Dear St. Louis Friends and Families,

Happy New Year! This year has started off with a bang! I am so proud of our 8th grade class! We received

their scores on the High School Placement Test and overall, our students did well. Over twenty percent of

the 8th grade class scored in the ninetieth percentile which is a fantastic testament to our teachers and stu-

dents. The HSPT is a challenging test and Catholic high schools use this test as well as classroom academic

achievement data to help predict which students will be able to handle Honors classes.

We have also celebrated Catholic Schools Week. This is a special time when we show our appreciation for

the opportunities for both faculty and students alike to work and learn in a Catholic school. From the Facul-

ty perspective, it is great to be able to share your faith each day with your students and to be able to teach

Catholic Christian morality and virtues. From the students’ viewpoint, many of them wrote essays this week

talking about their love of learning about God, talking about their faith, going to Mass, and being a part of a

close-knit Christian community. Three years ago, several of our students had the opportunity to assist Sr.

Grace Saia, SCN write a children’s’ chapter book about the foundress of the Sisters of Charity, Mother Cath-

erine Spalding and now it has been published. Those students are pictured on the back cover of the book.

This is an experience that could only happen in a Catholic school.

January is also a great time for Grandparents here at St. Louis. The preschoolers and Junior Kindergarten

sang very touching songs to their grandparents. After sharing doughnuts and Juice, the little ones enjoyed

showing their grandparents around their classrooms. I had the privilege of being a surrogate grandma to one

of Ms. Tracy’s students. It gave me a little taste of what being a grandparent would be like. (I LOVED IT!)

Each student in Ms. Tracy’s room (with help from the teachers) wrote a page in a book about grandparents

and the students were so elated when their teacher read it out loud to all the grandparents. Day two of

grandparents’ day began with Mass and doughnuts for all. The fifth through eighth grade students created

special art work and other projects to show to their grandparents. I was very impressed by our older chil-

dren. Sometimes when children reach 6th – 8th grade they do not want to invite their grandparents; however,

we had a great turnout. The students were so sweet and welcoming. The grand finale of grandparents’ day

was day three! The gym was so packed with grandparents that we were not sure where we were going to put

the students. Mr. Mullins, our music teacher and the k-4 teachers did an excellent job on the music perfor-

mance! It was hard to resist not jumping up and dancing with the children.

This time of year is a great time to set goals. The faculty and staff at St. Louis are committed in the year

2014 to continue to work diligently to provide the highest quality Catholic education possible. We are dedi-

cated to teaching the faith and providing a challenging curriculum that fully prepares our students for the

next level. We appreciate the support and encouragement that we receive from our families and friends.

That support is what makes St. Louis so successful. I wish all of you a happy 2014!

Peace and Blessings,

Teddi Niedzwiedz

Important Dates

Feb. 6 - Beta Club In-

duction after 8:!15

Mass

Feb. 7 –Jump Rope for

Heart

Feb. 7-Registration pack-

et due, grades K-7

Feb. 12-4th Grade States

Fair, new gym

Feb. 12-Author visit-

Sister Grace Saia,

SCN ; 9:30am

Feb. 17-Presidents’ Day;

no school

Feb. 26-27 –Science Fair;

new gym

Mar. 5 –Ash Wednesday

Mar. 7-End of the 3rd

Nine Weeks

Mar. 10-14-Spring Break

Mar. 17--Summer uni-

form begins

Mar. 21-Reports cards go

home

Mar. 21-All School

Mass; Stations of

the Cross

Mar. 21-Men’s Club Fish

Fry

Mar. 28-All School

Mass; Stations of

the Cross

Volume 5 Issue 4 ___ January 2014

St. Louis School Cardinal Post

St. Louis School Mission Statement

St. Louis Catholic School is committed to quality education in the spirit of Christ in accordance with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Working in partnership with parents and the community, we are dedicated to preparing our students for the future through faith formation and academic excellence utilizing progressive technology while enhancing students’ emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being.

Reading Roundtable

Three years ago, twelve of our students began a

journey with Sister Grace Saia, SCN. Sister Grace was writ-

ing the biography of Catherine Spalding, the foundress of

the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and she wanted the opin-

ions of her target audience, children. These students made

up her reading roundtable and offered editorial advice on

the book. Her efforts have finally been realized; the book

was published and this January Sister Grace began sharing it

with the public. She will read excerpts from the book and

she and the members of the reading roundtable will have a

book signing at St. Louis in February.

Sister Grace works on her book with the reading roundtable group.

Ethan Ferguson Wins the Geography Bee

Students in grades four through eight competed in the class-

room setting to earn a spot in the 2014 St. Louis Geography

Bee. Ten students qualified to participate in the school bee,

which was held January 14, 2014. Those in the competition

answered ques-

tions regarding

United States ge-

ography and world

geography. After

several rounds of

competition eighth

grader Ethan Fer-

guson was

crowned champi-

on and fifth grader Zach Beck placed second. Ethan will

take National Geographic’s written exam in hopes of quali-

fying for the national competition.

Congratulations to Ethan also for being selected to attend

Vanderbilt University’s Summer Academy for Talented

Youth.

Grandparents, Our Special Friends

A highlight of Catholic Schools Week is the special

visits from our grandparents. Smiles abound on the campus

as both grandparents and students alike are thrilled with the

visit from our special friends! We are not sure who enjoys it

more. The week is affectionately called the grandparent

marathon; grandparents were welcomed to the preschool on

Wednesday, a visit with students in grades five through eight

on Thursday, and school tours and a program with grand-

children in kindergarten through fourth grade on Friday.

The amount of coffee and donuts devoured at St. Louis this

week is only surpassed by the hugs and kisses exchanged

between our students and their beloved grandparents. From

the rendition of “You are My Sunshine” sung by the pre-

school to the iconic songs of the sixties performed by the

kindergarten through fourth grade students a wonderful

time was

had by all.

Catholic Schools Week

Each year, Catholic Schools Week is celebrated

across the nation during the last week of January. This is a

special week at St. Louis where we proclaim the wonders of

our Catholic schools. As Cardinal Dolan wrote this past

week, “I sometimes wonder if the trials and hardship that

come with our Catholic Schools are actually what make them

so good. When you’ve got boards, principals, and priests who

have to scrape for every dime; when parents have to sacrifice

luxuries and even some essentials to keep their kids in our

schools; when grandparents and volunteers pitch in to paint

classrooms and repair leaks; when you’ve got teachers who

could make a lot more money elsewhere, but freely choose

Catholic schools; well, then you’ve got grit, pride, love, and

determination. “ The St. Louis community epitomizes his

description of Catholic schools and is a true reflection of why

we are so successful.

Catholic Schools Week is a week to celebrate our

students and our mission. This year we kicked off the week

with a skating party for students in grades 1-4 and a bowling

party for students in grades 5-6. Mrs. Niedzwiedz hosted a

trivia game for students on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thurs-

day where they competed in a quiz show style game by an-

swering questions in five categories: St. Louis School and

community, Old Testament, New Testament, Catholic faith

traditions, and the saints. The winners were treated to a free

ice cream treat. Several classes also wrote essays on what it

means to the students to attend a Catholic school.

Another focus of the week was that of service to

others. Each student was asked to bring a can of soup or

crackers to donate to Saint Vincent de Paul soup kitchen. A

tenet of our faith is to do unto others as we would have them

do unto us...helping those in need is an essential skill that we

hope our students will emulate throughout their lives.

Thank you for supporting the

book fair and helping us raise

$1559.21 for our library!

Faculty Retreat Focuses on Faith

Sister Trudie led the faculty retreat on Developing Faith-A Continual Journey. The St. Louis faculty gathered for Mass and a retreat in the DLC on Friday, January 17. Throughout the day we were able to share our experiences and discuss our personal faith journeys. It is one of the many blessings of teaching in a Catholic school, to share our faith with those around us. One of the many discussions during the day centered on James Fowler’s Stages of Faith.

Undifferentiated Faith (ages 0-2)

Intuitive-Projective faith (ages 4-7)

Mythic-Literal faith (school age)

Synthetic-Conventional faith (age 12)

Individual-Reflective faith (young adult)

Conjunctive faith (mid-life)

Universalizing faith As we grow in our faith life our goal is to spread our faith through actions and deeds.

Second Quarter Honor Roll

Highest Honors 4th Grade Caroline Baker William Gossett Michael Ross Jefferson Schmitt Ethan Soefker Madeline Tonole Andrew Wade Jacob Ward Kaylie White Margaret Wood 5th Grade Matthew Durden Richard Hauser Josh Jones Clay Kirkland Hayden Meadows Brendan Phelan Nicholas Quarles Jack Scherson Caroline Senter Rachel Ward Celia Watson Chloe Webster 6th Grade Phillip Benedict Taylor Brenner Ethan Cary Alexis Connor Katie Cunningham

Jackson Deneka Carson Kane Jackson Lyons Marc Anthony Marconi

Andrew Martin Maddie McGee Sarah Grace Price Sarah Reno Brittain Ross Spencer Stalnaker 7th Grade McKenzie Barnett Karen Benedict Alyssa Donato Patrick Koch Gerard Tavoleti Robert Ward Emily Wilson 8th Grade Lee Griesbeck Katey Grace Jones Anna Nieman Henry Ward

Honors 4th Grade Grace Barksdale Tyler Brimm Auden Brummer Hudson Carr Fontana Cary Anna Grace Cervetti

Anthony Cestaro Grace Cestaro Caroline Dorian John Drouillard Ben Evangelisti Jane Fracchia Madeleine Gaia Alex Grusin Nathan Laurenzi Haley Lutts Katherine McClusky

Michael Novarese Will Polzin John Michael Posey Hunter Pratt Sophie Spencer Gabby Spiotta Anthony Steinriede Ginny Tavoleti Sam Wallace John Webb Connor Whittington Jacob Wildman Thomas Wilson 5th Grade Nora Burton Maria Cremerius Mikala Decker Drake Dunaway Grace Goughnour Mary Hatley Grant Herring Mickey Hossenlopp

Ben Jones Oliver Jones Lydia Koch Anna LaBarreare Steven Lee Sean Mullen Knox Perry Trey Price Dylan Smarra Sophie Wingfield 6th Grade Kaitlyn Broughton Cecilia DiMeglio Katie Emery Caroline Evangelisti

Sam Goodman Aidan Johnson Charlie Moore Sarah Moran Hughes Raiford Allie Sloka James Strickland Hunter Stroud Zachary White Jeni Grace Wolbrecht

7th Grade Rachel Baioni Samuel Barnett Allison Bryant Anna Kate Cremerius Bridgette Groben Mason Hall Claire John Kara Kane Gracie Kitchens Garrett Knott Anna Riley Pieroni Connor Saig William Trotter Reid Voss Christian Ward Tee White Turner Wolffe 8th Grade Ryan Anderson Max Carroll Chip Davis Ethan Ferguson Grace Gage John Daniel Goodspeed

Jack Herring Campbell Johnson Mitchell Marconi Austin Martin Finn Mullen Sam Sampietro Nick Scherson Walter Soefker Kate Spencer Savannah Stovall Fiona Toomey Kaitlyn Trainor

Alumni Update

Congratulations to the following SLS alumni for being elected class officers at St. Benedict at Auburndale: Courtney Cremerius(SLS 13), freshman class secretary; Catherine Saig,sophomore class secretary.

Congratulations to Madeline Howard (SLS ‘10), Alanna Oliphant (SLS ‘10), and Maria Marconi (SLS ‘12) for be-ing named SBA Ambassadors.

Congratulations to Megan Wilson (SLS ‘11) for placing fifth in the state in the individual competition at the TSSAA state bowling championships.

Save the Date!!!

St. Louis School Auction

Saturday April 26, 2014