St. Marys School
November Newsletter
Well the bats have flown back to their cave, the jack-o-lanterns
have rolled away, and now my room is filled with signs of Thanksgiving.
I have often remarked that, at least in the primary grades, the first
four months of school are September, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and
Christmas. Some of my students have already brought in their assigned
ingredients for our contribution to the school’s annual Thanksgiving
luncheon. The first graders are responsible for the hand-made stuffing,
and I do mean hand-made. The second graders make the fruit salad for
the feast.
Things are looking much brighter at St. Mary’s School these days. Our
custodian, Mr. Bingham, is currently in the process of replacing all of
our old lights with new LED bulbs. The LED bulbs produce more light and
reduce energy costs. The estimated savings is $1,300 per year. A rebate
from DP&L covered about 68% of the cost of the new bulbs, which
were purchased from Dickman’s Supply.
The first week of November was very full. On Monday, November 2 the
kindergarteners visited the Greenville Public Library. They were given
a guided tour of the library. They learned that the original part of
the library was built using funds from Andrew Carnegie. They toured the
new section of the library. They enjoyed story time, and each child
chose a book to bring back to school to share with the class. On
Wednesday the Limelighters from Sidney-Lehman High School performed for
the students. The Limelighters are Sidney-Lehman’s show choir. On
Friday the students enjoyed an early dismissal. The teachers took a
refresher course on first aid and CPR. The good news is if your hearts
stops, and I happen to be around, I can perform CPR on you. The bad
news is due to my bad knees, you will have to climb up on a table
before you pass out. The quarter ended on October 30 and the report
cards were available online last Friday.
Last Monday November 9, the kindergarten visited the fire department.
They toured the station and learned about fire safety. They returned to
school, wearing fire helmets, just in time for the morning recess. On
Wednesday the kindergarten through eighth grades went downtown to
support our veterans and watch the annual Veteran’s Day parade. Parent
teacher conferences were Thursday after school until eight o’clock.
Friday was a day off for both students and teachers.
The Rosary Altar Society’s bazaar is this weekend. The ladies have
hand-made items, religious goods, Christmas decorations, and of course
lots of delicious treats, including their freshly baked cinnamon rolls.
On Saturday morning, children from St. Mary’s School sang Christmas
carols to get everyone into the Christmas spirit.
On November 19, the kindergarten through fourth grades will be
traveling to Dayton to the Victoria Theater to see a production of
Madeline and the Bad Hat. This production is part of the Discovery
Series sponsored by the Frank M. Tait Foundation.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this letter, the students will be
preparing a Thanksgiving Luncheon that will be served on Wednesday,
November 25. Each class contributes to the meal by preparing part of
the meal. Trust me, you haven’t really lived until you have made
stuffing with 12 first graders. I am very fortunate to have a dozen
students this year. My recipe calls for a dozen eggs. That means each
student gets to crack an egg. When you are in first grade, cracking an
egg is a heady experience. All in all the entire process is a little on
the messy side, which means the majority of the
students love it! I always notice that my second graders who are busy
washing fruit in another part of the cafeteria, seem to look longingly
at the chaos over by the first graders. All joking aside, the children
are very careful when handling the food. They wash their hands both
before and after cooking. After three days of preparation, which is
reminiscent of the first Thanksgiving, all the students, staff and
guests sit down for the meal which is served family style. Many of our
alumni who are in high school return that day to visit and share in the
meal. All the leftover food is donated to the local soup kitchen.
I looked at my calendar yesterday only to discover that Advent begins
the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Christmas will be here before you know
it. I just checked my calendar and we have four weeks to prepare for
the Christmas program. I have to say those first four months of school,
September, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas just seem to fly by!
On behalf of the students and staff at St. Mary’s School, I would like
to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.
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