2024

This week at school, and throughout the month of November (and beyond), we focused on the virtue of gratitude. At mass recently, students learned that "Eucharist" literally means thanksgiving. I want to share some tidbits of the class discussions as well as student work from the week.

• I am grateful to all the people in my life who make me laugh, which includes my family and my boss! I can be too serious at times and fretful about current events, so I need to laugh more. And when I do have those days when I just can’t find anything to laugh at, I’m grateful to my sweet puppy, Peaches, who besides being so stinking cute is my emotional support baby. There are days that would be so hard to get through without her. -Mrs. Caito

• I am so thankful for my Family. The ability to take time off to spend time with my children giving them the experiences that I remember during the holiday season. I am so thankful for my Mom and Dad who helped to remind me that we are blessed, and help us to instill those values in our children. -Mrs. Wright

• I am grateful for the opportunity and life circumstances I have been afforded to learn and grow in my faith in God and compassion for other human beings. I feel blessed to have the privilege of being an educator in an environment that is accepting and supportive. I am thankful for the compassionate teachers and leadership/administrators at St. Therese Catholic School. I am also thankful for the families and students in my life. Lastly, I give thanks to my family and friends. - Dr. Giamona

• I am grateful for having the opportunity to be "Mr. Dan" to so many wonderful students. -Anonymous

• Something that I am most grateful for is being able to continue to work at St. Therese. I appreciate all the greetings from the students and being able to continue friendships with the staff. Thank you St. Therese! -Mrs. Chong

• I am grateful for all the middle school students. They bring a special sort of energy to the classroom that makes our lessons memorable and all around fun! I am also grateful for the middle school team. Together, we can make it through anything! -Mrs. Baumbach

• I am grateful for the happiness I feel from all the children that I meet at school everyday ... they all brighten my spirit! May God bless them all! - anonymous

• I'm thankful for all the kindness and support from all the St.Therese Community staff, students and parents. - Mrs.Estes

• I’m thankful for all of the wonderful staff, students and families that I have met at St. Therese and am grateful to have students who are open to learning new things. I am hopeful for a successful Christmas Pageant and looking forward to teaching the kids about one of my favorite musical seasons: Advent and Christmas! - Mrs. Bavaro

• I am grateful for my school and how far they have helped me come. -Braylon Maxie

• I am grateful for the St. Therese community. I appreciate their caring, kindness, and smiling faces. -Ms. Lavagetto

• I'm thankful for my pets, they are always there for me and adorable! -Sofia Tigu

• Martha is thankful for her family and teachers who do hard work.

• Eva is grateful for St. Therese and for the friends she has made at this school.

• Noemi and Eric are thankful for the food they have to eat.

• Meba is grateful for his family.

• Amanda is thankful for her family and her teacher.

The 5th Grade Class is thankful for...

• God giving us a home.

• Family, friends, and teachers.

• Our teacher.

• God and everything that he created.

• Being able to come to St. Therese School.

• Fr. Gabriele

• Mr. Schoning giving candy.

• Mr. Schoning taking care of our school.

• Ms. Campos

• The office always giving water or lunch when we forget.

• Letting us meet NED (assembly).

Wishing everyone a restful weekend. As we look forward to the Thanksgiving holiday break, and beyond to a blessed Advent season, I encourage everyone to take time to reflect on the myriad blessings in your lives.

“The root of joy is gratefulness...It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.” - Brother David Steindl-Rast, the godfather of gratitude, 98-year-old Benedictine monk

Gratefully yours,

Principal Schoning

Lord,

We thank you
for the goodness of our people
and for the spirit of justice
that fills this nation.
We thank you for the beauty and fullness of the
land and the challenge of the cities.

We thank you for our work and our rest,
for one another, and for our homes.
We thank you, Lord:
accept our thanksgiving on this day.
We pray and give thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Pre-K through 6th Grade enjoyed a fun assembly with a great message, about problem solving, perseverance and growth mindset! Fun was had by all, and we may have some professional yo-yo-ists on our hands!

We are so excited to announce our new Hot Lunch program for St. Therese students. St. Therese is partnering with My Hot Lunchbox! My Hot Lunchbox partners with local restaurants our school requests and facilitates delivering meals individually packaged, labeled, and sorted for your students. Parents can now download the My Hot Lunchbox app for easy ordering, or order online. We will be offering this lunch service two days a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays. Our first Hot Lunch day will be Tuesday, November 26th.

What are the big details to know?

• Orders must be completed AT LEAST 24 hours ahead of time. Students can not bring money to school and order lunch from the office.
• Ordering can ONLY be done via the app or website- the school cannot take money from students for lunch orders.
• Tuesday lunch is provided by Red Robin.
• Thursday lunch is provided by Chick Fil A.
• The menu includes meals and a la carte options.

How do I order?

• Lunch can be ordered via the App or go to https://ordernow.myhotlunchbox.com/sign-up and click the ‘Create Account’ button under ‘Customer’.
• Fill in all required fields, agree to our terms and conditions, and click ‘Create’!
• Once you have created and logged into your My Hot Lunchbox account, select the 'My Profiles' tab on the left sidebar. Click 'Add Profile' and fill in your child's first & last name, type of organization (School), organization name (St. Therese School), teacher and/or grade, if applicable. Click 'Add Profile' again to add other students once you're done!

• Family FAQs about how to order, download the app, and how the lunch program works. (Also available in Spanish)
• A flyer with instructions for downloading the app.
• A QR code for a YouTube tutorial video.
• Benefits for Parents

This week was our annual food drive! Our goal was to hit 2,500 points. Regular food items were worth 1 point and turkeys and hams were worth 25 points. As a school we raised over 3,500 points! 3,989 points to be exact!! We had over 25 turkeys and hams donated and raised over $60 PLUS all the food donations! We are so proud of our St. Therese students.

The 6th graders in Dr. Giamona's class happily collaborated in small groups to create amazing Mesopotamia Rap Songs, complete with lyrics, beats, movements, and true historical facts! They perform in class next week!

Mrs. Chong came to read the story Rap a Tap Tap to the Kindergarteners and then they got a chance to show their tap dancing skills. -Ms. Forsyth

St. Therese Church is looking to form a Children’s Choir for the Christmas Day 10AM Mass. No prior experience necessary, ages 6-12 preferred but exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis. There will be an optional rehearsal on Friday, December 20 at 4PM, and a rehearsal on Christmas Day, December 25th from 9-9:40AM. Please reach out to Emily Bavaro at ebavaro@archdpdx.org or in person at Mass to sign up.

Please follow the link below to read the letter detailing the Christmas pageant, from Ms. Bavaro.

Thank you!!

Emily Bavaro

Director of Music

St. Therese Church and School

We are having a Christmas Bake Sale after the Christmas Pageant on December 13th. We are looking for baked goods donations! We want cookies, cheesecake, cake pops, brownies and any other sweet treats! Bake sale items will be available for purchase in the school gym following the school Christmas Pageant. All donated baked good items are worth Fair Share hours!

This event is not possible without the help of our amazing community! We need volunteers for the following:

• Set up and Clean up of the school gym
• Helping with Bake Sale/Food Sales
• Baked Good Donations

Please reach out to Mrs. Baumbach cbaumbach@stthereseschool.org with any questions or if you are able to help out at this event!

• Hot Shots and Basketball registration is open through the end of the month

• Deadline to sign up is December 1

• Jamboree for basketball is the week of December 7th and 14th

• We will start practice as soon as teams are finalized -- we need a minimum of 8 players per team and currently only have 2 full teams

• We will combine grades for partial groups in order to make a full team.

• Games are on Saturdays, with practices generally twice weekly for 90 minutes each

• Practices begin next week 11/18

• A pre-season jamboree will be held on 12/7 and 12/14

• First games begin on Saturday 1/4

• Games are on Saturdays, with a 30 minute practice before each game

• Season is 8 weeks long, and the first game is Saturday January 4th

• We will send out the agenda so you know what is being covered

• Hoping to have coaches present so that you can ask questions

• Cover key dates, things to know

• Volunteer opportunities, learning sessions and more

• Second week of December we will open a meeting to all parents interested in supporting the decisions and direction of the program for St Therese.

• We want to increase visibility and partnership with the school community

• Talk about priorities and focus points

• Review finances and goals

• There are plenty of opportunities to work concessions, or as a site monitor, or just be available to help in the gym when we run games, to get your Fair Share Hours!

• 11/27 1/2 day, with noon dismissal.
• 11/29 No School for the holiday break.
• 11/27 School mass changed to 8:30 a.m. Join us!
• 12/9 School mass at 1:15, Feast of the Immaculate Conception
• 12/13 Christmas Pageant at 5:30 PM in the gym
• 12/20 Last Friday of December- Free Dress
• 12/23 - 1/6 Christmas Break

Tuesdays

• Vietnamese classes has changed from leveled classes, to one class from 3:30 - 4:30

Wednesdays

• School mass: 1:15 - 2:15 (subject to change based on holy days of obligation, feast days etc.)
• Sacraments classes with Sister Martina: 2:45 - 3:45 in the PSC.
• Open Gym Time, 6 - 8 pm. St. Therese Students from Grades 3 - 8 are all welcome! Free!

Last year Mr. Rymer showed his students the new Glowforge laser cutter, which he got for the school through a grant. By showing the kids the hardware, Mr. Rymer and the kids came up with the idea of making Christmas ornaments for their families. In doing so, the students are learning about engineering, design, and production. They are handmade by the students, with Mr. Rymer's guidance.

Post-pandemic, the prices of materials have gone up significantly and Mr. Rymer uses Baltic birch for these, which isn't cheap. It's a great way to get a custom made keepsake for loved ones and support the school at the same time. The price is $30 per ornament, or $50 for two ornaments.

Please see the links for a video with more information from Mr. Rymer, and the order form.

Central Catholic’s annual Middle School Leadership Summit is just around the corner. If you know students who have a passion for leadership and want to make a difference in their community then this is the place for them! Join us on December 3rd or December 4th (please pick one of the dates) from 400-7:00 P.M.

At this event, participants will get the chance to attend workshops of their choice facilitated by current Central Catholic Leadership students and staff. Dinner will be provided and we welcome parents to come back for the last 20 minutes of the event for a leadership showcase.

As always, please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Registrar/Office Mrs. Barnett, barnetta@stthereseschool.org

Principal Schoning schoningc@stthereseschool.org

Vice Principal Baumbach cbaumbach@stthereseschool.org

School Phone: 503-253-9400