November 20, 2014
“As each one has received a
gift, use it to serve one another
as good stewards of God’s
varied grace.” 1 Peter 4:10
Give Thanks by
Giving
Week 3:
Fruit juices, peanut butter and
jelly, spaghetti sauce
Our Mission Statement
Dates to Remember:
It is the mission of St. James Catholic School to educate students in
a Christ-centered environment with an emphasis on Catholic
teachings and traditions while providing academic excellence for all.
Friday, November 21st
Free Dress Day for Raffle Ticket Sales
Monday, November 24th through Friday,
November 28th
Thanksgiving Holidays
Monday, December 1st
A Charlie Brown Christmas presentation
Tuesday, December 2nd through Friday,
December 5th
St. James Santa Shop
Wednesday, December 3rd
District Reading Fair at St. Patrick
Science Fair Forms due
Monday, December 8th
Immaculate Conception
School Mass
8:30 a.m.
Tuesday, December 9th
Penance Service for 3rd through 6th grades
Wednesday, December 17th and Thursday,
December 18th
St. James Christmas Program
Friday, December 19th
Noon Dismissal/No Afterschool Care
Monday, December 22nd through Friday,
January 2nd
Christmas Holidays
Tuesday, January 6th
End of Quarter 2
Academic Competition for Excellence
We are very proud of our students who represented St.
James at the Academic Competition for Excellence (ACE)
sponsored by St. Stanislaus on Saturday, November 15th.
Pictured below are: (bottom row, left to right) C. C.
Ware, Joel Grumme, Olivia Leatherman, Sydney Burrell,
Avery Culbertson, Jameson Thriffiley; (top row, left to
right) Kelsey Descher, Robert Van Horn, Ali Ware, Cade
Meyers, Briggs Menendez, Anthony Mattina
St. James School
Kelsey Descher placed first in the area of 6th grade Math.
In the area of 6th grade Social Studies, Cade Meyers placed first and
Ali Ware place second.
Avery Culbertson placed third in fifth grade English.
603 West Avenue
Gulfport, MS 39507
(228) 896-6631
Fax: (228) 896-6638
Principal: Jennifer Broadus
[email protected]
Website: www.stjamesgulfport.com
Please email any newsletter items to
[email protected] by Tuesdays
at noon.
Children’s Mass
Featured Choir Schedule
Any students from other grades that attend this Mass
are welcome to join the featured choir.
Note: Readers (by grade) have already been scheduled for the year.
Sundays - 9:00 A.M. Mass
Featured Choir
December 7th
1st Grade
December 14th
6th Grade
Save the Date!
Parish Christmas Party
Sunday, December 7th, after 11:00 a.m. Mass in the gym
Pot Luck, Arts and Crafts, Food Drive, Prizes, Candy, Fun, Nativity Trivia!
Special Appearance by Mary and Joseph
Call Rosi Healy @ 504-615-8260 to help!
Family Rosary’s 2015 “Try Prayer! It Works!” Contest
The call for entries has been announced for the 2015 “Try Prayer! It Works!” Contest. In this national
competition sponsored by Family Rosary, children participate in an inspiring faith experience as they
express their faith through art, poetry and prose. For details and/or to download an application, go to
www.FamilyRosary.org/TryPrayer.
Renew Our Heart O Lord Advent Mission
Renew Our Heart O Lord Advent Mission will be held at St. Mary Catholic Church from December 7th
through December 10th at 6:30 p.m. each night. St. Mary Catholic Church is located at 8343 Woolmarket
Road, Biloxi, Mississippi, 39532. Refreshments will be provided in the parish hall following the mission
service. If you have any questions, please contact Deacon Gerald Pickich at 861-6581.
Mission Prayer
We ask you, Lord, to shape us into a community of faith. Nourish us by Your Word and Sacraments,
that we may grow into the image of Jesus. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, and the blessings
of our parish mission, heal us that we, in turn, may heal the wounded. Form us to be instruments of
love, justice, and peace in our world. Give us courage to take up our crosses and follow Your son,
Jesus; and then send us out to proclaim Your wonderful works. Amen.
Congratulations to our Blue
& Gold winner for
November 17, 2014:
Aimee Vivian - $100.00
Free Dress Day
We will have a free dress day on
Friday, November 21, 2014, for
all students who sold two or more
books of raffle tickets.
Warrior Spirit (Dan Romano) and
Flying Arrow (Alexander Romano) of
the Mohegan Tribe visited the PK 3
classes this week!
The Faculty, Staff, and
Administration of St. James
Catholic School would like to
wish everyone a safe and happy
Thanksgiving.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Stage Door Productions will present A
Charlie Brown Christmas at St. James on
Monday, December 1st. PK 3 through
2nd grade students will attend the 9:00
a.m. performance and 3rd through 6th
grade students will attend the 10:00 a.m.
performance. Admission is $5.00 for
students and adults. Parents are welcome
to attend the performance, but should pay
in advance. Checks should be made
payable to St. James.
The season for warm winter
wear is here and it is time for us
to unpack all of our cozy coats.
If you notice that there are
items that no longer fit you or
your children, please consider
donating to our school’s
clothing drive.
Important Reminder
Cold weather jackets and coats for outside must be solid
navy with no logo other than the school crest. Students
may wear a navy cardigan, navy sweatshirt or navy fleece
inside the school buildings, as long as it is adorned with the
St. James crest. No other jackets are allowed during
school hours. Please review the uniform policy on page 13
of the handbook.
**Please label all jackets, sweaters, and sweatshirts with
your child’s name.
We will be accepting GENTLY USED
or new coats, hats, gloves, and scarves
again this year. There will be a box in
the school hallway for collection. The
donated items will find a new home
with the families of the St. James
Christmas Angels. Any leftover items
will be donated to the homeless in our
community.
Afterschool Care
Reminder
Afterschool Care closes
each day at 5:30 p.m.
Please make every
attempt to pick up your
child from school by
5:30 p.m.
Medication Policy
Please review the St. James
Catholic School medication policy
found on page 16 in the Parent and
Student Handbook. No student
should have medication to take on
his/her own at school. This
includes cough drops. Thank you.
St. James Catholic School McTeacher’s Night!
Thank you to everyone who helped to make our first McTeacher’s Night such a wonderful
success. Special appreciation goes to the Descher Family for making
this fun and exciting night possible!
The St. James Santa Shop
The St. James Santa Shop will be open for Christmas
shopping on December 2, 3, 4, and 5 from
8:00 a.m. until 3:15 p.m.
We will need volunteers to help the students shop and to
wrap gifts. We also need donations of gift bags, tissue
paper, bubble wrap, plastic bags, and tape.
There is a volunteer link on our website!
St. James Website
www.stjamesgulfport.com
Our St. James website is an awesome place to find a wealth of information and activities.
There is even an alumni sign-up link for former students of St. James.
Please take some time to visit our website!
One of the most exciting things about the St. James website is that it provides our students with access
to many of their in-school educational activities. Renaissance Place, Khan Academy, Scoot Pad, and
Typing Club are some examples of educational opportunities that students can work on at home. Use
the Chromebook Apps link to find these websites. Students sign in from home using the same log-ins
that are used at school.
Please take advantage of this wonderful learning opportunity!
2014-2015 St. James Catholic School Yearbook
Please continue using the ReplayIt app for sharing your pictures with
the yearbook staff. We are getting some wonderful shots!
A 2014-2015 yearbook order form can be found on our website. Orders may be made
online at www.jostensyearbooks.com or by printing and sending in the order form
with payment made out to St. James. Please note that the yearbooks may be
personalized with a student’s name and icons on the cover.
Geography Bee
The St. James Geography Bee for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students is
fast approaching! National Geographic recommends preparing yourself for
the National Geography Bee by downloading the Geo Bee Challenge app at
www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/apps. This app gives a quiz each day
and ranks the user against the top scorers in the world. National
Geographic also recommends four other great game apps which sharpen your geographic
knowledge: Weird but True! by National Geographic, Animal Jam, the U.S. Road Trip Game
and Quiz Whiz. Remember, the St. James Geography Bee is coming up after the Christmas
holidays. Students around the country are already preparing themselves.
Power up now or be left in the dust!
Ms. Connie Favret
NEWS FROM THE ART DEPARTMENT
It has become a tradition at St. James for the entire student body, teachers, and staff to
create beautiful, hand-painted papier mache Christmas ornaments. The ornaments will
go on sale in the parish center during the Christmas show (December 17th and 18th).
These one-of-a-kind ornaments will make a wonderful gift and evoke lasting memories.
Pictured are students holding Christmas ornaments from previous years.
Kellogg’s Book Promotion
Kellogg’s is running a promotion for free books for schools with the purchase of certain Kellogg items through March, 2015. More information can be found at https://
www.kelloggsfamilyrewards.com/en_US/promotions/free-scholastic-book-fromkelloggs.html
Give Thanks by Giving
So many people in our area are in need of the absolute necessities of life.
We at St. James Catholic School have been blessed beyond recognition.
Now it is our turn to give thanks by giving back.
We are in the midst of our annual Thanksgiving
St. Vincent De Paul Food Drive.
St. Vincent De Paul is an organization at St. James Church that services the needy
of St. James Parish and the surrounding area with food and other necessities. The
people that come for services are screened and certain criteria must be met to
receive help.
The food drive began on Monday, November 3rd and will end the week of
Thanksgiving break. Each week has a theme.
Week 1: Box Dinners and Cereals - Hamburger Helper, mac and
cheese, cereal, oatmeal, grits, rice and pasta
Week 2: Canned items - Canned fruit and veggies, ravioli, tuna,
soups
Week 3: Fruit juices, peanut butter and jelly, spaghetti sauce
It is our hope that with the help of each family at St. James we can stock the empty
shelves of St. Vincent De Paul. So, as you grocery shop in the days ahead, please
grab an extra few items and remember the people without.
Children may place their items on the table in the cafeteria. We hope to
have a great tower of food before Thanksgiving.
Sincere thanks for everyone’s help!
St. James PTO
Cafeteria News
Welcome back to school!
If you are interested in having lunch with your child in the cafeteria, please inform Ms.
Broussard in the office or Ms. Goacher in the cafeteria the day before you’d like to visit.
Lunch Money - Please specify on your lunch check the amount of money for each child.
A reminder also that the price of daily snack was added to your child’s tuition.
We will offer ice cream on Fridays. Students must have cash in order to purchase ice cream.
All of the ice cream products that we sell are approved by the state office of Child Nutrition and fall
within the guidelines of our Wellness Policy.
PK-3, PK-4, Kindergarten and 1st Grade
Students can bring money in a zip lock bag with their name on it. If you would like to pay in advance, teachers will keep up
with the money in the zip lock bag. They will send the bag home when it is empty.
2nd - 6th Grade
Students will purchase their own ice cream and will be responsible for keeping up with their money.
$0.50 items
$1.00 items (cont.)
Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry-low fat ice
cream-3 oz. cup with spoon
Low fat mini ice cream cone
Low fat Dream Bar
Low fat Cookies N’ Cream Bar
Frozen yogurt, strawberry swirl
Fudge Bar
Frozen yogurt, vanilla
Chocolate Shortcake bar
Strawberry Shortcake bar
Crumbled Cookie Cone
$1.00 items
Ice cream sandwich, low fat, chocolate
wafer
Lunch Calendar
12/1
12/2
12/3
12/4
12/5
Hamburger on Bun
Baked Beans
Fries
Fruit
Milk
Spaghetti with
Meat Sauce
Texas Toast
Green Beans
Spinach
Fruit
Milk
Corn Dog
Baked Beans
Carrot Sticks
Fruit
Milk
Steak Fingers
Rice and Gravy
Mixed Vegetables
Roll
Fruit
Milk
Cheese Sticks
Vegetable Soup
Carrot Sticks
Fruit
Milk
Cafeteria
Volunteers
Cafeteria
Volunteers
Cafeteria
Volunteers
Cafeteria
Volunteers
Cafeteria
Volunteers
Jessica Hightower
Sissy Leatherman
Summer Heffner
Natalie Schofield
Sandi Hall
Trudy Stegall
Justin Skinner
Ashley Endris
Joy Morris IC
Jaclyn Brewer IC
Ashley Burrell
Angie Callecod