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St. Mary’s School
The Joys of Ohio Weather
By Kathy Ayette
I know it’s not quite the middle of November but looking out my window
it’s beginning to look a lot more like Christmas than
Thanksgiving. My students are a little confused about what type
of outer wear to bring to school. It seems that one day they are
outside having gym class in their shirt sleeves, and the next day we
are watching the snow fall. Ah the joys of Ohio weather, not much
consistency but a lot of variety.
November 1 was the Feast of All Saints. On this holy day
Catholics celebrate and honor not only the “famous” saints like St.
Peter and St. Paul, but all the saints in Heaven. In October the
junior high students researched various saints. At Mass on the
holy day, the students dressed as the saints they researched and joined
the entrance procession. After the Gospel, the “saints”
introduced themselves and told a bit about their lives. Each
saint greeted us in his or her language. We were greeted with
shaloms and aves. We were even wished Guten Tag. The
students did their research well. I had a question answered that
I have pondered for years. One of my favorite heavenly buddies is
St. Anthony, the patron saint of people who lose things. He hears
from me at least four or five times a week. He a great preacher,
and I often wondered how such a great preacher ended up being the
patron saint of scatter brains like me. Turns out he had a
favorite prayer book that had been stolen. He prayed a long time
to find it. Against the odds, he did retrieve his book.
On November 6 the Board of Trustees sponsored Muffins with Mom.
Students and their moms enjoyed muffins before school. Next month
the board will sponsor Donuts with Dad. I’m still waiting for
Tacos with Teachers.
We had some more special visitors on November 6. Students from
Sidney-Lehman High School performed for the staff and students.
We were treated to vocal music by the mixed choir and the show choir,
the Limelighters. After the vocal music, the band
performed. There was a rather interesting coincidence with their
choice of music. One of the pieces sung was the Latin hymn, Dona
Nobis Pacem. It is a beautiful song done as a round. My
kindergarten through third grade music class also sings a version of it
in a round. Our round is only in two parts, while the choir did
theirs in four. I was sort of waiting for one of my students to
challenge the high schoolers to a sing-off! Thankfully that
didn’t happen although after the performance I heard some of my
students and former students humming Dona Nobis Pacem in the hallway.
Parent Teacher conferences were held November 7. The following
day was a free day for both staff and student. That weekend the
Rosary Altar Society held their annual Christmas Bazaar. On
Saturday, volunteers from the K through 3 music class plus a fourth
grader or two performed Christmas songs at the bazaar. Our group
was a little bit smaller than anticipated as several of the children
were sick with a stomach virus.
The school attended the Veterans’ Day ceremony held on Broadway.
The weather forecast that day was not encouraging, sporadic rain and
falling temperatures. In case of very inclement weather, we were
going to have our own prayer service at school to honor the
veterans. Fortunately, the rain held off and we were able to go
downtown and show our support for those who sacrificed for our country,
some of whom made the ultimate sacrifice.
On November 14 the kindergarten through fourth grades will travel to
the Victoria Theater to see a children’s production of Lyle the
Crocodile. This performance is part of the Discovery Series
sponsored by the Victoria Theatre Association. The children
always look forward to seeing the performances. Later in the
year, the fifth through eighth graders will attend a performance at the
Victoria Theater. On November 15 Ms. Lisa Martin from Greenville
National Bank will speak to the seventh and eighth graders about
managing their personal finances. She will cover topics such as
using a checking account.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. One of my favorite St.
Mary’s traditions, is the annual Thanksgiving luncheon held the day
before Thanksgiving. It is a Thanksgiving dinner and homecoming
rolled in one. Among our honored guests are our former students
who are now attending high school. The week before the luncheon
the students will be busy preparing the meal, which wouldn’t be
complete with out the first graders’ hand made (and I do mean hand
made) stuffing. On behalf of the staff and students of St. Mary’s
I’d like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.
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