St. Marys School March Newsletter

I am sure you have heard the saying about March roaring in like a lion and leaving like a lamb. Well, I can’t predict its leaving, but it sure has been roaring and bleating. And if you are keeping track, we have already had a two-hour delay in March.

Backing up a bit, on February 28, the fifth through eighth graders went to Celina to attend a special Mass celebrating Catholic schools. Our students along with other Catholic school students from the Northern Area gathered at Immaculate Conception parish. Bishop Binzer presided over the Mass.

March 4 was Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. We celebrated the day with king cakes. A king cake is a traditional Mardi Gras cake, consisting of a sweet roll , sort of like a cinnamon bun, iced with confectioner’s sugar icing, and sprinkled with a copious amount of green, yellow and purple sugar. Yes, a teacher’s dream snack if ever there were! (In case you missed it, the previous statement is loaded with verbal irony!) The week before in art class, my students made Mardi Gras masks complete with feathers and glitter. I may have overdone the glitter a bit. Our custodian inquired if I had had a glitter fight in my room. In the afternoon the students marched through the school halls, carrying their Alleluia banners and singing “When the Saints Come Marching In”. We really had the New Orleans experience. Fifth grader and trombonist, Isabelle Rammel, led the procession. We crossed the street and “buried” the Alleluia banners in the church basement as a symbol of our readiness to begin the serious and somber season of Lent.

Also on March 4, Rhonda Williams from the Darke County Extension Office set up incubators in the kindergarten and 1st/2nd grade classrooms. This is an annual event. This year, the children have “chick journals” to record their observations. Along with the eggs, incubators, and supplies, the Extension Office provides a set of photographs that show the development of the chickens from day 1 to day 21, or hatch day. The expected hatch day is March 25.

The Jesus Day retreat for second graders, who will be receiving their First Holy Communion, and their families, was held on March 15. The children and their families had fun baking bread and making stepping stones. There were other activities to help the children and their families prepare for the children’s First Holy Communion.

Today the eighth graders sponsored the annual St. Patrick’s Day Pancake Breakfast, featuring Chris Cakes. The highlight of the breakfast was watching people trying to catch their pancakes. The unique thing about Chris Cakes is that instead of being served, the pancakes are

flipped to the plate. This was also the last day of the book fair, again sponsored by the eighth grade. The fair ran from March 10 through today. All proceeds from both events go towards the eighth graders class trip. This year the class is going to Atlanta.

On Thursday, March 27, “Mr. Blue Shoes” is coming to St. Mary’s. “Mr. Blue Shoes” is an interactive musical presentation. The presentation is sponsored by the Darke County Center for the Arts. The concert will be attended by the fourth through sixth graders, who in turn, along with the seventh and eighth graders, will be presenting the school’s spring musical, The American Dream, the following evening on Friday March 28 at 7:30 at Memorial Hall. The performance is open to the public and admittance is free.

Looking forward, the Spring Spectacular is April 28, during which the students’ artwork will be displayed. Last year, Mrs. Foster’s classroom was transformed into an underwater wonderland. If you had a chance to see it, I am sure you would agree it was amazing. This year, Mrs. Myers, our intrepid art teacher, is planning to take us back to prehistoric times. The classes are making paper mache figures for the display. I teach my own class art, and our contribution will be a saber tooth tiger and a clutch of dinosaur eggs. Mrs. Meyers made the chicken wire frame for the tiger, named “Smiley” for smilodon, and we are in the process of covering the frame with paper mache I once mentioned in one of these letters that teaching small children to “work” Rosary beads was a real exercise in the virtue of patience. Let me tell you, covering a saber tooth tiger with paper mache is right up there with it!

The third quarter ends this Friday, March 21. Iowa tests will be given the last week of March and the first week of April. Before we know it, school will be out for the summer.

Think spring and God bless!