The 100th Day of School: 100 Days Smarter! : )

Today, we celebrated the 100th day of school!  That one hundred days has gone by quickly.  We had a mini-celebration by making a snack of 100 hundred things to be eaten at home.  We had marshmallows, m+ms, skittles, cheerios, candy hearts, cheez-it, gold fish crackers, fruit loops, and gummy bears! 10 of each item was put into a bag for a fun 100 day snack mix.  I'm sure it will be delicious! : ) A book was made about the hundred days and different things about 100.  For example:

 "If I had a hundred dollars, I would go to Arizona" Bridget

"If I had a hundred dollars, I would buy a Mustang!" Matthew

"If I had a hundred dollars, I would share it will my family!" Ethan

It's funny to see how far they think $100 would actually go! : )

They also had to draw a picture of themselves a 100 years from now, list 100 things they would want to have and 100 hundred things they would not like to have!  We had a great day celebrating!

Tomorrow is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes.  We have been discussing what happened to St. Bernadette in the town of Lourdes, France. In 1858, in the grotto of Massabielle, near Lourdes in southern France, Our Lady appeared 18 times to Bernadette Soubirous, a young peasant girl.  The first appearance of Mary was on February 11th!

She revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception, asked that a chapel be built on the site of the vision, and told the girl to drink from a fountain in the grotto.

No fountain was to be seen, but when Bernadette dug at a spot designated by the apparition, a spring began to flow. The water from this still flowing spring has shown remarkable healing power, though it contains no curative property that science can identify.

Lourdes has become the most famous modern shrine of Our Lady.

We watched a live video feed of what was happening at the grotto currently.  We noticed a lot of people kneeling to pray and touching the walls of the grotto.  A statue of Mary can be seen where Bernadette saw her during the sightings.  We also talked about the many miracles that happened when people have touched the water.  There was a woman who was carried to the water by stretcher and after she touched the water, she was able to walk back unaided!  So amazing!  God is so good! Here is the website where you can see live video feed from Lourdes:

http://lourdes-radio.com/player_live/player_live_en/player-token_en.php

We have made our own grottos resembling the same one St. Bernadette saw Mary at.  We will be taking these home soon after we show them off in the hallway!  

Reading Month:  I am interested in having mystery readers come into our classroom and read a story.  Please email me or let me know if you are interested so I can schedule you.  We are willing to work around your schedule.  The kids would love to hear you read in their class! : )

Check out pictures from February on our shutterfly website!

Catholic Schools Week

Wow!  What a great week we had!  We started the week with a weekend mass to welcome in Catholic Schools Week.  Thank you to all the second graders who helped out.  You did a nice job greeting, handing out bulletins, being ushers, and bring up the gifts.  I was very pleased with how you behaved and I am sure your parents are also!

Teacher Appreciation Day-  Thank you to all of you who provided the staff with goodies... they were YUMMY!  I definitely gained a few pounds! : )  I feel so blessed to have a job at Queen's and to work with the second graders.

Student Appreciation Day- We had a SNOW DAY! : )  What a great day to spend having fun out in the snow or curled up with a good book.  We moved all the festivities for Student Appreciation day to Thursday.  They got to enjoy a Wendy's lunch with a hamburger and FROSTY!  Students could also be out of uniform. We also got extra snack time!
 Father Tim came to our class to bless our throats because of St. Blaise who is the patron saint of throat illnesses.  Two candles are blessed, held slightly open, and pressed against the throat as the blessing is said. Saint Blaise's protection of those with throat troubles apparently comes from a legend that a boy was brought to him who had a fishbone stuck in his throat. The boy was about to die when Saint Blaise healed him.  So, hopefully St. Blaise will help with any throat issues we may have had!  I have a few pictures that will be posted to our photo website!  


Parent Appreciation- Thank you so much for being such great supporters of Catholic education.  Without you, Queen's would not be the place it is now.  I also want to thank you as I made my transition from a class of 3rd and 4th graders (23) to 27 second graders. I have learned so much already and am still learning how to be a better teacher!  I appreciate your patience and support!  I appreciate YOU!


Finally Friday!  We had a pep rally in support of Lumen Christi and Queens.  There was lots of cheering and the band played some great music.  We had fun following the Drum line into the gym.  They took us through the hallways, gathering more and more classes along the way.  It was so cool and we could "feel the beat" in our hearts (as one student said).  We also had former Lumen cheerleaders who teach at Queen's lead our fight song.  They did a great job as well! : )  


We had a very busy week.  Next week should be calmer.  We are planning on doing the Valentine's Day party on Friday at 2 p.m.  If you choose to give out Valentine's cards, please make sure you have 27!  I will hand out a list of names on Monday.  We will be making a carrier to hang on our desks for all the Valentine's cards.  Your child will be able to pass out to each student in our room!  A note will go home on Monday about this!  


Have a super weekend!  I plan on being at a few Lumen Jr. Titans basketball games this weekend.  So I will see you there!  This is a reminder to send in your schedules of an event you would like me to attend and I will try my best to attend something.  Oh and girl scouts... Mr. and Mrs. Engemann LOVE Girl Scout cookies so don't hesitate to ask. (Well, Mrs. Engemann really loves them!)  I just may buy a box or two!  Have a super weekend, enjoy the snow and enjoy your family!