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THE X REPORTDecember 2009

The mission statement of St. Xavier Catholic school is to educate the whole person -

body, mind, and spirit - in Christian values in accordance with our

Catholic faith tradition.

Every year at St. Xavier we have a canned food drive for the local food pantry in Junction City. In past years, the canned food drive has been a great success. We have reached our goal and brought joy to the many less fortunate people of our community.

It’s also a great time to practice that stewardship we talked about in earlier issues of the X-Report. This year’s food drive started on the 16th of November and will last until the end of Catholic Schools Week in January. Please support this opportunity for us to make a difference in the community we live in. I would like

to encourage you to participate and bring in whatever you can. Even one item, can help feed the hungry.

Both students and staff can bring nonperishable food items and turn them in to their homeroom teacher. Each class will keep track of their individual progress. This year there will also be incentives as well as fun activities to keep up the progress. To kick off this years food drive each student who brought in five items was able to have a school spirit day on Monday the 23rd. Thank you to all those who brought in items, and let’s continue the good work.

CANNED FOOD DRIVE 2009 By: Alex Davis

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On Wednesday, November 11th we had an assembly for Veteran’s Day to celebrate the v e t e r a n s o l d i e r s i n o u r community along with any current military personnel. We c e l e b r a t e d Veteran’s Day to c o m m e m o r a t e the sacrifice our nation’s military had made.

Many classes h a d g u e s t speakers in class. Jim Clots was one of the guest speakers. He served 26 years in the service and re t i red as a mi l i ta ry Intelligence officer. Also, he has served 3 tours in Korea and 2 tours in Iraq. He said that the Army has given him several opportunities. The best place he said for him was the couple tours he did in Korea.

Then there was Tom Grelk, who retired as a Chief Warrant Officer 3 and served for 20

years and 28 days during 1968-1988, the Vietnam Era. He was drafted and put on a plane to Vietnam where he w o r k e d a s a n e l e c t r o n i c technician. He felt that even

though he wasn’t in the field, his job w a s s t i l l important. His job made sure that all the equ ipment that was used was in t i p - top shape. According t o T o m , h i s

favorite tour was Greece; he said it was “Beautiful!”

He said something that I could never forget. “ I was in one of the most unpopular wars, when I got back I didn’t receive all the praise and respect every soldier returning from war got, but now, because of your generation, I’ve received the praise and respect I didn’t get back then.”

Veterans DayBy: Dylan Moon

“Now, because of your generation, I’ve received the

praise and respect I didn’t get back then.”

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1.5

Advent is the time of year when we start to hear the Christmas stories about Jesus' birth, but that's not only what Advent is about. It's about the 40 days we have to prepare for the birth of Christ. Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before December 25. During this time we remember that there was a time when Jesus had not yet come to Earth with his message of love and hope. In the Bible, 40 is the number for trial and testing to see if a person is spiritually, as well as mentally, ready for the up-coming event. We ourselves are still not as ready as we may think. That's the reason we have

these 40 days to prepare ourselves for the holy day of Jesus' birth. The word 'advent' is Latin for 'a coming or arrival'. Since Christmas is a very

hopeful holiday focused on Jesus when he was

born. Because of that, Advent is also a time that is focused on babies and on the coming of baby Jesus. During this time we are

supposed to be fasting for the up-

coming Christmas feast. But overall, this is a time when all families should be starting to reconnect and prepare together for Jesus' coming. Sources: www.churchyear.net/advent.html andwww.mysite.version.net/stlukeep/advent/moreadvent.html

Fourth Week

O Wisdom, holy Word of God, Jesus Christ, all things are in your hands, come and show us the way to salvation. Amen.

PRAYERS FOR ADVENTAdvent is ComingBy: Monique Nesbitt

Third Week

O Key of David, Jesus Christ, the gates of heaven open at your command, come and show us the way to salvation. Amen.

Second Week

O King of all nations, Jesus Christ, only joy of every heart, come and save your people. Amen.

First Week

O Emmanuel, Jesus Christ,desire of every nationSavior of all peoples,come and dwell among us. Amen.

Starting PrayerO God,rejoicing,we remember the promise of your Son.As the light from this candle,may the bless of Christ come upon us,brightening our wayand guiding us by his truth.May Christ our Savior bring lifeinto the darkness of our world,and to us, as we wait for his coming.We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Merry

Christmas!

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The start of a new basketball season is upon us. It couldn’t have come at a better time. This season is bound to be a successful one. With new coaches and more players the hopes for a winning season couldn’t be higher. This year’s boys junior high and high school coach is Eric Powers. The junior high girls coaches are Jim Morris and Dwight Johnson. The high school team couldn’t be in any better place with this being the last year of playing at a strictly junior varsity level. It gives the team an extra year of practice to get ready for our talented varsity level opponents. A walk through the gym will cause you to notice a ton of banners on the wall of our previous winning seasons in basketball. Coach Powers says that we are on the chase to get another one. This season our boys will work hard and get ready for next seasons introduction to the varsity playing level. The high school girls basketball team is still in a co-op with Hope High School and will play their games with the Hope Team.

The junior high school teams are looking better than ever. With the hopes for winning seasons on both sides the coaches are working hard. Both junior high teams have started the season with winning records. The boys team is 1-0 and the girls team is 2-0.

Sports With Alex DavisRams Start Good Season

Junior High B Team

MVP Kyrstina Sunley

Most Inspirational Myranda Carr

Most Improved Meagan Fernandez.

High School Team

MVPYvonne Engelhardt

Most ImprovedVictoria Fuller

Most InspirationalMonique Nesbitt.

Junior High A Team

MVP Alex Wood

Most InspirationalFederica Piscozzi

Most ImprovedMary Zimmer

Volleyball Player Nominated Awards

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Everyone remembers testing time, it's the time of the year when teachers tell

students they need a good night sleep, and a healthy breakfast in order to prepare. Students find these tests pointless, in fact most of them just mark random answers so they can sleep or read for the rest of the testing period. Some students even see it as a getaway from boring classroom lectures and

homework. Truth be told these tests are important, as hard as it is to believe, ITBS testing can accurately show what the students at St. Xavier are truly capable of. Through these tests, teachers are able to discover what students need to learn more about, and also what students already already know. Even though these tests take up an entire week of class and students may see them as a complete waste of time, we will see them every year. There is no escaping them. So just relax, focus, and try your best.

ALEX DAVIS MRS. DEARMOND ANONYMOUS ANONYMOUS

“I think that ITBS testing was a

waste of time, the questions were all really easy and didn’t show what

students can really do. If the tests had grade level questions they would have been much more

reflective on our students

abilities.”

“The ITBS test scores really do

mean something for our school. All the scores are compared

to see if our school, students, and teachers are continuing to

improve from year to year.”

“I felt that the testing was easy. I had plenty of time to work on

it. I answered all of the questions

to the whole packet but one. To me, it was really

easy.”

“When I was younger, I didn’t realize the importance of testing. I was in high school. The students had to report to the library to take a test. Maybe I didn’t pay attention, but I didn’t know what kind of test it was, or even the purpose. I was resentful of spending half of my day taking a test I knew nothing about, so I jut filled in the bubbles to

resemble a Christmas tree. Now that I know it’s important, I wish I

could go back and take it the right way. It would have been nice to know

what I was good at, and what I needed to work on.”

ALEXIS GAONO ADAM WHITAKER MRS. DINSMORE KELLIE POWERS

“Well, I’m not a big fan of testing, but I know it’s good for you. Yes, I thought the test

was kind of hard because some of the questions. I didn’t

learn yet or know what it was talking about. I think it shouldn’t be timed because it’s hard

to finish.”

“I felt the test was boring, but it gave me a chance to see what I knew and what I should pay more attention to.

Some parts were challenging but the

rest was, to me, common knowledge or we already

learned.”

“In today’s world, testing is necessary and non-negotiable.

That said, it isn’t fun for anyone. Everyone stresses about it.”

“The testing has never been a challenge it’s just I sometimes have a lack of concentration. It’s really boring.”

Opinions on TestingBy: Alex Davis & Monique Nesbitt

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Our pre-schoolers have been expanding their imaginations. In Mrs. Rubash’s, Mrs. Fryday’s and Mrs. Whitaker’s classes the students have been writing how to cook a turkey in their own way. After reading several stories, it was apparent that our pre-schoolers had a wide imagination. It’s wonderful to see a child’s view on how they think Thanksgiving happens. Also, in Mrs. Rubash’s class her students made their very own book. All of the children were happy that they were able to make something that looked

how they wanted it to. We have a lot of pre-schoolers in St. Xavier, but that doesn’t stop our teachers giving their students a fun and eventful day. Our pre-school classes are a huge help to St. Xavier's annual food drive. They over achieve on what the upper-classmen can do.

PRE-SCHOOLERSPre-Schoolers Preparing for Turkey dayBy Monique Nesbitt

“We can’t eat it because we eat

food in the store like noodles!” --

Steven

“I think it eats toast!” -- Mia

“A turkey is brown and he’s leg is black and his arms fly. They’re called

flying arms.” -- Lilc

“They get died so you can eat

them.” -- Monica

“It has to be like 20 degrees hot and cooks it for like

20 minutes exactly.” -- Laith

“It has to be 5 degrees and for 100 hours.” -- Nick

Birthday BooksThe following books were donated to the St. Xavier Library Birthday Book

Program for the month of November/December:

White Out in honor of Mrs. Balderrama’s birthday, December 10King Puck in honor of Mrs. Millard’s birthday, December 19.Terrible Storm in honor of Mr. Case’s birthday, December 20

Busy Beavers in honor of Chris Tanguay’s birthday, December 23.Vanishing Girl in honor of Mrs. Powers’s birthday, December 26

Ella Sets the Stage in honor of Mrs. Kane’s birthday, December 28Mortimer’s Christmas Manger in honor of Mrs. Kane’s birthday, December 28.

Gingerbread Friends in honor of Mrs. Kane’s birthday, December 28.

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Ms. Dinsmore The 12th grade is working on

reading the play Hamlet. The 11th grade class has finished reading the novel The Scarlet Letter. The 10th graders are going to be reading Julius Caesar. The 9th grade read the Miracle worker, and the 8th grade is moving along reading short stories. The 10th grade speech class has been working on their persuasive speeches. Interesting topics include school uniforms, pet adoption, and the use of creatine in sports.Mrs. Meseke

For the past several weeks, the 6th-9th graders have been working on angel projects. Students chose angels such as Gabriel or Lucifer, and their projects were graded for educational, presentational,and artist value.Ms. McConnell

Mainly, the 4th grade class has been testing this month. We will also be working on counting labels and doing arts and craft projects for Christmas.

We have also continued to visit our kindergarten reading buddies. Mr. Jones

Students are preparing for mid-term test that they will take next week before leaving for Christmas Break.

Mr. WeberStudents have been

preparing for their christmas concerts this month. The St. Xavier Band concert is on December 16th at 7 pm. The K-4 Christmas concert has been postponed until January 13th at 7 pm.Ms. Sunley

We are working on similes, prefixes, suffixes, and figurative language and helping verbs. My class just finished their October book reports. I’d like to say “good job to all my students who completed the report, it was excellent for your first report.”

For the math class we are working on fractions, stem and leaf plots, box and whiskers.Mrs. Robison

Students have been preparing slide show presentations about themselves all in Spanish. This presentation project has been a nice break from other Spanish lessons.Mr. Case

Students have been working on practice science papers to prepare them for their science report that they will begin after break.Mrs. Breidenstein

Again this year, theology students have created road signs to map the way through Advent.

Classroom Updates

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On November 19th, the first grade class had an experience on how Native Americans played games. Mrs. Barker's class had gotten to dress-up in a modern version of what the Native Americans had to wear for clothes. They made their own head-dress and t-shirt that had their very own native name. The names were what the kids interruption of a native name. It was very cute to see that they made up on their own with little to no help. In addition to dressing-up, these kids got to go outside to play a game similar to what the natives played for fun. They got two

boxes, made them look like baskets, and then they got five rocks. These rocks were marked differently which told them how many points they had made if they got them in the box. To keep track of their scores they used wooden toothpicks.

Kindergardeners trying new tastesBy Monique Nesbitt

First graders thinking like a native americanby Monique Nesbitt

On Monday, November 23, Mrs. Corlette's kindergarden class invited Mrs. Fryday's pre-school's class for a Thanksgiving Feast. All of the children got to try out a new food that they usually don't eat. To make the feast authentic there were some Native American dishes like nausamp and pompion. These dishes are what the natives would eat every day as a meal like we would today for chicken or ham. Along with these two new dishes there were some fish and venison which some of the children have never tried. Mrs. Corlette also added into their feast

some berries and nuts which also would've been eaten on a daily basis or during a certain season. Something that I've never seen done was that they even had corn bread in a little cup which the kindergardeners had gotten to mix all by themselves. But the kids weren’t the only ones trying new food. Mrs. Fryday even decided to put on a brave face and try some of the new foods that the kids were trying. It was a fun sight to see the kids enjoy themselves while trying something new that most of us had never even heard of.

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Mrs. DeArmondMs. DeAmond is the computer teacher. Her

class has special things that are fun. Kindergarten learns about ABCs, 1st grade learn keyboarding hands, and 2nd-6th grades are finishing up their keyboarding unit. 7th grade is learning beginning word processing. It is creating memos, reports, and letters. Do you know what cyber trip is? It is traveling by internet. Most people would hardly be able to go to another

country. Actually, we do not have time. We can go anywhere in Ms. DeAmond class. Beginning after Christmas several classes in the computer lab will be traveling via the

internet. This will help them study about

other states and countries. I think this idea of studying is best of this class.

Mrs. DavisMath is kind of a boring subject but different in

Ms. Davis’ class. Their students learn math by games! Math can make so many games, for example, Sudoku, Puzzle, and Battleship. I played Battleship when I was in Algebra 2 class. It was exciting. This game uses graphing and coordinates. We pick up the random number and measure the gradient. However, is hard to think that it is math and studying because I enjoyed it.

11th grade play crossword with exponents, 8th grade play to the Surface and Beyond, and 9th grade do Edhelper#ku puzzles. I think the puzzle is the best game of these games.

Pictured is the math game that I played in Ms. Davis’ class. It is kind of like Sudoku. It is not more exiting than Battleship, but the Battleship game is very complicated. You may play in Algebra or Algebra 2 class.

Mr. KorfK-4th grades are learning extreme bowling,

kicking and dribbling. 5th-9th grades are taking a fitness test. It is a mile run, sit-ups, pushups, shuttle run and sit & reach. It is seems really tiring. So, Mr. Korf makes this exercise like a game. Not special, but better than just running or exercising in my opinion. Actually, I attend seminar in Mr. Korf’s class. His class is very exciting, and he makes all exercise is like a game and sometime he gives us free time.

Mrs. MoonIn Mrs. Moon’s class, the kids are studying

the properties of matter for science. To study the properties of matter the kids are watching Flubber. And the kids are also reading disaster stories about volcanoes and the Titanic.Mr. Lang

Mr. Lang’s class is doing different activities for advent. Also, the kids are learning about confession to get ready for their first reconciliation. They also received a new student, her name is Austin Shockey. Welcome her with open arms!

Classroom UpdatesBy Jeong woo Kim

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1. In what year does the Mayan Calendar end?Alex: 2012 Mr. Jones: 2012

2. How many professional football teams are there?

Alex: 32 Mr. Jones: Too Many3. How long was The Hundred Years War?

Alex:116 years Mr. Jones:130 years4. Who was the 16th U.S. President?

Alex: Abe Mr. Jones: Lincoln5. What city must a movie play in to be eligible

for an Oscar? Alex: L.A Mr.Jones:Pass

6. How many oceans are there in the world? Alex: 7 Mr. Jones: 4

7. Who betrayed Jesus? Alex: Judas Mr. Jones:Judas

8. Who wrote the Star Spangled Banner? Alex: Frances Scott Key Mr. Jones: Francis Scott Key

9. Who is the inventor of Ford Automobiles?

Alex: Henry Ford Mr. Jones: Henry Ford 10. What was the occupation of the cotton candy

machine inventor, William Morrison?Alex: dentist

Mr. Jones: a cotton candy manufacturer

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A TEACHER? Alex Wood vs Mr. Jones

1. 20122. 32

3. 1164. Abe5. L.A.6. 4

7. Judas8. Frances Scott Key9. Henry Ford10. Dentists

St. Xavier Senior Recognition

St. Xavier High School senior, Jazmene Reed, daughter of Tito and Edith Reed, was recognized, November 4 as a Kansas Honor Scholar by the KU Alumni Association. Presentations were made following a banquet for the honorees and their families at Chapman High School.The Kansas

Honors Program recognizes the outstanding academic achievements of the top 10 percent of Kansas high-school seniors. Each year the KU Alumni Association travels across the state, honoring

students and their families in regional events that include all 105 Kansas counties.

St. Xavier National Honor Society Raises Money for Well in Nigeria

Each year during Lent, the Salina Diocese schedules Mission Week for the Catholic Schools. In 2006, Sister Teresita Huse, Dominican Sisters of Great Bend, Kansas, spoke to St. Xavier High School students. The students were so moved by her presentation that since then, the St. Xavier National Honor Society raised and has now donated $1,200 to have a water well dug in Nigeria, Africa. The well will enable the citizens to have clean drinking water. The sign by the water well will read “St. Francis Xavier National Honor Society, Junction City, Kansas.” Plans are for the well to be dug in January 2010.

ANSWER KEY

WINNER: ALEX

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BIRTHLINE BABY JESUS SHOWERYou’re Invited to a Baby Shower

For: Jesus

Date: December 18, 2009

Time: 7:50 a.m.

Place: All school Mass at St. Xavier Church

Please bring a wrapped baby gift to be placed at the altar during Mass. Gifts will be donated to Birthline.

St. Xavier School would like to recognize that November was National Pancreatic Cancer

Awareness month. Pancreatic cancer awareness is very

important to students at St. Xavier because last year our beloved

teacher, Mrs. Chris Davis, passed away after a hard battle with

pancreatic cancer.

Remembering Mrs. Davis

Jesus is the REASON

for the season!

Birthline Wish List

Baby Socks Baby Bottles Diaper BagsBaby Buntings

Baby Wash, Lotion, & OilDiapers - Mostly size 4 & 5Similac Advance Formula

Girls’ Body Suits (Onesies)Clothing - Outfits to 12

months

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DECEMBER 2009Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

6 7 8 9 10

Jr. High Basketball @

Wakefield

11St. Xavier Choir

Performs @ Valley View

5:15 PM

12

HS JV Scholar’s Bowl

@ Hiawatha

13 14

St. Xavier PTO Meeting

6:30 PM

15 16

St. Xavier Band Concert

7 PM

17

Jr. High Basketball @

Centre

18

End of Semester

Baby Jesus Shower 7:50 AM

19

20 21 22 23 24 25

Merry Christmas

26

27 28 29 30 31 1 2

Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

3 4 5

Welcome Back!

6 7Jr. High

Basketball vs. Hope @

4:30 pm

8 9

10 11

HS V Scholar’s Bowl @

Washington Co.

12 13

St. Xavier K-4 Concert

7 PM

14Jr. High

Basketball vs. Solomon @ 4:30 pm

PARENTS’ NIGHT

15 16

17 18

NO SCHOOLMartin Luther King Jr. Day

19 20 21Jr. High

Basketball vs. Luckey

22 23

24

31

25 26

HS Boy’s JV Basketball @ Hope 6 PM

27 28Jr. High

Basketball vs. Prairie Heights

29 30

JANUARY 2010

No School - Christmas Break

No School - Christmas Break