Academy of the Sacred Heart
Childpost
October 31, 2008
Halloween is here, and all of our goblins had a wonderful day at school today. We hope you have a delightful evening trick or treating or spending time with family and friends.
Tomorrow, November 1, we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. But who were the saints? In New Orleans this concept is sometimes confusing for our little ones. No doubt about it, we're all fans of the New Orleans football Saints, and we have lots of fun cheering for the home team. But especially around All Saints Day, we talk about and remember our heavenly saints. The saints were just ordinary people who loved God and lived according to God's word. For some, it meant doing something exceptional or remarkable; but for most, it meant living lives filled with goodness, holiness, and grace-things we are all capable of doing if we set our minds to it. God calls each of us to use the gifts we have been given to the fullest. Let us work everyday to be saints for God-and for each other.
Laura Bush Foundation Grant Awarded to Mater Campus Library:
We are pleased to announce that ASH has been selected to receive a grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries. Mrs. Higginbotham, Mrs. Gueringer (our librarian), and 4th Primary student Alex Hunter attended a reception yesterday to received the award. Grant monies will be used to replace books in the Mater Campus library collection that were lost as a result of Hurricane Katrina. We are especially grateful to Mrs. Gueringer who initiated this project and spent many hours preparing the grant application.
Manners of the Month-November
This month we will be concentrating on "first-time listening." As we have previously mentioned, we remind each girl that it is her responsibility to respond the first time a teacher makes a request. This might mean a response to a individual request (e.g., "Laurie, it's your turn to paint.") or it may involve a response to a directive given to a group (e.g., "Girls, it's clean-up time!"). This is language we use throughout Little Hearts, Preschool, and Primary School. We ask you to use similar language at home with your daughter and to follow-through when making requests of her. Over time and with practice, you will be pleasantly surprised by her ability to quickly and easily follow your instructions.
November Grade Level Newsletters and Dining Hall Menu:
A copy of the newsletter is included with this Childpost. Please read it carefully and spend some time with your daughter discussing what is happening in her class. There is so much to learn! Please keep the Dining Hall menu handy.
God Bless America! Election Day 2008:
Don't forget about Red, White, and Blue Free Dress Day on Tuesday, November 4. Your daughter may wear her white ASH-t-shirt and red ASH shorts (or jeans). Please make sure she wears her tennis shoes with socks.
We have been talking to the girls about voting and elections. One of the things we have stressed is that once the votes are counted we will have one President, and that one of his biggest jobs will be to unite the people (the community) of our country. On the Mater Campus we have asked the girls to look for ways to unify our school community. During the past week the older girls came up with a number of ideas, and on Monday they will present two of them to the Mater Campus student body. Though our girls are not old enough to vote in this year's presidential election, our ASH election is one in which they may participate. On Tuesday while we adults are voting for a new President, your daughter will go to the Nims Center polling precinct, sign-in, enter the voting booth, and cast her ballot. In keeping with the Goals of Sacred Heart education, our pollsters predict a landslide "wise choice."
Halloween Safety Tips
On Tuesday, October 28, Miss Janice, our school counselor, and Mrs. Bonnie Talbot, retired ASH Preschool Coordinator, met with the Nursery, Prekindergarten, and Kindergarten girls to go over Halloween safety tips. Skits, such as this one, are part of the Developmental Counseling program at ASH. Addressing personal safety is a component of the group guidance classes and is included throughout the year with all grade levels in various ways.
The Halloween skit includes such topics as cooperation, decision making, effective communication, feelings, problem-solving. and relationship skills. It's comical, but the girls really learned some valuable lessons about personal safety. Some of the information discussed in their skits with the girls included:
· Make sure your costume is not so big that it might cause you to trip or fall
· Stay with your group and hold hands when walking
· Go to houses that have a light on
· Cross the street at the corner
· Say "please" and "thank you"
· Take only one or two treats at a house
· Have an adult check your candy and fruit before you eat it
. . . . .and have a very safe and Happy Halloween!
Women of the World:
We are fortunate to have the Women of the World Art Collection on display in the Assembly Room on the Rosary Campus during the 2008-2009 school year. At the end of this Childpost there is information about this wonderful exhibit and about how we are using it across the curriculum.
"A Night in Montmartre"-Auction 2008:
This year's auction will take place in the Nims Fine Arts Center on Saturday, November 15. Be on the look out for the class projects which are truly priceless. This adult only event is always wonderful evening, and we appreciate the time and energy that the chairs and their committee have given to plan it. We look forward to seeing you as we pay tribute the highest hill in Paris, home of the Sacré Coeur Basilica.
Flash! New Auction Item! On sale the night of the auction only, will be Free Dress Coupons for $10 each. Purchase of one secures a free dress day for your daughter on Monday, November 17 (the Monday following the auction). If you can't attend the auction, call a friend to purchase one for you!
Thank You.
. to all who attended the Father-Daughter Pancake Breakfast last week. What a nice morning for dads and daughters! Thanks especially to Paul Lawless for chairing this event for the Fathers' Club, and to Kevin Reed for his assistance. A special thank you to Paul's wife, Erin, for her help. Daughters Maeve and Caroline, with their buddies Caroline and Elizabeth Reed, who are all now in the Preparatory School, came along to help set up and clean tables.
. to those participated in our many outreach programs during October. The Upper School students spent today packing up the books from our Iowa project and preparing them for shipment to Holy Family School; Tuesday's Fourth Primary Bake sale was a huge success; and we will begin counting the coins in the over-flowing Coins for Coteau container next week. We appreciate your generosity.
Academy of the Sacred Heart
Little Hearts/ Preschool Calendar
November 2008
|
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
|
2 November |
3 |
4
Election Day
Red/White/Blue Day!
(LH/PS wear red ASH shorts; white ASH
t-shirt; something blue; tennis shoes w/socks) |
5
2:15 dismissal
Faculty Meeting
|
6 |
7
All- School newspaper drive (RC-Carondelet St. under bridge) |
8 |
|
9 |
10 |
11
8:30 Admission Tuesday Tours (MC)
|
12
LH/PS Hearty Snacks
LH Hoe Down (T/N wear western "duds")
8:00 Mothers' Club Meeting (RC-AR)
2:15 dismissal
Faculty Meeting
5:00 Fathers' Club Meeting (RC-DH)
|
13
|
14
|
15
Auction-"A Night in Montmartre" (Nims) |
|
16 |
17 |
18
8:30
St. Philippine liturgy (Nims) |
19
2:15 dismissal
Faculty Meeting
|
20 |
21
LH/PS Thanksgiving Feast |
22 |
|
23
Thanksgiving Break " " " |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27
Happy Thanksgiving! |
28 |
29
|
|
30 |
December 1
Classes resume |
|
|
|
|
RC=Rosary Campus
MC=Mater Campus
DH=Dining Hall
P=Parlor
AR=Assembly Room
Nims
Ch=Chapel
|
Malawi Rwanda India Russia
Women of the World
A Tool for Exploring our World and our Role in that World
2008-2009
In 2000, on a quest to preserve history and explore the female identity, artist Claudia Demonte asked female artists around the globe what it meant to be woman and used their responses to create the Women of the World Art Collection. It is made up of works of art from 176 nations all in response to one question, "What image represents Woman?" We are fortunate to have the exhibit on display in the Assembly Room on the Rosary Campus for the 2008-2009 school year. The exhibit presents us with an opportunity to reflect on society and its values, how they impact the lives of women, and to consider whether those values are challenges and/or opportunities for women.
In the spirit of Demonte's work, we are inviting the students of all divisions at the Rosary to consider their world and their role in that world. In Little Hearts and Preschool, the students will view selections from the collection. In addition, they will be asked to reflect on the following questions, presented in age appropriate language and context:
What does it mean to be a woman today? What are the influences on your life? What is your community? As woman what do you need to do? What do the other women around you do? How is the role of a woman different than that of a man? What are the challenges you face? What challenges do the women you know face?
With the help of Mrs. Nichols, our art teacher, and their classroom teachers, each Little Hearts and Preschool student will also develop a piece of art as a response to her viewing of the selections from the exhibit. She will also be encouraged to express her feelings about the posed questions. The art work will be displayed on the Mater Campus.
This project gives students in all divisions a unique opportunity to explore the meaning of what it means to be a woman through both art and writing and to incorporate the Goals of Sacred Heart education into their lives and curriculum as they share their knowledge and gifts with others; probe their relationship to self, to God, and to the world; build community; and creatively use their imaginations in reflective work with the goal of leading the total community to reflect on society and values.
We invite you to view the entire collection sometime during the 2008-2009 school year by visiting the Assembly Room on the Rosary Campus.
