Weekly Principal Newsletter

 
THE PRINCIPAL'S NOTE

St. Michael School

February 4, 2012

THANK YOU TO ALL!!!

It is like any celebration a family plans. Catholic Schools Week involves so many people, plans, last minute details that have to be addressed. However just like any celebration you put your heart and soul into, the end result is usually better than you could imagine. St. Michael School Open House was more fun, more exciting and more rewarding than ever. It began with a beautiful Mass lead by our pastor, Father Paul Burak. If anyone leaves one of Father Paul's Liturgical celebrations without an increased awareness of Jesus Christ as our God and Savior, then your heart must be hardened. (And you need to return to Mass when you are in a better frame of mind.)

After Mass, we saw the results of all the planning. Our eighth grade ambassadors anxiously awaited families who wanted a tour of our school. Our Student Council members stood proudly as each was paired up with a new family who had come to learn more about their school. A number of families stopped to speak to me to praise these wonderful children. The families were not only impressed with how knowledgeable the students were about their school. They were equally impressed with the pride our students displayed in their school. John Carmody and Matt Davis told Mrs. Davis that they really felt they had received strong commitments from the families they toured. Is that the best? That is how invested our tour guides were in the school tours! Thank you to the following Student Ambassadors and Student Council members who were such a huge part of our success at Open House:

STUDENT AMBASSADORS

ALYSSA ALCORDO; JILLIAN BERTUCCI; MATT DAVIS; KATIE HYNES; DONNY MCGRATH;DANNY MCDONALD; ATHENA NAKOS; ABBY STAUNTON

STUDENT COUNCIL

JOHN CARMODY; JOEY CHUDZIK; BRENDAN COOKE; ERIN CRONIN; STEPHANIE DOMAGALA;KELLY GOLDEN; MOLLY HEALY; MAEVE HENNESSY; EMILY HULNE; BRETT KATALINIC; CLARE LAWLOR; ASHLEY LETTIERE; SAMANTHA MORAN; MICHAELA RYAN; KELSEY RYAN

 

Ms. Stecich is the moderator of our excellent Jr. Marketing Team. These students take great pride in writing about and reporting all the different events that occur in and around our school. They take their job very seriously! While our illustrious guest Congressman Lipinski spoke to our junior high on Monday about the advantage of Catholic education, one of his aides started kidding me. He asked if the guy in the second row was doing his homework while the Congressman spoke. I assured him that Caiman Long, one of our junior marketers, was taking copious notes for one of our local newspapers. He was very impressed!

JUNIOR MARKETING TEAM

MAGGIE ROBERTSON; LAUREN PERRY; CAIMIN LONG; KATIE HYNES;
KEVIN CASEY; MAKENZIE GARZA

The Marketing Team. No words written or spoken can ever thank the members of this team. Surely the members shine during Open House. Truthfully these women work all year long to ensure that Saint Michael School is out there. I will never be able to repay them. I feel very self-conscious when I even see one of the ladies. They do soooo much work around here that I truly do not know what to say to them. Thank you seems so hollow. When I see that e-mails are still being sent at 12:01 a.m., when I hear that these women have met until midnight just days before Open House, I am amazed and so very grateful. This energetic group of women has put St. Michael School on a different level in Orland Park and the surrounding areas. Many people I know from other schools regularly comment on how lucky I am to have such a tremendous group of women to promote our school. I could not agree more!

MARKETING TEAM

JENNA HNILO; DEBBIE STACHNIK; AMY FRIEL; KAREN ELLIS; NICOLE MCCLAIN;GLORIA HAUTER; BETH SKOG; KELLY MCHUGH;
ERIN KEENE; JEN BEESON

STUDENT HELPERS

MATT DAVIDSON; CHRISTIAN BELL; MAGGIE PRENDERGAST; ASHLEY LETTIERE; CECILIA TRIPPIEDI; CLARE LAWLOR; OLIVIA KELLIHER
 

The Saint Michael School Advisory Board always cuts such a nice picture for all of our visitors. They are so helpful and keep everything moving throughout the day by providing visitors with answers to any questions they may have. When I leave the SAB after the monthly meetings I always say a silent prayer thanking each of the members for loving our school and caring about it enough to make a three year commitment to serve on this board. THANK YOU ALL!

FINALLY...
The unsung group who comes in and out of the school without fanfare, without any notice. These volunteers do everything so well and take such good care of our children that they often may feel like they are at home. Mom does everything...but sometimes no one notices. Trust me, members of FSA, we notice!!! Whether it involves planning for fun lunches or hot dog days, the members of the FSA are always ready and able to make this school a better place for our children. Under the direction of Catherine Bonini and Julie Meehan, I again will never be able to thank each of you adequately. Today they brought each child a blizzard so that students could really enjoy "Student Appreciation Day." Bless you, ladies. If your task seems small or very large at times, it does not matter. We are truly grateful for all you do for us throughout the year!

I would like to share a letter I received from a parent after the Open House. It is an outstanding way to end my newsletter:

Mrs. Cuttone,

My wife Erin and I had the pleasure of touring St. Mike's yesterday in
preparation of sending our two daughters to parochial school. We also visited a few other catholic schools in the area for comparison.

I would just like to convey to you that our decision to send our girls to St.
Mike's was made very easy due in part to the exceptional student guides that
were made available. The gentleman of whom we were assigned was very confident and knowledgeable. In fact, all of the guides that I observed were of the same caliber. You should be very proud of the fine ladies and gentlemen walking through your halls. Their enthusiasm spoke volumes and reassured me that there is hope for the future after all.

We also enjoyed the strong sense of community within the parish that reminded us of our own parochial experiences when we were growing up. We wish the same for our kids and are excited that they will have that opportunity at St. Mike's (That excitement carried over when I was in the school office this morning registering my oldest for pre-school).

We look forward to meeting you soon and are very excited to become a part of the St. Mike's family.

Regards,

Jamison Cullen, CST III
Senior Construction Technician

 

Beginning next week, we will be sending home registration papers. New to this registration process will be the availability of registering online. Instructions for this process will be given when it is ready for use. Additionally, you will have the ability to process your tuition payments online as well. We are excited to be able to offer this option to our families and will have more information available to you next week!

PLEASE PRAY FOR....
all of our second graders in both St. Michael School and St. Michael Religious Education who will be receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation this Saturday. May God bless all of you and keep you in his hands.

Bernadette Cuttone

NEWS ~ ANNOUNCEMENTS ON THE WEB

• Extraordinary Minister Information
• Athletic Board News
• Soccer Registration
• Drama Crew Sign-up
  
• Valentine Day Coloring Contest
  
• St. Patrick's Party Class Gift Auction Info
• Blackhawk Raffle
• Father VIP/Daughter and Mother VIP/Son Dance Forms

   

• "What's On Your Mind" Form