SJW #4, September 8, 2010

School Tuition Organization (STO)

Please see the attached Fall STO flyer for more information on donating to this awesome program.  Donating to the STO program provides scholarships/tuition assistance to families and top tax credits to donors.

Safe Environment Training Curriculum

St. Joseph Catholic School teachers will be teaching the required "Safe Environment Curriculum" during the month of October.  The Safe Environment Curriculum provides age appropriate lessons on creating a safe environment for parish and school children.  Please read the attached letter.  If you wish for your child to NOT participate in this curriculum, please complete the second page of the attached letter and return it to the school office by September 24, 2010. 

Website

Our St. Joseph Catholic School website is our main means of communicating to you.  It is updated and always available to you, day or night.  We are currently updating several features and content for the new school year. 

Parents, please go to the website and join the 2010-2011 classroom group(s) for your child(ren).  To do so, please follow these steps:

• Go to the website, www.sjcsmarion.org
• Login to the website.  If you do not have a login, create one on the login page by clicking on "create new account."
• Under "For Current Families" scroll down to "Classroom and Activity Pages."
• At the Classroom and Activity Page you will see a list of groups.  Find the group you would like to join and click "join" or "request membership."
• If you are requesting membership, the administrator of the group (the teacher) will need to verify that you are eligible for membership.  This is a safety feature.
• For more website help, please see the "Website Help" area under the "For Current Families" menu. 

Fundraiser- Texas Hold 'em Poker Tournament

The Texas Hold 'em Poker Tournament which is auctioned off at Shamrock will be comign up on Thursday, September 23, starting at 8:00 pm.  It will be held at Kruser Excavating located at 5075 6th Avenue, Marion (located behind/near WalMart).  Your $20 donation to St. Joseph Catholic School includes food, drink, and home-brewed beer.  All poker skilllevels are welcome as we will have many tables set up.  All are welcoem to come, so please bring your friends, family, and neighbors.  Proceeds will be donated back to St. Joseph Catholic School.  Contact Jerry Brown at 377.7703, 210.0266, or jerry.brown@mchsi.com regarding any questions.

Youth Faith Formation

Do you feel called to play an integral role in the faith formation of youth? If being a catechist (teacher) or an aide for Youth Faith Formation classes is a ministry you would like to explore, please contact the Youth Faith Formation to learn more. All adult parishioners are welcome and invited to be a part of this ministry. We have needs for catechists and aides in various grades on Wednesday evenings and would love to visit with you about how you can get involved. Please call the Youth Faith Formation office at 377-8402 and talk to either Liz or Judy to hear more about this exciting opportunity for ministry within St. Joseph Parish. Thank you.

NewsNotes from the Archdiocesan Office for the Protection of Children

Attached you will find the first of a five part series of parent NewsNotes 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. Future NewsNotes will be distributed during the months of October, November, January and February. Additional resources can be found at the Virtus website at http://www.virtusonline.org.

Smart Points~Smart Reward!

Hy-Vee, Proctor & Gamble and Sara Lee have partnered together to help build a brighter future for our students, teachers and our school. SMART Board interactive whiteboards engage students in exciting new ways, inspiring a higher education within a more creative environment. The power of this technology remains the focus of this great promotion! Every $20 of Proctor & Gamble products purchased at Hy-Vee, in a single transaction, earns the shopper 100 Smart Points to donate to the school of their choice. When you shop at Hy-Vee, look at your printed receipt for a promotion code to be entered on the Hy-Vee website. The website address is www.hy-vee.com. Shoppers can earn SMART Points from September 1 - November 30. For additional information, please see the attached flyer.  Let's show our St. Joseph Charger pride and spirit and win a SmartBoard for our school!!!

Funeral Server Training

There will be Funeral Server Training on Wednesday, September 15 in the Church from 3:00-3:30.  This training is for all current 5th-8th grade servers.  This day will help explain the differences between weekly Mass and the funeral Mass.  All current servers are encouraged to attend.

Memorial Tree

A tree has been planted on the playground in memory of Mark Mohwinkle, who passed away on October 22, 2009. Mark attended St. Joe's for first through eighth grade as did his five siblings. Mark's neice, Hannah Fitzpatrick is a sixth grade student at St. Joe's.