WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
MARCH 26, 2018
First and second graders enjoy operetta performance
THIS WEEK'S NEWS AND EVENTS
LUNCH MENU + BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS
See the April lunch menu, which can also be found in ParentsWeb under Resource Documents. Likewise, the April list of birthday blessings is posted in ParentsWeb.
WHITE ROCK SPRING GAMES
Friday, March 30 is the final day to register for White Rock Spring Games, benefiting East Dallas schools. The games will take place Saturday, April 14 at Bishop Lynch and offer students in kindergarten through fifth grade fun and games, such as relays, tug-of-war and a new mystery game. Each St. John's entry fee will be donated back to the school. Get the details and register.
EASTER BREAK
St. John's will be closed for the Easter holiday Friday, March 30 through Monday, April 2, resuming classes on April 3. Have a blessed holiday.
CHURCH CLEAN UP
Help the church and campus we enjoy get ready for its "Sunday best" this Saturday, March 31. The campus clean-up will take place 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., and will offer an opportunity to earn service hours for students if needed. Contact Joe Dolen to R.S.V.P.
EASTER SERVICES AT ST. JOHN'S CHURCH
School families are invited to celebrate Easter with St. John's Church Sunday, April 1. There will be a reception following each service and nursery care will be available for children under five.
8:30 a.m. Said Holy Eucharist
10:30 a.m. Sung Holy Eucharist
Easter Egg Hunt following the 10:30 a.m. service on the playground.
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COMING UP
FLOWERING OF THE CROSS
On Tuesday, April 3 (the first day back from the Easter holiday), students will be given a flower as they come into chapel. They will be invited to approach the cross and place their flower as they reflect on the meaning of the Resurrection.
BOX TOPS DUE APRIL 3
Congratulations to Mr. Laffiteau's class, which collected 346 Box Tops in March and wins a free dress day! Second place went to Mrs. May with 261. Keep clipping those Box Tops and get them ready for our next collection on Tuesday, April 3.
CULTURE FEST NEXT FRIDAY
St. John's is recruiting families to share their heritage with the school community. Host a table at Culture Fest 2018 on Friday, April 6, 12:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Students will have the opportunity to explore and discover Culture Fest with their grade level. Please visit the Sign Up Genius to learn ways you can be involved. If you have any questions about Culture Fest, please contact Ms. Breeding.
CHURCH GARAGE SALE
St. John's Church is excited to send a team of 16 youth and adults to Uganda this summer for a mission trip through the Kellerman Foundation. On Saturday, April 14, the church will host a garage sale at the home of St. John's parent Heather McNeill to help raise money for the trip. Please consider donating gently-used sports equipment, clothing, household items, books and board games. Items may be dropped off in the breezeway at the McNeills' home until April 12. Please contact Heather if you have items that need to be picked up.
PRESIDENT'S PARTY
All donors who have contributed a cumulative total of $1,000 or more to St. John's this year should have received an invitation to join us for a wonderful evening Friday, April 20 at the home of Amy and Tim Laczkowski. Festivities include buffet dinner and entertainment provided by Rickey Gene Wright and Duck Creek Station, featuring our very own alumnus and beloved middle school art teacher Martin Delabano. It's not too late to be included. Contact Carol Graham via email or 214-328-9131 x124 for additional details.
SUMMER AT ST. JOHN'S
Construction Zone DIY (kinder - 5th)
If your child likes to work with real tools and build things, sign them up for Do It Yourself Construction Zone. Your child will create great projects for your home and yard while having a ton of fun. This camp will be held June 18-22 and July 9-13.
Sports Camps
We also have camps that will give your child a head start and lead the way to a great Middle School sports season. Join St. John's coaches to build skills to excel in the St. John's Middle School sports program. Camps include: basketball, flag football, volleyball and soccer. Join the fun! Register today.
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
This year's theme is Splash Canyon: God's Promise on Life's Wild Ride! Life is full of thrills and spills. We may not know what's around the bend, but God does! At Splash Canyon, kids discover that when life is a wild ride, Jesus is by our side. VBS is for children ages 4 to 12, who will enjoy many fun things to do including sing alongs, crafts, games and snacks. Registration fee of $20.00 per child. For more information, please contact Jenee Echard.
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STUDENT NEWS
MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS HONORED WITH PENGUIN AWARD
At St. John's, we guide students to discover a passion for learning and for life, teaching compassion, creativity, exploration and collaboration. We are dedicated to supporting the growth of our students throughout their time with us, which is often the result of trying something new, giving extraordinary effort, and acting with an attitude of discovery.
To recognize these traits, we have adopted the Penguin Award, awarded to two students from each Middle School grade each trimester. The recipients have shown they are willing to plunge into a new project, topic, subject, assignment or area of study. Through their actions, they have been an inspiration to others, and they have demonstrated qualities we value in our graduates, such as tenacity, resiliency, optimism and genuine curiosity. We congratulate the following students, who were honored in chapel.
Fifth grade
Vaughn Hale
Will Moore
Sixth grade
Susie Fagelman
Drew Lamberson
Seventh grade
Cole Milkereit
James Porter
Eighth grade
Jack DeGroote
Ellie Phillips
TOUCHING THE BERLIN WALL
One of the sites toured extensively during the eighth grade Washington, D.C. trip was the Newseum, a dynamic, engaging, interactive museum of news. Among the Newseum's treasures is the Berlin Wall gallery, telling the story of how news and information helped topple a closed society. Featured are eight 12-foot-high concrete sections of the original wall, the largest display of unaltered portions outside of Germany. At right, all St. John's eighth grade German students pose with Dr. Venable in front of a portion of the wall.
VISITING AUTHOR
Caldecott Honor-winning author Aaron Reynolds will visit with Lower School students on Thursday, May 3. Book order forms were sent home today for those who wish to purchase a book for him to sign the day he visits. Book orders must be returned no later than Monday, April 9. If you've previously purchased any of Mr. Reynolds' books, your student may bring up to two for the author to sign. More details later.
BUDDY DAY WITH A TEXAS THEME
Students met with their buddies last Thursday to write information and draw pictures about our great state of Texas to share with the children of Bwindi in Uganda. St. John's church and school have partnered to provide Change for Africa through the Kellermann Foundation. Families have been encouraged to donate their pocket change in support of this meaningful outreach. Students were creative in their approaches and had lots of fun together sharing their thoughts about their home state.
OPERA VISIT
As part of the Fort Worth Opera Company's Apprentice Program, first and second grade students saw "The Ugly Duckling," a children's operetta. These short performances are based on story books and introduce opera at a young age. The apprentice program offers training for emerging opera singers, while providing positive arts experiences to students throughout North Texas. The students were captivated.
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PARENT ORGANIZATIONS
CRUSADER CLUB BREAKFAST
Join the Crusader Club for breakfast Friday, April 6, 7:30 a.m. in Owen Gym. Come for a Barbec's breakfast and learn about the upcoming golf tournament. Please note: this is a business meeting (no students).
CRUSADER CLUB GOLF CLASSIC
Save the date for the 17th annual golf tournament the Friday, May 11 at Stevens Park Golf Club. Registration will open soon. Plan to spend a morning on the links with friends in support of St. John's.
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CHAPLAIN'S CORNER
There are few purer joys in the world than seeing a young student's face light up with the joy of learning something new. Only slightly less welcome is the troubled look on their faces immediately before that, when they have been challenged and are working through a difficult problem. Teachers and parents know that the challenge itself is never the end of the story, and that the learning which comes afterward is worth the struggle. At St. John's, our students discover every day that they are capable of tenacity and high achievement.
This same dynamic appears in our chapel readings for this week. In the church calendar, this week is called "Holy Week," the week we celebrate Jesus' death. More specifically, the way that death was not the end of Jesus' story but that he came alive again after three days, conquering death for all time for all who believe in him. It's a story of tenacity and achievement; it's a story that feels troubling along the way, but is followed by the light and relief of learning that "He is risen indeed!"
Parents, be advised that our chapel services this week will tell the story of the death of Jesus. While we won't dwell on all the gory details, it is still an emotionally intense week, and the story will not be emotionally resolved until Easter Day itself. Students may pick up, consciously or unconsciously, on the feelings of heaviness and grief that accompany the readings this week. It might be a good week to walk through some of those feelings with them, teaching them how good can come from bad, how Jesus was willing to suffer for those he loved, and how God used this challenging moment to show his love to the whole world. In the same way, good can come from bad in our lives, and challenge doesn't have to be the end of any story.
If your family is looking for a way to help turn those sorrowful emotions into joy, please consider attending church services this Easter. St. John's makes this transition really well, but all churches will be doing the same thing in their own way this weekend.
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St. John's Episcopal School is dedicated to a program of academic excellence designed to train
the mind, strengthen the character and enrich the spirit of each student in a Christian environment.
St. John's Episcopal School | 214-328-9131