April 14, 2010

JUST CHECKING IN ~ APRIL 14, 2010

“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful; and kindle in them the fire of your love.”

THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL TRULY BE AMONG US this afternoon as our 6th Graders are confirmed. At a 4 PM liturgy, Bishop McFadden will anoint each of them with chrism as they are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Together let us pray for them to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit that they are receiving often and in service of others.

A SPECIAL PRAYER REQUEST Our 4th Grade teacher, Mrs. Muldoon was put in the hospital last week by her obstetrician and will remain there until the birth of her baby. Mrs. Muldoon was going to be delivered on the 30th and so is waiting as patiently and restfully as possible. We’ll let you know when the baby comes and you can all celebrate their joy with us. Parents who’ve been in our school know that the Muldoon lost their first child, an eleven day old son, last February and know why we are all praying so hard for them. When you come into our main lobby, if you look to your left, you will see a beautiful St. Christopher statue there in Baby William’s memory.

SOME GRADE SPECIFIC REMINDERS Families interested in having their 6th and 7th Grade students try for the Andy Wallace family scholarship are reminded the student’s essays are due by the last Friday of this month, the 30th.
Families of 5th Graders should look for physical forms from the nurse which must be filled out by the student’s doctor for 6th Grade admission. In addition to a physical exam, three vaccines are required. They are 1 dose of Tdap, given after the 10th birthday, 2 doses of Varicella vaccine, and 1 dose of meningococcal vaccine.

NOW THAT WE’RE NOT SWEATING… Parents can be sure that their students are wearing the appropriate summer uniforms. Please remember that uniform shorts are just that—uniform shorts. Not just any khaki shorts fit the bill. Likewise, sneakers and socks should be white and socks should be well over ankles. Shirts should be tucked in as ever and belts should be worn. On cooler mornings, wearing our uniform sweater with the summer uniform makes sense. If it’s gym day, please be sure that the gym shorts are body appropriate. It looks like some students are wearing shorts that they had three or four years ago. Gym shorts should neither be tight or, sorry for the pun or whatever it is in this instance, short. You know what we mean. Please remember that summer uniforms are an option, but if this option is chosen it should be complete. For instance, sneakers with winter uniforms don’t cut it nor do black socks. As we said, you know what we mean.

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE! We are proud to announce the Connelly Scholarship winners for 2010. Congratulations go out to Isabella Brown, Hannah Cochrane, Ryan Hearn, Kevin Jurgelewicz, and Victoria Kahhan. These five 8th Graders will be receiving a third of their archdiocesan high school tuition all through high school. There is a presentation ceremony at Ryan on the evening of May 10th at which winners will be recognized and celebrated.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS Brooke Anderson (3-8) passed her Junior. Black Belt test this past Saturday by taking a grueling four hour test. She will receive her official black belt at a ceremony in June. Imagine all the hard work that got Brooke this far when she’s just in 3rd Grade!
Amanda Hearn (5-16) donated her hair to Locks of Love, the charity for children with cancer who need wigs. We know that Amanda’s curls will make some child’s life brighter and we’re proud of her.
Mary Elise Lynch, a 2002 graduate of St. Chris, was just awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study the discordance between HIV rapid testing in Kisumu, Kenya. She will go to the Kenya Medical Research Institute in August to work on this research project for a full academic year and then begin medical school in the fall of 2011. Like us, her parents are so excited for her and this great accomplishment and proud that she began her education at St. Chris!
We’ve also been told that Jessica Sylvester SCS ’07 has not only been admitted to the National Honor Society at Nazareth Academy but also to the Spanish Honor Society and the Mathematics Honor Society. We’re honored that Jessica got her start here.
The Philadelphia Department of Recreation is offering Summer Art Camp 2010 for artistically motivated participants from 6-18 years of age. If you’d like a copy of the information brochure, let our secretary Mrs. Lombardi know and she’ll see that your child brings home a copy for you.

CRITICAL THINKING 101 Congratulations to Chris Tamulis in Pre-K who had his correct entry drawn for this week’s $10 Gift Card of Choice certificate. The answers were: 1. flight>light 2. fact>act 3. frank>rank 4. fever>ever. For next week, you’ll need to figure out the code the following. The asterisks separate the words.


20-2-10-13-19 *** 4-7-17-10-20-19-16-15-7-6-17 *** 20-4-7-16-16-11***10-20**19-7-6***1-6-20-19.