November, 2003
Dear Parents and Guardians,
With its celebrations of All Saints Day, All Souls Day and Thanksgiving, November is a month reflect on the many people who have blessed our lives and made a difference. In a similar way, we are called to reach out to others in support, friendship and concern. Many families deal daily with serious illness, recent loss of work, death of a loved one or the pain of separation. Several of our school families have family members in the military who are far away in Iraq, Kuwait and other troubled areas of the world. In these difficult situations as well as in the happy times of our lives, we are called to walk hand in hand with God and with one another.
Wasn’t our Halloween Carnival a wonderful success? The weather, imaginative decorations, great food,, big crowd and excellent family participation all worked together to make it one of our most successful Carnivals. A big thank you to each of you who participated and shared in this time!
How blessed we are as a school community! With recent donations from family members, parishioners and students, we have raised over $5700.00 through our ‘Pennies for Playground” program. Just this week, we received a $1,000.00 donation to our playground fund from Rex Distributing. You have already seen the results of many hours of planning and labor as the four structures (3 in the front playground and i in the back) have taken shape. Work yet to be done includes the competition of the protective surface under each piece of equipment and final landscaping of the area. You can be sure that you will be invited to attend the grand ribbon cutting ceremony! A big thanks to all who have donated pennies, nickels, dimes and more to the project! We are especially grateful to Jim and Gerry Ann Holt who have coordinated the purchasing and construction of the equipment; to the construction crew (and their families): Chad Aultman, Steve Bodin, John Brauchle, Boots Diaz, Bobby Grimes, Kenny Holloway, Jim Holt, David Leckich, and Robert Starks; to the NPA officers who have coordinated refreshments for the workers and to Joe and Crystal Ladnier for the donation of mulch. Working hand in hand with God and with one another, we have accomplished great things for our children!
It was wonderful to see the excellent attendance at our recent parent-teacher conferences. The teachers enjoyed meeting with you and learning more about your child. During these next weeks, I hope to meet with each child individually to go over the report card and to talk about the school year thus far. This is always a wonderful opportunity for me to get to know each child a little better. I am always amazed at their excellent questions, comments and suggestions!
Thank you for your response to the Make a Difference Day outreach to the Loaves and Fishes program. We were able to fill an entire pick-up truck with our donations for the needy of Biloxi.
Our students and families are invited to participate in several outreach programs during the month of November. Between now and November 21st, you are invited to donate non-perishable food items for Thanksgiving baskets. These will be assembled and distributed to needy families by the Nativity Parish CYO group. Through a second opportunity, students in several grades will be involved in making decorations for a special Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner follows the special Mass for the sick and elderly of our community on Saturday, November 22nd at 10:00 a.m. The third outreach program is of a different sort. Students in our Nativity Choir will again carol during the ‘Shop Biloxi” night on Friday, November 21st. Although the specific time and location are not known you and your families are invited to support our choir and our local merchants as well! We are pleased to have opportunities for our students that reach beyond the boundaries of our school!
Two meeting dates are listed on the calendar for parents of students who are preparing to receive their First Holy Communion. Typically, the students who receive the sacrament are in our second grade. However, if due to a family move or transition your older child has not received the sacrament, you are invited to attend as well and to make arrangements for your child to receive this sacrament.
Once again, thank you so very much for all that you do to make our school so special. May God shower upon you blessings of health, of happiness and of peace!
/s Sister Mary Jo