Volume 19 Issue No. 3 December 2016

For a child is born to us, a Son is given us; upon His shoulder dominion rests. They will name Him Wonder-Counselor,

God-Hero, Father-Forever, and Prince of Peace! Isaiah 9-6

St. Francis de Sales School

1111 Michael Way Las Vegas, NV 89108

Telephone: (702) 647-2828 FAX (702) 647-0284

Web-site: www.sfdslv.org Office Hours: Monday - Friday

7:45 AM - 3:30 PM

Ministerial Staff

Fr. Bruno Mauricci, Pastor Fr. Michael Conway, Assoc. Pastor Fr. James J. Bevan, Jr., Special Assistant

Administrative Staff

Principal Mrs. Manfredi Administrative Asst. Mrs. O’Connor

Teaching Staff

Kindergarten Mrs. Hensley Mrs. Larson First Grade Mrs. Thomas Second Grade Miss Aveni Third Grade Mrs. Cooper Fourth Grade Mrs. Tully Fifth Grade Mrs. Oddo Sixth Grade Mrs. Bochenczak Seventh Grade Mrs. Antos Eighth Grade Mrs.Studdard Math Specialist Mrs. Sposato Religion Specialist Mrs. Wilson Librarian Mrs. Wilson Teaching Asst. Mrs. Iorii Technology Director Miss Botti School Counselor Mrs. Pepperman Music Teacher Mrs. Taubert Physical Education & Spanish Instructor Mrs. Villanueva Drama Ministry Mr. Blaskey Before and After School Staff:

Mrs. Taubert, Mrs. Gorski, Mrs. Wattenbarger, Mrs. Villanueva

St. Francis de Sales

Newspaper Staff:

Kennedy Crear, Alaina Herrera, Anisha Silva, and Freedom Washington

This month’s classroom news was

compiled and formatted by Mrs. Smith!

Thank you!

A Christmas Prayer

Lord, in this holy season of prayer and song and laughter, we praise You for the great wonders you have sent us: for shining star and angel's song, for

infant's cry in lowly manger. We praise you for the Word made flesh in a little Child. We behold His glory,

and are bathed in its radiance.

Be with us as we sing the ironies of Christmas, the incomprehensible comprehended, the poetry made hard fact, the helpless Babe who cracks the world asunder.

We kneel before you Shepherds, Innkeepers, Wisemen. Help us to rise bigger than we are.

Amen.

KINDERGARTEN

ach morning in the classroom, we light the candles on our Advent wreath, as we pray in

thanksgiving for the peace, hope, joy, and love that can only come from living our lives by the example of Jesus. The hope-filled Season of Advent has been the focus of the boys and girls work in the Atrium throughout December. Each of the children participated in changing the prayer table and background colors from green to purple to reflect the Advent time of preparing and waiting for the birth of the Christ Child. Serving as a reminder of, and so perfectly illustrating, our School-wide Learning Expectations of living as Active Faith-filled Catholics. After listening to the timeless song and story of The Little Drummer Boy, the children reflected on our Life Skills of effort-to try our hardest and caring-to be concerned for others feelings and well-being. We also considered the sense of pride the drummer boy must have felt as the Christ Child “smiled at him” after he had “played his best for Him.” Our Superkids reading series continues to develop the boys and girls reading skills while engaging the students in the diverse lives of the kids. They just love every element of this terrific series. In Math we are working on addition as the joining of two groups--both vertically and horizontally—while also utilizing ten frames. Our most recent Social Studies theme was to study how family members work and have fun together, as well as share feelings, cooperate, and support one another. This concept was aptly reinforced through our Conflict Resolution lessons of active listening and “talking it out.” Our annual Thanksgiving Feast with our Eighth Grade prayer pals was a huge (and tasty) success; the children had the best time! We want to truly thank all of our wonderful parents for helping us continue this treasured tradition and also for their delicious contributions! Special thanks goes to our room parent, Mrs. Medford for working tirelessly to

make everything run smoothly from start to finish. Our sincere gratitude, also, to the many parents who so generously gave their time throughout the day to assist with setting up, serving, and clean up! Sincere thanks to all of our Kindergarten parents for participating in the Advent Service Project Food Drive, benefiting

the St. Therese Center, your spirit of giving and generosity was truly appreciated! God bless everyone during

this Holy Season; our heartfelt good wishes to each Saint Francis de Sales School family for a Joyous Christmas and Blessings in the New Year!

Students of the Month

Genevieve Lara Calista Sanchez

December Birthdays

Timothy Neal Esteban Chavez Adrian Herrera

SCRIP Purchases

Christmas Treasure Box Treasures Art Supplies

-Mrs. Hensley & Mrs. Larson

FIRST GRADE

What a blessing it is to be celebrating Advent as we prepare our hearts for the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ! In addition to our precious time spent in the Atrium for

Catechesis the Good Shepherd, we are learning about the events leading up to and including the

Nativity, Church seasons, holy days, saints, scripture, and Catholic traditions. The Accelerated Reading proves that practice makes perfect! I’m so proud of our First Grade progress. Keep reading! Congratulations for receiving the following awards: A.R. awards during the last month include: Independent Reader (10

points): Kaitlyn Doucet, Zachary Haile, John Hazard, Raven Kruger and Jeri Pulido-Ortiz Advanced Reader (20 points): Saya Mariani, Chelsea Verry, Chloe Verry,

and Charlotte Ware. Thirty Point Club: Chelsea Verry and Chloe Verry. Forty Point Club: Chelsea Verry and Chloe Verry.

Our class has been reading a variety of stories and learning about genre, plot, settings, author’s purpose, and characters. Literature has been a great way to make our Life Skills and Ethics Across the Curriculum come alive. A Bad Case of Stripes, We Gather Together, Now Please Get Lost, The First Thanksgiving, and Christmas Tapestry were our favorite books during the month. After reading each book, we discussed how they reinforce Common Sense, Perseverance, and Problem Solving. Our Conflict Resolution lessons have included: respecting personal space, being aware of boundaries, anger management, and personal safety. In Math we are continuing to work on the mastery of addition and subtraction facts and investigating new strategies for problem solving. Singing our skills makes learning fun in all subjects. Our Thanksgiving tradition of baking pumpkin and homemade butter was a delicious experience! Everyone enjoyed measuring, pouring, and baking! We shared bread with the St. Francis community and our Prayer Pals. We are looking forward to our Prayer Pal Christmas gathering and more opportunities to sit together at Mass. December highlights include making ornaments, creative writing activities, and exploring literature. Congratulations to the First Grade Trimester Award recipients. Keep up the wonderful work!

Students of the Week London Ramos, Chloe Verry, Moni Luevano, and Matthew de la Rosa

E

Students of the Month

Keeahna Martin Jeri Pulido-Ortiz

December Birthdays

Keeahna Martin Sachiko Bradford

SCRIP Purchases:

Classroom supplies, portable cd players and cassette players, and books

SAY IT TO THE SAINTS

Fridays are “Paws-atively perfect”! After three months of reading to our Bentley and Murphy, we can’t imagine not having them as part of the Fabulous First Grade team. What a treat! We truly feel thankful for this innovative

program and these paws-atively precious opportunities to increase our literacy skills. I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the dedicated First Grade parents for their continuous generosity, donation of time, assistance, and treats for our class. Also thank you for your generous donations of Mission money and Food Drive contributions. We are truly living the Gospel message of Matthew 25. The First Grade wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a New Year full of blessings. God bless all of you!

-Mrs. Kelly Thomas

SECOND GRADE

We are having so much fun learning and working hard, preparing ourselves for the New Year. We have so much to be thankful for as we enter this season of Advent. In Math, we just finished our chapter on double digit addition with ease. Now, we are on to double digit subtraction with regrouping! We love noticing that if there is more on the floor, you have to go next door and borrow 10 more. Our Math

Facts program is helping us become experts in recalling facts fluently! In Reading, we are just finishing Unit 3 of Superkids and we’re so excited to learn about more of the Superkids’ adventures on the farm! In Writing, we just finished disguising our turkeys as main characters from book. We are also having fun time learning about friendly letters, we even sing the Friendly Letter song! We are getting ready to send them in the mail! In addition, we are busy writing how to decorate a Christmas tree, for those who might need some advice! We are currently filling out Elf Applications to see if Santa would hire us. We are super excited to have a Grinch day on December 9, doing some reading, listening, singing, eating, and writing all about the Grinch! In Science, we just finished our chapter on plants and animals living together peacefully, helping each other to live. We are soon moving on to matter and learning about solids, liquids, and gases. In Social Studies, we are learning about needs and wants and that in order to pay for our needs, we have to have an income. We love learning about all the different types of occupations there are that we can grow up to be! In our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program, we are preparing our hearts and minds in prayer for the coming of our Lord. Advent is a special season of waiting for the best gift in the world that we can receive, Jesus. In our classroom, we hold quiet and reverent Advent celebrations by lighting our Advent wreath and patiently rejoicing! We love singing our Advent songs with the glow of the Advent candles.

We are learning about how to use our talking power for positive conversations in our Conflict Resolution.

Recently, we began learning about the power of the I-Message and how we can solve a problem ourselves by learning how to speak calmly and listen to other people. In Accelerated Reading, we are just flourishing with books! I have never seen so many students who love to

read! To date, we have taken and passed 1646 quizzes! We awarded some OWL’s with AR awards: Independent Readers: Jasolynn Burkhardt, Maxyne Francisco, Maximo Gutierrez, Trenton Howard, Maleah Mee, Amartya Robinson Super Readers: Jayden Anaya, Chloe Ontiveros, Kylee Pfeifer, Anastasia Ryan, Catlyn Walztoni, Advanced Readers: Jacob Fernandez, Sebastian Gutierrez, Michael Iniquez, Benjamin Martinez, Alejandro Rivera Star Readers: Adrianna Adam, Angelina Adam, Skylar Goldyn, Braeden Osotio Here are some whooo-riffic highlights for the coming months: continue celebrating Advent, Immaculate Conception Mass, watching the older grades participate in Reconciliation, Grinch day, our Christmas program, preparing a gift for our parents, and the Christmas break.

November to December

OWLS of the week

Jacob Fernandez, Catlyn Walztoni, Jeremiah Buen

December Birthdays

Braeden Osotio Chloe Ontiveros

SCRIP Purchases

Classroom Supplies

Owl-ways hooting,

-Miss Olivia Aveni

THIRD GRADE

As we near Christmas we are focusing on keeping the light on in our hearts during

this season of Advent. Lighting the Advent wreath each morning is a reminder to us of Jesus’s everlasting love. By using our life skills of caring, friendship, respect, effort, cooperation, and responsibility we reflect and make positive changes in our lives.

In preparation for Reconciliation this month we are reviewing the Maxims to help guide us while examining our conscience. The Maxims are Jesus’s words teaching us how to love God and our neighbor. Examples of the Maxims are: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30; “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 12:31; “When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do.” Matthew 6:2 Mrs. Pepperman has been teaching us different styles of problem solving to handle conflict resolution. One way is to Talk It Out. There are three ways to either avoid a conflict or how to solve a conflict. Through using the I- message you say how you feel. Restate means to repeat what the other person said – you feel listened to. Finally, you resolve the problem. The students are having wonderful discussions and providing great feedback. This month we will be watching the movie The Polar Express while dressed in our pajamas, sipping hot chocolate, and munching on cookies. “Only believers can hear the sound of the bell.”

Nov. Students of the Month:

Breanna Cross Alejandro Ramirez

December Birthdays

Riev Angeles Breanna Cros, Jayden Messer Kyrene Sideco Devin Vidrios

Accelerated Readers Update: Advanced Readers ( 20+ points) Claudia Cabrera, Bailey Cockhill, Christian Doucet, Lucille Jaynes, Coen Junker, Kyrene Sideco, Kyle Sims, Cassandra Thompson, and Melou Wendelboe; Star Readers (50+ points) Gisele Hernandez, Emma Mariani, and Danielle Marrero.

SCRIP Purchases:

None

Third Grade wishes everyone a Very Merry Christmas

and a Blessed New Year! Happy Birthday Jesus!

-Mrs. Mary Cooper

FOURTH GRADE

This month is full of preparations! We are preparing our hearts and homes to welcome the Christ child more fully into our lives. One way we have done this is by using an Advent wreath that is lit each morning as we read from Scripture about the coming of our Lord. Especially during this season of Advent we are keeping the less fortunate in our thoughts and prayers. The fourth graders also decided on a gift of love they could offer to Jesus and placed it under our class tree on the bulletin board as a reminder of what is really important this season. Finally, the students have been very generous in helping to prepare a nice Christmas for

others by contributing to our Mission Money fund, so we will be able to give the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth a Christmas

check to help purchase gifts of food and clothing for homeless children right here in Las Vegas! Thank you for all that you do to teach your children to be compassionate and caring when it comes to the needs of others. You should be very proud of them because they live their faith every day. In Reading, we have completed The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a story that tells of the miracle of Christmas and how this joyous season inspires people to stop and think about the needs of others more often. We hope to carry the Christmas spirit with us throughout the New Year.

Math has us

measuring everything in sight! We are learning both the Standard and Metric units of measurement this month. We are using

tools including rulers, yardsticks, scales and weights, thermometers, and containers of all different sizes. This will help us when it comes to the Science Fair projects as we collect data and measure it in the Metric System. Remember the Science Fair is coming up in the February so start planning your experiment now! It is a lot of fun! In Social Studies we are continuing Nevada History with the western exploration by Europeans. The early Spanish missionaries were quickly followed by fur trappers and traders, who lived very unusual lives. We made trading cards to help us remember some of the most famous explorers. Next we’ll be learning about the pioneers and their dangerous journeys. Sometimes problems arise in our daily interactions, so Mrs. Pepperman has taught us some good strategies to help with conflict resolution. We learned how to try to use I statements to communicate our feelings clearly and how to try to have win-win outcomes so everyone is satisfied. These lessons will surely help in all our social situations. We have had many award winners in

our Accelerated Reading already this year. The following students reached new levels this month. Advanced Readers (20

points) Michael Whitehead Madison Widders Star Readers (50 points) Sargon Adam Dominic Barr Maxwell Meek Titus Molnar Sophia Perez Amazing Readers (100 points) Jason Le

Nov Students of the Month

Scarlett Schwarz Sean McEvoy

December Birthdays

Kayla Luna Dec 12 Jason Le Dec 21 Ethan Abarca Dec 22

SCRIP Purchases

Classroom supplies

Finally, we wish everyone a blessed and peaceful Christmas holiday. May the Spirit of Christ fill your heart! Enjoy the time with family and friends and come back to us eager to start 2017!

-Mrs. Nancy Tully

FIFTH GRADE

5

th grade cannot

believe that it is

already December! Along with the 6th grade, we got to enjoy the Bishop Gorman Winter Arts Extravaganza. It was an absolutely beautiful experience that we all enjoyed. Thank you so much, Bishop Gorman! We have begun our new liturgical year by celebrating the preparation of Advent by lighting our Advent Wreath every morning. We also began our preparation to Christmas by reflecting on the meaning of each Advent candle. We have our work proudly presenting it outside of our 5th grade classroom on the bulletin board. In science this month, we learned about animals and how their environment affects them. We also learned about heredity and how they get half of their genes from each parent. Furthermore, we learned about different adaptations that animals can have in order to survive. Did you now that flamingos aren’t actually pink? The color comes from the flamingos eating the crustaceans, like shrimp. If they didn’t eat the crustaceans, they would be a grey color. –Caelynn Corcoran This month in English, we learned about nouns. We learned about proper, common, singular, and plural nouns. Furthermore, we took our first chapter quiz. Also, on MyAccess we wrote a story on fractured fairytales. That means that the writer is in the 1st person point of view and take part in the story! Some examples from the class are: Little Red Riding Hood, Big Bad Wolf, Goldilocks, and Alice in Wonderland. We enjoy writing! – Jayda Barnes- Maitia

In Reading, we read stories that were historical fiction and also nonfiction. One story we read, “Storm Chasers” was very exciting and at times scary. It was about a surfman and how they would go into the waves to rescue people, not knowing if they would survive. We also read a story called, “Cougars” and compared it to a group of poems called “Purr-fection.” I love learning about cats, big and small! - Sophia Roberts In this cold and wonderful November, we learned about prime and composite numbers, greatest common factors, and how to make fractions in the lowest and greatest terms. Factor trees are fun but were hard in the beginning, until Mrs. Oddo and Mrs. Sposato did a lot more examples. We enjoyed learning about finding the Greatest Common Factor and how to find all the factors of two numbers. – Demi Gronauer Did you know that there are 13 Propers in a mass? Those are parts of the mass that change every single day! We have been focusing on that in our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. We have found the four parts of the mass and identified where the Propers are. During mass, we are keeping track of where the propers are and discuss how they have changed from the week before.

In Social Studies this month, we learned about the Puritans and their way of life. The Puritans all met in the meetinghouse (the center building of their

town) for all government and religious reasons. We also learned about how some of the states got their start. For example, Rhode Island was founded because someone was banished and wanted to begin to practice the religion they wanted. We find it very interesting to learn about how our country came to be! – Andrea Ponce de Leon All fifth graders and working very hard to become life-long learners. Our Life Skills on sense of humor,

perseverance, and initiative are reviewed in the stories of our Journeys text along with everyday applications. 5th grade does not lack in the sense of humor life skill! Our students are still very hard at work to reach their AR goals. I am proud to announce the accomplishments of the following students: AR Advanced Readers: Aiden Anaya Jayda Barnes-Maitia Noah Bonn Emily Sabbadini Star Reader: Vince DIagdian Classic Reader: Annabelle Janes Alex Zapanta Congratulations to all! You have shown great perseverance and initiative! Let’s keep striving to go above and beyond our goals!

Students of the Month

Emily Sabbadini Owen Wells

Birthdays

Shane Enriquez

SCRIP Purchases

Bus to Bishop Gorman, thank you! The 5th grade wishes all of you a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:11

-Mrs. Oddo

SIXTH GRADE

The Sixth Grade is happy to be back to our regular routine after the very short week for

the Thanksgiving Holiday. We all had a great time giving thanks for all that we have. Mrs. Sposato's Math class has just finished our Chapter Three Test, and we have started learning order of operations. In Mrs. Studdard's Math class we have been working on scientific notation and

we are reviewing multiplying and dividing decimals. In Science, the Sixth Grade has just finished learning about the blood and are now studying photosynthesis. Advent is HERE! We have celebrated this by writing an Advent poem. In Social Studies,our Chapter Six test is now completed and we have started learning about Ancient Africa. In English class we have started an essay about Family Traditions and we have been reviewing nouns. During Reading class, we are enjoying reading "The Ravine" which has the theme of how to face fear with courage and how to understand that it is all right to say no when placed in danger-ous situations. Last, but not least, is our Christmas Program!! We have been working very hard on our songs and cannot wait to perform them for our family and friends on December 15th. We had a great November here in Grade 6 and we hope you did, too! Katie Clevidence AR UPDATE Keep Reading! Continue to keep up your great efforts in maintaining you goal for this year! Remember to see me to redeem your points for incentive coupons! Always,

Mrs. Bochenczak The following students have achieved Certification recently: ADVANCED: Alektra Anaya Wyatt Dorsey Paris Sotelo STAR: Connor McEvoy Katelyn Sims Lauren Ticsay CLASSIC: Noah Allen Lenny Estrada

Students Of The Month

Mia Madrigal Abraham Colunga

Birthdays

Katie Clevidence-Dec. 3 Baylee Farrington- Dec. 4 Stephen Landaz-Dec.9 Anacidalia Rivera-Dec.17 Adriana Toro-Dec.30 Mia Madrigal-Dec. 31

SCRIP Purchases

None This month we are exploring our Life skills of ProblemSolving, Perseverance, Courage, Friendship and Common Sense in our literature study of the story "The Ravine". Our essay writing about our Favorite Family Tradition is progressing nicely. We are proud to say we are becoming excellent essay writers! My wish for all of my awesome sixth graders and their family… Have a Blessed and Safe Holiday! MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2017!

-Mrs. Bochenczak

SEVENTH GRADE

The season of Advent is upon us, and seventh grade is preparing for the

coming of our Lord in many ways. Advent is a season of not only preparation but a reflection of the past as well as

how we want to live our lives in the coming year. It is a prayerful season also filled with much anticipation. The seventh grade class daily participates in Advent prayer service filling out thoughts and hearts with prayers and wonderful thoughts of the upcoming season of Christmas. Our focus this year during Advent will be praying for and helping those less fortunate or in need of our prayers. Along with being a global citizen and recognizing that everyone is equal in God’s eyes. As one wraps Christmas presents this year,

remember we have been given the greatest gift of all the birth of our Lord. Our classroom art project for December is the drawing the beautiful poinsettia plant. You may say, so what does the poinsettia have to do with Christmas? One interpretation of the plant is as a symbol of the star of Bethlehem, the heavenly body that led the three magi, to the place where Christ was born. A Mexican legend of a girl who would only offer weeds into a church, they blossomed into the beautiful red plants we know as poinsettias. They are also known as Flores de Noche Buena which translates into “flowers of the Holy Night.” The Christmas season is truly upon us, and seventh grade is striving to become lifelong learners who utilize critical thinking skills and become responsible citizens who make good choices. The preparation for the science fair is well under way. We are diligently working on our rough drafts for our research papers. We will begin working on our composition books for the science fair as well as begin many of our

projects at home over the Christmas Holiday. In Mrs. Sposato and Mrs. Studdard’s Math classes we are solving one and two step equations, along with solving inequalities. We

continue to work on weekly practice sheets. We are very blessed to have two excellent math teachers who really care about us and our math skills. In Social Studies, we just learned how the United States actually became a separate country by breaking away from England. We have just finished up with the French and Indian War. In Spanish, we are learning to conjugate verbs as well as utilizing our speaking skills to pronounce our numbers, months, and colors. We all enjoy practicing our Spanish in class. In English, we just completed a unit on Adjectives. We just completed working

on an informational essay that discusses why scientific knowledge changes over time, and what impact these changes have on society. They included citing text evidence to support their ideas. In Religion, we have just begun studying about the saving mission of Jesus. We are Learning that Jesus is our Teacher, Our Priest and our King. We have learned it is a privilege to be part of the Kingdom of Heaven. In Reading, seventh grade is using the new collections series. They are reading the story “from Mississippi Solo” this is a memoir written by Eddy Harris which chronicles the canoe trip he took down the entire length of the Mississippi River in the 16980’s.

AR Update: Keep up the good reading! Remember to see me for Incentive Coupons for points you have accumulated. The following students have achieved AR Certification through our 1st Trimester of this school year. Always, Mrs. Bochenczak Advanced: Aidan Bonn Caitlyn Goode Jonquil Snyder Don Tabigo-on Star: Mary Castelan Gus McCrea

Students of the Month

Erica Fish and Logan Conway

December Birthdays

Michael Betke Dominic Villanueva

SCRIP

Prayer Pal meet and greet and classroom supplies Wishing everyone a very Blessed Christmas and Healthy New Year.

-Mrs. Desiree Antos

EIGHTH GRADE

The season of Advent is upon us, and eighth grade is preparing for the coming of our Lord in

many ways. Advent is a season of not only preparation but a reflection of the past as well as how we want to live our lives in the coming year. It is a prayerful season also filled with much anticipation. The eighth grade class each week participates in an Advent prayer service filling our thoughts and hearts with prayers and wonderful thoughts of the upcoming season of Christmas. Our focus during Advent will be praying for those less fortunate or in need of our prayers. One act of kindness can go very far. As one wraps Christmas presents this year, put on meaningful Christmas songs such as Silent Night, O Holy Night, and Joy to the World and take a moment to reflect upon the true meaning of the songs and Christmas. Our hallway project is a lovely Arts Attack project on color combinations. Throughout December, we will continue discussing our very important life skills as we will soon be in high school and making some important decisions in our life. Perseverance and common sense are two life skills which we use daily in our classroom. When a concept seems hard to grasp, we remind our self that a little perseverance can go a long way. Everywhere we go, it is also important to use common sense when making decisions. Thank you to everyone who bought the delicious chocolates we were selling as a fund-raiser for our class trip. Thank

you also for supporting the eighth grade in our other fund-raisers throughout the school year. On November 15, our Prayer Pals prepared us a wonderful Thanksgiving luncheon. We stuffed ourselves with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and yes---pumpkin pie /apple pie with whip cream. Our Prayer Pals were so awesome in their Pilgrim vest and specially made headdress. We are so thankful to Mrs. Hensley and Mrs. Larson for their assistance when we visit our Prayer Pals. On December 1, Dr. Burke spoke to the sixth and eighth grade classes on first aid- to include-bites,

bumps, bruises, and many other ailments that can affect us. He always keeps our interest and we are very grateful for

his knowledge and time that he gives to St. Francis de Sales. The preparation for the science fair is well underway. We have been working on our research papers and then we will soon be working on our projects. We will begin working on our composition books for the science fair as well as begin many of our projects at home over the Christmas holiday. Our class studies are currently on ionic and covalent bonding. In Ms. Studdard’s math class, we are working on inequalities as well as continuing to work on our weekly practice sheets. In Ms. Sposato’s math class, we are working on equations of lines (point-slope and slope –intercept form). We too stay busy with weekly practice sheets. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving break Ms. Studdard and her math class “discovered” how to calculate pi. We used cookies of different circumference and did lots of measurements. In the end, we ate the cookies! In English we are wrapping up a chapter on pronouns. We are writing in English

on “life skills” so what we talk about with Ms. Studdard, we now write about with Mrs. Antos. Social Studies with Mrs. Antos has taken us to the early 1900’s with all the progressive movements such as child labor laws and women’s suffrage. In reading, we continue to work on our vocabulary and concentrate on our accelerated reading books. We are in the genre of “historical fiction” now. In Spanish, we continue to learn new vocabulary and verb tenses. AR update: Keep up your great efforts in maintaining your goal for this year! Remember to see me to redeem your points for incentive coupons.

Always, Mrs. Bochenczak The following students have achieved AR Certification recently: Advanced: Danny Gonzalez and Xavier Perez Star: Ali Madrigal Classic: Juliana Sinobio

Students of the Month

Ali Madrigal Spencer Turner

Birthdays

November Cristian Ramirez Nov5 Matthew Naples Nov 25

December Jacqueline Kulin Dec 7 Samantha Premas Dec 12 Juliana Sinobio Dec 21 Madison Page Dec 27

SCRIP Purchases:

None Wishing everyone a very Blessed Christmas and a safe, healthy, and Happy New Year!

-Mrs. Linda Studdard

STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS

Christmas Greetings form Student Council! We are currently working on

our Advent Service Project. We are asking our school families to help fill the Saint Therese Center pantry. This is a

wonderful organization that helps people who otherwise would have no assistance. You can find more information on our school website. As always we appreciate all of your generosity! On December 5th our Student Council went to Bishop Gorman for a Christmas get together! We helped pack Christmas stockings with toiletries for the homeless high school students here in Las Vegas. As always the Bishop Gorman students were gracious hosts! We had some fun ice breakers, listened to Christmas music and shared in cookies and hot chocolate (DELICIOUS!). This month we will be having our Christmas luncheon and gathering some new ideas you’ll be sure to enjoy for Catholic School’s Week. If you have any ideas please be sure to tell your Class Rep so that we can discuss them. We wish all of you and your families a Blessed Christmas and a very happy, healthy 2017!

-Student Council

NJHS

This past month NJHS students have been very busy serving our school community.

We are on Patrol Duty before and after school, we are selling donuts monthly

to all students at recesses for our fund-raising, besides taking

messages to all our teachers at day's end, helping with trays and clean up on Hot Lunch days. Thanks to our President, Vina Legaspina, all of our service jobs are running smoothly. Also, a huge thank you to Mrs. Bochenczak for making this all possible. Jacqueline Kulin NJHS Historian

MUSIC

December finds the Music Room, as always, extra busy. All the classes and choir are working on their gifts to both the Baby Jesus and their families. Choir

members, it is very important that you are on time to all rehearsals. All our songs range from many musical eras. We hope to see you at our

performance on December 15th at 7pm. There will be a chance to take pictures and or personal videos at our Dress Rehearsal on the 14th at 10am. Remember, the aisles in the church need to be kept open for the student performers to move about. I wish every family a safe and Blessed Christmas holiday and New Year.

See you all in 2017!

-Mrs. Taubert

Computer Bits With the holiday season in full swing, I encourage everyone to play daily trivia on www.freekibble.com to provide kibble to animal shelters to provide food to hungry dogs and cats. I also encourage you to visit www.freerice.com and answer

trivia questions on topics like English Vocabulary, Multiplication Tables, Literature and more. Free Rice donates 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme to help end world hunger for each question answered correctly, so answer as many questions as you can and work on your high score! "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you."- Deuteronomy 16:17 During the week of December 5th, our 2nd- 8th grade class (minus 7th, but don’t worry 7th grade, we will do our own Hour of Code after Christmas break when you start technology class!) participated in The Hour of Code. The Hour of Code is a global movement by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries through a one-hour introduction to computer science and computer programming. Our students completed activities such as, coding levels in Minecraft, and then completing the levels, coding a dance party in Monster High, coding their own Flappy Birds game, then playing what they created, and building a galaxy with code in the Star Wars universe. I am very proud of all the students who participated and worked hard to accomplish these coding tasks. If you would like to continue to learn about coding, Code.org has tutorials and projects available for free for all to use. When we return from Christmas break, we will be working on our keyboarding in full force! If you would like extra practice so you can be added to our Words per Minute Wall, you can practice at www.typing.com. You can visit www.KeyboardingGamesForKids.com to work on your keyboarding skills while playing educational typing games. Good Luck! Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

-Ms. Angela Botti

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!!! I can’t believe it has come so quickly. One of my favorite months

of the year. Christmas decorations, Christmas spirit, and best of all the true meaning of it all, the birth of our Savior. It’s great to see students excited, laughing, and looking forward to the Christmas program, vacation and most of all Christmas day. Even with all this excitement going on, in PE we will continue to do many different activities. We will continue to play basketball, but we also play some of our favorite games. We will play capture the flag, dodge ball, animal tag, and many other favorites. In the meantime we are finishing boys’ basketball this month, and I am very proud to say that our boys have played very hard. Our Varsity team had an amazing game against St. Viator in the finals. They played with all heart and they gave 100% in the game. I am so proud of them and was so thankful to coach an amazing group of boys. Although they came out short in that game I could truly say they held their head up high and gave everything they had and displayed some great teamwork. They will play for third against Our Lady of Las Vegas. Our JV team did very well, and are in the finals. Players are hoping to finish the season with a trophy. The JV team played a hard game in the tournament. They played against St. Viator and also played an amazing game. They will also play for third place against St. Anne. These boys were also an amazing group to coach. Next month we will begin our girls’ basketball season. I am looking forward to a good season and hoping to coach our girl’s to a successful season.

Merry Christmas to all and a very Happy New Year!!! God Bless you and your family this season!!!

-Mrs. Villanueva

LIBRARY NEWS

The magical season of Christmas is upon us! Time for new and old traditions! Reading some wonderful Christmas stories (both old and new) with family and friends is always a favorite! There is nothing like warm milk and cookies and Christmas books at this time of year! You will be making memories for years to come. Here are some beautiful

stories you might enjoy. The Christmas Story for Children by Max Lucado

God Gave Us Christmas by Lisa Taron J Is for Jesus: The Sweetest Story Ever Told by Crystal Bowman Christmas Farm by Mary Lyn Ray

North Pole Patrol: A Christmas Adventure by J. Deelstra Dream Snow by Eric Carle

Olivia Helps With Christmas by Ian Falconer Humphrey’s First Christmas by Carol Heyer

Home for Christmas by Jan Brett

A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schulz

The Spirit of Christmas by Nancy Tillman Maple and Willow’s Christmas Tree by Lori Nichols Merry Christmas to Everyone!

-Mrs. Carol Wilson

NEWS FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

December has flown by so very quickly, but has been a month of anticipation and prayerful waiting! Advent is such a special time of year, as we prepare our homes and hearts for the coming of the Christ Child! Our classrooms were filled with prayerful and joyful Advent activities, such as beautiful poinsettias paintings, bright purple and pink Advent signs, and gifts for our families, just to name a few! Even St. Nicholas paid us a visit and “filled our shoes” with treats!

Our Fifth and Sixth Graders

celebrated Advent in a very special way on their class trip to Bishop Gorman High School to attend the Winter Arts Concert, which was enjoyed by all! Teachers and students alike were amazed at the talents of these high school students. I also heard it was very exciting to ride on such a big, tall bus!

Our month also began with a

day of remembering people with life threatening illnesses, such as AIDS. Each class, in their own way, remembered and prayed for these people who have had a very difficult life journey.

Santa’s Workshop was in full

swing by the first full week of December, with lots of happy shoppers buying gifts for their family and friends! We are so grateful to the parents who make that joyful experience possible at our school! I had so much fun watching the students decide on which gift they would buy for each loved one in their life!

Our Advent Penance Service

gave the students a chance to reflect on their lives, their choices and their growth in the love of Jesus. Although it is always a good time to receive the

Sacrament of Penance, Advent seems like the perfect time! I know that after their confession, the students felt even more ready for the Savior to be born in their hearts!

Lastly, the most anticipated

event of the season will be our Christmas Program! After many weeks of preparation with Mrs. Taubert, the angelic voices of our students will be enjoyed by all! The gathering in LaVoy Hall afterwards will be the “icing on the cake”!

In closing, I would like to wish

everyone a most Blessed and Merry Christmas! It has been a wonderful Advent Season for me here at St. Francis, due to the warmth and love shown to me by the students and families! I thank you for that and I look forward to the New Year, 2017, with all of you!

-Mrs. Janet Manfredi

Scholarship

Effort Achievement

Courtesy Service

Kindergarten Andrew Robles

Esteban Chavez Grace Medford

Anthony Chaney

Hailey Hoeppner

1st Grade

Sachiko Bradford

Bella-Claire Nguyen Chelsea Verry

Raven Kruger Danielle Rickert

2nd Grade

Braeden Osotio Alejandro Rivera Catlyn Walztoni Olivia Roberts Jasolynn Burkhardt

3rd Grade

Emma Mariani Zachary Owens

Kyle Sims Makenzie Medford Micaela Sells Pio Ibarra

4th Grade

Riley Cornman Emily Joyce Jason Le Analuna Martinez Annika Laning

5th Grade

Kelly Nguyen Jozef McCrea Caelynn Corcoran Daniel Jackson Carlo Daigdigan

6th Grade

Kaitlyn Clevidence Lauren Ticsay Noah Allen Savannah Hufford Nathaniel Rivera

7th Grade Erica Fish Ethan Langit Michael Betke Serene Gronauer Kiarra Osotio

8th Grade Juliana Sinobio Madison Page John Sullivan Freedom Washington Spencer Turner

St. Francis de Sales Catholic School 1st Trimester Awards – December 9, 2016

December 9, 2016 - Perfect Attendance for the First Trimester

Kindergarten: Ronin Blake, Colton Brown, Anthony Chaney, Leonardo Gutierrez, Grace Medford, Nayara Pineda-Leon, Thomas Ryan First Grade: Anthony Arce, Avery Crammer, Kaitlyn Doucet, Cameron Feely, Melanie Garcia, Saya Mariani, Keeahna Martin, Parker Parrish, Daniel Ramos, London Ramos, Danielle Rickert, Aiyanna Sarmiento Second Grade: Adrianna Adam, Angelina Adam, Gabriella LaSpina, Elias Dils, Elle Doud, Sebastian Gutierrez, Maleah Mee, Jameson Murray, Braeden Osotio, Anatasia Ryan, Aiyanna Wong Third Grade: Breanna Cross, Christian Doucet, Lucille Jaynes, Emma Mariani, Gabrielle Pabustan, Kyle Sims, Hailey Wells, Melou Wendelboe Fourth Grade: Jeremy Baker, Emily Joyce, Abigayle Laning, Jason Le, Analuna Martinez, Scarlett Schwarz Fifth Grade: Christian Castro, Caelynn Corcoran, Annabella Cross, Carlo Daigdigan, Claire Gallob, Demi Gronauer, Annabelle Jaynes, Sebastien Peck, Anabelle Ramos, Emily Sabbadini Sixth Grade: Noah Allen, Briane Angeles, Kaitlyn Clevidence, Noah Fortez, Donavuun Janson, Mia Madrigal, Albert Ogutu, Anacidalia Rivera, Sabella Schwarz, Katelyn Sims, Lauren Ticsay, Julia Wattenbarger Seventh Grade: Sumi Akoh, Michael Betke, Erica Fish, Caitlyn Goode, Ethan Langit, Dominic Pryor, Kellee Savage, Don Tabigo-On, Dominic Villanueva Eighth Grade: Alina Langit, Victoria Legaspina, Matthew Muyot, Cristian Ramirez, Juliana Sinobio

CONGRATULATIONS!

GREAT WORK!

December 9, 2016 – Honor and High Honors Awards First Trimester

High Honors Sixth Grade: Briane Angeles, Kaitlyn Clevidence, Stephen Landaz, Katelyn Sims, and Bea Verry Seventh Grade: Erica Fish, Ethan Langit, and Kiarra Osotio Eighth Grade: Victoria Legaspina, Matthew Muyot, Juliana Sinobio, John Sullivan, and Spencer Turner Honors Sixth Grade: Noah Allen, Alektra Anaya, Gabriel Bacani, Alan Box, Abraham Colunga, Wyatt Dorsey, Baylee Farrington, Noah Fortez, Mia Madrigal, Marina Munoz, Sabella Schwarz, Paris Sotelo, Lauren Ticsay, Julia Wattenbarger Seventh Grade: Sumi Akoh, Riley Baker, Michael Betke, Aidan Bonn, Mary Castelan, Logan Conway, Kennedy Crear, Caitlyn Goode, Augustine McCrea, Jonquil Snyder, Louis Sposato, Dominic Villanueva Eighth Grade: Michael Caliz, Alaina Herrera, Alina Langit, Alissa Madrigal, Lillie Martin, Jeffrey McEachern, Matthew Naples, Madison Page, Xavier Perez,Samantha Premas, Cristian Ramirez, Anisha Silva, Freedom Washington

Got Spirit! Got

Spirit! V

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3 D

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2016

Student Reporters: Kennedy Crear, Alaina Herrera, Anisha Silva,

and Freedom Washington

Christmas Fun Facts

By: Kennedy Crear

Christmas is coming up and I’m sure everyone is excited! Here are some fun facts to spice up your holiday season! 1. Each year more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. alone! 2. All the gifts in the Twelve Days of Christmas would equal 364 gifts. 3. The “true love” mentioned in the song “Twelve Days of Christmas” does not refer to a romantic couple, but the Catholic Church’s code for God. The person who receives the gifts represents someone who has accepted that code. For example, the “partridge in a pear tree” represents Christ. The “two turtledoves” represent the Old and New Testaments. 4. Christmas trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold. 5. Christmas wasn’t declared an official holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870. 6. Some people say the Christmas season officially begins when Santa arrives at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. 7. There are 3 towns in the US that are named Santa Claus. One in Georgia, one in Arizona and one in Indiana. 8. The tallest Christmas tree ever displayed was in Seattle Washington in 1950. The Christmas tree was 221 feet tall! 9. The song Jingle Bells was written by James Pierpont in 1857. It was originally called “One Horse Open Sleigh” and was made for Thanksgiving. www.history.com

November Articles: Page #

Christmas Fun Facts 1

Turkey Contest Winners 2

Christmas Gift Ideas 3

Jolly Fun Facts 4

Poetry Corner 1

Christmas Sweet Treats 5

Joy to the World By: Freedom Washington

Jesus is coming.

It’s time to rejoice!

Sing a new song,

And make a joyful noise.

Celebrate his arrival

on Christmas day.

Let Him into your heart

Be happy…Be gay!

The results of the SFDS Newspaper Reporters school-wide hand turkey contest are

in! Here are our winners and a few pictures of their great work! Thanks to all

who participated – look for a special free dress pass as a token of our

appreciation!

Page 2 Reporter News Got Spirit!

Our winning entries include: Anthony Chaney, Seanpatrick Dill, Noah Fedel,

Connor Gardiner, Skylar Goldyn, Chloe Ontiveros, Gabrielle Pabustan,

Kylee Pfeifer, Elena Rico-Cortes, and Melou Wendelboe.

Congratulations!

KINDERGARTEN

SECOND GRADE

THIRD GRADE

Christmas Gift List By: AnishaSilva

Christmas Can be one of the hardest times to find gifts, especially for teens. Their likes and

dislike are constantly changing, that is why I myself, also being a teen, have come up with

five things that your girl or boy teenager will love this Christmas season.

Christmas Wish List

Instax 8 Polaroid Camera- Comes in 7 fun colors and sells for $50 on amazon.com

Beats Wireless Earbuds- A little pricey when it comes to $130 on amazon.com but will

surely be appreciated by your teen

A Beauty Blender- This may look pointless but if your daughter is into make-up she’ll

know just what this is, it sells for $20 on amazon.com and is a great stocking stuffer

Battery Aid- A portable phone charger is the perfect gift for your son so he can always

stay powered on and ready to answer your next text this sells for $40 on amazon.com

Baby cakes Cake Pop Maker Set- This sells for $30 on amazon.com and is a perfect

gift for your chef to be child

The Perfect Book Set- Whether its Harry Potter, John Green, or Percy Jackson, you

can never go wrong with a set of their favorite book series

Page 4 Reporter News Got Spirit!

12 Jolly Fun Facts By: Alaina Herrera

1. Christmas Trees are also known as Yule-trees

2. Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in 1895

3. Christmas Trees were once decorated in food such as dates apples and nuts

4. In June of 1870 Christmas became a federal holiday

5. If you received all the gifts from “The Twelve Days of Christmas” you would

have 364 gifts

6. The song Jingle Bells was originally wrote for Thanksgiving

7. In England a traditional Christmas dinner was served with a pig and mustard

8. Reindeer can live up to 15 years in the wild.

9. The tradition of decorating the Christmas tree started sometime in the 16th

century

10. The tradition of putting coal in naughty children’s stockings originated in Italy

11. Giving presents was once banned in the Catholic Church

12. Tinsel used to made out of real silver and it was invented in Germany 1610

http://www.kidsplayandcreate.com

Page 5 Reporter News Got Spirit!

Christmas Sweet Treats By: Anisha Silva

Christmas time is here, spreading love and cheer, with these delicious treats that are sure to

put you into the holiday spirit. You can find all of these recipes on Pintrest.com and more.

M&M Christmas Cookie Bars

Ingredients 2¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

12 Tbsp butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 tsps vanilla extract

1½ cups M&M's, divided

Instructions 1. Preheat oven to 325.

2. Line a 9 x13 baking pan with greased parchment paper. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, cream together melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.

5. Stir in large egg and egg yolk until combined.

6. Stir in vanilla extract.

7. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients, stirring just until flour is

incorporated. Don't over stir.

8. Add in 1 cup of m&m's.

9. Press dough into an even layer in prepared pan.

10. Press remaining m&m's lightly on the top.

11. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

12. Remove from pan and let cool completely before cutting

Help support

your

cheerleaders! During the week of Catholic Schools Week, the cheerleaders will

be selling cheer bows ($5.00) and pom-poms pens ($2.00).

Please mark how many of each bow/pen you would like to purchase. Payment will be accepted at the

time of sale. Please use cash or check payable to St. Francis de Sales. All orders should be brought to

Miss Aveni.

The ribbons and pens will be distributed during

Catholic Schools Week in January. I appreciate your

dedication and school spirit to help support our

hard-working cheerleaders!

With gratitude,

Miss Aveni, Cheer Moderator

Bows:

Royal Blue chevron ribbon

Yellow chevron ribbon

Royal blue ribbon

Yellow ribbon

Sparkly white riboon

Sparkly yellow ribbon

Pom-pom pens

Blue pen with SFDS colors

Black pen with SFDS colors

Red pen with SFDS colors