St. Luke Light
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March 25, 2021FROM MRS. BUHRMAN
Dear St. Luke Community,
As we approach the end of this year, I ask that we all take a deep breath and give thanks to God for all we have accomplished. As I watch the news, many schools are being celebrated for “opening up”. They are being heralded for their bravery and ingenuity and support for the children. I am very happy for these communities, but I am also proud of our community. We have been doing this all year. Together, we accomplished the impossible; being open all year. I am so excited for the commitment and level of cooperation that was dedicated to make this happen. I am so grateful for our teachers, who pushed aside fear and exhaustion to provide for the emotional and educational needs of our children. We all have the same goal; to provide the best for our children. If we keep this goal in mind, we will continue to be successful in all our endeavors.
I would like to direct your attention to emotional exhaustion. This year has been physically and emotionally exhausting. We are coming out of probably the scariest year of our lives, but so have our children. It is crucial that we team up to provide the emotional support our children are going to need, as we resume more normalcy. We will be sending out a survey, so we can prepare to meet our student needs. We also want to make sure that our communication is open, so we can meet the more private needs that may have arisen as a result of this trying year. Let’s keep our hearts connected, as we combine forces to keep providing the very best for our children.
We have many traditions at St. Luke toward the end of the year. We really love our traditions, so we are putting all of our resources and creative thinking to make our traditions a reality this year. Please be mindful that planning and executing events takes a lot of coordination and cooperation like we have never seen before. We ask that you please be patient, as we plan these events. We also ask that you trust us and know that we are doing our very best to make these traditions a reality.
As we complete planning, we will be communicating with thorough details for each event. I would like to reiterate that we are continuing our safety plan to accommodate the safety of our children. Although many of us are vaccinated, or feeling safer, our children are not vaccinated. We ask that you continue to support our efforts for safety by wearing a mask when on campus, and adhering to our requests for safety. Our only intent on keeping tight restrictions, is for the safety of all of our community. I sincerely thank you for your continued support of our safety protocols. Thank you.
Please continue to read our letters and emails that go out. We are doing our best to communicate thoroughly with you all, and frankly, strong communication is the best way to understand each other and the expectations.
Thank you so much for your continued support! This year will continue to help us grow stronger, smarter, and more grateful for the small joys in life.
Nadine Buhrman
COUNSELOR’S CORNER . . .
SCAFFOLD PARENTING - HELPING KIDS ADJUST TO POST-PANDEMIC LIFE
In his book, The Scaffold Effect: Raising Resilient, Self-Reliant, and Secure Kids in an Age of Anxiety, Dr. Harold Koplewicz, MD, president of the Child Mind Institute, draws on research and clinical expertise to guide parents in developing a strategy called “scaffold parenting”. The three pillars of scaffolding are support, structure, and encouragement.
To scaffold a child for social reentry over the coming months, Dr. Koplewicz recommends the following steps:- Support them with empathy, validation, and intervention
- Structure routines and schedules to give a child a sense of security
- Most importantly, encourage kids to get back into the social fray via exposure to human interaction
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2021/02/18/covid-19-return-normal-may-me an-scaffolding-parenting-help-kids/6781737002/
The Mother Teresa Society is sponsoring 40 Days for Cans for Lent, benefitting Catholic Charities. They will distribute the canned food to people in need, and right now, there are LOTS of people in our city who need food.
We want to bring in LOTS of canned goods! So, the grade level that brings in the most cans by Friday, April 9 will win an Easter Egg Hunt. We’ll even have a Golden Egg with a special surprise. Boxes will be provided in each homeroom, so let’s fill them up!
A LOOK AHEAD…
April 1, Cardboard Kids Reveal Day
April 1, Holy Thursday, Noon Dismissal, No After-school Care
April 2, Good Friday, No School
April 5, Easter Monday, No School
