MACS FACTS Marshalltown Area Catholic School NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 JAMES WESSLING, PRINCIPAL

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1 MACS FACTS Marshalltown Area Catholic School NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 JAMES WESSLING, PRINCIPAL NOTES AND NEWS FROM MR. WESSLING Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and friends. It is important that we are grateful for what we do have. At times, we can get caught up with worrying about the things that we do not have or would like to have. With your generous support, MACS has given 14 complete boxes and seven extra turkeys to the Salvation Army and people in need. We hope and pray that these gifts will make a difference during this Thanksgiving Season. The first Sunday of Advent begins on November 28th. Advent is a time when Christians prepare themselves for the coming of Jesus into the world as the incarnate God of love not only at birth during Christmas, but also for the time when He comes at the end of the world to judge all of us. Teachers are planning Advent activities for your children here at school, but there are also things that you can do at home. I especially liked the Scripture Lesson column in the attached Partners in Faith addition. It gives wonderful suggestions for what can a parent do? during this Advent season. The students at St. Mary s Attendance Center will have the opportunity to go to Confession together on Thursday, December 2 after Mass. MACS will be transitioning providers from Eudora to Google Apps. addresses have been created and teachers are in the process of the conversion from one to the other. Google Apps has many features, such as web-based , which means that there is no hardware to maintain or software to install. And, it is accessible from any computer. The best part of utilizing Google Apps is that it is totally free. Other features include the ability to work on documents simultaneously from multiple locations. Joyce Heiserman and I had a lot of fun learning to use this feature at the training we attended. Finally, we still enjoy the filtering services provided by AEA 267 and Postini. There are more applications that are available, but the main focus at this time was to create an system using our own domain for Marshalltown Area Catholic School. All of the addresses are the same as before and are posted in the MACS handbook and on the MACS website. Mr. Wessling, Principal MACS Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s), Attached to this newsletter is the 3 rd of a five part series of parent information publications from the Office for the Protection of Children from the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The purpose of these publications is to help all of us be more informed of the issues and topics related to the abuse of children. It is our sincere hope that by partnering together we can continually provide the safest possible environment for all our young people to grow into healthy, Christ-filled adults. Additional resources can be found at the Virtus website at The Office for the Protection of Children Estimado(s) Pariente(s)/Guardian(es), Incluído a este boletín de noticias, es 3rd de una serie de cinco porciones de publicaciones de información para parientes, de la Oficina para la Protección de Niños de la Arquidiócesis de Dubuque. El propósito de estas publicaciones es de ayudar a todos nosotros a ser más informados de las asuntos y de los tópicos relacionados con el abuso de niños. Es nuestra esperanza sincera que juntos podamos continuamente proporcionar un ambiente lo más posible seguro para toda nuestra juventud, para así poder crecer como sanos adultos, llenos de Cristo. Los recursos adicionales se pueden encontrar en la página web de Virtus en La Oficina para la Protección de Niños Reminder ~ Information about upcoming school activities/events is sent home through s and posted on the

2 MACS website - Please check these two sources of information regularly. St. Henry s Children s Prayer Service December 1 Virtue of Faith December 8*** Immaculate Conception 12:10*** December 15 Mrs. Melde s class December 22 Ms. Kuhlers class St. Mary s Children s Mass December 2 Mrs. Simons class December 8 Mrs. Davis class *** Immaculate Conception 8:45*** December 16 Mrs. Eveleth s class UPCOMIING EVENTS... December 6.Feast of St. Nicholas December 8.Immaculate Conception Monday, December 6 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm 6th and 5th grade Christmas program Monday, December 13 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade Christmas program Wednesday, December 15 10:00 am Preschool Christmas program Thursday, December 16 10:00 am Preschool Christmas program Monday, December 20 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm 4th and 3rd grade Christmas program December 23 ~ January 2..Christmas Vacation Preschool has been having a great year so far. We have a great bunch of students, and our time together goes by very quickly. The Tuesday/Thursday class took a field trip in September to Appleberry Farm. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day. They enjoyed a scavenger hunt, looking for specific items in nature and some items that would likely be found at an orchard. Each student picked their own apple to take home. The Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes went on a field trip to Carroll s Pumpkin Patch in October. This was also a lovely day to be outside. The students had great fun jumping on a giant orange trampoline, they took a hayride to see where the pumpkins grow, and were able to choose their own pumpkin from the pumpkin patch to take home. We are so fortunate to be blessed with so many volunteers who accompanied us on these field trips. In the classroom, preschool has mastered PECCI (they know the sounds and an action for each letter of the alphabet). The M/W/F classes are getting very good at recognizing the beginning sounds of words. All of the classes have been learning about the first Thanksgiving. We had discussions about the donations of food items that each class brought to be given to families who needed them. All three classes have begun practicing for our upcoming Christmas programs. We are excited to share our songs and our love for preschool with our families. Mrs. Sickles; Preschool Teacher

3 Childcare has been busy learning about shapes, turkeys, owls, and talking about what we are thankful for. We are, also, getting ready for the birth of Jesus Christ and celebrating the Christmas season. When the children were asked what Christmas means to them, they replied Sam ~ Santa Dale ~ Santa Claus Kendal ~ going outside Sophie ~ baby Jesus birthday Brennan ~ Polar Express Hallie ~ giving presents to people Natalie ~ Santa Mia ~ present time Have a great holiday time. MACS Childcare Staff William ~ when it is snowing Gaby ~ presents day Mikaid ~ Christmas trees Kenton ~ snow Olivia ~ presents Davis ~ getting presents Jett ~ Christmas lights The following is what our students wanted you to know about what we have been doing this past month: We have had fun in Reading. Our new book is harder. Sometimes we play Spelling Baseball. Evan, Caley, Arlette While we were studying Canada, we made a book about the Arctic Animals. It s cold in Canada. Inuit people live there. Marshal, Marianna, Madison We did an activity that showed how important calcium is to our bodies. We put chicken bones in water and vinegar. The vinegar made the bones soft. Did you know that there are 206 bones in the human body? Phoebe, Aaron, Isabel In Religion we talked about being nice and following the Great Commandment. Soon we will begin Advent. It is a time when we wait for Jesus birthday. Avery, Sophia, Brynn We are learning how to subtract in Math. We are now doing the Mastering Math Facts Program. Many times we are able to go on the computer and play Think Math. Emma I., Cassidy, Will Mrs. Burns First Grade Class In Science we have learned about the water cycle using a 2-liter bottle and making it rain. We also learned about bones and muscles. Grant, Paige, Daniel In Religion we have learned to be loving, be nice, and be caring. Hayden, Amber, Tori In Reading we have learned to read AR books, spelling and sound out words.

4 Emma K., Ellie, Trinity In Social Studies we have learned about different countries. Brenna, Madi, Avery In Math we have learned subtraction and addition. Jadyn, Jacob, Emma R. Mrs. Ladehoff s First Grade Class Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Eveleth; 5 th grade teachers Religion-Understanding Parables A parable is a story that contains spiritual truth and makes a comparison. Jesus often told parables to groups of people and then revealed the meaning only to his disciples. Those who had ears to hear received spiritual insight. To understand the message of the parables Jesus told, you need to consider how parables work. Here are some points to look for: 1) Answers a question 2) Compares two things 3) Everyday life 4) Reveals a hidden truth 5) Decide or Act--"What will you do now?" is the question the parable leaves you to answer. The students were given a parable to read and were asked to teach what they learned to the rest of the class. Below are the messages they learned from their parables. The Net Matthew 13:47-50 Blake, Dylan, Jacob Compares the kingdom of heaven to a full net of fish and separating out the righteous people. Sower and the Seeds Mark 4:3-9 Sean, Sarah Diversity of people seeking faith and the good news, not judging others. The Lost Coin Luke 15:8-10 Irene, Grace The careless sinner or those who turn away from God are considered the lost coin seeking Jesus for forgiveness. The Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37 Kody, Emma Everyone is your neighbor, provide for their needs, and love them as they are. The Wedding Feast Matthew 22:2-14 Anna, Chase Reveals a hidden truth-many are invited but only a few choose to do good to get into heaven. The fifth graders have had a busy year so far. In math, we started the year with fractions and decimals. We are now reviewing our skills in rounding and estimating numbers. We have been reading different novels for reading and language arts, and we are currently finishing Bud, Not Buddy and figurative language. Each class has been working on different projects that go along with the novel. Ask your son/daughter what the novel is about and what we have been doing with figurative language. In science, we just finished our unit on elements and compounds and are now studying the continental drift theory and plate tectonics. Explorers are the current topic of study in social studies. Students will be researching a specific explorer and completing a project about their explorer. For the holidays, we have collected cookies to contribute to Thanksgiving boxes. The boxes will be distributed to people in the community who need assistance in providing a nice Thanksgiving meal for their families. Thanks for your donations and Happy Thanksgiving!

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