Upcoming Dates

March 16-23                  Unplugged Week

Wed., March 21             Mom's Knit Night, 6:30-8:00 p.m. (Hyde Park)

Thurs., March 22            Family Supper/Games Night, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Mon., March 26             Feast of the Annunciation (see below)
Wed., March 28             Vision Screening   

Thurs., March 29            Wizard of Oz Dress Rehearsal

                                    Wizard of Oz Performance, 6:30 p.m.

Fri., March 30                Wizard of Oz Performance, 6:30 p.m.

 

Unplugged Week (March 16-23)

Gently Used Items Wanted

This year we will incorporate spring cleaning into our rewards for going unplugged.  As you notice them around your house, begin setting aside gently used books, games, puzzles and stuffed animals to bring in with your media-free passes during Unplugged Week. 

 

Family Dinner and Game Night: Thursday, March 22, 5:30-7:30

On Thursday, March 22 we will host a Crockpot Supper and Family Game Night and children will have the chance to shop our treasure trove of donated items as part of their reward for going unplugged.  Enjoy an evening away from the screen and together with school friends sharing fellowship and playing games.

 

GSCM Moms' Knit Night: Wed., March 21

Wednesday, March 21, bring your knitting and get together with other GSCM knitters at Hank Yarn Boutique on the corner of Edwards and Observatory in Hyde Park from 6:30-8:00.  RSVP to Alicia Wilhelmy at alicia@seemlessdesign.com by March 5.

 

March 26: Feast of the Annunciation

From the age of three, one of the most beloved atrium works is the Annunciation. Children are drawn to the receptivity of Mary, her quiet humility, and her perfect faith and responsiveness to God.

 

The Annunciation of the Lord, normally March 25, falls on a Sunday this year, so the Church will celebrate it the following day (Monday, March 26). We invite all of our students to bring in a special prayer that they want to offer to Jesus through Mary. In the front entrance we will have a statue depicting the Annunciation with a basket to receive the children's prayers. Please encourage your child to present a prayer of thanksgiving, praise, or petition by writing or drawing it on a small piece of paper, folding it so it is private, and placing it "in the hands" of Mary, whose perfect faith is our model and our aid.

 

On Monday, all of our students will engage in age-appropriate Marian songs and prayers, including a part or all of the Rosary for our elementary and middle school students.

 

GSCM Presents Wizard of OZ

Thursday, March 29th and Friday, March 30th at 6:30 p.m. here in the church, come to see many of our upper elementary and middle school students perform Wizard of Oz.  Tickets will be on sale for $3 each this Friday after school.  The students have been practicing for some time now and this should prove to be a very entertaining evening.   

 

If your child is in the Wizard of Oz and you have not received an email from Shannon Lotterer regarding adult volunteer positions for the performances, please contact her shannon.lotterer@fuse.net or 777-0526.

 

Stargrams!

Show your support of an actor or advertise your business by purchasing a Stargram!  A Stargram is a message put into the program for the Wizard of Oz.  It can say "good luck" or whatever you would like and have the actor's name and who the Stargram is from, or it can be an advertisement for your business.  Stargrams cost $5 for a quarter page, $10 for half and $20 for a full page.  Please submit all stargram messages or ads to Elizabeth Lotterer at lizthelizard98@gmail.com.   

    

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Mission Alive

Erdkinder

By Lizzie Lotterer and Megan Griffin, 8^th Grade Students

 

Every Friday, the middle school students pull on their mud shoes and head outside to work in our garden. There is much more to the garden than what meets the eye. We are currently working on four new projects in addition to maintaining our garden. 

 

The projects include constructing cold frames to protect the plants from cold weather; installing a rain barrel to collect rain and irrigate the crops; building a greenhouse to extend growing time; and planning a vineyard to grow grapes. The vineyard will produce table grapes as well as grapes for making wine and grape juice.

 

The middle school took a trip to Elk Creek Vineyards to learn about constructing trellises, growing grapes, and how to make wine. The greenhouse group is currently constructing the greenhouse and leveling the ground. The middle school is making great progress on our garden! Be sure to stop by and take a look!

 

[Ed. Note: The work that Lizzie and Megan describe grows out of the "Leading Values and Guiding Principles" of our Middle School Program, including:]

 

1. Land/Nature Component

The connection of the adolescent with the land is of great importance, for it is in this connection that lessons of interdependence, stewardship, and humility are absorbed, as well as our link with history.

2. Building school community in a way that obliges young adolescents to consider and confront how they relate to one another and to adults.       Real work and experiential learning within the school community create the genuine creation of distinct roles for the students and the need to take responsibility for the life and welfare of the community.
3. Education should include both manual and intellectual work, which "complete each other and are equally essential to a civilized existence."
4. Fundamental Montessori principles and ideals continue to apply to education of adolescents, though in a new way that suits the particular developmental needs of this age.

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HHS Insurance Mandate News

"Never before in our US History has the Federal Government forced citizens to directly purchase what violates our beliefs. At issue here ... is the survival of a cornerstone constitutionally protected freedom that ensures respect for conscience and religious liberty."

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, (http://usccb.org/news/2012/12-015.cfm)

 

What is this about? It is the HHS Mandate. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), said of the mandate: "The Obama administration has now drawn an unprecedented line in the sand. The Catholic bishops are committed to working with our fellow Americans to reform the law and change this unjust regulation."

 

This issue is so pivotal to any Catholic institution, including hospitals, schools, and universities, that our school newsletter will include regular "HHS Mandate News" to educate and inform our parents about this serious situation in our country. This will be largely taken from the USCCB website and other outlets for official Church teaching.

 

It is sometimes good to go "back to the basics" and this summary of the original January 20th HSS Mandate on the USCCB's blog Monday, February 6, 2012 does exactly that.  Titled "Six Things Everyone Should Know About the HHS Mandate", this post succinctly calls out the underlying facts about the USCCB's opposition to the mandate:

 

1. The mandate does not exempt Catholic charities, schools, universities, or hospitals.

2. The mandate forces these institutions and others, against their conscience, to pay for things they consider immoral.

3. The mandate forces coverage of sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs and devices as well as contraception.

4. Catholics of all political persuasions are unified in their opposition to the mandate.

5. Many other religious and secular people and groups have spoken out strongly against the mandate.

6. The federal mandate is much stricter than existing state mandates.

 

To read the entire contents of this blog post see http://usccbmedia.blogspot.com/2012/02/six-things-everyone-should-know-about.html.

 

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Summer Camp News

Please visit our website  www.gscmontessori.org for a current summer camp brochure. Camps are offered the weeks of June 11-14 and 18-21:

• Nature Trail: Instructor: Jeanne Speier, M.F.A., Music Instructor at GSCM
• Let's Go Outside! Instructor: Jeanne Speier, M.F.A., Music Instructor at GSCM
• Drama for the Young Child: Instructor: Rhonda Hamall, Associate of Arts, Founder and Director of the Backyard Theatre Company;
• Drama for the Older Child:       Instructor: Rhonda Hamall, Associate of Arts, Founder and Director of the Backyard Theatre Company;
• Ultimate! (Frisbee, that is): Instructors: Evan Conrad, University of Cincinnati Ultimate Frisbee Team; Jack Teller, starter on 6-time
• Sculpture for the Elementary Child: Walking with the Gargoyles: Instructor: Shannon Treier, BFA, fine arts teacher at GSCM

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Boxed Potatoes Collection for IPM Thursday, Mar. 22

Please remember our collection of a box of potatoes for Inter Parish Ministry this Thursday.  Every donation is truly appreciated.

 

For the next six weeks, IPM is participating in a challenge sponsored by the Feinstein Foundation's Campaign to Fight Hunger. For each food item donated to IPM between now and April 30th, IPM will receive cash toward the purchase of additional food. So donations in these two months count for more than they normally would. Once again, thank you very much for your continuing support.

PTO News

PTO Campaign 2012

Please consider running for President, President of the PTO - Parent Teacher Organization, that is!

 

The terms of the current PTO Officers are expiring at the end of the school year and the nomination process for new officers is now before us. The PTO Nominating Committee is seeking the names of people interested in serving as President, Vice-President, Secretary or Treasurer. A couple of people have already expressed interest in running for office. If you are interested, want more information or would like to nominate someone, please contact one of the members of the Nominating Committee or leave a note in the PTO mailbox in the school office.

 

The Nominating Committee consists of the PTO President, Jana Widmeyer, Vice President, Ellen Stephenson, and Volunteer Coordinator, Shannon Lotterer.   Any of these women would be happy to speak with you.    

Nominations must be received by the end of March. Elections will be held after Easter Break. New terms begin in May.

 

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