January 30, 2022

Hello Students and Parents,

Welcome to Catholic Schools Week!  I’m so excited to be returning to the classroom tomorrow, especially in time to celebrate the gift of Catholic education.  We are truly blessed with our school community that is literally home to the best students, families, and teachers ever!  I am truly grateful to be a part of RCS and privileged to teach in such a vibrant and faith filled Catholic school.

There are many special events and activities scheduled this week, which are all centered on celebrating who we are and all that we value. Tomorrow, our focus is on our students. All are welcome to come to school in their favorite pajamas.  What a great way to welcome a Monday. Be sure to wear your favorite and most comfy pjs and be prepared to enjoy a few special treats.

On Tuesday, we will come together to celebrate a special Catholic Schools Week Mass.  Covid prevents us from coming together in the Church, but even the Omicron variant can’t stop our liturgy. A live stream of the Mass will be posted for all. Students, parents, grandparents, and friends can all enjoy this special Mass from the comfort of our warm, cozy classrooms and homes. Be sure to look for the link on the school and parish websites,

Wednesday’s activities will focus on World Read Aloud Day and a spirit filled pep rally!  We are also expecting a visit from the Diocesan Director of Curriculum, Dr. Bobby Lockwood. We are excited to share all the wonderful things going on in our school and classrooms with Dr. Lockwood, and we know he will adore our students.  Wednesday is also a green and yellow dress down day. Since we are class 4B, all students will dress in green, from head to toe.  Don’t worry about looking cool….the focus is on being green!  I can’t wait to see what ideas you come up with.

Parents will be celebrated on Thursday.  Please look for a special gift that will be coming home that day that will be made by your child and filled with their love and appreciation for all that you do for our students and school. Thursday is also a Vocabulary Dress Down Day. Instead of assigning an individual vocabulary word to each student, fourth graders will all dress as vertebrates.  We did this last year and it was a big hit. Our classroom was literally filled with lions, and tigers, and bears….oh my!  We also had an array of pandas, dogs, cats, reptiles, and monkeys!  Be creative and have fun with this one!

On Friday, we are asking students to bring in boxes of cereal that will serve two purposes.  First, it’s a Food on Friday donation.  Second, we are going to build the biggest cereal box domino figure ever in our gym!  It will be so much fun….The more boxed cereal we bring in, the bigger the structure.  I’ll be sure to take pictures!  Students in grades three through eight will also participate in a school wide escape room. First class out of their room wins!  Can 4B do it!?!?

You are sure to be grateful for a half day on Friday so you can use the extra time on the weekend to recuperate from all of these activities.  What a great week ahead we have to look forward to, starting today!  Thank you for being a part of all we do here in school, but special thanks for making us the blessed community that we are here.

Cant wait to see all of the kids tomorrow,

Debbie Shumaker