In this week’s newsletter you can find out information about Cross Country meets, registration for all the sacraments, MOD pizza fundraiser for the 8th grade class, Holy Hoops coming in October, playground angel’s signups for September and October, CURRICULUM NIGHT is at 6pm–please see the schedule, many volunteer opportunities, Harvest Fest and Spaghetti Dinner tickets, coffee and donut help on Sundays, PTC news, youth group activities, cupcakes for teachers, last chance to order pizza and much more.
Thank you for reading!
Curriculum Night next Wednesday, September 13 @ 6pm
Please see the attached schedule (form here) for Curriculum Night next Wednesday. This is for parents only and childcare is not provided. Please arrange for at least one parent to be in attendance. The time has changed from the September calendar, please note that the presentation starts in the gym at 6:00pm. And then breakouts to classrooms will be at 6:30pm.
Calling Playground Angels!
Thank you for your help in keeping recess fun and safe! We can always use help on the playground. Check out the sign-up links below. Remember to get your training done with Virtus Online.
If you have a pizza form in your Wednesday envelope TODAY, we need to hear from you. Please let the office know yes for pizza and how much OR no pizza for the year. Thank you for your help with this big job of ordering.
Welcome, New Families!
We are blessed to have 41 new K-8 students this school year and are grateful to our ACS community for making these children and their families feel welcome! If you see a parent around campus that you don’t know, we hope everyone will introduce themselves.
Opening our arms as a school community is a huge way we can live our scriptural theme for this year: “Let all that you do be done in love” -1 Cor 16:14.
If you are a new family, we hope you enjoyed the welcome sign in your yard, courtesy of our PTC “elves”! We’d love to celebrate your children with a photo of them with their sign that we can share. Feel free to email your pictures: theoffice@assumption.school. Thank you!
MOD Fundraiser on Sept. 20th
Enjoy a night (or lunch) off cooking and help send Assumption’s 8th Graders to Washington DC at the same time! MOD pizza will donate 20% of sales on Wednesday, Sept. 20th for any orders that present this flyer or use coupon code MODGIVES20 to order online. Your 8th grade class appreciates your support!
Registration for Sacraments
First Reconciliation & First Holy Communion Prep for Church of the Assumption Parishioners Assumption Parish families with children in grades 2-6 at ACS who would like to prepare for these sacraments may register for the parent & child sac prep classes. Registration in the parish’s Whole Family Catechesis (K-5) and Youth Ministry programs is also welcome, though not required. Please contact Gina DePalma at ginad@assumption.org with any questions. Sac Prep registration closes on Sept. 20 and the first class is on Oct. 1. Thank you!
Infant Baptism at Church of the Assumption Assumption Parish families with children 6-years-old and younger at ACS are invited to contact the parish about the steps for infant baptism. Please contact Claudia Maeda at claudia@assumption.org.
Baptism of Children 7-Years-Old and Older (RCIA/C)
Assumption Parish families with children aged 7+ who have not been baptized or were baptized in another Christian tradition and are interested in learning about and receiving sacraments in the Catholic Church, are invited to begin the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults for Children (RCIA/C) process. Please contact Gina DePalma at ginad@assumption.org with any questions. Sessions begin on Sept. 10 and the deadline to register is Oct. 1.
Coffee and Donuts at Assumption Parish
We are looking for more volunteers to help with hosting Assumption Parish Coffee Hour when Assumption School hosts and to help with filling in, if possible, throughout the year. Ideally, the hosting group would have 3 people (at least two adults) to help. This is a great way to grab more volunteer hours for the parish! Interested parties will be required to attend an existing Coffee Hour for a few hours the morning of October 1st. If interested, please contact Holly Zech (Coffee Hour Coordinator) at hkzech@gmail.com.
Thank you to Sustainable Connections!
When we installed the new windows, we applied for a rebate through the Community Energy Challenge (https://sustainableconnections.org/community-energy-challenge/). This is a partnership between Sustainable Connections and The Opportunity Council to benefit homes and businesses in Whatcom County. We have just received a $2748.72 CEC incentive check this week! Every little bit helps. Note on the windows… if you purchased a window at the auction (a $2,000 donation) and would like to honor or memorialize someone with a name plaque on the window, please email the office. We hope to have those done next week.
Thank you, Mr. Padilla!
We want to thank Stephen Padilla (parent of new student, Taylor, in third grade) for his help these past two weeks. He was here all evening last Friday and again this past Tuesday assembling the new furniture for Mr. Costanza and Mrs. Williams. We are so grateful for so many parents who step forward each day and help meet the needs of the school.
PTC News
Harvest Festival – We are excited to continue building up our school community through this popular, family-oriented festival. Remember, there are two dinner seatings for the delicious spaghetti dinner!
We have some great raffle baskets this year! Including a date night basket which features items from the Pickford Film Center, the Loft restaurant, and Pure Bliss deserts! The Harvest Festival raffle also includes a family fun basket with passes to Vital Climbing Gym, Summit Adventure Park, and Life Force Ninja. Winners will be announced at the Spaghetti dinner. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the office, or at the festival. Volunteers are needed for this important fundraising event! Sign-up shifts have been designed to allow parents time to enjoy some of the festivities.
Please stay for BINGO after dinner to help support the 8th graders and their trip to DC!
*Did you know that you can earn volunteer hours for donating wine for the spaghetti dinner? Please contact lynette_machinski@yahoo.com for details!
Room Parents – Thank you to all the parents who agreed to be room parents! This is very exciting to have these roles filled so quickly! Remember, your Room Parent Coordinator is Catie Sullivan. If you have questions about your role as a room parent, please email Catie Sullivan at catiesullivan417@gmail.com
More Volunteer Opportunities – Our Multicultural event at the end of the school year is an occasion we want to make extra special this year. We are currently looking for parents who would like to take part in the leadership of this special event. please email our volunteer coordinator if you are interested at volunteer23@assumption.school
**Please note that in your Wednesday envelopes today there are instructions on logging in to Virtus training to become a volunteer. Anyone working around students will need this training through the Archdiocese of Seattle. Any questions, please contact the school office.
Cross Country News/Schedule
Date Host Location
9/14 Meridian Bellewood Acres
9/21 Assumption/Franklin Cornwall Park
9/27 Mount Baker Deming Log Showgrounds
10/5 Blaine Pipeline Fields
10/11 Horizon/Vista Hovander Park
10/16 Lynden Lynden High School
Girls run first at 4:15 followed by the boys for all races. Please have your runner to the site by 3:45. Coordinate with other teammates if a ride is needed to the races to make it on time. Runners may wear white, navy, or black shirts under their singlet or under their running shorts. No other colors are allowed and no designs on pants or shirts worn underneath. Thank you and Go Eagles!
We have 19 Eagle Cross Country runners who are preparing for their first meet this week. They will be racing out at Bellewood Acres on Thursday Sept 14th starting at 4:15. Come out and cheer them on and enjoy a stroll through the apple orchards while you’re there. Assumption will also be co-hosting a cross country meet on Sept. 21st at Cornwall Park and we need volunteers tomake it a successful race for all the school’s participating. We need volunteers from 3:45 until the end of the meet. If you are available to assist, please email Ms. Eager at keager@assumption.school and let her know you want to support the XC meet.
Holy Hoops is coming!
And we want YOU!
If you have a high school alumnus who loves basketball, or if you just want to help put on a fun school event (get those volunteer hours done early), please consider signing up to join the planning committee for this year’s Holy Hoops. We currently need a volunteer who can assist in recruiting alumni throughout the county to come back and coach our teams. Holy Hoops is a four-day, 4×4 basketball tournament that is free and fun for ALL Assumption 5th-8th graders.
This year’s event will take place in the school gym from Oct. 17-20. We encourage maximum participation, and the kids absolutely love this week of competition and camaraderie. For more information about Holy Hoops or to join the committee, please contact event Chair, Lisa Twining at vonskirch@gmail.com.
Youth Ministry Updates
The Assumption and Sacred Heart middle school youth ministry will be having a kick-off night on Friday September 22nd, from 5:30-7:30 in the Sacred Heart Hall. There will be food, fun, and games! There will be a parent meeting at 7:00pm with Daniel Prenosil, our youth minister, to discuss a few things about the upcoming year. If you have any questions, please contact Daniel Prenosil by emailing daniel@assumption.org
Cupcakes for the teachers
Thanks for all the wonderful gifts the teachers have received so far! If you are not aware of what this is…there are cupcakes filled out per teacher with a “wish” item for their class. If you would like to help a teacher or two, please stop by and find a cupcake in the school lobby. The easiest way to order is on Amazon and then have it delivered or bring it in to school.
It’s a Sweet Treat from the parents to the teachers!!!
Welcoming New Babies to our School community
If you and your family are expecting and/or had a baby recently, please send the office pictures and any information you would like to share in the digital newsletter. We all want to congratulate you in a timely manner. Babies are a gift from God! Thank you.
Saint of the Week
Saint John Chrysostom’s Story
The ambiguity and intrigue surrounding John, the great preacher (his name means “golden-mouthed”) from Antioch, are characteristic of the life of any great man in a capital city. Brought to Constantinople after a dozen years of priestly service in Syria, John found himself the reluctant victim of an imperial ruse to make him bishop in the greatest city of the empire. Ascetic, unimposing but dignified, and troubled by stomach ailments from his desert days as a monk, John became a bishop under the cloud of imperial politics.
If his body was weak, his tongue was powerful. The content of his sermons, his exegesis of Scripture, were never without a point. Sometimes the point stung the high and mighty. Some sermons lasted up to two hours.
His lifestyle at the imperial court was not appreciated by many courtiers. He offered a modest table to episcopal sycophants hanging around for imperial and ecclesiastical favors. John deplored the court protocol that accorded him precedence before the highest state officials. He would not be a kept man.
His zeal led him to decisive action. Bishops who bribed their way into office were deposed. Many of his sermons called for concrete steps to share wealth with the poor. The rich did not appreciate hearing from John that private property existed because of Adam’s fall from grace any more than married men liked to hear that they were bound to marital fidelity just as much as their wives were. When it came to justice and charity, John acknowledged no double standards.
Aloof, energetic, outspoken, especially when he became excited in the pulpit, John was a sure target for criticism and personal trouble. He was accused of gorging himself secretly on rich wines and fine foods. His faithfulness as spiritual director to the rich widow, Olympia, provoked much gossip attempting to prove him a hypocrite where wealth and chastity were concerned. His actions taken against unworthy bishops in Asia Minor were viewed by other ecclesiastics as a greedy, uncanonical extension of his authority.
Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria, and Empress Eudoxia were determined to discredit John. Theophilus feared the growth in importance of the Bishop of Constantinople and took occasion to charge John with fostering heresy. Theophilus and other angered bishops were supported by Eudoxia. The empress resented his sermons contrasting gospel values with the excesses of imperial court life. Whether intended or not, sermons mentioning the lurid Jezebel and impious Herodias were associated with the empress, who finally did manage to have John exiled. He died in exile in 407.
Reflection
John Chrysostom’s preaching, by word and example, exemplifies the role of the prophet to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. For his honesty and courage, he paid the price of a turbulent ministry as bishop, personal vilification, and exile.
