2008-2009 Issue 2 January 2009

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Issue 2 2008 - 2009 School Year January 2009

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK 2009 By Matthew Gregoire, 7A

Catholic Schools Week is January 25 – January 31. The theme is ―Catholic

Schools Celebrate Service.‖

Sunday—At the 10:30 mass, students from STS will kick off the week by

participating at mass ranging from greeters at the doors of the church, to readers

during mass, to singers with the choir, to servers for coffee and donuts.

Monday—Students will attend a School Prayer Service in the morning. Parents

of 3rd and 4th grade students may come to STS to watch students in the Religion

Trivia Bowl (10:15-11:15) and to eat lunch with them after the Bowl games.

Pre-4’s will host an Open House all day. Later, the school will hold Information

Night for new or potential students where they can learn about all that STS has

to offer.

Tuesday—Open House will be held for the Pre-3’s, All Day Kindergarten and

the 1st and 2nd grade (10:00-10:45). Parents can admire the beautiful creations

students have made this school year. Afterwards, parents may eat lunch with

their children. Also, STS has its ―Principal for a Day‖ winners from last year’s

Simply Grand Event. They are Alexander (5B), Ava (4A), and Avery (2B)

Arnold.

Wednesday—STS PTO hosts the annual Teacher Appreciation Lunch for the

staff of STS. We are blessed to have such a terrific faculty!

Thursday—Parents of the 5th and 6th graders and the Middle School are invited

to watch their Religion Trivia Bowl games (10:45-

11:45 for grades 5-6 and 11:30-12:30 for Middle

School). Later, parents are welcome to lunch with

the students. From 9:30-10:00, the half-day

Kindergarten will conduct an Open House. That

evening, from 7:00 to 9:00, we will conduct the

annual ―Teachers vs. Media‖ volleyball game. You

can see your favorite local television stars battling

against the staff of STS. A small admission will be

collected to benefit The Silence of Mary. Game

Night will be held in the cafeteria during the game.

Friday—The most anticipated day of CSW has

arrived! First, the school will have a liturgy. Then,

the Middle School Volleyball Tournament will be

held from 1:00 to 3:00. The competition will be

intense! To top it all off, we will have an Ice Cream

Sundae Party sponsored by the PTO at the end of the

day to celebrate a great Catholic Schools Week!

2008-2009 Issue 2 2 January 2009

SAFETY FIRST By Kasey Dare and Rachel Hepp

STS has been proactive in

keeping our school and our

students safe. Monthly safety

drills and increased security have become a part of

student life. All the teachers are well prepared with

safety backpacks, walkie-talkies, and first aid kits.

We also have increased security in the lobby. The

entire school community is taking steps to make sure

dangers are minimized and the staff is doing a

wonderful job. This is just one more way that STS is

the WBCS.

THEME CONTEST By Kyle Scott

You could be famous, at least at STS, for an entire

year. As part of our Catholic Schools Week

celebration, the search is on for the

theme for the 2009-2010 school year.

Just find a catchy theme and an

appropriate logo and submit it. If your

theme is chosen it will be used around

the school for the entire year. Good

Luck!

DECORATING DYNAMOS The halls of the school were all decked out for the

Student Council sponsored Christmas decorating

contest. Some of the classes entered a grade level

hallway decorating contest, while other classrooms

entered their bulletin board or wall for individual

classroom judging. The school looked great. Thank

you to all the classes that participated. The winners

all received a treat from Student Council.

Hallway: Winner - 8th grade;

runner-up - 2nd grade

K-3 Bulletin Board: Winner - KA1;

runner-up - 1A

5-6 Bulletin Board: Winner - tie 5A and 5B;

runner-up - 6A

SHARE YOUR VISION Students in first grade will help needy people around

the world improve their lives with

better vision by collecting used eye

glasses from January 26 - February

27. Eye glasses may be given to

any first grade student or placed in

the collection box in the school

lobby. The eye glasses will be

donated to the Lions Club for

recycling. An Eye Safety Program will be presented

to first grade students on February 5.

100TH DAY OF SCHOOL

CELEBRATION Students in first grade will celebrate the 100th Day

of School in February. They will count to 100 by 1s,

2s, 5s, 10s and 25s. They will share collections of

100, make books of 100 things, read 100 day stories,

make a cookie with 100 chocolate chips, stamp 100

stamps and go home 100 days smarter!

牛YEAR OF THE OX

By Mrs. Vikki DeBastiani

5B celebrated the Chinese New Year by making red

lanterns since the new year always ends with the

Lantern Festival. The Chinese New Year begins on

the 20th day of the first moon which may fall

anywhere between January and March. To

understand some of the Chinese customs, we learned

about the family, education and manners. We

learned that education is held in high esteem and that

teachers are regarded with great respect and honor!

We also learned about the Chinese zodiac and the

Great Wall of China. We even learned how to write

several Chinese numbers and how to write our name

in Chinese! Fellow classmate, Colleen Connolly,

helped us learn how to pronounce some Chinese

words. She is learning how to speak Chinese!

To end our celebration, we used chopsticks to eat

rice and orange slices. Citrus fruits are a sign of

good luck. Sung Hey Fat Choy from 5B!

2008-2009 Issue 2 3 January 2009

POETS RECOGNIZED In the fall, students in Mrs. Vikki DeBastiani’s 5B

entered the Creative Communication Poetry Contest.

Several students have been chosen to have their

poems published in the Creative Communication

anthology, A Celebration of Poets. Congratulations

to Colleen Connolly, Matthew Hogg, Amanda

Becker, Nick Anderson, Austin Brown, Michael

Dietz, Kirsten Pletcher, Jesse Deaner, Kiley

Stevens and Shannon Westerkamm. These

students were chosen from a thousand entries.

Being published represents a lot of talent and hard

work!

B-E-E Reilly Edwards, 6A, won the Scripps Patriot-News

Spelling Bee on December 16. The spelling bee is

open to 6th-8th grades. Teachers can choose a spell

off or have a written test to

select students for the

bee. Reilly will now advance to

the next level, a written

exam. We send prayers and

good luck wishes to Reilly as

he moves on to the next level.

HOUSE RULES Mrs. Stephanie McCarthy and Mrs. Christy

Morgan borrowed a page from the Harry Potter

series to encourage positive behavior and happy

classrooms in the 6th grade. Each homeroom is

divided into the four houses. Since many of the

students chose Harry Potter books for book reports,

the house names from Hogwarts are being

used. Principal Points and random acts of kindness

add points to the houses. Inappropriate behavior,

demerits, and detentions lose points for the

houses. Students encourage other house members to

behave appropriately

using positive peer

pressure. At the end

of the trimester, the

house with the most

points wins a prize

determined by the

teacher.

JUST BLOG IT By Nick Rudolph, Peter Lazzara, Colin Laubach

In the 8th grade Advanced Language Arts class, Mrs.

Diane Weltmer created a blog forum where students

can blog about Great Expectations by Charles

Dickens. The blog allows classmates to share

feelings about one of the most famous books in

British literary history. The blog forum started on

January 20th and should go well. Come on people!

Keep on blogging! justblogit8blogspot.com

BROADWAY SMASH

HIT COMES TO STS By Jen Haseleu and Elizabeth

Mueller

The annual middle school dinner

theater will bring the hit show

Oklahoma, a Broadway legend,

to STS. With catchy songs that

include ―I Can’t Say No,‖

―People Will Say We’re in

Love,‖ and ―Oklahoma,‖ the students will show off

their talent. The open audition is coming up fast, then

it will be weeks of rehearsal and costume fittings.

When it comes time for the show, the gym will be

transformed into a magnificent musical theater.

The musical will be under the direction of our music

teacher, Mrs. BJ Meagher, and Mr. Ryan Boyles.

If past performances are any indication, the musicals

are fun for everyone. All 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are

encouraged to participate in stage crew, tech crew,

wait staff, musicians, or as cast members. Every part

is important and everyone makes it great! Break a

leg!

STUDENTS READY FOR Q.B. FINALS The 8th grade Quiz Bowl team earned top spot in the

Shamrock Quiz Bowl Finals to be held on February 5

at Trinity High School. The team ended the regular

season with 5 place points and 335 total points to

take the lead in the annual event. Team members,

Jack Shelly, Molly Dupin, Peter Lazarra, Gino

Gwen, Nick Rudolph, and Jake Diorio under the

guidance of Mrs. Diane Weltmer, will travel to

Trinity for the finals. Good Luck!

2008-2009 Issue 2 4 January 2009

2008 STS SCIENCE FAIR The 2008 7th and 8th Grade Science Fair was held on

December 11. There were 101 projects displayed.

The projects were well done and the judges and

parents in attendance were impressed. The students

should be proud of their hard work. There were

many new, creative topics this year. Here are the

projects selected for the next level of competition at

the Capital Area Science and Engineering Fair.

One student from each grade level was selected as

grand champion of our science fair. The 7th Grade

Grand Champion was Ryan Grogan. The 8th Grade

Grand Champion was Colin Laubach.

Congratulations to all of the participants of the

science fair. Good luck to those moving on to

CASEF!

By Christina Williams

The 7th and 8th graders are working on a major

project: National History Day. Each student has to

complete a project for Social Studies. Under the

leadership of Mrs. Lucy Chubb, the students must

research their topic, complete a bibliography with

note cards, and create a project. The theme is The

Individual in History. The projects may be a paper, a

web site, a performance, or an exhibit. After the

school competition in March, winners will compete

at Messiah College with a chance to move on to

states held at Millersville University and, ultimately,

the national competition in Washington, D.C.

VALENTINE’S DAY

DANCE By Dominic Ciccocioppo, Kyle

Scott, Nick Rudolph, Peter

Lazzara, Colin Laubach

February is coming up, and

all you lovers know what that

means! A Valentine’s Day

Dance is planned for Friday,

February 6th. Our very own

Isaac Zimmerman will be

pumping up the party as our DJ. Money made from

the dance will go to make our school a better place.

On February 6th you and that special someone can

enjoy an evening of appetizing refreshments and

groovy music! Nick Rudolph and Gino Gwyn said,

―We can’t wait to party!‖ So let’s all have a blast!

And ―Just Dance.‖

SHARE YOUR NEWS Saints Shout! would love to hear from you!

Students, parents and teachers are welcome to

submit articles. Next issue deadline is March 31.

The issue will be distributed in April. Send to

school office or

saintsshout@sainttheresaschool.org

7th GRADERS PROJECT

Logan Shettle Which place in the house has the

most bacteria?

Will Alford Does the starting point of the ball

affect the shooting percentage?

Daniella Bosak The effect of different adhesives

on masonry substrate

Rayn Grogan Does color affect heat absorption?

Matt Bernick What is the best smoke detector?

8th GRADERS PROJECT

Josh Mussleman How do storage techniques affect

fruit and vegetable ripening?

Mark Sideck Effect of surface on the angle of

repose

Michael Wilson Does the time between the charge

and discharge affect the voltage

produced by a Leyden jar?

Colin Laubach Which fabric is the best insulator

of heat?

Vincent Ruminski Effect of temperature on the elas-

ticity of a golf ball

Kelsey Pianka Does insulation affect the effi-

ciency of a portable solar cooker?

Colleen Laubach Does age and gender affect the

ability to identify the ink color of

color words?

2008-2009 Issue 2 5 January 2009

VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT By Brett Becker and Will Alford

Are you ready STS? It’s volleyball time! Seventh

and eighth graders alike are going to compete for the

gold in the annual Catholic Schools Week Volleyball

Tournament. There’s not actual gold to win, but the

thought of being the champ is just as good. This

exciting round-robin tournament will commence at

1:00 p.m. on Friday, January 30.

Each color-coded team has a faculty coach and a

team name. The teams also have a student cheering

section from the lower grades. The cheering sections

make banners and signs to encourage their team.

Last year, Mrs. Becky Bamberger’s green team

won it all. Now it’s new teams and a new year, so

it’s any one’s game.

SIZZLING SUPER

BOWL By Gino Gwyn and Nick Rudolph

We missed out on an all

Pennsylvania Super Bowl with

the Eagles losing 32-25 to the Cardinals. We still

have one team fighting strong and it is predicted to

win, the Pittsburgh Steelers! They won in a big

game over the Ravens for the third time, the final

score was 23-14. The Super Bowl will be held in

Tampa Bay, Florida, on February 1. This is going to

be a great game; Pittsburgh is trying to become the

first team to win six Super Bowls.

MEDIA VOLLEYBALL GAME By Andrew Shillingsford and Logan Shettle

On Thursday, January 29, the faculty

will go head to head against local

media personalities in the Media

Volleyball Game. Channel 21 News,

Bob 94.9, Wink 104, and Channel 27

News will be represented in this third

annual match-up. This game is

always good family fun and this year

benefits The Silence of Mary. You can meet-up with

your friends and may even be seen on TV. For extra

fun, there will be ―box seats,‖ a snack bar, and board

games for the little ones. So come to STS and cheer

on our teachers and the media stars.

2009 SIMPLY GRAND EVENT

St. Theresa School will be holding its 2009 Simply

Grand Event on Saturday, April 25, from 6 pm to

midnight in the cafeteria of Trinity High School. We

are celebrating our school’s 60th Year! Tickets are

$60 per person. Ticket includes buffet dinner, beer

and soda. We are having a band for our

entertainment. This year’s event will have both a

silent and live auction. Sponsorships and donations

are encouraged. Please call Mr. Mark Reilly at

770-0696 (home) or 766-3200 (work) for more

details.

Once again this year, classes

are competing to see which

grade will win the end of year

ice cream treat for collecting

the most Box Tops. PTO uses

monies collected from Box Tops to fund their

activities so the more Box Tops collected the better!

So far this year, 2nd grade is in first place with 1,591

Box Tops, followed by 3rd grade with 1,078 and 5th

grade with 1,045. Keep those Box Tops coming in!

Visit boxtops4education.com for recipes and

coupons.

Giant food stores offer

the A+ School Rewards

program for schools to

earn cash each time you

shop at any Giant store

using your Bonuscard.

Visit the website www.giantaplus.com to designate

your Bonuscard to benefit STS. Then, each time you

shop at Giant using your Bonuscard between October

5, 2008 and March 14, 2009, STS will earn credit for

1% of your total purchases. At the end of the

program, STS will be awarded a check for the total

amount earned through participation in the program.

As of mid-January, STS ranked 4th among local

schools with a year-to-date award of $6,257.

Thank You to Our Sponsor ! Diocesan Publications

Harrisburg - Regional Office 698 Limekiln Rd.

New Cumberland, PA 17070 800.233.8200

2008-2009 Issue 2 6 January 2009

PTO NEWS YOU CAN USE By Ms. Danielle M. Tedesco

Winter is here, but that’s not stopping the PTO!

December and January are probably the busiest

months of the year for us. And by us, we mean you

too. We held our annual Saint Nicholas Breakfast

which was a ton of fun for everyone who attended

this special event. Profit reports for this fundraiser

are forthcoming. Green School Directories were

distributed in January. Please see the Office if you

haven’t received your copy.

January 23 is the day that The

Spoon Man will be at STS sharing

his spiritual message… just in time

for Catholic School’s Week! The

PTO purchased two performances

(one each for younger and older

students) for $1,000 which is a

very fair price considering that he doesn’t charge for

travel and he hails from Michigan.

We are supporting many Catholic School’s Week

activities with monies as well as scores of

volunteers. The PTO will provide a complimentary

movie at the West Shore Theater on Sunday,

January 25, for $450 plus the cost of popcorn for

100 attendees. An interesting FYI about the West

Shore Theater; it only charges us for the rental

space, not the movie. Our cost would easily triple if

they attached a movie fee. We are quite lucky to

have such great community support! The PTO will

have a presence at Information Night; host its annual

Teacher Appreciation Luncheon; and give the

students a sundae party at the end of the week.

To date, we have spent $2,500 in

enrichment; $600 for Muffins with

Moms; $200 for October’s ice cream

sundae party; $4,000 in classroom

supplies; $6,500 in teacher

reimbursements and $1,200 in annual

Teacher Christmas gifts. To date, with some of the

fundraisers, we have received over $13,000 from the

candy/paper sale; $1,600 from the Halloween

Hoagie sale and $1,700 from Box Tops. We are

reinvesting energies into Campbell’s Soups, Tyson’s

label and Karn’s receipts. Mrs. Pam Sieger is

available to answer any questions.

The PTO is looking forward to hosting a successful

Craft Fair in March; Donuts with Dads in April; an

CONSIDER ST. THERESA SCHOOL

Our mission at St. Theresa School

is to recognize each child as a

unique individual. As Catholic

educators, we strive to provide

each of our students a God-

centered educational experience

in harmony with their spiritual, emotional, physical,

mental and social development. By integrating

spiritual values with academic excellence, an

education at St. Theresa School empowers the mind,

enhances the spirit and enriches our children’s lives.

We strive not only to educate but to nurture a Christ

-centered way of life.

―end of year‖ Teacher Appreciation Lunch in May;

Talent Show also in May; a uniform exchange;

providing 8th grade graduation gifts and

commencement awards; and rescheduling the Bingo

Bash in the summer.

Help is always needed, but without

the support, we will not be able to

have a uniform exchange or Bingo

Bash. Please consider becoming

directly involved with these

specific needs. Call Ms. Danielle

Tedesco at 903-5005 for more

information. Without these fundraisers, we will lose

approximately $3,000 of income.

We are drafting a survey on the

activities, community events and

fundraisers we support. Please

complete the survey and return it

to school. Thank you in advance

for your feedback. Remember, it

is your fund-raising money that

we are spending. Come help us

make responsible decisions concerning our current

budget and future events. Believe it or not, we are

already beginning to talk about our goals for the

2009-2010 school year.

2008-2009 Issue 2 7 January 2009

2008 - 2009 Calendar

January 25

Catholic Schools Week

Opening Liturgy @ 10:30 am, Church

PTO Family Movie Day

January 26 Information Night

January 30

Closing Liturgy for Catholic Schools Week @ 8:45 am, Church

PTO Sundae Social, pm

February 13 No School

February 20 11:30 Dismissal,

Teacher In-service, pm

February 25 Ash Wednesday Liturgy

@ 8:45 am, Church

February 27

Confirmation Retreat

Stations of the Cross

@ 2:00, Church

All Other Fridays in

Lent

Liturgy @ 8:45 am, Church, followed by Stations, except March 13

March 11 Liturgy @ 8:45 am, Church

March 13 11:30 Dismissal,

Teacher In-service, pm

March 20 Confirmation

@ 7:00 pm, Church

March 21 PTO Craft Fair

April 8 11:30 Dismissal

April 9 — 13 Easter Break, No School

April 14 Return to School

April 17 Easter Liturgy @ 8:45 am, Church;

Volunteer Appreciation

April 16, 17, 18 MS Dinner Theater

April 20 Curriculum Fair @ 6:30, School

April 21 Donuts with Dads

April 25 Simply Grand Event

May 1 Liturgy @8:45; May Crowning and

Living Rosary @ 1:30

May 2 Group First Communion

Saturdays and

Sundays in May Holy Communion Family Liturgies

May 21

May 22

Race for Education, Pre-4 through 8

Race for Education, Pre-3

May 21 Ascension Thursday Liturgy @ 8:45,

Church

May 25 Memorial Day—No School

May 29

8th Grade Graduation Liturgy @ 8:45 followed by Communion

Breakfast;

Kindergarten Celebration @ 7:00 p.m.

May 31 PTO Talent Show

June 2 8th Grade Graduation @ 6:30

June 4 11:30 Dismissal

June 5 Closing Liturgy @ 8:45 am, Church