The Trojan Times

St. Maria Goretti is a living testament to our Lord's work in His youngest disciples, exemplified by academic excellence, spiritual formation, and compassionate service to others.

St. Maria Goretti Catholic School aims to form what is True, Good, and Beautiful in the souls of our young disciples of Christ.

Dear St. Maria Goretti Catholic School Families,

Thank you for attending the many meetings this week. I hope meeting your child's teacher makes you more excited for the school year. We have the best teachers and staff in the Diocese of Fort Worth.

Be sure to visit our updated website for all things SMGCS. www.smgschool.org

In this edition of the TT, you will find the social media agreement, cell phone policy, and handbook acknowledgment form. All of these need to be turned in to the front office this week.

Please remember that starting in September, we will begin billing our school fees. See the fee schedule in this TT.

We are collecting cardboard egg cartons and crushed egg shells for our school garden. You can send these donations to the school office. We will begin germinating our fall harvest in a few weeks and need egg cartons and egg shells to help us with the process.

It looks like it is going to be hot. Please make sure to send your child(ren) with water every day. We will also continue to do in-door pick-up all week. Please make sure that you bring your orange cards with you every day.

Thank you again for entrusting us with your children's spiritual and academic formation. We are looking forward to partnering with you this year.

St. Maria Goretti, Pray for Us!

Blessings,

Amy Utendorf, M.Ed.

Principal

Charity is loving God with all your heart, mind, strength and your neighbor as yourself. Charity is one of the theological virtues that God gives us in baptism. It comes from Him, allows Him to dwell within us, and leads us to Him in Heaven. Charity is another word for love; Saint John tells us that God IS love. The best way to know how much we love God is to look at how we treat our neighbor. If our hearts are truly open to God, they will be open to everyone.

Saint Gertrude was a very talented student. She gave her life to God as a nun and wore the black habit of Saint Benedict. When she was 25 years old. Jesus appeared to her and taught her about His Sacred Heart. She had many talks with Jesus about how to love Him and her neighbor.

As a boy, Saint Vincent was a simple shepherd in poor family. His father sent him to school to study for the priesthood and about five years after he became a priest he was kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave in North Africa!

Years later he escaped to Rome where he became a tutor to rich noble families. After some time, he realized that he had become proud and superficial. He gave up his position and began to serve the poor, giving special attention to the poor rowers in the galleys of wealthy ships. With the help of Saint Louise de Marillac, he founded the Ladies of Charity, groups of women who took care of the sick and poor in parishes. Later, the Ladies of Charity developed into a religious order named the Daughters of Charity.

When Blessed Laura Vicuna was only three years old, her father died. His parents were nobility, but had rejected him when he married a peasant. After that, he worked as a soldier, so his death left his wife and two daughters terribly poor. A wealthy ranch owner, Manuel, offered to support Laura’s mother and pay for her two daughters to attend a boarding school if she would agree to live with him. He did not ask her to marry him, but expected her to act like his wife. Desperate for money to support the girls, she agreed.

Laura loved the Salesian Sisters who ran her school and took to heart all that she learned. On the day of her First communion, she noticed that her mother did not receive Communion, and did not seem truly happy. She began to pray often to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, asking for her mother to grow closer to God and to be happy. That year, she enrolled in the Sodality of the Children of Mary, and always wore a medal of Our Lady on a wide ribbon, thinking of it as a sort of protective shield.

During school vacations over the next few years Laura began to understand, and sorrow, the difficult situation of her mother. Several times, Manuel began to act inappropriately toward Laura also. Her mother drew the line and demanded that Manuel stay away from her daughters. He agreed, but sometimes forgot his agreement if he had been drinking.

When Laura was 11, the bishop visited her school and she asked him if she could become a Sister. He knew that Laura was popular, a great athlete, and very holy and mature for her age, but he told her to wait until she was older. Yet Laura wouldn’t give up the idea. She begged her confessor to ask God if she was called to take vows. The priest agreed that she did have a vocation, but they kept it a secret between them. That Easter, after her confirmation, Laura asked her confessor for permission to offer her life to God for her mother’s conversion, and he gave it.

When Laura was 13 she fell very ill and sent home to recover, but her health only grew worse. Manuel even physically abused her. Laura died within a short period from a combination of illness and injury. On her death bed she told her mother, “Mama, I’m dying, but I’m happy to offer my life for you. I asked Our Lord for this.” She also said that she forgave Manuel. Inspired by the sacrifice of her daughter, her mother left Manuel and was reconciled to God and His Church.

SMGCS placed 1st in the 4th of July parade youth category. Many thanks to the volunteers who built the float, those who walked in the parade and everyone who watched and cheered us on. Go Trojans!

MONDAY, August 28th is the last day to switch from music to band. After that date, students will no longer be able to change their class schedule. To move from music to band, complete the form and return it to school this Monday.

• Fine Arts Elective Form 2023

Please sign and return these three forms which were sent home with students:

• Social Media Acknowledgement Form
• Cell Phone Policy
• School Handbook Acknowledgement

Join us the weekend of September 30th - October 1st for Kountry Karnival. Sign up now for the 2nd Annual Cornhole Tournament. The fun Kountry Karnival tradition dates back 70 years. We needs your help to make it a success again this year. Please use the links below to volunteer your commitment.

• Cornhole Tournament Sign Up
• KK Sponsorship
• KK Donation List
• KK Volunteer List
• KK Ticket Sales After Mass

Join the SMGCS Safety Patrol

Earn service hours while helping to serve others. See Mrs. Vasquez for an application.

Apply to be a Hospitality Minister

A Hospitality Minister training session will be held on August 28th from 3:45-4:45. See Mrs. Vasquez for an application.

Be a team player! SMGCS offers many sports opportunities. Sign up today.

Everything negative - pressure, challenges - are all an opportunity for me to rise.

~ Kobe Bryan

“God Almighty first planted a garden.

And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.”

–Francis Bacon

Sister Thuan Phan teaching Kindergarten students the sign of the cross.

Students learned about the scientific method and buoyancy using a watermelon. They predicted if it would sink or float. Only one student predicted correctly, it FLOATED!

Later in the week, students used their sense of sight to study a watermelon slice and predict the number of seeds. Using a scientific tool (a plastic spoon), they dug out the seeds to count them and recorded the actual number of seeds on their science log. A little eating of the experiment occurred along the way.

Our first Faith Families assembly of the year was held Friday. Mrs. Utendorf reviewed the following:

• Expectations we have for every SMG Trojan to be safe, respectful, and responsible.
• September's virtue of charity and the three Saints that exemplify that virtue: St. Gertrude, St. Vincent de Paul, and the Blessed Laura Vicuna.
• Homeroom classes will be allotted a bed in the school garden, and we are asking families to send egg shells and egg cartons to help germinate the soil.
• A new tradition begins this year. Teachers will have Terrific Trojan stickers to hand out to students caught being exceptional. The first sticker was awarded to Noah B., who got up from his lunch to help Mrs. Freda carry boxes to the church. Congratulations to Noah!

After the assembly, students joined their Faith Family class and selected a Saint for their faith family. They also worked on cards to present to Father Maul on Priesthood Sunday, September 24th. The kids seemed to enjoy being paired with their big and little buddies. Seeing them smiling and laughing together as they completed their projects was heartwarming.

Earn your SPIRIT HOURS & hang out with fellow Trojan families, all while helping SMG.

• Lunch / Playground Helpers

We all do!! The St. Maria Goretti Catholic School Community would love to pray for you and your intentions. Please send all prayer requests to: smgprays4u@smgschool.org.

St. Maria Goretti Parish Website: https://www.smgparish.org/

Serving the North Texas Catholic community by providing the faithful opportunities to grow in Christian discipleship and strengthen their relationship with Jesus Christ.

https://fwdioc.org/

Email: development@smgschool.org
Website: https://smgschool.org
Location: 1200 South Davis Drive, Arlington, TX, USA
Phone: (817)275-5081
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StMariaGorettiArlington/