Eagle's Eye

St. Joseph Catholic School fosters a diverse community of disciples empowered through a rigorous and inclusive Catholic education rooted in Gospel values and service to others.

In this week's Mass, I learned that we need to sacrifice something of importance to us to be Christ’s disciples. Father Tim gave us an example of when his dad sacrificed something of great importance to get money to support his family. He did this because he loved them. To me, it means that we sacrifice for others and ourselves. We sacrifice as Jesus did for us to be his disciples. Jhonny 6B

At Mass Father Tim was explaining to us that he wanted to see his dad but his dad was working all day and then went to school at night and got home at like 11:00 five nights of the week. He never got a chance to see him. But his dad was doing it for the family. The dad was making a sacrifice for the family. So in this homely I think Father Tim was trying to tell us that Jesus made a sacrifice for us just like his dad made a sacrifice for his family. Jesus, He sacrificed himself on the cross for us. Braelyn 6B

Our students have begun attending Adoration once a month. Adoration is a beautiful time for prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Some of our third graders reflected upon their recent time in Adoration.

“I think Adoration was very peaceful. It made me feel like God was beside me. I told God all the things that made me happy. I would like to go again.” Victoria

“Adoration was beautiful, calming and I felt Jesus talking to me. I talked to Jesus. I named all my family members. I was fun. Jesus was the best, he was kind. It was so, so, so nice to talk to the Lord. I love the Lord with all my heart, soul, and lungs.” Campbell

“Before I went to Adoration I was all stressed about getting 50 AR points. But Adoration helped me relieve stress. I prayed to Jesus for helping me.” Evelyn

“ I went to Adoration today. I spent time with Jesus to tell him all my troubles and happiness I have in my life. We will do this again.” Nathan

There is an opportunity for families to attend a Holy Hour Adoration on Tuesday, November 14th from 6:30-7:30 in the chapel. All families are invited. This will happen every second Tuesday of the month.

Students will have school tomorrow, Friday, November 10th. This is a regular school day.

Report cards will be emailed to parents today, Thursday, November 9th, for the First Trimester.

Father Tim's birthday is today! Our students celebrated his birthday with him on Wednesday at Mass. Our 8th graders presented reflections on one of Father Tim's recent homilies and our community sang to him. We are grateful for his spiritual leadership! Happy Birthday, Father Tim!

Congratulations to our newest Acts of Kindness winners: Valeria, Victor, William, Jake, Markus, Alexander, Rona, Owen, and Rosie!

Congratulation to our most recent Soaring Eagles: Jude, Jesus, Samantha, Maddiany, Sebastian, Miranda, Theresa, Jenny, Louis, Emma, Marvins, Shaniya, Charlee, Aubrey, Ben, and Angel!

As a school wide service project, we are collecting toys for the Heartland for Children's annual Rudolph Round-Up Toy Drive which helps local families. All of the items will be donated to children in need. Use the links below to purchase an item from Amazon to be shipped directly to our school, or you can purchase the item and send it in with your child. Thank you so much for supporting this wonderful cause! Toys are due by December 8th so they can be delivered in time for children to receive them.

SignUpGenius Links:

Preschool:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F4CACAB2EA2F49-3aboxof

Primary Grades:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F4CACAB2EA2F49-44983390-heartland

Intermediate Grades:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F4CACAB2EA2F49-45632517-heartland

Middle School:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F4CACAB2EA2F49-45633723-heartland

Thank you to all the volunteers to who made Fall Fest a wonderful success! We appreciate the Knights of Columbus and Colombiettes helping with ticket sales, the Vietnamese community for the wonderful food, and all the parents and families who volunteered before, during, and after Fall Fest. We were also happy to welcome so many alumni back to SJCS. It was such a special event for our school!

Our first trimester academic awards will be given out next Wednesday, November 15th, after the 8:15 am Mass. Please join us!

We welcome parents to come eat lunch with their child at lunch time. Parents who would like to join their child for lunch will need to eat on the picnic tables on the recess field and not in the Parish Center. Parents also need to be fingerprinted.

We will have a spirit night on Wednesday, November 29th, at Chick Fil A in Winter Haven from 5 pm - 8 pm. Come join us for an evening of food and fellowship with our school community! Tell them you are with St. Joseph Catholic School and a portion of the proceeds with be donated to our school.

Special thanks to the Thomas family for sponsoring our deputy at Fall Fest, and to the Marin family for sponsoring our deputy at Mass!

We have a goal of $150 in earnings from Box Tops for the school to earn a dress down. We are at $147.40 for Box Tops earnings! With only $2.60 away from earning the school wide dress down, we can easily attain this! Please scan your receipts so we can earn these funds for our school.

With the holidays around the corner, our Catholic Charities Food Pantry needs our help to stock the shelves. This collection is in addition to the items students are encouraged to bring to Mass on Wednesdays. The items listed below are collected throughout the week in the classrooms. We will track the number of items collected in each class. The class with the highest total number of items in prek, primary (K-2), intermediate (3-5) and middle school (6-8) will receive a special treat.

Week of November 5: Boxes of Rice (no bags please)

Week of November 12: Jars of Peanut Butter

Week of November 26: Soup

Week of December 3: Cans of Tuna/Canned Meat

Week of December 10: Cereal/Oatmeal

Our annual Nun Run 5K will be January 27th beginning at 8am. Click the link below to register.

https://register.chronotrack.com/r/76149

There will be a PTO meeting on Tuesday, November 14th at 8 am in the Parish Center. Immediately after this, there will be a Fall Fest Wrap Up meeting. Please join us!

The date of our Taste of Achievement Gala has been changed. Please make a note on your calendar that the Gala will be held on Saturday, March 2nd. You will not want to miss it. Save the date and make plans to join us.

All girls in grades 5-8 are invited to cheer. Practices will be on Thursdays. Requirements are as follows:

• Parents must have attended a sports meeting with Mrs. Insua.
• Coach Edwards has permission slips that must be completed and returned to the front office.
• Families will be charged $50 sports fee on FACTs account.
• Parents must join the respective Band app to receive notification from coaches about practices and games. (see below)

Practices have started so sign your child up soon to cheer.

SJCS had students participate in the FEMEA Central Regional Honor Choir and Orff Ensemble October 21 at the Southeastern University. These students auditioned in August and were chosen out of over 1000 students that auditioned in the state of Florida. They had an all-day rehearsal with guest clinicians and a concert of the material they learned that night.

Congratulations to Bridget, Sienna, Daschel, Layla & Harmony – Honor Choir

The following students performed on October 28 as a part of the Polk County Middle School Honor Band at Denison Stadium. The Middle School Honor Band is formed of over 100 students from 13 different Polk County middle schools. They performed 2 pieces during the High School marching bands’ Music Performance Assessments. Congratulations to Evie, Rawan, Tatiana, Rylee, Cosme, & Christopher!

Ali has been accepted into the Middle School Treble Choir and will be representing SJCS at the FMEA (Florida Music Educators Association) State Convention in January. Ali passed a musicianship theory exam, a sight reading exam and a vocal quality audition in order to participate this state choir. Congratulations, Ali!

This section of the Eagle's Eye will remain in every edition of our newsletter. It will contain links to information that parents may need from time to time. When parents have questions, we urge you to check this section for possible links that could get you the information that you need.

• School Calendar
• Lunch Menus
• Maschio's Birthday Order Form
• Registering for a lunch account
• PikMyKid User Guide (English)
• PikMyKid User Guide (Spanish)
• Fingerprinting/Safe Environment Certification Instructions
• Fingerprinting/Safe Environment Certification
• Uniform Company
• Technology Responsible Use Policy for Students
• Parent Student Handbook
• Attendance Policy
• Accessing Facts Family Portal
• Family Portal Login
• Logging Service Hours: Parents and students can now enter and view their own service hours. You can use your app to view the hours, however, you have to use the web version to enter new hours. go to FACTS Family Portal. The district code is STJC-FL. Once logged in, click on the Family option in the menu on the left side. At the top of the screen, select the family member who will be adding the service hours. Click on the Add option on the right side of the screen in the Service Hours box. Fill out the information and click Save.

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,
brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
Since the bridegroom was long delayed,
they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry,
'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish ones said to the wise,
'Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.'
But the wise ones replied,
'No, for there may not be enough for us and you.
Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'
While they went off to buy it,
the bridegroom came
and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.
Then the door was locked.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said,
'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'
But he said in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'
Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour." MT 25:1-13

O Blessed Joseph, faithful guardian of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, protector of Mary, the virgin Mother of God, I choose you this day to be my special patron and advocate and I firmly resolve to honor you all the days of my life. Therefore, I humbly ask you to receive me as your client, to instruct me in every doubt, to comfort me in every affliction, to obtain for me and for all the knowledge and love of the Heart of Jesus, and finally to defend and protect me at the hour of my death. Amen.

Interim Principal: Mrs. Insua

Assistant Principal: Mr. Reilly

Canonical Administrator: Fr. Tim LaBo

Superintendent: Mr. Fortier

Email: thaas@stjosephwhschool.org
Website: stjosephwhschool.org
Location: 535 Avenue M Northwest, Winter Haven, FL, USA
Phone: 863-293-3311