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School News
May 25th will be the last day of this school year for families to earn Scrip profit for this school year. This program generates over $50,000 annually for St. Mary’s School. Many families have gone above and beyond the $250 requirement for each family and they will be receiving a voucher that can be applied to next year’s tuition or donated back to the school. One family will have over $1700 returned to them in the form of a voucher! Many other families have earned enough to cover a month of tuition.
If you have not been using the Scrip program or have not been able to meet your family goal, here a few suggestions to get you started for next year.
• Set up a monthly order for basic items like gas and groceries. You can set up a bill pay from your bank to go to St. Mary’s School and Connie will fill your order monthly.
• Ask friends and relatives to purchase scrip and donate the profit to your family.
• Make it a habit to purchase Scrip after mass or one day a week at the school or St. Joe’s.
• Plan ahead for Christmas and special occasions. Everyone likes a gift card as a gift.
We want this program to be a win/win for the school and your family. Call us if you have any questions
The 26th annual Night of Knights Auction took place on April 21st and was another huge success. With your help we were able to raise $155,000 for St. Mary’s School. Thank you to the Auction Committee and all the parents that worked together to support this event. We also want to thank the Auction guests who supported the school by purchasing food, raffle tickets, silent and live auction items.
Congratulations to the following raffle winners.
The Car and Cash raffle:
Grand Prize – Car or $15,000: Denise Gardner
2nd – $1000: Debbie Quaale
3rd – $500: Mitch Schroeder
Hawaii Trip: Ben Olson
Mystery: Tricia Johnson
Alumni Raffle
1st place $250 to, Martin Chesney, class of 1960
2nd place $150 to , Sheila Miller, class of 1961
3rd place $100 to, Dale Gross, class of 1075
Split the pot: Philomena Seykora
Early bird basket: Rose Ann Kubicek
Staff winners: Cheryl Kasper and Lynn Peterson
Students from St. Mary’s School are encouraged to participate in many academic events. We would like to celebrate the success of a few students. Congratul
ations to Luke Berkley for his accomplishment at the State Science Fair. His project titled “Can Waste and Recycled Materials Be Used for Sound Absorption?” placed in the top 5% at the state contest.
Chloe Schroeder competed in the Patriot’s Pen Essay contest. She placed 1st in Owatonna, 1st in Minnesota, and 6th in the Nation. Four students won the poster contest sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. Pictured with their teachers are Rebekkah Boubin, Whitni Minton, Mackenzie Haberman, and Ryan 
Krumholz.
There will be an informational meeting for parents of 4th graders about band on Monday, April 16 at 7:00 pm in the St. Mary’s band room. At this meeting information about the process for beginning an instrument will be presented. This will include how instruments are demonstrated to the classes, the individual sign-up meeting, summer lessons, and other parent information.
You will also be checking out a copy of a wonderful parent resource book “Growing Your Musician: A Parent’s Guide to Band and Orchestra Students.” The St. Mary’s Home and School has purchased a set of these books for parents of beginning instrumental students to read. The book contains information on how to choose an instrument, practice tips, and other help for parents.
The timeline for beginning band sign-up is as follows:
- April 16 Parent Information Meeting
- April 23-30 Instrument Demonstrations to 4th Grade Classes
- April 30-May 4 Individual Meetings with Parents & Students
- May 29-June 7 Students will start on their instrument during school
- June 11-28 Summer Band Lessons
If you cannot make the meeting, please contact Mrs. Kuklok at school to check out a book and sign-up for an individual meeting time. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Mrs. Kuklok at home (455-9737) or at school by phone (446-2300) or e-mail (skuklok@stmarys-owatonna.org).
Technology changes so quickly in today’s world, it is difficult for schools to keep up with the latest trends and equipment. One of the objectives in the school’s strategic plan is to provide students with technology that enhances the educational experience and supports student learning. We have been very fortunate in the last few years and have been able to acquire technology from a variety of sources. Home and School and individual donors have been generous in their donations to supplement the school’s technology budget. These extra donations have allowed us to provide interactive white boards for the classrooms, maintain two computers labs, and purchase additional devices and equipment like I-pads, I-pods, and video equipment.
We are currently dreaming about the possibility of adding equipment/tools that will help our students manage the technology/information demands of 21st Century learning. Our middle school teachers,grade 6, 7, and 8, are exploring the possibility of a 1-to 1 program where students would have access to a device, like an I-pad, for the entire school day. This tool would travel with the student to classes and teachers would utilize this tool to deliver curriculum and support learning. On Friday, March 9, 6 teachers will be visiting another Catholic School who is piloting a program. We have also been researching and attending informational sessions. We invited a few parents to a meeting in February to test the market and find out if this is a desire that parents have for the students at St. Mary’s School.
The process so far has been exciting, challenging, and thought provoking. Our list of questions is long and includes things like… How will we monitor student use? Will these tools increase student learning? How will we fund the project? And what kind of controls can we maintain to keep students safe? As we continue to research the project, we are finding many answers from schools that are already implementing programs. Our hope is to continue this process and include more of our parents in the process. We will be hosting an informal meeting on March 21, from 4:00- 5:00 at St. Mary’s School. We invite you to join us for the discussion. Please come with your questions. We don’t know that we will have the answers, but we want to include your thoughts, ideas, and questions in our process.