Dear St. Patrick families,
On behalf of myself, the teachers and staff, and everyone who works in the school, I would like to wish everyone a very safe, happy, holy and blessed Christmas. As the song says – it’s the most wonderful time of the year. As we gather together with our family and friends to celebrate the birth of Jesus, take a moment and consider a donation to benefit someone or a family who is less fortunate to allow them to have a merry Christmas also.
This is the last newsletter of 2016. In the hustle and bustle of everyone leaving for break next Wednesday, I want to be sure your newsletter doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. Our last day of school before break is Dec. 21st. Classroom parties will take place in the afternoon.
The new year will bring some new and interesting changes. We have received a very generous donation that is going to enable us to upgrade our have the opportunity for our students to become acquainted with the Japanese culture. A Japanese teacher will be with the faculty at KSU for the next two years and part of his assignment is to work with local elementary schools. I am very pleased and excited that our students and teachers will have the opportunity to be working with this teacher.
We would like to thank everyone who participated in the fall candy sale. Profits of over $4900 were made. The following students were winners of the Pizza Hut/Limo Lunch on Dec. 1st : Sarah Lenzo 8th grade, Connor Trautman 7th grade, Anna Colgrove 8th grade, Jacob Davis 8th grade and Ethan Nguyen 4th grade. Our top seller was kindergartner Emily Edwards who sold six cases. She selected a St. Patrick hoodie from Imagine That.
There is a Kids Career Day for girls in Gr. 1 to 6 on March 4th, 2017, at the Univ. of Akron. For more information please refer to the website www.uakron.edu/wie.
Our Christmas break runs from Dec. 22nd to Jan. 3rd. We will return to school on Wednesday, Jan. 4th. One item that needs to be addressed for the new year is students arriving tardy for school. Our tardy arrivals are beginning to grow in numbers. If you are a family who habitually is late for school, why not make it your New Year’s resolution to arrive on time for school for the remainder of the year?
I always like to share the story of one of the holiday’s most recognized symbols – the candy cane. A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness to his faith, so he made the Christmas candy cane. He incorporated several symbols of the birth, ministry and death of Jesus in its making. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin birth and the sinless nature of Jesus; and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church and the firmness of the promises of God. The candy maker made the candy in the form of a “J” to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It would also represent the staff of the Good Shepherd with which he reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who have gone astray. Thinking the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging of Jesus. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.
And, as always ….. Joyeux Noel, Froehliche Weihnachten, Buone Feste Natalizie, Feliz Navidad, Kala Christouyenna, Mele Kalikimaka, God Jul! No matter what the language …. MERRY CHRISTMAS!