Saint Ambrose of Woodbury Catholic School
Home and School
Connections
Volume 20 | Issue 5
A message from Principal Betsy Hand
Dear Saint Ambrose Parents, Honor the Absent ... It sounds simple, but this little bit of wisdom has surprising heavy lifting capabilities. Often when I work with students who are in conflict with one another, the crux of the problem began when student C tells student A what student B said about her (or him). Honoring the absent can be giving another human the benefit of the doubt. It is difficult as a parent to be the receiver of reports we hear after a day of school, a soccer practice or a birthday party. We weren’t there, and the version we hear is from the perspective of a biased party. Our children are not always the best sources for a full picture. They know their audience, and want to serve us something we want, and something that keeps our attention. Honoring the absent could be extending a grace to another child, to a teacher or to a referee. Honoring the absent is checking our adult conversations to examine how we are speaking about our neighbors, about other people’s children, about our in-laws and about the clerk at Target. As summer approaches and you (hopefully) have more family time, here is one way to work on honoring the absent as a family. Try the Two out of Three Rule. Next time the dinner table or car conversation moves to bad-mouth someone, instead of doing all 3 of these,consider doing only two of the three things listed below: * Say someone’s name. (Leave the name out) * Say something negative. (Say something positive about the person) * Say it to someone else. (Tell your dog instead of your neighbor) https://top20training.com/2 015/12/06/honor-the-absent/ I am guessing the Hands are not the only family that can get stuck on negative reporting. It gets tedious as a listener, and truly does not move any of us forward. As we have worked to build unity on our staff and with our students, honoring the absent is a good practice for that foundation of unity. Putting others down or dishonoring the absent does not build our own esteem or self worth. We are made in the image of God, and our self love and belief that we are worthwhile must come from love, not from nitpicking the imperfections and annoyances in others or demonizing someone who is not present. The next time a mean look or a sharp tone is the main event at your dinner table, try an exercise in honoring the absent. Commit to constructive thoughts and words and have some fun! I hope you enjoy an amazing, relaxing summer where unity and grace abound. Thank you for sharing your children with us!
Spring Shindig Fundraiser is a success!
The 2019 Spring Shindig was a success! This year’s event included an online silent auction, live auction, dinner, and live band. We raised money for tuition assistance, Tiffany Madigan (3rd-grade teacher) won the car raffle, Father Froehle sang karaoke, and a good time was had by all! Your support of this event helps 20% of Saint Ambrose families receive financial assistance. It is our mission that all that who seek a Catholic education can receive it. Our founding Pastor, Bishop Richard Pates, created the Bishop Pates Endowment Fund with the purpose of supporting long-term tuition assistance to Saint Ambrose of Woodbury Catholic School. Each year, interest earned on this fund is used to help qualified families experience the faith-filled education that Saint Ambrose offers. Thank you for helping us achieve this mission by supporting this year’s Spring Shindig! Special thanks to Shindig Committee Members: Kathy Wolff Rusty Nereng Gina Niese Michelle McDonald Meg May Dianna Helmberger Rhesa Freeman
A message from Assistant Principal Erin Nemetz
Mrs. Madigan (3rd grade teacher) won the car raffle!
K-2 We are becoming readers. Kindergarteners are diving deep into phonics this spring. They attended the Q and U wedding.
Junior High 8th graders began the design process to build and launch model rockets in Earth Science.
3-5 Mrs. Madigan’s students love learning in the STEM lab. Students enjoyed working on engineering challenges with their BeeBot and Ozbot coding robots!
Academics
3-5 All our students attended Stations of the Cross during Lent.
Faith and Service
K-2 The kindergarten classes revisited the virtue of Kindness today. They “Sprinkled Donuts with Compliments ” to each other and to school staff.
Junior High Ms. Schisler’s 8th graders went on a rosary walk on Saint Ambrose grounds.
Volunteering
We are grateful for our parent volunteers! Spring Shindig Committee Volunteers: Rusty Nereng, Kathy Wolf, Gina Niese, Michelle McDonald, Stacey Morgan, Dianna Helmberger and Rhesa Freman. Grandparents Day Book Fair Chair: Megan Titcomb Thank you 8th grade volunteers who volunteered during the Spring Shindig!
Junior High Saints Committee: These students demonstrated leadership this year by planning events, organizing the Christmas store and leading our school in prayer daily. Thank you Saints Committee!
Home and School Board - Thank you for your service! Kylie Banfield - Finn (7th grade) Role: Vice President Anna Perez - Adrien (7th grade), Nina (5th grade) Role: Volunteer Coordinator Laura Weber - Bailey (2nd grade) Role: Communications Coordinator Special thanks to HandS board members who just finished their 2-year term: Sara Larson - Jake (7th grade), Elena (5th grade), Henry (2nd grade) Role: President Mari Bern – Charlie (7th grade), Henry (5th grade), Luke (1st grade) Role: Treasurer Kristy Campbell – Brody (8th grade), Charlie (5th grade), Teddy (K next fall) Role: Secretary Kim Schultz – Walter (1st grade) Role: Fundraising Coordinator
We love volunteers! We want to celebrate you at a special appreciation event! Thank you to all of the SAW volunteers for a terrific school year! To show our appreciation, the HandS Board invites you to join us for an afternoon of fellowship with all of the SAW volunteers and their families for a potluck and fun. The kids (and adults) can play at the park or on the kickball field. WHEN: Sunday, June 2 from 4-7 p.m. WHERE: Evergreen West Park WHAT TO BRING: Bring a dish to share and beverages for your family. We’ll have waters on hand, along with plates, napkins, and utensils. All are welcome. Please RSVP and if you really want to get one last volunteer opportunity it (set-up, clean-up, bringing sidewalk chalk or a kick-ball), let us know!
Calling all volunteers
HandS welcomes all parents to share their time and talents for upcoming 2019-2020 school events. Click here to sign up now! A complete description of each event is in the HandS Volunteer Opportunities Booklet or can be found on the St. Ambrose website under the Current Family > HandS link. New to Volunteering at St. Ambrose? Meet our 3 requirements and be ready to help! 1. VIRTUS Training 2. Background Check 3. Code of Conduct First, sign up to attend VIRTUS, a 3 hour training at www.virtus.org. You will create a user name and password, which will enable you to complete steps 2 (Background check) and 3 (Code of Conduct) online. Veteran Volunteer? Every 3 years, you need to recredential. Start this process by logging into www.virtus.org. If you do not remember your user ID and password, do not create a new one. Contact LeAnn in the church office for help: LeAnn.Bauer-Staiger@SaintAmbroseofWoodbury.org Upcoming Event Highlights July 15 Summer Used Uniform Sale Volunteers are needed to sort and sell used uniforms for the upcoming school year. Openings in both the morning and afternoon to volunteer. Volunteers enjoy the exclusive opportunity to pre-shop and get first dibs on the available used uniforms. August 28 Back to School Staff Luncheon An Event Chair is needed to plan the meal and organize volunteers. Volunteers are needed to help decorate, serve, and clean up after the event. August 29 Back to School Day Thank you Volunteers! A huge thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers for your time, dedication, and commitment to strengthening our community at St. Ambrose of Woodbury. Year after year, you step up as event chairs and volunteers to make HandS events successful and teach our children the value and joy of volunteerism. Thank you!
Athletics
Spring baseball and track seasons are underway (finally the weather cooperated). Our students are fast and highly skilled. Give them a high five and wish them luck headed into the conclusion of the season. The only remaining business of the athletic department this school year will be completing our present seasons, performing signups for next year’s sports, and collecting spring uniforms when the season's end. We are fortunate to have so many athletes who want to play on our school’s teams. We definitely want everyone who wants to play to have that opportunity. In order to plan for the correct number of teams and coaches, we need everyone to abide by the registration deadlines and register their athletes before each season gets underway. In the past, we have experienced a large number of late registrations which led to almost canceling teams due to low enrollment. For example, in soccer, only after the teams started the season, many registrations were made so that enrollment went from barely having enough players to field a team to having 4-8 extra players on a team. Therefore, in order to encourage registration on time, we have adopted a practice that many other organizations have adopted: there is a $20 late fee if registration is completed after the designated date. Thank you for your understanding and completing all registrations on time. Everyone’s cooperation will enable the Athletics Department to be well organized and enable us to have effective and efficient seasons for all of our teams and athletes. Students entering grades five through eight in the fall are eligible to join boys’ soccer, girls’ soccer, and girls’ volleyball. Our teams are open to every student in those grades, and parents interested in coaching should contact me by phone or email. Our program depends on parents accepting coaching duties for our various teams. The signup period for fall sports will start next week and end the last day of May. For returning students to play fall sports, they should sign up and pay the correct fee sometime during May. The signup is located on the following website: https://stambroseof woodbury.teamsnapsites. com/registration/ Thanks to all our coaches who have volunteered so much of their free time to make our program a success. Thank you so much!! Please contact Mr. Whynott at school using email or telephone with questions, concerns, or any business pertaining to the athletic department. Thanks!! Have a great summer and don’t forget to sign up for the fall season!
Bruce Whynott
Spring 2019 Athletic News
AmazonSmile The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organization you select. It’s as easy as shopping on www.smile.amazon.com instead of amazon.com. All account information and items added to your cart stay the same as you go between the two sites. This link will take you directly the AmazonSmile site for Saint Ambrose: smile.amazon.com/ch/ 41-1905541 Please note that donations are only made when you shop smile.amazon.com—not when you check out through the app or amazon.com site. Box Tops It’s easy to find Box Tops. In fact, you may have some in your home right now. Clip Box Tops from your favorite products and turn them in to your child’s school today! Box Tops are each worth 10¢ and they add up fast! Coming soon! A Box Tops collection for Saint Ambrose School will be placed in the Oehlke Commons area of the church. Look for it to appear this summer and drop your Box Tops off any time! Kowalski's When you shop at Kowalski’s in Woodbury, Kowalski’s will make a donation on behalf of St. Ambrose of Woodbury. All you have to do is place your receipt in the box at the front of the store! It doesn’t matter how much you spend, they donate based upon number of receipts.
Fundraising
Easy ways to help Saint Ambrose throughout the year
HandS Board News Welcome to Our New Board for 2019-2021
HandS is pleased to announce our new board members Jason Meyer - Vice President 2019-2020 Juan Figueroa - Treasurer Ann Haag - Secretary Susan Sosa - Fundraising Coordinator We are happy to have our existing members continue their roles for the following year Kylie Banfield - President 2019-2020 Anna Perez - Volunteer Coordinator Laura Weber - Communications Coordinator Thanks to everyone who attended our first Evereve fundraiser. $344 was raised for St. Ambrose School! Evereve provided pink lemonade and treats and we sipped Prosecco while socializing and shopping. We are hoping to host another evening in the fall, so keep an eye out for more information!
Quick Links
Dates to Remember
May May 28 - Bring used uniforms to school office now until end of school.* May 30 - 8th grade graduation 7:00 p.m. June June 2 - Volunteer appreciation event at Evergreen Park West 4-7:00 p.m. June 5 - Last Day of School grades K-7 June 6 - Teacher In-service June 8 - Family Night at CHS Field - Saints Game July July 15 - New and Used Uniform Sale 4 -7:00 p.m. July 15-19 - Summer School Program August August 22-23 - New Staff Orientation August 26-28 - Full Staff In-service begins August 29 - Back to School Open House 3 -6:00 p.m.
* REMINDER: Help us stock our sale by delivering clean uniforms with no holes or stains by the last week of school.
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