NewsViews

April 2, 2015

Principal's Letter

Dear Families,

In February, the school and parish faculty and staff had a retreat. Our retreat leader, Sr. Joyce Cox led a discussion on Jesus' last hours on this earth. His final words, seven utterances during the three hours as He suffered on the cross encompassed His entire teachings on earth. He cried out with humility and anguish. He used his remaining strength to speak of compassion, forgiveness, of trust in His Father, and of our redemption. This weekend, as we walk through the passion and death of Our Lord, let us forgive, let us trust, commending ourselves to our Heavenly Father and look forward with hope to the resurrection, rebirth and Easter Sunday. To celebrate this new beginning, the children are encouraged to bring a plastic egg with a symbol of creation to the 10:30 Mass on Sunday. I hear that Cantionis will be helping us raise our voices!

Tomorrow, the shadow stations will be led by Mrs. Halley's and Mrs. Edwins' religion classes. You are welcome to come and pray with us. Following the stations, we will observe and meditate on Jesus' death by leaving the church and school grounds in silence. This is the sacrifice we can make to show Jesus that we are thinking of Him. At dismissal, your children will walk out in silence. They might just wave at you or nod, but they will try to greet you quietly, so we are asking you to respond in the same way. The children will go all the way to meet you at your car silently.

Before we go silent, I want to loudly cheer in gratitude for our Auction team. We all had such a wonderful time benefiting our community at St. John. Thank you, Mrs. Skinner, Mrs. Sawicki, Mrs. Muenzberg, Mrs. Campbell, Mrs. Sorrick, Mr. Wells, and the countless other folks who put in so many hours for all of us. Thank you also to Mike Osterfeld for hosting us at Fremont Studio which allowed us to have a larger gathering in comfort. We are still counting; we will let you know how well we met our goals very soon!

Arithmetic April is here! See below for information.

I wish you a prayerful Triduum and a glorious Easter.

Slán agus beannacht,

Bernadette O'Leary

Principal

Dates To Note/Action Items

Friday, April 3 - Good Friday Stations of the Cross, 2pm, Church

Easter Holidays - April 6-10, 2015 - School not in session; XDC open
Tuesday, April 14 - DRESS UNIFORM - Class photographs
Friday, April 17 - DRESS UNIFORM - Dr. Haggarty, Superintendent of Schools visits St. John School

Be sure to check the online calendar - updated regularly - for changes to the draft calendar distributed in July.

Auction

Wow! What a Night!
We hope you all had a fantastic time last Friday at the Gala Dinner & Silent Auction. It was wonderful to see everyone dressed up and going MAD for St. John. Thank you so much for your support of this year's auction!

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!

As we have said many times, an event of this magnitude cannot happen without an army of volunteers behind the scenes. We'd like to thank the following people for the time and effort they lent to the auction this year (we have tried to include everyone in the list, if we left someone out it was unintentional - know that you still have our sincerest thanks): Aaron Kamalu, Adam Tillotson, Adrey Ocampo, Alessandra Brescia, Aletia Cogar, Alice Dellasanti, Alison Budelsky, Amanda Miller, Amy Gilbrough, Andrea Marquez, Anna Lisa English-Tookey, Anna McCarthy, Anne Martin, AP Hurd, Barbara Folger, Ben Howe, Betsy Rivera, Betsy Schoenholz, Betsey Sherman, Brandi Dagg, Brent LaMotte, Brian Burke, Bryce Coats, Carolyn Sherman, Christina White, Christine Sourov, Christine Westby, Cindy Tramountanas, CJ Dean, Colleen Ando, Colleen Douglas, Colleen Mandell, Corrie Kahn, Csilla Paizs-Kis, Dan Schuler, Dave Laemmle, David White, Debbie Woolsey, Diana Navarro, Doug Willson, Elaina Wheeldon, Ellen Petre, Emily Hallman, Emily Truong, Eric Aman, Eric Souder, Erik Davidson, Erin Murphy, Frank Adam, Gary Burckhardt, Geeta McCormack, Geraldine Stone, Gina Steinert, Gretchen Kudla, Heather Aman, Heather Bellerud, Heidi Austin, Hong Phuc Nguyen, Ian Kerrigan, Jason Roberston, Jennifer Bachhuber, Jenny Walker, Jody Reich, Joe Sperry, Josh Coolbaugh, Judith Corkum, Julia Rudden, Julie Lee, Kara Dacquisto, Karen Bombino, Karen Schuler, Karen Smiley, Kari San Miguel, Katie Burckhardt, Katie Clair, Katie Franklin, Kelly Kaspar, Kelly Souder, Kim Bryan, Kimberly Butler, Kristen Mosby, Kurt Boehl, Kylene Brouns, Laura Fraioli, Laurie Farmer, Leanne Kerrigan, Lily Laemmle, Lisa Behringer, Lisa Boucher, Lisa Crabtree, Lisa Emmens, Lisa Longton, Lisette Nenninger, Liz Johnson, Liz Overland, Lynnette Muenzberg, Maggie Adam, Margaret Jenkins, Marianne Wells, Marilis Mediavilla, Marilyn Hanley, Mary Kearney, Mary Lamb, Mary Ransom, Mary Van de Putte, Mary Wiseman, Matt Lewis, Matt Wells, Medby Pfeiffer, Meg Deines, Michael Budelsky, Michael Douglas, Michael Strimban, Michelle Branley, Michelle Sorrick, Molly Martinez, Monica Lenoci, Nick Lucio, Norah Halley, Pablo Kelley, Page Harader, Paige McNerthey, Pat James, Pat Tsagalakis, Paula Pessner, Patrick McMahon, Paul Carew, Rachel Berryessa, Rachel Douglas, Rachel Oximana, Sawsan Clark, Scott Cary, Shannon Flavin, Shannon Manley, Shannon Mapp, Shoshanna Osterfeld, Stacey Porter, Stephanie Boehl, Sue Howe, Susan Denning, Susie Slonecker, Suzanne Fairchild, Teresa Campbell, Teresa Willson, Teri Vispo-Cuba, Tom Brush, Tracie Westby, Tracy Robertson, Tracy Smith, Veronica Wellintz, Vija Merrill, Wilo Dietrich

Sign Up Parties and Events!

Sign Up Parties will remain open online until Friday, April 3 at 8:00 pm. Don't miss out on a fun event, sign up today!

www.biddingforgood.com/madforstjohn

(click "Sign Up Party" from the menu on the left)

Scrip

$1,464

Do you know what that number represents? That's our Scrip net profit for this week, March 29-April 3. Granted, our first week of the month generates the most income, but that's still amazing! Current and alumni families, school employees, and parishioners bought enough Scrip gift cards to generate that amount for the school's Operating Budget. What if we increased that number by $100 next month? Dollars and cents add up quickly when many people buy Scrip for their everyday purchases.

Thank you for your continued support!

Karen Gunther Bombino, Scrip Team Coordinator

Using Scrip is part of your Fair Share Commitment to St. John School!

Questions? Contact Karen Gunther Bombino and the Scrip Team at stjohnscrip@stjohnsea.org

CRS Rice Bowl

"Let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will."

-Matthew 26:39

As we recall the events of the Crucifixion, we may ask why God the Father allows his Son to withstand all this suffering! Even though he has identified Jesus as his "beloved Son", he does not save him from the Roman soldiers. We often find ourselves in this same thought as we examine the overwhelming obstacles that our brothers and sisters in poverty face, asking, why does God allow this to happen to his children?

Jesus answers this question in this Sunday's Gospel saying, "Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels? But then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must come to pass in this way?"

Jesus never asks for God to send those angels down to rescue him, even though he knows he can; he doesn't stop the Romans or the crowds from crucifying him; he humbly accepts God's will and only prays for the strength to carry it out. This is Jesus' love for us: Even though he had free will to choose anything he wanted, he chose to die for us.

When we look at the crucifix today and recall the story of Jesus' death, it's natural to feel sadness and even an element of guilt. But we must remember that Jesus' hands were not always nailed down; they moved freely, in an act of unconditional, merciful love.

from CRSRicebowl.org

Students may return their Rice Bowl collections to their classrooms tomorrow, or

bring with them to Church.

Arithmetic April

ARITHMETIC APRIL!

Let's get excited about Math! Pre School through 5th grade students will celebrate their love of Math by completing at least 10 math activities from the Math Calendars that were sent home this week. Return the calendar at the end of the month for a chance to win a prize! The fun will continue on Tuesday, April 28 when we will have a Math Day at school followed by the St. John PK - Gr. 5 Math Family Night!
Calendar Links: Pre School; Kindergarten & Grade 1; Grades 2 & 3;

Grades 4 & 5

Save the Date!

PK-5 Math Family Night, Tuesday April 28 6-8pm

Egan Hall

Student/Alumni News

Congratulations to Cameron L., Grade 8. Cameron just placed 11th in the world in boys under 14, in the Oireachtas Rince Na Cruinne (World Irish Dance Championships).

#Gimme Five Dance St. John School 8th Graders - Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars

Mrs. Tsagalakis' 8th grade classes took on the #GimmeFive challenge from Ellen and First Lady Michelle Obama. Check out our video! Music - Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars.

From the Parish
Parish Calendar

St. John Parish presents

Summer Catholic Kidz Camp

Parade Around The Our Father with the One, the Only
Flying Friar - St. Joseph of Cupertino!

August 17 through 21, 9am-noon

Another New & Exciting Catholic Kidz Camp

led by St. John School teachers

mwiseman@stjohnsea.org for more information.

Summer LEGO® Camps

St. John School SUMMER LEGO® CAMPS

Play-Well TEKnologies will hold two sessions:

Pre-Engineering Using LEGO® for students currently in Kindergarten through Grade 1

Robotics Using LEGO® WeDo for students currently in grades 2 through 5

A few spaces remain - don't miss out!

NoJunk

Natural, Organic, and Packed FOR You!

Order Here

Community Opportunities

Brave Pride Junior Football & Cheer - Programs for ages 6-high school. Visit www.bravepridejrfootball.org.
Contact: bravepridejuniorfootball@gmail.com or 206-368-5524.

Registration form

Thank You Corner

The primary teachers would like to thank all the parents who donated books for our Children's Hospital Book Drive Lenten Service project. The teachers delivered hundreds of books to the patients today! Thank you for your generosity!

Rasa Willette would like to thank all the families who donated toys to her service project. The agency distributing the items was extremely happy with the variety of high quality items!

Scrip would like to thank Dawn Thornburg, DeAnn Feeman, Heather McMullen, Matt Wells, Michelle Vierra, Lisa Mendenhall, Lisa McKenny, and Anne Mathieu for selling Scrip during the month of March.

Want to thank someone publicly? Send your "thanks" to Diane Crockett at dcrockett@stjohnsea.org for publication in NewsViews.