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Come watch the new ScreenAgers movie and talk with an expert panel on October 21st at 7PM. Click here for TICKETS & EVENT DETAILS
 Today, 6th-8th grade students gathered in prayer and service during Service Hour elective.9/26/2019
Our 6th-8th grade students were busy working on a project for Priesthood Sunday - October 29. They also updated our Mary Light of Learning campaign goal signs to reflect the generosity of those who have contributed - We are so close to our goal and ARE SO GRATEFUL! If you’d like to pledge, please visit our website at www.stmarysl.org/Mary-light-of-learning.html Unlimited popcorn refills from NOW through December 31, 2020! Funds raised are for the purchase of student Mass music books.  5th graders go on a figurative language scavenger hunt, roll the vocabulary cube to learn new words, and discover the different elements of plot as they rotate through different centers to learn more about The Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963. Our kindergarten students are decorating their dog kennels after selecting their perfect puppy to commit reading to for 20 minutes each night. Thank you Regina Readmore-Books and Bob Books for rescuing 24 puppies and having faith in our Kindergarten class to help care for these puppies by reading to them EVERY SINGLE NIGHT! We LOVE this! It leads us into next week when we honor St. Francis with our Francis’ Fall Feast Fest at St. Mary’s School on October 4th! Mass - Annual Blessing of the Pets - Visit from Harbor Humane - FREE Hot Dog Lunch...and more!  A big thank you to all who attended our 14th Annual Tri-Cities Golf Classic outing this past August. We are so grateful for organizers Nick Miller, Lori Dean, and all committee members for their hard work planning this fun event! $22,120.38 was raised to benefit Catholic education.
Our annual Blessing of the Pets is scheduled for Friday, October 4 at 9:45AM (directly following our 9AM morning mass). It will be held on our south campus green space. Our students will also receive a special visit from Harbor Humane Society who will demonstrate appropriate and respectful animal engagement – specifically dogs – for bite prevention. Please take a moment to browse their wish list. Harbor Humane is always in need of supplies to make sure they provide the best care possible to their animals. Harbor Human Society Amazon LINK Francis’ Fall Feast Fest will also include a FREE Hot Dog Lunch for all students who wish to have hot lunch on Friday October 4. Thank you to our Parish Festival for providing the hot dogs, Fricano family for donating potato chips and bottled water, and our lunch ladies for adding in fruit and a special dessert!! Lunch will be extended for all to include some fun fall themed games and activities on the playground.  Welcome to Happy Healthy You! This is 1 of 4 new electives offered to our 5-8th grade students meeting 2 days per week. This class is taught by Mrs. Derck and focuses on balancing mind, body, and soul. They will be studying and practicing nutrition, exploring forms of exercise, and learning from guest speakers focusing on social and emotional health. Each student participates in research, presentations, exercise, trying healthy recipes, and journaling.  Under the direction of Bishop Walkowiak, leaders of all 31 of our Catholic schools will facilitate weekly formation in Theology of the Body with faculty from all grade levels and subject areas. This study is an ongoing formation that further prepares our educators to teach about being made in the image & likeness of God. See the Office of Catholic School’s announcement HERE. St Mary’s faculty is five sessions into our formation in Saint Pope John Paul’s Theology of the Body. This week we examined the question, “Why does God reveal himself?” and learned that His revelation is the “bubbling over” of the abundant love found in the Trinity.
While His revelation remains somewhat a mystery, we learned from Saint Pope John Paul’s teaching that it’s a happy mystery of endless beauty, truth and goodness. As our teachers study this material, Diocesan religion curriculum is being updated to include Theology of the Body Standards.  We are always interested in growing the list of guest teachers who could fill in for short and long term teacher absences. If you are interested and have completed 90+ hours of post secondary education, we would love to talk with you about opportunities to substitute teach in our school. VIRTUS training is also required, but we can help connect you with upcoming sessions. Please call 616.842.1282 and make an appointment with Ms. Doyle to begin your guest teaching journey at St. Mary School.
Our students certainly practiced the virtues GENEROSITY and KINDNESS for our Hurricane Dorian Relief Penny Drive Fundraiser. They were excited to add coins earned doing chores at home to help families in the Bahamas living with uncertainty. We studied the work of St. Peter Claver and found a link between his work and the call to be virtuous in our “concrete actions.” $869.10 was collected and will be sent to Catholic Relief Services.  If at all possible, please join your St. Mary’s family as we celebrate the liturgy together this Sunday at the 9 a.m. Mass. Students should come in MASS UNIFORM to show their school pride and identify themselves as St. Mary’s students. You will see/hear St. Mary’s School’s presence in the Mass, and we will be looking for student volunteers to help distribute tokens of appreciation to parishioners. We hope many of our school families will stay for coffee and donuts to serve as ambassadors for our school. The faculty and administration will be in attendance, and we all look forward to seeing you and your students there. Fifth-eighth grade students will be singing in the choir for this liturgy. Ms. Draeger requests they arrive at 8:40 Sunday morning and report to the choir area.  St. Mary's School Penny Drive Fundraiser begins today in response to Bishop Walkowiak's request to support relief efforts in the Bahamas. Our students have been asked to exercise the virtues of generosity and kindness to meet this need. Prayer for disaster relief: God of hope and mercy, we lift up to you all victims of natural disasters and those responding with assistance and aid. Protect all who are in any form of danger; provide practical help to those in need; strengthen the weary, console the grieving, heal the suffering; and bless those engaged in disaster relief efforts with safety and courage. Help all people of good will respond with compassion and generous hearts. Amen.  THANK YOU!!! A BIG SHOUT OUT to St. Mary's Student Council for purchasing 2 new microwaves for our food service department. Our kitchen staff is using one to help with food preparation, and the other is for our students to use in the lunchroom. Thank you families for your contributions throughout this past year supporting our Student Council sponsored $1 jeans days   Sign up for as few as 1 specific day only or the entire school year - your choice! Daily playground help is needed from 11:40am - 12:30pm. PLAYGROUND VOLUNTEER SIGN UP HERE… https://www.signupgenius.com/…/8050B4DAFAA2AA1FB6-playground You choose the day/s you can help on the sign up genius link above! Volunteers will need to sign-in/sign-out at the school office where they will be given a specific assignment prior to joining the children on the playground. Volunteers must be Virtus trained (for information on Virtus, please visit our website at https://www.stmarysl.org/virtus-information.html)   How pleased Jesus must have been as St. Mary’s students entered His house this past Friday in their Mass uniforms. Thank you for making the effort and purchases necessary to meet dress code. We hope you have appreciated our reminders these last two weeks. We will begin enforcing the dress code according to the policy you signed at the start of the year on Monday.
https://www.stmarysl.org/dress-code---st-marys-school.html Start the new school year off right by erasing your library fines! Spring Lake District Library overdue fines ($10 max) will be waived for youth under the age of 18 during the month of September. They also offer FREE replacement cards during the month of September.  NWEA MAP assessments, the system wide interim testing suite required by the Diocese of Grand Rapids, will be administered to our first through eighth grade students over the next four weeks. These online assessments in Reading, Language Usage, Math, and Science* provide a personalized assessment experience for your child, one that adapts to your child’s level of learning. If your child answers a question correctly, the next question is more challenging. If the answer is incorrect, the next question is easier. In this way, this adaptive test provides a unique experience for each student that results in a detailed picture of what your child knows and is ready to learn. Due to the online nature of MAP assessments, results are immediate and accurate, helping teachers to identify the strength and growth opportunities for each child in their classrooms. Results from this first testing window will help our teachers plan meaningful instruction and set goals to meet the needs of each St. Mary’s student. Students will take one test per week. You can help by ensuring a good night sleep, a nutritious breakfast everyday, and providing a water bottle for hydration. If absences can be avoided during these weeks, we would really appreciate it. *First grade takes only Reading and Math assessments.  We are so excited to have our middle school elective program underway. Fifth through eighth grade students were presented with four elective choices from which they could choose: Science Emporium, Happy, Healthy You, Journalism and Debate Club. On Wednesday, students gathered together around their common interests to begin exploration of these personal passions of our middle school teachers. Electives classes will meet twice a week all year as students dig deep into these areas of study. It will be exciting to see how these students share their learning with the school and you as the year goes on! Stay tuned...  |
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November 2019
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Parish Address
St. Mary's Catholic Church 406 E. Savidge Street. Spring Lake, MI 49456 Phone (616) 842-1702 
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School Address
St. Mary's Catholic School 430 E. Savidge Street. Spring Lake, MI 49456 (616) 842-1282 
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