Principal’s Preface This writing occurs as I await the birthday of my

father who shares the ultimate birthday of baby Jesus.

This time of year brings about much reflection. The

approaching new year allows for new chances in life.

Each new day, new year, new second, new grade, new

lesson, new friend, new coach, new teacher, new

colleague, new stranger, new path, new breath and

new opportunity is a present to us. God gifts us with

free will. That gift allows us each to grow to unique

heights as a child of God. I am blessed to grow along

side each of you, your children and their teachers as

we share in God's great kingdom.

Thank you for sharing your child along with your

time, talents and treasures.

God bless,

Tina Villa

The MERCY Momentum Prayer Knowledge Service

FALL, 2010 Volume 15, Issue 1

400 Marquette Avenue Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806 225-924-1054 Fax 225-923-2201

School Year Theme 2010-2011 “To Teach as Jesus Did”

Challenges of the Month

January/February

Praying with Christ

March/April

Participate Actively in the Church

May

Missionary Spirit

Prayers of the Month

January/February

Act of Contrition

March/April/May

Saint Patrick Breastplate

Our Lady of Mercy School provides Catholic foundations for a life of prayer, knowledge, and service.

A New School Year

It was a great welcome back to the 2010-11 school year! Our Lady of Mercy School opened its doors to 827 students, quite a difference from the initial 174 students in grades 1-4, in September 1953! Here to bring in the new school year with smiling faces are third graders Ariana Patton and Baylee Fontenot.

The founding Pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Church, Fa-ther Louis F. Marionneux envisioned a school where the children could learn the values of the church and family while getting a solid foundation for their further educa-tion, as well as their spiritual growth. Turn the pages of the school’s history forward, and you arrive at its present mission statement simply stated:

“Our Lady of Mercy School provides Catholic foundations for a life of prayer, knowledge, and service”.

The early vision for Our Lady of Mercy School has re-mained at the foundation of its success, as it continues to provide foundations that serve our parish and community with exceptional educational opportunities. In 1953, the parishioners of Our Lady of Mercy Church faithfully pro-posed and built an elementary school, and have helped maintain the high level of spiritual and academic excel-lence throughout its history. As we enjoy the blessings of continued growth and success, we are thankful for the many families who held the early vision for our school, and for those who continue to support the wonderful school community we enjoy today!

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During the last week of October, Our Lady of Mercy School participated in Red Ribbon Week to show their

commitment to a drug-free life. Daily themes and con-tests added focus to this important message during a week filled with activities surrounding safety and a drug-free lifestyle.

Themes included, “Sock it to Drugs”, “Use Your Head – Don’t Do Drugs”, “Who Dat Say They Want To Be Drug-free?”, “PAWS-itively Drug-free Makes Cents!”, and “Black Out Drugs!”. Each of these daily themes allowed students and faculty members to make a statement by wearing accessories such as mismatched socks, hats, and New Orleans Saints attire, all while committing to a pledge for a drug-free life. One theme which greatly in-corporated the school’s service aspect of its mission statement, was the “PAWS-itively Drug-free Makes Cents!”. This theme included the collection of loose change from our students, which resulted in a donation of over $1,400 to a local animal shelter!

Red bows were placed throughout the campus, and each day all members of the student body and faculty wore red ribbons which included drug-free messages. Large banners in the hallways were filled with hundreds of signatures belonging to all of those who signed the drug-free pledge. The week concluded with a classroom door decorating contest and the winners in Ms. Olivier’s third grade class were awarded an ice cream party. All members of the Our Lady of Mercy School community were winners due to all who participated so fully in mak-ing this week an event focused on a drug-free life!

Dee Jones from the Capital Area Animal Welfare Society of Baton Rouge (center) gladly received the donation raised for the animal shelter during Red Ribbon week. Guidance Coun-selor Amanda Martin, and Principal Tina Villa made the presentation following the school liturgy on December 8th.

Our Lady of Mercy School Celebrates Red Ribbon Week

Congratulations to Our Lady of Mercy and 7th-8th grade Sci-ence teacher Mrs. Nessie Galliano for the students' perform-ance in the 2010 National Chemistry Week (NCW) Poster Contest for the Baton Rouge Local Section of the American Chemical Society. There were four OLOM students who won the poster contest. The students were presented with their awards at Super Science Saturday on the LSU Campus, Pete Maravich Assem-bly Center on October 30th. Included in the photo are: Marie Metzger - BASF Corporation and NCW Poster Coordinator, Chandler Miles, James Isacks, Olivia Ruffino, Delanna Poien-cot, Dr. Anne Taylor - NCW Coordinator. In addition to the student cash awards, Our Lady of Mercy and Mrs. Galliano received awards totaling $675.

National Chemistry Week Second Grade Reading Class

Second graders Berk Jones and A. J. Montagnino enjoy per-forming a scene from “The Strongest One”, which is a play from the reading series used daily within the classroom. Stu-dents in Ms. Yoder’s class enjoyed reading the play, as well as preparing for their performance.

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Christian Life Awards First Nine Weeks

PK-1 Anna Uffman Ethan Dean PK-2 Caroline Rabb Henry Albritton PK-3 Grace Thornton Mason Proschaka PK-4 Sophia Stringer Tyler Bradford K-1 Landy Fiebig Jonathan Hayes K-2 Juliana Barfield Jon Philip Antoon K-3 Ann Malloy Kimble Eddie Haywood K-4 Madeline Krzystowczyk Daniel Hannie 1-1 Sarah Lindrew Charlie Meche 1-2 Gloria Morrow Colin Mayne 1-3 Elise Jones Nick Johnson 1-4 Annaliese Clark Connor Myers 2-1 Theresa Kadair Cameron Decoteau 2-2 Jane Laville Trevor Turner 2-3 Jade Le Patrick Richard 3-1 Caroline Van Duzee John Wysocki 3-2 Anna Leyrer Jack Boudreaux 3-3 Mikala Noonan Roland Michael Toups 4-1 Celeste Stewart Mussie Samuel 4-2 Jamonda Warner Marshall St. Amant 4-3 Jasmine Shiloh Sayer Sauviac 5th Nikola Pocorello Sam Gianfala 6th Madison Ruston Evan Ferguson 7th Anna Deshotels Devin Tullier 8th Laura Coniglio Noah Schexnayder Faculty and Staff Recipients: Rachelle Berkley Delilah Tibbetts

Early Childhood FUNdamentals

Ethan Bush works to complete an assignment regarding place value in Ms. McLaughlin’s first grade class.

Mary’s Club Hosts First Meeting

Some members of the newly formed Mary’s Club at their early morning interview during a broadcast on Baton Rouge Catholic Radio (WPYR 1380 AM). Under the direction of ECC Religion teacher Sherri Montagnino, 2nd and 3rd grade girls are encouraged to emulate the life of Mary through the school’s motto of Prayer, Knowledge, and Service. The club had its first meeting in December and have started making plans for the new year. For information, you may contact Mrs. Montagnino at: smontagnino@olomschool.org.

Pre-K students love working on activities with their teacher Mrs. Angie Meche during center time.

Math Center activities in kindergarten can also be pretty tasty!

October was a special month for ten young ladies as they celebrated Halloween with a purpose. In honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, these eighth-graders raised $350 for Woman’s Hospital Founda-tion by hosting a Halloween Costume Dance on Friday, Oct. 29, 2010. The event was held at the Woman’s Club-house with nearly 60 students in attendance.

The girls were responsible for all aspects of the event, including the publicity, decorations, refresh-ments, booking the venue and the DJ! Inspired by the school’s mission statement, this group was named “Woman’s Young Philanthropists” by Woman’s Hospital. Included in the group were Morgan Bourgeois, Laura Brousseau, Catherine DeSilva, RaeDiance Fuller, Elise Gipson, Victoria Jones, Elizabeth Metzger, Sydney Small, Mary Margaret Strange, and Madelyn Wild. Their desire for a fun project combined with their love of dancing resulted in an event to benefit breast cancer education and outreach.

The group is currently discussing new ideas for an-other project which may include a Mardi Gras celebration to raise money for causes such as diabetes research and continued help for Hurricane Katrina victims.

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Our Lady of Mercy eighth grade students and young philan-thropists: (front) Catherine DeSilva, RaeDiance Fuller, Made-lyn Wild, Mary Margaret Strange, Laura Brousseau. (Back) Elizabeth Metzger, Morgan Bourgeois, Elise Gipson, Victoria Jones, and Sydney Small.

Prayer and Service in Action at Our Lady of Mercy School

“Our Lady of Mercy School provides Catholic foundations for a

life of prayer, knowledge, and service”.

The fourth grade students in Mrs. Kristy Monsour’s class adopted a family for the Santa’s Angels Christmas Party which is hosted annually by Our Lady of Mercy Church. Students are pictured with their gifts for the fam-ily upon delivery to Deacon Richard Grant for distribution to the family.

Our Lady of Mercy School 7th grade students attended a retreat hosted by NET Ministries (National Evangelization Team). Students enjoyed a day of reflection at the Parish Activity Center engaged in large and small group activities and discussions.

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The fourth grade students in Mrs. Kristy Monsour’s class adopted a family for the Santa’s Angels Christmas Party which is hosted annually by Our Lady of Mercy Church. Students are pictured with their gifts for the fam-ily upon delivery to Deacon Richard Grant for distribution to the family.

During the first grade Religion classes at Our Lady of Mercy School, students worked diligently to create special cards for the residents of the Louisiana War Veteran’s Home in Jackson, LA. In remembrance of Veteran’s Day, students sent the cards with warm wishes and special thanks to the veterans for their service to our country through a special delivery by Our Lady of Mercy parishioners Joe Corsentino and Paul McKeough who visited the first graders to share information in regard to the Louisi-ana War Veteran’s Home.

Pictured are Joe Corsentino (left) and Paul McKeough (right) with Our Lady of Mercy School first graders Sarah Lindrew, Eddie Martina, Wesley Fields, Christopher Rib-era, Mia Colbert, and Kauai Cooper.

5th grade students enjoyed a retreat with retreat director, Cooper Ray. Mercy alumsalso returned as small group leaders.

In November, seventh graders Katherine Saucier and Mary Katherine Audiffred enjoyed time with first grade little buddy Mia Colbert as they visited and shared an activity about Saints together.

2nd and 8th grade buddies en-joyed time together in October while they participated in a “mummy wrapping” activity.

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On Thursday, October 14, 2010 Our Lady of Mercy School hosted its fifth annual FUN Walk. “Walk With the Wild Things” was an outstanding success due to the sup-port of the families and friends of Our Lady of Mercy School! If the success of the event was based solely on the fun that day . . . it was huge! The added bonus was that the funds raised ($28,970.28) greatly help our school! The miles walked by participants totaled 2087.75 for the day!

The presentation held in the gym immediately fol-lowing the walk revealed the results of class and student competitions. The winning homerooms that received classroom trophies were: 1st Place, Ms. Yoder (2-3); 2nd Place, Mrs. Lally (7-1); and 3rd Place, Ms. Bordelon (2-2). Individual prizes and gold medals were awarded to the students achieving the highest amount in sponsorships. These winners were: 1st Place, Courtney Miceli, 2-3; 2nd Place, Liza White, 1-3; and 3rd Place, with a 3-way tie, went to Lorenzo Casso, 7-1, Shelby Toups, 8-3, and Roland Michael Toups, 3-3. The winners of the iPod Touch units

were Eric Anderson, 6-1, and Andrew Gawarecki, 3-3. Special thanks to event chair Mrs. Donna Brian for the

unique creativity and energy she brings to this event! Thanks to Custom Audio Video for continually providing sound system assistance. Thanks to all of our volunteers who helped the day run so smoothly . . . It couldn’t have happened without your help and support!!!

As you can see, the following page includes photos from other special and FUN events on our campus. Spe-cial thanks to parent volunteer Gabriella St. Amant for her hard work with faculty members Kristy Monsour and Michelle Newman in making the 2010 Pep Rally happen!! It was full of excitement and energy and will long be re-membered for the great time had by all!!

Grandparent’s Day was quite special, and thanks go to Jenny Ridge, Melissa Wilkinson, and countless committee members who worked to make this an wonderful day for our students and their grandparents. It was a special way to spend time with those who love us so much, and photos reveal that grandparents make the BEST playmates!

With the Wild Things! FUN Walk 2010

FUN Walk 2010!

Celebrating the FUN Times at Our Lady of Mercy School

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Pep Rally 2010!

Grandparent’s Day 2010

The MERCY Momentum Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School 400 Marquette Avenue Baton Rouge, LA 70806

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The MERCY Momentum is published by the Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School Development Office. Story ideas, Student or Alumni news, OLOM sports updates, or address changes should be sent to: 400 Marquette Avenue, Baton Rouge, LA 70806 (Attention: Mari Buzbee) Information can also be sent by e-mail to: mbuzbee@olomschool.org

Coastal Roots Restoration Planting Trip

Our Lady of Mercy eighth grade students Nicholas Brown, Hope Bovard, and Ember Siegmund plant seedlings during a recent Coastal Roots resto-ration planting trip at Fontainebleau State Park in St. Tammany Parish.

The Coastal Roots Nursery Program en-ables students to become well informed about issues of coastal stewardship, as well as ac-tively participate in coastal and wetland resto-ration projects. Our Lady of Mercy School is currently a participant in the Louisiana State University Coastal Roots program. In Novem-ber, all eighth grade students from Our Lady of Mercy School traveled to Fontainebleau State Park in St. Tammany Parish for a restoration planting trip. The students planted longleaf pine and southern bald cypress seedlings that had been maintained in the school’s nursery, as part of the Seedling Nursery Program for Wetland Restoration. During Science classes, students were educated about the ecological restoration needs of their assigned site. The students’ work began in the spring of 2010 in order to produce strong and healthy plants for their restoration planting trip in the fall. The work plan involved seed preparation, planting, germination of seeds, and maintenance of the seedlings and the nursery.