Dec./Jan 2011Parent Press

An E-Newsletter for St. Paul’s Episcopal School Parents

The St. Paul’s

DEC CALENDAR9 Angel Tree Gifts Due 5th Grade Christmas Play Grades 3 & 4 Art Exhibit10 Exams Begin 2nd Grade to Nutcracker13 3rd Grade Christmas Program 1st Grade Christmas Around the World14 PreK Breakfast with Santa 1st Grade Polar Express Lessons and Carols Service for Faculty, Staff and Alumni15 1st Grade Christmas Program Noon Dismissal for Christmas HolidaysJAN CALENDAR4-8 Sophomore Trip8 Admissions Testing and Tours11 8th Grade Parent Meeting13 Joint Parent Council Meeting Grades 3 & 4 Open House for Parents15 Admissions Testing and Tours17 Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday 8th Grade Trip to Washington, D.C.19 ACT Prep Classes24-28 Grades 3 & 4 Book Fair26 ACT Prep Classes27 Middle School Awards Ceremony

Download the Printable Monthly Grid

Full School and Athletic Calendars from www.stpaulsmobile.net

Please join us on Thursdays at 7:20 a.m. for Morning Prayer in the Monte L. Moorer Theatre.

The St. Paul’s Parent Press is the official Monthly Electronic Parent Newsletter from the St. Paul’s Advancement Office.

Contact Catherine Vulevich at 251-380-0408 ext. 22 or cvulevich@stpaulsmobile.net for submissions or questions.

We wish our entire St. Paul’s Family a wonderful and safe Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are grateful for our supportive commu-nity, and we are blessed by many: our children who learn, grow, and develop here every day; our parents who support our faculty and programs including the Parent Council and Annual Fund; but most importantly, we are thankful for the blessing of family, friends, and for God’s unconditional love that surrounds us.

Happy Holidays from St. Paul’s

A Season of Giving!Every year the boys and girls in Mrs. Rausch’s First Grade class make and deliver Christmas presents to the ladies who prepare our meals for us in the cafeteria. Pictured above are: Jon Laycock, Win Lamberth, Dorothy Yelder, Jackie Sykes, Ryan LeDoux, Margaret Myers, Mrs. Cal-laway, Jackson Miller, Maggie Sullivan, Lilly Cumbie, Mackenzie Park, Allie Whigham, Julianna Ramo, Owen Beaverstock, Quinn Dolbeare. Standing: Wanda Belle, Alma Hayward, Rosalind Mickels, Maggie Carter, MeMe Miller, Carolyn Miller, and Mrs. Rausch.

St. Paul’s Parent CouncilNovember Houndstooth - Next meeting January 13th

LOWER SCHOOL MEETING:• Parent Council Chair Cindy McFadden called the meeting to order.• Alicia Howes delivered a very special invocation.Headmaster Marty Lester’s Report • Mr. Lester thanked the Council members for their time. He also discussed the great success and inspiration of the Veterans Day activities. Lower School Director Anne Davis’ Report• Mrs. Davis also thanked Parent Council and specifically discussed her appreciation for how smooth all of the Halloween festivities were handled. The parties were very well organized. She discussed the great success of the Lower School Book Fair. Mrs. Davis then discussed Christmas Philanthropies. She announced to the Council that the PreK Christmas Philanthropy was changed from ARF to the ASPCA. At the PreK Breakfast with Santa, a Christmas Tree will be set up under which donations will be placed. Following the breakfast, parent volunteers will deliver the donations to the ASPCA. The First Grade will be working with Family Promise. The children will be involved in the “hands on” experience of filling baskets with their do-nated toiletry items. A presentation will be given by Family Promise to the First Graders after Chapel on November 19th. The Second Grade will be supporting the “Reach Out and Read” program. Mrs. Davis announced that with St. Paul’s new reading program she was able to donate all of the gently used McGraw-Hill Reading books to the “Reach Out and Read” program. Lastly, Mrs. Davis discussed the upcoming Christmas Holidays. The last day of school is Decem-ber 15. This day will be early dismissal. Chapel will be held late. She requested that party volunteers wait until after the students have left for chapel to begin preparations for the holiday parties.Saints’ Night Out Parent Acquisitions Chair Susan Smith’s Report:• Susan discussed the Grade Level Items that will be used for the Silent Auction. She would like the themes for each grade as soon as possible. The deadline for the theme is the beginning of December. Cindy asked that we work with our class resources to come up with a theme and send it to her. Saints’ Night Out will be held at Space 301 and the theme for the event is “ Saints Art Walk”.Parent Council Co-Chair Michele Morgan’s Report:• The Scholastic Book Fair raised just over $12,000 for the Library Fund and the library earned a credit for books. She also reported that 237 wish list books were purchased and that 49 volunteers worked the event. She thanked everyone involved in making the Book Fair a success. Grade Level Reports:• PreK: working with the new Christmas Philanthropy, Breakfast with Santa coming up on December 14• Kindergarten: Landing of the Mayflower on Tuesday, November 23. Cindy reminded the Council that students do not leave early. The classes are working on collecting books for the Christmas Philan-thropy.• 1st Grade: Nov. 22 – Native American Day, Dec. 13 – Christmas Around the World, and Dec. 14 – Polar Express Day. They are also working on their Christmas Philanthropy.• 2nd Grade – Nutcracker Field Trip on December 10th. They are working on their Christmas Philanthropy with “Reach Out and Read”. They are also working on a simple holiday party – per the teachers’ requests. • 3rd Grade – working on the Christmas Philanthropy. They are adopting Angel Trees. Each class will be adopting at least 2 Angels.

The students are being asked to do chores to earn the money and they are doing great! They will be going to see “Babes in Toyland” on December 2nd. They may leave early this year because of parking availability near the Saenger Theater, so watch for information. The 3rd Grade is doing Gift Card trees for their teachers. Alicia Howes has the trees. 3rd Grade Chapel is December 13th.• 4th Grade - The 4th Grade report is the same as the 3rd Grade report with the exception of the Chapel date and the teacher gifts. The 4th Grade has decided that each student may do whatever they want for a teacher gift. Reminders from Cindy McFadden:• Refer to the Agenda for upcoming Teacher Birthdays• Room Moms to send out the Annual Fund letter to parents as soon as possible.• Keep to your budgets for holiday parties and keep the parties consistent across the grade level.• Turn in receipts in a timely manner and put out a “last call” for receipts for Halloween activities.The link is on the website for the Lower School Prayer and the Pledge to the Cross. Go to Grade Level Mail; sort by grade to PreK and look for the “Memo to New Parents” on 09/13/2010MIDDLE/UPPER SCHOOL MEETING:• Lee Lee Brady opened the meeting with the devotional.Academic Booster Report:• Reminder to turn in Bruno’s green receipts and boxtops and third and fourth grades are collecting poptop tabs for Ronald McDonald House. The suggestion was made to collect green receipts during carpool time.Concession Stand Report :• We need parent volunteers for baseball and soccer concessions.Please contact Jenny McGill if you can volunteer.Saints’ Night Out Report:• Chair Kim Klyce requested that grade level baskets for Saints’ Night Out need to be decided by next week. Brenda will send the list of what was given last year and what has already been decided for this year. Grounds Report:• Kristin Babington said the new recycling program is going well.Teacher Appreciation Report: • Treats are being provided during exam week. Soup day is Decem-ber 13th and volunteers are needed to make soup. Please contact Julie Citrin or Amy Sanderson if you would like to volunteer.Philanthropy Project Updates:• Brenda Ferguson spoke about the 8th grade parents helping with the 8th grade philanthropy project.• Kellie Myers mentioned that our Community Service Director Leslie Lerner is helping the Running Club of George Hall Elementary participate in the Arthritis Foundation’s Fun Run.Athletics Update:• Gerry Strang played a wonderful “spirit video” to the Council and then presented a few of our outstanding student-athletes. Jacob Coker – Football, 5A Region Champions; Margaret Harkness – Girls’ Cross Country; Stuart Graham – Boys’ Cross Country; and Cooper Brown – Swimming.

The next Parent Council Meeting will be January 13th in the Theatre. This will be the Auction Planning

Meeting. The Auction theme this year is “Saints Art Walk” held at Space 301 on March 31, 2011

In order to have a successful Athletic Department, there are four primary components that are a must, and we are fortunate to have them all. First, a great faculty and administration that works very hard to support our department and helps us keep focused on the priority that academics come first. Second, we have the best overall high school coaching staff in the state, third we have great support from our parents, and finally the center of any Ath-letic Department, the student-athletes.

This year, we will field over 50 teams and have over 500 students who will be a part of one or more of our teams, which is approximately 70% of our student body in grades 7-12. The students will compete in over 600 contests during the school year, and I am so proud of each and every one of our athletes and our entire coaching staff for their hard work, successes and cham-pionships, but equally as proud of them for winning the State Sportsmanship Award last year. This recognition reaffirms that we are doing the right things for children. We have just concluded an

incredible fall sports season, and we have yet to have a fine or ejection for a coach or player, on any of the 19 fall teams. The following student-athletes are from each of our varsity teams that competed this fall. These athletes are exceptionally tal-

ented which is due, in large part, to their unbelievable work ethic. Jake Coker (Senior): Quarterback for the Football team who led us to our first 5A Region Championship. He is verbally commit-

ted to Florida State and was selected by the AHSAA as one of the 40 players for the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic on Dec. 11. He is now on the Varsity Basketball team and recently scored his 1,000th point.

Margaret Harkness (Senior): MVP of our Girls’ Cross-Country team for the last several years and our #1 runner. She was the State Runner-Up in the Cross Country State Championships and the current State Champion for the last two years in the 1600 meters and in the 3200 meters. Margaret is a four time, individual State Champion and still has Track season to go.

Stuart Graham (Senior): Winner of the 5A Boys’ State Cross-Country Championship and led his team to a Runner Up finish and currently is the 3200 meter State Champion in Track. Stuart is also a National Merit Semi-Finalist.

Katherine White (Senior): MVP of the 5A Volleyball State Tournament and helped her team win the Volleyball State Champion-ship. Katherine is also the State High Jump Champion.

Cooper Brown (Sophomore): All-State 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free, 500 Free, 200 Free Relay and All-County 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free, 500 Free, 400 Free Relay.

Thank you for your hard work and dedication to your sport, your coaches, and St. Paul’s.

A special “Thank You” to the following parent volunteers:8th Grade Community Service Day - Ashley Smith, Jeanie Weinacker, Susie Foster, Julie Citrin, Stacy Galloway, Kelsey Russell, Cathy Radcliff, Elizabeth DoggettVeterans Day Assembly Refreshments - Mary Anne Ball, Junior Moms, and Junior Class Parent Council Representatives9th Grade Birthday Treats - Beckie Crawford, Anne Haas, Amy Cottrell, Nancy Volkman3rd and 4th Grade Teacher Appreciation Volunteers - Parents provided taco soup Lower School Book Fair - Elizabeth Brady-Lindley, Chair, Ashley Jackson, Co-Chair, Cindy McFadden, Michele Morgan, Adrienne LeDoux, Alex Bowen, Amy Browning, Amy Peattie, Barbara Brutkiewicz, Bennett Griffith, Carolyn Tierce, Catherine Rivers, Ellen Jones, Greer Helmsing, Janelle Fowler, Julie Citrin, Julie True, Kim George, Kristin Ogden, Larrin Rockwell, Laurie Donahoe, Lisa Beaverstock, Lisa Jacobs, Loraine Robinson, Mae Winters, Maiben Martin, Mandy Lanham, Marion Stabler, Meagher Whigham, Melanie Rowan, Melissa Baker, Melissa Stowers, Michelle Autio, Prissy Crowe, Rachael McCall, Ramona Robinson, Ronda Patrick, Sandy Foster, Shae Waechter, Shari Parker, Shelly Scott, Sherry Pierce, Staci Goodloe, Tara Barber, and Tracey Abdulla

Outstanding Student-Athletes By: Athletic Director Gerry Strang

Lower School Parents Melissa Stowers, Elizabeth Brady-Lindley, Cindy McFadden, and Michele Morgan are pictured at the Book Fair. The Scholastic Book Fair raised over $12,000 for the Library Fund and 237 books were purchased for the Teacher Wish Lists.

We would like to recognize all volunteers. Please let us know! Contact Brenda Ferguson at 251-380-0408 ext. 25 or bferguson@stpaulsmobile.net.

Veterans Day Testimonials“Today I could feel the friends who did not come back standing next to me. Today I could stand and accept for them the gratitude that they deserve. I want so much to tell you that it touches the heart knowing that my time spent was not just a series of years. I am so very grateful for the thanks I have received. That my friend did not just die and remain only a memory of mine. His memory and his dedication and his service was recognized by all of you. Thank you all.” IT Coordinator Jim Gullatte

“I think we all witnessed a truly remarkable event today. Words cannot describe the impact that the assembly had on me or anyone pres-ent. It was moving and beautiful, and it shows a lot about who we are as a school and a community. I can’t express enough thanks to the teachers, staff and students who brought this whole day to fruition: Leslie Lerner, Julie Albrecht, Laura McGee, Jill Drum, Beth Anne Allen, Margaret Bramlett, Charles Bowman, Treadwell Davis, Jody Powell, Missy Powell, Kathy Walker, the 11th Grade Philanthropy Ambassa-dors, Congressman Jo Bonner and Chief Tacon with the Mobile Fire Department also deserve a heartfelt thanks. I would also like to thank everyone who attended. I know that with our busy schedules, it is hard to give up class time. I do believe, though, that we can all appreci-ate the importance and significance of today’s assembly. Most importantly, I would like to thank our SPS Veterans Jim Gullatte, Jim Tate, Lou Courie, and Charles Bowman. They deserve our thanks for their service and sacrifice. It truly is a great day to be a Saint.” Headmaster Marty Lester

“I was in attendance today at St. Pauls for Veteran’s Day. I am a Veteran and I want the school to know that in 50 years I have never felt so appreciated over my service to my Country as today. The program was extremely moving and the student body did an outstanding job in putting it together. The music,speeches and well, just everything touched me so much. Once more allow me to say “Thank You” for a beautiful job...well done!” Clinton Wilson, Grandfather of Sarah and Grace Williams

March 31, 2011 • Space 301 Gallery • 6:30 p.m.

ARTWALKSaints’ Night Out 2011SP

S SAVE THE DATE

Silent Auction • Live Auction Student Art • Great Food

Entertainment

St. Paul’s Parents, Alumni, Grandparents, Faculty, Administration, and Staff are invited to our largest event fundraiser

of the year!

Invitations to followLogo artwork created by St. Paul’s students

March 31, 2011Space 301 Gallery

6:30 p.m.

AROUND CAMPUS

The Saints Youth Judicial Team performed exceedingly well at the State Youth Judicial Mock Trial Competition in Montgomery. Team members excelled and received a score of 9 out of 10 by their student judge. One of our teams placed in the top 20 in the state. Pictured left are: Elizabeth Kim, Kristin Granade, Caitlyn Gaddy, Ashley Walsh, Emily Smith, Mary Frances Tanner, Lisa Elcan, TJ Beeker, Gra-ham Byrd, Finley Reeves, Mallory Wright, Shivani Ananthasekar, Bren McMaken, Cameron Williamson, Lexi Mestas, David Martin Mayhall, Richard Kirkpat-rick, and Harrison Thompson.

The Pilgrims (Kindergarteners) enjoyed a fun-filled day with their Native American Big Brothers and Sisters at

the Annual Landing of the Mayflower event.

The Fine Arts Shine! The Alabama Vocal Association selected 19 St. Paul’s students from their auditions to be performing members of the All-State Choral Festival. Con-gratulations to Emma Fontenot, Caroline Craft, Alexander Blankenship, Hope Lemley, Taylor Evans, Bea Tisher, Daly Wettermark, Rolf Konrad, Jonathan Arbour, Katie Byrd, Noelle Deen, Keaton Andrus, Ryan Cox, Abigail Blankenship, Whitney Myers, Bren McMaken, Sarah Williams, Grace Williams, and Zoe Cullen. These students are the best in the state! In addition, Ben Jenkins, Nathan Lucas, William Konrad, Trent Larson, Seth Polansky, Abigail Blankenship, and Jonathan Landry were selected to participate in the second annual University of Mobile Honor Band. Our Strings students have been recognized by winning placement to compete at the Alabama All-State Orchestra Festival at the University of Alabama. They are: Anna Alford, Justin Way, Caroline Scott, Harrison Thompson, Barrett Thompson, Omkar Mulekar, Courtney Baker, Elizabeth Kim, Kelly Jeon, and Ben Friedlander. Named Honorable Mention to the Alabama All-State Orchestra Festival are: Lisee Conwell, Hiroshi Ka-mei, Hartley Robinson, Molly Millican, Shivani Ananthasekar, and James Carpenter.

The Show Choir is pictured performing “Blackbird” at the Fall Choral Concert

U.S. Veteran Mr. Bill Summersgill personally thanked the students who wrote him letters during Mail Call while on the Honor Flight. Pictured above are Mr.

Marty Lester, Mr. Summersgill, Linda Albrecht-Frueh, Hannah Larson, Jackson Howes, and Ryan Johnson. SPS B.E.S.T. Robotics in top 10% of the Region! The St. Paul’s Robotics

Team, The HALO Corp., participated in the regional South’s B.E.S.T. Robotics Competition. The HALO Corp. was one of 61 teams to qualify for the Regional South’s B.E.S.T. Robotics Competition at Auburn University. The team previous-ly qualified at the local competition at University of South Alabama in October against 29 local school teams. When compared to the hundreds of teams that entered the competition, The HALO Corp. finished in the top 10% of schools competing in the BEST Robotics this year. We are very proud of the students’ hard work! They are: Clint Innocenti - Team Captain, Louis Albrecht, Shivani Ananthasekar, Drew Batten, Abigail Blankenship, Alec Blankenship, Josh Buce, Gabe Coleman, Joseph Graham, Henry Jordan, Samantha Krushinsky, Jona-than Landry, Owen Martin, Abbey McNeely, Beth Pickel, Douglas Proffitt, Patrick Schulte, Jordan Sosnowski, Carson Tierce, Varshini Venkatesan, Bryson Webster, Charlie Weeks, and Jaime Woodall.