Crusader 11-02-2015 - St. Martha Catholic School

November 2, 2015
From the Principal
The holidays are for sure upon us now as we move fully into the month of November. Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day have started us on the path
to a very busy next couple of months. The annual Saints Parade was, once again,
an awesome tribute to the men and women who dedicated their lives to following
Jesus and the gospels. I would like to once again congratulate all the families
who create the costumes the students wear and help the students research the
saint for their report in class. It is interesting to hear the children talk about what
they have done to learn about their saint.
Mission
The Mission of St. Martha
Catholic School is to provide a
quality education sharing in
the total Catholic formation of
each person by developing
mind, heart and spirit.
Right Choice Lesson
The Right Choice lesson for
the month of November is
Reverence.
How can you show
Reverence
in your
everyday life?
______________________
St Martha Catholic School
2411 Oak Shores Drive
Kingwood, Texas 77339
T 281.358.5523
F 281.358.5526
www.stmarthacs.org
The students often wonder about the difference between an angel and a saint. A
saint is any human being, similar to our students, parents, and staff, who lives his
or her life in service to others, praying for others, and living the gospel messages.
When we die, if we have lived a life following Jesus, performed a miracle as a
result of God’s presence, and a miracle happens because of us after we die, the
canonization process can be initiated by a member of the church. This process
takes several years to validate the life and acts of this person before he or she is
named a saint.
The church explains to us that an angel was never a human being. An angel has
always been an angel, and he or she is in heaven to help and protect the people on
earth. Saints help pray for us when they are in heaven too, and that is why we ask
them to pray for us. Saints are not idolized; they are studied as inspirations on
how we can live our lives following Jesus. So, during the month of November
pray that the saints will help pray for you.
In the months of November and December, many people follow God’s calling to
help people less fortunate than themselves, which is a step to be a saint. St. Martha Catholic School will be involved in several projects for the remainder of the
school year to help students and families follow in the footsteps of many saints;
by helping those in need whether it is the basic need of food, water, shelter, or
spiritual need through prayers and companionship. We will be sending more information home very soon relating to our school’s Advent Project as part of the
parish community supporting one another.
In a recent quiz of our middle school students, we found that they are often confused about Advent and Lent. I would like to encourage our school families to
create an actual, usable Advent wreath for your home this year. We will ask families to work together on creating the Advent wreath and take pictures of the stages of preparation for the wreath. Students will then print off the pictures of the
wreath making and turn them into their homeroom teachers. A rubric will be sent
home later in the week with more information on the Advent Wreath project. It
should be fun and something your family will utilize at home this Advent season.
Blessings to you all.
SMCS Alumni Spotlight
Look at what they’re doing now!!
Michael Paul Maraffa, class of 2011, attended SMCS for grades 4-8 .He went on to
Kingwood Park HS where he graduated in 2015. During high school he was a three
year letterman in basketball and captain in his senior year. He also participated in
Reading Buddies for four years (reading to students at an elementary school), Best
Buddies (an organization that pairs students with disabilities with non-disabled students) and SHINE work camp. His senior year he received the Larry Cooper Scholarship for community service. He now attends UTSA where he is studying psychology. He is a member of
the psychology club and volunteers in San Antonio. He also plays intramural sports. His hope is to one
day open his own private practice. Good luck in your future endeavors, Michael! We are proud to call you
a Crusader!
If you have any news to share about your (or any) SMCS alumni,
please send to Eryn Dodge [email protected] or Kelly Chesnut [email protected]
SMCS has a Facebook page just for SMCS alumni – like our page
Follow us on Instagram at SMCSalumni
and please spread the word to our alumni to like it and share their news too!!
Father Richard stopped by to have his hearing checked by our amazing volunteers!
Athletics
Welcome to the girls'
"C" Team!
Mary Hays (mother of 5th
grader Sophia Hays) will be
coaching the "C" girls' basketball team this year.
"I am very excited for this opportunity to pass on my love of
basketball to your daughters. I
started playing basketball in
Akron, Ohio, in the CYO system and then went on to play
at Walsh Jesuit and the AAU/
Junior Olympic league. I also
have been coaching basketball
and volleyball at the YMCA
here. My husband and I have
four children at St. Martha. Our
family moved to Kingwood two
years ago from North Carolina
so my husband could attend
graduate school here in Houston, where he grew up. I work
part time as a financial counselor and also own my own floral
and event design business."
The popular Father-Son and Mother-Daughter programs are being presented by
Office of Adolescent Catechesis and Evangelization. These are great opportunities
for parents to share vital information with their children in a way that allows everyone
to feel comfortable with sensitive topics.
THE FATHER-SON PROGRAM will be held on Satur day, November 7, fr om
9:30 A.M. - Noon at Epiphany of the Lord Parish in Katy. The program is for boys ages
10-14 and their fathers or significant father-figure. The program brings fathers and sons
together to look at the wonder and power of God’s plan for human sexuality in the process of growing up and becoming a man.
A 2016 spring program will be held on Saturday, April 23, at Mary Queen Parish,
Friendswood
THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER PROGRAM will be held on Satur day, November 7,
from 2:00 - 4:30 P.M. at Epiphany of the Lord Parish, Katy. The program is for girls
ages 9-12 and their mothers or significant mother-figure. The program fosters an atmosphere of love and understanding in discussing God’s plan for the gift of human sexuality and the challenges of living chastely.
A 2016 spring program will be held at St. Ignatius Parish, Spring on Saturday, March 5,
and Mary Queen Parish, Friendswood on Saturday, April 23.
Online registration for the November 7 offering only:
Father-Son Program: https://ar chgh.cvent.com/father son
Mother-Daughter Program: https://ar chgh.cvent.com/mother daughter
Registration deadline is Tuesday, November 3. Registration is limited to 50 families for
each program. The programs are sponsored by the Archdiocesan Office of AdolescentCatechesis and Evangelization.
For more information contact Mark Ciesielski at 713-741-8792 or [email protected].
Family Fun Night Fall 2015
Our fall Family Fun Night was a toy chest of fun! Our Family Fun Night committee
led by Tracy Rinando and Casey Levy put on an amazingly spectacular evening. Our evening consisted of a giant checkerboard, a huge Connect Four, a life
sized Kerplunk, a fishing pond with super prizes and many other oversized
games. The evening could not have been complete without a “middle school only”
hang out room filled with bingo and prizes.
In addition to our Family Fun Night committee we would also like to thank the many
other volunteers who so graciously donated their time and talent to make this event
a success. We also send a special thank you to our Student Ambassadors who
helped run games and make this a wonderful time for all! Keep your eyes on Flocknote to save the date for the spring Family Fun Night!
Cross Country Season Recap
The SMCS Cross Country Team finished its season last week at the St. Laurence GHCAAA
Championship. This meet capped off a record-setting six meet season for the team under the
guidance of coaches Dan and Lauri Pradel. At the championship, individual medals were
awarded for the top five finishers in grade/division for the 1.5 mile race. St Martha’s brought
home three medals: Alex Varela (1st Place @ 9:13.4), Evan Crosswait (4th Place @ 10:13.9)
and Katherine Speyerer (5th Place @ 10:47.8).
Over the course of the fall season, each and every one of the athletes participating in Cross
Country improved their time from the start of the season. The average improvement was a
huge 9.48%!
Congratulations to the all of the runners and parents that supported them this season!
Front: Kennedy Meyer, Grace Kelly, Maggie Jo
Pradel, Katherine Speyerer, Anora Lee, Emily Chaires
Back: William Pradel, Matt Stevens, Evan Crosswait,
Alex Varela, Riley Villerreal, Nicolas Gentile
Alex Varela (1st Place) with other medalists
Evan Crosswait receives his medal
Katherine Speyerer (5th Place)
with other medalists
October Right Choice: Respect
Congratulations to the following Crusaders who are being recognized for modeling responsibility
in our school community. They are good examples of living out our Gospel values!
Bradie Smith (PreK 3)
Madison Smith (PreK 3)
Gracelynn Jackson (PreK
3)
Riley Sullivan (PreK 4)
Elizabeth Lozano (PreK
4)
Michael Lux (K)
Savanna Webb (K)
Vivienne Ziegler (1st)
Leah Hopke (1st)
Caroline Morris (2nd)
Grant Hebert (2nd)
Grant Jimerson (3rd)
Ava Hardy (3rd)
Nathan Simko (4th)
Blake Bezner (4th)
Abigail Lifrieri (5th)
Kyra Vick (5th)
Lucita Galvez (6th)
Quinn Keeler (6th)
Alaina Ashy (7th)
Austin Zammit (7th)
Brianna Rodriquez
(8th)
Christopher Cardenas
(8th)
October: Mrs. Salomonsson, PreK 3 Teacher
My Educational Background: This is my 13th year teaching. I have a B.S. in Multidisciplinary Studies and English As A Second Language from Houston Baptist University.
My Favorite Teaching Moment: I was blessed to wor k with a student who had cer ebral palsy. The student was unable to walk or talk. I was able to help the student show
that she could understand and learn. She taught me that we can do anything we put our
minds to! After a few months she received a dynavox computer that scanned her eyes
and would then type words or click on words for her and then speak for her! It brought
me such joy to see the happiness it brought her to finally be able to communicate with her
family, peers, and teachers!
My Family: I am mar r ied and have a son in four th gr ade and a daughter in seventh
grade. We also have one dog and three cats. I enjoy traveling, camping and baking in my
free time.
Congratulations to our new SMCS National Jr. Beta Club officers and new members who were inducted in a special ceremony on Friday, October 16. Our officers from last year passed the flame of
leadership on to the new officers, entrusting them with the responsibility of leading our club members to succeed academically, lead others, serve others and demonstrate honest, ethical and moral
good character in all that they do.
The 2015-2016 SMCS National Jr. Beta Club Officers
President
Mary Therese Leake
Vice-President
Secretary
Alexis Cox
Parker Manning
Historian
Elsa Awani
Treasurer
Matthew Payne
Chaplain
Carson Chesnut
New Members
Mary Katherine Bena
Ava Cintron
Chloe Evangelista-Ysasaga
Clayton Landry
Rebecca Manosalva
Christina Munafo
Bess Overton
Gabriella Selva
Katherine Speyerer
Alejandro Tristan
Sienna Bryan
Lilly Christiansen
Reese Huchingson
Genevieve LeBeouf
Claire McTaggart
Ryan Nguyen
Hadleigh Reiss
Sydney Schod
Daniella Stevanato
Kyra Vick
Ashley Cox
Porter Dodge
Grace Kelly
Emma Liles
Kennedy Meyer
Charlie Norman
Brianna Rodriguez
Sophia Simmons
Matt Stevens
Cristina Villalobos
Allissa Altman
Alex Benedict
Jakob Brammer
Emily Chaires
Evan Crosswait
Moira Dodge
Lucita Galvez
Grace Guillory
Sabra Holden
Ronan Keeler
Mary Therese Leake
Jennah Mahmood
Ricky Martinez
Isabella Padula
Isabella Pinto
Armando Selva
Landen Smith
Grace Vidal
Catalina Zapata
Ana Sofia Aragon
Kayla Benedict
Christopher Cardenas
Carson Chesnut
Hayden Diamond
Elizabeth Drake
Grace Garwood
Robert Henry
Allison Anne Huchingson
MacKenzie Kelley
Anora Lee
Parker Manning
Catherine Miller
David Payne
Heather Richter
Cristian Selva
Alex Varela
Lily Watkins
Claire Zeinieh
Returning Members
Chloe Adu-Gyamfi
Elsa Awani
Madison Bezner
Natalie Castillo
Alexis Cox
Chloe Ditges
Makenna Eccles
Makayla Geraci
AJ Holden
Quinn Keeler
Jackson Landry
Leah Lucas
Abbigale Martin
Gabby Norman
Matthew Payne
Billy Schmidt
Hannah Simons
Adriana Vargas-Cortez
Madison Whitfield
Thank you to all our Beta Club members for committing to serving others in our school, parish and
community. You are truly our leaders of tomorrow!
Kindergarten Korner
“Kinder-gardeners” are watching
their garden grow. We have
planted broccoli, cauliflower,
carrots, lettuce, sage, thyme and
rosemary. The students were absolutely amazed that some of the
broccoli and cauliflower leaves
measured 10 inches long! The
carrots and lettuce have popped
out from their seeds in nice neat
rows, but some of the seeds were
scattered throughout the garden,
and the students have a lot of fun
identifying them. We also like
to use our five senses to identify
the different size herb leaves,
texture and their distinct smell.
Middle School Religion
Middle School Saints!
Grade Eight students helped our Pre-K through
First Grade students get in the mood for the Saints procession held on
October 29. The Eighth Graders dressed up as their assigned saint
and wrote a story about their saint to present to the younger Crusaders. The students in 8th Grade needed to figure out why their saints
were in a group together. Some were brothers, brother and sister,
friends, American saints, and so forth.
Grade Seven students are working on a Communion of Saints
poster. They have chosen a canonized saint, someone that is deceased and someone who is living who are positive role models helping them to live their Christian life.
Grade Six students have chosen a saint and are making " stained
glass" posters of them. Along with their pictures, the students have
written three facts and a fib about their saint. The Seventh and Eighth
Graders will see if they can find the fib next week!
StuCo
Student Council has been very busy helping to organize Red Ribbon
Week. They ended Red Ribbon Week by sponsoring a Halloween costume/party and dance.
Middle School Spanish
Our 6th and 7th graders have been working this month on Spanish Projects called "Hispanic Heritage" during our Hispanic Heritage Month
(September 15 to October 15). The projects recognized the importance
and influence of Hispanics in our country and honored significant contributions of Hispanic and Latin Americans to the United States. For
this, all 6th and 7th graders made posters with a biography of a famous Hispanic person. Please take the time to come see our projects
posted in the second grade hallway.
Lake Martha
Take a look at what happens
at St. Martha with all of the
rain we’ve been having!
Middle School Math
It is hard to believe we are so close to Thanksgiving. This year is
flying by. All my students have been hard at work.
8th Graders are currently learning about inequalities. We had
some pretty funny word problems that match all the different ways
greater than, less than, greater than or equal to and less than or
equal to can be said. Students will be solving and graphing solutions
before we move onto rational numbers (positive and negative decimals and fractions).
7th Graders finished up their operations with positive and negative numbers (integers) and are now studying fractions. Also, they
are learning to use negative fractions and decimals, as well.
6th Graders just finished up a large unit on data/statistics. Seven
questions were answered by all students, and
then all students figured out the mean, median,
mode, range and created all appropriate presentations in the form of graphs for each question. We
are now beginning Algebra I concepts, learning
about variables, evaluating expressions and solving equations.
Reflections on our St. Martha Catholic School Identity
Parker Uniform Code
Uniforms may be
ordered online at
www.parkersu.com
Web ID Code: 77339
Office Depot 5% Back to
School Program
If you shop at Office
Depot, please use our school ID
for 5% cash back to SMCS.
Our ID# is 70098730
Tuition and Before & After
School Program
Please remember that tuition is
due on the 1st of each month.
All Before and After School
Program fees are due by the
10th.
Please note: Late fees will apply to tuition and BASP payments received after the 10th.
Our SMCS crest is in the shape of a shield, something that by definition is
a protective item. Have you ever thought about how a shield can provide
protection from more than just physical harm? Our faculty reflected on
the scriptural meaning of the shield in their recent in-service meeting, and
they found in the Bible these beautiful references to the Lord as our shield:
Psalm 28:7
Psalm 33:20
Psalm 91:4
Ephesians 6:14-16
The Lord is my strength and shield; my heart trusts in him,
and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song
I praise him.
We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our
shield.
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings
you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield
and rampart.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your
waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and
with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the
gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield
of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.