eGazette - October 21, 2009

November 2009 Calendar

November_2009_School_Calendar.pdf

"Education is one of the most important ways by which the Church fulfills its commitment to the dignity of the person and the building of community."
(To Teach as Jesus Did, 1972, #13)

Reflecting on this, my fifth year as Principal of St. John the Baptist Catholic School, I am more confident than ever in our dedicated staff, high quality families and incredibly well-rounded students. Mix in the tireless, dedicated support of our Pastor, Fr. Gordon and countless daily prayers from faithful parishioners and alumni and we've got ourselves a unique, mission-focused, joyful school. We are truly blessed.

In addition to managing the many daily activities and programs of our fine institution, I've embarked on several advancement projects this year. You'll be hearing about these "futures planning" activities and all those who have joined in the many efforts to ensure church and school sustainability and mission advancement. Today I share with you information about several projects and seek your input in the planning.

1. Little Playground: You may recall that following our last WASC/WCEA accreditation visit, it was recommended that daily use of the "little playground" across the street be eliminated due to frequent and speeding traffic along Napa St. We recently learned that Napa St. is permanently closed at Soscol thanks to the flood control project. This virtually eliminated traffic on Napa St. We have determined that the crossing is comfortably safe for our children and have now reclaimed the playground for our students! This past weekend, Boy Scout Troop 86, consisting of several current and alumni students and coordinated by Tom and Sam Calforda, facilitated a major deep cleaning and inspection of the structure. Several additional improvements are being planned. Please contact the Calfordas if you can contribute time, talent or treasure. The exciting news is that we've expanded our play space for our parish and school children!

2. Development plan: Our Development Council, a sub-committee of our School Council, has outlined a Development Plan for the 09/10 school year. To sum, all fundraising efforts, including those connected with the general school budget and those connected with Family Club, have been analyzed for effectiveness and efficiency. This year, there will not be a "Gala" has you have traditionally known, but instead you will see increased efforts toward those activities which have been historically successful or under accessed.

3. 5-Year Plan: Consistent with our WASC/WCEA Action Plan, our parish is undergoing the process of strategic planning. The strategic planning team consists of school and parish representatives who come to the table with a variety of personal and professional gifts. Our outcome will be a 5-Year Plan that will detail the ministry, facilities and funding priorities of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.

Because St. John the Baptist Catholic School is an educational ministry of our church, it is important for all stakeholders to share their vision. What are your wishes? What are your dreams for your school? Some needs are obvious: aged windows and a leaky roof. But what do you believe St. Johns needs to move forward into its second century?

Enclosed you will find several copies of a simple survey. Please complete one and have your child complete one. If you have access to alumni or alumni parents, please ask them to complete it as well. Your voice is important.

In closing, you can see how much we've got going on. I will keep you informed, as always, in all areas of our WASC/WCEA Action Plan. We are a thriving community thanks to the gifts of so many. I am thankful for the culture of learning and the caring community we have all created. Our children benefit every day. God is good!

With One Voice... We'll Pass the Word Along.

In Peace,
Nancy Jordan
Principal

Our 8th Class Presents

Our Annual Halloween Carnival

Friday, October 30, 2009

Donation of $10 per child is requested. Optional lunch of hotdog, chips, and water for an additional $5.

SEE FLYER IN YOUR WEDNESDAY ENVELOPE AND ATTACHED.

halloween_flyer2.pdf

Parent/Teacher Conferences have been schedule. Copies of your child(s) conference schedule is included in your Wednesday Envelope. Changes to conference date or time should be made directly with your child's teacher.

It really was like Christmas in September with the culmination of the "Holiday Wishes" Catalog fundraiser. 68 St. John families participated by placing orders, and thanks to you, our school earned $4,289! We hope you found some fun items to enjoy yourself or to give as gifts. The best gift is that our purchases benefit our children and school.

October thanks, news, and reminders:

We offer much thanks to Gina Laird and Jody Bolen for preparing a scrumptious luncheon for our wonderful teachers and staff on October 7.

To our wonderful and hard-working Room Coordinators: you are doing a great job communicating with, reminding, and recruiting volunteers for your classrooms. It is a big job, and your efforts are very much appreciated. Special thanks for coordinating snacks for ITBS testing, pizza lunches, pumpkin head building, and so much more.

Family Club held a meeting on October 13th. Room coordinators for grades K, 3, 6 & 8 were there, as well as our principal, Nancy Jordan. We were delighted to have some parents join us who are new to our school, as well as some familiar faces. If you weren't able to join us for the principal's report, information about upcoming school events, as well as camaraderie, coffee, and treats, then see the school website for the FC meeting minutes brought to you by our secretary, Peta Shindle. (From the Home Page, Click on School Life, then go to FC Meeting minutes on the left.)

Get those pumpkins in costume for the school library's annual Pumpkin Head Contest. Deliver your pumpkin to the library by October 26. The contest will be judged and announced on October 29.

Extended Care is hosting a Halloween Costume Exchange - after school from October 19 - 23. (However, beware of frightful haunts who might materialize in place of Mrs. Kunst and Mrs. Dehzad to greet and assist you!)

Scholastic Book Fair is coming! Stop by the school library Tuesday, Nov. 3 through Friday, Nov.6. The Book Fair will be open 8am-4pm Tuesday-Thursday, and 8:00am-3:30pm Friday. All proceeds directly benefit the school library.

Dine and Donate, Tuesday, October 27 - Hang up your apron and take the family to Fillipi's Pizza Grotto for lunch, dinner, or take-out... you'll find the tables filled with familiar St. John families. So take the night off, socialize and have some fun, and benefit our school at the same time! 20% of all proceeds are donated to the school. Be sure to present your flyer. (See attachment in this Gazette.)

Our innovative Art teacher Mrs. Gibbs is organizing a special school wide Art Project to take place November 18-20. She is looking for extra volunteers to help. Contact Suzanne Gibbs @ suzgibbs@aol.com.

Ho, Ho, Ho - Breakfast with St. Nick is scheduled for Sunday, December 6. Please join us for a committee meeting on Friday, November 6th, directly following the FC meeting. Also: Get out your calendar and save room for Monday, November 17th from 1-3, and meet us upstairs to stuff hundreds of St. Nick goody-bags!

The School Council would like to remind us that School Council meetings are open to all parents. This is the place to express a concern, comment, or put forth suggestions. Evening meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of every month

We hope to see you at the next Family Club meeting, Friday, November 6, 8:30 am.
DINE_&_DONATE_VOUCHER_-_OCTOBER_27,_2009.pdf

ONE OF A KIND NATIVITY SETS

On Thursday and Friday, Nov. 5th and 6th (12:30pm - 2:30pm) each child will be sculpt a nativity set using colorful clays. The figures will be on a wooden base that the children will paint. These will make wonderful Christmas presents!

Class cost is $45 for the two day class and grades 1-8 are welcome.
You can see a large scale version of what the sets will look like by clicking this link http://www.sandracassayremoore.com/collaborative/collaborative2.html

If you would like to sign up for this two day class please send Sandra Moore or Susie Lee an email at: sandra@csmdesign.com or susie@europebyexperts.com. Sandra's phone number is 258-9258 and Susie's is 265-8951

PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.

Orders are still being taken for our new "PROUD" t-shirts and sweatshirts. See order form attached.

proud_t-shirt_order_form.pdf

2009/2010 Family Directories are included in your Wednesday Envelope. If your information is incorrect, please call the school office so that we may update our records.

On behalf of all of the students at St. John the Baptist Catholic School, we would like to say a very special thank you to Justin-Siena High School, for hosting our recent Jog-a-thon. Dodd Stadium was the perfect place for our event. It was awesome! We are especially blessed to have terrific support from the Napa community and thank the following sponsors: Your Home Nursing Services, Grgich Hills Estate, Paul Hanson Partners, Whitestone Capital, Anette's Chocolates, Red Truck Wine, Focus 501, the Zeller Family, Stellar, Cooke Orthodontics, Vitro Packaging, Umpqua Bank, Paradigm Winery, Bruce Trucker Construction, Stephen Franzino M.D. Sports Medicine, Bell Products, Chuck Grohs-Charles Schwab, Academy of Danse, Al's Roofing Supply, AP Tech, Beau Fleurs, Claffey & Rota, the DeLoa Family, Garcia Insurance Services, Marker Express, Martinez Law Offices, Michael J. Vlaming, Attorney at Law, Napa Community Bank, North Bay Plywood, Prospect Mortgage, Martha Pedroza-Ramos, REM-Sleep Diagnostics, the Adriance Family, Wal-Mart, and the Napa Valley Register. And, of course, we can't forget all the hard work by our teachers, our parents and the Jog-a-thon committee. THANK YOU! Your support is greatly appreciated by our entire school family.

The St. John the Baptist Catholic School Student Council

NEW HOSPITALITY MINISTRY!

Some exciting changes are in the works for our parish hospitality program. A new and sacred ministry is being formed to take charge of hospitality. If you are interested in bringing new life and your own energy and creativity into this area, we invite you to consider this ministry. Families, couples and individuals will team up to coordinate the hospitality at the mass that they presently attend. This will also be an opportunity to earn school parent participation hours. An orientation meeting will be held in a few weeks. For more information, call Kristy at 226-9180 or Judy at 252-4689.

Justin-Siena High School will hold its Admissions Open House on Sunday, October 25th for families of 8th grade students, and 9th, 10th and 11th graders exploring options for high school. The afternoon schedule will run from 1 p.m. through 3 p.m. and will include academic department presentations, campus tours and the opportunity to meet faculty, coaches and staff members. No reservations are required, and for additional information, please call David Holquin, Director of Admissions, at 707-255-0950 ext. 641 or email: holquind@justin-siena.org.

The school is located at 4026 Maher Street, Napa, California 94558. Justin-Siena is the only Catholic college preparatory high school in Napa County serving students from Napa, Sonoma, and Solano counties. It is part of the worldwide network of schools sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers.

"November, the time of harvest and the beginning of the earth's winter sleep, begins with a double feast in remembrance of those who have died. The saints, people already "harvested" into God's kingdom, are remembered on November 1, All Saints' Day. On November 2, All Souls' Day, we pray for all family members and friends who have died. We pray that they too are numbered among God's holy ones. Each saint has something to teach about living as faithful Christians and we rely on them to pray for us. We know that they will ask God to strengthen and protect us. This day is a solemnity, the highest rank in the church's order of celebrations. It is also a holy day of obligation which means that Catholics participate in the Eucharist on this day if they can. These honors show us how important it is to be active members in the sacred exchange of love and support that exists between those who have died and those who are still living on this earth. On the day of our Baptism, the church used the Litany of the Saints, calling upon many saints by name, asking them to pray for us. We use it again to celebrate and honor them." From Blessings and Prayers through the Year by Elizabeth McMahon Jeep

This year at we are especially blessed, as All Saints Day falls on a Sunday - it happens only once every 6-7 years or so! In order to celebrate All Saints Day in a fashion deserving of a Holy Day, we invite our grades K-3 parish and school children to reflect on the life of a Saint by creating a cross with a description of their chosen Saint on it. This includes all children who are in our Angel Choir! We will provide each student a detailed instruction sheet on how to create the "Saint" cross during their school day or during religious education class. Instruction sheets will also be available in the Narthex of the church.

Parents! We invite your children to wear their cross around their neck and process in with the Priest during the 10:00am Family Mass on Sunday, November 1. We also encourage them to come dressed in costume or accessories that symbolize their Saint. There are 1000's of Saints to chose from; use the internet to find inspiration! Be creative and let's share the lives of the Saints!

The ART program for the 2009 2010 school year is in full swing. Almost all of the grades have had two lessons, so far. The children have been a joy to teach - and have had so much enthusiasm for the program!

The first month was a lesson in Line and the second month we focused on Fall and Halloween images - using drawing and painting.
In November, we will be doing an All School Art Fair with a focus on Eric Carle - the author and illustrator of "A Hungry Caterpillar" and many other books and works of art. We will be creating Textured Paper Art Pieces on November 18 from 12:30 - 3:00. About 12 parent volunteers will be needed for this portion. Then, on November 20 all of the grades will be creating Final Art Works based on Eric Carle type creatures and images using the Textured Paper Art Pieces from November 18. The times for the November 20 Art date will vary per class from 12:00 until the end of the day. Two volunteers per grade will be very helpful.

If you would like to be kept up-to-speed and informed on the November Art Fair or any of the other upcoming Art classes please send me your e-mail address and I will add you to my Art Volunteers e-mail list for the remainder of the school year.

Thank You. Suzanne Gibbs, Art Teacher

We are actively searching for volunteers to teach and/or assist (pass out supplies, monitor the door, etc.) Children's Liturgy at the 10am Mass on Sunday mornings.

We welcome new ideas and energy as well as experienced leaders! This is a very special ministry that requires minimal time commitment (one hour a month!) but reaps great rewards.

If you are an adult/parent who would like to join the fun of Children's Liturgy, please contact Christina Lawrence at 255-7073 or mrslawrence@att.net.

GOT BOXTOPS??

No, then here are 2 ways to contribute without collecting boxtops:

SIGN up at www.thebigclip.com.

Just by signing up we have a chance to WIN $50,000 for our School, but only if we sign up. HMMM, I wonder what our school would do with any extra $50,000??? SIGN up at boxtops4education.com and earn 5 boxtops for our school. Here are some Fun Halloween Recipes to do with the kids (The following recipes were found on the boxtops4education website):

Giant Glowing Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookies
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
4 butterscotch hard disk candies, crushed
4 cinnamon hard disk candies, crushed
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil. (If using foil, smooth out all wrinkles.) In large bowl, break up cookie dough. Stir or knead in flour and pumpkin pie spice until well blended.
2. On lightly floured surface, roll out half of dough at a time to 1/8-inch thickness. Refrigerate remaining half of dough until needed. With small sharp knife or cookie cutter, cut out 4-inch pumpkin shapes. On cookie sheets, place shapes 2 inches apart. Cut out facial features from pumpkins.
3. Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix crushed candies. Place 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed candy in center of each cut-out area in each cookie, making sure candy touches edges of cookie. (Do not mound candy in centers of cutouts.)
4. Bake 12 to 18 minutes or until edges of cookies are light golden brown, and candy is melted and fills cut-out areas of cookies. Cool 2 to 5 minutes on cookie sheets or until candy is hardened. Carefully remove cookies from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes

Tarantula Tacos
Ingredients
1 box (4.7 oz) Old El Paso Stand 'n Stuff taco shells
1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1 package (1 oz) Old El Paso taco seasoning mix
2/3 cup water
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped (3/4 cup)
1/4 cup sour cream
20 extra-large pitted ripe olives
Directions
1. Heat oven to 325F. Heat taco shells in oven as directed on box.
2. Meanwhile, in 10-inch skillet, cook ground beef over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until beef is thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in taco seasoning mix and water. Reduce heat to medium; cook uncovered about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until water has evaporated. Remove from heat.
3. Spoon beef mixture into heated taco shells. Top with cheese, lettuce and tomato.
4. Spoon sour cream into small resealable food-storage plastic bag. Seal bag; cut tiny hole in corner of bag. Pipe sour cream over top of each taco to resemble spiderweb.
5. For each spider, top taco with 1 olive, pitted end down. Cut second olive lengthwise into 8 pieces; place around olive for legs. For eyes, squeeze 2 dots of sour cream onto top of olive

Your Box-Top Coordinators,
Lee Tatsuguchi
Rebecca Griffin

Dear St. Johns Families:

Our annual St. Vincent de Paul dinner will take place Sunday, November 8th - 1:30pm - 7:30pm.

Would you like to be part of this great community effort to help raise funds to help those in need in our community? Here's how you can help!!!

- Contribute an auction item (a special dinner, service, wine or gift certificate, for example)

- Make a "themed" basket of goodies for our basket raffle (A Christmas basket, childrens' games, chocolates and coffees, baby basket)

- Help serve the dinner (Parent Participation Hours Earned!) 1:30pm-5:30pm or 5:30pm-7:30pm

- Contribute "Fall decor" for our tables (lemons, persimmons, colorful branches)

- Bring a dessert for our dinner (It can be brought to the hall the morning of Sunday, November 8.

If you can help us in any of these ways, please call Julie Pramuk 255-1075.

Please plan to come with your family on Sunday, November 8th, 1:30pm - 7:30pm to enjoy a delicious pasta dinner prepared by our wonderful St. Johns Men's Club.

Submitted by Julie Pramuk

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(707) 224-8388 - www.stjohnscatholic.org
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