Dear Families,

As we continue with our 4th week of Lent, I look to prayer to help me with my day. One thing that I do which has helped me with prayer during this Lenten Season, is to go for a quiet walk and pray. This can be a special time to speak to God, and even more special, allow God to speak to you. Here are some tips for walking and praying. Turn off the music and walk in silence. Consider walking in a local park instead of on the sidewalk or along the street. This will allow you to be more aware of your surrounding, God’s creations, and not be distracted by the sound of cars. After about 5 minutes, you can usually tell what is on your mind. And then, talk to God about it. If appropriate, and if you can clear your head, do some discernment about how to handle the issue. Prayer is such a valuable time between you and God, and I ask that you spend time with God during this Lenten Season. 

Annual Fund – Update

Thank you to all the families who have already made their commitment to the Annual Fund! As of yesterday, March 22nd 62% of our school families have participated. As you know, we work very hard to keep our tuition as accessible as possible for our community, yet we need to compensate our teachers for all their hard work providing the excellent education we have come to expect. The Annual Fund is one of our required fundraisers that helps achieve that goal. I’m looking forward to seeing 100% participation soon! 

If you haven’t had a chance to make your Annual Fund donation, send in your check today or click here to contribute now.

Used Uniform, Charger Gear, and Charger Card Sale

Is your child in need of some uniforms? Do you want new St. Louise gear for your children? Do you have an upcoming event or trip you could use gift cards for? Next Tuesday, March 28th is a great opportunity to get used uniforms, buy new St. Louise gear, or by Charger Cards. Stop by the Parish Hall between 2:00pm-4:00pm for this awesome sale. 

Taco Tuesday – Standing with Haiti Fundraiser Update

Thank you to all the families, faculty and staff that ordered tacos in support of our Standing with Haiti fundraiser. We raised over $1,700 that will benefit our sister school, St. Anne’s in Haiti.

We would like to thank all the volunteers that helped out: Kelly Miller, Mimi Trinh, Barbara Schille, Bob Schille, De Wang, Aila Olayao, Elizabeth Gehrig, Allison Weber, Edelmira Solares, Winda Laurence, Ronald Stefanus, Amy Yeung, Olga Larcencova, Vicki Cam, Asya Frazier, Laura Bonner, Kathy Vanichkorn, Fabiola Ward, Shiji Das, Alli Burton, Rissa Shaw, Rebecca Nightingale, Lola LeBlanc, Yodit Kebreab, Delphine Lemarchand, Petra Belford, Shawna Pacheco, Meghan Green, Arden Kagetsu, Candace Minerich, Jody Cedola, Arika Larson, Mary from Standing with Haiti, and many more volunteers. 

The Parish is hosting a fundraising dinner this Saturday, March 25, and could still use some volunteers. If you are interested in helping with this event, please contact Dawn McIntosh at mcintod@msn.com.

Planned Absence – Easter Break

Families who will be extending their Easter Break by 3 or more school days will need to fill out a planned absence form. You may find the planned absence form for K-3 here and 4-8 here. Planned absence forms must be completed ahead of time, and no later than 5 days before the absence begins. Thank you for adhering to our planned absence policies. 

Quiz Question of the week

The first and fourth person to e-mail me the correct answer to the question below will win a Charger Card.

Quiz Question: On the school website, under Parent Info and Emergencies, who is the chair of the Emergency Preparedness Committee?

Have a Blessed Weekend,

Mr. Mike Fuerte

Principal

Announcements

Fundraisers

Parish

Dear Friends at St. Louise, 

As we welcome Fr. Frank Rouleau from Outreach to Haiti, we also listen to the powerful and yet at times puzzling story of the raising of Lazarus. Why did Jesus wait to go to Bethany, even though he knew that his friend was seriously ill? Why did Jesus weep at the tomb, even though he knew that he would soon be showing the glory of God by raising his friend from the dead? While there are answers to these questions (he waited so that all would believe in the resurrection, he wept that death entered the world through Original Sin and caused so much human suffering), the answers may leave us less than completely satisfied. And we know that people everywhere are left unsatisfied with great needs, including at our sister parish and school in Haiti. 

After Jesus does the “heavy lifting” of raising Lazarus from the dead and Lazarus comes out of the tomb, still bound by the burial cloths, Jesus asks for the active participation of his disciples when he says, “untie him and let him go.” These are powerful words as we reflect and pray on what it means for us to join with St. Anthony Renton in signing the covenant agreement with Ste. Anne de Hyacynthe Parish and School, to form a sister parish and school relationship for five years.

It might be easy to immediately think that we are untying what binds them. It is important to think first of what holds us bound, and to see that the experience of our brothers and sisters in Haiti might help us to be free. We can all too easily get caught up in our own problems and challenges and allow them to consume us, all too easily lose our sense of peace, all too easily be preoccupied by our own troubles and needs. Sometimes we use the phrase “but that’s a first-world problem” to help give ourselves some perspective. 

The very first step in our sister parish relationship will be for us here at St. Louise to learn more from the people and students of Ste. Anne Parish and School. As much as our financial help is essential for the very existence of Ste. Anne School, our prayerful presence with that community is every bit as important. I remember well when I went to Haiti with the second St. Anthony’s delegation and we sat down with the teachers. Someone asked, “What is it like to teach here at Ste. Anne?” There was a pause and one of the teachers said, “I don’t talk about it because I will begin to cry.” That hit us hard. Some asked, “What can we do to help?” The response: “Your presence here helps us to know that we are not alone.” That short exchange set each group free – the delegation was set free to focus more on being with the teachers rather than doing something for them, and the teachers were set free from feeling isolated and hopeless in their struggles.

As we move forward with this new experience for our parish, we will slowly discover, with God’s help, what it means to live the words of Jesus: “Untie him and let him go.” 

With deep gratitude, 

Fr. Gary Zender

Welcome again to Fr. Frank Rouleau! Many of you will remember his visit from last year. He is a priest of the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut, which has a sister diocese relationship with the Archdiocese of Port au Prince. He served many years in Haiti and will be preaching at all the Masses this weekend. 

“The holy example of Jesus Christ who, while upon earth, honored St. Joseph so highly and was obedient to Him during His life, should be sufficient to inflame thee hearts of all with devotion to this saint.”

– St. Alphonsus Liguori

Thank you to Amy Tran, Nicole Boswell, and Caleigh for putting together rainbow skewers for every student to celebrate the end of our Annual Fund campaign.

The Northwest Opera performed for grades PK-6. Thank you Mrs. LB and Parents' Club for organizing the visit.

8th grade students serving the community at Crossroads Meal Program.

Standing with Haiti, Taco Tuesday Fundraiser was a blast. Students really enjoyed eating together as a school.

7th and 8th grade had confession.

8th grade took a group picture.

Widodo Karli Family

Morris/Herber Family

Antezana Garvizu Family



Coles Family