Happy Thursday Parents! I hope your week is going well. I feel like it is flying by! I have a feeling the entire month will feel like!

Literacy Night- Tonight is the night!!! It is a Come and Go! There will be a lot of games and activities for the kids! They can meet an author! They can stop by the Book Tasting for the 4th and 5th graders. The 5th graders do not have to stand by their book. If they come to the event...just go have fun and experience it all! I know the Literacy Committee has put a lot of effort into this event! 

Dollars for Scholars-- The votes are in for the 5th grade essays! The three essays moving on to the contest belong to Ashlyn Baker, Austin Evans, and Dillon Starlin! Congrats! I believe the winner will be notified in May after a mass. We never know which one! 

Math- This week they worked on estimating the quotient of decimals. They were using compatible numbers to get their answers. We don't do rounding when we divide, we get a much closer answer and no remainders when we use compatible numbers. 

Today we will be working on Biz Town. We are going to practice interviewing. They will interview for their jobs tomorrow afternoon. We have asked a couple of parents from 4th and 5th grade to help us out. We asked parents who weren't attending Biz Town. We are also going to have the 5th grade parents interview the 4th graders, and the 5th graders will be interviewed by the 4th grade parents. We are just trying to make it more realistic for the kids. There is a good chance they won't know their future employer so we wanted to keep it as close to real as possible. Mrs. Sickels and I will make final job decisions and let the kids know some time next week. 

Religion- We have started a new chapter that focuses on Jesus' mercy. The main points are the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. In 5th grade we really focus on the Spiritual Works, but it is always good to go over both of them. I found a short little video that I am going to show them. Besides using our book, it does a good job of explaining these and what we can do to help others "spiritually". It is coming out at a great time because I think we can easily relate what we do during Lent that is helpful. 

Holy Thursday, April 13- Next week we will celebrate the Seder Meal as a school. It is one of my favorite traditions that we do here. That day there won't be an alternative at lunch. We will eat family style. That afternoon will be the Cross Walk. You are welcome to join us on that day. We are planning to leave around 12:30. This was a wonderful experience for all of us last year. I just hope the sun shines and the rain stays away. Miss Steinkamp is planning to take a picture of the entire student body in the church that day. It will be used in future ads and the newspaper next year. They would like students to wear a white shirt. If it is a t shirt-- it is to have as little writing on it as possible. We may also make them wear it inside out for the picture if there is too much on the front. I would also suggest tennis shoes and not sandals to walk in. That will be much easier to walk in. I believe we are doing this rain or shine, so if it is raining, they might to bring an umbrella to school. 

Good Friday, April 14-- There is no school on that day! Remember no school on Monday- Wednesday the following week. The teachers will be in St. Louis. 

Tomorrow, Friday, April 7 is a optional sack lunch day! Just remember we are still in Lent. 

Have a great weekend. I am heading to Doon. I am meeting my sister there. Next week is the first year anniversary of my mom's passing, so we wanted to get home. I hope all of you have a GREAT weekend. 

God Bless,
Miss Surma