Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

St. Patrick's Breastplate

Upcoming Dates

Thurs., March 13           Canned meat collection for IPM 

Fri., March 14                Mom's Scripture Study, 9:15 a.m.

Fri., March 14                Staff Karaoke Concert, 11:00 a.m.

Fri., March 14                Staff Development Day, 1:00 DISMISSAL

                                    (No afternoon bus service) 

Mon., March 17             St. Patrick Spirit Day (see below)

March 17-21                  Iowa Testing Week

Fri., March 21                Mom's Scripture Study, 9:15 a.m.

Fri., March 21                Cub Scout Meeting 3:00 p.m.

Fri., March 21                GSCM Fine Arts Center Benefit Bluegrass     

                                    Concert, 7:00 p.m. 

March 31-April 3            Middle School Spring Trip

Staff Karaoke Concert

Friday, March 14, 11:00 a.m.

Our teachers will treat our students to a Karaoke Concert this Friday at 11:00 a.m. as a gesture of thanks for their Gala raffle ticket sales.  Parents are welcome to join us!

Spirit Day for St. Patrick:  Monday, March 17

To celebrate the Feast of St. Patrick, children are invited to wear green on March 17 in preparation for St. Patrick's Day, but there is a requirement.  Learn all or part of the beautiful prayer, "St. Patrick's Breastplate," and be prepared to recite what you know to Mr. Teller (or, for middle school students, Mr. Bennett or Mrs. Ratajczak) upon your arrival.

"The Lorica" or "Saint Patrick's Breastplate"

This powerful prayer was composed by Saint Patrick in the year 433. He was aware that there was an ambush to try to kill him and his group en route to the King's court. It was during the march that they chanted the sacred Lorica or Deer's Cry - later known as St. Patrick's Breastplate.  Be prepared to recite at least a line or two as you arrive with green clothing next Monday!

St. Patrick's Breastplate

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

GSCM's Spring Benefit Concert: 

This year we are pleased to present an evening of bluegrass music, featuring the bands, Nightflyer and East Fork Junction.  Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children 13 and under.  Enjoy great live music and help our school raise funds for further improvement of the fine arts center.  For tickets, go to www.gscmontessori.org  and click on the Bluegrass benefit link.   

Volunteers are needed to help set up the stage, take down, ticket & raffle sales, and food concessions.  All volunteers receive free admission to the event. Please click here: http://vols.pt/LHbvFm to sign up to volunteer at the 2014 Benefit Concert on @VolunteerSpot today! 

News from the Student Government

By Julia Lotterer

Last week the class winner of the Penny War was announced to the students; raising 166 pennies per student, Mrs. Damico's St. Rafael class was the winner! Total, the Penny War collected $445.72 and the money will be going to Hands Together, a charity that helps some of the poorest people in Haiti.  

So the students could learn more about where the money they had worked so hard to raise was going, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, a supporter and benefactor of Hands Together, came in to talk to the classes about the charity. There is a school founded by Hands Together in Haiti, named for Mr. DeWine's daughter who passed away, called the Becky DeWine School, and Mr. DeWine gave the students an idea of what going to school in Haiti was like. Mr. DeWine shared some of his knowledge of Haiti with the students and we are very lucky to have had him speak to us! 

The latest event for the GSCM Student Government has been the Fat Tuesday bake sale on March fourth. Dozens of plates of cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and more were generously donated by the students. A big thank you to those of you who contributed, it would not have been possible without you! After two sessions of sales, during lunch and after school, the grand total has finally been tallied up. The bake sale raised $161.42 and student government donated twenty percent of that to Hands Together; so a check of $477.72 was given to Mr. DeWine when he came to GSCM for Hands Together. The rest of the money from the bake sale, $129.42, will be used to fund the Student Government run Easter Egg Hunt later this year. The school-wide Easter Egg Hunt is currently being planned and you will hear more about it as we near the end of Lent. 

Gala News

Our Backyard

Thank you very much to all who attended the Our Backyard gala this past Saturday making it a huge success, we hope everyone had an enjoyable evening! If you were unable to attend and would still like to make a donation since all of our children will be enjoying the new and improved outdoor space and this is a total school community effort, please consider Clicking Here to offer your support.

Once again, we would like to thank our event sponsors for their generosity: Donald "Buddy" LaRosa, Joseph and Margaret Seta, Seemless Printing, Seekin, Paas, Blackburn, Inc., The RDI Corporation, Time Timer, Ultimate Air Shuttle, Watson's, Isgrig Capital Management Asset LLC, Servatii Pastry Shop and UBS Financial Services. 

Also, a HUGE thank you to the Gala Planning Committee who so kindly offered countless hours over these past six months to make this event possible: Rachel Sabo, Susan Thomas, Karen Aust, Mary Beth Escamilla, Kathy Paulin, Katie Kerrey, Jana Widmeyer, Sheila Lichtenberg and KC Stagaman ... and to all those assisting this committee with specific roles: Dan Teller, Nancy Toon, Lynette Rosati-Shim, Annie King, Michelle Housh, Jeff Koehn, Julia Lotterer, Lori Richard, Kathy Restle, Mary Rieke, Kara Shade, Jill Greek, Julia Damico, Christy Pucci, Susan Fisher, Steve Aust, Karen Guilford and Lisa Schmitz. Thank you also to those who assisted with check-in/out, auction spotting, setup and cleanup! Thank you to all who solicited and gathered items for the Live and Silent Auctions, it was greatly appreciated! 

Of course we also need to recognize the students who did such a fantastic job selling all those raffle tickets making it possible to go beyond the $3000 goal! Outstanding work! We hope they enjoy the faculty karaoke party on Friday!

Please look for a Community Post shortly that will offer additional opportunities to still sign-up for the various events offered (teacher-led events, etc.). Stay tuned for an update on the amount of money raised!

Program News

3- and 4-Day Option for 3-Year Olds

Beginning next school year, 3-year olds may select a 3- or 4-day option for attending our morning pre-primary program.  The 5-day program is also available.  Children must turn four after October 1, 2014 to utilize this option.  Parents who have already enrolled children as three-year olds for 2014-15 may also select this option.

Pre-primary tuition will be as follows:

HALF-DAY PRE-PRIMARY:                                             $4,500.00

3 DAY PRESCHOOL (only if child turns 4 after 10/1/2014)  $2,925.00

4 DAY PRESCHOOL (only if child turns 4 after 10/1/2014)  $3,825.00

Further information will be sent to all current and prospective GSCM parents.

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Office News:

Graphic Designers -- We need you!

If you are a graphic designer (or know someone who is) and you have some time to help out with upcoming projects at GSCM, please contact Annie King at aking@gscmontessori.org or (513) 236-1917.  Thanks!

Help Wanted with Atrium Materials

Our atrium materials have the happy problem of heavy use.  Lots of children are coming closer to the Lord through these materials!  We are in need of skilled help to replace some of our materials:

• Sewing help for altar cloths, prayer table cloths, etc.
• Woodworking help (band saw needed) to cut out small wooden figures
• Sculpting help to create small clay figures for Gospel narratives

If you can lend your skills, please contact Dan Teller at dteller@gscmontessori.org.

Reminder: IPM Collection Thursday

Please don't forget our collection Thursday for Inter Parish Ministry's food choice pantry.  We're collecting any kind of canned meats. If you happen to forget your donation Thursday, you may bring it in Friday.

Thank you for your generosity and support.

Are You Missing Car Keys?

Are you missing a Toyota or Ford key?  We have a Ford car key with three other keys attached and a single Toyota car key.  We have had these keys for a while and were hoping to find the owners.  They are in the Lost and Found.

St. Xavier High School's Theatre Xavier presents Bat Boy the Musical.

Show dates are Thursday, April 3-Saturday, April 5 and Thursday, April 10-Saturday, April 12. All performances are at 7:30 p.m. All tickets are $12.

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