Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Principal's Epistle



www.stmarksmilford.org            http://stmarksmilford.blogspot.com            
Calendar                   
25 Chapel at 9:15AM, Martial Arts Club 3:30 – 4PM
26 Science Olympiad until 4:30, Last Dancing Club until 4:15PM
1 St. Mark’s has worship services at 8AM, 10:30AM, and 6PM with Sunday Sch. at 9:15AM
3 Science Olympiad until 4:30
4 Chapel at 9:15AM, Martial Arts Club 3:30 – 4PM, Science Olympiad until 4:30
5 Science Olympiad until 4:30
7 Science Olympiad competition 7AM – 6PM
Prayer Families
Ian C. (2), Aiden D. (K), Mason W. (P4), Colbie W. (P2)
Saint Salute
o   A big Saint Salute and thanks to Mr. Travis Grulke, Ohio District Education Executive, for leading our chapel this morning.
Notes
PARCC testing has started.  The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a new test that Mark’s is taking for the first time this year.  It will help us determine what weaknesses exist in our curriculum.  After the results are known a plan will be formulated that will correct any and all weaknesses (if any) that are made known.  Students in grades 3-8 are taking the test over the next 3 weeks.  Practice and trial tests were taken to prepare the students for the technology skills necessary to complete the test.  Be patient – the results will not be known for months.
Important Dates to Know
March 8 Grades K-4 sing at the 10:30 service
8-13 National Lutheran Schools Week (Please see info at end of this Epistle!)
9        Grandparents’ Day
17      Family Fun Night - Swimming
21      Father-Daughter Dance

Yearbook  Orders
The orders for yearbooks end this Friday.  After Friday, the price increases from $12 to $15.  Please return your order form by Friday to keep the $12 price.
Enrollment for 15-16
If you haven’t turned in your enrollment form for the 15-16 school year, you are encouraged to do so.  The enrollment fee increases March 1.
Father/Daughter DanceFamily Ministries invites both school and church dad's and daughter's to ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK at our 50's themed Father-Daughter Dance here at St. Mark's on Saturday, March 21, 2015 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.  Cost is $10 per couple ($5 for additional girl with a $15 cap).  Evening will include light snacks, flavored ice cream floats from the Soda Shop, a professional photo, and souvenir for each girl.  Registration forms can be found on display in the church Narthex or in the school lobby.  Completed registrations can be given to Mr. Reisenbichler or placed in the church mailbox of Cathi Schulte.  Contact Cathi Schulte at schultecathi@msn.com for questions.
National Lutheran Schools Week
The committee for NLSA week has met several times to prepare for a grand celebration of Lutheran Schools.
Box Tops Contest Update
Well, we have a new leader in the "Make-Your-Own Sundae" Box Tops for Education Contest.  Preschool 2 year olds are in the lead with 5 Box Tops per student.  Way to go 2 year olds!  In second place we have grades 1&2 with 3.7 Box Tops per student.  The third place room is grades 3&4 with 2.1 Box Tops per student.  Keep those Box Tops coming in until March 18.  Happy collecting! 
Volunteer Service Hours
St. Mark’s encourages each student to become involved in community service.  Do you want to do something positive to strengthen our community?  Here are some suggestions to help get you started.
Check smoke detectors for the elderly                 Build a wheelchair ramp for the elderly
Hold a teddy bear drive for hospitalized kids      Clean yards for elderly                               
Hold a sock drive for the homeless                      Shovel driveways for the needy
Deliver/serve meals to the needy                          Hold a neighborhood food/toy drive
Coordinate a care package drive for soldiers     Clean up a community river/park/road
Collect books for the library                                   Hold a birthday toy drive for the needy
Host a blood drive                                                    Repair homes for those in need
Start a gardening program to benefit a food pantry                   Visit a nursing home
Collect toiletry and make-up items for a woman’s shelter
Make tie-together fleece blankets for homeless
Complete your service hours form and turn it in to the office.
Happy Birthday
27        Bridget B. (3)
28        Addison B. (1)
2          Olivia W. (P4)
4          Haley E. (4)
Classroom information
Mrs. Schulte (Pre-2)
The snow last week kept us from enjoying a day "About Town" with a focus on "Vehicles", so we gave it another try this week.  Our classroom was filled with all different kinds of vehicles.  We enjoyed a Car Wash Sensory Table, and read the book Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld.  At Bible Time, we shared the story of "Daniel in the Lion's Den" by making our own lion masks and playing in our own lion's den filled with stuffed animal lion's.  In Art we made steering wheels, and filled our Letter M with colorful mosaic squares. 
Mrs. Frey (Pre-3,4)
F is for Feelings! Both classes will read How Are You Peeling? and Corduroy to identify different feelings that they have experienced. We will list these feelings and discuss what to do if negative feelings arise. 3’s will create “my many faces” to show these emotions and “what makes me smile” to highlight happiness. 4’s will learn about the color blue as a representation of sadness in a watercolor relief painting. They will also create a mood meter. In Bible Time 3’s will hear the account of the widow’s mite, and 4’s will hear the account of Jesus and Zacchaeus. Both the widow and Zacchaeus were criticized by society, but Jesus showed them compassion and forgiveness.
Mrs. Reynolds (PK)
Since we did not have school last week due to the artic weather.This week is Q week for Pre-K! We will be learning about the letter Q and how it is often paired with the letter U. We will be discussing opposites further this week as well as learning about rhyming words. We will be doing a fun experiment as we create a snow storm in a jar, and using a Ziploc bag of paint and q-tips to write letters. In Bible we will be looking at our Voyages lesson on Jesus and the five thousand and learn that with Jesus on our side anything is possible.  It is sure to be a fun and exciting week in Pre-K.
Mrs. Sherman (K)
After more than a week off of school, Kindergarten jumped back into a full week of learning!  At Bible time, the class heard about the widow's mite. They learned that they should cheerfully give of their time, talents and treasures.  The class also heard of Jesus healing the 10 lepers and discussed God's daily goodness in their lives.  Kindergarten finished their Five Senses and Appreciating Differences units by participating in simulation stations.  They learned what it would like to be blind, have a hearing loss and sensory issues.  During math, they practiced nonstandard measurement, matched coins and their values and worked with the number of the day.  The full day students identified the story problem and solution as they heard Mr. Lincoln's Hat.  They went on a picture walk and made predictions and inferences for the book Going to the Dentist.  Then, they read the book and practiced retelling the events and details in order.  The boys and girls also played President's Bump and Roll and Add in math enrichment.
Mrs. Reisenbichler (1-2)
This week we learned that Jesus is with us in all circumstances.  He is always present to comfort us in times of trouble.  The first graders made their African Animal presentations to the class.  What a nice job they did!  In math, second graders learned more about fractions and equivalents while the first grade worked on attribute rules.  During science we finished learning about the three states of matter.
Mrs. Mayo (3-4)
In religion we will begin the exciting story of Goliath and how he challenged Israel.  We will also begin memorizing the books of the  Old Testament.  In reading we will be working on the figurative language in The Whipping Boy so that we can begin writing our own stories using figurative language.  In Science we will try to finish our models of the planets and then string them.  In math, both grades will be practicing multi-step problems and fractions.  Both grades will be taking the PARCC test this week.
Mr. Postenrieder (5-6)
In our Bible time this week we looked at to whom we should pray as well as where to pray. The lessons on prayer are also a look at our Lord’s Prayer. In 5th grade math we worked with adding and subtracting negative numbers as well as line plots. We enjoyed our Unit 7 test on Friday! In 6th grade math we divided mixed numbers, learned complimentary and supplementary angles, and how to reduce fractions before multiplying. We took Pre-Test 13 on Friday! In our Language Arts time we completed our study of bullying. We began to answer the question: What would you do for family? Our next two stories deal with this topic. In Social Studies we presented power points on the countries of South Africa. In Science we began to work on a project of building a model of the layers of Earth. We also read and noted Chapter 1 Section 1 of our textbook. We appreciated taking a quiz over our reading! In Spelling we continued working with the suffix  -able.
Mr. Mayo (7-8)
Well, last week was uneventful, as we didn’t have school at all!  Preparations continue for our new unit in History, the Populist movement.  When we understand what conditions were like for most Americans at the turn of the last century we understand how far we’ve come and how we could improve even more.  In my opinion, one of our greatest presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, was given the office because of an assassin’s bullet.  He may never have made it to the presidency without this “accident” of history.  God is good, no matter what is going on.
Mr. Reisenbichler (7-8)
In religion we will study lesser known accounts in God’s Word.  In 7th grade math the students are studying the areas of circles and transformations.  In 8th grade math we are studying implied equations, multiple measures, and polynomials.  In science we are learning about phases of matter.  The students are planning a greenhouse in STEM.

National Lutheran Schools Week
Standing in Christ, Serving Others
March 8-13

Sunday, March 8  Grades K-4 sing in church at 10:30 service
Monday, March 9 Theme: Service at Home
                                      Special dress:  Aprons
                                      Event: Grandparent’s Morning – breakfast of baked goods 8:15 – 9:00, opening chapel 9:00, craft with grandparent at 9:20, take your grandparent to class 9:45- 10:30.  Grandparents are dismissed at 10:30.
Tuesday, March 10      Theme: Service at School
                                      Special dress:  Dr. Suess character
                                      Event: Clean Sweep of Classrooms 10:30-10:40  Kindergarten will clean Mrs. Reisenbichler’s room, grades 1-2 will clean Mrs. Mayo’s room, grades 3-4 will clean Mr. Postenrieder’s, grader 5- 6 will clean Mr. Reisenbichler’s/Mayo’s classroom, grades 7-8 will clean Mrs. Sherman’s room.
                                      10:45: Raptor Assembly
Wednesday, March 11  Theme: Service for the Church
                                      Special dress:  Crazy Hats
                                      Event: Cleaning the sanctuary and narthex
                                      Kindergarten – dust the pews in the balcony
                                      Grades 1-2 – dust pews on the lower level
                                       Grades 3-4 – sharpen pew pencils, dust window ledges, collect attendance sheets and take to the office
                                      Grades 5-6 – clean the narthex and clean entry doors
                                      Grades 7-8 – dust the chancel lectern, pulpit, communion rails, and clean inside windows to the narthex
Thursday, March 12     Theme: Service to our Community
                                      Special dress:  Super Heroes
                                      Event:  Firemen coming to lunch 11:50
                                                 Kitchen shower for Rylan Maple’s aunt, who lost her house to fire in early February.  Each classroom has the following contributions:                                              Pre-school – a large set of glasses
                                      Kindergarten – baking pans
                                      Grades 1-2 – kitchen towels and washcloths
                                      Grades 3-4 – utensils and serving bowls
                                      Grades 5-6 – silverware
                                      Graders 7-8 – dishes
Learning fair presentations grades 4-8     2:00-2:30
Friday, March 13        Theme: Serving our World
                           Special dress:  Occupational dress
                                      Event: Skype with Benjamin Helge
                 Care package collection of Benjamin Helge.  Details to come.
                   Learning fair presentations grades K-3 11:00-11:30.

                                       

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Principal's Epistle



www.stmarksmilford.org            http://stmarksmilford.blogspot.com            
Calendar                   
19 Last Science Club until 4:15, Dance Club until 4:15
21 Parent’s Night Out 5-9 PM
22 St. Mark’s has worship services at 8AM, 10:30AM, and 6PM with Sunday Sch. at 9:15AM
23 Principal gone to conference
24 Science Olympiad until 4:30, Dance Club until 4:15PM
25 Chapel at 9:15AM, Martial Arts Club 3:30 – 4PM
26 Science Olympiad until 4:30, Dancing Club until 4:15PM
Prayer Families
Kendall V. (PK), Olivia J. (P4), Audrey T. (3), Zeke T. (K)
Saint Salute
·        A big Saint Salute to those students climbing up the AR Wall of Fame
o   Ian C. (2)                    100 points
o   Michael B. (3)           300 points
o   Liam J. (3)                  500 points
o   Kristen L. (4)             800 points
Notes
This is Ash Wednesday.  Lent offers us all a very special opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and to deepen our commitment to a way of life, rooted in our baptism.  In our busy world, Lent provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon our patterns, to pray more deeply, experience sorrow for what we've done and failed to do, and to be generous to those in need. Ashes are placed on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday, in one of the most counter-cultural acts of our faith. It is done for two reasons: a personal act of remembrance and as a sign or a witness for others.  The ashes come from the burnt Palms from last year's Passion Sunday celebration, which begins Holy Week. So, these ashes bring us back to our last celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus for us. On this first day of Lent, we begin a journey of renewal - from death to life. This is a joyful season. We will make sacrifices, in order to try to let God reform our desiring, but this is a time for God to be generous to us.  We are reminded that we are creatures and that our lives were given to us. But, we are also reminded that our lasting home is in eternity, with God. This is not our lasting home.  We are reminded that our call is to turn away from sin and to believe the Good News of our salvation in Jesus. This is a joyful reminder. It challenges us, for sure, but reminds us of why we want to turn from sin.  Finally, we wear our ashes as a sign. It is not a boastful sign through which I say, "Look at me and see how holy I am." No, it is much more like, "I'm willing to wear this sign in the world and say that I've been reminded of where I come from and where I am going. And, I've heard the call to turn away from a life of sin and to give my life to living the Gospel of Jesus."  Occasionally, in this world which is too often caught up in the denial of death, I might be required to answer the question, "What's with the smudge on your forehead?"
Important Dates to Know
21 Parent’s Night Out 5-9 PM
March 8 Grades K-4 sing at the 10:30 service
8-13 National Lutheran Schools Week
9        Grandparents’ Day
21      Father-Daughter Dance
Enrollment for 15-16
If you haven’t turned in your enrollment form for the 15-16 school year, you are encouraged to do so.  The enrollment fee increases March 1.
Parent’s Night Out
The 7–8 grade students of St. Mark’s school invite you to have a night out on Saturday, February 21, 5:00–9:00 pm. Parents with children from infants to 6th grade may drop them at St. Mark’s so they can spend some quality time together. The students will watch them under adult supervision with a variety of activities, games, pizza dinner ($3), and other forms of fellowship. Children will be divided into groups based on age. A free will donation will be taken upon pickup. The proceeds will go toward their end-of-the-year trip. When was the last time you had a date with your spouse or time to shop without the kids?
Father/Daughter DanceFamily Ministries invites both school and church dad's and daughter's to ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK at our 50's themed Father-Daughter Dance here at St. Mark's on Saturday, March 21, 2015 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.  Cost is $10 per couple ($5 for additional girl with a $15 cap).  Evening will include light snacks, flavored ice cream floats from the Soda Shop, a professional photo, and souvenir for each girl.  Registration forms can be found on display in the church Narthex or in the school lobby.  Completed registrations can be given to Mr. Reisenbichler or placed in the church mailbox of Cathi Schulte.  Contact Cathi Schulte at schultecathi@msn.com for questions.
Box Tops Contest Update
Well, we have a new leader in the "Make-Your-Own Sundae" Box Tops for Education Contest.  Preschool 2 year olds are in the lead with 5 Box Tops per student.  Way to go 2 year olds!  In second place we have grades 1&2 with 3.7 Box Tops per student.  The third place room is grades 3&4 with 2.1 Box Tops per student.  Keep those Box Tops coming in until March 18.  Happy collecting! 
Happy Birthday
19        Carson H. (1) & Sydney M. (P2)
22        Trace E. (P4) & Evalyn G. (P3)
23        Brooke A. (6)
Classroom information
Mrs. Schulte (Pre-2)
 We enjoyed another day "About Town" with a focus on "Vehicles".  Our classroom was filled with all different kinds of vehicles.  We enjoyed a Car Wash Sensory Table, and read the book Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld.  At Bible Time, we shared the story of "Daniel in the Lion's Den" by making our own lion masks and playing in our own lion's den filled with stuffed animal lion's.  In Art we made steering wheels, and filled our Letter M with colorful mosaic squares. 
Mrs. Frey (Pre-3,4)
F is for Feelings! Both classes will read How Are You Peeling? and Corduroy to identify different feelings that they have experienced. We will list these feelings and discuss what to do if negative feelings arise. 3’s will create “my many faces” to show these emotions and “what makes me smile” to highlight happiness. 4’s will learn about the color blue as a representation of sadness in a watercolor relief painting. They will also create a mood meter. In Bible Time 3’s will hear the account of the widow’s mite, and 4’s will hear the account of Jesus and Zacchaeus. Both the widow and Zacchaeus were criticized by society, but Jesus showed them compassion and forgiveness.
Mrs. Reynolds (PK)
This week is Q week for Pre-K! We will be learning about the letter Q and how it is often paired with the letter U. We will be discussing opposites further this week as well as learning about rhyming words. We will be doing a fun experiment as we create a snow storm in a jar, and using a Ziploc bag of paint and q-tips to write letters. In Bible we will be looking at our Voyages lesson on Jesus and the five thousand and learn that with Jesus on our side anything is possible.  It is sure to be a fun and exciting week  in Pre-K.
Mrs. Sherman (K)
Kindergarten began the week with a look at Presidents Washington and Lincoln and why we celebrate President's Day.  They completed their 5 senses book, practiced nonstandard measurement, worked with the number of the day and identified blends and vowel sounds. During Bible time, the class heard the account of the widow's mite.  She gave all she had as an offering and trusted God to provide.  The full day students improved their adding skills as they played 'Patriotic Bump", tallied coins and studied Mr Lincoln's Hat.
Mrs. Reisenbichler (1-2)
This week we learned that Jesus is with us in all circumstances.  He is always present to comfort us in times of trouble.  The first graders made their African Animal presentations to the class.  What a nice job they did!  In math, second graders learned more about fractions and equivalents while the first grade worked on attribute rules.  During science we finished learning about the three states of matter.
Mrs. Mayo (3-4)
In religion we will begin the exciting story of Goliath and how he challenged Israel.  We will also begin memorizing the books of the  Old Testament.  In reading we will be working on the figurative language in The Whipping Boy so that we can begin writing our own stories using figurative language.  In Science we will try to finish our models of the planets and then string them.  In math, both grades will be practicing multi-step problems and fractions.
Mr. Postenrieder (5-6)
On Tuesday we took a field trip to the Taft Theater for School House Rock! In our Bible time this week we looked at to whom we should pray as well as where to pray. The lessons on prayer are also a look at our Lord’s Prayer. In 5th grade math we worked with adding and subtracting negative numbers as well as line plots. We enjoyed our Unit 7 test on Friday! In 6th grade math we divided mixed numbers, learned complimentary and supplementary angles, and how to reduce fractions before multiplying. We took Pre-Test 13 on Friday! In our Language Arts time we completed our study of bullying. We began to answer the question: What would you do for family? Our next two stories deal with this topic. In Social Studies we presented power points on the countries of South Africa. In Science we began to work on a project of building a model of the layers of Earth. We also read and noted Chapter 1 Section 1 of our textbook. We appreciated taking a quiz over our reading! In Spelling we continued working with the suffix  -able.
Mr. Mayo (7-8)
We start a new unit in history – The Progressive Era.  During this time the role of government changed somewhat from what it had been during the first century of our nation’s history.  In my opinion, one of our greatest presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, was given the office because of an assassin’s bullet.  He may never have made it to the presidency without this “accident” of history.  God is good, no matter what is going on.
Mr. Reisenbichler (7-8)
In religion we will study lesser known accounts in God’s Word.  In 7th grade math the students are studying the areas of circles and transformations.  In 8th grade math we are studying implied equations, multiple measures, and polynomials.  In science we are learning about phases of matter.  The students are planning a greenhouse in STEM.