eGazette - November 4, 2009

Principal's Piece

"Keep in mind that our community is not composed of those who are already saints, but of those who are trying to become saints. Therefore let us be extremely patient with each other's faults and failures." - Mother Teresa

Greetings! I bring you several updates about the spiritual significance of these past few days:

- All Saints' Day, 11/1: This past Sunday we celebrated the All Saints' Day, a Holy Day of Obligation. At our Sunday 10am Mass, many of our K-3rd grade school and parish children processed in either dressed as a Saint or decorated with their Saint cross accessory which they created during Religion class. The procession also included a presentation of the relics of two Saints which are contained in our altar. The liturgy was supported by lectors, cantors and other active participation by our 6th grade class.

- All Souls' Day, 11/2: This is the commemoration of all the faithful departed. During this day and throughout the month of November, we remember all of our family members and friends who have died. We pray that they too are numbered among God's holy ones and have joined the Saints in heaven. A table of remembrance will be set up in the hallway and all are invited to list the names of loved ones who have passed on.

In addition to our faith commitments, several thank-yous are in order at this time:

- Jog-a-Thon: It is with great joy that we announce that the proceeds of the Jog-a-Thon came in at $26,000! A special thank you to Mrs. Batt and Mrs. Bemis, our co-chairs and to all of our students, teachers, staff, parents and student council for the many hours spent pulling off this fantastic event that greatly contributes to our school. Thank you also to Justin-Siena High School for their generous contribution of the track and lunch!

- Halloween Carnival: This past Friday, our children benefited from a good old-fashioned carnival. It was safe, simple fun that was created by our 8th graders and their parents, under the leadership of Mrs. McClure. The event spoke a lot about our Jr. High students- that they are so generous, kind and joyful. They are true role models for our younger students. Thank you, 8th graders and parents!

- Parent Conferences: Thank you for attending your parent/teacher conferences this week. It is through our partnership that we grow our students. Such collaboration is critical for academic and social achievement.

Finally, I ask you to remember those for whom life is difficult at this time. Every year, we fill food barrels for St. Vincent de Paul. Encourage your child to pick out non-perishable items at the grocery store and bring them in to school. Our 6th graders decorated the barrels which are located in the church and school.

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

In Peace,
Nancy Jordan
Principal

The next Family club meeting is this Friday, November 6 @ 8:30 am. Come one, come all!

Wow! Filippi's was jam packed with St. John's families on October 27th! Thank you to the many families that helped raise $470 for our school!

Library News... The Scholastic Book Fair ends this Friday. Book Fair hours are 8am-4pm today and Thursday, 8am-3:30pm Friday. All proceeds benefit the school library directly. Thank you to DeeAnn Valine, Josefina Adriance, Lisa Scherer, and Rita Madison for working the fair, and answering Mrs. Evans' call for help! The Third Annual PUMPKIN HEAD Contest was a success! With each and every pumpkin unique and amazing, this was a very difficult vote! Congratulations to 7th grade, whose pumpkin, Dopey, won FIRST place... 8th grade and 2nd grade were close behind!

Congratulations to Grades 3 and 4! Your darling pair of St. John uniformed scarecrows "We Grow Our Own", featuring items from our school gardens, was voted #1 in VanWinden"s Scarecrow contest! Many thanks go out to all of you who visited VanWinden's and voted, and to the amazing creative efforts of Mrs. Bartalotti, Mrs. Kalten, and Mrs. Troppy.

St. Nick has marked his calendar and so should you - scheduled for Sunday, December 6 in the St. John's Hall. This event is fun-filled for the entire family; a school tradition, not to be missed! Please join us for a committee meeting on Friday, November 6th, directly following the FC meeting. While your calendar is out, save room for Tuesday, November 17th from 1pm-3pm, and meet us upstairs to stuff hundreds of St. Nick goody-bags! If you signed up to volunteer for this event, please join us! A big thank you to the many new parents who have already stepped forward to help us!

Speaking of St. Nick... Do you have something to donate to this event? How about a bottle of wine, toy, gift basket, gift certificate, handmade scarf, or secret holiday candy recipe? Donations are being accepted for silent auction, raffle, and craft/bake sale. All items can be dropped off at the school office. Questions? - please contact Jami Bement Mendez at 927-5770.

We are excited that our art teacher, Suzanne Gibbs, has been given the go ahead to lead our students through the Eric Carle Art Fair (a school-wide art project). In order to accomplish this, we will need 2 parent volunteers from each class on each day, November 18 & 20. Our Room Coordinators have already begun soliciting parent volunteers from their classrooms, but there may still be time and room, so please check in with them and see if assistance is needed in your child's class for this exciting art project.

Once each month the parents on our "Hospitality" team create a special luncheon to show our teachers how special they are to us. Many thanks to Gina Laird, Jody Bolen, and Martha Ramos for creating that special luncheon for the month of October... we think YOU are pretty special too!

The long awaited logo tee's are finally in, for those of you who ordered them in September; we are sorry for the delay. Look for them in your child's backpack this week.

Just a reminder... If you have filled out a volunteer commitment form, (each family should have) please respond to those "calls of duty" when a committee chair contacts you. If you have forgotten what you signed up for, or are still looking for an area to volunteer, please feel free to contact a FC Board member for assistance.

See you this Friday at the Family Club meeting!

Breakfast_with_St__Nick.pdf

Our annual Advent program is coming up on December 17th.

This year we are trying out a new format. There will be plenty of congregation participation! The final program will be posted soon so you can brush up on your carols! We are hoping that December will see all St. John families singing carols heartily on their way to school in the morning! Singing aside we are asking each student to bring in a foil covered empty toilet roll or half kitchen towel roll. These can be further decorated with Christmas themes if you wish. Ribbons, stickers, tinsel, baubles,....your imagination is the limit. These will serve as battery operated tea light holders. The holders will be hand held by the students as they process into the church, please bear this in mind if you are decorating them. The holders are due in the office or to your classroom teacher by Tuesday December 1st. Anyone who is inspired to make more than one would be greatly appreciated!

Any parents who would like to help assembling the tea light holders can contact Sabine Hirsohn at sabine@hirsohn.com or 226 1620. The date for this will be mutually determined.

Student ID cards are in your Wednesday Envelope. Picture packets will be delivered as soon as they arrive.

Picture Make-up Day - Wednesday, November 18th.

Some of you may have received a packet regarding a family ski trip being planned by Noel Lopreore (Jocelyn S. in 2nd grade's mom). We would like it to be clear that this is not a school sponsored event. All details and communications regarding this trip will be made through Noel Lopreore.

Attached please find a revised information packet. If you are interested in joining other families on this trip, download the attached forms or telephone Noel Lopreore at 909-553-9401.
FAMILY_SKI_TRIP_INFORMATION.pdf
FAMILY_SKI_TRIP_MENU.pdf
Sierra_at_Tahoe_ORDER_FORM.pdf

SKI_TRIP_ORDER_FORM.pdf

Jeffrey Gibbs, age 10, has always wanted to be a Boy Scout. He joined Cub Scouts when he was in first grade, Pack 151 of the Mt. Diablo Silverado Council. Now a fifth grade student at St. John the Baptist Catholic School, Jeffrey has become a Tenderfoot Scout. Boy Scouts is a program, for boys 11 through 17, designed to achieve the aims of Scouting through a vigorous outdoor program and peer group leadership with the counsel of an adult Scoutmaster.

Jeffrey's parents, Suzanne & Derek Gibbs are proud of one of the youngest scouts. He received special Council permission to allow him into the Boy Scouts of America before age 11. As a member of Troop 832 in Napa in the Mt. Diablo Silverado Council, he joined 7,000 other scouts, with his Eagle Scout father, Derek, in Sacramento October 24 to celebrate veteran Eagle Scouts with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

According to Suzanne, Jeffrey's mother and Cub Scout leader for five years, he was eager to become a Boy Scout as he had completed all the activities available to Cub Scouts. Jeffrey asked to move to Boy Scouts early. "I told him I could not make the decision he'd have to go to the Scout Master and discuss it with him, which he did along with three other scout friends of his."

Since June, Jeffrey has achieved all of the elements to earn the Tenderfoot badge, which is the first badge in Scouts. Over the next six years, Jeffrey will work toward the final goal of Eagle. In the meantime, he has achieved four merit badges: first aid, swimming, fingerprinting and fire safety.

Box Top Collection for October was 644 - Way to Go!!

Here is how we did by Class:
Kinder = 237
1st = 42
2nd = 72
3rd = 44
4th = 29
5th = 81
6th = 53
7th = 68
8th = 18

The Class that Collect the Most in September was Kindergarten (What Class will it be next month?)

A couple of reminders about Box Tops:
Please check the expiration dates on their box tops and to make sure they are intact on the ones they submit. They are invalid if the expiration date is passed or removed.

Also, please keep the UPC codes intact on their soup labels would be nice. Partial UPC codes are invalid.

WIN $50,000 for our School: Go on to www.thebigclip.com to enter in the sweepstakes!

Can you believe the Holiday's are almost here and that means lots of cooking and don't forget the Box Tops that come along with all the HOLIDAY MEALS. Pumpkin Streusel Cheesecake Bars - Something Different than the traditional Pumpkin pie

Prize-Winning Recipe 2008! Chocolate and caramel drizzles add a new flavor punch to creamy pumpkin-oat bars.
Ingredients
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix
1/2 cup crushed gingersnap cookies
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2 tablespoons Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons whipping cream
2 eggs
1/3 cup chocolate topping
1/3 cup caramel topping

Directions
Heat oven to 350F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix, crushed cookies and pecans. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 cup mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture in bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining filling ingredients; beat until well blended. Pour over warm cookie base. Sprinkle with reserved topping.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes.
Refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled. Before serving, drizzle with chocolate and caramel toppings. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

ENJOY!!!

Your Box-Top Coordinators,
Lee Tatsuguchi
Rebecca Griffin

UPDATE ON BUNCO by Melanie Oberting (Sam's mom in 8th)

I'm still enthusiastic about starting a Bunko group but we're off to a slow start. Envision adults relaxing by a pond while their children laugh and play nearby! I know everyone will be busy so we'll try it again, after the holidays, on a Friday night (rather than afterschool), with or without kids (I'll have my Ellen babysit) and husbands. Tentatively reserve January 22nd for this fun family night and I'll try to send information out right after the break.

NEW CATHOLIC MOM'S GROUP by Melanie Oberting

Did you know Lisa Shuemann starting a Catholic Mom's group in Napa? They had their first meeting last week and I'll be inviting them to join our Friday "night" bunco group starting in January. For more information about the group, contact Lshuemann@yahoo.com or call 265-6783. Their next meeting is Thursday, Nov. 19, at Fume Bistro at 7 p.m. I plan to go! We all need encouragement and support; let's have a strong showing from St. John's!

ST. JOHN MASS OF ANOINTING DECEMBER 1

This mass is for anyone, young or old, who wants to remain in good health. It is an awesome, powerful mass, the Mass of Anointing, and it's at 11:00 a.m. the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Dec. 1st. A fabulous homemade soup will be served afterwards in the Hall and St. John's School choir will entertain us with Christmas cheer. You can come for all or part of this special mid-day program. For more information, contact parent, parishioner, and Caring Friend Melanie Oberting at 256-3686.

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