Observing God in All Things

“I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily, but when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”   --Luke 18:8 from last Saturday's daily Mass. 

After the chilling events that took place in Paris this past weekend, I think Jesus would definitely find the faith of many shaken. It's a challenge to teach our children to "Be Like Bosco" and “Observe God in All Things,” and try to observe Him in events like these. 

The simple answer is God does not cause these actions—people do. People who have allowed the devil and sin to break their relationship with the true God and kill in the name of a false one.

Now contrast those events with a local story from last week's Tampa Tribune which can be found here. The story describes how a Plant City cross country runner saw another runner (from Plant High School, coincidentally) collapse near the final stretch of the state championship meet. The runner from Plant City did not think twice: he stopped and picked up his fallen competitor, helping him cross the finish line.

This young man ignored the impulse to compete and win a race he had been training for since last June. He ignored the impulse that caused dozens of other runners to keep moving past the fallen runner. Instead he listened to his heart, observed God in his competitor and picked him up to help him finish the race.

While we may seem helpless to prevent attacks like the ones that happened in Paris, and we are scared of others like it happening again, there are two things we can do: we can pray to God, and we can act with the same courage displayed by the Plant City student. If we do these two things on a local level, we can have an impact on global level. 

Sold! Auction Recap

Our CKS community spent Saturday night in Hollywood, and the stars were everywhere! The biggest question, like most major Hollywood functions, was "What are you wearing?" While most people opted for black-tie formal attire, some of our CKS stars really stood out and created a buzz. In case you couldn't make it to Auction, here are the top fashion recaps:

• It's not an A-list event without pop stars. Thanks to James and Gianni O'Connor we saw Katy Perry and her Super Bowl shark. 

• You never know if Tom Cruise will make it to an event, but he came out to support our Catholic school, along with Kelly McGillis, when Antonio and Christine Castellvi came rocking the flight suit and bomber jacket as Maverick and Charlie from Top Gun. 

• I knew John Travolta lived in Florida, but I never thought I would see him at Christ the King, especially with Uma Thurman. Even Quentin Tarntino would have been impressed with how Jay and Donna Anthony transformed into Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction. 

• We were all shocked to find out that Fr. Len was not only our pastor but also "The One." Dressed like Keanu Reeves from The Matrix, Father Lenderson battled Agent Santhouse to start the Live Auction. 

• No celebrity party is complete without the paparazzi. The Williams and O'Brien families came with inflatable cameras and TMZ shirts (pictures of Brian Housel on the dance floor should be hitting the internet any moment). 

Thank you to Maggie Robinson and Aadonia de le Torre, our Auction co-chairs, and their committee for putting together an entertaining evening; thank you to my co-auctioneer, T-Michael Boyle, for helping double the amount of money raised in the Live Auction from last year; and finally, thank you CKS families for your generosity!  While final numbers are still being tallied, we are sure it was another record-breaking auction to benefit CKS!

What are You Reading?

A better question might be: When was the last time you read a book for fun? With our Book Fair taking place this week, it seemed like a good question. I think we all would like our children to do more independent reading. That starts with our example. If we want our children to "pick up a good book" then we should, too! Here are some other great ways to foster independent reading in your children from our Critical Thinking Teacher/Reading Specialist Julie Pederson:

Parents, you DO have an impact on how much your adolescent reads!  Check this out:  

Scholastic recently did a survey of reading habits and attitudes among children.  The research highlights the important role parents play in encouraging adolescents to read.  According to the survey, adolescents who read frequently are more likely to have parents who:

• are readers themselves
• help them find books, and
• use deliberate strategies at home to encourage reading.  

 

Strategies mentioned for parents of adolescents include:

• putting limits on screen time,
• building reading into the daily routine, and
• reading the same book in order to talk about it together.

The Scholastic research also shows what schools can do to foster independent reading among adolescents.  Key factors include access to ebooks, informing students of their current reading levels, and making time for independent reading during the school day.  We recently added access to ebooks through the CKS library.

 

Resources for Supporting Independent Reading:

Want to know whether or not a book is AR (or the AR level or points)?  AR Book Finder

 

Want to know what other students are reading?  AR Book Finder Collections

 

Need fresh ideas for new books?  

AR Book Finder Advanced Search allows you to search by genre/topic, ZPD (reading level range), and rating.  Doing a filtered search can generate an interesting list of suggestions to check out.  Your student can look up his/her ZPD (reading level range) in Accelerated Reader while at school.

 

            Look up a book you like on Amazon and browse the “Customers who bought this item also 

           bought…” list

 

           What Should I Read Next?  Enter a book you like and the website will generate a list of book

           recommendations from its database.

In addition to our Book Fair, we have asked our students to support our Book Drive. To help families in underserved communities in our Diocese, CKS 1st grade students made signs like the ones below to increase the access to books for these families.  Thank you for your support! 

                                   

Who's Your Hero?

This Saturday is Halloween, and we'll surely see our share of goblins, ghouls, and superheroes. I have always been a fan of superheroes. My favorite is Superman. As a kid, I loved that he had super strength, could fly, and was bulletproof. As an adult, I love what he represents--a person from another planet dedicating his life to saving other people--strangers--because he always tries to see the good in humanity. 

I am blessed to have a real life superman in my life--well, superwoman actually. This Saturday, my wife, Courtney, left for Haiti to be a part of our Parish's medical and dental mission trip. For some time she has felt God's call to be of service to others. Last year, locally, she organized several pancake breakfasts for her former students at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Pinellas Park. She also anonymously (well, up until just now) organized and donated a graduation dinner for those students, too. 

This is her first time travelling out of the country to complete service. I hope you will join me in praying for her and the entire mission team heading to Sainte-Suzanne, Haiti. I know the people she meets will be as blessed to experience her joy and love for God as I am each and every day. I did speak to her yesterday, and she wanted me to let everyone know, "Tout bagay bon" which is Creole for "It's all good!" 

  

This is Courtney striking her superhero pose this summer in Oregon. 

Report Cards are Going Home This Week

“Report cards are going home this week!”

There aren’t many phrases that have struck more fear in the hearts of young children. However, with advent of electronic gradebooks and their accompanying email notices, grades are not usually a surprise at the end of the quarter. In fact, except for our 1^st graders, we do not even send home paper report cards at the end of the quarter. 

You may be wondering how to have the "report card conversation" with your child. Here are a few suggestions:

1.  Focus on the Growth--Instead of saying “Why didn’t you get an A in social studies” try saying, “What can you do next quarter to get an A in social studies?”
2. Look at the Approaches to Learning and Conduct Grades—We have all heard as children and have probably said as adults, “I don’t care about the grade. I just care that you gave your best.” However, we probably forget these words when our child brings home a “C.”   These two categories measure effort and behavior. Compare them in context to the academic grade. An Approaches to Learning grade of 2 (out of 4) and an academic score of a “C” means the grade could be improved with more effort, while an ATL grade of 4 and an academic score of a “C” means they put forth the effort and that was the result.
3. Grades are Destinations—Look at the journey and celebrate the successes that happened along the way. What behaviors led to success? What habits helped lead to the grade? What should be repeated and what should be revised?

Regardless of the grade your child brings home, I hope you can have a positive conversation and find success in the quarters to come:

                               

*Note: students in EC4 and Kindergarten receive their first report card at the end of the 1^st semester (December) and all students receive paper copies of the semester report cards (December and June).

How was School Today?

“Good”

                --Anonymous

I was scouring the internet and my book of quotes for something profound and wise about parenting or talking with children. I found many, but thought this was the most appropriate quote, since it is probably the way 99% of our students respond when asked about their day at school. Sometimes, if they are feeling particularly talkative, they may say “It was fine, Dad.” Most of my conversations look like this:

So, how do you get more than a two or three word response from your child when you ask them about their day? Three words.

Practice. Practice. Practice. To help you start practicing, here are three tips for fostering conversations about school.  

Ask a specific question that forces a multiple word response. 

 Rather than asking, “How was your day?” try asking “What was the best part of your day?” Then, ask the follow up question, “Why was lunch the best part of your day?” 

Use Renweb as a resource.

 Renweb has a calendar of events and teachers often post assignments, as well as grades. So instead of asking “Did you learn anything today?” try saying “I saw that your class is reading Because of Winn-Dixie, what is that about?”

Use “wait time” and bite your tongue.

Sometimes the best question is the one not asked. When your child gets in the car or you see them at home, just say, “I am so glad to see you” and count to 10. Usually, they will start telling you about their day without you asking. 

 

We easily fall into the habit of using conversational crutches. For example, how often, do you greet someone on the phone or in person by saying, “Hey, what’s going on?” or “What are you up to?” and then just keep on talking because you didn't really expect them to tell you exactly what they were doing, that is just how you start the conversation. Don’t make the same mistake by having your default greeting when you pick up your child be, “How was school?” Hopefully if you can frame different questions using the tips above your conversations will look more like this:

DISCLAIMER: Results may vary, especially if your child is in middle school!

This Little Light of Mine...

How do you let it shine? We ask our students to "Be a Light to Others," but what does that really mean? Here is a scientific explanation of how light can pass through objects:

It can be transparent (pass right through):

It can be translucent (allowing some light to pass through):

Or it can be opaque (allowing no light to pass through):

Imagine that we are the cups in the photos and God is the flashlight. Do we allow God's word to flow directly through us? Do we take in God's word and only reflect what we want? Or, worse, do let sin darken our "glass" so much that God's message cannot be seen at all? 

When we ask our students to be a light to others we are not actually asking them to be any of these. Instead, we are asking them to take in God's word, interact with it, and create something beautiful.  Think of the way light interacts with a prism or crystal:

In this picture the flashlight clearly interacts with the crystal causing its shape to be transformed and into a ball of light that even casts off some rainbow spirals.  By opening up to God's voice and asking for his presence in our lives, we can cast a beautiful light that will help others come to know God better.