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A Note from the Principal

Dear Parents: The faculty and staff have read and discussed the first three chapters of Hal Urban's book, Powerful Words,
Powerful Results. Its subtitle lets us know that we should be able to find "simple ways to honor, affirm, and celebrate life." I think about words a lot. When I write any speech, I spend quite a bit of time searching my dictionary, thesaurus, and books of
quotes and am absolutely thrilled when I find the perfect fit!! As I work each 8th grader's personality into my graduation
speech, descriptive words come to mind, and then, as I search through my stash of quotes, books, and websites, I know when I've come upon the perfect match. Do you know how you feel when you find that perfect pair of shoes; they not only feel good but look good? Ahh!!!! The words I find are powerful! Sometimes, those words have been said by John F. Kennedy or Maya Angelou. Sometimes, I create a new piece. What we write may not be as powerful to all as Lincoln's Gettysburg Address or Obama's inaugural speech, but for someone or for some group, the impact might be as strong or stronger.

Urban's first few chapters remind us of the history of words. Early humans didn't use words, but the need to communicate was so strong and imperative that we began our road to words using hands, faces, and motions. Pictures and symbols followed, but how long does someone have, to wait for a picture of a dangerous, carnivorous creature that's right behind you? Ask yourselves and your children, what is a word? When you use a word, what are you trying to do? What kinds of feelings do you have when you hear the words agony, hurt, kindness, happy?? What kinds of words influence your shopping choices? Improved, new, bargain, proven? We read Urban's "Dirty Thirty," categories of words that drag us down, that we don't want to hear about. Included are: Judging others,
bragging, gossip, racial and ethnic slurs, and false flattery. We have discussed Hal Urban's ideas and made lists; we have shared classroom events and personal stories with each other. We've shared the times words hurt us and more importantly, the times words have lifted us up.

My dad and I talked about many things, but we didn't get really personal very often. Shortly before he died, he said, "I know I haven't told you this before, but I am so proud of you." What simple words but what strength! To this day, I smile as those same feelings from over two years ago wrap around me.

-Mrs. McCormick

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Dressing for Winter

Now that winter is here, please make sure you send your child to school dressed for the chilly weather with their coat, hat, and gloves. If your child has a fever or has been vomiting,
they must stay home from school until they are free from fever and vomiting for 24 hours without any medications.

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North Deanery Spell-Bowl

The North Deanery Spell Bowl competition will be on Thursday, February, 2, 2012 at 6:00 pm in the Bishop Chatard High School cafeteria. Students in grades 4 through 8 of the North Deanery Catholic Schools may participate by studying the words (see below) and winning the spelling bee at the classroom level in their school. They will be using the IASP 2011 Elementary List. The list can be found using the following link…... http://www.iasp.org/iace/pdf/ SpellWordListElementary.pdfs

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