St. John's students celebrate "World Environment Day"
In celebration of World Environment Day the fifth grade students participated in a class activity with Project Earth and Ecology and Environment, Inc.. They were recognized for their project called “The Effects of Plastic Bags on the Environment in Buffalo, New York”. They distributed environment friendly bags that they designed to the community.
Anti-Bullying Message Promoted by Prominent Puppeteer
Theater Figuren's renowned artist and puppeteer, Michelle Costas, recently performed at SJS. The classic story of "Ferdinand,"based on Munro Leaf's beloved tale, mesmerized students. The production combines puppetry, mime, and music to tell the story of a little bull that would rather sit and smell flowers than fight. Students learn to embrace individuality and choose non-violent alternatives to problem solving. Mrs. Jacobs was thrilled to bring Ms. Costas to SJS, noting, "She's an incredibly talented lady and our students are being exposed to so many artistic mediums. They re seeing both her fine arts skills through her handcrafted puppets and the theatrical and musical talents during the production. It's incredibly inspiring. It's also aligned to our anti-bullying curriculum. We endeavor to foster a community where kids learn in a safe environment and "Ferdinand" is yet another means for us to promote the message of tolerance and acceptance." The smiling faces of the students was extremely rewarding!
Author Tim O'Shei visits SJS
Students were captivated to spend the day with author Tim O'Shei. The author presented programs to the elementary and middle-school students on effective writing and research skills. He dazzled students with some of the people he's interviewed...from sport superstars Wayne Gretzky and Derek Jeter to our nation's leaders, including President Carter, President Ford, and Secretary of State Clinton. He dined with some of St. John's budding writers who enjoyed the extra-opportunity of interviewing the interviewer! A wonderful experience was shared by all!!
Living Christ's Gospel of Serving Others
Each week, a group of St. John's students travel to a local soup kitchen to serve lunch. This outreach project blesses our children with empathy and a desire to help ensure the basic needs of those in our community are met. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve others.
Pennies for Patrick
Students supported schoolmate Patrick in his fight against Leukemia. In a campaign coined, "Pennies for Patrick," students raised funds by literally collecting coins, holding bake sales and raffles, and other such activities. Within a couple short weeks, Patrick was presented a check for $2,058.00 to for his "Ride for Roswell" campaign. We are proud of our Patrick!
Soles 4 Souls
Our junior high students participated in the "Soles 4 Souls" campaign and collected shoes for the people of Haiti. To date, over 16 million shoes have been collected and as you can see, St. John's collection was quite the success! Students collected shoes and sneakers from fellow classmates and parishioners in an effort to change the world for the better, one pair at a time. Mrs. Andy Cammarata, St. John's Youth Minister, created an awareness and an enthusiasm among our young!