Lots and Lots of First In Math and then a Pens Practice
at Mellon Arena
The students from grades 3 through 7
competed in a First In Math within the school. The winning team, plus the top 10
students from the other team were rewarded with a trip to the Mellon Arena to
watch the Pittsburgh Penguins practice. More pictures are on the
Pens website.
Pancakes
Served up by the Class of 2009!
The 8th grade students and parents served almost 200 breakfasts on
Sunday November 30 in the school cafeteria. Thanks to the generosity, support
and help of many great volunteers, $840 was raised. Thanks to everyone who
supports our school by attending this annual event. A gift will be purchased for
the school in thanks and remembrance.
A 5th Grade Tradition
On Wednesday before Thanksgiving,
the fifth grade students carried out the Thanksgiving tradition of acting out
the gospel during the all-school mass. Pictures the 5th grade acting out the 10
lepers being healed are below.
Blessing of the
Crèche
St. Ursula's band was
invited to play at the Blessing of the Crèche, which kicks off the official
start of the Christmas season in Pittsburgh. St. Ursula, along with St. Mary's
and St. Athanasius under the direction of Mrs. Susan Chambers, preformed
Christmas songs before and after the blessing for the crowds at USX.
After the
performance, Bishop Zubik stopped to thank the students. Photos of St. Ursula
students and the Bishop Zubik were published in both the Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Included with the photos
taken by Mrs. Davis are the photos
and articles from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's website and from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Saturday edition.
Honors Band
Congratulations to the students who made North District Honors
Band. Students auditioned on November 18 before a panel of band teachers, only
the best 100 are chosen. Mrs. Chambers is happy to announce that the
following students will be a part of that group, they are Claire C., Jaime B.,
Danny Z., Catherine C., Rachel D., Joel N., and Jane P. The concert is held on
March 29th at North Catholic High School.
St. Ursula Schools Alumni Take 1st and 2nd Place in
Robotics Competition
Congratulations to the Robotics and Engineering students on
their success at the Western Pennsylvania Vex Robotics Competition held
at California University of Pennsylvania this past Friday. St. Joes entered two
robots into the competition, competing against 19 other robots from 12 schools.
St. Ursula Alumni Jim Kisiel was part of the team which brought home the
Tournament Champion Award for being a member of on the winning alliance. St.
Ursula Alumni Anna Spirk was part of the team which brought home Tournament
Finalist Recognition for finishing in second place in the tournament. The
team also won first place in the Robot Skills Challenge. Thanks to the
research project done by Anna Spirk the school won training that will provide
$900,000 worth of 3D Computer Aided Design software for the school. Finally, the
school as a whole brought home the Excellence Award. The Excellence
Award is the highest award presented in the VEX Robotics Competition.
The recipient of this award is a team that exemplifies overall excellence in
building a well rounded VEX robotics program. This team excels in many areas and
is a shining example of dedication, devotion, hard work and teamwork. With all
of these accomplishments the teams are now qualified to compete at the Vex World
Championships in Dallas, Texas in early May!
Craft Fair
The students sold beautiful holiday cards and ornaments at
the first ever St. Ursula Craft Fair on November 15. Thank you to Mrs.
Pontoriero and Mrs. Heyl who were teacher advisors for this project. The
students handled the cash sales and packaged the items and said "Thank you!" to
the customers. Anything left at the end of the day (and there wasn't much left)
will be used to decorate the school trees and the cards will go to nursing home
patients with a Christmas message added by the students.
Alumni students and parents were present to browse and help.
Mrs. Lakatos and Mrs. Marchionna (alum parents) had a booth and Mrs. M won the
$300 Gold Party Tree Raffle. Tina and Paul Greiff host Gold Home Parties and are
giving 20% of their proceeds to our school. Profits from the Gold Home Parties
was approximately $800.
Bingo for fun AND a good cause
The Kids Bingo on November 6 was a wonderful and fun time for
all--parents and kids alike. $280 was raised which will purchase food
certificates to add to the Thanksgiving baskets being collected and assembled
from the school and student council. St. Ursula alumni helped on the bingo floor
and in the kitchen where hot food and home made treats were sold. God blesses us
with a wonderful network of support.
Through the combined Kids Bingo and the Food Drive at
school, St. Ursula School was able to provide 20 food boxes that included all
the "fixins" for a holiday mean including a $10 grocery gift card to purchase
the turkey. In the Food Drive competition, Fifth & Seventh Grades tied for the
most contributions per student with 10 items per student. They will have a pizza
party at a later date.
St. Ursula School Students
Make History
Take a look at the
Senator
John Heinz History Center brochure for field trips. St. Ursula School
students were photographed during their field trip last winter.
Lots and Lots of BoxTops!
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Box Tops for Education Contest. We
collected enough Box Tops to raise just over $1000 for this collection period.
Congratulations to grades 2, 4, & 5 for bringing in over 1000 Box Tops per
class. These grades have earned a Jeans Day on December 10th. Thank you also to
Paige G. who submitted almost 2000 Box Tops.
Keep collecting, there will be another contest in the Spring.
Troop Appreciation
Essay Contest
Student from area schools were invited to write essays to show
their appreciation of the military troops who serve our nation. The essay
contest is held in conjunction with the 3rd Annual Veteran's Day 5K Race being
held on Sunday, November 9 at Hampton Community Park. Two students from
St. Ursula will be awarded for their winning essays at this year's event. Eighth
grader, Jane P. won 2nd place in the essay contest and seventh grader, Ryan W.
won 3rd place. The essays of the finalists were judged by officers at the Naval
Academy in Annapolis, MD. Congratulations Jane and Ryan.
Troop
Operation Appreciation supports our troops by fulfilling 'wish-list'
requests. The race on Sunday is a fundraiser to support this organization. This
event will raise funds which will be used to send care packages to the troops.
The essays that were written by the students will accompany the care packages.
Read a
letter from the event organizer,
Jane's essay, and
Ryan's essay.
Happy Halloween
The annual parade had a variety of
very creative costumes and the students showed them off as they walked through
the school's neighborhood. The parade has had great weather in past years but
this year's weather was exceptionally beautiful. Each year the parents plan
great Halloween celebrations for the students. Thank you to all of the parents
for planning all of the games and providing all of the treats. The kids had a
great time.
St. Ursula
School's Eighth Grade Makes the News
The October 25th edition of the
Pine Creek Journal included a photo and an interview with each of the eighth
grade students at St. Ursula. Each student was asked which school subject they
believed was the most important subject.
Click here to see the
students and read their responses. 'Thank you' goes to the Pine Creek Journal
for visiting our school and for sending the PDF to publish on our school
website.
St. Ursula School
Visits St. Paul's Cathedral and the Carnegie Library
Last summer Pope
Benedict XVI announced that the Church would dedicate this year in honor of St.
Paul the Apostle. To participate in this celebration, the
students from St. Ursula visited St. Paul's Cathedral in Oakland for a special
Mass. After Mass the students toured the cathedral. After the tour of the
cathedral, the students had lunch outside the Carnegie Library and then toured
the library.
St. Ursula School
Newsletter is available online
Click here to read the latest edition of the
St. Ursula School Parent NEWSletter,
Fall 2008.
You will need Acrobat Reader to open it.
If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, click on Acrobat Reader icon
to download it.
St.
Ursula Talent Around Town
Sarah R. and Melina W. won the Pittsburgh Zoo's
pet picture contest, 1st and 2nd place respectively, from
the first grade classes that participated city wide. They both
received medals and checks for $25 and $15 respectively.
There was an award ceremony last month at the zoo, the
posters were on display at the zoo all month and then the
1st place winners' posters were sent to Harrisburg for display.
The Rebirth of the
St.
Ursula Wish List
If you have been around St. Ursula
long enough, you may remember the wish list from 10 years ago. It was time to
survey the teachers and administration again to see what they wish for most.
Most often, you have to be in the right place at the right time to find out that
there is an item that could make our teachers’ day a little easier or the
students’ day a little nicer. But this article was created so that all parents
and friends of St. Ursula have the same opportunity to know and contribute if
they choose.
The following is a list by teacher/administrator and it contains
small items that you may have around the house and a few very large items. If
you are interested in donating the item or money to purchase the item, please
see instructions below. If you can think of a way to have the item donated,
please contact the office via phone or in writing to explain your idea. There
will be a list in the office that will be updated as things are donated. An
update will also be printed in the January edition of the Parent Newsletter.
Please take a minute to read the
St.
Ursula Wish List and see if there is something that you can do to help.
Thanks to everyone who donated items on the St. Ursula
Wish list! A total of 24 items were checked off of the list! The items donated
include a bookshelf, classroom subscription to "Let's Find Out" for all
kindergarten students, 3 electric pencil sharpeners, 2 volunteers to help copy
papers, hand sanitizer, 18 computer headsets, a book rack, Several Usborne
Learning Palates and Teaching tools, Library Resource Materials, an area carpet,
a CD player, an overhead projector, transparency films, and classroom clocks.
The teachers who received the items have been very grateful for these donations!
Get Well Father Ken
Students in grades K-8 created pictures or wrote payers to Father
Ken, pastor of St. Richard Parish, who recently underwent knee surgery. Mrs.
Pontoriero guided the students by suggesting that they think of a favorite bible
story that would inspire Fr. Ken during his recovery. The projects were bound
together in a book and delivered to Fr. Ken in September.
Nuclear News
The 4th and 5th grade students will participate
in the NA-YGN (North American Young Generation in Nuclear) Drawing Contest. Mr.
Pietro Porco, an engineer from Westinghouse Corp. visited on Friday, October 10
to speak to the students about the many ways in which nuclear science and
technology impact our daily lives. The students were attentive and enthusiastic
during the presentation "I'm impressed! You guys know your power plants!" was a
comment Mr. Porco made during the exchange.
FUND RAISING UPDATE
|
Certificate Sales |
$ 7,876 |
|
Golf Outing (held in 8/08) |
$ 5,988 |
|
Entertainment Books |
$ 560 |
|
Enjoy Books |
$ 720 |
|
Kidstuff Books |
$ 100 |
|
Market Day |
$ 775 |
|
Lottery Calendars |
$ 3,500* * This is an estimate until all payouts
to winners have been made. |
|
Misc. Programs |
$ 500 |
|
GOAL $107,000 |
TOTAL $ 20,019 |
Change newspaper into paper money—the ultimate
recycling! - Abiti Recycling! We have 4 bins to accept paper, catalogues,
magazines and junk mail. Remember NO phone books, plastic, cartons, or
cardboard. Add recycling to your errand route once a week and help the
environment and our school!
Boxtops for Education – Classroom Contest continues through October 23.
Visit the fund raising page of the school website for more fund raising
programs, opportunities and updates.
3937 Kirk Avenue
Enter to Grow