Epistle

St. Mark’s Lutheran School, 5849 Buckwheat Rd., Milford, OH, 575-3354

www.stmarksmilford.org            http://stmarksmilford.blogspot.com            

rreisenb@hotmail.com or stmarksmilford@yahoo.com

Calendar                   

4 Chapel at 9:15 AM, Preschool chapel 1PM, staff mt. 3:30 PM

5 Science Club for grades 1-4 until 4:15, Picture Day, School Board mt. 7PM

6 Picture Day

8 St. Mark’s has worship services at 8AM, 10:30AM, and 6PM with Sunday Sch. at 9:15AM, Students in K-8 sing at the 10:30 service

9 Pre-4AM visits kindergarten class

10 Science Olympiad until 4:15, Stacking Club until 4:15

11 Chapel at 9:15AM, Veteran’s lunch at 11:50

12 School assembly 8:40 AM, Science Club until 4:15, Stacking Club until 4:15

13 Pre-4PM visits kindergarten class

Prayer Families

Markus V. (5), Michael V. (8), Hunter S. (P4), Fischer S. (P4), Kayleigh B. (P4)

Thoughts

      Today, much like in Jesus’ day, the truth can be pretty hard to find. As a kid in the 60s, I remember hearing an expert of technology saying that the coming era would usher in a struggle to find reliable information.  The information age, as he spoke of it, would bring a time where there would be hundreds and thousands of television channels and computers would be everywhere. Information and knowledge of the universe would double at a rate never imagined. And yet the struggle would be information reliability, or truth.  We are living in the information age. Due to the overabundance and ease of access to information, a common problem has arisen, reliability of the information. If one is not careful, one can be left cynical, like Pilate, saying “What is truth?”  What is truth? Where can it be found? Is it even important?  In Lutheran education, the truth is vital to our existence. It is found in God’s word that we so often share in our classrooms.  This truth should be the focus of our schools as they look to the future and their place in it. Since the days that Jesus walked on earth, many things have changed. People have come and gone and yet Isaiah reminds us that “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8 English Standard Version). It is on this word of God which Lutheran schools stand. God’s word is the center of what we teach. His word is the truth which is our foundation. In a world where truth is often hard to decipher, may we all look to God’s word. Despite the many changes that face our Lutheran schools, may they continue to be rooted in God’s word which never fades and always provides truth for His people.

Important Dates to Know

5-6 Picture Day

8  Children in K-8 sing at the 10:30AM service

11  Veteran’s Day Luncheon at 11:50 AM

November tuition is now due

Picture Days

St. Mark’s will have a new photographer this year.  Harriet Kurp, a photographer who took pictures for King of Kings for many years, will present us with a different type of photo opportunity.  No money is due on Picture Day.  Within two weeks every student will receive the same package – 2-5x7, 2-4-6, 6 wallets, and a class photo.  Each family has 3 options:

1. Return the package and owe nothing.

2. Keep the package and owe $27.50.

3. Keep the package and add as many options (a-la-cart) as desired.

Picture Day Schedule

Thursday, Nov. 5

9:00                            Kindergarten

9:30                            PK

10:15                          Pre-3 AM

11:00                          Grade 1

1:00    PM                  Grade 2

2:00    PM                  Grades 3-4

Friday, Nov. 6

9:00                            Grades 5-6

9:30                            Grades 7-8

10:00                          Pre-2

10:30                          Pre-4 AM

12:45PM                    Pre-4 PM

All students may dress up on their picture day – no uniforms are required on their day.

Box Tops for Education

Once again we are having a contest to see which classroom can collect the most Box Top$.  Starting today until December 16^th we will collect Box Top$ for Education.  Be sure to ask grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends to collect the Box Top$ for your classroom.  We will award the winning classroom with an ice cream treat.  Happy collecting!

Student Council Needs Your Help

The second quarter is well underway, and Student Council is already planning for Christmas.  In an effort to decorate the school sufficiently this year, Student Council is asking for donations of decorations.  We are looking especially for Christmas lights, ornaments, garland, etc.  Donations must be brought in by December 2 and can be dropped off in the marked cardboard box inside the school entrance. 

Student Council is doing “Cookies for Courage.”  This is a program where people bring in cookies and they are donated to fire and police stations as a symbol of appreciation for their work.  Those who want to participate should bring in a dozen or more homemade cookies by November 5.

School closings or delays

St. Mark’s will communicate this message via email to each parent, Facebook, and TV (channel 9 only).  Also, if Milford is closed or delayed, then so is St. Mark’s.  Those that ride other busses to school must realize that if their district is closed, no transportation is available to St. Mark’s (if St. Mark’s is open).

Operation Christmas Child—Fill a Shoe Box
It’s Operation Christmas Child time! The Women’s Guild of St. Mark’s church invites all to participate in this mission. Operation Christmas Child is a program that allows us to provide Christmas presents to children in other countries who are affected by war, poverty, disease or disaster.  Here’s how it works: Grab a shoe box from under the Women’s Guild table near the Fellowship Hall. Choose either a box for a boy or girl.  Follow the directions in the attached flier which will tell you how to fill the box. FYI ~ No toothpaste, please. Write a check for $7 to “Samaritan’s Purse” to help cover the cost of shipping these gifts overseas. Place your check inside your filled box, put the rubber band back around the box, and make sure your boy/girl label is on the box with appropriate age range marked. Return the filled box to the Women’s Guild table by November 16. Thank you!

Veterans’ Day

For Veterans’ Day, we are having the veterans come for lunch.  If you have a veteran in your family, please bring them on Wednesday, November 11.  We will provide lunch for them           

Happy Birthday

8          Brendan B. (8), Andrew G. (P3), Bryson J. (PK)

10        Morgan M. (P4)

Classroom information

Mrs. Frey (P-3 & P-4)

Preschool is studying T for Transportation this week. We will sort pictures of different types of transportation by air, land, and water. We will read Freight Train and The Little Engine that Could. 3’s will create hot air balloons and letter T train track artwork. 4’s will create Freight Train artwork using fingerprint stamping. In Bible Time 3’s will learn about the importance of the tabernacle to the children of Israel as we learn about praise and worship. 4’s will join Moses in crossing the Red Sea and see how God delivers his people from their enemies.

Mrs. Reynolds (PK & P-2)

Pre-2 is starting a new theme this week. Throughout the month of November we will be talking about our families, and in Bible we will be studying the first sin. We will be playing with the texture of shaving cream and continue to decorate the alphabet by painting the letter B with bubble wrap.  Pre-k is learning about cars and the letter C this week. We will be baking cookies in the shapes of C's, and learning car safety rules. In Bible we are learning the story of Joseph and talking about what it means to be jealous.

Mrs. Sherman (K)

On Monday, Kindergarten will celebrate the 50th day of school with several activities that focus on the number 50!  Tuesday is Election Day so the boys and girls will register to vote, then cast their ballots to determine their P.E. activity. During Bible time, the class will continue the account of Moses.  They will hear of Moses, the 10 Commandments, the Israelites and the golden calf.  During reading workshop, the class will hear stories about different ways that animals move.  They will identify action words, blend and segment onsets and rimes and identify beginning sounds.  At math time, the class will use a pan balance for weighing, count the bats as they count the room and play roll and record.  The full day students will complete their bat study as they begin to learn about other nocturnal animals. In Spanish, the class will name and sing about types of vehicles.  Several new math games will be introduced - Turkeys Left, Right, Center and 3 of a Kind.

Mrs. Reisenbichler (1)

This week the children learned about being persistent in prayer.  Hannah was our model as she prayed frequently for the gift of a child.  In language arts, we learned about singular and plural nouns, antonyms, and graphic features.  We completed our science unit on forces with a few activities to reinforce our knowledge.  In math, we learned about frames and arrows puzzles.  The children also enjoyed playing Turkey Lotto.

Ms. Rhonemus (2)

Second grade has been continuing to read different books on about animals and their different houses.  This is tying into our science lessons as we are learning about habitats.  In writing we are trying to use "juicy" words or adjectives so that we can paint a picture in the reader's mind.  Meanwhile in social studies we are learning about some of the different tribes of Natives Americans.  We also read "A Cache of Jewels" and learned about collective nouns.  Seventh and Eighth graders are learning about the nervous system.

Mrs. Mayo (3-4)

In religion we'll be studying Jesus' parable of the sower.  In reading, we continue reading The Tiger Rising while working on similes, personification, setting, and characters.  In social studies, we'll learn about South Carolina and Tennessee.  Forces and motion are the topics for science this week.  In math, the 3rd graders begin the week with a test and then move on to  chapter on multiplication.  The 4th graders will work with decimals.  In writing, we'll continue writing paragraphs for our bee report.

Mr. Postenrieder (5-6)

In our Bible time this week we completed our study of the call of Moses. We also looked at the plagues and Passover. In 5^th grade math we worked on dividing decimal numbers, figured out what to do with remainder, and enjoyed our test over Unit 4!. In 6^th grade math we worked with per cents, decimals, fractions, and place value. We also took our 6^th test. In our Language Arts time we completed our poems entitled “The ________________ Night Before Christmas.” In Social Studies we concluded our study of the cultures of the world with test on Friday. In Science we worked on detailing our reports on our worm bin. We also worked on improving our experimental plans for our Science Fair projects.  In Spelling we worked with word shapes, scrambled words and synonym worksheets, dictation, and proofreading. We also took our 10^th test!

Mr. Mayo (7,8)

As we approach 1776, we’re hearing names that are sounding more familiar.    We’re surprised that they had lives before the famous events with which they were involved.  In my own studies, I’ve become rather fascinated with Madison.  We wouldn’t have the Constitution without him.  He was quiet but of great intellect.

Mr. Reisenbichler (7-8)

In religion we are studying how God created the world.  In 7^th grade math the students are studying stem and leaf graph and the distributed property.  In 8^th grade math we are solving functions and calculating volume.  The students are making edible cars in STEM.