March 9, 2023
March 9, 2023
Dear SJB families,
Sacramental preparation is a blessed and remarkable part of our school. On Saturday, our students preparing for First Eucharist attended, accompanied by family members, the First Eucharist Workshop. The workshop was orchestrated by Maureen Brennan and Kathie Brewer and included stations where participants made decorative plates, went on a church tour, learned about the Last Supper, made unleavened bread, and took part in a music workshop. It was a beautiful morning of meaningful activities. Thank you to Mia Grantz (8) and Jack Marsden (8), and Miss Policht for being a part of the workshop and many thanks to all who made the workshop possible.
Thank you to all of you who attended the playoff games last Saturday. It was wonderful to have St. John fans in the stands cheering. The support for the teams under the direction of Coaches Jim Cabrera, Tony Zagotta, Charles Stith, Mike Roldan, and Joel Huerta is greatly appreciated. Our sixth grade boys’ team will be playing in the Championship game since they defeated the second place team. They play on Saturday at 2:00 PM at St. Francis High School! Let’s fill the stands and show our support by wearing our school colors! Congratulations to our eighth grade boys’ team and sixth grade girls’ team on their fourth and third place finishes, respectively! All of our players played with heart and played hard last weekend and throughout the season. We are so proud of them -it was a great basketball season! Thank you to all the parents who worked at the playoff games at SJB. Thank you for your gift of time! We made quite a profit during the last two weekends. A special shout out goes to Erica Cabrera for coordinating and organizing concessions, donations, and volunteers for the season and the playoff games. We are so appreciate of everyone’s time, service, and support.
This is a reminder that our next early release day is on Wednesday, March 15. We will dismiss at 1:30 PM, and there is no extended care. Our teachers will continue working on their curriculum maps, discuss our book study, Christ the Liturgy, and plan for the 2022-23 school year. Don’t forget about our Parent Club sponsored Roller Skating Party which is also next Wednesday, March 15, from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM at Funway in Batavia! It will be sure to be a fantastic time of fun! Please see the posting for more details.
Next Friday, March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, so we are having a green dress down day . Please be reminded that next Friday is also the last date to qualify for Early Bird Registration and lock in this year’s tuition rate for students in K-8. Don’t forget that you will need to pay the family registration fee of $150 and one month’s tuition, which will be applied towards the July 2023-24 billing, and allow for the 2022-23 tuition rates. Please see the flyer in posting for full details.
Please see information in the posting about the Parent Club Spring Fundraiser. Once again, the beautiful flowers from Roden’s Elegant Gardens will be sold. I have purchased each year that the hanging baskets and planters have been sold and have not been disappointed! Orders are due with payment to St. John the Baptist on March 24. Flowers will arrive in time for Mother’s Day.
Here’s a shout-out to Mrs. Gudanick’s kindergarten and Mrs. Redar’s fifth grade classes. As a Lenten service project, they helped make the utensil packets for the Knights of Columbus Fish Fry. The Knights do so much for our school, it was just a little way that we could give back and to provide a little love. As a reminder, the Knights of Columbus Fish Fry is tomorrow. Last Friday, there were so many SJB families at the Fish Fry. It was a great night of delicious food, fun, and fellowship. If you can’t make it tomorrow, they are hosting one each Friday in Lent except on Good Friday. Some of our JH students will also be helping. Please see the posting for more details.
Service projects are in the air. Even our littlest learners did a service project. They helped fill Easter eggs for an organization that reached out to Mrs. Brennan, and Mrs. Reed’s three year olds helped answer the call! Students in Kindergarten through second grade are doing extra chores this Lent, and the money earned will be used to support the DuPage Humane Society. Our sixth – eighth grade students went to Feed My Starving Children in Aurora yesterday and packed 108 boxes which means 23,328 meals during their session! Their work will feed 64 children for a year at a cost of $6,765.12. The challenge is on for the third – fifth grade classes on Tuesday, when they will attend. Thank you to the following chaperones for your gift of time and help yesterday: Fr. Chris, Dawn Marsden, Mallory Silva, Lauren Weitz, Jessica Blitvich, Angela Murray, Tom Grantz, Jessica Owens, Dena Renzulli, Courtney Pena, Renata Roldan, and Mariu Bulyk. It indeed was a wonderful time of service!
Congratulations to Mr. Valenta! He is at the Future Science Leaders Conference, a three day conference. He is one of twenty educators in the country selected for this honor. I know that he will bring back new ideas to further strengthen our excellent JH science program.
There are many special events in which our students are participating beginning tomorrow. Please pray for our eighth grade students attending Regional Science Fair tomorrow afternoon at St. Francis University in Joliet. Also, please pray for our building Spelling Bee winners as they travel to LaGrange Park on Saturday for the Knights of Columbus District Spelling Bee, and for our sixth grade boys’ basketball team as they play in the Championship game. On Tuesday, March 14, our district Knights of Columbus free throw winners will be competing in the regional contest. We truly are blessed with amazing and talented students at SJB, and I know that they will represent us well!
Daylight Saving time begins on Sunday at 2:00 AM. Don’t forget to move your clock one hour ahead!
God bless and have a wonderful weekend,
Joanne