Christmas is coming ...

...for the children the most wonderful time of the year. And for the children of Light it should be the most wonderful, wonderful time of the year, because to the Church it is the year's beginning. No one but God could have made such a beginning, so full of beauty and glory and sheer magic as this.

 

But you cannot just walk into such a blaze of glory without preparation, to be ready for that sharp sweet moment when an Infant's cry cut the night...: You must creep up to it, think about it, count the days, watch the signs and prepare. A child can never know the whole ecstasy of Christmas unless he knows its meaning; unless he takes its meaning into his own two hands and examines it closely and finds its mystery for himself. It must be made of his own experience and delight and love.

Mary Reed Newland, The Year and Our Children

Upcoming Date

 

Tue., Dec. 4             Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Parent Evening,                                  7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Dec. 3-14                 Christmas Giving Tree

Fri., Dec. 7               Science Fair, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Thurs., Dec. 13         Collection of canned chicken or tuna for IPM  

Fri., Dec.21              Christmas Caroling/Family Advent Celebration

                                (see below)

Dec. 22 - Jan. 2        Christmas Vacation (NO SCHOOL)

Thurs., Jan. 3           Classes resume 

 

TONIGHT, 7:00-8:30: Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Parent Evening: Catechist Dan Teller will present a variety of atrium materials to help you better understand the atrium experience for children of all ages. Please join us to gain insights about, and most of all, to ENJOY the beauty and depth of the atrium experience. The evening is suitable for parents of all children at our school. 

 

Christmas Giving Tree: Dec. 3-14

[Ed. note: Many thanks to Student Government President Sydney Olszewski and Vice President Elisabeth Gottenbusch for independently initiating, planning, and coordinating this opportunity!]

 

The Good Shepherd Christmas Giving Tree Collection will take place from December 3rd to 14th. Our Christmas tree will be located in the lobby area, by the front entrance. There will be tags on the tree that will tell you what gift would be appreciated by the organizations we will be sponsoring. These organizations are: The Foot Care Clinic, St. Vincent de Paul and Birthright. Please take the tag and bring the gift back unwrapped with your tag attached to it. There will be a bin next to the tree to put your gifts in.

 

Science Fair

Join us for a Celebration: Friday, December 7th 5:00-7:00pm

Inquiry is a method of teaching science that employs hands-on and critical thinking skills. It enables students to learn about science the way a scientist would. Science Inquiry and the scientific method will be demonstrated through a diverse array of experiments.  You will see a wide range of projects like Can you train a cat?  Is a yawn contagious? and Where does mold grow best? 

 

Come see science inquiry at its best. Please join GSCM students as they exhibit their science projects for the community on Friday December, 7 from 5:00-7:00 pm. Students will be displaying their individual projects from 9-12 and middle school and the 6-9 students will have class projects for all to view as well. 

 

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Advent Offerings

 

The Advent Wreath

"Advent for children should rightly be a very busy time, starting with the making of the Advent wreath. This is a sacramental in which the whole meaning of Advent is symbolized - and symbols are a language children understand very easily.

 

The circle is a symbol of eternity and the never-endingness of God, and the evergreen is a symbol of eternal life and the never-changingness of God... The four candles in the wreath are for the four weeks of Advent... Purple for penance, but it is a different kind from the penance of Lent. .. The emphasis is on our longing, our need - not only for the great graces of the feast of His Nativity ... but our need to be ready for the glorious moment of His Second Coming." [from The Year and Our Children, by Mary Reed Newland]

 

In the atrium, we light the Advent wreath regularly with a lovely simple song that accompanies the lighting of the wreath and expresses the vision of the prophecies we give to the children. Our song for this first week of Advent:

 

Light the Advent candle one

Now the waiting has begun

We have started on our way

Time to think of Christmas day.

 

(Refrain)

Candle, candle burning bright

Shining in the cold winter night

Candle, candle burning bright

Fill our hearts with Christ, the Light.

 

Preparing a Soft Bed for Jesus with Acts of Love

Here is a concrete way to help your child prepare his or her heart for the coming of the Christ Child: Place a small basket in a prominent, child-visible place in your home, and next to it place a container of straw. Each time a child does an act of love, he or she may place a piece of straw in the basket. The basket represents Jesus' manger. The straw represents our acts of love. We prepare a soft bed for the Christ Child through our Advent acts of love. On Christmas day, place a small model of baby Jesus in the basket on the straw.

 

St. Nicholas Day: Tuesday, December 6

This Thursday, December 6, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Nicholas. The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in what is now Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra.   He was known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need and his love for children.

 

One story of St. Nicholas tells of a poor man who had no money for dowries for his three daughters. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home-providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window by Nicholas, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas.

 

On the eve of his feast day, children still leave shoes or stockings for St. Nicholas to fill with candy or other small gifts.   You may want to incorporate this custom in your family's observance of Advent.

 

December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception

This Saturday, Dec. 8, the Church celebrates the Immaculate Conception of Mary, a holy day of obligation. Pope Benedict XVI helps us meditate on the greatness of this feast:

 

The Eternal Goodness of the Creator Shines Forth in Mary

Today, we are celebrating the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. It is a day of intense spiritual joy when we contemplate the Virgin Mary, "high beyond all others, lowlier is none ... the consummation planned by God's decree", as is sung by the great poet Dante (Paradise, XXXIII, 3).

 

In Mary shines forth the eternal goodness of the Creator, who chose her in his plan of salvation to be the Mother of his only-begotten Son; God, foreseeing his death, preserved her from every stain of sin. In this way, in the Mother of Christ and our Mother the vocation of every human being is perfectly fulfilled. All men and women, according to Saint Paul, are called to be holy and blameless in God's sight, full of love (cf. Eph 1:4, 5).

 

Looking at Mary, how can we, her children, fail to let the aspiration to beauty, goodness and purity of heart be aroused in us? Her heavenly candor draws us to God, helping us to overcome the temptation to live a mediocre life composed of compromises with evil, and direct us decisively towards the authentic good that is the source of joy.

 

Christmas Caroling followed by Family Advent Celebration

Friday, December 21

Pizza Dinner:                        5:00-5:45 p.m.

Neighborhood Caroling:          5:45-6:45 p.m.

Family Advent Celebration:     7:00-8:00 p.m.

Come enjoy a traditional evening of neighborhood caroling for you and your children! We will gather in the elementary atrium at 5:45, and then take our joy into the neighborhood as we sing carols to our neighbors. Then, we will complete our evening with our Family Advent Celebration in the church, expressing the joy of the anticipation of Christ's coming. The children will lead our celebration in the church with readings and songs appropriate for all ages. Come for the Family Celebration, or come for the entire evening!

 For pizza dinner reservations,

PLEASE RSVP TO NANCY TOON: 271-4171 or ntoon@gscmontessori.org

 

 

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Advent Mediation on Faith

By St. Charles Borromeo

The Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again. When we remove all obstacles to his presence he will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spiritually in our hearts; bringing with him the riches of grace.

 

We shall share his power, if, through holy faith and the sacraments, we willingly accept the grace Christ earned for us, and live by that grace and in obedience to Christ.

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There are many non-speaking roles available that do not require attendance at the practice, such as shepherds and angels.  Please talk with your child and if he/she would like to have a speaking role and can commit to the Thursday practice then email Barb Blasch at bblasch@gscmontessori.org with your permission or any questions.  The roles will be assigned next week.

Office and General News 

In Case of Inclement Weather

As winter approaches, please check Channel 12 media (TV and website) for any school closing announcements. The Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori will be listed by name. We will also send out an email message to all families and leave current school closure information on the school's voice mail message.

 

For Forest Hills Families:

If Cincinnati Public Schools declares "NO YELLOW BUS SERVICE", or "SCHOOLS CLOSED", the Forest Hills School District will not provide bus service to schools located within that public school attendance area even if Forest Hills Schools are open.  

 

SCRIP Program

Christmas is right around the corner... do you have all of your Christmas shopping done? If not, did you know that you can order gift cards though the school's scrip program and GSCM will receive a portion of the card value?   This is a great way for families to support our staff development and student tuition assistance programs. For more information on how to order plastic or eCards go to:

 http://gscmontessori.org/fundraising_partners.php

 

Families can now take advantage of ordering and printing electronic gift cards online from the comfort of their homes. This is a great option for last minute gifts. Note that in order to print from home you must subscribe to PrestoPay. Again, all the information can be found at the school's website above.

The deadline to submit orders for plastic cards to be received before Christmas break is 12/10/12.   We encourage families to place their orders online at  www.shopwithscrip.com.

Questions? Please contact Theresa Conover, Scrip Coordinator, TErvinConover@gmail.com or 513-300-0917.

 

Canned Tuna or Chicken Collection Thursday, Dec. 13th

Our next collection for Inter Parish Ministry's food choice pantry will be Thursday, December 13th. Each student is asked to bring in canned tuna or chicken, items that always disappear pretty fast from the shelves. As always, your generosity is really, really appreciated.

 

Nutcracker Performances (including appearances by GSCM students) 

 

Ballet Theater Midwest

GSCM students Anna Jane Harris, Grace Harris, and Amelia Walz and former student Sara Schmitz are all performing in the Ballet Theatre Midwest production of The Nutcracker on December 21, 22 and 23 at the Walter Deye Performance Center at St. X High School.  This full length production of the holiday classic features professional and student dancers with amazing choreography and costumes, appropriate for fans of all ages. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for children/seniors.  Parking is free.  For more information and to order tickets go to  ballettheatremidwest.com.