Encountering Christ

Thank you all for joining me on Friday at the Ringling for some time to rest, reflect, enjoy good company, see the beauty of God's creation, and hopefully have a moment where you encountered Christ.  From the smiles and the kind words shared by many, I believe it was a good day, and my only regret is that I don't know how to top this one next year.  I hope you all learned something you didn't know.  I learned from Darien how to remember the symbols for each evangelist.  I learned from Anabel that there is a symbol of the Gates of Hell in the Triumph of Divine Love painting, and that Monsignor Carruthers and I love the Blue Madonna (as do many others).  He also shared a great story about his connection with that painting.  It was a great day, and I hope you hold onto some of the peace you felt that day as we return to school tomorrow.  

On Tuesday, we will have an AED machine installed in the Angel's Wing at 2 pm.  There will then be a brief presentation and photo op with the MS PLC group at 2:15.   

Thursday, there will be vision screening.  Gail will let you know the schedule.  

Finally, Friday is Trunk or Treat.  Setup begins at 5:30 pm and you will want to be sure your car is out of the parking lot by 6:15.  

Have a Triumphant Week!

  

The Forgotten Way

 I sat down this afternoon to write my blog and read a book instead.  It wasn't very long, and I skimmed through some of it.  The book is The Forgotten Way by Matthew Kelly.  The premise of the book is that you can transform your life and grow in holiness by changing the way you speak.  The Forgotten Way is the St. James Master Plan described in the Book of James, particularly James 3:2, "for we all fall short in many respects.  If anyone does not fall short in speech, he is a perfect man."  The Camino Pilgrimage, or Way of St. James, is a physical experience that requires commitment.  The Forgotten Way is the inner Camino.  What St. James tells us is that we can become saints by governing our speech.  It allows us to remain aligned with God.  

We all know how words can build up or they can tear down, and Matthew Kelly says that some of the most evil words are gossip.  I agree.  This Thursday, I am putting on the full armor of God, and bringing back the Principal's Coffee.  I asked parents to tell me their one burning question or concern ahead of time, and I would speak on the one issue that many seem to have and then take questions.  What is most interesting is that some people have shared with me that they hear many parents are unhappy and angry.  As of this morning, only 14 parents have signed up and most of their questions are simple and can be answered by reading the handbook (what is our bullying policy) or Tidbits (how does the parish support the school and what is the security update) or the Website (where are the school financials).  No one seems unhappy or angry, but I also understand that some work and cannot attend, or they would rather participate in gossip than be part of the solution.  Some did not have a question or concern, they just want to come because they are invested in the school and want to be part of the solution.  

The idea of governing our speech is something you can also share with the students.  Even the youngest can understand how words can hurt.  Here is something I read in the book that I thought was perfect to say to a child.  Engage the brain before opening your mouth, and more importantly, engage your soul.  Tell the students to think before they speak.  What will be the impact of my words on someone else and on myself?  If Jesus was standing next to me (and he is), what would he think of my words?   This is much more profound then telling them to be nice.  

Ponder this as you finish up your day.  As we learned this weekend at Mass, we are all missionaries, called to proclaim the Good News.  Let us share our positive words with our students, parents, and each other.  

We have a short week.  Boo grams continue and the Holy Card for tomorrow is St. Carlo Acutis.  Please check that is what the students in free dress have.  Friday is our retreat and I will be sharing more details this week.  

Have a beautiful week!

Fall is Here!

 Good afternoon and Happy Sunday!  The Fall Season is upon us, even though it still feels like August outside, and with it comes Boo Grams.  Please be sure that either your classroom rep (grades 4-8) or another member of the student council is in your classroom selling boo grams from 7:30 to 7:45 am.  If no one is available on any given day during that time, please let Mr. Brozak know.  

This week, the priests will all be away Tuesday-Thursday which means we will not have a full Mass on Wednesday.  We will still go to church and one of the Deacons will lead a communion service.  This is a good opportunity to explain the difference to students.  The service should take about 30 minutes. 

Thursday is picture re-take day and the day for 8th graders to have their cap and gown pictures taken.  Also, any student new to the school since our first picture day will have their picture taken.  

Friday I will be at a principal meeting and this coming weekend is Uniform Weekend.  Please remind your students.  

If you did not read Tidbits last week, please read the Principal's Points.  It will give you some insight to the fundraiser we are doing in November.  I will elaborate on Tuesday at our faculty meeting.  

Lastly, just a reminder about a topic I talked about during pre-planning.  I said it would not take effect until September because we did not have our spirit shirts yet, and there were some new teachers, but this is what the handbook says:

"Teachers may choose to pay for Friday Jean Days by Sept. 1. The fee is $25, which helps to support the hospitality budget. Teachers may only wear jeans with the school navy polo available at Risse Brothers or a school spirit shirt. The same rule applies to all school jean days."  

If you wish to wear jeans on Fridays or any jean day, you must wear the polo or any of the school spirit shirts.  

Thank you, and have a wonderful week.  

The Calm AFTER the Storm

That's how this weekend felt.  The storm has passed and we made it!  First, I want to thank everyone who played a part in making Friday such an enormous success.  The show was fantastic!!  I received so many compliments from Grandpeople saying how much they enjoyed it.  The credit goes to everyone who made it happen, including all the students who gave it their all.  The bad news.... it was an enormous success.  Thankfully, we have a year to decide what to do next.  

Enjoy the calm this week as not much is happening.  Teachers will meet Tuesday afternoon to continue the CIPA discussion.  

Have a wonderful, calm week!  

Brighten Our World...

 ... with Books! That's the theme of this year's book fair. Books brighten my world, and often, I wish I had more time to read the many books sitting on my shelf. I guess that's what retirement is for, so they will sit there a bit longer.  

Every week, I ponder what topic I will address in my blog. Today, I received an email, and then I knew what to talk about.  Last week, two teachers shared what they were doing before pushing the send button.  One was an email, and the other was a demerit.  The one about the demerit led to a great conversation and a review of what was in the MS Handbook vs. the Parent/Student Handbook.  These conversations are important, so I am not blindsided if a parent has a concern, and I can support the teacher if I am part of the process.  Another good practice is to cc me on a response to a parent concern so they know that I am part of the process.  Many of you do this already, but I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for keeping me in the loop and why it is so important.  

As far as this week goes, hold onto your hats, it's book fair week!  Please refer to Tidbits to see the schedule for when your class will go to the book fair.  There is no preview day for students. They will go once to shop with their class.  They will have other opportunities to go with parents or grandparents.  I'm not sure if the expectation is that the whole class attends during their scheduled time, since there is no preview, or if it's only students with money.  Please watch for an email from Yesenia for more details.  You can also find the plan for Grandparents Day in tidbits.  I will send more details about that during the week in terms of encore classes, etc.  

Friday afternoon, all teachers will meet at 1 pm for professional development.  I have invited a speaker from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office to give a presentation on active shooters using a new program called Alert, using a practice called ADD.  No longer is it run, hide, fight.  It is now: Avoid, Deny, Defend.  After listening to the trainer discuss this new system, I can see how the practice of avoiding makes much more sense for our campus than running.  Please think about the questions you have, as there will be a Q&A session after the presentation which is about one hour.  This training is for teachers, but if anyone else would like to join us you are welcome, just let me know so I have an idea of how many are attending.  After this presentation, Mary will begin the discussion of what we need to do this year for CIPA.  This discussion may continue to next Tuesday's faculty meeting, depending on how far we get on Friday.  

That's the week in a nutshell.  Have a great rest of your Sunday and a fabulous week!

Finding Joy in Your Cross

 Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and in his homily, Fr. Primus talked about how each of us carries a cross.  It may be our children, our husband (yes), a sickness, our job, etc.  Then he said we should also find joy in the cross that we bear.  I sometimes feels like my job is a very big cross to carry, and then I look at pictures like the ones in this Sunday's bulletin.  If you didn't see it, go look.  There is my joy. Laughing with middle schoolers and hugging kindergarteners.  The children bring so much joy, and I hope that all of you feel the same.  I have to imagine this is why we keep showing up for work each day, the joy they bring us.  

And speaking of Mass... Today's holy card is the Guardian Angel card.  If a student is in free dress, they must show you a Guardian Angel holy card.  Do not take it from them, but remind them to save them all for a special gift at the end of the school year.  If it is not a Guardian Angel card, ask them what happened.  At 7:30 Fr. Primus ran out, and he may have given out a few different cards.  If they look like "oops, I've been caught," ask the student (age appropriate) what Mass they went to and who the priest was.  You can always check that on the church calendar.  

Teachers, please read Tidbits to see what I wrote about Grandparents Day.  If you are planning to have food for the visitors, remember that you are responsible for reaching out to your HR parent to get what you need.  PTCO is not organizing it as many classes did not want food.  Also, parents are not permitted to attend in place of a grandparent/friend.  If a parent says anything to you, please direct them to me.  

Two items were discussed at our administrators' meeting Friday.  The first was that we will no longer be using the Bully Report form when someone complains about being bullied.  They are finalizing a Google Form that will be called a Concern Form so that anyone can bring a concern without it having to be labeled as bullying.  I will share the form with you once it is completed.  

The second item was supervision/recess and law enforcement.  Chris talked about a specific incident that took place at recess.  One student said the name of a type of weapon, like uzi machine gun.  The sentence could have been I saw a picture in a magazine of an uzi machine gun.  But, of course, only bits and pieces were heard, and you know how the game telephone goes.  Next thing you know, the police are on campus.  Here's the issue.  Every student on that playground heard at least one version of the gun story, from it was nothing to he's bringing a gun to school, and five students heard at least three different versions.  Guess who heard nothing?  None of the adults on the playground knew anything. The outcome of the story?  No one got arrested.  It was a harmless conversation.  

This is just a reminder of why it is so important to always be vigilant and why it's not enough to see the students; we must put ourselves among them and be aware.  Some of you do a great job of this during homeroom. I see you walking around the room and engaging with the children.  You don't even have to talk.  Just listen.  It's amazing the things you will hear.  

Don't forget Friday is Marvelous Mustang and have a fantastic week!

God's Influencer

 In a time when it is cool to be an "influencer" on social media, it is so much cooler to be known as God's Influencer.  I'm not sure if it's still cool to use the word cool, but I think it's SUPER cool.  Today, we celebrate Carlo, the first millennial saint and God's Influencer.   

Over the years, I have been handed petitions signed by students, and most found their way into the trash.  But our 4th graders created a beautiful and amazing petition.  A BIG hats off to our 4th graders who signed this petition!

He had a purpose here on Earth, and his purpose will continue now that he is in heaven.  

I will keep this brief, as I know last week was a lot.  Just some reminders for this week:

• Next weekend is Holy Card weekend. Please remind the students to go to Mass in their uniforms
• I will be at the Bethany Center on Friday
• Submit field trip requests soon as buses are being booked up quickly
• Mary will send details about this week's PLC tomorrow

Lastly, afternoon carline has been going long, which is why Mary has been making some adjustments.  On Thursday and Friday, I was in the hallway during dismissal, and there were three things I noticed that were delaying students from getting outside.  The first was the Wifi going down.  I am going to log into PikMyKid this week and see if I can narrow down the exact times that happens to give John the details so we can hopefully fix that.  Second thing is that teachers were not necessarily seeing what the person outside can see on their phones.  This may be related to the Wifi going down, as inside we rely on that, and outside they have cell service.  Third is students leaving the room, but either not knowing where to go or going the wrong way.  The students who did best were in rooms where the teacher was at or near the door so they could see PikMyKid (on the cleartouch or another device) and watch how the students exited.  Other successes in moving the students quickly are having students gather their things and line up at the door when they are announced, so they are ready to go when it's time.  Let's work together to shorten our carline time and implement these best practices.  

I'm not sure that was brief, but have an awesome week!