St. Patrick Elementary School - Liturgical Publications. Patrick Elementary School ... Volume , Issue Page 3 This month we have not included notes from the teachers, giving them a

be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:45.) “Why is

Mary blessed? Because she has trusted in the word of God. Her consent to the heavenly messenger, her willingness to take on her young shoulders the burden of the glorious Messiah and the Man of Sorrows as the prophets had foretold is a l l b u i l t o n h e r a c t o f trust.” (Groeschel, p. 59.) “The whole secret of the spir-itual life is trust. Do you want to grow

in faith and love of God? Then trust Him. We trust when it is easy; we must trust when it is hard. In fact, trust is an act of the virtue of hope. Like faith and charity, this kind of hope can be g i v e n o n l y b y G o d ’ s grace.” (Groeschel, p. 59.) During your time of prayer each day, think about how God has been working in your life. Look for the blessings and thank God for them. To see how God is constantly active in your life helps you to trust. And with that trust you can say yes, as Mary did, more readily. An excellent family activity while going somewhere in the car, or after dinner, or before bed time is to talk about the blessings each person has noticed the past 24 hours. Praying itself is an act of trust and loving sur-render. It says, Jesus this time is yours. There is nothing more important for me to do right now than to love you. Pray as a family. Trust like Mary. Then all good things are possible. Merry Christ-mas Sincerely yours in Christ, Fr. Gary Brethour

Dear Parents, What makes a

great school? Great instructors, teaching ea-ger students, who have parents supporting the learning process. And all this being undergird-

ed by the truth of Jesus Christ and you have the makings of a Catholic School. Powerful. I am so proud of our teachers and staff. They recognized an excel-lent opportunity and will put aside some of their precious weekend (Sat. Jan 20th) so they will be able to at-tend a retreat directed by Fr. Jay Buhman. Impressive that our staff val-ues this opportunity to grow spiritually and said yes to this invitation. Please thank your children’s teachers. Pray for them. Pray for the work of Fr. Jay Buhman, national chaplain for FOCUS Ministries. (We have two parishioners currently working as FOCUS Mission-aries: Alan Goodenberger & Wyatt Kain.) You are also welcome to at-tend this catechist retreat. Register @ www.lincolndiocese.org/catechist-resources/sponsored-events. Fee: $10. “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done unto me according to thy word.” (Luke 1:38) “These words are the most important words ever spoken by a mortal human be-ing. Only the words of Christ himself can be more important that these words, which are often called Mary’s fiat, that is, ‘let it be done.’ On be-half of the whole human race, Mary says yes to God.” (Behold, He Comes: Meditations on the Incarnation. Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., Charis Servant Publications, 2001, p. 57.) “Blessed is she who has trust-ed that the Lord’s words to her would

Message from Father Brethour

St. Patrick Elementary School 4 01 Ea s t F S t re e t , M cCo ok , Neb ra ska

January 4 - Classes Re-

sume & Report Cards go

Home. G/B Basketball vs.

Wauneta/Palisade

January 11 - Geography

Bee in the Gym at 1:15.

January 16 - Boys Basket-

ball vs. Southwest

January 18 G/B Basket-

ball vs. Dundy Co.

January 29 - February 1

Catholic Schools Week

February 2 - NO SCHOOL

Inside this issue:

Message from

Fr. Brethour

1

January Calendar 2

Information for par-

ents

3

Things happening at

St. Pat’s in picture

4-9

January Lunch Menu 10

Vol ume 2 018 , I s sue 1

NOTE

Page 3 Volume , Issue

This month we have not included notes from the teachers, giving them a month off due to the busy

activities of Christmas.

GEOGRAPHY BEE

During December, the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade stu-dents participated in a Geography Bee. Each individual class had a contest in their room and then the top two stu-dents from each grade will compete with the other classes in the school gym on January11th. The overall winner will take a written test which will then be submitted to the state competi-

tion.

BOOK FEES

SECOND QUARTER

December 21, 2017 will mark the end of the second quar-

ter. Report cards will be going home in January.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

Catholic Schools Week is January 29th – February 2nd. Plans are in progress for this Nationwide Celebration of Catholic Schools. We encourage everyone to participate in

this celebration of our parish school!

There are families who have yet to pay their book fees. We offer this remind-er to take care of this responsibility. Book fees are as follows: K – 8th grades, $700.00 for one student,

$150.00 for the second student, and $100.00 for the third student from a family. The maximum book fee per family shall not exceed $950.00. For the fourth student or more, there is no additional book fee. There is also an annual Diocesan Education Fee of $25.00 per student. Thank you!

Parents please be sure your child is com-pletely well before you send him/her back to school. As a rule, don’t send your child back until he/she has gone a full 24 hours without a fever or symptoms

TREATS

As stated on page 14 of the Policy Handbook: Children (K – 5) may bring treats to school for special occasions, (birthdays, parties, special events) after obtaining per-mission from their classroom teacher. Please be sure that each treat is individually packaged. With the approval of the principal, grades 6, 7, and 8 may bring treats for very spe-cial occasions. Treats must be eaten in the

classroom in which they are given.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

We at St. Patrick School would like to wish you bountiful

blessings in 2018.

In the event of inclement weather, the school will close ordi-narily, but not always, whenever the McCook Public Schools close, however, it is at the discretion of our admin-istration. Parents are urged to listen to a LOCAL radio sta-tion for an announcement of closing when conditions are threatening. Also, expect a text message on your cell phone from the Remind System. Do you have your current phone

number in the office for the Remind System?

SCHOOL CLOSING

SUPPLY CHECKLIST

Parents, please check with your child on supplies needed such as notebooks, pencils, pens, erasers, etc. Please be sure

your child is well supplied for the second semester.

SICKNESS

Volume , Issue Page 4

Rotary Club members presented the third- grade students with their very own new Scholastic Children’s Dictionary. Rotary Clubs throughout the world believe very strongly in supporting the development of our youth, especially in the area of litera-cy. They believe this dictionary will assist children in furthering their educational d e v e l o p m e n t throughout the com-

ing years.

Congratulations! St. Patrick students donated $396.00 this year during our St. Nicholas cele-bration. This year our donations are going to two St. Patrick graduates, Alan Goodenberger (2008) and Wyatt Kain (2007). They both are part of the UNL FOCUS mission. FOCUS is a na-tional outreach that meets college students where they are and invites them into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and the Catholic faith. FOCUS missionary staff members raise 100% of their living expenses while serving with FOCUS. May God bless them both on their endeavors and during this Christmas season and through out the new year. Please keep them in your prayers.

Below is Mrs. Salas’ 4th-grade class wishing you Happy Holidays!!!

MRS. REBECCA REDL, PRINCIPAL

As we end this semester and bring a close to 2017, I wanted to take a moment to thank many people for making this school year productive and educational. First, THANK YOU to all who gave to the BIG GIVE MCCOOK. Wow, the outpouring of support for our school was amazing! We live in a great community and parish that supports our school and our students. Thank you to our parents for trusting us with the education of your children. It is a holy task, one that our teachers work hard at each day to push and challenge your students to learn and grow. This leads to another thank-you to our teachers. What a great group of teachers we have, who work hard for our school and our students so they are successful in and outside of the classroom! Our teachers not only are mak-ing lesson plans and learning activities but now are helping me in the difficult process of looking at and choosing our new reading textbooks. There are many series available. We are trying to find the best for our students. A group of our teachers attended a dyslexia con-ference in September. This presentation confirmed our long-standing practice of teaching phonics in the primary grades. Through the years, our students have been suc-cessful because our former reading series has emphasized phonics. Phonics is not as exciting as sight words, but in the long run we have seen the benefits of not skipping this vital skill. Knowing sight words is important and included in our reading lessons. As you travel and gather with family, you may notice that your student may know more or know less sight words than their cousins. However, through many, many years of using a reading curriculum that emphasizes phon-ics, we know that teaching phonics first is vital in learning to decode, to sound out words, to read, and to spell. Pray for us as we make this decision, and pray for our donors for their generous support. My prayers are with you and your family this Christmas season-for safe travel, for your families, and for understanding the true meaning of Christmas. God bless you and your family.

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On December 1st, the 7th & 8th grade stu-dents went on a field trip to Hastings Col-lege where they l e a r n e d a b o u t glassblowing and then went to the Hastings Museum.

Page 6 Volume , Issue

Winners of the Spelling Bee are Ethan Graff 1st place, Trenton Brooks 2nd place & Kollin Werk-meister 3rd place. Congratula-tions!!!

Volume , Issue Page 7

Volume , Issue Page 8

On Wednesday, Dec. 6th, St. Nick visited our school. The students put money in one shoe and after going to watch the new movie, The Star, they

received a sack of candy.

The top picture is of the AM Pre-School class, the middle is the PM Pre-School class, and the bottom is the Toddler class having their Christ-mas parties.

The McCook High School jazz band performed at St. Patrick School on Wednesday, December 20th. Their concert included a variety of Christmas melodies. Thank you to Mr. Nathan Hudson, band director,

and his students.

Pictured above are St. Pat’s grad-uates, Gabe Sehnert, Syd Wier, Liviya Wier, Beth Hoyt, and Erica

Hoyt.

Volume , Issue Page 9

Above and below are St. Pat’s stu-

dent council members volunteering for

the Salvation Army bell ringing in

front of Walmart.

Above, St. Nick sent Ms. Feilen’s 1st-grade class reindeer and candy canes. Below, St. Nick sent reindeer food and jingle bells.

St. Patrick School students sold mag-azines in October to raise funds for

our school. The top winner was Zach Hinze.

Zach was the winner of $50.00. Congratulations!!!

Please keep saving those Schmick’s

receipts. We need $150,000 worth of receipts by May 31st,

2018, and have 73,846.98 saved

so far.

Above and below, the eighth-

grade class helped the third-

grade class make maps of the

continents.