Make a Sacrifice

 

Maybe you saw it on the news or have heard it clicking and clacking in the back of the church. It is the Lenten Wheel of Sacrifice! Fr. Len's idea, inspired by some college students he spoke with, has made its way to the halls of CKS--right outside my door. Monday through Wednesday I can hear students excitedly spinning the wheel (sometimes twice, but don't tell Fr. Len!) to see where the Holy Spirit guides their sacrifice. Listening to spin after spin after spin feels like my sacrifice!

It is worth it, though, to see the students get into making a sacrifice. Sacrifices include giving up sweets, no meat on Monday and Wednesday, in addition to Friday, reading a daily bible verse, or saying the rosary. Regardless of where the spinner lands, we need to remind our students why we make sacrifices during Lent... to bring us closer to God. 

So whether your sacrifice is to only drink water or sleep on the floor (like the student pictured below), remember to offer it to God and say a prayer that He opens your heart to His Love. 

 

 

4th grade #sacrificeselfie

Lowrey's Look at 2nd Grade...

On her most recent visit to 2nd grade, Mrs. Lowrey saw peer editing in progress.  She shared,

 

"Students in Mrs. Weather's 2nd grade language arts classes are having a great time learning the writing process - hands on!  They became peer editors using their Book Review assignment.  Way to work together to develop a great result!"

 

 

Stay tuned for another edition of Lowrey's Look coming soon as Mrs. Lowrey shares the exciting learning she sees taking place around CKS!

Tuition, Coming Attractions and Feeding Children Everywhere!

In lieu of my normal blog, I wanted to provide a copy of the presentation from last Thursday's PTC meeting for those of you who may not have been able to make it.  The presentation includes information about:

• CKS School Advisory Board
• CKS budget
• Tuition increase for the 2016-2017 school year
• Additions to CKS next year

PTC Presentation

Our parents also enjoyed a reception in the EC4 building, giving them a glimpse of the "before" as we move into a renovation of that building over the summer.  We are excited that there will be NO capital campaign for our summer building renovation. 

Thank you in advance for your donations to the Annual Fund this year.  Your generosity will help us equip our new STEM lab, Maker Space and Performing Arts Area for exciting collaboration and discovery for our students! 

I also want to give a shout out to our CKS community: students, faculty, staff and parent volunteers for Feeding Children Everywhere!  You can see more photos through the today's newsletter and on Facebook, but CKS Served with a Smile and provided over 30,000 meals to hungry children in Tampa and Haiti in the process!  Way to go, Lions!

Comic Schools Weeks

Pardon my pun. We are actually in the midst of Catholic Schools Week. The national theme (which I think they heavily borrowed from our CKS mission statement) is Communities of Faith, Knowledge, and Service. I hope a Catholic education enables our students to recognize a problem in our world, have the compassion to take faithful action, and the knowledge to create a solution. These problems can be big or small. Below is a problem one of our third grade students shared with our assistant principal and his solution which is featured below her commentary:

Third grader Ben Withers had a great idea!  He wanted to create a comic book that could entertain his fellow CKS students.  So, he asked his teacher, Ms. Moroney, if he could create one.  She thought it was a neat idea and encouraged him to talk to Mr. Tanis and Mrs. Lowrey.  Ben came to visit the office with a huge smile as he "pitched" his comic book plan: "I know there will be animals," he told me, "specifically a moose!"  I encouraged him to come up with a draft and share it when he was finished.  A few days later, Ben proudly came to visit me with Book 1 of his comic.  You can check out his work outside of the administrative offices!  Way to go, Ben!

5SOS

While doing classroom walk-throughs last week I noticed that one student had written "5SOS" in large highlighted letters on the bottom of her paper. If you have middle school age daughters you are probably familiar with the "code." I was not. I went over to the student and quietly asked if that was a way to let her teacher know she needed help with that homework problem. After an eye roll, the likes of which only a middle school girl can pull off, she politely said, "No, Mr. Tanis, it has nothing to do with homework; that stands for my favorite group, 5 Seconds of Summer." Trying to salvage what little middle school street credit I had left, I said, "Oh, I knew that, I just didn't see the '5.'" I quickly made my way to the next class.

I am sure parents, teachers, and students alike will think of this band's name, though, as word of the start date for the 2016-2017 school year spreads. As you will see in this week's newsletter, our start date for students next year is August 10th. For many, the summer will feel only 5 seconds long. At Christ the King, we are in slightly better shape than others. While many surrounding schools end June 10th this year, we anticipated an earlier 2016-2017 school calendar and were able to adjust this year's calendar to make June 3rd our last day of school. Therefore, rather than a 5 second summer, we will only miss 5 days of summer (71 days last summer vs 66 days this upcoming summer).

Regardless of our thoughts about summer, here are a few thoughts on how an earlier start date can benefit our students:

1) Aligned calendars - While some schools have yet to set calendars for the 16-17 school year, the surrounding county public school systems, Tampa Catholic, and the Academy of the Holy Names have published calendars with August 10th as the start. Calendar alignment helps our families with students in multiple schools plan for child care and important family time over the summer and throughout the school year.

2) Wednesday start date - this provides a natural calendar break to review classroom procedures, communicate expectations, and build a classroom culture these first few days. There is an overwhelming amount of brain research that cites these practices as critical for learning to take place in a classroom. Students must feel safe in order to take risks academically and for learning to occur.

3) Balanced quarters - beginning school on August 10th allows each quarter to be the same length of time, so that quarter grades more consistently reflect student learning throughout the school year. It also provides an equal amount of time each semester for our students to prepare for semester exams and even more instructional time before high school placement tests in November or Iowa Assessments in March.

While there will probably be an adjustment period, the teachers and I feel the calendar shift will benefit our students and families. Although we won't be able to start the school year with a Labor Day Weekend party, we will be able to end it with Memorial Day Weekend.  Here are dates for your planning purposes:

CKS 2016-2017 Preliminary Dates

 

August 10 - First day for Grades 1-8

August 11 - First day for Kindergarten

August 12 - First day for EC4

 

Thanksgiving Break

November 21-25
 

Christmas Break

Dec. 16 (early dismissal) - January 2

 

Classes resume

January 3, 2017

 

Last day of school

May 26

 

**additional dates including Spring Break, etc. to follow soon

 

 

Strike Hunger

St. John Bosco started his priesthood working in prisons, not schools. However, as he went from prison to prison, he was astounded by the number of young boys in the cells. He wondered if ministering to them in prison was the best solution. After prayer, he realized the solution was to minister to them before they even entered the system. As he looked around Italy, he saw boys that were without food, without work, and without God. He slowly began his movement to start oratories (schools) where the boys could be fed physically, mentally, and spiritually.

St. John Bosco saw a problem and came up with a solution to address the cause (hunger) and not one of  the symptoms (boys in prison). I think about all the problems in our world today and the solutions offered to solve them. Perhaps we are looking at symptoms and not the root cause. Statistics show that one out of five children in America go hungry everyday; that means 16 million children.  I don't know about you, but when I am hungry, I become angry. I am sure the term "hangry" has been used once or twice to describe my mood!

This month as part of Catholic Schools Week, our students are going to help fight hunger, by partnering with the organization Feeding Children Everywhere. In February, our students will prepare and package meals that will go to hungry children all over the world. Our goal is to package 30,000 meals. Each meal costs $.25, so we are asking students to deposit any spare change into receptacles placed throughout the school. I think making meals and using change for change is a great way to show our students how to Be Like Bosco and "Serve with a Smile." 

Here is a video we showed our students to kick off the event at school:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwIuOVJAn-0

Serve with a Smile

With the conclusion of the Christmas break, we are slowly starting to slide back into our school routines. I hope everyone had a restful break and is ready to get back to work and being like Bosco. This quarter our guiding action is to Serve with a Smile. If you are still hunting for a New Year's Resolution, this might be the one for you: to serve others and do so with a smile on your face. Actually completing acts of service can be difficult to schedule into your life--almost as hard as keeping resolutions that last past January (just notice how much the Y clears out in February!).

Think of these three tips so that your service -- and your resolutions -- just might stick:

1) Keep It Small--keeping the end goal in mind is important, but you have to start the journey to reach the destination. Plan those first steps and milestones along the way. 

2) Keep It Swift--I am not suggesting that you recklessly make decisions or speed through a project to get finished. Rather, I am suggesting you make a plan and swiftly take action. 

3) Keep Your Smile--Numerous studies have shone that the simple act of smiling releases chemicals in our brains that relieve stress and anxiety. There is also a Swedish study in the attached article which found that people rated pictures of those who smiled as more attractive than pictures of people who didn't.  Now you know why I try to smile so much in the car line; I need every advantage I can get.  Finally, another study showed that seeing someone else smile triggers a response in our brains to return the smile. Therefore, if you smile at someone you are helping your health and that of another person. 

 

That seems like a simple, small, and swift New Year's Resolution. Forget the no-carb diet, the cardiac crossfit class, and the marathon you signed up for to motivate you off the couch. See how much you can improve your health and that of others this year by just giving a few smiles a day.

Happy New Year!