"This is the day of the Great Shepherd,

who is most precious and holy. 

He is our master."

Atrium prayer by two six-year old children.

Upcoming Dates

Friday, April 11          Mom's Scripture Group 9:15 in the music room

Monday, April 14       Stations of the Cross (4^th/5^th graders lead lower el)

Monday, April 14       Stations of the Cross (Middle School leads 6^th  

                               graders 

Wed., April 16           Lower Elementary Last Supper Celebrations

Wed., April 16           Middle School Seder Celebration

Tue/Thur, April 15/17  Upper Elementary Last Supper/Seder Celebrations

Thursday, April 17      Pre-primary Last Supper Celebrations

Friday, April 18          GOOD FRIDAY, No School

Sunday, April 20      Happy Easter!  He is risen!!!

April 21-25                Easter Vacation

Easter Celebrations:  Liturgy of Light

Wednesday, April 10     Liturgy of Light Celebrations (parents invited!)

            8:30      3-6 St. Gabriel and 9-12C

            9:30      3-6 St. Michael and 9-12G  

           10:30     3-6 St. Raphael and 6-9 Fatima

           11:30     6-9 Lourdes and Queen of Angels  

Technology Survey

We would like parents' help evaluating and improving our use of technology as a communication tool with you.  Would you please take 5 minutes this week to complete this survey?

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HC93YX9

Every year, seniors at Xavier University majoring in Information Systems are required to complete a year-long project.  GSCM parent Greg Smith, an Information Systems professor at XU, oversees the students.

This year a senior team is helping to evaluate the technology uses and needs at Good Shepherd.  To aid in this work, they have created a simple survey to capture sentiment and suggestions about communication channels and technology usage at Good Shepherd.  Responses to this survey are anonymous and will be used to assist Good Shepherd with its overall IT and communications strategy.

Thank you for your help!

Facility Improvement News

ReSource Classroom Makeover Competition

Thank you for your enthusiasm and spirit in behalf of our school in the Resource spring makeover contest.  Family and friends from across the country joined us in casting votes for GSCM.

The on-line voting ended last week.  Now, we await the ReSource judges' decision which should come on April 11.  We will keep you posted.

Natural Playscape Design

Design Team Forming

If you have a particular interest and/or skill in outside play and play area design and would like to participate as a member of our playscape core design team, please contact Dan Teller (dteller@gscmontessori.org).  This team will meet approximately five times between April and September.

Plants Available

As we prepare for our summer "backyard" work, we will have perennial plants to give away.  The plants surrounding the church building and in the corner garden by the school will be replaced.  If you would like to have any plants later this spring, please contact Dan Teller

Montessori Moments

A Moment at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial:  "Every Name Has a Story"

By Mary Hamiter, Middle School Teacher

Early Monday morning on the last day of March, a Lakefront Lines bus became a rolling classroom for twenty-eight middle school students and five adults venturing forth on their Peace Trip.  Bound for Washington, D.C., the teachers had carefully prepared this environment in such a way that the students' visit to our nation's capitol and its historic sites would be enriched by supplementary materials presented and discussed on the long ride.  Each student was issued a trip folder containing the Prayer of Saint Francis, movie notes and questions for one of the selected movies, an article on Respect as a virtue, and blank loose-leaf paper to record thoughts and impressions.  A portion of the movie Gettysburg was viewed as they journeyed to Gettysburg.  The movie Gandhi was shown in sections throughout the trip.  Additionally, a documentary-Arlington, Field of Honor-was also shown.

Because Maria Montessori believed that the most important lessons were taught not in the classroom but in the world at large, it is imperative that teachers carefully guide students to make their own discoveries and connections between what they have learned in the classroom and what they will see and experience for themselves on such an adventure as the Peace Trip to Washington, D.C. Every once in awhile, the teacher becomes aware that a student has made just such a connection. 

During the Arlington documentary, the cemetery caretaker says, "Each and every one of these stones represents a story."  In this way, the caretaker personalized the seemingly endless rows upon rows of grave markers.  When we visited Arlington, the students' demeanor was respectful of both the dead and the living as they walked up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, witnessed the changing of the guard, and visited the tomb of John F. Kennedy.   The documentary helped prepare them for these experiences.

The next day at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, the teacher observed a student passing her hand over the names of some on that wall.  As she did so, the student remarked to her friends, "Every one of these names has a story."  What a moment.  She had made a connection.  She understood that beyond the immense sea of stones dotting the rolling hills of a cemetery, beyond the massive granite stone beneath her hand, lay the hopes, dreams, sacrifices, and sorrows of many.  May all who embarked on this trip be filled with an appreciation for the countless gifts they have been given.  May they be committed to peace throughout their lives.  May their lives be worthy of our honored dead.

May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Holy Week at School

The atrium provides a gateway for the child into the life of the Church.  During Holy Week, we contemplate the most important moments in the life of Christ.  The great events of the Passion and Resurrection lend themselves to be celebrated with the children. 

Last Supper and Seder Meal Celebrations:

Reading Sofia Cavalletti's description of our Last Supper celebrations with the 3-9 year olds, one can readily see how the moment captures the entire Paschal event - the entire Easter Triduum, so to speak - in one compact moment:   

"A small group of ... children gathers around a table; each child chooses the name of an apostle.  One child is entrusted with the task of saying the words of Jesus, which are written, depending on the age of the children, more or less according to the structure of the Jewish paschal banquet.  When the supper is concluded, another child reads an abbreviated account of the death and resurrection.  The actualization follows immediately afterward:  Crucifix and lighted candles are brought to the table, transforming it into an altar; the circle of children widens to include all who are present.  The children often linger for long periods of time around the improvised altar and express their prayer spontaneously."

For the older (9-12 and middle school) students, we provide a Seder Meal as the context for an historical understanding of the Last Supper.  The children experience the traditional foods, prayers, and rituals that Jesus celebrated with his disciples at the Last Supper, and contemplate the institution of the new, eternal covenant of the Eucharist that Jesus instituted at this meal.

Stations of the Cross

Elementary and middle school students will walk the way of the cross with Jesus by praying the stations of the cross.  To make the prayer more meaningful and intimate, this is done in small groups with older students leading younger students in the liturgy.  Groups of 4^th/5^th graders will lead small groups of lower elementary students in praying the stations in church and singing of the traditional hymn, 'Stabat Mater' with student xylophone accompaniment.

The middle school students will lead the 6^th graders in a contemporary application of the stations that focuses on images of suffering in the world today, and helps the students recognize how we can unite our suffering to the salvific suffering of Our Lord.  Several examples of these contemporary stations:

• Jesus meets His mother ... as a Bangladeshi woman cradles her dying son
• Veronica wipes the face of Jesus ... as a woman strokes the head of a dying man on the street in India.
• Jesus is buried ... as two men place a pauper's body in an unmarked grave in Africa

Liturgy of Light Celebration:  Thursday, May 1 (see schedule below)

The Liturgy of the Light is a beautiful celebration of the Resurrection that is designed especially for children.  The celebration includes readings by the children, plenty of singing, and powerful signs from the Church's Easter Vigil:  the paschal candle leading us with its one light through the darkness, the spreading of this light to each of us, and the brightening of the dark room as the light of Jesus spreads. 

Parents are invited to join us for this beautiful celebration of the Lord's Resurrection.

Thursday, May 1:  Liturgy of Light Celebrations

             8:30    3-6St. Gabriel and 9-12 Group A

             9:30    3-6St. Michael and 9-12 Group B 

            10:30    3-6St. Raphael and 6-9Fatima   

            11:30    6-9Lourdes and Queen of Angels

From school to the church ...

The effectiveness of our work with children flows directly from the beautiful and powerful signs that the Church provides us in our worship during this wonderful season of grace.  Sacramental signs, the washing of feet, images of the Passion, the link between the Old Testament covenant and the eternal covenant with Christ, the spreading of the Easter light  ... atrium experiences simply borrow all of these wonderful signs from the Church.

But the atrium experience is only a gateway to the real life of the Church.  Please help your child pass through that gate into the bright glory of worship.  According to the age and maturity of your child, help them experience the profound liturgy of the Church during the upcoming Easter Triduum.  The silence, awe, and joy of the atrium experience will serve your child well in preparing him or her to enjoy these greatest of all realities in the timeless liturgy of the church.

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Program News

Calamity Days Make-Up Plan:  Blizzard Bags, April 17-May 5

Blizzard Bags are packets of required work that students must complete in lieu of our two excess calamity days.  For kindergarten and grade school students, your classroom teacher will send the child's Blizzard Bag to parents via email on Friday, April 11.  The work should be completed between April 17 and May 5 and is due no later than Monday, May 5.   

Please note that per the law, this is not 'optional' school work, but is a required part of the year's course of study.   Work will be checked and (as appropriate) graded as required work.

Positions Available:

GSCM is hiring for the following positions for 2014-15:

• Extended Care and After Care Directress (11:15 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.)
• Part-time Technology Coordinator:   Time commitment is approximately four hours/week.

Applicants should submit a resume and letter of interest to Dan Teller (dteller@gscmontessori.org).  

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PTO News:

PTO Board Members Needed for 2014-15

From Lisa Schmitz current PTO President

Do you enjoy learning about our school, meeting new people and being a "good shepherd?"  The PTO Board is a small group which meets monthly to plan and discuss upcoming events.  We also implement new ideas and fund various important events throughout the school year.

We have (5) board positions that need to be filled for the continued success of the PTO next school year.

Open positions:  Vice President, Secretary, Celebrations Chair, Community Outreach Chair, Arts & Education Chair

Please prayerfully consider joining us at our next PTO meeting, (note, new date) Tuesday, April 29, 2014, at 8:15 am in the Music Room to learn more or contact any of the board members listed below.

Current Board Members:

Lisa Schmitz:                lbschmitz61@gmail.com

Jane Koenig:                 dnjnkn@msn.com

Maria Lang:                   mlang31@cinci.rr.com

Nicolay Walz:                nicolay.walz@gmail.com

Carrie Ellis:                   carrielynnellis@yahoo.com

Christine Godar:            chiristinegodar@hotmail.com

Sheri Mitchell:               sheri.mitchell@verbargsfurnniture.com

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Office News:

Yearbook

Yearbook order forms are coming home this week.  This year there are 2 ways to pay for your yearbook:  you can order online at www.schoolannual.com or you can complete the order form and return cash/check in the attached envelope.

We do not order extra yearbooks so if you want a yearbook, you must pre-order it by the deadline of May 9.  Yearbook prices have not changed: 1 yearbook is 25.00, 2 are 22.00 each and 3 are 20.00 each.  If you have any questions, contact Mary Rieke.

Time to Re-Enroll (or enroll) in Kroger Community Rewards

GSCM earns about $3500 per year with just 58 households participating.  If you are one of those households, it is time to re-enroll.  YOU MUST RE-ENROLL EVERY YEAR.   If you have not enrolled and shop at Kroger, please do so!  It only takes 10 seconds and GSCM gets money every time you shop.   Family and friends inside or outside of Cincinnati can also select GSCM.  Go to www.krogercommunityrewards.com to sign up.  It is easy, confidential, and free.  If you have questions contact Nicolay Walz at nicolay.walz@gmail.com

Additional Note:  Make sure that your "preferred store" is the Kroger where you generally shop as we only receive rewards if you are shopping at the store that you have listed as your "preferred store". 

Reminder: IPM Collection Thursday

Please don't forget our collection of shampoo Thursday for Inter Parish Ministry's food choice pantry. If you happen to forget your donation then, you may still bring it in after the Easter recess.

IPM thanks you for your support, and wishes you a wonderful Easter.

2015 Rome Pilgrimage

Space remains for the 2015 Pilgrimage to Rome (with stops in Assisi, Florence, and Orvieto).  Visit the pilgrimage website for updated information:  Falconsinrome.wordpress.com

For more information or if you have questions, please contact GSCM parent, Sean Burns umpsean@gmail.com

Sew Your School Pride - Lands End Special

April 9^th - April 11^th, Lands End will add our school logo to their merchandise for only one cent more.  Visit www.landsend.com for more information or to order.

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