Volume 30 March 22, 2013 HABEMUS PAPAM!!

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1 Volume 30 March 22, 2013 St. Joseph, pray for us. School Mission Statement St. Joan of Arc School, as part of the parish faith community, commits to building the Catholic identity of its students, to challenging them academically, and to preparing them for lives of service to others. SCHOOL CALENDAR HABEMUS PAPAM!! SIP CORNER MARCH 3/25-4/1 NO SCHOOL Holy Week and Easter Break Please make sure you check St. Joan s website for the full schedule of services 4/2 Classes resume 4/5 Grade 3 Retreat, 8:15 am- 10:15 am 4/5 3 rd Quarter Report Cards available online after 9:00 am 4/12 Grade 8 Mass and Retreat 8:15 am- 10:15 am 4/13 Family, Faith, and Fun Day 10:00 am - 2:00 pm 4/13-14 Diocesan Mother/Daughter Program, see Sunday bulletin for more information 4/19 7:30 am (Final) Erin Go Brew 4/19 Talent Show 7:00 pm in OLOM Ctr., Gr. 4-8 eligible to compete 4/24 Dress Down Day 4/26 Grade 2 Retreat, 8:15 am-10:15 am For the past few weeks, St. Joan of Arc students have been closely watching the news about the election of our new Pope, waiting for the words, Habemus papam! We started by learning some fun facts about Benedict XVI and praying a novena for his retirement. Then we began praying the United States Bishops prayer for the election of a new Pope while we heard brief synopses of some of the cardinals mentioned as papabili, those cardinals who might possibly be elected as Pope. We also had contests for Grades 1-8 about the new Pope s coat of arms, motto, and name choice. Currently, we are praying a novena for our new Pope, Francis I, as he becomes the spiritual leader of some 1.2 billion Catholics all around the world. We invite you to join us in prayer for Francis. O God, who in your providential design willed that your Church be built upon blessed Peter, whom you set over the other Apostles, look with favor, we pray, on Francis our Pope and grant that he, whom you have made Peter s successor, may be for your people a visible source and foundation of unity in faith and of communion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Teaching math to elementary students is critical for establishing a foundation for success in mathematics. Here at St. Joan of Arc School, we have set goals to reach mastery in math facts at each grade level. We are reaching these goals by problem solving, mental math, and the use of technology on our smartboard. We use interactive math websites and math games. Second graders are developing a real love for math by challenging each other during our week math game competition. This helps the students to reinforce their basic math facts. Math is fun and interesting. When students become involved in math learning, they retain more information which will carry them on to the next learning level. Mrs. Chapman, 2A TUITION ASSISTANCE from the STATE of FLORIDA An exciting change for our school for is that we will participate in the Step Up for Students Scholarship Program. This means that families with students entering Kindergarten through Fifth Grade who qualify may be able to receive tuition assistance from the state. We encourage interested parents to check the website for this program There is a chart to check eligibility which is based on number of individuals in a household and household income. If any St. Joan of Arc family qualifies, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE FAMILY APPLY TO THE STATE FOR SCHOLARSHIP MONEY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE THE STATE HAS A LIMITED AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS. Please take advantage of this new opportunity from the state, and if you have any questions about the program, please feel free to contact the school office.

2 ATTENTION PARENTS CAMP GOOD COUNSEL Catholic Co-Ed Youth Camp for ages 7-15 in Floral City, owned and operated by the Diocese of St. Petersburg. The camp has 1-2 week sessions. For further information, please call or visit the camp s website: GoodCounselCampCatholicWeb.com. FINGERPRINTING UPDATE St. Joan of has hosted the fingerprinting equipment for the Diocese of Palm Beach for 6 years, and next year, the equipment will be moving on to another parish. So, we encourage parents and volunteers to get their mandated fingerprinting done as soon as possible, while it is still so convenient to do so. Fingerprints need to be updated every 5 years, so this is information for current volunteers as well. First register online at diocesepb.org, under the Safe Environments tab, then call the school office to make an appointment. And don t forget that the Diocese requires that volunteers attend a one-time session of Protecting God s Children within a 45-day period of being fingerprinted. Thank you for your cooperation!! Just a reminder that all families should have activated their EDLINE accounts by now. The school office will be contacting any parents who haven t had a chance to activate yet because, very soon, this school Newsletter will be streamlined so that its link may ed to parents through EDLINE. Parents will be notified via an alert that the Newsletter is ready for viewing. You ve asked for this, so we are moving forward with this request. The updated Newsletter will contain important dates and school announcements while providing links to any other information parents may need. Please note that in order to use next year s mandatory FACTS Tuition Program, each family must have an active EDLINE account. ST. PATRICK S DAY at ST. JOAN of ARC Staff and students alike were entertained with the visit of our bagpiper, Mr. Robert Ritchie. He walked the hallways and serenaded everyone with classic Irish songs such as Danny Boy and When Irish Eyes are Smilin. His visit is an annual event at our school and always enjoyed very much by our community, because on St. Patrick s Day at St. Joan of Arc, EVERYBODY is Irish!! TUITION REMINDER Tuition is due the first of every month beginning in August and ending in May. Tuition is considered delinquent as of the 10 th of the month in which it is due, at this time a $25.00 late fee will apply The Diocese of Palm Beach and The Office of Safe Environments held a contest with the theme being STAND UP TO BULLYING. Three winners from each Grade 4-8 were chosen. On Tuesday, April 16 from 7:00 pm to-9:00 pm an Awards Ceremony and Rally will be held at Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach. Bishop Barbarito will present Certificates to contest winners. Congratulations to St. Joan of Arc School winners: Grade 4 1 st Allison Streibig 4A tee shirt logo 2 nd Carolina Ameglio 4B poster 3 rd Kate Marsenison and Jenna Vickers 4B poster Grade 5 1 st Stephanie DeVarona 5A poster 2 nd Adriana Metzger 5B poster 3 rd Marina Kukla 5B poster Grade 6 1 st Eve Maria Williams 6A tee shirt logo 2 nd Tatiana Alvarez 6A tee shirt logo 3 rd Raleigh Smith 6B poetry Grade 7 1 st Thomas Hankey, Jr. 7A tee shirt logo 2 nd Caitlin Dawson 7A tee shirt logo 3 rd Julia Nuener 7B tee shirt logo Grade 8 1 st Margaret Hatton 8B tee shirt logo 2 nd Alexa Palermo 8B tee shirt logo 3 rd Marina Handal 8A tee shirt logo

3 SIBLING APPLICATIONS SPORTS NEWS School Year Pre-K Three students must be 3 years old by Sept. 1, 2013 Pre-K Four students must be 4 years old by Sept. 1, 2013 Kindergarten students must be 5 years old by Sept. 1, 2013 in order to be eligible. If you have any questions please contact Mrs. Bradley at (561) ext St. Joan of Arc Girls Softball Team 13 Brandi Antonio Brooke Antonio Cassie DesVergers Megan Garcia Rylee Harper Rachel Janke Taylor Janke Melissa Kessler Adriana Metzger Alicia Metzger Julia Meuner Emily Walker April 19th, 2013 at 7pm Students in Grades 4 8: The Talent Show is coming soon! Forms are now available in the school office, and the deadline for entries is Monday, April 8. Come, share your talent My name is Sam Lopes. I'm 5 years old and share the same birthday as race car driver, Jeff Gordon, and I'm fast just like him, too. I spend most of my time perched on top of the couch so I can see everything that is going on and I don't miss a thing (especially crumbs.) I love sitting on your lap and will give you a hi if you give me a treat. Nick Lopes (4B) and Mia Lopes (3B) take really good care of me, but my favorite is Mom whom I follow around all day long. Thanks for letting me be in the newsletter. I'm off to take a nap now! LUNCH PROGRAM Gazebo Duty (outside) 10:50 am 12:20 pm 4/2 Elaine Simpson, Diana Herbert 4/3 Shirley Iamunno 4/4 Diana Herbert 4/5 Lorrie Culligan, Jade Noland Our Lady of Mercy Center (inside) 10:30 am 12:15 pm 4/2 Josune Crippa 4/3 Rita Carrillo 4/4 4/5 Sue Bukovac Thank you to all the extra volunteers!! Lunch Volunteers are always needed and welcome.

4 THE VALUE OF A CATHOLIC EDUCATION For the second half of the school year, we thought we'd ask our 8th Graders to share their thoughts on the importance of a Catholic education. Essays from the students will now be included in each newsletter. There is outstanding value in receiving a Catholic education. Aside from practicing your faith, you will also be accustomed to strict discipline and respect. This includes manners, selfrespect, and politeness. You will learn to understand moral lessons, as well as given the opportunity to pray daily. Staying active with your faith is a very important thing to follow up in life. In a Catholic school we are fortunate enough to attend mass and prayer services during school hours. Strict discipline is taught in this environment. It is certainly a plus because with strict discipline, comes a wide range of respect and dignity in ones future. The academics are terrific and knowledgeable teachers will guide you each step of the way. You may even be given the chance to be taught by one of our Sisters of Mercy. The religion classes are great and there are even fun activities involved sometimes. Every few months, the students are taken to confession in the church to relieve their sins too. It is definitely a plus to graduate from a Catholic school. The value of a Catholic education stands at its highest. Natalie Paulick 8A We, the students of St. Joan of Arc School, should be grateful for many things in our lives. Being involved in a Catholic school is one of the most experiencing and adventurous parts of my life. If you go to a Catholic school, I guarantee that you will have an amazing experience and mostly, be connected with God in various ways. There are many advantages to going to a Catholic school, and I hope that everyone will see how grateful all Catholic students should be. Therefore, some advantages in participating in a Catholic school are that you get to learn more about the life of Jesus in religion class. Some examples of this would be the birth of Jesus, how Jesus taught and preached to his apostles, and the sorrowful death that he sacrificed for us. Another advantage is that the students would get to learn a little bit more about the Bible by being able to read it and participate in it. And mostly, we students have the advantage to go to mass and learn what church is really about. In conclusion, we get to put our practice in our beliefs and faith in this world. All in all, the teachings of Christ are in us all, both in our school and out. We have the advantages of learning academically and religiously. Catholic education strengthens us to build our lives close to God and of course, to a bright future. I hope that everyone that is Catholic should be able to have the opportunity to go and receive a Catholic education. Estefania Arco 8A Having a Catholic education is very important. It is important for many reasons! One of them is knowing about your religion. The second reason on why having a Catholic education is important is because Catholics need to know that stuff. We need to know who we came from, what he did, and how to rejoice. We need to know who Jesus was, why did He die for us? We find answers to our questions. Religion. I have learned about my religion because I go to a Catholic school. I am very grateful that I get to learn about my religion because I can t go through life not knowing who I came from, and what happened that made him so famous worldwide. I really don t think anyone can do that. Having a Catholic education has taught me about my God and what he did for me. The second reason on why having a Catholic education is very good is because we Catholics need to know that stuff! Like I said before, no one can just go through life not knowing what religion they came from! It s outrageous! Since I am a Catholic, I learn about Jesus and God and Mary and the disciples! Perhaps, when someone dies, where do they go? Most of the time, they go to the best place ever. Heaven Imagine having eternity with never having any problems. Ha, that s the thing, you can t imagine it because it hasn t happened yet. If you live the life of a good Catholic, you will eventually know what that feeling feels like. As a Catholic, it is my rightful duty to know about God. He sent his son, Jesus, to teach us to be good. When people weren t listening to him, they decided to nail him to a cross for his crimes. Yes I know. He did nothing wrong. All he was trying to do was get people to save themselves, all he was doing was preaching and healing the sick and the dead and the blind. But they nailed him to a cross on Mount Calvary and he died on a special day called Good Friday. The day before Good Friday was Holy Thursday. Holy Thursday was a special day too because that is the day Jesus had a feast with his disciples and told them that he was to die the next day. He gave them Eucharist and wine and said that it was his body and blood that he was giving to them. The whole story makes me feel bad for him a lot, yet it makes me think, would I do that for God since he did that for me? Think about it! Kim Carro - 8A

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