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St.
Mary’s School
November Notes
and Events
It’s that time of year again. Sometimes I feel as if I am on an ever
accelerating roller coaster known as the Holiday Express. This year the
coaster seems to be in hyper drive! Within the last three weeks, we
have celebrated the 125th anniversary of the school, Halloween, All
Saints’ Day, sang Christmas carols at the Rosary Altar Society’s
Christmas bazaar, and currently are beginning preparations for the
school’s Thanksgiving luncheon. Whew! I get tired just thinking of it.
The 125th anniversary of St. Mary’s School was celebrated on Monday,
October 29. The celebration opened with a special Mass with Archbishop
Dennis Schnurr as presider. The archbishop concelebrated the Mass with
Fr. White, Fr. Harold Kist, a former pastor of St. Mary’s, and Fr.
Robert Hadden, a graduate of St. Mary’s School. After Mass, Archbishop
Schnurr stopped by the school to extend his congratulations. The
students enjoyed pizza, cake, ice cream and cookies for lunch. Many
parishioners who had joined us for Mass came over to the school to
enjoy refreshments and tour the classrooms. Seventh and eighth grade
students acted as tour guides.
On October 24, the first through fourth graders visited Heartland and
the Village Green nursing homes to bring a little Halloween to the
residents. The children dressed in their Halloween costumes and sang
Halloween songs. They sang such classics as “Have You Seen the Pumpkin
Man?” and that perennial favorite “The Ghost of John”. The residents
reciprocated by handing out treats to the students. Classroom Halloween
parties were held on October 31. The eighth graders transformed their
classroom into a haunted asylum. Accomplishing this transformation was
quite a feat since the school’s anniversary celebration was only two
days before Halloween. They only had two days to build the haunted
asylum. They did a remarkable job. My first and second graders were
impressed!
Staff and students went to Mass on November 1, All Saints’ Day. The
seventh and eighth graders attended Mass dressed as saints. After Mass
the students enjoyed donuts and juice or milk. On holy days the
students are provided with these treats to help them understand that
holy days are celebrations. Later that morning the “saints” visited the
other classes and shared their life stories with the children. One of
the saints who visited my classroom was the newly canonized St. Kateri
Tekawitha. Some of the lesser known saints, such as St. Bathilde and
Blessed Marie-Anne Rivier were at the school.
The seventh and eighth graders traveled to Chicago on the weekend of
November 10 and 11. They went to the Precious Blood Center for
Reconciliation to learn about Fr. David Kelly’s mission. By the way,
Fr. Kelly is also a former St. Mary’s student. The center’s mission is
two-fold. The young offenders are guided in reconciling with their
victims and making amends for their crime. The second aspect of the
mission is to teach the young men life skills that will enable them to
successfully be part of society. The center has been so successful that
the Chicago courts are starting to send young offenders to the center
in lieu of a juvenile detention facility. Students at St. Mary’s have
long supported Fr. Kelly and his mission. Throughout the year students
bring in basic necessities such as shampoo and toothpaste to send to
the center.
We have three grades preparing to receive sacraments this year. The
seventh and eighth graders will be confirmed in the spring. As I
mentioned earlier on All Saints’ Day each student dressed as a saint
and shared the saint’s life story. As part of their preparation to
receive Confirmation the students research saints. They have hung
informative posters about the saints around the school. The students
have also chosen their Confirmation names and sponsors. The second
graders are busy preparing for the reception of First Reconciliation.
They will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Wednesday,
November 28.
Next week will be a short, but busy week. On Monday and Tuesday, the
students will be busy preparing food for the school’s annual
Thanksgiving luncheon. The delicious smells of pumpkin pies and turkey
will soon fill the school. As I have explained in previous letters,
each student is paired with a student from another grade as part of our
buddy system. On Wednesday the buddies will sit together at the
luncheon. Our graduates who are currently in high school are invited
back since our Thanksgiving luncheon also serves as St. Mary’s
Homecoming. This year the leftover food will be donated to the local
soup kitchen.
Finally from the staff and students of St. Mary’s School I would like
to extend our best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving.
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