What a pleasure to meet the new junior high parents at conferences last week! And, I was very happy to visit with all the returning parents, as well! It is very gratifying to see the interest expressed at conferences and I will continue to draw inspiration from your dedication to your child’s education.
The 7th grade just finished viewing two videos: The Biographies of Mother Teresa and Mary Jo Copland. Students have prepared a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two inspirational and contemplative women. They are both great examples of sharing God’s love with others.
We will finish the chapter on prayer with a discussion of the types of prayer and how prayer and our Catholic life are inseparable.
Then we will turn to one of my favorite units on how Jesus lived. We will look at how he dressed, what languages he probably spoke and to whom he would have spoken to. Students will discuss what they would have been doing had they lived 2,000 years ago. We will conclude this unit by writing a diary of a day in the life of a young teenager during Jesus’ time.
The 8th grade is concluding a unit on the Four Ecumenical Councils and what their discussions and agreements meant to our early Church. Students also presented to their classmates a brief summary of several of our early Church Fathers such as Origen and Justin Martyr. We will begin Confirmation preparation when we return to school, November 30th.
Our pancake breakfast is scheduled for Wednesday, November 25th. What a great way to end the first trimester on a good note! Later on that day many eighth graders will switch classes (not everyone will switch) and prepare to begin the second trimester the following Monday after Thanksgiving.
Our month has been busy. I hope you can join us for our school mass each Friday. November 20th is our beautiful Thanksgiving mass. We are also gathering food for those less fortunate at that mass. Everyone have a great Thanksgiving!
Debi Vinetas