We hope you had a nice Thanksgiving break. We appreciate all of the sacrifices you made over the holidays to keep our children safe. We are trying our best to keep our school safe, so please, do everything in your power to keep Covid from coming onto our campus.
Please know that if you need to stay home due to exposure, or illness, it is a very easy transition to distance learning. We will continue with distance learning until it is safe for all children to come back on campus. We do not know when that will be, so for now, we will continue to do everything in our power to meet the needs of every student and every family. We are very proud of our accomplishments and team work so far, this year.
As the holidays approach, this is a good year to focus on the things that truly bring us joy. Joy is that happiness that comes from inside that is a true experience of the love of God. When you have joy in your heart and you share it with others, we share God’s love in such a personal and beautiful way. I find that gifts bring short term happiness, but not true joy. True joy is found when a child gives a genuine smile because they accomplished something wonderful. True joy is found when love is true in a friendship. True joy is found when we encounter God together.
We hope you will join us as we celebrate this season of Joy with the many activities we will have for our community. Although our events will look a little different, it is important that we provide opportunities for our children to still experience the joy of community. Starting on December 8, we will have a drive by Tree Lighting! PTC has put together a special evening of singing, lights, and a festive drive by to bring our community together. On December 11, PTC will sponsor another Drive in Movie night, Christmas themed movie, The Star, will be shown. We are also excited about the completion and ribbon cutting of our Blacktop Project, or the Jim Barlow Sports Complex. More information soon!
So, in short, let’s spread the Joy of God around together. Our love of God and each other is the perfect recipe to experience joy as God intended.
Nadine Buhrman COUNSELOR’S CORNER . . .
How to Ask What Kids are Feeling
Just like adults, kids have lots of feelings related to the uncertainty and stress of the pandemic. Talking about feelings with a trusted adult is a healthy coping skill that kids can use for managing difficult or “hard to have” feelings. To make it safe for kids to share their feelings, it is important for adults to listen, to validate feelings, and to be non-reactive and non-judgmental. A creative approach that parents might use to get kids to open up about their feelings is suggested in an article by the Child Mind Institute: With my kids, I suggest a game: Like a rose. It’s an icebreaker and it’s our thing. You start and model the game. There are three components to the rose. The petal: ‘Tell me something you liked about today.’ The thorn: ‘Tell me something you didn’t like.’ The bud: ‘Tell me something you’re looking forward to in the future.’ You have to model it to get a response. For additional suggestions on how adults can help kids handle uncomfortable feelings, click on the link below to read the entire article:
St. Luke will be hosting a career day the morning of Friday, February 5, 2021 during Catholic Schools Week. We are excited to be offering this experience to our entire student body. We are extending an invitation to parents who would like to make this day as fulfilling as possible.
Parent volunteers are needed to talk to our Pre-K 4 - 8th grade students about career choices and the kind of steps that must be taken in order to gain access into chosen careers. This will be a wonderful opportunity for our students to be introduced to the variety of careers that are available in our job market, and it will help them to begin to develop a plan for future endorsement studies in high school. (Endorsements consist of a related series of courses that are grouped together by interest or skill set: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), Business and Industry, Public Service, Arts and Humanities, and Multidisciplinary Studies).
If you are interested in being a presenter, please email Mrs. Quintanilla and/or Mrs. Lopez at [email protected] and [email protected] and provide us with the following information: details about your career grade(s) you prefer to present to (early childhood, elementary, middle school)
Each speaker will give a 10-15-minute presentation via Zoom. Speakers will be provided with an outline to follow in preparing your presentation. Thank you for your support of our school’s efforts to teach and guide students toward successful career choices.
Thank you, 5th Grade Team and School Counselors Thank you, Ortiz family and Ortiz Group, for sponsoring our teachers to receive virtue awards. Mrs. Garza, Mrs. Ozuna and Mrs. Medina were recognized for consistently demonstrating the virtue of Kindness during the month of November. PTC Movie Night Under the Stars. Fri., Dec. 11, 2020. Watch The Star in your car (lawn chairs permitted). Parking opens at 6:30 pm and movie will begin promptly at 7:30 pm. No late entry allowed. Snack packs purchase will benefit the Mother Teresa Society. Keep an eye on your email for the link to the ticket site. SUPPORT ST. LUKE WHEN YOU SHOP ON AMAZON
AmazonSmile has donated over $200 million to charities worldwide! You can help increase AmazonSmile donations to St. Luke School by shopping at smile.amazon.com or with AmazonSmile ON in the AmazonSmile Shopping app. Click HERE to learn how to activate AmazonSmile on your iPhone or Android.