--St. Joseph Cathedral School--

November Cathedral Kids Messages

November 30, 2007

What follows is a letter that will appear in the Friday folder next week, written specifically for those who help us through your volunteer work at the school:

Dear volunteers,

I want to thank you for your service to our school. Our students are safer and better cared for because of the time you give, whether it be in the classroom, the cafeteria, recess, or on the Friday folder team.

Recently, the staff has been looking at things we can do to make our school a safer, more productive, and more comfortable environment for the students. As a volunteer, you are, in a very real sense, part of our staff family, and I would be neglecting my responsibilities if I did not take this opportunity to share some of our newly visited policies and practices within the building.

· We have taken many steps to secure the school building, such as installing the magnetic lock system in the lobby and ensuring doors around the campus are kept shut and locked. To complement this, we are asking our students and staff to direct all visitors to the front office so that we can make sure that the only individuals who gain access to our building are those who are supposed to. To make this easier and less confusing on the students, who instinctively want to be helpful and to show deference to adults, I ask that all volunteers please check in through the office and not enter through the side doors. Asking a student to open the door for volunteers, even parent volunteers, sends a message that conflicts with what we are asking to ensure security.

· Administration and staff have also worked to examine the dress expectations for faculty and staff. While our focus was not on specific stipulations, some general guidelines were that dress needed to be modest, clean, professional, and neat. One of the conclusions we reached is that while certain dress would otherwise be fine outside of school, the nature of an elementary school environment calls for specific attention to our clothes while working with the students. For this reason, I ask that all of our staff and volunteers refrain from wearing clothing that is cut or sized in such a way as to be a distraction to our students, such as low-cut blouses or high-cut shorts.

· Last, I have been working to make sure that all of our staff is up-to-date on Virtus training, which calls for attendance at a Virtus workshop, as well as continued monthly online training. For those who are unfamiliar, Virtus is the program used by our diocese to ensure that all the members of our family have been trained to protect our young men and women from harm. As a volunteer, you are required to receive the one-time-only training in Virtus, but not the continued training. As some of you with younger children might not have received Virtus training in previous years, I ask you to please contact me to learn how to receive this training. I’m sure you agree with me that the safety of our children is a non-negotiable aspect of operating a school, and I wish to thank you in advance for helping me to keep us on track with these guidelines.

Again, I wish to emphasize that your contributions are beyond measure. Our students are blessed to have you in their lives.

In Christ,

Spencer Allen
Principal
St. Joseph Cathedral School

November 28, 2007

Dear friends,

A few notes that I didn't get into Monday's e-newsletter:

The meeting tonight regarding scheduling is at 6:00 in the school cafeteria. The format of this meeting will be that I will give an explanation of the origin and development of this discussion, followed by a presentation of the different options that the ad hoc committee has developed. Those in attendance will then have an opportunity to ask questions of clarification about the various schedules. If you would like to give specific input about your thoughts, we ask that you please contact me at this address, and I will send your thoughts to the entire board for consideration before our December meeting. So that you can take a look at the proposed schedules before the meeting tonight, we have posted them on the website. Click here to go to the main page and scroll down to the link just underneath the Cathedral Kids banner. All parents are invited, but especially those in grades 3-7, whose kids would most likely be affected by scheduling decisions.

Also on the home page, you will find a link to a section in which the past Cathedral Kids e-newsletters are archived.

Tomorrow morning at 8:50, I will be interviewed on KMFC 100.9 Christian radio about our school's participation in their project (in conjunction with Kehoe Ford) to create Christmas cards to be sent to local men and women who are serving in the armed forces, including those who are currently in medical facilities. We've made this an optional activity for the various classes, but I hope it is an activity you will take up at home, as well. During the parade on Saturday, some of our junior high students will help collect these cards from individuals along the parade route. Some I've spoken with from the military have mentioned how meaningful it is to receive letters from home, especially during the holiday seasons. In addition, I think that to reach out to the men and women who are serving our country is a great reminder to our students of the cohesiveness that must exist within the body of Christ, as well as the model of Christ these troops display by sacrificing themselves on our behalf.

On Monday, IF MU WINS this weekend, students and faculty will be allowed to wear black and gold (as long as standard dress-down rules are otherwise followed, such as in choice of pants).

In Christ,

Spencer Allen
Principal

November 26, 2007

Contents:

Welcome

Cathedral Parents

Adult Faith Study

Class Size and Junior High

Important Notes

Upcoming Events

Welcome

Dear Parents and Parishioners,

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. My family had a busy break, packed with a few meals and family get-togethers, a dodgeball tournament, and a remodeling project in the living room.

I am worn out today, but I am not sure I can blame it on any one particular event.

I have been in several classes this morning, and it is business as usual, with the students and teachers working as if they had not missed a beat over the break.

As a staff, our focus over the next few weeks will be these:

Finish the first draft of our religion curriculum

Analyze test scores from the ACRE religion test and the standardized academic tests

Prepare for Advent activities

Continue developing emergency procedures for our school

If you would like to print an order form for the Advent/Christmas music program, it is available on our website (click here).

As always, your input is very valuable to me. Please drop me a line if you have any ideas that we can incorporate into our plans for the next semester or beyond.

-Spencer Allen

Principal

St. Joseph Cathedral School

Cathedral Parents – Faith and Works?

In the last essay, we looked at the fact that a Christian can lose salvation, and this essay will follow up by examining the means by which God allows us to keep our faith strong.

My daughter helps me clean house on Saturday mornings. She loves to spray the glass cleaner, and sometimes I have to wipe the same table three or four times because she keeps re-spraying it. She also dusts, vacuums, and makes her bed.

But she is only four, so maybe the house would actually get cleaner faster if she did not help, but those of you who are parents understand what is going on.

Helping with the house work, as much as my daughter enjoys it, is not optional. It is not okay for her to leave her toys lying about the house or to ignore my requests for her help put plates in the dishwasher.

But what happens if I do ask her to help in some way, and she says no. It would be silly and fanatically extreme for me to rip her inheritance away because she left her Barbie dolls in the living room. In fact, she could leave them in there every night of every week of every year and I wouldn't kick her from the family. Nor would she ever lose my love. She might spend some time in the naughty corner, for sure, but my love is unconditional free gift.

Likewise, our faith is a free gift from God, through his grace, and none of our good works can earn salvation. Scripture is very clear on this in verses such as Ephesians 2:8-10, which tell us, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from you; it is a gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast.

Yet Christ and the inspire authors emphasized the importance of our works, as well. In Matthew, we see the parables of the wise and foolish builders (7:24-27) and the talents (14-30), just two of the many parables emphasizing works. Christ understood, that as the spiritual children of God, we also need maturation, which is called sanctification and justification. Only the most arrogant of Christians would claim to have reached spiritual perfection in this life, and just as a child matures through the guidance of her parents, so we mature through the guidance God offers through works.

In fact, as much as some Christians like to claim that we are saved by faith alone, the words faith alone only appear one time in all of Scripture, and this is when the inspired word of God is telling us that we are not saved by faith alone, in James 2: 14-26.

The Catholic Church has never taught that we can earn our way to Heaven, and in fact has been instrumental in fighting heresies, such as Pelagianism in the 5th century, which tried to claim that we could. Yet one cannot read Catholic literature, including the Bible, without realizing that a great importance has been placed upon works. James, after all, describes a person who looks into a mirror, but forgets what he looks like after walking away. Just as we can forget our own face after walking away from a mirror, a person could forget Christ after having accepted him, and James emphasizes that works are the key to avoiding this. God will never withdraw his gift of faith, but if we don't continue to train our body to accept it, through the exercise of good works, we will eventually smother that faith.

We are saved by faith in Christ, but it is an active faith.

Does this undermine the perfect offering of Christ upon the cross? Not at all. Returning to the analogy of a child doing chores for her parents. The parents can do those chores much more perfectly without that child's help, but by allowing her to participate, no matter how sloppy of a job she does, they are helping her to mature into a responsible adult. Does she earn her inheritance this way? Of course not, nor do I earn my salvation through my piddly good works.

However, our good works are a gift from God, each time we reject an opportunity that he has presented, we are turning away from a moment of spiritual maturity. We are saying "no" to God in little ways, which snowball until finally, we have "stepped away from the mirror" and rejected the faith that Christ offers unconditionally to us. We say "no" to him absolutely.

For more on this topic, click here.

Adult Faith Study

Our next faith study will look at controversies in the history of our church.

Please join us and learn how to respond when someone challenges you on the Church and Galileo, the Inquisitions, the Crusades, the abuse crisis, and other moments in the history of Christianity.

Our next talk will be at 6:30 in the Catholic Center on December 2nd.

Here is our schedule of topics and dates for the remainder of the school year:

Dec. 2 Crusades, Inquisition, Galileo, and More

Dec. 16 Original Justice and Original Sin

Jan. 13 Priesthood

Jan. 27 Baptism and Salvation

Feb. 3 Grace, Faith and Works, and Salvation

Feb. 17 Theology of the Body

Mar. 9 Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the Mass

Apr. 6 Basics of Morality and Sexual Ethics

Apr. 20 Penance, Confession, and Indulgences

May 4 Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory

May 18 Mary and the Communion of Saints

Please pass the word. Our attendance has been great, but there is always room for more!

Class Size and Scheduling

Just a reminder to all parents who are interested in the scheduling for the next three years of junior high, and in particular those parents of children who are currently in grades 3 through 7, that our meeting to explain the scheduling options will be on this Wednesday night at 6:00 in the school cafeteria.

Important Notes

· CORRECTION: The Cub Scout Pack 104 meeting is actually Tuesday, Nov 27th not the 29th.

· The vocations committee would like to invite all in the community to join us for the adoration and benediction that takes place on first Fridays. It would mean a great deal for your children to see you there.

Upcoming Events

11/27 First reconciliation (7:00)

11/28 Parent meeting concerning junior high scheduling

12/2 Adult Faith Talk with Fr. Shetler and Mr. Allen at 6:30 in the Catholic Center

12/9 Advent/Christmas program at 1 p.m. for grades k-3 and 2 p.m for grades 4-8

12/11-13 Reconciliation for students in grades 3-8

November 19, 2007

Dear friends,

Since this is a short week, I'm tossing the formal organization of this e-newsletter and posting a number of important notes. I'll return to the regular format next week.

First, I wanted to call attention to the dedication our custodians have to the health of our students, both now and in anticipation of the upcoming addition. The custodial department recently purchased a piece of equipment and one of the more highly rated cleaning agents designed to more thoroughly clean and sanitize the restrooms. We can already tell a difference, and with some of the health issues that other institutions have had in various parts of the nation, we are lucky to have a custodial team who is leading the way in providing a clean environment for our students.

Second, the time and date for the parent meeting regarding our junior high schedule next year will be Wednesday the 28th at 6:00 in the school cafeteria. All who could possibly be affected, which includes parents of students who are currently in grades 3-7 (all of whom will have students in junior high during the implementation of a modified schedule), are invited. The format of this meeting will include an explanation of the genesis of our discussion, a response to specific questions or concerns which some of you have expressed, and a presentation of the various proposals from the ad hoc committee. Attendees will then have an opportunity to ask for questions of clarification on the different proposed schedules. I strongly encourage you to attend if your child will be in junior high over the next three years.

Third, Student Council has asked for a reminder about the food drive for the Samaritan Center. Tuesday the 20th is the last day to bring in food.

Fourth, tomorrow is not a dress-up day. Some have called in for clarification.

Fifth, during your next visit to the perpetual adoration chapel, notice the wicker basket filled with prayer intentions from the students participated in the EDGE activities this month. These slips are meant to be private, but the basket can be prayed over during your time with Christ.

Sixth, we are attempting to revise our substitute list and possibly hire another staff member for after school care, especially on the 2nd Tuesday of the month from 1:50-5:30. For the regular staff member, the commitment would be from 3:00-5:30 daily. If you are looking for an opportunity to work with the kids on a part-time basis this way, please drop me a response.

Seventh, the Capital Mall retailers are offering Triple Points for every dollar spent after Thanksgiving. Drop your receipts in our school's locker located near center court, or send them to school (Note that this is inside mall retailers only and does not include out parcels). Happy Shopping!!

Eighth, thank you to all who have been coming to our adult catechesis talks on Sunday nights. The turn-out has been great. Next week I will publish the schedule for the rest of the year, but until then, mark on your calendars to join us on December the 2nd at 6:30 in the Catholic Center for the next talk.

Important dates:

Cub Scout Pack 104, Pack meeting, Tuesday, Nov. 29, Undercroft, 6:30 pm

Nov. 30th - 8th grade boys to Conception Abbey and girls to Little Sisters of the Poor

Dec. 7th - Father Joe Coral will be taking junior high students to adoration in the Catholic Center

Dec. 8th - Holy Day of Obligation - Immaculate Conception

March 11th - sports pictures for basketball teams, starting at 5:30 in the gym

March 27th - spring picture day

Band rehersal dates are added as a "p.s." after my signature

Last, I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving. There is much around for which to be thankful.

-Spencer Allen
Principal
St. Joseph Cathedral School

p.s.

Band Rehersal Dates

Tuesday, November 20: The 5th Gr. Band has an after-school rehearsal today and the 6th, 7th & 8th Gr. Band has an after-school marching rehearsal on the Monday following Thanksgiving from 3:00-4:30 at St. Peter to prepare for the upcoming Christmas performances.

Monday, November 26: The 6th, 7th & 8th Gr. Band has an after-school marching rehearsal both today and Thursday from 3:00 to 4:30 at St. Peter to prepare for the Jefferson City Christmas Parade on Saturday, December 1. All members must have their lyres and flip folders, and be prepared to march outside.

Wednesday, November 28: The 6th, 7th & 8th Gr. Band has an after-school marching rehearsal Thursday from 3:00 to 4:30 at St. Peter to prepare for the Christmas Parade on Saturday.

Thursday, November 29: The 6th, 7th & 8th Gr. Band has an after-school marching rehearsal today from 3:00 to 4:30 at St. Peter to prepare for the Christmas Parade on Saturday.

Friday, November 30: The 6th, 7th & 8th Gr. Band will be marching in the Jefferson City Jaycees Christmas Parade this Saturday, December 1 at 2:00. The students will meet at 12:30 in the St. Peter Band Room to suit-up, warm-up and psych-up. All band students must take their instruments, music, lyres and flip folders home tonight so that they will have access to them for the parade. Dress for the event will be khaki slacks over layers of clothing if needed as well as comfortable gym shoes. We will be wearing our button-up uniform tops that must be able to be tucked in.

November 9, 2007

Dear friends,

Just a reminder (which you can forward to your friends) that Fr. Shetler will deliver the next in our series on understanding and defending the Catholic faith on this Sunday (11/11), after the Christmas Bazaar. This weekend we will officially move to the conference rooms of the Catholic Center. The talk begins at 6:30 and will focus on the basic theology at work through the remainder of our series. See you there!

-Spencer Allen

November 5, 2007

Dear Parents,

We have been having some internet problems at school, and I will send out the Cathedral Kids e-newsletter as soon as that is fixed (hopefully tomorrow). I am sending this from home, where my internet works, but the notes I need for the CK newsletter are at my desk at school. I wanted to write tonight, though, because I think some points need to be cleared up about the discussion that the advisory school board is having regarding the 6th grade class of 08-09.

An unfortunate letter went home with the 5th grade students today. The letter was unfortunate for several reasons. For one, it contained many misrepresentations of what has occurred over the past couple of weeks, and I will address those below. The letter, folded and stapled, was put in mailboxes of 5th grade teachers for distribution to the students without any consultation with administration. In addition, the letter was anonymous and presented a call-to-action for 5th grade parents to e-mail or call me to express concerns about the misconceptions of our scheduling discussion.

I guess the last point bothers me the most as I have always been the type of person to talk to someone face-to-face about any concerns or issues I feel passionate about, and I assume the same quality in others. To date, however, nobody has e-mailed me with concerns. Nobody has called. Nobody has pulled me aside in the parking lot. If they had, as many of you have discovered, I would have gone out of my way to discuss concerns. I respond quickly to my messages, and I always have time for you.

There seems to be some understanding that a definite decision has been made that the 5th grade students, who are currently broken into three classes, would remain divided this way through 8th grade. I completely understand this desire for small classes, and I would want the same for my children.

One thing to consider, though, is that junior high presents different scheduling challenges and opportunities than k-5, and I mentioned these to school advisory board to make sure that our schedule for next year would be in the best interest for all of the students, including the 6th graders. Because of the nature of junior high, where grade levels share teachers, who specialize in subjects, our decision next year could possibly affect 7th and 8th grade students, as well. The school advisory board agreed to put together an ad hoc committee specifically for the purpose of looking at options so that we can figure out the most successful schedule for all the students. We want what is best for the 6th graders next year, but we also want what is best for the 7th and 8th graders. Consider some of the possible implications of incorporating three classes in junior high - challenges which were not present in elementary:

· A teacher might have to be hired to teach several subjects, though not specializing in any (and typically parents expect specialization in junior high instruction in order to prepare for high school). This might directly affect 6th grade students (for all three years of their junior high) as this teacher works directly with them.

· Students in 6th grade might, by being instructed by an auxiliary teacher, miss out on the wonderful continuity provided by great teachers, such as Ms. Stokes, who can work with the same group of kids three years straight and maximize growth.

· 7th and 8th grade students might also lose this continuity as an auxiliary teacher is incorporated into their schedules to avoid the first scenario.

· Teachers could lose the homeroom, one-on-one time that they use to help struggling students or students who are working on projects (and which gives our school one of its most powerful characteristics).

Personally, I think the best situation is to do exactly as we have done on advisory school board and make no assumptions. Instead of speculating about whether it would work or not, we put together an ad hoc committee to work out sample schedules to make sure that the very best education is provided for all the junior high students next year, 6th, 7th, and 8th. This committee, in other words, has as its agenda, to find a way to succeed in the goal of preventing overcrowding without sacrificing academic integrity. They are putting together several options for advisory school board, a committee which has a very fair representation of 5th grade parents this year (making up an easy majority of the board). These are men and women of integrity and objectivity. We all want what is best for the students, and a misstep at this point could harm our ability to achieve this for all of the students who will be in junior high next year. To be honest, I am hopeful and optimistic that the committee (or perhaps one of you) can come up with a great solution for our scheduling challenges, and I would support this one-hundred percent. But I doubt if there is one person reading this letter who thinks it is a good idea to charge full speed ahead without a very deliberate examination of those challenges.

We are a team, a community, and a family. I do not know why the author of this letter could not have just picked up the phone and called me. I do not know who the author is, only that it is a parent who has an incredible love for his/her child and a desire for the very best. In fact, this is what all of us desire, and I hope we can work in a more positive manner in the future to achieve this.

In Christ,

Spencer Allen

November 5, 2007

Contents:

Welcome

Cathedral Parents

Adult Faith Study

Position Available

Important Notes

Upcoming Events

Welcome

Dear Parents and Parishioners,

Well, the battle is over. I accidentally locked a file cabinet in my office and, out of the thousands of keys left behind for me, I could not find the one that unlocked it. It stayed locked for three or four days until today, when I armed myself with a hammer, screwdriver, and pliers and … Well, let just say that the opposition surrendered and I now have access to my files, with very little scarring done, either to the file cabinet or myself.

On a serious note, a big congratulations is in order to several students. Last night I was privileged to be invited to the Optimist Club Youth Appreciation Banquet, where Kimberly Hatcher, a 5th grader here at the Cathedral, was honored. The evening was wonderful, and we are very proud of all of our area youth who were recognized at this event, but especially Kimberly, who is a remarkable young lady and deserving of the reward.

Over the weekend I watched many of the volleyball matches for the Catholic Bowl. In fact, I got to spend most of Saturday watching these young ladies put their very best into their sport. Their dedication and good sportsmanship set the bar for other young athletes.

Meanwhile, while the Catholic Bowl was going on, some of our junior high students were in Fulton on Saturday, participating in the speech meet there. Congratulations to all who participated, especially our Blue Ribbon winners, Brian Oxenhandler and Madi Godsey (Serious Interpretation) and Gretchen Rauch and Mallory Sone (Humorous Interpretation).

Our school is a better place because of the contributions these and other involved students.

I also wanted to write and thank all of you who helped with our enrichment day last week, especially the Home and School enrichment committee. The day was a success on a few levels. The committee did a great job of planning activities that reached across the grade levels and the kids really seemed to be having a great experience.

As I mentioned before, one of my big goals in asking the enrichment committee to coordinate their activities on these end-of-quarter dates were to allow great activities while respecting the flow of longer in-class units that the teachers have incorporated to other parts of the quarter.

The second goal, however, was to begin the process of tightening our reporting schedule on quarter grades, getting these reports home to you as quickly as possible. This worked wonderfully as we had given ourselves a one-week deadline, but were able to process much faster than that. For future quarters we will continue to tighten this to a point that allows for quick turn-around, but does not threaten the accuracy of the reports.

-Spencer Allen
Principal
St. Joseph Cathedral School

Cathedral Parents – The Golden Compass

It just occurred to me recently that I should have been archiving the various Cathedral Parent’s pieces I have put out over the last couple months. I am sure, though, that some of you are keeping these. If you are, and you would be willing to send them back my way, please contact me so I can archive for future use.

Several of you have contacted me with concerns about the upcoming release of the movie The Golden Compass, which is based off the first book in the fantasy trilogy The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman. Recently, several Catholic groups, such as the Catholic League and Catholic Answers have come out about the content of these books and, of course, the subsequent movies. The author, himself, has made no secret of, not just his atheism, but also his antagonism of organized religion, especially the Catholic Church.

The first book and movie and this series begin in a seemingly benign way, enough so that some will see the movie and wonder what all the fuss is about. But make no mistakes, the first installment serves to plant the seeds of what becomes a very overt attack on our faith and our church by the third book in a series where God, called The Authority through the first two books, plays the antagonist as the main characters pick up rebellion of Satan and succeed in completing what the fallen angel could not. To read more about the spiritual dangers that are in store for the audiences of this series click here to read a special report put out by the Catholic Answers magazine This Rock.

On that note, it is often hard as a parent to stay on top of the movies that your children want to see, but many of you desire to arm yourselves with the information necessary to help them make good entertainment decisions, or at least to have conversations about the difficult material in a popular movie. The U.S. bishops have a great resource on their site, where movies dating back several years are reviewed for quality, but also rated for morality of content. To access (and bookmark) this site, visit the reviews by clicking here.

Adult Faith Study

Our last adult faith study was a great success. Please join us this Sunday, the 11th, in the conference rooms of the Alphonse J. Schwartze Catholic Center at 6:30. Fr. Shetler will do the presentation this weekend, explaining the basic theology that will be at work in our future talks.

We also taped previous talks and are trying to put those in a format that can be downloaded from the website or available through CD.

Position Available

If you are looking for a way to help out at school, we have a position available in the cafeteria. Responsibilities include general cooking, serving, and cleaning from 7:30 until 1:30. Please let me know if interested.

Important Notes

The St. Joseph Cathedral School technology committee is once again sponsoring a Miles of Pennies contest. Students in pre-school through eighth grade are encouraged to bring in pennies to see how many miles worth of pennies our school can raise. (Other change and currency will be accepted and exchanged for pennies.) Pennies can be brought to the individual homeroom classes October 29 - November 20. The homeroom class raising the most money will win a pizza party. All money raised will be used by the technology committee to help meet the technological needs of our school.

Upcoming Events

11/6 Volleyball and Cross Country team pictures at 5:30 p.m.

11/7 Principals meeting – Mr. Allen out of building until conferences

11/7-8 Parent/Teacher Conferences

11/11 Mission Carnival

11/11 Adult Catechesis talk in the Catholic Center (6:30)

11/16 Stuco Can Jam Dance