Message From the Principal
Happy St. Nicholas Day!
Advent is a very meaningful time and here at school, we make a special effort to rouse ourselves out of usual routines and make extra time to gather and reflect on the joyous miracle that is about to happen. During this first week of Advent, as we gathered around the wreath, the scripture readings have been reminding us that the Son of God is coming and we better be awake! We are to not just to hear the words of God; we must also act on them. Next week, the theme focuses on John the Baptist as he challenges each of us to prepare the way!
We will begin the Second Week of Advent by congregating as a full community in Egan Hall again. Please remind your children to go directly to the lunchroom. Those arriving at 8:20 or later will simply sit at the back of the hall, as we will have started praying. Students in grades 2 - 8 will also be receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation next week. Fr. Crispin and guest priests will hear students' confessions on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Reconciling with God is the most important way that we prepare the way for the Lord. At home, as you pray around the family Advent Wreath, encourage your children to reflect upon the events of the day and examine where they found Jesus in all the busy activities. Tomorrow we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. We will go to church and attend Mass to thank God for giving us Mary, who was born free from original sin. With God's grace she became the Mother of Jesus. Your children should wear their formal dress uniform. Today, the children are bringing home their report cards. Be sure to check their backpacks if they have not handed them over. Celebrate their successes with them, and discuss strategies for improvement where needed. With the report cards, students in grades 2 - 8 will also have the results of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, which they took in early October. Please study these results carefully. Some grades have also taken a self-assessment on how they are implementing the Habits of Mind and Second Step skills. Please take the time to discuss these results with your children. These life skills will be the foundation on which academic skills will be built - the solid ground of today's Gospel reading. This trimester, we welcome Shirley Bocian to the PE department. She will teach the preschool, kindergarten and one of the sixth grade PE classes on Friday mornings. Ms. Bocian is a graduate of Bishop Blanchet High School and SPU, interned here at St. John, and teaches PE at St. Monica during the rest of the week. She also coaches volleyball at Lakeside, and track at Bishop Blanchet.
Beannacht, Bernadette O'Leary |
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Elementary Science Club
Grades 3 - 5Registration begins today!
The first meeting of Elementary Science Club for grades 3 through 5 will be held on January 8, 2013. The Science Club teachers and activities will be provided by the Pacific Science Center's "Science After School" program. Science Club will meet after school on Tuesdays for 6 weeks (dates shown below). The faculty advisor is Señor Pablo (Assistant Principal). The parent organizers are Lili Lengua and Betsy Roletto-Rivera.
Due to classroom size and the availability of Pacific Science Center teachers, group size is limited to 24 students per section with one section for each grade (3rd - 5th). Registration begins electronically today, Thursday, December 6, beginning at 6:30pm. Please link here to the registration form. Participants will be taken on a first come, first served basis. No sign up forms will be accepted in the school office. The cost per student is $48. Scholarships are available. We will need four parent volunteers per grade to help each week from 3:00 to 4:25pm. Contact Sr. Pablo to receive more information.
Elementary Science Club meets from 3:15pm to 4:15pm:
January 8, 2013
January 15, 2013
January 22, 2013
January 29, 2013
February 5, 2013
February 12, 2013
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 Middle School Musical Beauty and the Beast, Jr. Auditions
Auditions for the Middle School production of "Beauty and the Beast, Jr." will be held Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, December 10, 11, and 12, in Egan Hall at 3:15pm. The audition sign-up list is posted on the school bulletin board on the 3rd floor. Students wishing to audition should sign up for one five-minute time slot for one of those days. There is also a sign-up sheet for students wishing to work on one of the stage crews (no audition necessary). For additional information, please contact Director Katie Franklin at catherinfranklin@comcast.net.
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Alumni News Jack Frank, Class of 2011 completed the Seattle Half Marathon over Thanksgiving weekend. He ran with his uncle, Willie Richardson, who donated a kidney to Jack last December. Both Jack and Willie participated as part of Team Transplant, a comprehensive training and wellness program for transplant recipients, their family and friends, and hospital personnel at the University of Washington Medical Center. Jack ran with St. John Cross Country every year from Kindergarten through 8th grade, and with the Bishop Blanchet High School Cross Country team this past fall for which he received a Varsity letter. He ran in five races with a personal record of 24:40 for 5K (3.1 miles). |
Knights of Columbus Host Christmas Basketball Tournament
St. John Parish K of C will be the host for this year's CYO/Knights of Columbus Christmas Basketball Tournament for the 6th Grade Boys teams. Games will run December 27 through 29 in Egan Gym. Other middle school grade events will be held at other locations - visit here for a schedule. The Knights could use a hand (or two, or three) with the events held at St. John - please contact Bennett Jones if you are able to help out, at 206-784-6938 or email
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St. John School Learning Garden Project
Planning for the creation of a Learning Garden is beginning. We thank Maureen Rimkus, Kari Aguila, Lisa Behringer, and Nelle Steele for their vision. Please see the attached flyer for more information on the project, and possible ways you and your family can contribute!
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 | Reserve your seats now! Click for tickets and more
information. Half of the proceeds go to St. John
School. |
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St. John the Evangelist Parish News
Jambo -
We are fast approaching the Advent and glorious Christmas Season. I think that you will agree time passes more quickly year after year! Over the last few years it has been apparent that on Christmas Eve many parishioners along with their extended families prefer to attend and celebrate the birth of our Savior at the earlier Mass. Last year we had over 1000 people attending the 5pm Children's Mass. I am thrilled that we have such community on this very special night, but we do have a serious issue regarding fire and safety regulations. We have been advised that we can no longer have such a huge overflow for the Mass, as by doing so we violate the terms of our fire and safety permit.
To accommodate the large volume on Christmas Eve we will be offering TWO Children's Masses, at 4pm and 6pm. The ushers will have to strictly monitor the number of attendees for each Mass and only allow enough participants to fill all of the seats - there will be minimal standing room allowed. We anticipate that we cannot allow more than approximately 600 per Mass. Please plan accordingly. All are welcome; however, we must adhere to City requirements as well.
We look forward to having our wonderful children lead us in worship on this very blessed night. We are so fortunate to have the Cantionis choir join us for the 4pm Mass and the Schola assist us at the 6pm. There will be additional masses at 9pm, 12 midnight, and 9am on Christmas morning.
In the coming weeks please read the bulletins for additional information regarding the Masses for Christmas. The parish is making every effort to ensure that these Masses are a joyous celebration for everyone.
Baraka ya Yesu!
THE YEAR OF FAITH
Join us for the Catholicism DVD Series by Fr. Robert Barron, 7-8:30pm, Egan Hall, shown monthly
This is a DVD series of 10 videos that helps to explain what Catholics believe, and why. Our December date has been cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. The next DVD will be shown January 10, Understanding the Mystery of God. Attend all or any for free! Please contact Anne Merklin, at 206-782-2810 or amerklin@stjohnsea.org for information.
STATE OF THE PARISH PRESENTATIONS December 15 and 16 at all the Masses A presentation highlighting what we've done over the past year, with a financial summary. Come find out how your parish is doing, where we are going, and how you can be a bigger part of it!
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Meditations for Advent
Second Sunday
When John the Baptizer made his appearance as a preacher in the desert of Judea, this was his theme: "Reform your lives. The reign of God is at hand!"
Luke 3:1
Prayer
O Jesus, in an empty desert your prophet John proclaimed: "God is here, at your side. God has come to bring about a kingdom where injustice and suffering will be no more, where tears will be wiped away, and where those who turn to God will feast at a banquet.
"Turn now, your God is standing at your side. Reform your lives, God's kingdom is at hand." In an empty desert John said these things.
Give me faith like John's, O Lord, strong enough to believe even in a desert that you and your kingdom are no farther from me than my hand. Make my heart strong like his, not swayed by trials or snared by false pleasures. Give me courage to be faithful until your promises are fulfilled.
O King of all nations, Jesus Christ,
only joy of every heart, come and save your people. Amen."
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Parking With Consideration
Please do not park in the handicapped zone in front of Quigley on 80th Street - even for "just a minute."
Parking in this space prevents elderly and challenged parish members from attending prayer services. We are seeing a problem especially at morning drop off, morning PK pick up, afternoon PK drop off, and PM pickup. Please consider the inconvenience you may cause another. If you need additional motivation to park elsewhere, it is a hefty ticket! Parking enforcement informs us that they will be monitoring the space closely. Thank you!
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Important Dates
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Friday, December 7
DRESS UNIFORM
Liturgy - Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 9am, Church
Saturday and Sunday, December 8/9
Knights of Columbus Christmas Tree Sale
Sunday, December 9 Second Sunday of Advent Girl Scout Craft Fair, Egan Hall, after mass
Monday, December 10
Advent Prayer for all students, 8:20am, Egan Hall
Monday - Wednesday, December 10-12
Middle School Musical tryouts, 3:15pm, Egan
Thursday, December 13Grades 3-5 Christmas Program, Egan, 7pm
Tuesday, December 18
Preschool/Kindergarten Christmas Program, 6pm, Church
Grades 1 and 2 Christmas Program, 7pm, Egan Hall
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 Knights of Columbus
Annual Christmas Tree Sale
Saturday, Dec. 8, 9am-7pm, Parking Lot
Sunday, Dec. 9, 9am-5pm, Parking Lot
The annual sale will benefit the St. John Overnight Shelter and Noel House programs, a network of shelters serving homeless women in Seattle. The Knights will have a selection of locally grown and freshly cut Noble firs to choose from. Trees 6-7 feet are priced between $46 and $58; 8-10 foot trees start at $69. Plan now for your holiday tree!
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Girl Scout Holiday Craft Fair
Sunday, December 9
9am-1pm, Egan Hall
An affordable selection of beautiful handmade items will be available including candles, ornaments, hair accessories, gift tags, soaps, necklaces, and lots of baked goods. The perfect opportunity to shop for teacher gifts and stocking stuffers! All proceeds benefit the Girl Scout troops of St. John School.
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Save the Date!
 
Join the Knight's of Columbus and St. John's Boy Scout Troop 121 for the Ninth Annual Italian Dinner, Sunday, January 13th, at 5pm in Egan Hall. All proceeds benefit the Troop activities.
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Thank you to all who purchased scrip at the Parent Association Holiday Craft Fair. We sold $7,500.00! Great job everyone.
Remember, scrip is being sold every morning from 8:15 - 8:45 and again in the afternoon from 2:45 - 3:15 in the lower east hall outside XDC. Stop by and see all the great gift cards we have to offer. A complete list of cards available can be found at www.shopwithscrip.com.
Happy Holidays!!
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 Save the Date!
Auction Wine Tasting Party
Saturday, February 9,
7-11pm, Egan Hall
Mark you calendar and plan to join us for this annual event. We will taste and select wines to be served at the Auction. | |
Survey Request
In an effort to provide desired information to the parent community we are requesting your assistance in filling out a brief survey. If you have not already done so, please fill out the survey found on Survey Monkey. If you have already participated, thank you!
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Hot Lunch 
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Want more information on ordering? View the video attached. Friday, December 7 Curly pasta with creamy Marinara Monday, December 10 Chicken or veggie burger, oven roasted red potatoes, orange wedges Tuesday, December 11 Buttered noodles w/Parmesan cheese, carrot & cucumber sticks w/Ranch dip, chocolate cake Wednesday, December 12 Creamy tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich, Berry Blue Jello Thursday, December 13 Hamburger or Veggie Burger, Tatertots, grapes Visit "Menus" for extended menus. |
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Thank you to Boy Scout Troop 100 for donating Christmas trees and Fred Meyer gift certificates to families. The Scouts' tree sale is held at St. Alphonsus in the parking lot. Thanks to your participation in the Magazine Sale, World Concern reports "A gift has been given in your name to provide for families in Kenya. Three hundred and thirty-five chicks were donated and will grow into laying hens. Eggs provide energy and the extra can be sold for income. Thank you." Thank you so much to November Noel House overflow shelter volunteers Betty Ericksen, Chrissy Hilt, Adrey Ocampo, Kate Bronson, Rosalinda Aguirre, Allison Pham, Celena Kathan, Ann Amort, Colleen O'Leary, Matt Haskins, Mike Fletcher, Mary Ellen Talley, Maureen Sloane, Mike Sloane, Joe Kearney, Laura Fraioli, Betsy Rivera, Eileen Miller, Lisette Nenninger, Charlotte Selva and Joyce Farrell. If you are interested in volunteering for either driving or chaperoning please contact Mary Kearney, marytkearney@comcast.net. IS THERE SOMEONE YOU WISH TO THANK? Send your "thanks" to Mrs. Crockett for publication, dcrockett@stjohnsea.org. | |
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