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Happy New Year, to All!Happy New Year, to All!Happy New Year, to All!Happy New Year, to All! May this Year of Mercy help us experience the love of God who consoles, pardons and
instills hope. May it be a source of Peace in our hearts, our lives and our neighborhoods!
Enjoy a brief review of some of the events during the month of December at SMT School:
Helping Others Have a Merry Christmas!
Our students and their families shared the true spirit of giving for the
Christmas season with children not so fortunate as we are. Our first
ever “Pajama Drive” was held in school in
connection with the Scholastic Reading
Club and the “Pajama Program.” Families
sent in pajamas for children of all ages…and
Scholastic will donate a new book with
each pair of pajamas! The Pajama Program
will deliver the PJs and books to children living in homeless shelters
in time for Christmas morning! We thank our third grade teacher,
Ms. Tieri, for organizing this opportunity for all of us to continue to
share the Christmas spirit!
We CelebrateWe CelebrateWe CelebrateWe Celebratedddd the Feast of St. Lucythe Feast of St. Lucythe Feast of St. Lucythe Feast of St. Lucy
In honor of the Feast of St. Lucy, some of our Student Council Officers donned white robes with a red sash and wore a wreath of candles (battery operated!) in imitation of St. Lucy. This saint was known in her time to visit the persecuted Christians in the catacombs bringing them something to eat and drink. She wore a
wreath of lighted candles on her head so that her hands were free to carry the food. In Scandinavian countries, her feast day became known as the Festival of Lights and is celebrated even today by children wearing white robes and wreaths of candles, distributing sweet treats to others. The faculty and staff enjoyed sweet treats of hot chocolate and doughnuts on December 13th…brought to them by our own “St Lucy” Student Council members, S. Ellen and Mrs. DiNardi!
From the LION’S DENFrom the LION’S DENFrom the LION’S DENFrom the LION’S DEN St. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School Newsletter
We are
P M e a a k c e e r
s
January 2016
Vol. VI,
Number 4
St. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School Newsletter – January 2016 p. 2
Our School Was Alive…with the Sound of Christmas! Our annual Christmas Concert took
place on December 16th (too late for
Bulletin publication) and families and
friends packed our gym, eager to hear
the results of many hours of practice.
We were first treated to the Jr. Chorus
(grades 2 to 4), who sang two new
songs: Were You There? and Run, Run, Reindeer! They were
followed by Guitar group’s rendition of Let It Snow and an all-time
favorite, Winter Wonderland. Our Bell Choir – always a favorite –
entertained us with Jolly Old St. Nicholas and Silent Night! The
Orchestra joined in with more carols…and then the Choir, who
cheered everyone with their songs. Finally, the Jr. Chorus joined the
Choir with a medley of Feliz Navidad, Angels We Have Heard on High,
Joy to the World and We Wish You a Merry Christmas…inviting the
audience to join in singing with them. Everyone left with a great deal
of Christmas Spirit to spread to others!
On Monday afternoon, our 3 and 4 year-old Pre K children and
the Kindergarten brought smiles and cheers to their parents and
family members with their Christmas presentations of songs and
poems. It was obvious
to all that they, too, had
spent much time
practicing – it was a
perfect performance! A standing ovation from the
audience was a given!
The morning of the last day of school, the entire school
gathered in the gym for a Christmas sing-a-long. Each
class performed a favorite Carol, complete with some
costume, including a
“hippopotamus!” or
action to enhance
their performance.
All joined in singing
favorite Christmas Carols at the end of the classroom
performances – and gathered additional Christmas Spirit to take
with them for Christmas break!
More can be seen on our website: www.stmartinoftoursphila.org
St. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School Newsletter – January 2016 p. 3
“Earthquake” Shakes“Earthquake” Shakes“Earthquake” Shakes“Earthquake” Shakes Gingerbread Houses!Gingerbread Houses!Gingerbread Houses!Gingerbread Houses!
The sixth grade students of St. Martin of Tours School meet with
engineering graduate and undergraduate students from Villanova
University once a month in an after-school program entitled
NovaCANE. The students are given a lesson on structural
engineering, and then they participate in a hands-on activity.
December’s lesson, the Gingerbread House Earthquake Project, taught the students the
importance of having a strong foundation in order to build a structure. The students were
given graham crackers, candy, pretzel rods and frosting, and used these materials to build a
“Gingerbread House.” The houses were then placed on an
earthquake simulator and tested to determine the success of
the students’ designs. After discussing their strategies in
building the houses, the students then enjoyed eating the
rubble!
Contributed by our Sixth Grade Teacher, Mr. Joseph T. Smith
Marty Says…Character Counts!Marty Says…Character Counts!Marty Says…Character Counts!Marty Says…Character Counts!
As we continue working on the six Pillars of Character to help
us become the best we can be, our teachers were also looking
for students who showed growth in Fairness during the month
of December. We CONGRATULATE the following for their
spirit of fairness: Eileen Velez-Arce, Lauren Moscato, Anthony
Tadeo, Jordan Borrero, Nicolle Hernandez-Guessero, Sara
Hatter, Jadun Webb, Aslenny Valerio, Rayhan Ekobeni, Mel
Grace Calixtro, Morgan Morais, Elionze Pierre, Favor Akaluka,
Julio Ayala, Emauri Leggett, Leielle Lane, Genevieve Yang,
Nicholas Ehling, Khoa Pham, Sanaa Owens, Kaitlyn Salazar-Ramirez, and Aniah Jones.
KUDOS to the following students who are recognized for
earning the most Marty Tickets in their class for
December: Mariam Dambly, Christian Cupid, Endrick
Rodriguez, Victory Eleazu, Joshua Sibre, Joel Foreman,
Sofia Galicia, Jossia Joseph, Leielle Lane, Daniel Victoria,
Mei Lin, Nevaeh Coleman, Fernando Nido, Valeria
Albarouki, Kayla Brown-Williams, Clifton DeBrosse,
Michelle Vo, Sara Hatter, Michael Eniola, Sianne Rivas,
Eileen Velez-Arce, and John Solano.
St. Martin of Tours School NSt. Martin of Tours School NSt. Martin of Tours School NSt. Martin of Tours School Newsletterewsletterewsletterewsletter – January 2016 p. 4
My Daughter’s Kitchen Wraps-Up
Another Session!
“These eight weeks really went fast!” “I learned a lot of
new things!” “Now I can help my Mom cook dinner for us!” These were some of the
sentiments expressed by our five fifth-grade “chefs” who spent Tuesdays after school in
the school gym kitchen with two wonderful volunteers, Mr. Frank and Ms. Chris, as well
as staff members, Mrs. Farrell, Ms. Stadtfeld, and Ms.
Hamlin learning the basics of cooking. Following the plan
set up by Mrs. Maureen Fitzgerald of the Philadelphia
Inquirer (editor of the Food Section), William, Kennedy,
Aslenny, Luis and Jasmin learned to read recipes and
measure ingredients; they learned how to chop and
sauté vegetables for a meal or for soup, and also how to
prepare fish and chicken for baking or broiling.
Sometimes they prepared a vegetable they had never before eaten. It was a great
learning experience in all aspects. Each week, they looked
forward to enjoying the meal they learned to prepare!
There were rarely leftovers to take home!
As is the tradition, the students invite two family
members to join them for dinner at the last session. To
get ready for this, they carefully reviewed all the recipes
made over the seven weeks – and planned the menu!
Dinner for their guests would be a special salad, penne pasta
and a new, fruity dessert made with strawberries,
blueberries and raspberries! There was a lot of excitement
preparing this final meal – but even more pleasure in sharing
it with family and teachers!
We congratulate William, Jasmin, Luis,
Aslenny and Kennedy for their interest in the program and their
willingness to learn something new, different and useful as they
grow older and more helpful at home!
Additional photos may be found on our school website:
www.stmartinoftoursphila.org
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