Upload
others
View
0
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Fall 2017 St. Mary’s School Alumni Newsletter
Upcoming Events:
Christmas Caroling: Sunday, December 2
Catholic Schools Week: January 28-Feb. 3
Alumni Mass: Sunday, February 25
SMS Mission: “To provide a Catholic education
that nurtures students’ hearts and minds to become servant leaders
in an ever-changing world.”
Message from Fr. Del Lape, Pastor of St. Mary’s
Contact Information: School
903 W. Mission Avenue Bellevue, NE 68005
402-291-1694 stmarysschoolbellevue.com
School Principal
Dr. Trish Wallinger 402-291-1694, ext. 8
trish.wallinger@ stmarysbellevue.com
Parish Pastor
Fr. Del Lape 402-291-1350
frdellape@ stmarysbellevue.com
Business Manager
Collette Borland 402-291-1350
collette.borland@ stmarysbellevue.com
Alumni Mailbox
SMS Alumni News—Page 1
Alumni Relations Coordinator Farewell
Caroling Reminder!
Calling all alumni!
Join us for Christmas Car-
oling on December 2nd! 1:00-2:00 pm at Hillcrest
Shadow Lake. 1507 E Gold Coast Rd.,
Papillion, NE 68046
We’d love to see you
there!
1. What teacher wore the Quiet Hat? 2. Which teacher’s favorite authors are E.B.
White & Beverly Cleary? 3. Which teacher has the largest collection of
penguins? 4. What teacher was born in New York and
lived in Germany? 5. Which teacher greets the students in differ-
ent languages? 6. Which teacher now owns a winery and wine
tasting room? 7. Which teacher turned the classroom into The
Great Hall at Ellis Island? 8. Which teacher donned a lab coat and safety
goggles? 9. What teacher often wore a birthday hat at
assemblies? 10. Which 5th grade teacher originally started
the Veterans Assemblies at St. Mary’s? 11. Which sisters were seen sledding down
Calhoun in their habits?
2017-2018 School Statistics
Enrollment: 206
Capacity: 84%
Male/Female Ratio:
54% / 46%
9% Alumni Families
Your continued involvement and support of St. Mary’s School is essential. I want to thank you for all that you do for your “Alma Mater.” Your support of your old grade school ex-presses your gratitude—you are a thankful person. And so to your generosity I say “Thank you” in return. Advent is the season of preparation for the coming of Christ
and the Church will be entering into this holy time the beginning of De-cember. Let’s pray that people will take this opportunity to return to the regular practice of their faith—a sort of “coming home for the Holidays.” Most of all let us pray and look forward to Our Blessed Lord’s return. The whole world needs peace that only Christ can provide. God Bless, Father Del Lape
“Which Teacher Did That” Challenge
Each of us has that special teacher that im-pacted our education. Here’s a collection of some of those teachers unique styles about who they were...do any ring a bell? Answers: page 4.
Fall 2017
SMS Alumni News—Page 2
Alumni with Current Students at St. Mary’s
School: 22 alumni with 28 children/grandchildren are at St.
Mary’s! Alumni choosing St. Mary’s for their child/
grandchild sends a powerful message. Have someone
you’d like to attend St. Mary’s? Call the school
today for information (402-291-1694)!
-Dane’ (Huck) Ames ’86: 4 -Bonnie (Kouba) Roos ‘90: 1 -Sean Giles ’04: 2 -Suzy (Peters) Godwin ’99: 1 -Hannah (Menzel) Clark ‘02:1 -Rachel(Tyner)Ruleaux ’96:1 -Patrick Kettleson ’95: 1* (Debbie(Cook) Kettleson ‘69) -Breanna Koch ’04: 1 -Patrick Kouba ’77: 2 -Joanna (Jungers) Lee ’89: 3* (Dean Jungers ’56) -Christina (Hascall) Legner ‘91: 3* (Dean Hascall ’68) -Jackie (Hascall) Lizarraga ‘97: 2 (Dean Hascall ‘68) -Sarah (Roth) Mlnarik ‘92: 1 -Patti (Ferrante) Nastase ‘61: 1* -Alan Swiecicki ‘89: 2 -Willie Wessling ’87: 3* (Ken Wessling ‘53) -Janet (Jungers) Yale ’91: 1* (Dean Jungers ’56) -Kim (Schreiber) Zieno ‘97 & Angelo Zieno ‘95: 2 -Heather (Zurcher) Kinsey ‘88: 1
* = Grandchild of Alumni Italics = Graduation year listed, but did not attend through graduation
Honoring Deceased Alumni St. Mary’s now has an “Our Lady of Seven Sorrows”
Memorial Prayer Garden and on St. Mark’s east side the
names of those remembered/honored by Prayer Garden
donors. Interested in having a St. Mary’s alum honored or
remembered? Contact the
parish secretary for more
information (402) 291-
1350.
St. Mary’s Honors Veterans
St. Mary’s held it annual Veterans Day
assembly this November. We were
thrilled to see so many veterans and
family members as well as many guests
to honor and thank those who served
and those who continue to serve in our
military. This year we remembered the
entrance of the United States into
WW1. Though there are no living US
veterans from the Great War, we hon-
ored and remembered the Knights of
Columbus who established huts near
the front lines where men could attend
Mass or just relax from the rigors of
battle.
We were blessed to have four of our
local Council 6192 Knights in atten-
dance, two of whom were veterans
themselves. Dr. Ashton, our new arch-
diocese superintendent also attended
as did other special guests including 6
World War II veterans. This year we
were honored to have a Wounded War-
rior, who along with the WWII veterans
received a “Quilt of Valor”.
One of our military representatives was
Missy Walther (‘2012) who recently
enlisted in the national guard. Missy
shared with our organizers that she de-
Giving Back
Behind every good assembly is a group of dedicated individuals making it possible. At our recent veterans assembly, we were blessed to have two retired teach-ers leading the way: Becky Feagan who taught 4th grade at St. Mary's from 1994-2015 and Cheryl Shan-ker who taught Middle
School Social Studies, retiring in 2014.
Also, instrumental in the decorating for the assembly was Megan Kreps (Class of 2014).
cided to enter the
military because of
the Veterans as-
sembly she wit-
nessed as a stu-
dent at St Mary's.
We also saw other Alumni when the
Bellevue East High School Jr. ROTC
arrived for the assembly.
This assembly was truly a collaborative
event. From the 8th graders who led the
assembly to the 7th grade escorts/
greeters; the kindergarten, first and sec-
ond graders who prayed their own
special blessing over the veterans; the
students who made cards or colored the
booklet covers & all the students singing
with proud and strong voices.
We offer praise and thanksgiving to God
for the students, the volunteers &
parents who contributed to this assembly
to honor those who serve.
Fall 2017
SMS Alumni News—Page 3
Tell Us What’s Going on With You! We want to keep our data current and share achievements, weddings, births, deaths, milestones and whatever else you can think of. Don’t be bashful. Go to the Alumni page on the school website www.stmarysschoolbellevue.com to submit the Alumni Information Form with contact information updates or story leads!
Letter from Dr. Trish Wallinger, Principal
It is such a blessing to have an opportunity to tell our alumni and families about the current happenings at St. Mary’s. Our students continue the tradition of service to the community and living the Gos-pel message. We worship together, pray together, and play together in much the same ways you did when you were students at St. Mary’s. If you stop by for a visit, you may unexpectedly find an “Angel Card”. The first graders have been leaving messages of love and hope for us
to find. Once we read the card, we are encouraged to put it in a different place for someone else to find. These messages are a source of inspiration for all who find them. The cards have even been left on the playground. Student Council members just announced their annual Thanksgiving food drive. Cans and boxes of non-perishable items are pouring in. Students are excited to share their resources to feed the hungry in Bellevue. During Advent, we will have a prayer service each week, plan special service projects, and receive the sacrament of Rec-onciliation. Friends and family are included in many of these activities. Please watch the bulletin and the digital sign out front for dates and times. Thank you for sup-porting St. Mary’s School. Your prayers and donations, as well as, your gifts of time are greatly appreciated. It is our hope that you are richly blessed during the Thanks-giving and Advent seasons. - Dr. Trish Wallinger
Ms. Gaspers is our first grade teacher, but some Alumni may remember her better as our 6th teacher. She is currently pursuing her Graduate endorsement in Early Childhood with fel-low educator, Mrs. Lewis at the College of St. Mary. Ms. Gaspers began her teaching career at St. Mary's over twenty years ago. One parent shared with the principal, “Ms. Gaspers has the amazing ability to em-power her students to be the best version of themselves. From problem solving strategies to ways to be mindful of self and others, they learn to be self-sufficient contributors.” Ms. Gaspers when discussing her vocation shared this insight “I am blessed every year to share my faith journey with my students and equally blessed that they share their journey with each other and me." When not teaching, Ms. Gaspers enjoys reading, gardening, traveling, visiting the farm. - Ms. Gaspers
Teacher Spotlight
Mrs. Embury has been teaching third grade at St. Mary’s School for the past 28 years. I truly love the 3rd grade level and their excitement for learning. I have been influenced by many excellent teachers throughout the years. I am finding that learning never ends and teaching continues to become more exciting with the many changes in education and technology. I was able to participate in the College of St. Mary’s Science workshops during the past two years. We focused on incorpo-rating science inquiry activities for the classroom in the areas of physical and life sciences, as well as physics and engi-neering. It was inspiring to be sur-rounded by such enthusiastic fellow teachers from the Omaha area as we learned how to embed science in all we teach.
I can’t imagine not being a teacher. Maybe I would run a woolen needle stitchery shop or a garden nursery with an artsy gift shop, but then I would still be teaching in some respect. -Mrs. Embury
Remember When… Book reports were a fun way to practice our writing and oral communication. Below is a picture of the mobile book reports on display this past October, featuring two of our current third graders, Anna (daughter of Sara Roth Class of ‘92). Mobile book reports have pictures hung from a hanger that students use as an aid for their speech class.
Ms. Gaspers’ Saints parade is a fun tradition
for the past ten or so years. On November 1st, the students process to classrooms singing “Oh When the Saints go Marching in.”
Fall 2017
SMS Alumni News—
Page 4)
STUDYING IN ROME. Fr. Matthew Rolling, a 1996 alumni of St. Mary's School was home from Rome this summer visiting fam-ily and friends. He is studying Philosophy at the Pontifical Univer-sity of St. Thomas in Urbe (aka the Angelicum). He will complete the degree in June, 2020. He concelebrated the first all school Mass in August. He also visited the St. Mary's Cub Scout Pack Meeting on Sept. 19th to encourage the Cubs to work on earning their religious Scout awards as he did years ago as a Cub Scout in St. Mary's Pack. Fr. Matt also visited some classrooms during religion classes. He was a great inspiration to all who heard of his "calling".
A TRADITION OF SERVICE. This past August Becky Feagan and Mary Langhorst, two retired St. Mary’s teachers, visited Alaska. They visited many sights, but were especially blessed to enjoy several days in An-
chorage and a six hour tour of the Kenai Fjords National Park. While in Anchorage they met up with a former student and 2008 graduate, SSgt. Shawn Schaefer who is cur-rently stationed at Elmendorf AFB
in Anchorage. Following in his dad’s footsteps, he joined the Air Force four years later in 2012. After com-pleting basic military training, he was trained as an Aircraft Hydraulic Sys-tems Specialist at Sheppard AFB. SSgt Schaefer was also deployed to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar in 2016. Be-fore their visit ended, Mrs. Feagan jokingly quizzed Shawn on some of the US states & capitals just as she did many years ago when teaching. (Shawn received an A+)
Tell Us What’s Going on With You! We want to keep our data current and share achievements, weddings, births, deaths, milestones and whatever else you can think of. Don’t be bashful. Go to the Alumni page on the school website (stmarysschoolbellevue. com) to submit the Alumni Information Form with contact information updates or story leads!
School & Current
Student Highlights Read these full stories and many others on the school website and Facebook page.
Durham Museum’s
National
Nanotechnology Day Challenge
Ice Cream Social
Kicks Off the New
School Year Arrows to Aerospace
Parade
Nebraska State
Winner
Answers (from quiz;
pg 1): 1. Susan Gold;
2. Diane Embury; 3.
Mrs. Lewis; 4. Mrs. So-
bilo; 5. Ms. Gaspers; 6 .
Mrs. Slattery; 7. Becky
Feagan; 8. Sid Ecker-
man; 9 Mrs. Sena
10. Mary Langhorst 11.
Sr. Rosalia, Sr. Irmina,
and Sr. Joan Miriam November 10, 2017, my big sister, Liz Connealy, arrived to speak to my 7th grade Religion class about her faith journey. Liz is an Alum of St. Mary’s School and graduated from college at Northwest Missouri State in 2013.
Soon after college graduation, Liz became a FOCUS Missionary at Wayne State and led bible studies and other activities. She helped stu-dents increase their faith. She par-ticipated in many mission trips while in FOCUS—a favorite was Rome!
Looking Up to My Big Sister
My sister was diagnosed with Addison’s disease her first year of FOCUS and has been dealing with it courageously. This is a very rare disease and when you have it you get very tired and experience black outs. Also, your skin turns very dark. Thankfully she is doing well and taking medicine everyday. My sister is now en-gaged to a man named Patrick Mueret. Liz works at Head Start and loves the kids there. My sister lives a very holy life. I am proud of her. Her message to my class was to trust in God’s plan and never lose hope. - Maria Connealy, Class of 2019
WITSCLASH. Recently, the St. Mary's WitsClash team traveled to Bryan High School to compete in the largest quiz bowl in Nebraska. Any sixth, seventh, or eighth grader can join the WitsClash team. At the Bryan tournament we did very well, with one of our teams seeded fourth in the bracket of over thirty teams. While we did-n't win any trophies, it was a really fun ex-perience for all of the teams.
-Lindsey Wessling, Class of 2018 (Daughter of Willie (‘87) and Liz Wessling
24th Annual Benefit Auction, “Spring for the Children”
Moved to new venue this year
Fall 2017
SMS Alumni News—Page 5
We are gearing up for our biggest fundraiser of the year, the Spring for the Children Benefit Auction which will be held April 14, 2018. The auction be-gan in 1995 and most recently has been at the Live-stock Exchange Building. This year, we are excited to be celebrating at the Beardmore Even Center.
Why do we have an auction? The tuition parents pay does not cover all the expenses associated with running St. Mary’s School. The parish covers a ma-jority of the operational expenses and tuition covers a huge part, but there’s still a gap.
The Home & School Association (led by parents), addresses the gaps, as well as, helps fund both emergencies and enhancements that ensure St. Mary’s continues to be on the cutting edge of education. H&S has funded: roof repairs, carpet, field trips, laptops, projectors, Chromebooks, gym
Walk of Fame: Graduates Photo Gallery
I’m not an Alum of St. Mary’s, but I have the privilege of being its current school secretary. One of my favorite places to visit is the downstairs hall-way that showcases our graduating classes. I’m not alone. The students will seek and point out to friends the class picture that holds their mom or dad, an older sibling, grandparent, etc. This past summer, I gave a tour to a prospective pre-kindergarten family. While visiting, I discov-ered that mom was a former student. We found her picture much to the delight of her husband and child.
sound system, playground set, and so much more!
All of our Alumni are invited to join us for that night for delicious food and beverage, bidding, fel-lowship and more! Whether purchased that eve-ning or beforehand, take a chance and buy some raffle tickets ($10 each) with the top prize at $2,000.
If you would like to help, we are always thankful for donations from businesses (gift certificates or other auction items), some Alumni have donated an item or gift certificate for the silent auction or maybe you have a bigger ticket item that would be a good fit for the live auction (e.g., major sporting event tickets/boxes, time shares, travel vouchers, etc.). *All donations are tax-deductible.
Hope to see you there...
During another tour, the dad mentioned a memory that led me to believe he was an Alum. He said that his family moved and he didn’t graduate from St. Mary’s, but for fun, we found “his class.” While visiting with him, I asked him if he remembered the names of any students and two names he mentioned I
didn’t recognize. How-ever, when I looked at their picture, I discovered that I did know them —by their married name, not their maiden names—Hascall and Jungers.
I got a kick out of letting my guest know that the student who just passed us in the hallway was his former friend’s child.
He later shared that while he never graduated from St. Mary’s he recalled that when he did move and started at public school, they were doing work he had already mastered at St. Mary’s.
That memory stayed with him...that his educational experience at St. Mary’s was exceptional.
Fall 2017
Dominican Prayer:
(Recited daily at school) Dear loving God,
Thank you for Saint Mary’s
School and all of the
opportunities we will have
today. Help us all to make
wise choices, be kind, and
always strive to tell the
truth. We ask that you
watch over, protect, and
guide us through our day.
Please bless the
Dominican Sisters who
started our school in 1948.
In the name of Jesus we
pray.
Amen.
SMS Alumni News—Page 6
Alumni Giving - Sharing Blessings and Making an Impact
Thank You to all alumni who have generously given to St. Mary’s! Your support ensures a quality, faith-filled education for current students! Various opportunities are available for alumni giving,
Support is available through:
Education Endowment
Adopt-A-Student
Benefit Auction (April 14, 2018)
Omaha Gives
Capital Improvements and Special Projects
If you are interested in learning more about stewardship opportunities, please visit the school website and submit the form today! There are some programs that require you to spend nothing more than you are already and still make an impact to St. Mary’s: Amazon Smiles, Dillion’s [Baker’s] Community Rewards, Box Tops for Education, & Coke Rewards. Shop at Spartan Nash stores in 10 states (e.g., Family Fare) and send us your receipts ($150,000 in receipts = $1,000 for St. Mary’s School). Contact the school for more information (402) 291-1694. If you haven’t already done so, please take a few moments to submit the Alumni Information Form. Follow these quick and easy steps to access this document! 1. stmarysschoolbellevue.com/alumni 2. Click on “Alumni Information Form” 3. Fill out form and submit...you are now in our
system! If you are reading this digitally, click the link or use QR Code on your smart phone to be directed straight to the Google Form.
Alumni Form