St. Ambrose Provides Dividends for Life
St. Ambrose School, 2008-2008
Weekly News Files
September 17, 2009
 
Calendar News Events and Activities Volunteer Opportunities In the Classroom Awards and Achievements Miscellaneous Reference


Links to This Week's New Articles
News Section
    La Festa Raffle Tickets
    Graduate Student Counselors
    A Word of Welcome
    Family Rosary Shrine Rotation
    Title Programs and Teachers
    Office Notes

    Classroom Basket Themes for LaFesta
Events and Activities Section
    Wiffles, Waffles, and Washers
    PTO Special Lunches
    St. Ambrose Nights at Mr. B's
    Italian Language Program

    Family Musical Theater
Volunteer Opportunities Section
    La Festa Workers
In the Classroom Section
    ITBS Standardized Testing
    Standardized Testing Tips
    Right Start Program
    Eckert's Field Trip
    Middle Scholastics
    Water Bottle Recommendations
Awards and Achievements Section
    Student Summer Activity Addendum    
Miscellaneous Section
    Check Out These Websites
Reference Section
    PTO Special Lunch Schedule


Calendar

 Top

Thursday, September 17 Grade 8 Parent Right Start Meeting, 7:00 pm, cafeteria
Sunday, September 20 First Quarter PTO Family Event: Wiffles, Waffles, and Washers, Noon - 4:00 pm
Monday, September 21 PTO Special Lunch:  Imo's
September 21 - 25 Iowa Testing, Grades 3 - 8
September 21, 22, 24 8th Grade Right Start Program, 1:00 pm
Sunday, September 27 Ravioli Dinner to benefit the Sick & Elderly Program of the Hill, Noon - 6 pm, cafeteria
Monday, September 28 Think First (safety) Presentation, Grades 6 - 8, 2:20 pm, cafeteria
Tuesday, September 29 Grades K, 1, 2 Eckert's Field Trip, 10:00 am
Sunday, October 4 La Festa
Monday, October 5 No School, Teacher InService
"Say Yes to No" Presentation, 7 - 9 pm, Cardinal Rigali Center
Wednesday, October 7 PTO Board Meeting, 7:00 pm
Thursday, October 8 Ravetta Picture Day
6th Grade Parent Coalition Meeting, 7:00 pm, cafeteria
Sunday, October 11 Columbus Day Parade


News

 Top

La Festa Raffle Tickets
This year, students brought home four books of raffle tickets instead of two. The increased number of books is needed to offset the costs of the eight new air conditioners purchased by Msgr. Bommarito and installed in classrooms this summer, as well as the subsequent increased electric bills.

An incentive is being provided this year for highest ticket sales, broken down into three groups by grade: K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. One student from each group with the highest number of tickets sold will receive a $50 TWB gift certificate of their choice. Please ensure the student's name is on the envelope when turning them back in to receive credit for tickets sold.

THE DEADLINE FOR TURNING IN SOLD TICKETS IS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1. If you do not sell all four books of tickets, it's important that you return the tickets so others can try to sell them. If you need additional tickets, please contact Jen Cissi or the rectory. As always, thank you so much for your support!

Graduate Student Counselors
This semester, we are again blessed to have four graduate students in counseling who will be doing their practicums with us at St. Ambrose. We are pleased to be able to offer this service to our families. The counselors will be available for individual counseling for students who may be experiencing social, family, or personal issues and may benefit from having someone with whom to share their feelings. If you feel your child might benefit from working with a counselor for the fall semester, please contact Lisa Horner via e-mail or at extension 119, so that she can send home a consent form for you to sign. If you have any questions about the counselors, please also contact Mrs. Horner.

A Word of Welcome
Mr. Nick Pinkston, a third-year seminarian, will be working with the St. Ambrose sacramental program and confirmation preparation.

Family Rosary Shrine Rotation
The rotation of the Family Rosary Shrines has begun. If there is a special week in which a family would be interested in having it at their house, please inform the homeroom teacher, grades K - 8. Circulation of the shrine is to encourage praying the rosary in the home, especially for the intentions of world peace and the year of vocations.

Title Programs and Teachers
The Title Programs are government-funded in support of students and faculty and currently part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Title 1 provides remedial reading and math instruction outside the classroom and supplemental to what is taught in the classroom. Workshops are also offered to those classroom teachers whose students are eligible for the Title 1 program. The Title 1 teachers are Jan Gillings and Babette Morgan. Title 2 provides funds for professional development of St. Ambrose faculty and Title 4 funding supports the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse programming, as well as Middle School team building and social skill development workshops.

Office Notes

Beat the Bell Challenge
Sr. Carol is offering a treat if we can achieve No Tardies for 10 days in the month of September. We hope this can be a school wide achievement, but she will also offer the reward by grade levels. Please be aware that, thanks to proceeds from the 2008 Bells of St. Ambrose auction, a new bell system is in place this year.
 

Classroom Basket Themes for LaFesta

Listed below are the themes for each homeroom basket this year.  Please donate items to your homeroom basket.  You are welcome to donate to any other homeroom basket as well.  Students in Middle School will receive 10 points for donating an item.  Please bring the items to your homeroom teacher.  At the end of September, the Homeroom moms will collect the items and prepare them for LaFesta.  Thank you in advance for your donations!

 

K - Mrs. Foster: Holiday  Baking

K - Mrs. Smith: Man's Best Friend (items for dogs)

1 - Miss Harris: Winter Night at Home

2 - Mrs. O'Toole:  Reading is Fun for all ages!

2 - Mrs. Rotter:  Christmas Joy

3 - Mrs. Elmore:  Baby on the Way

3 - Mrs. Grandstaff:  Everything Disney

4 - Sr. Margaret Mary:  My Dream Kitchen

4 - Mrs. Henning: Everything Missouri

5 - Mrs. King:  Off to College

5 - Mrs. McIver:  Sports

Thomas House:  A Night Out on the Town

Catherine House: 

Michael House:  Family Fun NIght

David House:  Fall Decorating (including Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc)

Vincent House:  Girls Collection for ages 4-9

Brigid House:  Chocolate Heaven


Special Intentions
Contact Debbie Hilderbrand if you wish to include any prayer intention in the newsletter.

Events and Activities

 Top

Wiffles, Waffles, and Washers
St. Ambrose PTO invites you to the First Quarter Family Social - Wiffles, Waffles, and Washers!
When? Sunday September 20, from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 pm.
Cost? $5.00 will get you a hamburger or hot dog, a drink, chips, PLUS all the waffles and ice cream you can eat!
Sr. Carol, Principal, will be the waffle maker. Along with that, enjoy waffle ball and washers as a player or a spectator. Reservations were needed for anyone to attend. Thank you to everyone who registered and reserved their place. We hope everyone has a great time.

PTO Special Lunches
The PTO is once again sponsoring special lunches this year. The first, to be held on Monday, September 21, will be hosted by Imo’s. The students who have purchased a lunch will receive pizza, salad, and a drink. Thank you to Imo’s and the other local restaurants who will be participating this semester. The future lunches are: October 19 - Lorenzo’s, November 16 - Mama Toscano’s, and December 14 - Favazza’s.

St. Ambrose Nights at Mr. B's
Eat at Mr. B's on the first and third Thursday of the month and St. Ambrose receives 10% of your purchase. Be sure to mention "St. Ambrose Night" to your server.

Italian Language Program  
Sign up now for Federation of Italian American Organizations (FIAO) Fall 2009 Program!
Cost: $90 for a 10 week term
Special discounted rate for seniors (60+)—$45 for a 10-week term
Book price reduced to $90
Classes are held at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park , 5600 Oakland Avenue.
Classes begin the week of September 21, 2009. Sessions are 10 consecutive weeks.
If you know of anyone interested in taking Italian Language Classes, please share this information with them!
INFORMATION and REGISTRATION SESSION
Monday, September 14, 2009
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
The Highlander Lounge
Student Center (near Tower E)
St. Louis Community College at Forest Park
Please join us and have your questions answered!

Registration will be on the St. Louis Community College at Forest Park website.
This year the registrations will be directly through the college, and there four ways to register and to pay.  These are explained clearly on the college website.
If you have any questions, please email: fiaostl@yahoo.com.
 

As discussed at the PTO General Meeting:  Family Musical Theater

Family Musical Theater is a 501(c)3 organization that presents full scale musical productions to benefit local charities.

FMT has been in existence for over 20 years. No one with our organization is paid. Everyone is strictly volunteer. Our production staff, full orchestra and cast volunteer their time and talent to present good, family musical productions. In our 20 year history we have presented such shows as CAROUSEL, GEORGE M, HOW TO SUCCFEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, THE MUSIC MAN (twice), HELLO, DOLLY!, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (twice), ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, ANNIE, MAME, THE WIZARD OF OZ, BYE BYE BIRDIE, CAMELOT, OKLAHOMA!, THE KING AND I, NUNCRACKERS, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, BRIGADOON, NUN-SENSATIONS, ANYTHING GOES, A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING, SOMETHING’S AFOOT, OLIVER and, currently GYPSY.

Our productions of THE KING AND I and JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT won the prestigious BEST SHOW award given by Arts for Life, a local St. Louis organization that promotes the Arts.

Every member of our production staff has extensive backgrounds in community theater and musical productions.

We have quite a few families that participate in our productions as well – Dads, Moms and children. We have one young man who started doing our shows when he was seven years old and is now in high school and volunteers on our production staff handling the follow-spot. His dad and two sisters are in our shows as well. We are truly a family oriented group.

We are hoping to bring to St. Ambrose an enrichment of the theater arts for the students. This includes the proper way of preparing for an audition, singing, a little dance movement and presentation of lines, culminating in a children’s version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL in December. We sincerely hope to provide the children with an appreciation of the Arts.

This is the group we are working with for the Extended Care Enrichment Program. They will come here after school beginning in October



Volunteer Opportunities

 Top

La Festa Workers
Sunday, October 4, is our parish festival, from noon - 6:30 pm. We are looking for workers:
Can You Spare Some Time Over Lunch?
We are in need of parent volunteers for lunch/recess, hours are 10:50 - 12:40. Please remember that you must have completed Protecting God's Children and the associated paperwork. Please contact Bernadette Mense via Fast Direct if you can help.

In the Classroom

 Top

ITBS Standardized Testing
Beginning on Monday, September 21, students in grades 3-8 will undergo their annual standardized testing week. The teachers have been reviewing for this test: editing paragraphs, comprehension of stories, math and map skills. Most of the tests will take place in the morning, but there will be a couple of afternoon sessions as well. Parents: please make sure that your child gets at least 8 hours of sleep each night, a healthy breakfast, and remains calm and confident. There will be no homework scheduled during the week of ITBS testing.

Standardized Testing Tips
Next week is Iowa Testing for grades 3-8. Testing will take place primarily in the morning. Please try your best to be at school every day and on time, so that your child will not miss any testing. Additionally, do not schedule high school shadowing days during testing week. Here are a few things parents can do to enhance children's test performance:
 Right Start Program
The Right Start Program will be presented to our eighth graders on the week of September 21. These presentations will take place during the afternoon. Representatives will be instructing the students on the abuses and atrocities of abortion and the promotion of abstinence. The eighth grade parents have already attended a meeting that covered what their children will be exposed to. Thank you to the teachers and presenters for continuing this program here at St. Ambrose.

Eckert's Field Trip
Our K-2 students and teachers are off again to Eckert's for their annual field trip. The field trip will be on Tuesday September 29. This has become an annual favorite trip for our K-2 students. They love to go to Eckert’s, ride on the hay wagons, pick apples, play in the small playground, and just have fun being out in nature. They are all looking forward to the trip. As a matter of fact, I heard some of them saying, “I can’t wait to go!”, “I went the last two years, and I really want to go again this year.”, “I am a little scared, but I think it will be fun.”

Middle Scholastics
 Water Bottle Recommendations
Also to encourage hygiene in the face of an aggressive flu season, we are strongly encouraging the use of water bottles clearly labeled with the student's name. This not only prevents the spread of illness, but it encourages needed hydration and decreases the class interruptions. If the student is re-using a disposable bottle, we would like to remind parents that bacteria grow can become a problem as can the leaching of chemicals from the plastics if exposed to extreme temperatures. 

Think First Safety Presentation
The program talks about preventions and precautions with safety, seat belts, and helmets. We hope the kids will get to listen to a VIP speaker who has survived a brain/spinal cord injury and how it had impacted his or her life. The program is geared toward our students, because we have a lot of kids that ride their bikes or walk to school. It will also touch on drinking and driving, which will be geared to our 8th graders who, unfortunately, are going to be exposed to that in high school. Parents are welcome to attend!

Awards and Achievements

 Top

Student Summer Activity Addendum
Andrew B. attended SLUH's Summer Math Enrichment.

Miscellaneous

 Top

Check Out These Websites
What if my favorite charity had a penny for every time I searched the Internet? Now it can! Search the web with www.goodsearch.com and money from their advertisers will go to your favorite charity without you spending a dime!
You can find St. Ambrose Catholic School (St. Louis, MO) listed in WHO DO YOU GOODSEARCH FOR? You can also view how much money has currently been raised.
While you're surfing, be sure to also visit the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Website at www.ascjus.org.

Recycle Your Ink Jet Cartridges, Paper, and Aluminum Cans
This free program generates money for St. Ambrose and helps protect the environment. Simply drop the cartridges off in the cafeteria and the paper and cans in the bins on Hereford.

Instructions Regarding Campbell's Labels
Please send in the entire label, as the instructions for submitting labels have changed. We will have homeroom parents help with the cutting that is required. Pass the word to grandparents and neighbors who may save them too. And, don't forget to keep clipping boxtops and labels and saving them for upcoming contests!

Reference

 Top

PTO Special Lunch Schedule
To thank the neighborhood restaurants for their support and to share their wonderful cuisine with our students, PTO invites them to provide lunch to our students. Each month features a different restaurant and selection. The dates for the First Semester lunches are as follows:

September 21 - Imo's (Cheese pizza, applesauce, and cookies)
October 19 - Lorenzo's (Lasagna, salad, and ice cream)
November 16 - Toscano's (Toasted ravioli and garlic bread)
December 14 - Favazza's (Grilled Italian chicken strips and white pasta)

The cost is the same as last year, $4 for grades K-4, $5 for grades 5-8 and teachers/staff. Watch for the order form for these lunches at home and return to the office with your payment. Please note that Chris' will not be served on these days.

Hot Lunch Program Procedures
 Archdiocesan Mandate
All parents who wish to participate in any event (lunch duty, field trips, class parties, Breakfast with Santa, etc.) at school involving children MUST attend the Protecting God's Children Workshop. For information on times and locations of the workshops, please visit the archdiocesan website www.archstl.org and follow the link or consult the recent message to parents on Fast Direct.

Our Fabulous Faculty
Grade Teacher
K Maria Foster

Jennifer Smith
1 Mary Lynne Harris
2 Jennifer O'Toole
Margaret Rotter
3 Emily Elmore
Ann Grandstaff
4 Anne Henning
Sr. Margaret Mary Stoverink
5 Judy King
Kathy McIver
Brigid 301 Mary Scherer
Catherine 302 Kate Black
David 304 Debbie Hilderbrand
Thomas 303 Jen Ronzio
Vincent 305 Erin Schaeffer
Michael 306 Shanna Kar
Art JoAnn Dreas
Computer Debbie Hilderbrand
Learning Consultant, K-4 Michele Grellner
Learning Consultant, 5-8 Lisa Horner
Physical Education Beth Brickey
Italian, K-8 Annunciata Buzzai
Teacher Aide Sr. Sandra Krupp
Principal Sr. Carol Sansone
Office Hilma Moses
Office Linda Gambaro
Extended Care Bernadette Mense

Middle School homerooms are made up of our house teams. We think this will help promote relationships within the team and with their team moderator. Houses, moderators, and colors are:
Michael House: Mrs. Kar (red)
Brigid House: Mrs. Scherer (green)
David House: Mrs. Hilderbrand (orange)
Vincent House: Mrs. Schaeffer (yellow)
Catherine House: Mrs. Black (purple)
Thomas House: Mrs. Ronzio (blue)