 - Straight 7
8:30 AM Start, 3:05 PM Release
Thursday 12/2 - Periods 1-3
9:00 AM Start, 2:45 - 3:15 PM Office Hours
Friday 12/3 - Periods 4-7
8:30 AM Start, 3:00 PM Release
Important Upcoming Dates
November 22 - 26 - Thanksgiving Break, NO SCHOOL
Thursday, December 2 - Reconciliation available for all Theology Classes
Saturday, December 4 - Junior High Rally in the Reg
Monday, December 6th - Music Concert in the Reg at 7:00 PM
Tuesday, December 7th - Senior Out to Lunch
Wednesday, December 8 - Feast of the Immaculate Conception, All School Mass
Wednesday, December 15 - Parent Book Club in the Library at 7:00 PM
December 17 - 22 - Finals
December 23 - January 7 - Christmas Vacation
January 10th - First Day of 2nd Semester
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A Note from Rich and Mike |
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Hello BK Community,
In reflecting on the gratitude for our many blessings as we approach our Thanksgiving break and holiday, we reread the letter we wrote last year to our BK community on this day before Thanksgiving break. We were talking then about having 5 to 10 cases per week and up to 95 people in quarantine. We were moving to a Flex Instructional Model for the six days after Thanksgiving break. Our power had gone out, the internet was down, and all school Mass was cancelled. We were wearing masks at school, practicing 6 feet of social distance, and avoiding social gatherings and large crowds, including family Thanksgiving celebrations. But we were in school for in person learning, one of the few in the region and country successfully doing that, and we had no spread inside the school.
Now fast forward to this year. We have had only two cases in the first 19 days of November. We have no students or staff in quarantine. We have been able to return to optional masks. We are gathering together for concerts and sporting events and Thanksgiving gatherings.
Much of this progress has been due to the availability and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines, better knowledge of how the disease is transmitted, and the exceptional efforts of our healthcare workers. But it is also a testimony to the courage and determination of our community, to always putting students at the forefront of our decisions, to the innovation and creativity of our team, to making the necessary investments in additional staff and mitigation efforts, and to your support in keeping students home when exhibiting any symptoms.
We are very blessed and grateful to have this incredible community, amazing students, engaged and supportive families, a caring and dedicated faculty and staff, and a loving God, working all together to realize the results cited above.
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We are now two weeks into our move back to optional masks and continue to be very pleased with the results. The feedback from students and staff has been positive and all seem to be respectful of choices students and staff are making as to whether to wear a mask or not. In our COVID-19 assessment meeting this week, we made the decision to continue with optional masks upon returning from our Thanksgiving break.
We are continuing to track and publish our school data on BK.org daily. We have had only one student and no staff member positive COVID-19 cases this week. Since the start of school 14 weeks ago, we have had a total of 54 positive student and 9 staff cases. None of the cases to date have been due to spread within our school to our knowledge. We currently have no students or staff members out in quarantine. Student attendance remains strong at around 94% and staff absences for illness have been very low this week.
Thank you once again for all you have done in partnership with us to make the first 14 weeks of the 2021-22 school year so successful in most every way. Let’s all do our part over the Thanksgiving break to sustain this success and continue to make the learning experience exceptional for all students and faculty and to keep all students, faculty, and staff safe and healthy.
We wish you and your families a very happy, safe and healthy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be grateful for, especially our BK families, faculty/staff and community!
God Bless!
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Mike Caldwell
Principal
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Reflections from Father Vance |
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Last Sunday, at the second “Partnership Mass” that BK is doing with area parishes to make more real and poignant our common Catholic mission, I presided at the 5 p.m. Mass at St. Mark’s. During Communion, I had a powerful spiritual experience, one that has stayed with me all this week. I love giving Communion, and I was struck by the alternating people I don’t know who are from the parish community, with the students I do know from BK in the line. But, suddenly in front of me in line, there was a precious little girl of about 4. I really love when children who haven’t yet made their First Communion present themselves for a blessing, but that was not what this little girl was doing. She had a stuffed animal in her hands, and as she came to me in the Communion line, she held the toy up in front of her. But she was completely silent in this gesture, which left me with uncertainty as to what she was wordlessly asking of me. Did she want me to take it from her? Probably not. At a bit of a loss as to what to do, I finally extended my hand over the stuffed toy and blessed it. At that moment, the little girl’s searching and somewhat plaintive eyes transformed into a beautiful little angelic smile, and she toddled off from the Communion line.
This was an absolutely precious experience in and of itself, but it has echoed in my prayer since as one of the most powerful images of how we should all stand before God. Don’t we believe that God knows what we need and what we desire long before we pray for it, and even long before it even occurs to us as a need or a desire? If this is the case, then why do most of our prayers begin “please give…”? For my own part, I have often felt that I do too much “talking” in prayer, and not nearly enough “listening.” What I mean by this is that, if I fill my prayer with ONLY my intentions - my needs, wishes, desires and longings - then perhaps I am not giving God any space in my prayer to actually show me how He is answering my deepest needs. Maybe I should be more trusting that God knows what I need before I say it (this was one of Jesus’ lessons and points when He gave us the “Our Father,” after all), and spend more time in prayer seeking to listen to what God might be trying to say back to me. If I could do this more intentionally and more consistently, then maybe I would learn the lesson that God is always close to me, answering my life with what I need, and teaching me to distinguish what I most deeply need for my life from what I merely want.
The image of that little girl, silently holding up her precious stuffed animal in trust that I would do with it what she most dearly desired, is an image of this central lesson in the life of prayer. We are each called to hold up to God what is most important to us, and to wordlessly trust that God will bless that very thing in His good time and in His good way. Sometimes, we hold up things that we are tempted to cling to unhealthfully, like sins, addictions and compulsions. Sometimes, we hold up things we are joyful about, like successes, healthy relationships, and celebrations. But the activity is materially the SAME in either case - to take what we experience, and with hands and heart open and plaintive, extend it to God in trust that he will do with it what He will.
As we approach the crazy time of the holiday season, we also approach the sacred season of Advent, where we are called to prepare our lives for the birth of the Savior. So, as we worry about travel, vacations, semester finals, gathering with family and friends, inflation, inevitable stress, could we keep the image of that beautiful little girl holding her stuffed animal up to the Priest in the Communion line in our minds and hearts as the common challenge of our faith these days? If we could do this, then perhaps our souls would smile like the angels, and like the precious face of a child. Blessed Thanksgiving, BK community!
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Confirmation Classes at BK! |
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St. Mary's Church, led by Father Worster, will hold Confirmation Classes at Bishop Kelly. This is open to any St. Mary's Parishioner or any student that is unaffiliated with a parish.
Classes will take place in the morning, before the start of school. Classes will begin in January.
If your student is interested, please complete This Google Form so that St. Mary's may get in touch with you.
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Each week Bishop Kelly faculty and staff nominate students, and students nominate faculty and staff, who have demonstrated the BK Way attributes of Faith, Safe and Caring Place, Academic Excellence, Activities, Honor, Generosity, Community, and Partnership.
Congratulations to this week's Knights of the Week!
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Gabe Torkelson
Academic Excellence
Gabe has persevered through multiple injuries while also giving his all to his assignments. He is a leader on his prayer team and helps others while not complaining.
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Ashley Pfeifer
Academic Excellence
Ashley works hard and participates in class enthusiastically. Ashley is a leader on the prayer team and is very faithful and shares that faith with others. Ashley is an excellent student.
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Maggie Avey
Community
Maggie is an absolute marvel giving up her Saturday to assist the "tech-challenged" seniors at the Willowbrook 55+ Community set up their karaoke machine. Maggie has made it possible for the folks there to enjoy sharing Christmas carols and laughter.
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BK Staff of the Week
Mr. Nolan Turner
Safe and Caring Place, Community, Academic Excellence
- Mr. Turner has done everything he can to make sure I understand what he is teaching. He has done everything in his power to prepare us for our big essay.
- Mr Turner is very creative in his teaching. He keeps it fun and fresh. He talks with his students and understands them.
- He is very reasonable and understanding!
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Lost and Found is Overflowing! |
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Please check out the lost and found and claim your items before they are sent to St. Vincent's!
PARENTS - We found a key fob in one of the bags of food that was donated to the food drive. Are you missing your fob?
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Intramural Basketball at BK |
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We are going to pilot a short Intramural Basketball Season that will begin after Thanksgiving and finish before Christmas. If it goes well, we may extend it into January / February.
Dates
Mon, Nov 29: 7:00 -8:30 pm
Wed, Dec 1: 7:00 -8:30 pm
Wed, Dec 8: 7:00 -8:30 pm
Mon, Dec 13: 7:00 -8:30 pm
This is open for any BK Student that wants to play and all games will be played in the Carley Center unless communicated otherwise. The cost will be $5 per session, payable at the door when you arrive. The format for these four sessions will be drop in pick up games so any individual can show up and join a team. We may consider making it a more formalized, structured program in January/ February.
If you would like to play one or more nights, please register ahead of time with the link below:
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NEW - Parent Book Club at BK!
Who Gets In and Why - by Jeffrey Selingo
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Join the BK Counseling Department for a 3 part parent book club discussing New York Times best-selling author, Jeffrey Selingo’s Who Gets In And Why
Dec 15 7pm-8pm Library
Part Two Winter: Reading Season
Jan. 19 7pm-8pm Library
Part Three Spring: Decision Season
For questions email Julie Klover, College and Career Counselor
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Parents of Spring Break Travelers - PLEASE READ |
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Dear Parents of Spring Break Travelers,
We are excited for the opportunity to travel with students during Spring Break to Normandy, Peru, and Scotland/Ireland. It is an important investment that has positive academic benefits and helps students learn about new cultures. While we remain optimistic about these opportunities, the Covid-19 pandemic has made travel extremely challenging and we are writing with some important information:
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It's time for seniors to submit their quote for the yearbook. The link for the form is posted for seniors on Schoology, and quotes are due by midnight on November 30th. Please remind your senior that the quotes should represent what he/she values, believes in, or words that he/she lives by.
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What: Holy Apostles Welcome Dinner
When: Saturday, December 4th – 5:00-9:00
Where: Holy Apostles
Info: Volunteers are needed for set-up, serving, and clean-up at Holy Apostles for a dinner welcoming new parishioners.
Contact: Don Petersik at sea1dxp@comcast.net if you’d like to help!
What: Child care and helping with stations in a Nurturing Skills Group
When: On-going starting in January. Monday nights, 6:30-9:00.
Where: St. Mark’s
Info: There are positions for babysitting infants ages 0-3, or helping the children in the program learn and practice skill they’ve learned. Training will be provided before volunteering begins. Volunteers will be under adult supervision. For a more complete description of the positions, email Mrs. Colleran at jcolleran@bk.org or stop by room 412.
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12/1 @ 12:00- 12:35 US Marine Corp Recruiter
To attend, sign up using SCOIR or come to the Counseling Center
College & Career Fairs
Registration for the NACAC Virtual College Fairs are now open!
Virtual College Tours
Student-driven virtual college tours
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Catholic Community Events |
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Saint Mary's Candy Cane Crawl
Kick off your holiday festivities with St. Mary's 1 mile family fun run! The course will be 3 laps around Lowell Elementary field. We will have three separate races. All proceeds will benefit St. Mary's School, so crawl on out to join us for a great time!
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Registration is now open!
The Idaho Catholic Men’s Conference will take place on Saturday, January 29, 2022 at St. Paul's in Nampa and online. The conference theme is "Chosen For Such A Time As This" and will feature dynamic national speakers including Fr. Don Calloway, Deacon Adam Curtis, and Matt Harte. Bishop Peter Christensen will be celebrating the opening Mass. The early bird registration fee is just $49 before January 16 and online is $29. For all the details and to register go to www.IdahoCatholicMen.org or call 208-484-0898.
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Employment Opportunities at BK |
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Bishop Kelly is currently taking applications for the following positions for the 2021-2022 academic school year.
President
Kitchen Assistant
Activities Bus Driver
Substitute Teacher
For more information and to apply, please visit the Employment Page on BK.org. |
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Our website at www.bk.org is a wealth of information for parents and students alike!
Check out some of the cool tools that are just a few clicks away:
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- Front Office: 375-6010
- Fax: 375-3626
- Business Office Manager: 947-1209
- BK Development Office: 947-1325
- BK Foundation Office: 323-4789
To add, remove, or change your email address, or to remove your name from our regular mailing lists, please contact Chrissy at cbeckner@bk.org.
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