The Chatterbox - St. Nicholas School

St. Nicholas School
Oct. 12, 2012
The Chatterbox
Volume 5, Issue 1
Special points of
interest:
Welcome Back
1
Booster Club Event
2
Alumni
3
School Directory
4
October Calendar
5
My Challenges
by the 3rd grade
6
History - 5th Grade
7
7th Grade
Timelines & Mosaics
8
Honor Roll, Halloween
Family Night
Boston Trip Fundraiser
9
Art Work
10
Gold Club Winners
11
Welcome back children, parents, teachers and staff! Thank you to Christine Cashen
who did a beautiful job of organizing the Welcome Back to School breakfast which we all
enjoyed.
On the first day of school, our students were filled with the excitement of seeing
their friends once again, mixed with the anticipation of beginning a new school year. Our
kindergarten through 5th grade students were pleasantly surprised with the new interactive
Smart Boards in their classrooms, which have opened the door to unlimited resources at the
teacher’s finger tips. In addition, all students will be visiting the Library/Computer Lab
weekly, which has now been equipped with brand new desktop computers. Thank you to
the Spiropoulos family for the new computers and the Smart Boards in the classrooms.
Thank you to Nicholas Bomicino, the President of our School Board, for donating the
Smart Board in the Library.
Thank you to the Boosters who donated almost $30,000 this year, which went
toward new reading textbook and materials for Grades 3-5, as well as repairing the decks of
both the one-story and two-story buildings.
We are so blessed to have such supportive families.
Gold Club Winners 11
Mrs. Milkie and Mrs. Milicevic
Far left: Presbytera Savas, Mrs. Turley, Mrs. Brode, Mrs. Wielage, and Ms. Cashen
Page 2
The Chatterbox
Volume 5, Issue 1
St. Nicholas School
www.stnicholaseducation.com
On Friday, September 14 at 6:30 pm, the Booster Club and Chairperson Mrs. Kerri Brode, held the first
annual Wine and Cheese Social to welcome the start of another wonderful school year and to give parents a
chance to get to know one another. Thanks to all our Booster parents, it was a fun filled night full of conversation!
Far left; Mrs. Basinger, Mrs. Gargaro, Mrs. Sinnema, Mrs. Wheeler, Mrs. and Mr. Fein
Far left; Mrs. St. John, Ms. Cashen and Mrs. Brode
Far left; Mr. and Mrs. Azzam, Mrs. Aoun, Mrs. Azzuz and Mrs.
Bacoulis.
Far left; Mr. Wheeler, Mr. Gargaro, Mr. Sinnema and Mr. Basinger
Page 3
The Chatterbox
Volume 5, Issue 1
Congratulations
Savannah
Manios
Helene
Congratulations to Savannah Manios
(Class of ’07) on her acceptance to the
London School of Photography. She will be
attending in the spring of 2013.
Also, congratulations to Laura Carpiac
Sinnema (Class of ’90) for earning her
Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Special
Education from Cal State Dominguez.
And…Congratulations to our School
Board Member David Cherry and his wife
on the birth of their first grandchild. Manoli
Kostoglou. (Class of ’90) and his wife,
Helene (Class of ‘91) welcomed their first
child in 2012
Laura
Carpiac
Manoli
Wedding Bells are Ringing
Global Ireland Football Tournament
Two of our alumni participated in the Global Ireland Football
Tournament with their school, Notre Dame High School. Kevin
Daily, Class of 2009, played Varsity Football and Sebastian
Ocampo, Class of 2010, played drums in the famous band. Over
200 Notre Dame Football players, cheerleaders and band
members traveled to Ireland for the 6 day trip to play at Trinity
Stadium in Dublin Ireland. They were also able to attend the
game of Notre Dame University vs. Navy.
Alexander Sherman
St. Nicholas welcomes the children
of alumni to our preschool: Mauro Morgan’s
dad is Michael Morgan (class of ’92).
Cassandra and Emilia Chan’s mommy is
Melissa Randall Chan (class of ’96). Maya
Huber’s daddy is Christian Huber (class of
’84). Hailey and Lauren Sinnema’s mommy
is Laura Carpiac Sinnema (class of ’90).
Gregory Floor’s daddy is Luke Floor (class
of ’89). It is pleasures to have so many
second generations join our preschool family.
Sebastian Ocampo
Dean’s List Honors
Kevin Daily
Alexander Sherman (class of ’04) has
made the Dean’s List, once again, at UC
Davis. He has completed his second summer
of a paid internship at John Hopkins Medical
School Department of Neurology researching
ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease. Adding to all
that, he is president of his fraternity TKE.
Congratulation Alex!
Steven Greanias
Much happiness is extended to
our newest alumna bride, Brittney
Damato (class of ’01) and her groom,
Sean Op’t Eyndt, who were married
on September 29. Steven Greanias
(class of ’95) will be marrying Annie
Gordon on November 10, 2012.
2012 Seniors Earn Accolades
We are so proud of last year’s graduating class, the Olympians. The following alumni earned Honor Roll distinction
by achieving a combined GPA of 3.6 or better in English, math, history, and science: One Semester – Rachel Assad,
Irene Boyias, Genean Jue, Mora Kerollos; Two Semesters – Kristine Daily, Marina Elkess; Four Semesters – Soula
Bacoulis, Verna Halim, Steven Nassif, Angel Wahbi, and Stephanie Younan. Students who attained a 3.5 GPA or higher
in English, math, history, and science from the beginning of seventh grade AND attained a National Stanford
Achievement score of at least 85% in Reading or Math earned the coveted Gold Seal Presidential Award. They were
Soula Bacoulis, Irene Boyias, Kristine Daily, Marina Elkess, Verna Halim, Steven Nassif, Angel Wahbi and Stephanie
Younan. The following students who showed outstanding growth, commitment, and intellectual development earned the
Silver Seal Award: Rachel Assad, Danielle Haber, Genean Jue, Mora Kerollos and Angela Theodosiou. What an
amazing accomplishment that more than half of this graduating class earned such an honor!
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The Chatterbox
On Wednesday, October 10, our St.
Nicholas Saints Girls’ Basketball team won
against the Heritage Christian “B” team. Their
next game is scheduled for Tuesday, October
16 at 3:30 pm against Laurel Hall. This will be
a home game in St. Nick’s gym. So far, our
girls are undefeated! Go Saints!
On Tuesday, October 9, our St. Nicholas
Saints Boys’ Flag Football team beat Heritage
Christian 38-0. They now have two wins and
one loss! Way to go boys! Keep it up!
Parents, come get your Family Directory
in the School Office for only $3.00 each!
In Ms. Chobanian’s class, the students
had to write a paragraph about the things
they didn’t get to do during their summer
vacation.
They were encouraged to
exaggerate….
By Alexandra Turley
This summer I didn’t get to learn how to
surf at my great Uncle’s house in
Manhattan Beach. I was looking forward to
feeling the current of the waves and being
in water from head to toe, but my dad didn’t
get a change to take me, but maybe next
summer.
Volume 5, Issue 1
Thank you to Mrs. Cleo Alaoglu for her service as the
founding Principal of St. Nicholas School, for her decades of
service as the President of the School Board and for the love she
has given to so many of our students and staff members. We
lovingly appreciate the tradition she had begun 35 years ago. As
Mrs. Alaoglu retires, we are blessed to have other dedicated
School Board members ready to carry on the legacy.
Congratulations to Nicholas Bomicino who has been elected
as the new School Board President. Also, Congratulations to
Aliki Stilianos who was elected as Vice-President, David Cherry
as Treasurer and Martha Katsufrakis as the Secretary. We also
have a new School Board member, Nick Theodorou, who has
just joined us. Nick moved to this area from San Bernardino and
currently works at UCLA as a Director of the office of Bruin
Careers. Just this past summer, Nick and his wife added a new
baby boy to their family.
Thank you the rest of our School Board members Dr.
Veronica Abusleme, George Kezios, Connie Limperis, and Lisa
Skoby.
Kindergarten is learning all about the five senses.
This week they focused on sight. They discovered that our
eyes can see things at different distances. Seeing can protect
us from danger, as well. The week was ended by cutting out
pictures from magazines of things that we see! Below is
Andrew Columbis’s collage from Mrs. Kontos’s class.
Page 5
The Chatterbox
Volume 6, Issue 1
October 2012
SUN.DAY
MONDAY
1
TUESDAY
2
WEDNESDA
Y
3
THURSDAY
4
5
Boys’ Football
At 3:30 @ Northridge
Park
8
9
10
Boys’ Football
At 3:30 pm @
Northridge Park
14
15
16
Girls’
Basketball
At 3:30 pm
@ Heritage
Christian
17
FALL PICTURES
Girls’ Basketball
At 3:30 pm
@ Home
Boys’ Football
At 3:30 @ Northridge
Park
21
22
23
GENERAL
BOOSTER
MEETING
6:30 pm
Savalas Rm.
24
Boys’ Football
At 3:30 pm @
Westmark
11
29
Girls’
Basketball
At 3:30 pm
@ Home
18
Girls’
Basketball
At 3:30 pm
@ Home
31
Halloween
Parade 8:309:00 am
Halloween
Fair
1:00-2:30
Gym
12
13
Family
Night
6:00-10:00
pm
19
20
26
7th & 8th Grade
27
Boys’ Football
At 3:30 pm @
Petit Park
25
Girls’ Basketball
At 3:30 pm
@ Home
30
6
Progress
Reports
Sent Home
Boys’ Football
At 3:30 pm @
Northridge Park
28
SAT.
Girls’ Basketball
At 3:30 pm
@ Heritage
Christian
Girls’ Basketball
At 3:30 pm
@ West Valley Christian
7
FRIDAY
Halloween Dance
6:30-9:30 pm
Savalas Rm.
Page 6
The Chatterbox
Volume 5, Issue 1
My Challenges by the 3rd grade
My challenge is art. Art is
kind of hard for me. I have been
doing art for a long time. I like art.
I think I will improve in
Art by going to art more than 2
days.
Last year my challenge
was art because I like art and
needed to improve.
By Alek Milkie
My challenge is art and so
I went to the art class and I tried,
but I was not good. My dad said
we were going to come again next
year.
So when my dad told me
that we’ll go again, I was very
excited. I was jumping on my bed
and I had a big smile.
In third grade I can do art
now and I am so proud of myself,
and my mom and dad are proud of
me too.
By Angelika Ivanov
I tried playing the cello, but I
was not so good. I tried again, but
now I am playing the piano. Now I
play the piano good and it’s the
only instrument I play.
How I am going to get
better is by practicing and learning
the pieces, studying them and
learning them by heart. I need to
memorize it really good and never
forget it.
My teacher for second
grade was Mrs. Damato. She
taught me a lot. I learned math,
science and social studies with her
last year.
By Sandra Taylor
My Challenges are reading
and handwriting because
sometimes I don’t understand or
know what I’m reading. I need to
work on handwriting because
sometimes my hand hurts or
because I rush.
I will improve reading by
taking my time and looking at the
marks on what I am reading and
follow along. I can improve
handwriting by going slow and
focusing on how I am supposed to
write it.
My challenges last year
were multiplication and division
which is math. I improved by
reviewing over the summer with
my mom.
By Sandra Messiha
My challenges are playing
soccer on sand. It’s hard because
you can’t run fast and the ball
slows down on the sand because it
has bumps.
I will improve by learning
how to run, faster. Our coach
made us do a shooting drill and
our coach made us run around the
whole park and still I didn’t do it.
My challenge last year was
skateboarding. It was hard for me
to put both my feet on it. I
improved it by ltrying to put them
one after the other and next year I
improved.
My Challenge was trying
to play tennis. I played with my
cousin and he smoked me. My
cousin is so good. He has trophies
and medals and a big tennis ball
signed by a professional. He is
very good.
To get better I tried very
hard. I wanted my cousin to teach
me. I took a break of tennis. With
the New Year, I tried playing
tennis against a wall and I got
better. I asked my dad if we could
play tennis and I got very good.
My challenges last year
were getting through baseball and
homework at the same time. It was
hard. I was very tired. We did
homework very late. Then baseball
ended and it was easier, but I miss
baseball.
My challenge is doing an
essay at school. I don’t like essays
because they are so long and it
makes my hand hurt. It makes me
tired and makes my neck hurt a
lot. I want to do it again.
I am going to try it again,
maybe next year, so I can get
better at doing essays so I can get
used to it a lot. I hope I get to try
again. The next time I do it, I
might like it. I will get used to it
once I do it a lot of times.
My challenges from last
year were division, time tables,
and social studies. It was hard for
me because I didn’t know how to
do it that much. I improved my
challenge by learning more about
it. I hope to learn more about
social studies, division and time
tables. Now I am learning more
and more about these.
By Brooke
Bermudez
By Michael
Hutchison
By Luka Stanciu
Page 7
The Chatterbox
Very Early American History
Timelines by the 5th Grade
By Sean Brode
By Sophia Schlesinger
By Max Stark
Volume 5, Issue 1
Page 8
The Chatterbox
Volume 5, Issue 1
History (Mosaics) – 7th Graders
The 7th graders learned about the Byzantine Empire’s Emperor Justinian and Hagia Sophia, and recreated
religious mosaics inspired by the Byzantines (as well as our very own Byzantine style St. Nicholas Church).
By Seema Saad
By Corey Safady
By Sabrina Azzuz
History (Timelines) - 7th Graders
The 7th graders also learned about the interaction between Rome, Persia, India, and China. After covering
parallel timelines illustrating these exchanges, they made their own parallel timelines illustrating events in their
lives that overlapped with someone else’s.
By Celena Hamati
By Olivia Yamron
Page 9
The Chatterbox
Volume 5, Issue 1
Honor Roll
Honor Roll is a prestigious achievement in
any school. At St. Nicholas School, it is an even
greater accomplishment, since Middle School
students need to earn at least a 93% for an “A” and
need to maintain a 3.6 grade point average in the
core subjects of English, math, history, and science
in order to qualify for this very special award. Last
semester an impressive 40% of our 6th and 7th
graders achieved this honor. They were presented
their awards at the conclusion of our vespers service
with proud parents beaming. We are all so proud of
the following students for earning Honor Roll the
second semester of the 2011-2012 school year:
6th graders: Christina Azzuz, Nicole Diamond,
Theofanis Fox, Carmen Matar, Ashley Onks, Seema
Saad, Dmitri Schulyer-Linch and Olivia Yamron
7th graders: Kevin Curtis, Nicole Deober, Madison
Jenkins, Alexandra Pappas, Sophia Perris and
Alexia Savas.
Picture Day
H
A
L
L
O
W
E
E
N
Trick or treat, what a feat; St.
Nick’s Halloween is something you
can’t beat! Parents, Halloween is
approaching and our students are
preparing their costumes, as they
look forward to our Halloween
Parade, and Halloween Fair filled
with fun times and goodies. Let’s
not forget to follow the Halloween
rules
regarding
inappropriate
costume wear and safety. Our
Halloween Parade takes place on
Wednesday, October 31 at 8:309:00 a.m. Later during the day,
we’ll continue our Halloween fun
with our Fair that takes place in the
gym from 1:00-2:30 p.m. Can’t
wait to see everyone’s great ideas
this year!
Tuesday, October 16
Mark your calendar and get ready for
Picture Day on Tuesday, October 16!
Picture Day flyers / order forms were
sent home with your child.
Dear St. Nicholas Parents,
Here is an easy way for you to help the fifth
grade raise money for their Boston trip, and it
doesn't even cost you anything!
1.) Shop at your neighborhood Fresh and Easy
Supermarket. - We all have to eat!
FAMILY NIGHT
2.) Spend over $20.00. - That will not be hard!
Please join us for a night of fun
and sports at this year’s “MiniOlympic Games” Family Night. It
will take place on Saturday, October
13 from 6:00-10:00 pm in our
Gymnasium. Athletes can come as
their favorite team, or come as you
are! We will also have a silent
auction and a drawing, so come and
join the fun! Hope to see you all
there.
3.) Send your receipt to school. - Have your
child give it to their teacher or put it in the box
in the office.
4.) Ask your relatives and friends to save their
receipts as well.
Thank you for help.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Vogeley and the Fifth Grade Students
Page 10
The Chatterbox
ARTWORK
Zoe Mattan
Briana Zdenek
Volume 5, Issue 1
First grade Art inspired by
Pablo Picasso known as “The
Three Musicians”, paper
collage and acrylic.
Dylan Huber
Nickolas Huebsch
Page 11
The Chatterbox
Volume 5, Issue 1
Gold Club Winners
September 2012
Class
1-1
Student
Bianca Basinger
Vincent Gargaro
Katherine Pappas
Hannah Sinnema
2-1
Brandee Bermudez
Gurmannat Chadha
Mia Kost
3-1
Luka Stanciu
4-1
Mark Messiha
Sebastian Schlesinger
Alexandra Turley
5-1
Matthew Messiha
6-1
Angela Bacoulis
Gabriella Guidi
Garrett Jenkins
Maksym Wasylyn
7-1
Julia Decastro
Theofanis Fox
Carmen Matar
Michael St. John
8-1
Marina Mikhael
If you have any questions or comments regarding anything written in The
Chatterbox, please use the following email address: info@stnicholaseducation.com.
It would be greatly appreciated if you could send us any pictures you take at the
various school events. You can put them on a disc and drop them off at the office or
email them. We use photos for our yearbook, our Chatterbox, our church bulletin (The
Wonder Worker), as well as for our archives.