Thursday

National Lutheran Schools Week has been a great success again this year. The Muffins with Mom was fantastic this morning. Almost all the muffins were eaten. That is great. Yesterday the mini-classes were enjoyed by all the students. Thank you parents that shared your talent with the students. This afternoon the students will enjoy several inside games. Bowling is tomorrow.

Remember, time changes this Saturday. The clocks have to spring forward.

Daily Bible verse: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1

Parental Thought: Persistence is a wonderful character quality. Make children finish what they start and help them to hang in there when things are tough.

Have a blessed day.

Principal's Epistle

St. Mark’s Lutheran School, 5849 Buckwheat Rd., Milford, OH, 575-3354, www.stmarksmilford.org
http://stmarksmilford.blogspot.com rreisenb@hotmail.com
Calendar
7 Chapel at 9:15, preschool chapel at 1PM
9 K-8 bowling 9-11:30 AM, Market Day orders due
11 Church at 8 & 10:30 AM and 6PM with SS at 9:15 AM
12 Chess Club until 4:15
13 Jump Rope Club until 4:15
14 Chapel at 9:15, Market Day, staff mt. at 3:30
15 Jump Rope Club until 4:15
16 Science fair 7-8 PM, Pizza lunch, principal’s mt.

Prayer Families
Ashley A. (7th), Aaron A. (2nd), William L. (K), & Gavin G. (P-2)

Saint Salute
Ø A big Saint Salute and thanks to Beth Cooper for covering Mrs. Esselman’s preschool classes.
Ø A big Saint Salute to the students that climbed up the AR Wall of Fame:
Aaron A. (2nd) 200 points Haley K. (3rd) 300 points
Jake S. (3rd) 500 points Autumn H. (6th) 500 points
Savannah S. (5th) 700 points Noah J. (3rd) 700 points
Judah C. (4th) 800 points Cole D. (5th) 1000 points
Kyrie S. (7th) 1700 points Ian M. (5th) 2100 points

Notes
Have you heard of Henryville? Probably not until last Friday night. My son and his family live 3.5 miles from that town. They are ok. There was no damage to their property. However, the pictures don’t tell the whole story. That entire town, including many towns around it and around here, is in desperate need of our prayers and our help. When my son saw the tornado, I am glad he chose to turn the car around, head home, and get to the basement rather than stand there and take some sort of video. How can we help? Many of the news stations, local banks, and the Red Cross are immediate sources for being generous to these stressed people.

National Lutheran Schools Week
Wednesday, March 7th: Parable: Matthew 22:1-14. Dress: Best dress day.
We are looking for parents to attend and help our mini-lesson teachers that day from 12:30 until 2:00.
Thursday, March 8th: Parable: Luke 12:15-21. Dress: farm related. Moms and their children are invited for muffins and devotions from 8:00am to 8:30 am.
Friday, March 9th: Parable: Luke 10:25-42. Dress: dress like your friend day
All students are going to Eastgate Lanes to Bowl. Cost is $6.00 per student. A permission slip needs to be signed and turned in for the student to attend.


Science Olympiad
The competition went well last Saturday. Eight members of the 15 placed within the top 6 places out of 13 teams. The team placed in 7 of the 23 events.
Event Place Members
Compute This 2nd Lindsey R. (7th) & Asia Q. (8th)
Storm the Castle 2nd Audrey C. (6th) & Leo H. (8th)
Anatomy 4th Lindsey R. (7th) & Brittney B. (7th)
Meteorology 4th Lindsey R. (7th) & Ashley A. (7th)
Optics 4th Lindsey R. (7th) & Jason F. (8th)
Reach for the Stars 5th Thomas A. (7th) & Jason F. (8th)
Experimental Design 6th Lindsey R. (7th), Ashley A. (7th), & Leo H. (8th)
The team placed 8th out of 13 teams from the Metro Cincinnati area.

Market Day
Any family ordering at least one item from Market Day in March will have a special free dress down day on Friday, March 23.

Student Council
The Student Council has planned quarter wars! This is taking place this week, National Lutheran Schools Week. There are containers in the lobby for each class. If you would like to participate, please bring quarters to school, and place them in the container for your grade. The money will be going to Kids Against Hunger. Each quarter feeds one person for a day. We would like to raise 1,200 quarters, so start saving your quarters!

Yearbook Orders
Several parents have asked if they could still order yearbooks. The answer is yes, but please do so very soon. Order forms are available in the office.

Jump Rope Club to Start
Students in grades 1-8 interested in jumping rope, learning new tricks, and/or beating the record (or beating Mr. Postenrieder) are invited to stay after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 4:15 (except for March 22). You do not have to have your own rope.

Science Fair
The science fair will be open for viewing on Friday, March 16, starting at 7PM. Students may take their posters home after 7:45 PM that night or leave it up until Monday.

Chess Club to Start
Starting on Monday, March 12, students in grades 4-8 may participate in a Chess Club. Mr. Hoffmann will be the supervisor. You may bring your own chess board and pieces. The rules will be explained on March 12. This club will meet every Monday until 4:15 PM.

IT Position Open for 2012-2013 School Year
We have a part time IT position open for next school year. This person would handle updates to the website, the digital weekly newsletter, network maintenance, and laptop hardware & software maintenance. Anyone interested may contact the office for more detailed information. A resume can be given to the office.

Cell Phone Policy
The Christian Board of Education has passed a new cell phone/electronic device policy. It takes effect immediately.
St. Mark’s Lutheran School discourages bringing electronic devices to school. Students may have in their possession cell phones/electronic devices, but they may not use them between 8:30AM and 3:15 PM and during club time unless permission is granted by a teacher or the administrator. During these hours, the devices must be turned off and kept in the student’s backpack. Students may use the devices outside of school hours, but only outside the building, unless given specific permission by a teacher or the administrator. These devices may not be used on field trips unless permission is given by a teacher or the administrator or if a student needs to reach a field trip chaperone. Students who do not comply with this policy will have the devices confiscated and returned only to their guardian. A form will be provided at the beginning of the year, which permits parents to authorize their child to carry cell phones or other electronic devices to school. Students found with electronic devices who do not have written authorization will be disciplined appropriately. Cell phones/electronic devices are brought to school at the student’s own risk.

Happy Birthday
11 Jade B. (2nd) & Jenna B. (K) 12 Joel B. (5th)
13 Gavin G. (Pre-2) 14 Luke H. (1st) & Brennan W. (Pre-2)

Classroom Information

Mrs. Ruemmele
The twos will have a lamb/sheep week. Our Bible story will be about the lost sheep, our craft will include a sheep, and we'll learn the poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb. We will also read the books: Jesus Loves Me All the Time, and I Want a Hat Like That. We continue to learn a new Bible verse each month, as well as, review the old ones.

Mrs. Sherman
Kindergarten looks forward to participating in school wide devotions and other activities with their Chapel buddies during NLSW. In addition to the fun, spiritual events planned, the class has a week packed with learning. They will measure with standard and nonstandard feet and practice telling time. The boys and girls will create a class alphabet book based on Dr. Seuss’ ABC. They have completed their study of the 5 senses and will take home their books. Pre-K’s under the sea adventure begin as they learn about the letter U. Jesus time is the account of Jonah and the great fish. The class will hear of the consequences of Jonah’s disobedience to God. God did not abandon Jonah, just as He will not abandon us. The class will study the sea and sea animals through songs, movement, books and videos. They will create an ocean mural displaying some amazing creatures.

Mrs. Reisenbichler
This week the children have had a lot of fun with the activities that come along with Lutheran School's Week. We had some outstanding construction workers in our classroom. In Jesus Time, we learned about two more of Jesus' miracles. We learned and know from firsthand experience that Jesus has the power over all our illnesses. In math the first graders are learning about three dimensional shapes. The second graders have been focused on linear measurement. The second graders are enjoying the Amelia Bedelia books and learning about idioms and homonyms. The first graders are completing their cumulative stories and the second graders are working on a science based fiction story.

Mrs. Mayo
We are excited to be doing some non-traditional learning activities this week with Lutheran Schools Week. We will join with the whole school in special devotions each day, have special all-school activities and games, be taught by adults other than our teachers one afternoon, be taught by a different teacher another afternoon, and end the week with a bowling field trip. Along with all of those things, we will also do some of our "regular" work. We are still reading Snow Treasure while working on dictionary and opinion skills. We're finishing our cumulative review in grammar and then we'll learn about conjunctions. In math, the 3rd graders be working with fractions and will be finding equivalent fractions. The 4th graders will be finding the area of parallelograms, triangles, and geographic areas.

Mr. Postenrieder
In Bible time this week we will study Elisha. We will continue to compare Christian music with some of the popular music of today. In Science we will study the effects of motion. In Language Arts we will continue reading The Bridge to Terabithia. In 5th grade math we will continue working with fractions. In 6th grade math we will be working with fractions, percent and decimals. In Social Studies we will continue our study of the American Revolution.

Mr. Hoffmann
This week will be very different because of Lutheran Schools week. The work that will be expected during the fun events will be as follows:
Vocabulary review worksheets with a test on Thursday.
Math everyday as usual.
Some Science and Social Studies worksheets.
A few Literature worksheets.
Otherwise, it is a perfect time to work on those long-term projects such as:
Science Fair Board.
Science Fair Presentation and PowerPoint.
PowerPoint movie.

Mr. Reisenbichler
Students in grade 7 math are using the order of operations rules to simplify positive and negative expressions. Students in grade 8 are calculating the surface area of various prisms.

Tuesday

Here is a picture of the Science Olympiad team that placed 8th out of 13 schools. This is a great placing since the other schools are very large public or private schools. You can see all the metals they won around their necks. They were so happy. I am happy for them also.

Today we had a devotion in chapel followed by a game of bingo. One student, Aaron A., had a lot of trouble matching a called number with his card. But, he persisted and finally had a bingo.

Tomorrow chapel is about promises kept and not kept. God always keeps His promises!

Daily Bible verse: "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:26

Parental Thought: No matter how old your children are, they are still your children. Don't expect to quit worrying about them when they leave home.

Have a blessed day.

Monday

The students met at 8:45 this morning in chapel for a devotion given by grades 7-8. Since it was construction day for dress, they talked about the way that we are constructed by God through the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, they were placed in groups and had an activity. Each group of 6-8 people had to build a hula hut using 6 hula hoops. Each person of the group took turns going through the hut. Then, each person was given the challenge of going through the hut with a blindfold on. Afterwards, the students were in their chapel families. Each family made a list of items to take to the Lord in prayer. They prayed together and then nailed their list to a cross in the middle of the room.

As some of you may know, our family survived a tragic storm Friday afternoon. My older son lives 3 miles from Henryville. He was on his way to pick up the rest of his family at a farm west of Henryville, the kids and wife, and saw the tornado. He turned south. Having no communications with his wife, both became concerned about the other. After two hours of finding a passable road to the farm, he was hugging his family. Mrs. Reisenbichler arrived several hours later to help out.

The Science Olympiad team performed well on Saturday. Eight members of the 15 received at least a 6th place medal in 7 of the 23 events. The other results will be in this Wednesday's Epistle

Daily Bible verse: "A voice from heaven said, 'This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.'" Matthew 3:17

Parental Thought: Pray for your children every day. They need the prayers, and you need the quiet time alone with God.

Have a blessed day.

Friday

Tomorrow is a big day for the 15 members of our Science Olympiad team. They will competing against 12 other public and parochial middle schools in the Cincinnati area in 23 different events. The events are varied, unique, and mostly fun. The competition is at UC Blue Ash 8AM - 5 PM.

The students in grades 1-8 begin National Lutheran Schools Week singing in the 10:30 AM service at St. Mark's. This is a wonderful opportunity for the families to say thank you to the members for their continued support of our school.

Hopefully, Mrs. Esselman will return on Monday, well rested and ready to go. I am sure students in her classes will be excited to see her.

Daily Bible verse: "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." 3 John 1:4

Parental Thought: Don't be afraid to set limits. Children not only need them, they want them. No matter what they tell you.)

Have a blessed weekend.

Thursday

I received a small scare Tuesday night when Mrs. Esselman said that she is going to the ER with severe stomach pains. Wednesday morning (early) I received a text message that she was heading to the operating room by 7AM. The great news is that she had a successful surgery and she is home recovering and resting. The appendix did not burst. She may be back as early as Monday.

Since next week is National Lutheran Schools Week, parents (and students) are asked to pay close attention to what is happening each day. Please read the Epistle or my Wednesday's blog for all the details.

Daily Bible verse: "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Parental Thought: Children who spend time around people of all ages are better prepared socially. Provide opportunities for them to interact with a variety of different age levels.

Have a blessed day.

Principal's Epistle

St. Mark’s Lutheran School, 5849 Buckwheat Rd., Milford, OH, 575-3354, www.stmarksmilford.org
http://stmarksmilford.blogspot.com rreisenb@hotmail.com
Calendar

29 Chapel at 9:15, SO until 4:30
1 SO until 4:30
2 Pizza lunch
3 SO 8AM – 5PM
4 Church at 8 & 10:30 AM and 6PM with SS at 9:15 AM, Grades 1-8 sing
5 National Lutheran Schools Week starts
6 SO until 4:00, Dance Club until 4:15
7 Chapel at 9:15, preschool chapel at 1PM
8 Dance Club until 4:15
9 K-8 bowling 9-11:30 AM

Prayer Families
Abby M. (P3), Angela G. (P3), & Cohen S. (P4)
Also remember Mrs. Esselman in your prayers. She had emergency surgery this morning.

Saint Salute
Ø A big Saint Salute and thanks to Mr. Mark Trout and the Milford High School staff for letting us use their pool last Saturday.
Ø A big Saint Salute and thanks to Amy Dutro for covering the 3-4 grade classroom when Mrs. Mayo had doctors’ appointments and for sacrificing part of last Sunday to help a teacher with their web page.

Notes
It isn’t often that the Epistle and chapel happen 5 times in February. A leap year is quite a unique happening. Do you know how it started? Julius Caesar was behind the origin of leap year in 45 BC. He really didn’t have his religion all together, but he must have had his math straight. The leap year that I remember the best was in 1976. I was in college and several large containers of candy were priced at $0.29. I bought two malted milk balls large containers (the ones about the size of a half-gallon of milk) for my now wife. She enjoyed them.
National Lutheran Schools Week
Monday, March 5th: Parable: Matthew 7:24-29. Dress: construction wear
Tuesday, March 6th: Parable: Matthew 25:14-30. Dress: something to do with a talent of theirs. Dads and their children are invited for donuts and devotions from 8:00am to 8:30 am.
Students are asked to bring in a gently used toy to give away for a Bingo event.
Wednesday, March 7th: Parable: Matthew 22:1-14. Dress: Best dress day.
We are looking for parents to attend and help our mini-lesson teachers that day from 12:30 until 2:00.
Thursday, March 8th: Parable: Luke 12:15-21. Dress: farm related. Moms and their children are invited for muffins and devotions from 8:00am to 8:30 am.
Friday, March 9th: Parable: Luke 10:25-42. Dress: dress like your friend day
All students are going to Eastgate Lanes to Bowl. Cost is $6.00 per student. A permission slip needs to be signed and turned in for the student to attend.

Market Day
Any family ordering at least one item from Market Day in March will have a special free dress down day on Friday, March 23.

Pizza orders for March are due by Thursday, March 1 at 1PM for grades 1-8.

Student Sing Sunday
Students in grades 1-8 will sing at St. Mark’s this Sunday, March 4 at the 10:30AM service. This is the start of the National Lutheran Schools Week. Students can meet in the 7-8 grade room at 10:15.

Student Council
The Student Council has planned quarter wars! This will take place the next week, March 4-10, National Lutheran Schools Week. There will be containers in the lobby for each class. If you would like to participate, please bring quarters to school, and place them in the container for your grade. The money will be going to Kids Against Hunger. Each quarter feeds one person for a day. We would like to raise 1,200 quarters, so start saving your quarters!

2011-2012 Yearbooks Order forms for the 2011-2012 yearbooks are available. The yearbook will include full color pages of memories from the school year. The cost is $10.00 per book. Personalization will be available for an additional charge. If you have any questions regarding the yearbook, you can contact Tonya Leytze at 513-379-7396 or tleytze@hotmail.com.
Yearbook Advertising SpaceSt. Mark’s Lutheran School is selling advertising space in its 2011–2012 yearbook. Businesses can place ads in the yearbook based on the pricing below. For more information please contact Tonya Leytze at 513-379-7396 or tleytze@hotmail.com. Full Page Ad—$200, Half Page Ad—$100, Quarter Page Ad—$50, Business Card—$25.

Chess Club to Start
Starting on Monday, March 12, students in grades 4-8 may participate in a Chess Club. Mr. Hoffmann will be the supervisor. You may bring your own chess board and pieces. The rules will be explained on March 12. This club will meet every Monday until 4:15 PM.

IT Position Open for 2012-2013 School Year
We have a part time IT position open for next school year. This person would handle updates to the website, the digital weekly newsletter, network maintenance, and laptop hardware & software maintenance. Anyone interested may contact the office for more detailed information. A resume can be given to the office.

Enrollment fees increase on March 1.

Science Fair Judges Needed
The school Science Fair is March 16. If you or a friend would be able to judge some projects on March 16 after school, please let the office know.

National Lutheran Schools Week
St. Mark’s will celebrate National Lutheran Schools Week March 4-10. All the information is attached.

Classroom Information

Mrs. Ruemmele
This week is Bear week for the twos. We will be painting bears, and reading the books: Bear Wants More and Bear Wants More . Our Bible verse for March is: 1John 4 vs 19:"We love because God first loved us." This week's Bible story is Jesus Heals a Blind Man.

Mrs. Esselman
Both classes have enjoyed this week's theme of Dr. Seuss. Threes studied the letter 'S' and read "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.' They were visited by 'The Cat in the Hat,' and created their own cat hat. Threes heard the Biblical account of 'Jesus heals the deaf man.' They discovered that God gives good gifts, even our ears. Bible Words were, "Blessed...are those who hear the word of God." Luke 11:28. Fours were introduced to the letter 'K.' They read various Dr. Seuss books like 'Wacky Wednesday,' Green Eggs and Ham,' and the 'Foot Book.' We dressed 'wacky' on Wednesday, taste tested delicious green eggs and ham, and made a class foot book by painting our feet. Fours read about Zacchaeus (found in Luke 19:1-10). They continued learning the 7th petition of the Lord's Prayer, 'But deliver us from evil.'

Mrs. Sherman
The Kindergarten and Pre-K class will hear about Jesus healing a lame man. The boys and girls will learn that God answers prayers as he sees best. They can find comfort in knowing God is near. As Kindergarten continues learning about the five senses, they will identify sweet and salty, feel sound vibrations in a balloon just as a deaf boy did when he went to a concert, and play guess the smell. During math, they are measuring with their feet and standard feet and will begin to tell time to the hour. Pre-K's week will be full of fun and learning as the class completes activities and games associated with Dr. Seuss. They boys and girls will rhyme, write their own version of Green Eggs and Ham and match a fox and socks (numbers and sets) while enjoying the fanciful world of Dr. Seuss.

Mrs. Reisenbichler
This week the children continued to learn of the miracles of Jesus. We also learned that friends were important in bringing people to Jesus that He might heal them. In math, the first graders started learning a little geometry. They also learned their Latin and Greek prefixes to help them identify shapes. The second graders worked with fractions and equivalency in fractions. First grades started a new book by Ezra Jack Keats entitled Pet Show. As part of this unit, the classroom is learning about the Iditarod dogsled race. The children each chose a musher to follow across the state of Alaska. Friday, the children also had a "pet store." They brought in stuffed animals to sell at the store, but they had to convince others to buy their animal through their writing.

Mrs. Mayo
This week we will continue talking about the parts of the worship service by discussing the liturgy. In Language Arts we continue to read Snow Treasure and will be taking a test on adjectives and review all our grammar. In Social Studies we will be learning about Nebraska and Kansas and talk about environmental changes. In Science we will hopefully be going outside to explore the ecosystem in the school yard. We will also be discussing how to write our paper for the Science Fair. In Math the 3rd graders will start the week with a chapter test and then begin a chapter on fractions. The 4th graders will work on scale drawings and learn the formulas for
figuring out the area of rectangles and parallelograms.

Mr. Postenrieder
In Bible time this week we will study Elisha. We will continue to compare Christian music with some of the popular music of today. In Science we will study the effects of motion. In Language Arts we will continue reading The Bridge to Terabithia. In 5th grade math we will continue working with fractions. In 6th grade math we will be working with fractions, percent and decimals. In Social Studies we will continue our study of the American Revolution.

Mr. Hoffmann
This week in the 7th and 8th Grade we will conclude our chapter on the circulatory system this week in Science as we examine effective elements of cardiovascular health. In our simulation in Social Studies last week we had a mutiny. What a great lead in for the story of the mutiny of the Amistad and the tragic slave trade that resulted from the European countries exploration of Africa. In Literature, we will look at two different viewpoints on dodge ball, and ask the question, “Why do we need schools?” The science fair paper will gel this week as students write the introduction and conclusion of their papers. In Art, students will look at effective display boards and the art form of graphic design. Students have developed a superhero persona for our chapel skit and we will create a script based on that for our video presentation on the greatest hero of them all – Jesus!

Mr. Reisenbichler
Students in grade 7 math are studying per cent problems and calculating the area of a circle. Students in grade 8 are graphing equations and calculating the probability of dependent events.