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St. Mary’s School
After 16 blissful vacation days, January is busy
By Kathy Ayette
I think my advanced years are beginning to catch up with me. For
some reason, the year 2020 sounds so futuristic, yet here it is.
I remember when the year 2000 conjured up images of flying cars and
colonies on distant planets. Of course, this is written by one
born not only in the last century, but in the last millennium.
Staff and students enjoyed a nice long Christmas break this year.
The last day of school before break was Friday, December 20, and school
didn’t resume until Monday, January 6. That was sixteen blissful days
of vacation. I did have a moment of panic several days before we
were due back at school. I was lying in bed, in that drowsy
right-before-you-drift-off state, when suddenly I realized I could not
remember the name of one single first grader. (Keep in mind,
there are only five of them this year.) After a few minutes of
concentration, I was able to name all five. I’d like to attribute
that little incident to my drowsy state, but I have to wonder if the
cosmos isn’t trying to tell me it’s time to retire!
Because of the extended break, January itself seems a little short this
year. However, though short, it does not lack in events. On
Tuesday, January 14, our pastor, Fr. White visited each classroom to
give the students an opportunity to ask him questions. He was
open to all kinds of questions. One of my students asked him if
it was scary being a priest. Frankly I would find visiting all
the classes, from kindergarten to eighth grade, and answering their
questions a little daunting. Father shared that he had been a
teacher himself before entering the priesthood. My little
techno-kids wanted to know if he had had a SmartBoard. He told
them all he had was a chalkboard and chalk, and confessed he had no
idea of how to work our board. Sometimes I’m a little at sea
myself when confronting technology.
The school geography bee was held January 15. Students from
grades four through eight participated in the contest. Each class
had two representatives. The top three winners were Lydia
Beisner, Lexie Shoop, and Alex Hadden. Lydia will represent our
school at the state level. Participants at the state level
compete by taking an online test later this year. We wish Lydia
the best of luck.
Bishop Binzer will be at St. Mary’s January 17 to celebrate Mass with
us. You may remember last year around this time I wrote about Bishop
Binzer coming to celebrate Mass with the school. You also might
remember how nervous I was since my students were in charge of planning
the Liturgy, as well as having special roles at Mass. Well I am
happy to say that I am much calmer this time. I found the bishop
to be a very kind man who was wonderful with the children.
Really, I had done all that worrying for nothing. Oh, there might
be one more minor contributing factor affecting my state of mind… this
year the seventh graders are responsible for the Mass.
The fifth through eighth graders are busily preparing for the science
fair. Their projects will be judged and on display January
24.
Catholic Schools Week begins January 26 and runs through January 31.
The opening of Catholic Schools Week will be celebrated at all the
weekend Masses. Everyone is invited to visit the school after
Mass and join us for refreshments. We have many fun activities
planned for the week. Many are perennial favorites like Buddy
Bingo and stomping on bubble wrap. (Just an aside, you wouldn’t
believe how much the students enjoy popping the bubble wrap, even the
big kids.) Parents and grandparents will be invited to eat lunch
with the students on Tuesday and Wednesday. One of my favorite
activities is on Wednesday, when we join with schools all over the
archdiocese and ring the church bells. At St. Mary’s we not only
ring the church bells, but the students and staff join in with jingle
bells, handbells, and assorted rhythm instruments. Talk about a
joyful noise unto the Lord! This year we have a new event, Idiom
Day. Staff and students are invited to dress up as their favorite
idioms, such as raining cats and dogs or being all ears. It will be a
lot of fun trying to guess everyone’s idiom.
As you can see, 2020 at St. Mary’s is off to a rousing start. Here’s hoping that your 2020 will be the best ever.
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