Dear St. Mary School Families,

I am pleased to be back online with my email this week and hope that you are all enjoying the beginning of a pleasant long winter weekend.

Two weeks ago on Saturday morning, the St. Mary School 5KLuv2Run event was held at Mayfaire Town Center.  It was a wonderfully exciting morning and a very successful event for the Booster Club.  Below is a message from Todd and Deb Fischer and Dave and Karen Summerfield.

On Saturday, Feb. 4^th, the St. Mary Athletic Booster Club sponsored the Luv2Run 5K and Family Fun Run.  The event was a huge success with 451 runners registered.  Whether you ran, walked, volunteered, sponsored us or simply cheered racers on, we sincerely thank you.

We were able to raise a total of $8707.23.  The money raised will be used to improve our athletic facility.  Mr. Viollis will be working on getting quotes and bids in the next few weeks and will keep us updated.

Congratulations to all the Flying Falcons who completed their marathon at the race.  Again, thank you for your participation and we hope to see everyone out for the event next year.

I would like to add my thanks and appreciation to the Fischers and Summerfields along with their committee members for all the time and expertise in organizing such a professionally run event.  They have reported that 2/3 of the participants were from the community which helped us spread the word about St. Mary Catholic School.  I’m already looking forward to next year’s event.

Last Friday I was out of town at a principals’ meeting, along with being at basketball playoff games on Thursday night.  Our older boys won their game on Thursday afternoon which placed them into the finals on Saturday.  I enjoyed the Saturday game which placed them as runners up in the tournament.  Following the game, I went to UNC-W for the Regional Science Fair where we had 5 students competing.  Emilia Sywolski and Natalie Foley each won awards.  Congratulations to all of these students and all of our basketball players as they would be the winners of the Good Sportsmanship Award if there was one for the season and tournament.  They all represent the spirit of our school so well.

Congratulations to Katie Renn Williams who received an award at the Lions Club Meeting on Feb. 6^th.  The Williams Family and I were present for dinner and the award.  Katie Renn won the award for the Annual Poster Contest themed “Children Know Peace”.

Our Mardi Gras Parade will be this Tuesday afternoon beginning around 2 p.m.  We will be led by Mr. Purcell and his band.  The bead toss for the K-8 children will be held around the convent (in the gym if it rains).  Traditionally, parents enjoy watching us parade.  The preschool children will enjoy a bead toss around 11:30.

The school Mass will be on Ash Wednesday this week.  We will send home a message with the PreK students on Tuesday regarding the dismissal plan since there will be a very crowded Mass at 12:10 that day…stay tuned.             Join us in the gym on Thursday evening for Middle School Science Night.  A light supper will be served and you will be able to view the Science Fair projects as well as see some Science Olympiad Events…all are welcome!

Blessings,

Mrs. Joyce Price

February 3, 2012

Dear Families,

We have definitely had an exciting week of celebrations and community experiences.  As the choir sang and the liturgical dancers danced during Mass this morning, they were celebrating the gifts God has given to all of us and the responsibility we have to develop and share those gifts.

I hope that you enjoyed sharing “Pastries for Parents” with your children this week.  They were so excited that you were coming to join them.  The 2^nd Annual Bingo Night was so much fun.  The prizes ranged in value from $50 gift cards to $200 cash.  Make sure to buy your tickets early next year.  I would like to thank Ely and Kathleen Moore for chairing the bingo for us as well as hosting it.  We also thank the following volunteers who made the night such a success:  Vicki and Alice Hudson, Jean and Kevin Kiser, Mindy and Andy Arthur, Kelly Sanderson, Jen and Dave Altman, David Davis, Clifton Lively, and Simone Payne.

Thank you so much for helping us model “Service” to others this week by sending in the abundance of lunches which were delivered Tuesday morning to the Good Shepherd House.  Those lovely decorated lunch bags definitely brought joy and sustenance to several hundred people that evening.  The pots and pans you generously donated were delivered to Sr. Isaac’s ministry this morning.  She told us that the need is so great that those several hundred pots and pans will be gone in a couple of weeks, just by giving out one pan at a time.  Mr. Viorel’s classroom looks like our young friends at the Home of Hope Orphanage in Kochi, India are going to have an exciting time of their life.  Thanks so much for sending in all of those colorful beach supplies for the girls.

Congratulations to the winners of the Knights of Columbus Essay Contest.  Mr. Dave King presented awards to the winners following Mass this morning.

1^st place – Emilia Sywolski (Emilia’s entry will go on to competition at the state level.)
2^nd place – Nolan Craven
3^rd place – Abby Carucci

Congratulations to our January WOW Award winners:  Joelle Lowery and Abby Carucci, for going above and beyond to assist others.  We had many award winners this month, however Joelle and Abby won the drawing.

I am looking forward  to seeing many of you tomorrow morning at the St. Mary Luv2Run5K at Mayfaire.  Over 350 runners/walkers have pre-registered! God has blessed us with a great weather prediction for tomorrow.

Let’s make the Mardi Gras on Feb. 18^th another sell out event!  Tickets can be purchased in both school offices or online.  The discount for tickets has been extended through next week.  It’s another great event that you won’t want to miss.

I thank you for having chosen our Catholic school for your children’s education.  By doing that, you are expressing to us that you value an education that emphasizes academic enrichment and moral and spiritual development. Today, Catholic school enrollment is about 2.1 million at close to 7,000 elementary and secondary schools across the country.  We feel blessed to be part of those numbers.

Blessings,

Mrs. Price

Report Cards Go Home Today!

Dear St. Mary School Families,

As we prepare for a wonderful celebratory week ahead, I look forward to seeing you at many of our events. St. Mary School is proud of our reputation for providing a welcoming atmosphere where children’s God-given gifts can be discovered.  Attached today is a wonderful message from our Bishop Burbidge. Please take the time to listen to it as it is only about 5 minutes long.  You will see St. Mary students included in this message which can be also found on our diocesan website and our website.

After Mass this morning I shared Sr. Isaac’s thank you message to the parents, students, and faculty who made Christmas so special for 14 children. She mentioned that you gave them Life in so many ways.

Middle School Science Fair was held this week.  The following students received honorable mentions for their projects after Mass this morning:

Will Shipp, Nolan Craven, Elizabeth Monds, Chase Carraway, Brandon Brown, Mari-Katherine Poole

The following students received awards that will send them on to the Regional Science Fair to be held at UNC-W:

Matthew Szymeczek, Emilia Sywolski, Elizabeth Waser, Justin Hackeling, Natalie Foley

Congratulations to all of our students who entered projects and those who won awards.  All of these projects will be available to view at our Middle School Science Night in the gym on February 23^rd! The judges were very impressed with the quality of work that our students produced.

I encourage you to join us at our 2012 Mardi Gras celebration!  This is our major school fundraiser of the year as well as being a wonderfully fun evening event for adults. Visit our website for more information.

As we continue to celebrate the achievements of our current students, we also keep track of the successes of our graduates.  Please visit the Alumni page to see some of our latest reasons to celebrate.  I hope that more of our graduates will share their successes with us.

As we leave for the weekend, we offer our condolences to the Brugnone family (Ava- 2Lenz), as Mr. Brugnone’s father passed away this week.

Blessings,
Mrs. Price