MOONLIGHTING TEACHERS

                   

Dear Saint John’s School Families,

Have you ever wondered what teachers do in their spare time?  Last Friday evening Father Sam and Saint John’s faculty and staff gathered together in downtown Loveland for dinner and later enjoyed a most delightful show at the Rialto Theater.  We all learned what some teachers do in their spare time.                                                                                                   The play Moonlighting Teachers written and directed by Cheryl Miller Thurston, is a hilarious comedy that educators can  especially enjoy.  It was a show for anyone who has ever attended school-or worked in one.  The cast was made up of teachers, principals, and retired educators from around northern Colorado, Thompson and Poudre Districts, Frederick, Longmont and more.  What talent these teachers have!    

What Do Teachers Make?

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, “What ‘s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?”  To stress his point he said to another guest, “ You are a teacher, Bonnie.  Be honest .  What do you make?”

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, “You want to know what I make? ( She paused for a second, then began.) “Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.  I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can’t make them sit for 5  without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental. 

You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table) 
* I  make kids wonder. * I make them question. * I make them apologize and mean it.* I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.  * I teach them to write and then I make them write.* Keyboarding isn’t everything. * I make them read, read, read.  * I make them show all their work in math.  They use their given brain, not the man-made calculator.  * I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.  *I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.  * I make my students stand , placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the united States of America.  * Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)   Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn’t everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. 

You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. 

What do you make Mr. CEO?

His jaw dropped, he went silent.  THIS IS WORTH SENDING TO EVERY TEACHER, EVERY CEO, EVERY  PERSON YOU KNOW, even to all your personal teachers like mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, coaches and your spiritual leaders/teachers.          What a profound answer!

A profound answer!! 

SERVING OTHERS A COMMITMENT TO ONESELF and OTHERS

Dear Saint John’s School Families,

How true are the sayings that “It is in giving that we receive. It is better to give then to receive.” Last night during both the SAC meeting and the PTO meeting that followed, discussions focused on the Tuition Contract that is signed by each Parent/Guardian when enrolling their child(ren).  The Contract Responsibilities portion of the contract includes the statement that “Each Family is expected to volunteer 50 hours per academic year”.   Volunteering and serving others is a hallmark of Catholic Schools. 

On conversing why this is true, it was obvious that parents are a child’s first and most important teacher. It is important that a parent models for a child what a child is to learn.  Here at Saint John’s each class is required to do a least one Major service project, in addition to numerous other smaller undertakings.  Your child just might receive a SOAR BUCK for volunteering to help another student or for opening the door for someone carrying a heavy load.  We try to teach students to voluntarily serve others. 

Being a tuition based school, every effort is made to keep tuition costs and other costs as low as possible.  Parent volunteers are a great resource to accomplish just that.  For instance, we do not hire a bus driver.  Many thanks to Dr. Sundheim and John Russell for so generously giving their time to volunteer to drive our children.  There are many, many needs and opportunities for parents to volunteer.  In order to keep from raising the cost of our delicious school lunches, Mrs. Heesman is in dire need of volunteers to help in the serving line.  Please contact her if you could help, even one day a month would be great. 

In giving and volunteering, what does one receive?   Best of all you become a partner with the school in your child’s education.  You are an engaged member of our large Saint John’s  School Family.  Getting to know and become friends with other families and parents helps build community.  with and involved in what is happening in your child’s workplace pays many dividends. In the near future you will be given more information on our volunteer program.

A sincere thank you for all you do for Saint John’s School.

Shalom,

Mrs. Schmitt 

PAYING IT FORWARD

Dear Saint John’s School Families,

When Mr. Gerkin quizzed his six grade science students about the homily delivered by Father Enrique during Wednesday’s Mass, it appeared more like an equation in mathematics,  the relationship between blessings + gratitude = service to others.  Wednesday, September 3, was the memorial of Pope Saint Gregory the Great.  Father Enrique shared about the life of this saint and how he sold his possessions and turned his home into a Benedictine monastery.  Students learned how he then used his money to build six more monasteries. After seeing English children being sold in the Roman Forum, he became a missionary to England.  As Pope, he collected many melodies and plain chants that are now known as Gregorian Chants.  

One of the hallmarks of Catholic schools is that our children must learn and experience serving others.  The appreciation of the many blessings that each of us receives and in turn giving thanks to God for them, needs to be followed by many random acts of      kindness and commitment to serve others, exactly the message given during Father’s homily.  Here at Saint John’s School each class is required to do at least one major   service project, in addition to numerous other smaller undertakings.   

One example I witnessed today, was several of our eighth grade students serving in the cafeteria lunch line.  With plastic gloves on their hands and smiles on their faces they filled the lunch trays.  Later they catered to their younger siblings and friends by refilling their water glasses.  Something small, maybe? 

Mrs. Olsen’s Extended Day Program is just getting their service project off the ground.  Thankful Thursday’s is the title of their project.  Any student, teacher or staff member may nominate another student, teacher or staff member for why they are grateful for that individual. The nominations are gathered in a glass jar and there is a winner each week. The winner is then given a surprise put together by the Extended Day children and staff.

You will be hearing more about how our students, faculty/staff and you parents can reach out and serve others.  We are our brother’s keeper learning to love and serve each other.

Shalom,

Mrs. Schmitt

SUNDAY A SPECIAL DAY!

Dear Saint John’s Families,

Please join Catholics around the word to celebrate on this coming Sunday, April 27, the canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II.  What a glorious occasion this is!  By now you no doubt have picked up prayer cards from the Church.  How special it is to have modern day saints, individuals in our own lifetime that we can relate to and understand what a difference their lives have made in today’s world and especially to us as Catholics. 

This occasion certainly presents itself as an opportunity here at Saint John’s School, to include this exciting addition to our Religion curriculum.  What does it mean to be a named a saint?  What are the steps to becoming a saint? What is beatification?   Can anyone become a saint?  We are all called to be saints!  Do we pray “to” saints?  What does intercession mean?  Why are saints important in our lives? 

Teachers will be making the topic of sainthood come alive Thursday and Friday of this week.  Our students of all ages, already have a strong understanding and knowledge of saints. Each child already identifies with their classroom saint.  Teachers address students by their class saint’s name in “lining up” to go to their classroom, or perhaps to lower their voices to a “zero”!  With the sacrament of Confirmation just around the corner, our older students have had to research and give deep thought in making the decision of the name of a saint they choose for themselves.  Maybe one of the students will make plans for next October to come to the Halloween Carnival dressed as Pope Saint John XXIII? 

Who are the “un named saints in your life? 

Shalom,

Mrs. Schmitt 

OH COME LET US ADORE HIM

Dear Saint John’s School Families,

Saint John’s students had a new and special experience this week!  While going to Adoration has been on 2^nd-8^th graders Thursday afternoon schedules for many years, this week was extraordinary.  Our children were “wowed” when their class entered Saint John the Evangelist’s new Adoration Chapel for the first time. 

Classroom instruction and discussions before and after the students’ visits to the Adoration Chapel perhaps took on new meaning.  Students responded, “Eucharistic adoration is a practice in the Roman Catholic Church in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and adored.  Adoration differs from other acts of worship. Adoration (Latin) is respect, reverence, devotion. The term comes from the Latin adoratio, meaning “to give homage or worship”.  Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator.  Students learned  that Perpetual adoration is a Eucharistic devotion whereby members of a given parish, (now Saint John the Evangelist Parish) unite in taking hours of adoration before the Most Blessed Sacrament 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Other remarks were so powerful coming from the mouths of our youth, “Today adoration made me feel so much closer to God.”  “I felt peaceful”.  “It was awesome”. “I prayed for my Grandpa”.  Several indicated that it wasn’t their first visit to the Chapel.  They had come with their parents before.  Students remembered that they had helped raise $’s to build this very special place on our campus. Father Frank continues to encourage parents and all of us to take time from our daily lives to go to the Chapel, and bring our children with us.

Have a safe, fun and relaxing spring break.  Maybe a visit to the Adoration chapel? 

Shalom,

Mrs. Schmitt

 

UNIVERSAL CALL TO PRAYER

                 UNIVERSAL CALL TO PRAYER                      

Dear Saint John’s School Families, 

On the forty days and forty nights of Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday, we are all called to Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving.  Father Frank and Father Sam are leading us in this     challenge.  Our students at Saint Johns were each given a form asking them to promise Jesus to do three things during Lent in these areas of Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. 

Father Sam’s homily during our Thursday School Mass specifically focused on Prayer .  He taught us about the different kinds of prayer:  I. Prayer of Praise II. Prayer of Adoration  III. Prayer of Contrition (Penitence, sorrow for sins or faults)  IV.  Prayer of Thanksgiving  V.  Prayer of Supplication (asking earnestly and humbly).  To help us remember, we were asked to use the letters of PACTS ( our agreements or contracts) to pray during lent. 

Today, Friday, our staff development day, Saint John’s faculty attended a catechetical class on the Pillar IV.  i.e. Prayer.  I would like to share some of the nuggets received during this class.

The central question:  What is prayer? 

Some definitions:  “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God”   St. John Damascene, CCC25591.

“For me, prayer is the surge of heart, it is a simple look toward heaven, it is a cry of    recognition of love, embracing both trial and joy.”  (St. Therese of the Child Jesus)

Pray without ceasing-1 Thes 5:17

Yet, we fail to do it-Why?

“Let’s now at any rate come clean. Prayer is irksome. An excuse to omit it is never unwelcome. When it is over, this casts a feeling of relief and holiday over the rest of the day.  We are reluctant to begin.  We are delighted to finish.  While we are at prayer, but not while we are reading a novel or solving a crossword puzzle, any trifle is enough to distract us. And, we know that we are not alone in this,”  C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

“Man, on the whole, does not enjoy prayer.”  --Romano Guardini

Saints seem to do it effortlessly, right?  Always for joy and consolation, visions and voices-that’s for them and not for me.

Where does prayer starts?    With God, calling us into a relationship with him.

Prayer is a “Hallmark” of Saint John’s Catholic School.

Shalom,

Lois Schmitt

                       

A “ WOW” FIELDTRIP!

     

Dear Saint Johns School Families,

What could be more exciting than students, parents and teachers learning together?  For those of you would were not involved in yesterday’s huge learning experience, I must tell you it was THE BEST!  Yes, 90 of Saint John the Evangelist middle school students accompanied by a large, dedicated group of parent chaperones and middle school teachers eagerly explored the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. 

While we all know that parents are the first teachers of their child, it was amusing to observe students coaxing their parent to see special exhibits of the Maya, and assisting them to create their own Mayan name, to learn that Mesoamerica connects North and South America, or to join them in building patterns of stars, snakes, or to observe, Rosemary, a parent, actually learning to weave, Mayan style.

Following the Maya:  Hidden Worlds Revealed, our large troop moved on to a Cosmic Journey in the Planetarium.  It was “totally awesome” as one student declared. No one became ill as we swirled in outer space, and  actually were seeing planets “up close and real”.  We left by our students receiving a sincere compliment from the lady providing the program, “This group is the very best”. 

Taking our pair of special glasses we entered the IMAX to enjoy a 3D trip to Jerusalem, a word so familiar to us here in our Catholic School.  One could feel oneself walking down the very paths that CHRIST walked. It was like we were with Jews, Muslims and Christians in Jerusalem.  Yes, then there was Bethlehem.

What a day this was!  Learning was fun for everyone.  Thank you students, parents, and middle school staff for being such a great community eager to grow.

Enthusiastically,

Mrs. Schmitt