Prayer, Almsgiving and Fasting

Lent is a season to turn to God. A time to pray, a time to serve others, and a time to align our lives with the ways of God. Our humanity is marked with ashes, but it is the sign of the cross that redeems us. Join our school and faith community in this journey of reflection and repentance.

Grades 6, 7, and 8 have vocabulary and spelling this week. Grade 7 just finished Walk Two Moons and will be writing a final response. Grade 8 is soon done with The Giver.

Grade 8 students have submitted rough drafts and Works Cited. They are now working on "essay reflections."

Grade 7 needs to turn in autobiography rough drafts on Monday with a page of five resources.
Note: the due date was extended as students gave good reasons they needed MORE time.

Grade 6 will work on Ancient Greek biographical outlines today. These are due Tuesday.

This is a busy time for our junior high students with sports, major writing assignments, reading, and science fair assignments. Please encourage your students in these worthwhile academic responsibilities and discuss their ideas with them. This age group thrives well with "verbal" support. Thank you for your help.

Lent is 40 days. A short slot of time in the grand scheme of the church year, but an invitation to draw close to Jesus. To hail His arrival in Jerusalem, to eat at the Last Supper, to pray in the garden, and be present at the cross. Lenten blessings.

p.s. Thank you for prayers for my Mother's surgical procedure. She did well and we knew God was with us.

Psalm 32

Father Paul wrote a good commentary in the Sunday bulletin about Psalm 32. We looked at the first two verses in class to again claim the blessings we have in the forgiveness of God.

Grade 8 English: spelling words were given this week. Students are now working on rough research drafts due Feb. 24 (5 typed pages and one Works Cited page). The Final project will be due in early March and we will do oral presentations in class supported with PowerPoint after the spring break in March. Please be talking to your students about this heavy-weight writing assignment.

Grade 7 English: spelling words were given this week. Autobiographies outlines will be returned tomorrow and students then need to type their 5-page stories. Also one page with resources needs to be included in this project. The rough draft is due Feb. 26th. Please "save" any pages typed as students can easily go back and make corrections for the Final. Oral presentations will be after spring break and students will design PowerPoint presentations (in computer class) to support their autobiographies.

Grades 7/8: Reading logs are due this Friday to document 200 minutes of reading outside of class.

Grade 6: Students did a great job on fairytales last week: delightful stories with interesting characters and good illustrations to support a plot. Students will be working on spelling this week and also try their hand at "similes." Similes help readers and writers to "see" images to add more life to writing.

Geography: We have finished all Antarctica presentations. We are now moving into learning about Europe. This week will include making passports (NOT real ones..). Watching a DVD on Italy and then forming teams to do focused study on one country to present to the class. We will include such details as the cost of an airline ticket. It is VERY possible that most students will visit Europe someday.

Wednesday: Grades 6, 7, and 8 will attend the Environmental conference at Bad River Conference Center after lunch. There should be 20 or more displays with information on caring for our environment. This opportunity is a good fit for our geography studies and also science project ideas. PLEASE turn in permission slips PROMPTLY!

These are busy days in junior high. Many students have busy lives with sports along with academic studies. Please encourage your student in his/her projects as well as the routine needs of a good diet and plenty of sleep. Thank you everyone for helping me to teach your precious children.

Remember Psalm 32: Blessed is the person who transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (vs 1). We belong to the forgiving God of blessings.

Amazed

Today in the homily we again heard the word amazing. During the ministry of Jesus there were many people amazed with his teachings and miraculous healings. Today Jesus returns to his home town and he is "amazed" by the lack of faith of his neighbors. They did not believe that a native carpenter's son could possess such wisdom and knowledge. They did not recognize the potential of a person from their "own" community. These stories remind us to be amazed by our own faith and be amazed by the faith of others. Amazed by His forgiveness. Amazed by His patience. Amazed by His love. Amazed by His hope. Amazed by God's presence in others. We truly belong to the amazing God. Let us spread His amazing grace to others.

Grades 6/7/ and 8 have vocabulary due this week. Grade 6 on Thursday. Grade 7 and 8 on Friday. Also spelling tests will be given.

Major assignment due dates:
Geography Antarctic research station oral reports: Friday
Research essay plan for Grade 8: February 9th
Autobiography outline with 5 resources: Feb. 13th
Fairy tale stories for Grade 6: due date NOT set yet.

Also please bring permission slips for Ashwabay skiing next Wed. Cost is $18. Please speak to us IF you need financial help for your student. This Friday junior high will cook breakfast together. Please ASK your student what he/she needs to bring for our shared meal.

Don't be afraid to be amazed by God. He works events in our lives for our good. Behold and Be Amazed.