As we begin the Month of May we reflect on the many special days this month. Mary is the Mother of Jesus but she is also our Mother and so we dedicate the entire month of May to her. We say special prayers to her. May Crownings are held and the class-rooms will have May Altars with beautiful flowers to honor her. The children will also be saying the rosary in their classrooms during this month. On May 6, our second graders will receive Jesus for the first time as they make their First Holy Communion. A May Crowning for the Parish will be held at the 7:00 p.m. Mass on Monday, May 7. All of the students are invited to take part in the proces-sion and Mass. We especially invite the second graders to come in their First Communion outfits to receive Communion for the second time. On May 13, we celebrate our moth-ers, both living and deceased, and thank God for all that our mothers have done for us. To show our moth-ers how much they mean to us, we will have our annual Muffins with Mom on Friday, May 11. The Ascension of Jesus into Heaven is celebrated on May 17. This is a Holyday of Obligation and the chil-dren will celebrate by attending the 9:00 a.m. Mass. Please join us.

On May 27 we celebrate the feast of Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles. Pen-tecost is the birthday of the Church for this is the day when the Disciples began their formal preaching and teaching to all peoples. At the end of May we say goodbye to our Kindergarten and eighth grade students. We have seen the Kinder-garten students grow physically and mentally. Our eighth graders have also grown a great deal and are now ready to take a giant step in their lives as they pre-pare to enter high school in the fall. We wish them much success and hope that all that they learned at St. Maurice School will help them to reach their full potential in life. The following prayer from Joyce Rupp reminds us of the powerful workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Pray it often.

“Spirit of God, you are the stir-ring in our hearts. You urge us to get going. You prompt us to follow. You encourage us not to give up. You call us to open our minds and our hearts to receive your energizing, transforming radiance. Make us receptive so that we will follow your loving movement within our lives. We trust in your powerful presence within us. Amen.”

Notes from the Principal

St. Maurice Monthly

Upcoming Events

Apr. 27 and 28—Shakespeare Play Apr. 29—Fashion Show May 4—Jesus day for Grade 2 May 4—Student Council Dance May 6—First Eucharist May 7-11—Scholastic Book Fair May 11—Muffins with Mom May 16—Early dismissal at 11:30 a.m., faculty meeting May 17—Ascension Thursday—all school Mass May 18—2nd/3rd/6th grade field trip May 18—Variety Show May 21—Field Day/Kindergarten field trip May 22—8th grade trip to Wash-ington, DC May 22—1st grade field trip May 24—Kindergarten closing ceremony May 25—5th gr. field trip May 29—7th grade field trip May 29—8th grade graduation May 31—Kennywood Ticket Sales-1:00 p.m. Must have cash or money order. June 1—Last day of classes, early dismissal. June 13-16—Parish Festival—proceeds help support our school. Please volunteer to help! 2012-2013 School Year First day of school will be Aug. 23, 2012. Plan your vacation accordingly.

Volume 4 Issue April 25, 2012

St. Maurice School

Classroom Update—Kindergarten, Room 201

Page 2 Volume 4 Issue 8

We celebrated Easter at the start of April and contin-ued throughout the month celebrating Jesus’ resurrec-tion and the new life that Spring brings. The children met Ms. E in early April and then Mr. R arrived right before our Easter party. Ms. E taught the children about elephants, eggs, the life cycle of frogs and chicks, ways to use their energy to exercise safely along with her vowel sounds. Mr. R brought the rain forest with him, some rainbow items and prisms to make our own rainbows, and got the children thinking about planet Earth (Ms. E’s idea) as we celebrated Earth day. He taught them his 3 R’s-Reduce, Reuse

and Recycle items as ways to take better care of Earth and its resources. Mr. R hosted a “rainbow day”. Each kindergar-ten child was invited to wear their favor-ite rainbow color or a shirt with rainbow colors. All day long we did lots of “rainbow” things. We celebrated our

Earth day on April 23rd with stories and fun learning activities. Through the story, Freddie Fish, an interac-tive story shared with both kindergarten classes, the children saw how the effects of air, water, and soil pol-lution can affect the living creatures on our water sources. As we often remind ourselves, we only have this one planet to live on and it’s our job to take good care of it so it will remain healthy for a very, very, very long time.

At the start of the month, the children learned how to add and then near the end of April we began to learn how to subtract. They saw how we use each skill in very ordinary ways every-day—adding as we get dressed, sub-

tracting as we undress, adding as we make a lunch, subtracting as we eat the lunch!

We had a fun Easter celebration planned by Mrs. En-field and Mrs. Nolder. The children painted Spring time wooden items, went on an egg hunt, played “Pin the Bee on the Flower”, heard a special Easter story read by Mrs. Nolder and enjoyed a delicious snack. Thank you to both parents for a great party. In mid April, the children did well taking their very first achievement tests-the Terra Novas. We took only one subtest each day and the children were tested in

small groups so that the experience was a positive one. Thanks to their parents for making sure they got a good nights’ sleep and a breakfast each day while we were testing. Mrs. Liz Kostandinu, a librarian from

the Carnegie Plum Library, presented the One PA Book, Stop Snoring Bernard, to the children this month. Following the story each child made a paper bag puppet of Bernard and had fun acting out the story in our puppet theater. Through the generosity of our PTG, each student received a copy of this book for their home library. We thank Mrs. Kostandinu who has, for the past several years, brought this program to our school. Our last Star Student of the year was Brenna Reed. We had a great time learning about each student’s favorite things, see-ing pictures of them and their family and hearing what Moonbeam Moose did dur-ing his visit with them. We hope to have Mrs. Nese, our kindergarten aide, and Nurse Teila take a turn being a Star Person before the year is over. It’s hard to believe that there is only one more month of school. It looks to be a very busy one!!

PRE-SCHOOL STORY TIME

The final Story Time for the 2011-2012 school year was held on April 12, 2012. We had 12

preschoolers join us. The theme of story time was the “Easter Celebration.” The children

discovered how special this day is to all of us. They learned about God’s special gift to us on

Easter morning, plus how “bunnies” made special Easter Eggs. They saw all different kinds of

Easter Eggs and got to dye some too. We read several Easter books, made Easter story brace-

lets, went on an Easter Bunny Adventure, made an Easter Lily with their hands, laced Easter eggs and made Jesus’

Easter tomb. We had a lot of fun this year and hope to see everyone in the fall.

Classroom Updates—Kindergarten, Room 202

It’s hard to believe another month is over! Kindergarten only has a month left of school and many fun activities planned. We have met 22 Letter people so far and only 4 more to go. This month we have met Letter Light E (Ms. E) who has Exercise Energy, Mr. R with his Rainbow Ribbons, and Mr. G and his Gooey Gum. Ms. E loves exercise, eggs, elephants and of course Easter. She helped us get ready for Easter by reading: The Parable of the Easter Lily, Rechenka’s Eggs, The Three Trees, and The Easter Story. We learned all the useful things that elephants can use their trunks for. The children enjoyed learning all about eggs with our many egg-speriments. Their favorite one was watching how an eggshell dis-solves when placed in vinegar. Ms. E was our last Let-ter Light and the children have been doing an Excellent job with their reading! Mr. R has Rainbow Ribbons and we enjoyed dressing in our favorite rainbow colors for Rainbow Day. We learned how rainbows were formed and, with a prism, the children were able to see what happens when light rays are bent. Our room looked a little like a jungle when the rain for-est arrived, complete with a palm tree with snakes, frogs, birds and monkeys! The chil-dren learned all about the Amazon Rain For-est, the layers of the rain forest, and the ani-mals that live there. We had a discovery day

when the children got the chance to see, and sometimes taste, all the different things that come from the rain forest. When Earth Day arrived, Mr. R helped us learn about the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The children found out what we can do to help make the earth a nicer place to live by cutting down the trash we throw away by doing these 3 things. Mr. G arrived next with his Gooey Gum. He had to learn from the children how to dispose of his gum in the proper way so it wouldn’t get stuck to his hair again! Mr. G’s favorite story is The Three Billy Goats Gruff and the children enjoyed acting out this story. We also read The Gingerbread Man, and had a delicious snack of gingerbread afterwards. The children learned about the hard and soft ‘g’s’ and how this letter can also sound like a ‘j’. Mrs. Kostandinu came into the classroom and read the One Book for the year: Stop Snoring, Bernard! The children enjoyed hearing this touching story and then were thrilled to go home with their own copy of the book thanks to our wonderful PTG! We had a fun Easter Party thanks to Mrs. Trovato, Mrs. Robinson, the Allebachs, and Mrs. Connolly. We thank these parents for a wonderful party. Jacob Nied turned 6 on April 16th. Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Nese were our Star teachers this month. The children enjoyed learning more about us on our special days.

Volume 4 Issue 8 Page 3

Classroom Update—First Grade, Room 203

In Language Arts, we completed Unit 4. Unit 4 con-sisted of reading to find the main idea, to compare and contrast information and to decide whether information is fact or fantasy. We began the study of long vowels and past and present verbs. The students in 1A com-pleted their first book report. The children made won-derful timelines or T-shirts to explain the main events in the story. As we move into Unit 5, we will continue to focus on comprehending stories, as well as using long vowels. We also look forward to our next book report! Spelling Hints: As we move into our new unit, our spelling words are getting harder. Here are a few ideas to practice spelling words for different styles of learners:

• Create flashcards • Sing the words • Bounce a ball for each letter • Clap for each letter • Form the words out of noodles, clay or other bend-

able materials • Create your own spelling game • Have a family spelling bee • Play teacher and student with a sib-

ling/friend to quiz the words • Write the words multiple times • Paint or write the words in different

colors

Classroom Update—First Grade, Room 203 (continued)

Page 4 Volume 4 Issue 8

Religion for the month of March was an examination of the Church’s seasons. We learned about each of the Church seasons (Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Time) using our textbook, Promise books and a special song. We learned that each season has its own color and traditions, and is used to teach us about a dif-ferent part of Jesus’ life. The month of March was also a wonderful preparation for the Easter season. We care-fully kept a Lent calendar and examined the final days of Jesus’ life before his crucifixion. We learned the Sta-tions of the Cross, watched interactive videos and lis-tened to Bible stories. Science News In the month of March, we continued our study of weather. We prac-ticed our observation and measuring skills by using a rain gauge. The rain gauges were created using recycled aluminum

cans and were placed outside for several weeks. Each Science class we went outside to gather our rain gauges, measured the rain collected in the gauge and charted our results. Additionally, we used the SMARTBoard to learn about different types of clouds and compared the weather of the four seasons. Service Project: The children in 1A donated books to Children’s Hospital this month. Each child brought a book to school, read it and wrote why they enjoyed the book. After writing why they enjoyed the book, their thoughts were taped to the inside of the book. Miss Page thought this would be a great way for children inside the hospital to connect to children outside the hos-pital who are fortunate to have their health.

Classroom Update—First Grade, Room 207

The flowers are blooming and so are the students in 1B! Can you believe it is May already? The boys and girls in Room 207 have really grown this year. April was full of interesting learning opportunities. In Reading class we completed Unit 4 and are well into Unit 5. The stories are more complex. We are learning about adjectives, long vowels, and possessive nouns. We are also exercising our writing skills quite a bit. Many of the children have become confident, creative writers. The children have also had the responsibility of completing a book report during the fourth quarter. They were able to choose one of several projects to complete about their book. The children’s enthusiasm for reading books has flourished! I am so pleased to have a group of such avid readers! This love of reading will continue throughout May as we “Spring Into Read-ing.” Spring Into Reading is a special program in which the children will take home a book each night, read it, and complete several questions which go along with the book. The children will have a reading goal and receive special prizes along the way.

In first grade Math, we learned about time and money. We will conclude our year with measurement. How-ever, we must remember not to forget what we have learned in the past. Our Simple Solution books and review work help us remember our addition, subtraction, fractions, and shapes skills. Keep reviewing those addition and subtraction facts! In first grade Social Studies, we completed the unit, Our Earth, Our Resources. Next we will be learning about our country and the world we live in. May has many special days for the school and our class. We are especially looking forward to our class field trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo on May 22nd. Also, in May we will be celebrating Mary. To honor Mary, each student will have the opportunity to be a Child of Mary. On his or her special day, your child will bring flowers to school to place near our class-room statue of Mary. He or she will also lead our class in reciting the Hail Mary. It has been quite a busy school year. I am so proud of the progress each first grader has made this year.

Classroom Update—Second Grade, Room 204

We hope that everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable Easter break! It’s hard to believe how close we are to the end of the school year! We are anxiously awaiting Jesus Day on Friday, May 4, fol-lowed by our First Eucharist on Sunday, May 6. Students have been busy preparing for the big day by reading and studying their Eucharist books, creating their banners and working on extra activities in class. In Reading, students are finishing up Unit three. We con-tinue to work on verbs, contractions and friendly letter writing skills. In honor of National Poetry Month stu-dents have been writing and reading a variety of poems. We have written Action Verb Poems, Biopoems and Acrostic poems. We are looking forward to hearing the poems that each student selected to memorize and share on May 10 during our “Poetry Café.”

We are finished learning all of the lowercase letters in cursive. We will begin the uppercase letters soon. Stu-dents continue to practice their cursive writing skills in Spelling and as they are working on workbook pages in class. Our Spelling lessons will be coming to an end soon. We will have two more lessons and then students will be able to bring their Spelling books home for good. Students in Room 204 continue to hear book reviews each week with their “Book of the Week” projects. We really enjoyed hearing stories from the following students this past month: Michael Reed – No David! By David Shannon, Brendan Cooley – Wherever You Are, My Love Will Find You by Nancy Tillman, Luke Henkel – An Under Water Welcome by Stephen Hillenburg, and Sofia Porco – Ellen’s 11 Star Spectacular Super Deluxe Hotel by Larry Schwarz.

Page 5 Volume 4 Issue 8

Happy Easter to everyone! It’s hard to believe that the 2011-2012 year is winding down quickly. Now that we’re into the fourth quarter, second grade is looking forward to many exciting things to wrap up the year! In Math, students have just begun Chapter 8, which focuses in on time, data and graphs. Students have been using clocks to expand their knowledge of time and will be completing a small time project coming up soon. Students can look for a few math projects in this last quarter. A group project is also in store when graphing begins. Our goal is to begin multi-plication before the end of the year! In Religion, second grade has been, of course, very

busy! On Sunday, May 6th, all sec-ond grade students will receive the sacrament of First Holy Commun-ion. For the last two months, stu-dents have been preparing and working very hard to understand

and appreciate this very important time in their lives. Students have also decorated beautiful banners to dis-play during First Communion. If your banners have not yet been turned in, please do so as soon as possible. We

look forward as Jesus Day approaches, on Friday, May 4th, as a day of second grade reflection and preparation right before the big day! Also, congratulations to all sec-ond graders, who did such a nice job reading for and participating in the mass on Friday, March 30th. Miss Cantrell’s class has one more mass on Friday, May 17th. Also, students have an upcoming saints project due on May 1st. Be sure to look for these! In Language Arts students have been working on a vari-ety of things. Students in Room 206 are about to begin their new readers and reading workbooks. Second grade is also going to become more familiar with the friendly letter. In the fourth quarter we will be writing a lot more, hopefully even to Pen Pals. Students have also been working on past, present and future tenses of verbs, have been studying contractions as well and are about to be-gin work on adjectives. Students in second grade are also looking forward to completing their last book report before the year ends, the Caldecott Medal book project. Students have also started using their reference books, dictionaries and the-sauruses

Classroom Update—Second Grade, Room 206

Classroom Update—Second Grade, Room 206 (continued)

In Spelling, Room 206 will soon be introduced to 20 words in order to really get ready for third grade. We thank our final star student, Jordan Wolfe, for his nice week and learning more about him. Now that star student has ended, a differ-ent student is chosen for book of the week, where students bring in their favorite book, rate it, summarize and illustrate it for a bulletin board

which they present, and then finally read the book to the class. Special congratulations to all second graders who com-pleted the Terra Nova tests recently. For their first year of taking these difficult tests, second graders did an awe-some job! We look forward to Jesus Day, our upcoming field trip and field day in the next few weeks!

Page 6 Volume 4 Issue 8

In English, we interviewed a woman whom we admire in honor of Women’s History Month. We chose to interview our mothers, grand-mothers, aunts, neighbors, and friends. We were able to learn about things they did when they were younger, their greatest accomplish-ments, and their biggest struggles. In Reading, we took a break from our Reader and read two chapter books. We started with Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary. We remembered our Kindergarten days while reading about Ramona’s. We also decided Ramona is not such a pest, but simply misunderstood. We are currently reading Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith. We will celebrate the end of the book with a chocolate party and watch the video of Chocolate Fever! When we finish this book, we will read Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary, as well as begin our second Reader. We are continuing to learn Japanese. We can ask and answer “what day is it today,” “what day is it tomor-row,” and “what day was it yesterday.” We also can ask and answer “what color is an object.” On Friday, April

19, we enjoyed a visit from The Japan America Soci-ety of Pennsylvania. We learned many new and inter-esting things about Japan. We learned that third graders in Japan have almost the same classes as we do. Their school day is very similar to ours. There is one big dif-ference: all students clean the entire school inside and outside! Every afternoon is spent in Cleaning Period. Classes take turns cleaning different sections of the school, after they take care of their classroom, including the bathrooms. Also, the students stay in their class-rooms all day, and when they have a different teacher, the teachers are the ones to change rooms! We are a long way off from our goal of 1,000 paper cranes. We have only 33 so far. We still have a few weeks to reach it! We entered a contest sponsored by the Anthology of Short Stories by Young Americans. We are happy to report we have five students whose story was selected for publication. Congratulations to: Jackson Hahn, Jordan Hitt, Owen Kostandinu, Gregory Parrish, and Lianna Rishel!

Classroom Update—Third Grade, Room 208

Don’t forget —Kennywood tickets on sale May 31, 2012 at 1:00 p.m.

Cash or money orders only—$23.00

BE SURE TO CHECK LOST AND FOUND FOR MISPLACED ITEMS!

Page 7 Volume 4 Issue 8

Classroom Update—Fourth Grade, Language Arts

Classroom Update—Fifth Grade Language Arts and Religion

We have learned a lot of information in Miss T.’s classes during the month of April. In our article, you will read about some of the things we have done. Also, we wrote a little information about an exciting field trip that we took on April 10th. We hope you enjoy our arti-cle! Reading We are still reading the novel, Bridge to Terabithia. We completed Chapters 4-6. In these chapters, Jesse and his neighbor, Leslie, wrote a fake love note to a 7th Grade girl (who is a bully) to get revenge for his little sister May Belle. The 7th Grader stole May Belle’s Twinkies and ate them. Also, Christmas was celebrated and Jesse got Leslie a puppy, and in return, she gave Jesse a paint set since he loves to draw. They named the puppy Prince Terrrien and made him the prince/court jester of Terabithia. Finally, to prepare us to see the Shakespeare play on Friday, April 27th, we read Hamlet. Mrs. Zitelli pur-

chased books called No Fear Shakespeare, which retold the story in modern English and we read and discussed the play in class. Some of us were assigned parts to read so we could get to know and understand the characters better. We are looking forward to watching the dress rehearsal. English We completed the unit on adjectives and began our next writing project. We are learning how to write a business letter. We reviewed how to correctly address an envelope and discussed the seven parts that make up this type of letter: the heading, the inside address, greeting, body, closing, signature, and typed name. In our letter, we are writing to Miss T., who is richer than Bill Gates (she wishes), and we are introducing a new product to her. We are describing the product and its purpose and are asking her to loan each of us money (persuasion) to help produce this product for public pur-chase. Finally, we will be mailing our letters to her via the US Postal Service.

As you read our article, you will discover what we have accomplished in Reading and English during the month of April. We hope you enjoy it! Reading In Miss T.’s Reading class, we are still read-ing the novel Mr. Popper’s Penguins. In Chapters 5-9, Mr. Popper got a service man to bore holes in the icebox and to install a handle inside so Captain Cook (the penguin) could breathe and get out of his new home. The man thought that Mr. Popper was a little crazy until he saw the penguin and ran out the back door. Mr. Popper called City Hall to see if he needed to get a license for the animal since a policeman told him that he might need one. The phone call was very confusing and Mr. Popper ended up not getting one. Then, Mr. Popper took the penguin for a walk to the barbershop and the penguin thought the shaving cream on a man’s face was snow and he scared the customer. Finally, they left the shop and the penguin discovered steps going up the side of the building. He climbed all three floors pulling Mr. Popper behind him. When they reached the top floor, the penguin decided to slide down the steps dragging his owner behind him.

Since rules are needed for animals in public places, we were broken into groups and developed new ordinances for the penguin if he was living in the Pittsburgh area. Rules for Drew’s Restaurant, Burger King, Consol Energy Center, and UPMC Hospital (just to name a few locations) were written with “dos and don’ts” for Captain Cook. We designed posters for our rules and they are on display outside Miss T.’s room. English In English, we wrote a friendly letter to Miss T. First of all, we reviewed how to correctly address an enve-lope. Then, we reviewed the five parts of a friendly let-ter which are: the heading, greeting, body, closing, and signature. In our letter, we described a favorite object or our pet to Miss T. Finally, we had to mail our letters to her, here at school, via the US Postal Service. Look out, Mrs. Potthoff, a lot of letters are coming to Miss T.’s mailbox. So, we have been busy in Reading and English this past month. We hope you enjoyed reading our article. Written by Amelia Bogovich and Isabella Stellitano Assisted by 5th Grader Sean Murphy Edited/typed by Miss T.

Page 8 Volume 4 Issue 8

Classroom Update—Upper Grades, Math

Congratulations to all of the students who completed math projects this year. Everyone did a great job. There was a great variety of topics and students pre-sented them well. Good job!!! Also, congratulations go out to the following students who participated in the St. Jude Hospital Math-a-thon. The following students were sponsored by family and friends, completed a booklet of math problems, and

collected money to help the children in the hospital. Grade 7:-Ashley Astle, James Carnes, Maura Ward Grade 6-Bea Duffus, Shannon Sullivan, Samantha Trumpower Grade 5-Bella Enfield, Lilly McLaughlin

Your efforts are appreciated. Thank you!

"Hamlet " is a well known Shakespearean Play with many fondly remembered lines. "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark!" "To be or not to be, that is the question." "Frailty, thy name is woman!" Have you heard them before? Our 28th annual Shakespearean Play will be performed on Friday, April 27 and Saturday, April 28 at 7:30 p.m. in Centurion Hall. Forty students have been

reading and rehearsing the play since early February and are looking forward to show you what they have learned. We think you'll enjoy the ghost, the sword fights, the skulls being tossed from a grave and the pretty young girl going slightly insane. The music and costumes are being readied. Admission is $4.00 for adults and $2 for students or seniors. If you have never seen one of our plays, make this year's play your first!

Shakespeare Activities at St. Maurice

Music Class Update with Mrs. Marcinko Mrs. Marcinko’s classes are busy preparing for the Spring Concert. Grades 1-4 will present their con-cert on Tuesday, May 15. The children and Mrs. Marcinko put so much effort into this special presen-tation. Be sure to “Save the Date” on your calendars! It will be, as always, an enjoyable and unfor-gettable experience. Don’t miss it!

Classroom Update—Fifth Grade, Language Arts and Religion (continued)

Religion Our study of the Sacraments is continuing. We have learned about the third Sacrament of Initiation which is the Eucharist. In this lesson, we learned about the different names given to this sacrament such as The Lord’s Supper. Also, we learned about the Parts of the Mass which are: The Introductory Rites, The Liturgy of the Word, The Liturgy of the Eucharist, and The Concluding Rite. We read from our Daily Prayer Book to begin every Religion class. Also, on April 2nd, we traveled to Word of God School to watch their Fine Arts Club act out The Living Stations. Their performance was great!! Finally, on April 10th, we and the 4th Graders experi-enced a unique science field trip called RiverQuest. We

traveled the three rivers (on a science boat called Voy-ager) and learned about our water system and the Mar-cellus Shale in our area. We learned about plankton (looked at it under the microscope) and how to test the water to determine if life can live in it. We learned about how pol-lution affects our water system. We hope that we can do this again!! During the month of April, we did a lot of new learning. In May, the learning will continue so we can be ready for 6th Grade. Written by Antonio Fulciniti and Colton Shovlin Edited and typed by Miss T.

Volume 4 Issue 8

There are still walking tour dates for East Catholic School. New families may come for a tour on May 9 and May 23. All tours will begin at 9:30 a.m. If you know of any family who is inter-ested in a quality, faith-based education for their child/children, please tell them about East Catholic School. If you have a sibling of a current stu-dent who will enroll in Kindergarten in the fall, please submit your application ASAP.

The end of the school year will soon be upon us. A friendly reminder to everyone that all St. Maurice fami-lies are required to volunteer for at least four lunch du-ties or pay $40 for the school year. Please contact Beth Brucker at bruckerfamily@verizon.net to be added to the schedule if you are able to donate your time. If you are unable, please send in your payment by May 4. Thanks to all who have donated their time thus far. Your help is greatly appreciated, and I know the children enjoy see-ing their parents when they are able to volunteer at the school in any capacity

Page 9

St. Maurice students participated in an Americanism Essay contest and a Drug Awareness Poster contest sponsored by the Braddock and Wilkins Elks lodges. Judging was separated by grade categories of 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8. We are happy to an-nounce that St. Maurice had many local lodge winners and several district winners. We are very proud of all the participants, but especially the following who have won or placed in their category: Wilkins Lodge Poster Winners: Grade 4 - Joseph Burke, 1st place; Grade 5 – Bella Enfield, 1st place Braddock Lodge Poster Winners: Grade 3 – Adrianna Sacramento, 1st place; Grade 4 – Amanda Pope, 1st place; Grade 5 – Michael Byrne, 1st place

Wilkins Lodge Americanism Essay Winners: Grade 5/6 – Colton Shovlin, 1st place, Patrick Edwards, 2nd place and Nicholas Ceniti, 3rd place; Grades 7/8 – Julia Biertempfel, 1st place, Briana Hansen, 2nd place and Nina Scolieri, 3rd place. Braddock Lodge Americanism Essay Winners: Grades 5/6 – Claire Biertempfel, 1st place, Greta Parr, 2nd place; Grades 7/8 – Olivia Kolesar, 1st place. District Winners were: Amanda Pope, 1st place in the Poster Contest. In the Americanism Essay Contest, the winners were Patrick Edwards, 1st place and Colton Shovlin, 2nd place for Grades 5/6. Grade 7/8 winner was

Nina Scolieri, 2nd place.

Congratulations to all. Good Job!

Congratulations—Elks Contest Winners

Walking Tours Cafeteria News

Student Council Dance

Grades 6, 7, and 8 students are invited to attend a Student Council sponsored, semi-formal dance on Friday, May 4, 2012 from 7:00—10:00 p.m. in Centurion Hall. Parent chaper-ones are always needed. Please contact Mrs. Koszka with any questions or to volunteer.

Watch the weekly envelope for flyers about the St. Maurice Variety Show coming on May 18th. Auditions/rehearsals will be held soon so begin to rehearse your singing, dancing and other special talents!

Library Update – Mrs. Lipchick

April rain and April sun Show spring is here and winter’s done! Skateboards, bikes, and jump-ropes tell That we are under springtime spell! (Author Unknown) 1st Grade “Down on the Farm” Whether you are country folk or city folk, we are having bushels of fun learning about “Down On The Farm!” First grade went exploring in the dictionary by locating different categories about farms. We divided up into 4 groups with each group choosing one of the following topics: “Farm Animals,” “Farm Tools,” “Farm Machines,” or “Farm Crops.” Each of the topics had words about the category and the students had to pick three words re-lated to the topic. The students were introduced to how to look up a word in the dictionary. They looked up the definition of the words and wrote the word and definition in their “Farm Book Dictionary.” Each child is being encouraged to illustrate the pages, as they are currently still working on this project. We couldn’t work on a farm project without doing Reader’s Theatre for the Little Red Hen. 2nd Grade “Under the Sea” 2nd grade is making a splash with this ocean related re-search project. Close to shore or far from land, at the sunny surface or miles down in inky blackness, the ocean is filled with plants and animals. Second grade used the dictionary and the encyclopedia when looking up differ-ent categories about ocean life at dif-ferent depths of the ocean. We divided up into 4 groups and each group chose one of the following topics: “Sunlight Zone,” “Twilight Zone,” “Midnight Zone,” or “Coral Reefs Life.” Each of the topics had words about the cate-gory so the students could pick three words related to the topic. They looked up the definition of the words and wrote the word and definition in their “Sea Life Book.” They then learned how to use the index for an encyclope-dia so they could find more information about their ani-mal. They had to find one fact about their topic and write it in their book. Each child is being encouraged to illustrate the pages, since they are still working on this project.

2nd Grade is also doing Reader’s Theatre for the book, Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco. 3rd Grade “Doing Dewey” The Dewey Decimal Classification is a method of put-ting books in order on the library shelves. Melvil Dewey created this system for differentiating non fiction books. Third grade is being introduced to the Dewey Decimal System. They are learning the basic concepts of the Dewey Decimal System while studying the ten divisions that give different call numbers to each book within that category. In honor of Shakespeare’s birthday, 3rd grade is doing Readers Theatre with the Magic Tree House book, Stage Fright on a Summer Night. In the book, Mary Pope Osborne treats readers to an inside look at one her favorite subjects----the theatre. Jack and Annie are whisked back to Elizabethan England where they meet the “Bard of Avon” himself, William Shakespeare. Luckily for them he is desperate for two small actors for his latest play! It is a wonderful adven-ture as well as the perfect introduction to Shakespeare. 4th Grade While the Internet and electronic encyclopedia have be-come alluring means for quickly acquiring information, the classic set of encyclopedia can still have a role with the students. It is important to remember that students may not always have access to technology. In those in-stances they need to know how to locate information from traditional resources. In doing so they will realize the potential that encyclopedias possess for answering their research questions and extending their learn-ing. At the same time 4th Grade is doing Reader’s Theatre with the book, Voices at Whisper Bend. The book is set in Braddock, Pennsylvania in 1942. America has just entered World War II, and Charlotte Campbell’s brother Jim has gone to fight. Twelve-year-old Charlotte wants to help the war effort too, so she and her classmates start a scrap metal drive. When all the metal is stolen, Char-lotte is furious. Her determination to catch the thief leads her out on the rain-swollen river at night. There she discovers evidence she doesn’t want to find. There she faces the fear that haunts her.

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Library—Mrs. Lipchick (continued)

5th Grade The 5th grade is discovering that the Atlas is a widely used resource. Students will be using it to identify and learn more about the settings of the story we are reading. It also can be a helpful resource during distance and measurement activities in math. Becoming familiar with, learning to navigate, and interpreting an atlas will prove to be a valuable tool throughout their lives. The 5th grade is doing Reader’s Theatre with the New-berry Award book, Lily’s Crossing, by Patricia Reilly Giff. The synopsis of the book is as follows: This year, as in other years, Lily planned a spectacular sum-mer in Rockaway, in her family’s cozy house on stilts over the Atlantic Ocean. But by the summer of 1944, World War II has changed almost everyone’s life. Lily’s best friend, Margaret, and her family have moved to a wartime factory town, and worse, much worse, Lily’s father is on his way overseas to the war. There’s no one else Lily’s age in Rockaway until Albert comes, as a refugee from Hungary, a boy with a secret sewn into his coat. Albert has lost most of his family in the war; and has been through things Lily can’t imagine. But when they join together to rescue and care for a kitten, they begin a special friendship. Lily and Albert

have their own secrets to share, for they both have told lies. Lily has told a lie that may cost Albert his life. 6th Grade The 6th grade is also reviewing the basic concepts of the Dewey Decimal System. When doing research, it is important to know where to find books that you need. They are being asked to offer their own explanations of what decimals are and how they extend a number. 6th grade is discovering that the Dewey Decimal Classifica-tion is subdivided into smaller subject categories and that each sub-category has its own sub-category. The 6th Grade is doing Reader’s Theater with the book, On the Wings of Heroes, by Richard Peck. Davy Bowman’s heroes are his Dad and brother Bill. His dad served in the First World War, and now his brother is flying B-17’s in the Air Force. Along with the community and his best friend, Scooter, Davy fills his days collect-ing scrap metal, newspaper, and milkweed for the war effort. When his parents receive a telegram that Bill has turned up missing, the Bowman family is turned upside down. It’s an intense, confusing time that will invite Davy to grow up in a hurry. This is a tender, unforget-table portrait of the WW II home front and a family’s love.

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Once again the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students will participate in the Diocese of Pittsburgh Spelling Bee. The classes were prepared for the St. Mau-rice School Spelling Bee during library time. The St. Maurice School Spelling Bee winner will represent out school in the final bee at St. Louise de Marillac on Wednesday May 16, 2012. The St. Maurice School Spelling Bee final was on Thursday, March 29, 2012. Students from the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades competed to win the St. Maurice School

Spelling Championship. Representing the 4th grade were – Alexander Nese, Amelia Bogovich, Alexander Friewald, Hannah Fetter, Chloe Noah, and Josh Hillen; from the 5th grade – Hannah Shanley, Bella Enfield, Michael Byrne, Alaina Stambolis, Abby Robinson; and from the 6th grade – Julia Griffin, Matthew Zelenko, Samantha Trumpower, Michael Halahurich and Mackenzie Coghill. The 2012 St. Maurice School Spelling Champ is MI-CHAEL HALAHURICH! Congratulations and Best of Luck!

Spelling Bee

Congratulations to Aaron Markiewicz who finished in second place in the Javelin throw at St.

Alphonsus’ track meet on April 1, 2012. He also competed at the St. Bernadette track meet on April 14, 2012, where he came in first place in the 1600 meter (1 mile) and second place in the 200 me-

ter. AJ Markiewicz and Gregory Parrish run for the St Therese / St Rosalia track and field team.

St. Maurice

Annual

Fashion Show

Apr 29, 2012, noon

Edgewood Country Club

St. Maurice School 2001 Ardmore Blvd. Pittsburgh, PA 15221

St. Maurice School

Phone: 412/351-5403 Fax: 412/273-9114 Email: principal@stmauriceschool.org Website:

Rooted and growing in our Catholic Faith

We’re on the web at

www.stmauriceschool.org

PTG News Turn in Registration forms for next school year ASAP if you have not already done so. We need to plan ahead for teachers, books, supplies, etc.! Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Sales were due 4/25/12. We will accept orders until Monday. Order those cookie treats for Graduation and summer parties now! Fashion Show—April 29, 2012—very few tickets left. Special THANK YOU to everyone who worked so hard on the Gala. It was a terrific turnout and a big success! The total profit was over $71,000! Scholastic Book Fair (5/7-11) and Muffins with Mom (5/11)—coming soon! Parish Festival—June 13-16. Please volunteer to help. We can use help in the kitchen, in the food tands, in the game booths, etc. Please sign up for an evening or even a few hours. Remember, all proceeds help support our school!

TUITION AND OTHER FEES A reminder that tuition, fundraising fees, and lunch duty fees must be paid in full before the end of the year. Kindergarten and eighth grade students will not be permitted to participate in any of the year end activities if the finan-cial obligations are not up to date.

Access to the computerized gradebook will be blocked if tuition and the other fees are still out-

standing.