Becker's Breaking Waves Newsletter: Archives

November 11, 2009

It is hard to believe it is the middle of November. While Families are beginning to prepare for Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year at home, we, the family of St. Edward on-the- Lake Elementary School, are also making plans for the upcoming holidays. Save the date of November 20th, 2009! This will be the date we have our annual "Mall Sing" and "Chuck E Cheese Fun Fundraiser Night" at Birchwood Mall. For our new families, this is a fun family evening that not only gives our students a chance to shine and promote our wonderful school as they sing Christmas songs from our school Christmas play, but also gives us a chance to earn points for the My School is Cool contest we are in at Birchwood Mall.

The Michigan Department of Education recently released new Technology Learning Standards. These standards expect, promote and support integrating technology into instruction on a daily basis. While at the MANS conference October 29th and 30th, the teachers and I had the opportunity to listen to a well-known educational speaker, William Dagget. Mr. Dagget stressed that as we prepare learners for the 21st century, it is crucial to move forward with technology in our faith based settings, in order for our students to be successful and ethical in a competitive global society. Our new campaign to sell signs in our Father Hogan Center to businesses will give us the necessary funds to purchase a new wireless mobile laptop computer lab, enabling us to do just this. Please see the attached brochure explaining our new "Laptops for Education" campaign.

November 4, 2009

Many new events took place this past week at St. Edward on-the-lake Catholic Elementary School and were a first time success. Monday, November 2, 2009, we began utilizing Port Huron Area School Hot Lunches. The children did a fantastic job in adapting to new procedural expectations for lining up and receiving their milk and or hot lunch and milk.

Parents who have already paid for milk for any quarter and or for the entire year, will have their money now be applied to their child/children's milk and or hot lunch "bank" through the school office. A separate letter regarding this matter will be send home.

To clarify, by law we have to offer the free and reduced lunch applications to each family, but only families that think they may qualify and or want to utilize free and reduced lunch fill out the application and return it back to the school office. If for some reason your family has a change in income status, applications are available at any time throughout the year through our school office.

While we are on the subject of clarifications, many of you know we have a preschool student who has a nut allergy. We work very carefully to keep our preschool classroom nut free, however it is not necessary at this point to have our entire school nut free. Teachers have been working with K-5 students however, reminding them that we need to all, for his life's sake, be very cautious about washing our hands and picking up wrappers, etc. after coming into contact with any type of food made in a peanut factory and or with nuts, or nut oil in it. Thank you for your support in encouraging your child/children to do this as well.

Another new event that took place this week at our awesome elementary school was our first raffle to recognize students who may have earned Saintly Solutions Slips. To learn more about our new school wide positive Christian behavior program, please visit the Saintly Solutions link on our school website. This week’s raffle winners, that earned very special ribbons and children's rosaries were as follows; Kindergarten: Bhesania, First Grade: Ariana Raymo, Second Grade: ---(coming soon), Third Grade: Hannah Heithoff, Fourth Grade: Matt Heithoff, and Fifth Grade: Merissa Scandalito. Congrats to these children and all children who earned one or more Saintly Solutions Slips this past week!

Finally, our last new event was our first ever Lego Workshop. A link about Lego Workshop with pictures will be on our website soon. Over twenty students attended. This workshop not only presents children with hands inquiry based science learning experience, but also encourages team work, collaboration, independent and analytical thinking, and real world application. Also, as with anything we do here at our school, faith is even integrated. Students broke up into teams at this first Lego workshop and after learning about the architectural structure of boats/arcs, had the opportunity to design their own team "Noah’s Arc", then lab tested their arcs to see if they would float. Finally, they were guided by our awesome parent volunteers to determine what variables caused their arcs to sink or float, or be "buoyant". Curriculum vocabulary is even a part of our new Lego Workshop! Students that attended- job well done. Parents that are volunteering their time to help us, Mrs. Lynn Heithoff, Mrs. Deb Coombs, Mrs. Kelli Reynolds, Mr. Liss and oldest son, Mrs. Stamevski, Mrs. Deanna Woolley, and Mrs. Kim Parraghi - a BIG thank you.

Our Trunk N Treat, a traditional event, that was held on Friday, October 30, 2009 was a also a HUGE success. We had a turnout of about 100-150 people. What a safe, holy way to celebrate  "Hallow" (Holy) "-een" (evening) and All Saints and All Souls Day! Thank you so much to all of our 8th grade Confirmation candidates that helped this event to be a success, and especially to Mr. and Mrs. Somogy who planned, coordinated and headed up this event for our parish. God Bless you for all you do as parishioners for our school!

Last but not least, K-5th grade parents, please be sure to keep working and turning in your PIP hours. While most families are doing this, there were families last year that did not fulfill all PIP hour requirements and or did not pay their fee for not working. It is so important for each of us to be working PIP hours. Families that do not turn in the required PIP hours will be billed an additional late fee on their tuition bill. In the future, if families do not pay this fee, they will be required to meet with me in order to review the importance of PIP hours and why they are so crucial to the operation of our school and will not only owe the fee but will be required to work double PIP hours. This will be especially true next year when we are not able to take advantage of a 30,000 grant that the Archdiocese has provided to us for the last five years. Time is money and money is time. We need your PIP hours. If there are ever any questions about the contract you signed to work PIP hours at registration and or PIP hour expectations please call me at the school office right away.

Parents- thanks for all you do!

For Your Information: An updated and revised school year calendar has been posted online under the calendar link and will be sent home soon.

God Bless,

Mrs. Becker

October 26th, 2009

Hot lunch begins on November 2nd, 2009. Hot lunch will cost $1.50 or less if free or reduced, milk will cost .40 cents. If a child buys hot lunch, milk will come with it. There will only be one Hot Lunch Choice each day. Children are to inform their teachers in the morning by 8:15 a.m. whether or not they will be getting hot lunch that day. If a student comes to school with a cold lunch made, teachers know that student should eat a cold lunch, and should not be ordering hot lunch. Parents may send in as much money as they would like and can create a bank for students hot lunch money. We encourage parents to please send in a lump sum of money. For billing purposes, working with a lump sum is much easier than having a child bring in 1.50 each day. After a child's hot lunch bank account gets below $5.00, a reminder letter will be sent home. In the event that a child runs out of money, they will have one day without money in their account to eat hot lunch. After one day of not having any money in the bank and needing hot lunch, an alternative jelly sandwich or lunch-able will be given to them for lunch until money has been put in their hot lunch bank again. Thank you for your cooperation on this matter. It is so important to provide your child with a cold lunch to bring to school if you do not want them ordering hot lunch. All hot lunch orders MUST be placed by the teachers by 8:15 a.m., and called in by Mrs. Becker or Mrs. Reynolds no later than 8:30 a.m. Any and all support you can give us in clearly communicating with your child/children about whether or not they should order milk and or a hot lunch with milk on any given day will ensure a smooth transition into our new hot lunch program. Thank you!

Please join us for Trunk N Treat on Friday, October 30, 2009 from 6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. Trick or treating will take place in the school parking lot, with games and activities in the Hogan Center Following.

Also please join us to watch our school children celebrate All Saints Day. While All Saints Day is actually on Nov. 1st, we will celebrate it at our school this Wed. October 28th, 2009. School is not in session on October 29th and 30th. Parents are welcome to join us at 9:30 a.m. and watch the children parade in their Saint costumes over to the parish office where they will each receive candy from Father Joe. Thank you to Father Joe for being very happy and willing to do this on your day off!  At 11:30 a.m., students will attend an all school assembly to kick off our Saintly Solutions Christian Behavior program, meet their new bus driver Mr. Rodriguez and learn about our new bus policies/ behavior expectations and consequences for not following bus expectations. Finally, teachers will host their own individual All Saints Day Celebrations in their individual classrooms.

Just a reminder- our first quarter ends on November 6th, 2009. Grades will be turned in by then. Father Joe will meet with students individually about each of their report cards. Report cards will be handed out before parent teacher conferences which will take place November 12th (1/2 Day of School) and November 13th (1/2 Day of School). Parent teacher conference appointments coming home soon!

October 17th, 2009

I am excited to announce that along with many of our other school activities we will also offer a Little Flowers Girls Club and Blue Knights club during lunch hours at school. I will be leading each of these groups. Little Flowers Girls Club and the Blue Knights Club is open to children ages 5 and up. (Kinders- 5th Grade). See the link below for more information about the philosophy/background of Little Flowers and Blue Knights clubs. Please contact me if you would like to help. While meetings are held at lunch, optional field trips and activities will sometimes be held after school. I will work with our new Daisy and Brownie leaders and our Cub Scout leaders to ensure that Little Flowers and Blue Knights do not conflict with their schedules/activities. Before I begin meeting with the children,  I will hold evening informational meetings with parents about each of these clubs. More Info coming soon... 

http://www.eccehomopress.com/Little-Flowers-Home.html

http://www.eccehomopress.com/Blue-Knights-Home.html

October 12th, 2009 

School News:

There will be a bake sale after all Masses this weekend to raise money for the annual fifth grade trip. While the destination of this trip has not yet been determined, please help us in raising money for this very special experience for our fifth graders.

Our After School Activities are off to a great start. Over 21 children have registered for piano classes. Classes are offered by appointment on Monday, Thursday and Friday after school.

The first ever St. Edward School Lego Workshop will be starting Wednesday, November 4th in the Fr. Hogan Center cafeteria from 2:45 -3:45 p.m. Please have your registration forms in to the office by 11/2/09. The first (20) K-5th grade registered students will get the spots! Any parents interested in helping out and or registering their child/children for any after school activity, please call Lynn Heithoff at 810-385-5093.

Attention Kinder and First Grade girls! If you are interested in joining a St. Edward daisy troop, please have your parents call Julie Rexford at 810-404-3245. If you checked the "Brownies" box on the After School Activities form at the beginning of the school year then you will be getting a call from Mrs. Rexford in the near future. Any Moms interested in leading a 2nd-3rd grade Brownie Troop, please call Mrs. Heithoff.

Religious Education News:

Religious education classes are off to a great start. Students arrive and leave with big smiles on their faces and are learning so much about their Catholic Faith. Anyone still interested in registering their child/children for religious education classes may do so by calling the school office at 810-385-4461 or by showing up on Sunday morning for classes and can register before the 8:30 a.m.- 9:25 a.m. classes.

The Children's Catechumenate or RCIC (Rite of Christian Initiation for Children) is intended for un-baptized children ages 7-14. It's the means by which these children are prepared for the Easter sacraments of baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. A registration and information meeting for parents will take place in the school library on Tuesday, October 20th at 6:30 p.m. To register, please call the school office at 810-385-4461.

All School and Parish Families/Children:

The St. Edward Youth Choir will start practice after school from 3:15 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. on October 20th. Our first Mass will be October 25th at 9:30 a.m. Please be early. Thank you.

Please join us for Trunk N Treat on Friday, October 30, 2009 from 6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. Trick or treating will take place in the school parking lot, with games and activities in the Hogan Center Following.

October 8th, 2009

Our blessing of the pets was a success this past Monday. Many school families and parishioners joined our school children, teachers and Father Joe in this traditional event. Children who could not bring their pets to school brought a stuffed animal or drew a picture of thie rpet. Father Joe announced at this special event that even if their pet could not be present, that they were still included in the very special blessing.

Our preschool students are adjusting well and learning the very important basics of school behavior like using inside voices and taking turns. They are always so full of energy and smiles in their preschool classroom and hallway.

Our kindergarteners and first graders visited the Lexington Fire Department this past Tuesday. They tell me they had a blast, and their favorite part of the day was watching Evan's Dad, Mr. Reynolds, put on fire gear and get sprayed by the fire hose. They also really liked the ride on the fire truck! They were all very well behaved. Thank you to Mrs. Rexford who provided lunch.

First through fifth grade students and teachers have been working hard all week during their Iowa Testing. Thank you to the Heithoff family for the donation of snacks to eat during the Iowa Tests for our first through fifth grades.

I had the opportunity to attend Moms In Touch prayer group this morning. Calling all Moms! It was the most incredible experience. What a blessing this Scripture based time is for  the Moms attending, and for our school, teachers and school children. This prayer group prays for our school, teachers and each of your children weekly special prayer requests written by the school children are also read and prayed for. Mothers also have the opportunity to pray for their own intentions during this prayer time. I highly recommend giving Moms In Touch a try. It is an invaluable tool to our schools success and a true witness to the power of prayer and coming together in Christ's name for our school community. Moms In Touch prayer group meets every Thursday morning at 8:00 a.m. in the convent. Please feel welcome to attend any time.

Last but not least, be on the lookout for Achatz pie information to be coming home soon. It is hard to believe we are in the middle of October and it is almost that time of year again. This year, the class award for those who sell the most pies will be crazy hat and ice cream day.

God Bless each of your families,

Mrs. Becker

September 23, 2009

• Announcing a BIG thank you from the bottom of our hearts to both Joy and Marty Terillo, relatives of the Schrader family, for giving us the opportunity to visit their Madison Heights location Elementary School Demolition Site. Also a BIG thank you to the Schrader family for hiring us a truck and driver to transport the treasures we found at this demolition site, back to St. Ed's. If you were a parent who happened to be at our 4th/5th multigrade parent meeting over the summer, then you heard about this awesome experience/opportunity we had. For those of you who did not know, the teachers and I were invited by the Terillo's to peruse an abundance of materials; books, desks, chairs, instructional materials, etc. inside of this elementary school that had previously been closed and was going to be demolished. After perusing and finding many brand new, unopened resources like construction paper, glue, laminated posters, leveled guided reading books ( 100's!), math manipulatives and science experiments; also learning center tables for our pre-school room, filing cabinets and teacher desks, the Schrader family then sent us a truck and driver free of charge to transport our chosen items back to St. Edward on-the-Lake School. The teachers and I walked into that building and some of us literally had tears in our eyes. This opportunity was truly a blessing from above. Mrs. Weir, pre-school teacher, and I had just had a conversation literally one hour before the Terillo's called us about ordering trapezoid learning center tables. The first room we walked into at the demolition site was full of trapezoid learning center tables. Again, thank you so much for thinking of us for and for donating your time. All of the materials that were given to us by the Terillo's/Schrader's totaled thousands and thousands worth of materials for our teachers, children and parish staff. What a blessing.

September 21, 2009

• Are you a MOM interested in praying with other St. Edward-on-the-Lake Moms? If so, please contact our school office or Beth Garcia for more information on "Moms In Touch". This special group of Moms meets in the convent every Thursday, at 8:00 a.m. to pray for each other, other school Moms and Children and the overall needs of our school community. If you can't make it to a meeting, but have special intentions you would like our Moms in Touch to pray for, fill out a petition and put it in the Moms In Touch box located on top of our teacher mailboxes in the school office. For more information about this national association, Moms In Touch, go online to:  http://www.momsintouch.org.
• Our fourth graders had great time learning about Water Safety at the Port Huron YMCA this past Friday morning. They arrived back at school, all smiles and more confident about playing it safe in the water.
• I had the opportunity to spend lunch recess with students this past Friday. From observing toads, to volcano building competitions in the sandbox, what a gift recess with St. Edward on-the-Lake students is! Thank you students for a great lunch recess. I look forward to many, many more!
• If you ever have any new marketing ideas, please contact Mrs. Becker in the school office. The best marketing is word or mouth. Spread the news to friends and family that St. Edward-on-the-Lake Elementary School is the place to be!
• P.T.O meeting this coming Wednesday, September 23rd, 7:00 p.m. in the school library. We are always looking for as many parents as possible to attend. Get in on the latest greatest happenings at St. Edward-on-the-lake Elementary School; bring a smile, a friend and or new ideas.

September 14th, 2009

• Students did a fabulous job hosting our first "All School Mass". Please feel free to join us each week at our school Masses on Friday's at 8:00 a.m. This week Mrs. Decker's class will host Mass.
• This Sunday is Catechetical Sunday. Please keep all of our parish and school catechists in your prayers as they are blessed at this Sunday's 9:30 a.m. Mass. Find out more about Catechetical Sunday here:  http://www.usccb.org/catecheticalsunday.
• Thank you for taking the time to complete the After School Activities survey that went home. We have had a very positive response to many of the activities. We will keep you posted on what after school activities will be offered.
• Beach day is next Friday, September 25th, 2009. This special event sponsored by the P.T.O. will begin at 10:00 a.m. and will end at 12:00 p.m., with Hot Dog lunch following at the Parish Hall from 12:00-12:30 p.m. Parents are welcome to join us. 

September 8th, 2009

• First day of school, Tuesday, September 8th, 2009, (1/2) Day; 7:40 a.m.- 11:15 a.m.
• Open House, Tuesday, September 8th, 2009, 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Hogan Center Gymnasium
• First "All School Mass", Friday, September 11th, 2009, 8:00 a.m.
• Announcing Beach Day...10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., September 25th, 2009. (Thank you P.T.O)
• P.T.O. Meeting, next week Wednesday, September 16th, 2009, 7:00 p.m. in school library
• Be sure to call Mrs. Heithoff if you can work Poker!
• Keep shopping at Birchwood Mall for our "My School Is Cool" contest. Drop your receipts in the St. Ed's locker in the middle of the food court.

August 24th, 2009

• For those families I have not had the chance to meet, I look forward to possibly meeting you after one of the Masses during "Meet Our New Principal" coffee and donuts, August 29th and August 30th
• Pre-School and Kindergarten "Visit Your Classroom" day, September 3rd, Thursday, 1:00-2:00 p.m.
• New Students "Visit Your Classroom" day, September 3rd, Thursday, 2:00-2:40 p.m.
• New Parent Meeting, September 3rd, Thursday, 6:30-7:00 p.m.
• First day of school, Tuesday, September 8th, 2009, (1/2) Day; 7:40 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
• Open House, Tuesday, September 8th, 2009, 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Hogan Center Gymnasium.

August 16th, 2009

• We will be offering a.m. childcare daily, from 6:40 a.m. to 7:40 a.m., in addition to the p.m. care we already offered in years past.  Please contact the office if you are interested.
• Our front Office has been moved around and freshly painted. I highly encourage parents to bring in any students, K-2 students especially, to see the office and meet me in order to have certain comfort level with the new physical arrangement and new face as principal. Please don't hesitate to stop by!
• Two security cameras have been installed throughout the school building.  Thank you Mr. Ritter for installing those. Thank you Postill family for donating them.
• This coming week, a Buzzer and Intercom will be installed on our front school doors; hardware was purchased through MTI Securities (Lakeport, MI), and donated by the Postill family.  Thank you for the fabulous, competitive quote on this project MTI. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Postill for your kind donation. A sign will be posted on the front office door stating " All visitors must report to the office..,sign in...and wear a badge on you at all time while on school property." More information as to how this Buzzer/Intercom will tie in with signing in and out will be found in your back to school letters.
• We were approved by the Port Huron Area School District to use a particular amount of our Title II (professional development for teachers) monies for two very special school improvement and learning projects. (1) Turning Point Technologies - Student Integrated Response System. It will be installed in the school library where all teachers and students will have access to it daily to utilize. (2) We were also approved for funding professional development for our teachers for Classroom Websites. By the time school starts on September 8th, 2009, each of our classroom teachers will have an online presence and will have the opportunity to update their websites frequently.

St. Edward on-the-Lake Elementary School
We are the Lakers, Keepers of God's Creation
6995 Lakeshore Road, Lakeport, MI 48059
ph. (810) 385-4461 fax (810)385-6070
stedwardschool@hotmail.com

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