The Halo - Cathedral Parish School

Cathedral Parish School
The Halo
November 2011
Planting the seeds of
Faith, Character,
and Knowledge.
Volume 2, Issue 4
In January, while checking
on some roof work, I found
myself close to it for the
first time. It was clearly
old, cast iron, and rusted.
Still, it had the marks of
high quality manufacturing.
It was cold that afternoon
and time was short so I
wasn’t up there long, but I
had to learn more about
that bell.
A few weeks ago Tony,
our maintenance man
extraordinaire, and I
were investigating a potentially clogged gutter.
Once we were finished I
took a walk around to
check on the new roofing
material we had installed
last winter (A product by
the way guaranteed to
keep our flat roofs from
leaking). As I neared the
front of the building the
bell came into view. I
spent some real time
taking a close look at the
markings on the bell. A
few things stood out.
First, was a large raised
stamp of the number 2.
Second was a date: 1886.
On the back, although
well worn, was what appeared to be the initials
C.S. Bell and the word
Hillsboro. I took a few
pictures, returned to the
office, and that night
began researching what
exactly what we had.
“I wonder how it sounds?”
Here’s what I found:
The Bell
“How old is that bell?”
The first time I was on campus I saw the mission bell
and cross above the main
office and fell in love with
the image. It had a pure
quality that spoke to the
rich heritage of our school
and its past. It spoke to the
mission of the church. It is
an image that embodies the
Catholic faith in our area on
so many levels.
“I wonder if it still works?”
We have a Hillsboro
Model 2 School Bell,
manufactured by the C.S.
Bell Co. out of Hillsboro,
Ohio in 1886. It would
have originally sat in
what was called an upright and would have
included a crank for ring- given it a second glance.?
ing.
For me, it is artifacts like this that
The C.S. Bell company
add a richness and depth to who
was founded by Charles
we are. The spirit of this school
S. Bell in 1858, and by
has been alive since 1916 and this
1889 was selling around very bell has been seen by Catho20,000 bells a year. The lic school students, hanging in
model 2 bell is the inspi- that very spot, since at least 1962
ration for most of the
according to one alumnus. EviAmerican school bells
dence suggests that it s even
manufactured in the 20th longer than that.
century.
If you or anyone you know is inWe are working with the terested in helping us refurbish
Sisters of St. Joseph to
the bell, please get in touch with
determine exactly how
me via email.
and when the bell was
Do you have a story about the bell
acquired.
from your own time here at CPS?
I wonder now how many We’d love to hear it!
students and teachers
heard this bell toll in the
early years? I wonder
still how many more stuInside this issue:
dents have never even
Red Ribbon Week
2
Class news
3
Fall Festival
4
Science News
5
Corn Maze
8
Sports
9
Veteran’s Day
10
Page 2
The Halo
Red Ribbon Week
Red Ribbon Week is a great event on the CPS campus. It’s a chance for all of us to focus attention on our kids and their future. Since the days of Nancy
Reagan empowering all of us to “Say No to Drugs” to our own “Sock it to Drugs “ campaign, where even the principal wore red socks to school, we all
have a responsibility to play a part in the war on drugs. Here are just a few of the things that happened on campus during this great week:

Over the course of the week students wore red ribbons to remind them of their commitment to stay away from drugs.

Students watched a play put on by our drama class on Stranger Danger and drug refusal skills during lunch.

Red Shirt day and Red Cupcake day were fun, but were of course reminders of the importance of working together to keep everyone safe from
drugs.

Liberty the St. John’s County K-9 sheriff's deputy and his handler Officer Kowieski.
Liberty is a four year old black
Labrador Retriever who specializes in
drug sniffing, but is also trained in
people rescue and bomb sniffing.
Page 3
Volume 2, Issue 4
Fourth Grade Field Trip Fun
Maximo's 40th Birthday Party
We were invited to an unusual birthday party. It was for Maximo
the Alligator and he is 40 years old.
First we rode the trolley to The
Alligator Farm. We gathered around
Maximo's cage and did a raffle.
Keelin Weaver won ,and she got to help
feed Maximo! He jumped so high
you wouldn't believe it. Next we got
cupcakes with little chocolate
alligators on top. We got to see Maximo's wife and babies too. One
was named Mini-Max. There were
some people there from the t.v. and
newspapers. They took some pictures
and interviewed some of us. We were
on t.v.! We went to see a show about
Florida forest animals like
snakes, toads, and rabbits. Afterwards
we got to pet the bunny. It was
so fluffy. Then we went to the Kid
Zone. It is a playground with lots
by the Fourth Grade
of cool stuff to do, like the tortise statue
we got our picture taken
on. We saw an alligator show before we
had to go back to school. I
loved this field trip. I can't wait for the
next one!
At the Mission Grounds (by the
fourth graders)
On our second fieldtrip we went on
a fun trolley ride to the Nombre de
Dios. That means Name of God. Next,
we got off the trolley and said "thank
you." Then our very own guide came
to show us around the museum. We
saw a 15 minute movie about Pedro
Menendez. We saw a painting of
Pedro Menendez that looked just like
the guy in the movie. We saw a casket
that his body was in, but they kept it
in Spain and just sent the casket over
here. It had 3 skull and crossbones on
it painted in gold. That means he was
important (not a pirate). Still,
it was pretty cool! We also listened to
the "Our Father" in the
Timicuan language ,then said it in
English. There was a map of
Florida that looked like the old days
when Florida was huge. Did you
know that Father Lopez was the first
priest to celebrate Mass in
America? We had our picture taken in
front of Father Lopez's statue.
The huge cross was 208 feet high. It
looked like it was moving, it
made me a little sick to my stomach. The
guide said it was the clouds
moving that did that. Then we got to go
to Mary's chapel, Our Lady of
La Leche ( the lady of the milk). That was
interesting even though it
was very small and hot. We said prayers for our family and friends
and said the "Hail Mary." It is a popular
destination as far as I am
concerned. That was a Super Fun and
Religious Field Trip!!!
What’s For Dinner? Persuasive Writing by Mrs. Sette
Thanksgiving is around the corner and Tom the turkey and Pat
the pig are in total disagreement as to what, or should we
say, who will be dinner this year.
Tom feels turkeys have served
their time and thinks pigs should
be the new traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Of course Pat
feels differently; after all why
mess with tradition. Second
graders in Mrs. Sette’s class
are helping Pat and Tom with
this debate and perhaps their
fate. Each student chose an
animal to support and write a
persuasive paragraph to convince their audience to either
eat turkey or ham. The students will share their stories
with other classrooms this
month and tally the results.
What will you be eating this
Thanksgiving?
FALL FESTIVAL
THE GREAT PUMPKIN CARVING CONTEST AND MORE!
Our middle school science classes are striving to become accredited in a program called NASA Explorer Schools.
Through this program they will participate in labs, activities and webinars designed through Nasa and implemented
here at CPS. Currently our 8th grades are learning about the history of spaceflight and will be viewing NASA 360 to
learn more about NASA derived technologies that are used in our homes! —Mrs. Mullin
Science Fair Projects are in full swing!
Don’t forget our CPS Science Fair Exhibition is on December 1 st from 6-8pm in the Parish Hall. The winners that are
selected are given the opportunity to compete at either the Diocese or County Level in the spring!
MARLEY
Marley is a Uromastyx lizard from Nigeria. He was purchased by
Mrs. Mullin’s son and will be cared for by Zoo Crew! Marley likes
veggies, a warm environment, and his basking rocks! He received
a very warm welcome from our CPS Science community!
Learning about our world...
8th grade learns all about using and building simple machines.
Page 6
Volume 2, Issue 4
5th Grade support our troops by Mrs. Graff
MRS. GRAFF’S FIFTH GRADERS WERE ASKED BY DEBORAH ABSHER, PRESIDENT OF
THE AMERICAN LEGION AUXILIARY, TO SEND FOOD AND
LETTERS TO ARMY SOLDIERS
IN AFGANISTAN. WE HAD JUST
READ IN OUR READING BOOKS
A STORY CALLED RANDOM
ACTS OF KINDNESS, AND IN
RELIGION WE WERE DISCUSSING HOW WE CAN RESPECT
ALL HUMAN LIFE. WE DECIDED TO ADD TO OUR FOOD AND
LETTERS A BRACELET THAT
THEY COULD WEAR REMIND-
ING THEM THAT WE PRAY
FOR THEM EACH DAY. THE
BRACELETS SAID GO ARMY,
ARMY STRONG, AND WORDS
OF ENCOURAGEMENT. WE
SENT A SMALL POEM WITH
EACH BRACELET. IT SAID:
WHEN YOU WEAR THIS
BRACELET IT REMINDS YOU
THAT WE PRAY THAT GOD
WILL WATCH OVER YOU EACH
AND EVERY DAY.
AMERICAN INDIAN PROJECTS BY THE 5 TH GRADE
MRS. GRAFF’S FIFTH GRADE STUDENTS ARE STUDYING ABOUT THE
EARLY NATIVE AMERICANS AND
HOW CIVILIZATIONS DEVELOPED IN
THE AMERICAS. MR. COSME AND
RAPHAEL COSME BROUGHT IN AN
ANASAZI INDIAN MUG THAT WAS
1100 YEARS OLD. THE ANASAZI
CULTURE EMERGED (IN THE SOUTHWESTERN USA) LONG BEFORE THE
EUROPEANS ARRIVED AND LEFT A
GREAT AMOUNT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE. OUR PROJECTS CONSISTED OF THE ZUNI INDIANS BY
JAMES DRYSDALE, THE PUEBLO INDIANS BY REID JANSON, THE MAYAN
INDIANS BY RAPHAEL COSME, THE
IROQUOIS INDIANS BY SARAH PATUEL, THE MAKAH INDIANS BY MAC
TIBBITTS, THE HOPI INDIANS BY
SAVANNAH LANDENBERGER, THE
AZTEC INDIANS BY EMILY LAWRENCE, THE CHIPPEWA INDIANS BY
ANNA BORBELY, THE TIMUCUA INDIANS BY GIGI BRESS, THE INUIT INDIANS BY DYLAN THIBAULT, CHINOOK
INDIANS BY GISSELLE SANTIAGO, THE
APACHE INDIANS BY BEN BOLTEN,
BLACKFOOT INDIANS BY VINCENT
GAROFALO, THE CHOCTAW INDIANS
BY CAMERON BENTON, AND THE
CHEYENNE INDIANS BY TAYLOR ROBERTS. WE DISPLAYED ARE PROJECTS
DURING THE LUNCH PERIODS TO
SHARE THE INFORMATION WE HAD
LEARNED ABOUT EARLY NATIVE
AMERICANS.
November’s Theme: Self Control
Throughout the year we are focusing on different aspects of Faith and Character. We have two bulleting boards up on the hallways to remind students of the virtues and character elements that we are reflecting on. In this month’s bible verse, God calls
us to look at the goodness of our spirit.
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control.
—Galatians 5:22-23
Page 7
Volume 2, Issue 4
Character Counts
On Monday, October 17, CPS 8th
grader Isabella Garofalo was honored by St. Johns County at their
annual “Character Counts” breakfast at First Coast Technical College. The initiative promotes fairness, citizenship, responsibility,
respect, trustworthiness,
and caring among students
in our public and private
schools. Isabella representative Cathedral Parish
School and gave a speech in
which she spoke about the
importance of her parents
and her teachers, in helping her learn the right way to live and
how to treat other people.
Also recognized at the breakfast
were area businesses and people
who have supported school initiatives aimed at improving the educational experience of all students. A
number of our parents businesses
were recognized, as well.
On that note, I’d personally like to
thank all our families, and their
businesses, who have supported
our efforts at Cathedral Parish
8th graders from around the county,
School, including sponsorships at
representing 10 middle schools also
our Golf Tournament, Festival, and
spoke on what the pillars of the Char- a number of other events. You are
acter Counts program meant to them. greatly appreciated.
Thank you to everyone who made a contribution to
the respect life collection. We were able to a donate a
healthy collection of items to young mothers in need
and the elderly of our community.
3rd grade Saints Parade and Kindergarten Halloween
Cute kids in costumes, dressed as saints, super heroes, princesses and more...
Isabella giving her
speech on character.
3rd grade recently visited the
Corn Maze at Sykes and Cooper
Farms. It was a chilly, but exciting
day for everyone involved!
FIRE SAFETY
Congratulations to Joseph Garofalo and Ella
Dellbrugge for winning the St. John’s County Fire
Safety Poster Contest. Their prize? How about a
ride in a fire truck and tour of the fire station!
SAINTS SPORTS
The boys and girls basketball teams, and our cheerleaders, represented CPS
with Pride and character this year. We’re proud of you and the hard work
you put to make this a great season.
Congratulations to Connor Searle and Jessica Hagaman for being named to
the Diocesan All-Conference team.
THANK YOU PARENTS!
Thank you to all of our parent volunteers. You were busy in October and
November with Red Ribbon Week, Veteran’s Day, Fall Festival, the Dance
and more… Here are a few moms helping us out a volunteer workshop.
Veteran’s Day 2011
On November 10th the CPS community gathered in front of the school,
around our flag pole, to honor the
memory of fallen soldiers and to
celebrate the accomplishments of
those who have sworn to protect the
freedoms that we hold dear in our
great nation. We are thankful for
your service and pray for all of you
everyday.
529 St. George Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
Phone: 904-824-2861
Fax: 904-829-2059
E-mail: tdeclemente@cpsschool.org
I’d like to thank our Coach Algreen
and our student council for planning
the days events; Mrs. Treadway for
all the music for the day; to Mr.
Tony Martin for setting up the
sound equipment and to all of our
families who attended.
Northeast Florida is home to some
of the proudest active military
personnel and the noblest of veterans. With NAS Jax to our North
and the National Guard armory
around the corner, the presence of our soldiers is an
important part of our identity. The values upheld by all of
us include God, family, and
country.
The American Flag being raised over our campus was a gift from
the Hagamen family. That very flag, on March 19, 2011 flew
over Camp Montrond in Afghanistan, home to a special forces
unit tasked with prosecuting the global war on terrorism.
Did you miss our annual book fair? It’s not too late… log on below to find great Scholastic titles and support the CPS Library.
http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/publish/cathedralparishschool