Resurrection

For the last half century, this parish has marked the Resurrection of our Lord with a resurrection of our own--the raising of rides and the Carnival. Before you think me blaspheming, read on to see the connection!

Think about how the apostles felt in those few weeks after the death of Jesus. Their leader, their teacher, their master had just been violently put to death. The hope of a new kingdom had been crushed. They were in hiding and, to make a bad carnival pun, were about to Freak Out. Then they began to hear rumors of Jesus rising from the dead. When He finally appeared to them it was to ease their nerves, fill them with the Holy Spirit and give them a job: to go out to the far ends of the new world to spread His story.

This weekend all of us have an opportunity to be missionaries. We don't have to travel to far away places or go door to door asking people if they have accepted Jesus into their hearts. Just as Jesus commanded the apostles, He commands us to spread the good news and we only have to travel a few hundred feet to do it: the Carnival.

People from all over the area come to visit CTK for the carnival. For some, this may be the only time they ever come to our campus--some may be Catholic, some may be Christians and some may be neither. Although we may not know the background of the visitors on our campus during Carnival, they will be able to identify us as members of the parish by our CKS and CTK apparel. More importantly, I hope they identify us as followers of Christ by our actions.

What an awesome opportunity for us to do God's work.  Have fun, spread joy and be welcoming, Lions!

Teacher Joy Project

One of my goals is to provide our teachers with enough professional development to help them continuously improve their craft. It is easy for teachers to become insular and only think in terms of what happens only within the four walls of their own classroom, so a powerful method of improving practice is to observe others. Think about it -- when a business is successful, others want to know what that business is doing to be so successful.

In keeping with our theme of finding joy this year, I recently challenged the teachers to find joy in their colleagues. Their assignment was to observe two of their colleagues in action. To add a 21st century spin on the project, I asked the teachers to take a picture of something they were awed by in their colleague's classroom and add a caption. I collected the teacher pictures and captions in a web-based pin board called Padlet and shared this with the teachers, so they can see the great teaching happening in the rooms of their colleagues.

KB celebrates Dr. Seuss in a BIG way!

Making good use of the Surfaces, Smartboard, and Google Docs in one lesson!

Learning goes beyond the four walls for formation.

Mrs. Pederson provides edification about why the cartoon is an opinion rather than propaganda. Look at the source!

Problem solving in computers!  

In 3rd grade, while learning adverbs, each student took a turn using the Elmo and Smartboard to lead a lesson using their notebooks. 

Watch out Rihanna, Katy, Taylor, and Ariana!  These beauties are raising the bar when it comes to composing new music.

PE PRETZEL POSE!

Engineers Making Connections with Connectors!

EC4A writes about leprechauns!

Making colorful music with Mrs. LeFloch!

The look of concentration says it all - science is serious business!

Spanish Story Time

Comfort Level

Birthday Bash

This morning at assembly, three of our 1st grade students excitedly ran up to me with an envelope and a story.  I was amazed at what they had to tell me. Over the weekend, the students' parents organized a combined birthday celebration.  Instead of presents, party guests were asked to bring any money that would have been used to buy a present to make a donation.

The children made the decision to donate the money to our sister parish in Sainte-Suzanne, Haiti. They collected over $1000. This money could be used buy medical supplies, supplemental nutritional bars or basic school supplies for the community.

I take the mission of our school seriously: that we help our students grow in the love of Christ, the joy of knowledge and spirit of service. Christ, Knowledge and Service are at the core of who we are at CKS, and I continue to be amazed by the actions of our students.