A REMINDER TO ALL PARENTS At the baptism of our children we commit to our God that we will raise our children in our Catholic faith. Last night the adults at First Reconciliation repeated the prayer above. We’ve included it for you as a reminder of the awesome responsibility we have before God to raise the children entrusted to us through His love.

It is no small matter that God has placed these little ones in your care. How do you as a parent carry out your responsibility? Last evening the 2nd Graders had an examination of conscience preparing them to receive Reconciliation for the very first time. If there were a parent examination of conscience, would it strike a chord with you? How might you respond to God’s prodding of your conscience? Raising our children is so hard but can be so much easier if we accept God’s help and strength.

STRENGTHS, LIMITATIONS, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHALLENGES were what was on the table yesterday when our official visit from the Archdiocesan Office of Education took place. To prepare for the visit, last fall our faculty individually considered these four aspects for each of the following benchmarks: Catholic Identity and Mission, Curriculum/Academic Quality, Physical Plant and Facilities, Enrollment, Marketing, and Development, and Leadership. The day was spent looking at school and discussing how to address each of these aspects for each benchmark. Education doesn’t just happen—it takes planning and vision. Catholic education takes that and the handprint of God to make it happen. Thank you for your commitment to it and be assured of ours. We will never sit back when your children’s futures call us forward to constantly re-evaluate how to best prepare them for this Third Millennium.

WE SHOCKED A LOT OF PEOPLE The information shared with you about Internet dangers for your children and self-inflicted dangers shocked many of you. Life is not easy in 2006 and we, as parents and educators, are called to know what these dangers are and how to deal with them relative to our children. The message Parents ~ the Anti-Drug translates to all these other areas. We must not only know what out there but must know if and how our children are involved. There is no other way. We are grateful to our computer teacher Kevin Burza and our CORA counselor Eve Boyd for their respective powerful presentations. As a follow-through to the choking game issue, we are inviting Police Officer Scott Methany to address you about this as he has made it his field of expertise.

MAKE WAY FOR THE LATEST FASHIONS If you’d like to be on the planning committee for our Passion for Fashion April evening, come to the meeting tomorrow night, Thursday, the 23rd, at 7 PM in the meeting/scrip room. You only need to commit to what you can handle in your life. Come and meet other parents for the social side of it as well.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS Congratulations to George Furitsch (5-13) for winning 1st Place Sunday at the Northeast Peanut League All-Star game in the skills competition for ages 9 and 10.

The 2005-2006 Who’s Who Among Outstanding Middle School Students has a very special listing. Kaitlin Demchuk (8-25) has been accepted to be included in this publication representing 22,000 middle schools. Congratulations, Kaitlin!

We have word that Nicole Scott ’05 is ranked #1 out of 538 freshmen at Ryan. Way to go, Nicole! Wow!

CRITICAL THINKING 101 Uh-oh! Last week’s contest entries are home on my dining room table and I’m here. We’ll have to announce that winner next week. In the meantime, the “letter class” of a whole number is the number of letter in that number. For example, the letter class of 16 (SIXTEEN) is 7, the letter class of 25 (TWENTY-FIVE) is 10, and so on. There is only one number between 1 and 5,000 that is the only representative of its letter class—that is, the number itself and the number of letters that spell that number are the same. Can you find it for a chance at the $10 Scrip of Choice certificate for next week?

REPORT CARDS WILL BE HERE ON MARCH 20 Second trimester report cards will be withheld if monthly payment plan tuitions have not been paid through the month of February and/or for families whose Offertory contributions are at a low level. As an awareness note, know that contributions averaging $15 weekly beginning last July 1 would total $495 through February 12. To insure accurate recording of your Sunday Offertory contributions, you are reminded to use the envelopes provided and to mark the amount enclosed. Maryann Junod will answer any questions or concerns you may have in these areas. She may be reached at our Parish Center 673- 5177.

IT’S AN ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT MEETING FOR PARENTS Not only will we be addressing Internet dangers for your children, we will also be addressing the choking game and other physical dangers at next week’s Home and School meeting in Trainer Hall at 7:30. Our children are our future and our hearts and we, as adults, are commissioned to safeguard them.

Preceding that meeting we are holding an Information Night for new parents at 6:45 in Holy Family Hall. We planned them both on the same evening so that parents might come to our H & S meeting to get a sense of all the good people who make up our school community. After an administrative introduction, the Pre-K, K, and 1st Grade teachers will be in their classrooms until 7:30 to meet and greet these parents.

REVERENCE IN OUR CHURCH Although you would have read the insert in the church bulletin about this a few weeks ago, we didn’t know if you thought to keep the insert. It is such an important faith message that we were hopeful it would prompt family review and discussion and so have included it in this week’s envelope for you.

HOW DO YOU PACKAGE A BRAIN or WHAT DO YOU WEAR TO A CONVENTION? These are just a few of the things of which you’d be aware if you happened to be in our school last week. Our 6th Graders are studying the brain and its entire system with the spinal cord, etc. Outside of their science classroom are models of spinal cords, brains, etc. along with catchy bumper stickers and poems showing their knowledge of their science learning. They also packaged raw eggs a.k.a. brains to see which packaging would keep the egg safe. They learned what a great job God did in designing our skulls and our brain packaging.

Down in the 4th Grade, delegates to the convention considering the Declaration came dressed appropriately and let their class know more about themselves as delegates. Of course, Ben Franklin, the PA delegate, brought his kite! What grade level do you think of when you think graphing? Well, even our Pre-K does graphing to show information visually. It’s a given in K and 1st, of course. So much goes on in your children’s daily school life that we take in stride here but we realize that not all of you may be aware of it. Learning is a different ballgame, people. We try so hard to have our students take ownership of their learning and realize that critical thinking and good communication are crucial.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS Our Boys Basketball Varsity A Team won the Archbishop Ryan tournament on Jan. 18th for the second year in a row by defeating Nativity (Fishtown) in a double overtime. In addition, the team clinched 1st Place in our division last week in a game against St. Cecilia’s. Tonight the team begins Region I Play-offs at Somerton against St. Jerome’s. Go for it, boys! You have last year’s statewide game as incentive. Coached by Steve Devlin, Dan Jordan, and Greg Olenski, the team members are Brian Dones, Dan Kelly, Greg Olenski, Kevin Regan, Dennis Regan, Matt Hoch, Steve Jackson, Ed Mulholland, Matt Riloff, John Rizzo, Mike Rymal, and Matt Stahl.

We are proud of another student Kaitlyn Jester (5-13) who donated 12 inches of her hair to Locks of Love. Kaitlyn made have lost a foot of hair but she grew a foot in generosity. Thank you.

CRITICAL THINKING 101 Congratulations and our $10 Scrip of Choice certificate go out to Jack Raynor (2-2) whose correct entry was drawn. The combined numeric value of the vowels in the alphabet came to 76. For next week, what are the combined values of the consonants made up only of straight lines? This means counting letters like H or M but not B because it has some curves in it. Get it?

TRYING TO KEEP YOU INFORMED ISN’T ALWAYS EASY Just look at the papers in this week’s envelope! So much is going on around here that you need to know about. Our annual application period is here again and the letter with details about that is on the back of this newsletter. Information about 2006 tuition, evening mass for students, Market Day, Home and School activities, CYO Bingo, you name it is also in the envelope. Please be sure to look on both sides of fliers as we are encouraging that practice as a way of being good stewards and making it easier for you to review the contents.

CELEBRATING WHO WE ARE is easy with the wonderful students we have. At Sunday’s opening liturgy, we heard from 8th graders Samantha Kuhar and Jim Murphy on behalf of his friend Bruce Yhost the impact that Catholic education here at CSC has had on their lives. Yesterday we enjoyed more academic celebrating with two spelling bees. Monica Sucharski came in 1st and Michael Nitowski was the runner-up in the morning’s 4-5-6 bee. Both of them will prepare for an upcoming regional bee. Joe Geoghan was the 1st Place winner with John Rizzo runner-up in the afternoon’s 7-8 bee. These boys will be preparing for The Philadelphia Tribune Bee which sends the winner to Washington. Being in the limelight and in front of the student body can be intimidating but you wouldn’t have known it from the 24 students in the AM and 14 students in the PM’s demeanors. Good skills, huh? We work on them daily in our classrooms.

WHAT A NIGHT IT WAS! Monday night at Somerton was a happening when members of our 8th grade basketball teams played a game against members of our faculty at this 4th annual Catholic Schools Week event. It was quite a game both offensively and defensively as players on both teams raced up and down the court before the eyes of about 500 people. The cheering by fans and student and faculty cheerleaders inspired all the players as did the many clever signs displayed by the crowd. Just about the entire faculty participated as did the following students players: Megan Nardi, Beth Rymal, Kelly Clavin, Nick Foss, Julie Williams, Kevin Regan, Christine Gradel, Marisa Fiorentino, Shannon Dougherty, Maura Ruskowski, Kelly McGarry, Kelly Nocitra, Tracey McKeown, Samantha Kuhar, Greg Olenski, Brian Dones, Don Bradley, Dan Kelly, Matt Hoch, Matt Riloff, and Steve Jackson. Besides all the fun of the evening, we collected $509 to send to Amigo de Jesus to help the school being developed at the orphanage.

YOUR CALENDAR IS MARKED, ISN’T IT? Don’t forget that Friday is a faculty meeting and so there is no school for students. CYO Bingo Night held in Trainer Hall Thursday night will be even more fun knowing that there are no lunches to pack, etc. the next day. While you’re making calendar notes, jot down tonight’s Fashion Show meeting and that our own school parent Joey Callahan will be on television Friday AM. See the details for both on accompanying H & S paperwork.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS This past Saturday, the SCS Varsity Cheerleading Squad took part in their second competition of the season at Father Judge. Once again they won a 1st Place in the All-Around Category and came in 2nd in the general competition. If anyone has seen the Ford girls, Justina (8-18) and Julie (3-7), you may have noticed their attractive hair cuts. What you may not know is that the girls had their hair cut to be donated to Locks of Love. We are proud of you, Justina and Julie!

Kaitlin Demchuk (8-25) has been selected one of four winners from a field of over 400 in the Philadelphia Phantoms Third Annual Season Ticket Design Contest. Kaitlin’s drawing will be showcased on the season ticket being used this Friday, February 3rd against the Hershey Bears. In addition to that honor, Kaitlin will get to ride the Phantom’s zamboni that night. Well done, Kaitlin, and go Phantoms!

CRITICAL THINKING 101 This week’s $10 Scrip of Choice certificate goes to Kevin Brown (3-6) whose correct entry was drawn. He knew that you can spell that without any r’s. For next week, if each letter of the alphabet were assigned a corresponding numerical value as in a=1, b=2, c=3, etc., what would the combined value of all the vowels be including y?

WHO CAN EXPLAIN THE FEELING and the shared experience of adoring the Eucharist that was given to us last Wednesday evening? Although the evening was targeted for our CYO members, attendance was overwhelming and across the board from babies to seniors. The Capuchin Sisters choice of music was lively and moving as we prepared ourselves to welcome Christ fully into our midst. The sense of awe and reverence was palpable as everyone came forth to kneel before the Eucharist displayed in the monstrance and touch the cloak of Jesus. We can only wish that you and yours could have arranged to have been there.

LOOK ON THE BACK, LOOK ON THE BACK That’s our new mantra as we continue to try hard to be good stewards. H & S has started and we have too. Check out the back of this newsletter for the Catholic Schools Week schedule and in the future keep turning pages over in hopes that we are indeed double-dipping and saving money, paper and ultimately doing our part for the environment

WE’D LIKE TO ESPECIALLY RECOGNIZE THESE STUDENTS First of all, we’d like to share the names of the top four winners in each grade in the Science Fair competition judged by science professors from Philadelphia Community College. In 5th Grade: 1st Place—Colleen Young, 2nd—Katherine Wible, 3rd—Christopher Brown, and Honorable Mention—Nicholas Barbadoro. In 6th, 1st Place—William Urban, 2nd—Jason Amado, 3rd—Jessica Dawson, and Honorable Mention—Jessica Riloff. In 7th, 1st Place—Katie O’Neill, 2nd—Briana Druding, 3rd—Sara Scholowinski, and Honorable Mention—Jesse Worek. In 8th, 1st Place—Tim Herling, 2nd- Erin Friel, 3rd—Rob Zielinski, and Honorable Mention—Kelsey Haugh. The overall Grand Prize for the entire school was awarded to 5th Grader Colleen Young. You will see all these boards on display during our Open House Sunday.

On Tuesday we will be hosting two spelling bees and these are the students who won the right to compete. In the 4-5-6 Bee are 4th Graders Katherine Burke, John Luciano, Matthew Anthony, Laney Coull, Paige Pullman, Grace Van Thuyne, Danny McIntyre, and Nicolina DiMascia. From 5th are Kate Haugh, Josh Cannon, Amanda Leithead, Grace Reilly, Emily Gaggiano, Jessica Weisenborn, Jeffrey Altmeier, and Kaitlyn Shields. From 6th are Michael Nitowski, Elizabeth Beramendi, James Cannon, Justin San Juan, Michael Meehan, Michael Gradel, Monica Sucharski, and Taylor Kaminski.

In the 7-8 Bee are 7th Graders John Rizzo, Joe Gallagher, Michael Pasteur, Jessica Sylvester, Laura Micciulla, and Katie Murray and 8th Graders Tim Herling, Dan Kelly, Charles McCairns, Joe Geoghan, Kaitlin Demchek, Victoria Cram, Victoria Mangoni, and Kate Micciulla. We will, of course, share the results of those two competitions with you.

PLEASE BE AWARE OF UPCOMING DEADLINE 05/06 Tuition Policy excerpt regarding continued enrollment in St. Christopher School after February 1, 2006: “First trimester report cards must have been released. Monthly tuition payments need to be current through January. For other payment plans, tuition must be paid in full.” Feel free to contact Maryann Junod in the parish office with any questions you may have.

…AND FINALLY FROM The MASTER Teacher “Ninth, parents can help their children by urging them to ‘think’—and expecting them to ‘think.’ After all, learning to think is a major part of being educated. This includes thinking before acting. It includes applying what is being learned. It means thinking continuously about ways to achieve, solve problems, and overcome obstacles. Education is about living a quality life.”

FAMILY AND STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES The Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia announces that need-based scholarship funds for Grades K to 5 are available by lottery to the first 3,000 applications. Go to www.csfphiladelphia.org for the application and information.

The Philadelphia Department of Recreation’s Winter Art Camp will run on Saturdays from Feb. 4 to March 18. You may call our office for a registration/information form and also call Visual Arts Coordinator Anne Marie Dunne at 215-685-2871.

The National Association of Women in Construction is again hosting its annual Blocks Kids Contest for school children in grades 1-6 at Decatur Road on Feb. 11. With some basic supplies including 100 interlocking plastic blocks, kids get to create their own construction sites. Call our office for an application form due by Feb. 4 and/or call Karen at 610-688-3980 x32 with questions.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS Last Saturday, Jan. 20th, the SCS Varsity Cheerleading Squad went to their first competition held at St. Basil Academy. Crediting the hard work and dedication of their coaches in preparing them, the girls took 1st Place in the All-Around Category and 2nd in the Dance Category. In addition to the team awards, Delanie Lynch competed for the title of All-American Cheerleader and came in 1st Place in that. What a squad!

Congratulations to Dylan Cerebe (4-11)! Dylan won the Flyers’ Shoot-Out contest held during the Flyers’ game on the 19th. He will now advance to the semi-finals on Friday, February 10th. Go Dylan! Keep us posted.

CRITICAL THINKING 101 Congratulations to Manju Anthony (6-17) for having her correct entry drawn for this week’s $10 Scrip of Choice certificate. We asked for at least two words in the English language have the vowels in proper order in the word. Manju’s two words were abstemious and facetious which were the two most popular but there were a few others. Now, if we could only see these words used in writing and conversation.

For next week, “Railroad Crossings—Look out for the cars!” Can you spell that without any “R”s?

MONKS? SISTERS? WHO ARE THESE WOMEN? Be sure to ask your children about our visitors at school today. Hopefully, your children met them in their classrooms. We are likewise hopeful that ALL of our CYO members will be at Church this evening at 7 PM to hear the message these women are bringing precisely for them. All the coaches were asked to cancel any practice today so that students could be at home and preparing to be at Church by 7 for this momentous event so carefully planned by Fr. Phil. Parents too are encouraged to be present to hear the message. I know how excited the pastor and we here at school are about this opportunity. We’re looking forward to the evening.

PLAN TO SET SOME TIME ASIDE NEXT WEDNESDAY January 25th is a double-duty day here. Our students will be bringing home their second trimester progress reports and students in grades 4, 6, and 8 will also be bringing home their Terra Nova testing results. It is worthwhile and necessary for parents to sit with their children to talk about how the children’s strengths and weaknesses. Taking ownership of learning is crucial for each student. Learning, after all, belongs to the student and not to parents or teachers.

THOSE TRI-FOLD BOARDS COMING AND GOING are proof of how hard our students have been working on their science experiments and presentations. Science fair judging for boards from grades 5-8 will take place this Friday. All of the boards at every grade level will be on display for our Catholic Schools Week Open House Sunday January 29th. You will be impressed!

ACTION # 8 Here’s the next way from The MASTER Teacher that parents can help their students: “ Eighth, parents can help their children find success in school by reminding them to treat others as they would like to be treated. They can also make it clear that while the school exists to help them be successful, there are many other students who need to be successful too. That’s why parents should tell their children that showing respect and concern for others will improve their own chances of success. If students are concerned only with themselves, they will find the road to success harder.”

PLEASE BE AWARE OF UPCOMING DEADLINE 05/06 Tuition Policy excerpt regarding continued enrollment in St. Christopher School after February 1, 2006: “First trimester report cards must have been released. Monthly tuition payments need to be current through January. For other payment plans, tuition must be paid in full.” Feel free to contact Maryann Junod in the parish office with any questions you may have.

A PASSION FOR FASHION is what Chairperson Janine McNally has! She is passionate about making this spring’s H & S annual fashion show the best yet. To make that happen, Janine needs a strong committee to plan and prepare. Check out the accompanying flier for the Wednesday, Feb. 1st meeting details.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS Congratulations to the Somerton Under-10 Soccer Team who won the Department of Recreation Championship. St. Chris players include Clare Cochrane, Hannah Cochrane, Melissa Rizzo, Nora McWilliams, Taylor Adair, Caroline McAndress, Nicole Haselbarth, Shannon Harrington, and Nicole Zambito. Good job, girls!

It was not your everyday kind of cruise, that’s for sure. When a recent Carnival Cruise Liner set off for Mexico, The Pride of Erin dancers were on board to entertain the guests. Dancers from our school included Erin Wible, Victoria Grzyminski, Colleen Gentilcore, and Brianna Grzyminski. What a treat those cruisers had!

CRITICAL THINKING 101 The next number in sequence to be read the same upside down would be 8008 and Ryan Hearn (4-10) had his correct entry drawn for this week’s $10 Scrip of Choice certificate. For next week, name at least two words in the English language in which the vowels a, e, i, o, u appear in that same order although there are consonants interspersed with the vowels.

MONDAY IS A HOLIDAY In honor and remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Monday, January 16th, is a national holiday and our school too will be closed. People are called to service on this day to honor Dr. King’s memory and vision. For many of you, service to others is an on-going part of your life. It is a value that we encourage here at St. Christopher both in and out of school and in CYO activities.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK is a time-honored tradition celebrated throughout our nation each year. This year we will anticipate this special week beginning Friday, January 27th, and officially opening appropriately enough at our noontime Sunday liturgy January 29th and then continuing into the first days of February. We will be sending you the week’s schedule so that you can keep up with all the good things happening at this very special Catholic School of ours.

TIME FLIES… If it’s the New Year on the calendar, it means that it is soon time to think of the new 2006-2007 school year as well. We have begun planning for it here and we need to know how many families are applying to be at St. Christopher School before we consider new families who would like to send their children here. Therefore, we will be sending home application envelopes for you to share that information with us as well as including the $125 family annual application fee due between February 13th and 24th.

ACTION # 7 We are at the seventh of nine actions presented by The MASTER Teacher that parents can take to help their children.

“Seventh, to be successful in school, students must be able to work with others. That’s why parents must encourage their children to work at getting along with others—including classmates, younger and older students, teachers, counselors, administrators, and other adults. This one trait can heighten children’s success in school and be extremely important later in life. The truth is, if a student can’t work with others, school and career objectives will be limited.”

THE “GADGET LADY”? We all know her—if not in person—at least through all she does on behalf of our school. Information Science professor at Bucks County Community College Debra Geoghan is our Gadget Lady too although we never knew that was her nickname. Mrs. Geoghan designed and maintains our school website. It is because of her efforts that you are able to view teacher web pages each night, check the school calendar or handbook on-line, link to the Parish site, and so on. She also plays a very active role in helping with our technology program from hands-on maintenance and updating school computers to brainstorming on our Tech Committee. Her fifteen week consumer electronics course to begin at BCCC the end of the month will show students of all ages who choose to enroll how to use all their gadgets. Remember, we knew her when…!

PEOPLE AND EVENTS Last Thursday we held our local Knights of Columbus Free-Throw contest for students aged 10-14 years old. We’d like to thank all the students who competed and congratulate the winners who will compete on the next level Saturday, January 21st. The St. Chris winning girls are Christine Gradel, Shannon Harrington, Nora Jackson, and Megan Wolf. The boys are Kyle Constantine, Bill Dever, Tyler Donnelly, and Joe Ruskowski. Congratulations and good luck! We’ll keep you posted.

The Somerton Boys Nine Year Old Basketball Team won the Bob Snell Memorial Christmas Tournament. Coached by John Luciano, the St. Chris students are Casey Buck, Matt Cavanaugh, Jason Dones, John Luciano, Nick Pelbano, and Colin Wiercinski. Well done, boys!

CRITICAL THINKING 101 Wow, are your minds ever in full gear! We had so many correct entries for this drawing. Congratulations to Michelle Thomas (6-20) who will receive this week’s $10 Scrip of Choice certificate since her correct entry was drawn. When you multiplied the number by itself (squared it) and then added 1 to that, you got the next number in the sequence which is 17. For next week, let’s stay with numbers. “Below are five consecutive four-digit numbers that are the same right side up as they are upside-down. What is the next four-digit number in this sequence?”

A MOST HOLY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR is what the faculty hopes is in store for your family. Each new year is full of promise and potential and we hope that you realize both by letting your strong Catholic faith guide your actions and decisions.

OUR GOD IS AN AMAZING GOD! We returned to school in this brand new 2006 year on the feast of The Most Holy Name of Jesus yesterday. Today we came together as a school community in liturgy on the feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, and tomorrow we celebrate the feast of St. John Neumann. What a wonderful way for us to celebrate the season honoring the name of the newly born Jesus and then honoring two very special American saints who both spent their lives to see that children could and would be well educated in the Catholic faith. Let us always be amazed and activated by the ways God inspires us.

TUITION NIGHT IS ACTUALLY TONIGHT! If you are a school family using the semi-annual tuition payment plan, tonight is your tuition payment time from 6:30 to 7:45 PM in Holy Family Hall. Please remember that you needed to have redeemed your tuition vouchers prior to making payment.

You are asked to contact Maryann Junod at the Parish Center with any concerns noting the following excerpts from the tuition policy for continued enrollment after February 1st: “First trimester report cards must have been released. Monthly tuition payments need to be current through January. For other payment plans, tuition must be paid in full.”

…AND WHILE YOUR CHECKBOOK IS OUT If you are a family paying lunch fee by trimesters rather than in full in September, we need to remind you that we are now in the second trimester and your fee may be past due. Please send it in to Joan Kennedy in the school office. You may call her with any questions.

PARENT ACTION # 6 As promised we are continuing to share the nine actions given us in the publication The MASTER Teacher that parents can take. “Sixth, parents can help their children by urging them not to waste time and energy denying or rationalizing mistakes. Rather, children need to be reminded that mistakes result in learning. Parents can say, ‘We’re not going to blame you for making a mistake, but take a look at what you’ve learned from the mistake so that you don’t repeat it.’

“SHAVE AND A HAIRCUT, TWO BITS” We’re not really worried about the shave from that old rhyme but we do need to remind families about students whose hair needs cutting and/or combing each day. If your student’s hair is not according to school policy, please follow through ASAP. Like punctuality, good personal appearance and grooming are life habits that need to be fostered and developed. We hope that we will not find it necessary to keep taking reminder actions on our end.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS A big THANK YOU to the generous members of our CYO who participated in an evening of song and celebration with the residents of the Somerton Senior Center right before Christmas. With a police escort to guide them, over 100 of our young people along with parent chaperones made their way to the Somerton facility where they joyfully sang Christmas carols and visited with the residents. This time they were even accompanied by one of our talented youth on a saxophone! Before returning to Trainer Hall for hot chocolate and snacks, our CYO stopped by neighboring Cranaleith where they sang for the Sisters of Mercy. We are all very proud of this generosity and kindness that truly embodies the spirit of Christmas and again thank the CYO members and their chaperones under the inspirational leadership of Mrs. Giammaruti and Father Phil Florio, SJ.

We are excited about all the high school acceptances and scholarships that we are hearing about from our 8th Grade families. Please continue to send us official paperwork regarding these honors.

CRITICAL THINKING 101 For a chance to win the first $10 Scrip of Choice certificate in the new year, can you solve this one? “The numbers in each set have a relationship in common. Can you identify that relationship and find the missing number?”

IT’S A WRAP FOR 2005 Amazingly this is the closing newsletter of 2005 as our students—and faculty—anticipate the close of school this Friday at the end of the day knowing that we will not be returning until Tuesday, January 3, 2006. This time of year is a time of wonder for children and adults alike as we prepare for the Birth of Christ by sharing with each other the love He has for each of us. We pray that you too have a sense of that wonder as you bustle about with all the preparation that makes Christmas so special.

REMEMBER YOU CAN COME IN THE BACK DOOR AS WELL by being sure that you’ve included books and games that encourage critical thinking among your gifts for your children. Reinforcing/encouraging the joy of reading is easy. Providing video/computer games that are positive in what they portray might be challenging but as caring parents we are called to, in fact, mandated to do this for the sake of our children. There are, however, a myriad of games available that are fun and yet positive in what they promote. Don’t be seduced by popular opinion.

A BRIEF TUITION REMINDER AND REVIEW The first Wednesday in January, the 4th, tuition night takes place for families on the semi-annual payment plan in Holy Family Hall between 6:30 and 7:45 pm. Don’t forget to redeem your scrip prior to making payment. Contact Maryann Junod in the Parish Center with any concerns as you note the following excerpts from the tuition policy for continued enrollment after February 1st. “First trimester report cards must have been released. Monthly tuition payments need to be current through January. For other payment plans, tuition must be paid in full.”

THE FOURTH ACTION FROM THE MASTER TEACHER “Fourth, parents should stress organization and tidiness. This means keeping work and desks clean and orderly. The better students get at meeting this standard, the better their chance for academic success. Assignments, homework, notes, resources, and other academic work gain clarity and productivity through organization.”

A HOLIDAY SCHOOL BAG CHECK will give you some insight into the above action. How does your child’s school bag look? What’s in it? Are the folders organized and neat or are papers stuffed randomly and wrinkled? What do your child’s copybooks look like? Are pages set up neatly? Is the handwriting presentable? Is there drawing or graffiti, etc.? This is a good time of year for a re-organization strategy if needed.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS The Somerton Girls Under 11 Soccer Team won the Philadelphia Department of Recreation Championship this past Sunday. We’d like to congratulate the SCS students on the team: Sandy Aitken, Lindsey Johnson, Amanda Johncola, Erica Kopchinski, Courtney Bogan, Jenna Clavin, Bernadette Jackson, Nora Jackson, Emily Gaggiano, Kaitlyn Jester, and Colleen Young. Good going!

CRITICAL THINKING 101 Congratulations to Bryan Constantine (5-13) whose co