May 11, 2023
May 11, 2023
Dear SJB Families,
During this past week, the willingness of families to come together to help and give of time, talents, and treasures has been outstanding. It is definitely noticed, valued, and appreciated as well as underscores one of our core values, Embraced by Community. During this week, Teacher Appreciation Week, there have been so many people who have been giving from behind the scenes by donating snacks for our teachers, coming to school and setting up a Taco Bar and Grab and Go Breakfasts, etc. A special shout out goes to Marry Valladolid for making and donating the tacos for the Taco Tuesday Bar. Thank you to Kathy Barrett for her early morning visits to ensure that everything is set for our teachers and staff to be treated to the many treats this week, and to Monica Barton for her help with prepping the Taco Bar! Student Council also got into the action and provided our teachers with an ice cream social. The made to order sundaes were delivered by our President and Vice President this afternoon. I understand that the teachers are in for a special gift tomorrow. Thank you in advance to Angela Spencer for all her work in preparing the gifts and to our parents for your generosity! We are also so grateful for our many chaperones for the Kindergarten –second grade field trip to Brookfield Zoo tomorrow and all who have chaperoned the fourth – eighth grade fishing field trips to Winfield’s Oakwood Pond last week and this week. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts!
Our fishing field trips this week and last week were a huge success. All totaled during the week, 345 fish were caught and released! We were blessed with beautiful weather this year. A HUGE thank you goes to Mrs. Norton for providing this unit of study and coordinating the field trips. Thank you also to the following staff members who accompanied and assisted the 4th – 8th grade fishing trips: Mrs. Murray, Mrs. Redar, Mr. Valenta, Mrs. Pierscionek, Miss Martin, Mr. Schwarting, Mr. Zagotta, and Mrs. Norton. Thank you to our parent chaperones! Without you, fishing wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you parents, for taking your children to Oakwood pond and leaving us with your child’s backpack. We so appreciate the extra efforts put forth to make these trips happen and to be able to continue the tradition of our PE fishing trips in grades 4-8.
Our first Muffins with Mom was hit on Monday. Our original idea to host this event for our mothers of preschoolers began in 2020, and due to the pandemic, we haven’t been able to hold it until this past week. What a blessing it was to have the mothers in our school as they enjoyed spending time with their preschoolers playing Tic Tac Toe, coloring, hearing the recitation of “If You Give a Mom a Muffin,” see a darling song performed by our three and four year old classes, and of course eating muffins, pastries, and donut holes. Thank you to Mrs. Reed, Mrs. Beardsley, and Mrs Fuhrmann, for all your preparation for this special event. We are thankful for all the mothers who were able to come and take part in this special time, and can’t wait to do it again next year.
Last Friday, we were fortunate to have Dr. Sunshine Silver visit our eighth grade class as part of our partnership with the American Chemical Society and the American Association of Chemistry Teachers.
The students had the opportunity to ask her about her work as a Chemist and Professor. She shared about the importance of safety in the lab with Chemistry as well as many other experiences. The students had so many questions for her and were intent as they listened to her responses.
In addition our Kindergarten students learned how companies package and ship items, specifically fragile items. They also discussed the handling of these packages. They were provided a small corrugated cardboard box. Their challenge was to protect a raw egg when the box is dropped from the roof of our school. The drop took place last Friday, and 17 out of 25 eggs survived! It was fun to watch each box being dropped and the children weigh in on which eggs survived the drop. Thank you, Mrs. Gudanick, for providing this experience, and thank you to all the parents and family member who came to the egg drop!
We continue to honor Mary, our Queen Mother during this month. After Mass on Tuesday, we met in Faith Families and our Eighth Grade Faith Family Leaders explained what a litany is and then led the Litany to our Blessed Virgin Mary. It was a beautiful devotion to Mary and a special time to gather together and pray in our Faith Families. Tomorrow afternoon, we will gather together to pray the Rosary in the Mary Garden, weather permitting.
Our eighth grade students will be honored at the end of our All School Mass on Tuesday with the Ribbon Mass. They will receive their class ribbons which brings them one step closer to graduation and are highly symbolic as a representation of their spiritual, academic, and collective growth while students at St. John the Baptist Catholic School. The Graduation Mass is on Thursday, May 18 at 8:15 AM in church, followed by the Awards breakfast and ceremony. Graduation takes place later that night at 7:00 PM in church. Please keep our eighth grade students in your prayers during their memorable last days at SJB! They will have Color Wars next week as well as the 7th/8th grade Dance on Tuesday, May 16 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM. To learn more about these wonderful student leaders, I encourage you to visit the St. John the Baptist Facebook page. One eighth grade student is featured each day. Several of our eighth grade students have mentioned the fun they had at the skating party this year. Please don’t forget that we have another scheduled for Wednesday, May 24 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM at Funway in Batavia. See the posting for more details. Don’t miss the fun!
The SJB Theater Department presents Snow White and the 7 Endings this weekend. Everyone has worked so hard on it; it surely will not disappoint. Please consider supporting the play and seeing the talent that exists at SJB while learning from the forest dwellers what really happened to Snow White. I hope to see you at one of the performances – Friday (tomorrow) at 7:00 PM in St. Cecilia Hall; 1:30 PM on Saturday, or 6:30 PM. Tickets can be purchased here: www.showtix4u.com/events/SJBTheater Limited tickets will be available at the door. Online sales end 24 hours before each performance. You will also be able to purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win amazing prizes. There are baskets with everything from weekend getaways to tickets to the Symphony and Improv tickets. There is also a raffle for a fantastic portable bar. We truly appreciate your support of the production! Thank you to all who purchased Nachos today during lunch! 94 orders were sold!
Our Field Day plans for grades K-7 are underway and will take place on Wednesday, May 24. The day will begin with Mass with Deacon Alex. He actually will be a newly ordained priest when we meet. We will also be engaged in filling Alex bags as a service project after Mass and there will be a speaker about the project. We can still use more volunteers for the afternoon Field Day stations. If you are able to help Mrs. Norton, please email Mrs. Norton at PNorton@sjbwinfield.org. Thank you so much for your consideration! As a reminder, lunch will be complimentary for our students and staff. Hotdog forms are due by Wednesday, May 17. .
As the school year comes to a close, please consider donating any outgrown uniforms to our SJB School Uniform Closet. Currently we are only accepting donations as we sort through and organize what we have. The Uniform Closet will open in August and anyone is able to take what they need or swap sizes (kids grow like crazy!)
Feel free to send in donations to the office. We will also have bins at school morning drop off and afternoon pick up starting this Friday. Please see the donation schedule below.
School office drop-off available starting now.
Morning drop off / Afternoon Pickup: Friday, May 12th
Morning drop off / Afternoon Pickup: Friday, May 19th
The Parent Club is seeking members of the '23 - 24 SJB Welcome Committee. If you would like to join the SJB New Student Welcome Committee, please complete the form with your information, the link is provided below. This committee helps welcome new families to our school. Welcome Committee Volunteers will be matched with new families based on kid grades, neighborhood, etc.
Welcoming are new families takes place during the summer. You will be contacted when help is needed. You will be provided with Family information: names, kid grades, phone number and addresses. You will then be asked to reach out to the new families and set up a time for a meet and greet. During the meet and greet you will be given a sign for the new family to display in their yard and ask that you take a photo to share with the school and possibly Face Book.
LINK: https://forms.gle/VnjNZhrKtHWBDxvm7
As we close this year and prepare for the upcoming school year, Student Council elections for President and Vice President took place yesterday. I am pleased to announce that our Student Council President for next year will be Robert Woodbury and our Vice-President will be Aubrey Silva. Congratulations to Robert and Aubrey! Thank you to all who ran for an officer of Student Council and all who participated in voting in the elections.
As you can see, the end of the year is filled with activity and many blessings. What a wonderful time of the year and time to be a SJB Wildcat!
I can’t close without wishing a Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers in the SJB family! How you touch the lives of our children is indeed evident and cherished. We pray that our Blessed Mother will intercede for your intentions, wrap her mantle of care and protection around you, and lavish abundant blessings upon you.
May everyone have a fabulous week!
With joy,
Joanne