St. Louis Catholic School News

Ponderings from the Principal

In today's gospel from Luke, Jesus reads this passage from Isaiah in the synagogue: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." This reading was fulfilled through Jesus' reading of it and all that he did in his time here on earth for we know he was sent to do all this and more.

As Catholics, we have entered another Jubilee year. This Jubilee year will be filled with many opportunities to further ignite or even reignite that flame of hope for ourselves, for others, and for our world. May we each look for "our way" to make this a year "acceptable to the Lord." May we look for opportunities through our parish, our archdiocese and even the Vatican to grow in hope and to spread hope that is much needed in our world. Here at school one thing we will do is pray a small part of the Jubilee Prayer each Friday during morning announcements. Feel free to join us from wherever you may be should you be so moved:

May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,

a yearning for the treasures of heaven.

May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer

throughout the earth.

To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise forever. Amen

Snow Make-up Days

While I realize I could have had folks come in for devices before the snow hit, I did not. We therefore have three days to make up. We will be in session now (and there will be bus transportation running too) on the following days:

MLK Jr. Day - January 20

Presidents' Day - February 17

Good Friday - April 18

While we cannot predict weather or other emergencies that may impact our calendar, we do have one potential day we could use and we have 3 e-learning days we could also use before we would have to tack on to the end of the school year. Fingers crossed we don't have to cross that bridge.

Notice from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis

We are aware of the nationwide PowerSchool security incident. Our archdiocesan cyber team is engaging with PowerSchool to investigate any potential impact on our data. As this investigation proceeds, we will inform our schools.

Legislative Session 2025

As many of you know our state representatives are back in session and as this is a budgetary year, education will for sure be one of the focus areas. Be on the lookout for communications from me asking for your assistance in contacting our representatives on some of these matters. School Choice potentially moving to Universal Choice will most likely be one of the areas of focus. Stay tuned!

School Masses During Church Renovation

Many of you know that the church is undergoing some renovation and painting. The first phase of this project started on Wednesday this week and will last approximately 8-12 weeks. Our All School Mass on Wednesday will be held in the Activity Center. Our JH and Elementary masses will be held in the Old Gym. While we love having our families join us, we are going to ask that adults only come if they have a student with a mass part that day. The regular weekday masses for the parish are held at St. Anthony in Morris.

If your child has a part in the mass on Wednesday, we ask that you enter through the Activity Center doors. If you have a child with a mass part on Thursday or Friday, we ask that you enter the main entrance of the school.

Free Dress

Spirit Day - January 14

Free Dress - Each Day During Catholic Schools Week - January 27 - 31

Blessing,

Mrs. Mauer

• January 14th - Spelling Bee in Old Gym
• January 14th - Robotics meet at Aurora Elementary
• January 15th - All School Mass, 6th grade
• January 15th - 5th/6th grade Academic Team practice 3-4:15
• January 15th - PTO Meeting - location TBD
• January 16th - Early Learner's PJ Party, Old Gym
• January 17th - Pre-K PJ Party, Old Gym
• January 20th - Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- Snow Make-up Day!
• January 22nd - All School Mass, 5th grade
• January 28th - Robotics Meet at Aurora Elementary
• January 26th - February 1st - Catholic Schools Week

The PTO would like to replace any St. Louis School red shirts that a child has outgrown. If your child needs a new one, please send in your info ASAP. .

Next year we will attempt to do this at the beginning of the school year. So, if during the summer your child has outgrown their shirt and they do not have a younger sibling that could wear it please return the shirt during summer office hours or when school begins.

Name:__________________________

Homeroom Teacher:______________________

Size: (Adult/Youth) small/medium/large_________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

-Please check out our PTO Facebook page for upcoming events.

-Please contact PTO if you have any questions or concerns via email at pto@st.louisschool.org

PTO Executive Committee

Mindy Thomas - President (513) 560-0184

Claire Werner - Vice President

Erin Telles - Treasurer

Emma Enneking - Secretary

Hello St. Louis Catholic School family!

We have received our yearbook oder forms, and will be sending them home with students in the next few days.

In the meantime, remember to send your pictures to:

Yearbook@st.louisschool.org

Some Polar Express Day pictures to enjoy!

Kindergarteners walked to the Historical Society to see their annual train displays. The students loved seeing all the different kinds of trains and watching them zoom around the tracks!

Seventh-grade students met with their first-grade buddies before Christmas break to help them create an ornament for their families. The students all enjoyed this activity and spending the time together!.

The week before break our kinders spent one morning with their buddies. Each group colored a page of the Nativity mural. It turned out beautifully!! Afterwards they spent time playing games together.

Sixth-graders used what they learned about Greek gods and goddesses in social studies class for a project in language arts class. Students had a “coffee talk” with their chosen god or goddess using a safe AI platform for schools. They were going to build a tiny house for their god/goddess and used AI to find out what they may want in their tiny house. It was also a great research lesson in judging the information AI gives to see if it is reliable and true.

Tiny houses were then constructed and a pretend realty site was created to persuade others to buy their tiny house. Finally, students had to present their houses to the class.

Seventh-graders read an informative article about the history of food trucks and expanded the lesson by researching their own ideas for a food truck business. Their class visited Mr. Cecil Ison and Krista Lesnecki at Ison’s Family Pizza to learn more about their food truck’s logistics and the requirements for operation. Students then designed and built their own food trucks which were later presented to, and judged by, Krista for creativity and realistic criteria of food truck businesses. The top winners were Hadlee, Lucy, and Carter.

Eighth-graders used what they learned about key figures of the American Revolution in social studies class for a project in language arts class. Students had a “chat” with their chosen historical figure using a safe AI platform for schools. They were going to create a biography bottle for their person and used AI to find out more about the American Revolution from their historical person’s perspective. It was also a great research lesson in judging the information AI gives to see if it is reliable and true.

Biography bottles were then constructed and an historical trading card was created. Finally, students had to present their figures to their second-grade buddies who were also learning about the Revolutionary War.

It's that time of year for our annual $12,000 Raffle to begin! This raffle has quickly become one of our most successful fundraisers with 48 chances to win. Winning tickets range from $100 to $1,000 and every winning ticket is placed back in the drawing for additional chances to win. The drawings begin on December 5th.

If you need additional raffle tickets, they are available in the school and parish offices. Tickets are $20 each or 6 for $100.

Our recent winners:

12/19 $250 - Hilary Nobbe, Batesville

12/23 - $500 - Jenny Koors, Greensburg

12/30 $500 - Gary Kuntz, Batesville

1/6 $100 - Marilyn Hountz, Batesville

1/8 $100 - Angie Whitaker, Guilford

1/9 $100 - Ronda Burchett, Batesville

Below is a link to the Google Form that can be used to report a student's absence due to an illness. This can also be found on the St. Louis School website, and is under the Health section. A link can also be found on the main page. You are also welcome to email me or call the school office.

https://forms.gle/v1uciEwj3WvVPurC6

Lydia Gardner, RN

School Nurse

St. Louis Catholic School

812-934-3310 Ext.283

Rooted in the traditions and teachings of the Catholic Church, St. Louis Catholic School, through liturgy, sacraments, service, and prayer, strives to form scholarly saints and advance them on the pathway to eternity through Lessons for a lifetime: living for Jesus, loving others, and learning.

Reminder --

If your child has a negative balance of $10.00 or more they will NOT be able to get extras at lunch time. We no longer send out reminders or emails to parents regarding negative balances. You can check your child's balance on EzSchoolPay.com or send us an email at slscafeteria@st.louisschool.org.

If you have any questions please let us know.

Carla Prickel & Tammi Wintz

cafeteria co-managers

Volunteer Page

Do you need to double check what date you chose to volunteer? Visit our "Volunteer" page on the SLS Website! We have links to each of our volunteer calendars to make it as easy as possible for you. We appreciate our volunteers so much!

https://www.st.louisschool.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1478055&type=d&pREC_ID=2218119

If you haven't joined yet but are still considering, we are happy to hear from you!

If you have any questions or want to be put on the list, just reach out to Michael Brelage at 317-225-8006 or sls.ss.bingo@gmail.com or mbrelage@st.louisschool.org

Thanks so much to all our volunteers!!

Please consult the athletic calendar on our website for a list of current ballgames, practices, etc. This is updated regularly (by Mike Burkhart) with any time or location changes. You may also use this link to view it. Thank you!

https://as3.rschooltoday.com/public/genie/623/school/623/

The basketball game postponed from last night, January 8th, has been confirmed for a reschedule date of next Tuesday 1/14/25 at 6:00. Please update your calendars.

Thank you,

Mike Burkhart

Athletic Director

St. Louis School

812-525-6585 ( cell )

The 7th grade Cardinals welcomed the South Ripley Raiders Thursday evening, December 19th. The Raiders jumped ahead early but the Cards clawed back into it and trailed by 5 at half. South Ripley’s tough press helped increase the lead and the Cards comeback fell short as they fell 45-34.

Evan Jennings led the Cardinals with 12 points. Also contributing were Cam Walke with 11, Brock Scheibler 9, and Landon Beiser 2. The Cards return to action next Friday at home as they host their holiday tournament.

Dustin Walke, Coach

The St. Louis 8th Grade Boys Basketball team improved to 11-1 on the season with a 46-34 victory over South Ripley. This was a battle from the start. The Cardinals were able to start the game on a 12-4 run before South Ripley closed the gap to 12-11 after the first quarter. The second quarter was a back and forth affair as South Ripley made 4 three pointers in the quarter to gain a 29-23 halftime lead. After halftime the Cardinals came charging back to go on a 10-2 run and retake the lead 33-31 after three.

The Final quarter saw the Cardinals play tough defense and close the game out allowing South Ripley to score 5 points the whole second half. The Cardinals were led in scoring by Ryan McGuire with 18 points. Cam Anderson and Luke Richardson each had 10 points. Hunter Young had 5 points, Grant Hartwell had 2 points and Jaxson Watson had 1 point.

Coach Young

The St. Louis 8th Grade Boys Basketball team finished third in the St. Louis Holiday Tournament.

The first game saw the Cardinals battle with Greendale. This was a hard fought game that saw the Cardinals trail at halftime 25-15. The Cardinals were able to cut the lead to 7 points but Greendale was just too much as they won 37-26. The Cardinals were led in scoring by Luke Richardson with 12 points, Cam Anderson with 9 points and Ryan McGuire with 5 points.

The second game saw a rematch as The Cardinals took on South Ripley. In this game, The Cardinals jumped out early and never looked back on their way to a 38-24 win. This improves their record to 12-2 on the season. The Cardinals were led in scoring by Cam Anderson with 12 points, Grant Hartwell with 10 points, Luke Richardson with 8 points, Ryan McGuire with 4 points, and Wyatt Steinkamp and Hunter Young with 2 points a piece.

I would like to thank Mike Burkhart for all the hard work he has put in to make this tournament happen. I would also like to thank all the teams involved, especially the fans that came out in support. Without them none of this is possible.

Coach Young

Calling BAAC musicians in grades 6-12!

It's time to prepare for the annual BAAC Music Young Artist Showcase, coming January 22 to your school. Students in grades 6-12 are invited to perform one song in front of our panel of musicians for feedback and scores. A lot of students use this as a trial run before solo and ensemble because we are often able to get comments back in time for one last lesson.

Sign ups are open from December 2 - December 15, or until the event fills. Organizers will use email to distribute information and specific performance times at the beginning of January. Contestants must attend BMS, BHS, St. Louis, or OA; live in the Batesville Community School Corporation and be homeschooled; or be members of BAAC. There is no snow make-up date. Questions regarding the program can be sent to Mary Gehring -- gehringreads@gmail.com.

For additional information and to sign up, visit https://forms.gle/DAy1qwf7hTcjvBX29.

Email: jriedeman@st.louisschool.org
Website: www.st.louisschool.org
Location: 17 E. St. Louis Place, Batesville, IN 47006
Phone: 812-934-3310
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StLouisCatholicSchoolBatesville
Twitter: StLouis_School