Fun Fair, Final Basketball games, etc.

Yes, as you can tell by the number of emails, this is a busy time of year for the school and especially the 8th grade! So let's get right to it . . .

- This Saturday, February 2nd please do not forget to drop off baked goods for the Cake Walk. You can drop your items at the school hall Friday after school until 8pm and any time after 8:30am Saturday morning. We prefer all items be dropped off before the Fun Fair starts at 11am but if you bring it during the event we can still use it. Any questions please contact Katy McLeod katymcleod@comcast.net.
Best of all, it's our final fundraiser of the year!

- We have not received any responses yet regarding decorating for the final home basketball games this year. The first game is this weekend and they'll continue each weekend for the following three weeks.
The Fab Four has decided to start the decorating off by making basketballs with the name and number of all the 8th grade boys and girls basketball players. We will place these on the walls of the gym and they will stay up for the entire home game stretch.
We will still need two parents from each team to arrive early bringing streamers and a couple dozen green and white balloons to decorate the gym (you can submit your receipts for these items to our class treasurer Maribeth Ruf for reimbursement). Please do not make these helium balloons! If the balloons get loose and float to the ceiling they may end up setting off the motion detectors at some later date causing an unnecessary late night trip to school.
These decoations mean so much to the kids and it's a great way to commemorate their final basketball game at St. Joseph's School.

Please reply to this email with the team and date that you would be willing to help with:
Boys B1 - Feb. 3rd, 3:30pm
Girls B - Feb. 9th, 9am
Boys A - Feb. 16th, 11am
Boys B2 - Feb. 16th 12pm
Girls A - Feb. 23rd, 10am

- We are in need of Market Day lunch volunteers. Just a reminder that this is a 30 minute job from 12:10 - 12:40 monitoring the students from the hallway outside the classrooms. The following dates need to be covered:

Tuesday, February 12th
Tuesday, April 15th
Tuesday, May 13th

- Thursday, February 14th is Graduation Picture Day and the Valentine's Dance that Mrs. Schmitt and the kids have been working so hard on.
The morning will be the class Cap and Gown picture as well as individual pictures in Cap and Gown and in their dress clothes. The afternoon will be their Valentine's Day party and if they haven't told you already, ask your student who they've been paired with and what dances they've been learning for this big event.
Boys tend to be in suits and girls in dresses or dress clothes. Please remember that school appropriate guidelines are to be considered when shopping for their outfits.

- In an upcoming email we will be asking who has interest in attending the White Sox game outing this spring. Group tickets go on sale in a week or two and the sooner we purchase tickets, the better our seats will be.
The event will be open to students and as many parent chaperone's as are interested. So if you know you want to go you can reply to this email with a count from your family, or if you'd like to think about it we'll be sending another email out soon.

- One last reminder in case you forgot to mark this earlier:

Graduation Dinner Dance

Thursday, May 29th

6:30pm

St. Joseph School Hall

Graduation Mass

Saturday, May 31st

7:00pm

St. Joseph Church

Have a great week!

The Fab Four

Desperate for 2 Volunteers this Friday

I apologize for the late notice! The 8th grade classes will be doing a service project in the classrooms with their buddies this Friday, Feb. 1st, from 12-2pm. We are desperate for 2 adults to supervise the activity for Mr. Murphy's room. All materials will be provided - only supervision is required. The kids will be making baby blankets for unwed mothers.

Please feel free to respond to my email address lspratt@ameritech.net or call me at 630-322-9844.

Thank You!

Lisa Spratt

Class Gift to St. Joseph School

We have exciting news! Instead of waiting until the end of the school year to present the Class Gift to St. Joe's we will be giving it to the school this weekend for use during Catholic Schools week! An official acknowledgement of the gift will happen on Monday during school but thankfully the benefits of the gift will be enjoyed right away!

The Class of 2008 Gift to St. Joseph's School is

a new portable PA System!

This system comes as a 28 lb. one piece hard-case unit with a handle on top, that separates in to two speakers and the base unit. It comes with a wired microphone and we also purchased a wireless microphone so the speaker can walk throughout the gym with the mic if needed.

We have now received the OK to play music during warm ups and between periods at the basketball games and this system does that too. With the help of an MP3 player loaded with approved music it can project any mix of music needed.

This unit is small but powerful and will see it's first use during the many 8th grade home basketball games this weekend! And by giving the gift early it will allow our 8th graders to see their gift in action and benefit from it themselves as well!

This PA System will also be able to be used on Sunday during the Shoot Out and during any other school events needing a sound system . . . homecoming pep rally, Field Day (because it's portable), class parties in the gym, the Parish Block Party, etc.

Any questions, concerns or comments, please let us know,

The Fab Four

Ski Trip Forms, Dinner Dance, etc.

- The 8th Grade Ski Trip reservation forms and waivers should be coming home in your students backpack today. Included is a trip overview as well as several reservation forms, permission slips and liability waivers. All forms and money need to be returned to Roseanne Musil c/o Greg Musil Rm. 102 by Monday, January 28th.

Please be sure, if your child needs a snowboarding lesson, that you mark that on the reservation and get it in as soon as possible. The snowboard lessons (not the ski lessons) are by advanced reservation only.

You will be happy to see that the final price is considerably less than our worst case estimate, due in part to the great success we've had in fundraising this year. Thanks to all your hard work we were able to pay for most of the transportation cost through the class earnings!

- Tuesday, January 22nd will be the first meeting for the 8th Grade Dinner Dance. The meeting will be at Mary Durkin's home, 7213 Webster Street @ 7:30pm. Anyone interested in helping out is welcome. Those who already signed up in August are Melanie Biederman, Julie Correll, Clare Cortesio, Michelle Drennan, Anne Harris, Lea Krouse, Melanie McGinnis, Katy McLeod, Pat Meier, Colleen Morrison and Saitong Urramporn. We will be setting up committees and discussing initial plans.

- Saturday, Feb. 2nd is Fun Fair and the 8th Grade Cake Walk. We need 6 parents to volunteer one hour each between 10am - 3pm to supervise the students as they run the cake walk for the attendees. Pat Meier and Jeanne Holecek have already volunteered so we only need 4 more volunteers. Please email Katy McLeod at katymcleod@comcast.net or call her at 630-435-9005 if you can help.

We also need everyone to bring a bakery item to school Saturday morning to be used in the cake walk. Please drop off by 11am in the school hall.

- We are looking for parents who can decorate for the final home basketball games next month. If you can believe it they start as early as February 3rd! If we could get two parents from each team to arrive early bringing a couple dozen green and white balloons, some streamers and maybe paper basketballs with each players name and number on it to place on the walls that would be great! And it would mean so much to the athletes!

Please reply to this email with the team and date that you would be willing to help with. Here are the dates:
Boys B1 - Feb. 3rd, 3:30pm
Girls B - Feb. 9th, 9am
Boys A - Feb. 16th, 11am
Boys B2 - Feb. 16th 12pm
Girls A - Feb. 23rd, 10am

We'd also appreciate it if you would all note ALL these dates in your calendars and encourage your students to come and support their classmates at every game . . . and parents are certainly welcome too!

- This is the first of two extensive emails detailing the upcoming events for the start of this second, and very fun-filled, semester. We know this is alot to take in, but we have many wonderful traditions here at St. Joe's and we look forward to sharing these memorable events with your children. And given the scope of field trips, dances, picture days, and more it has been decided to pass on a trip to Springfield this year. Please know this is not a reflection on your students but simply an issue of how to orchestrate an already event-filled year end.

You can look forward to email #2 coming to your inbox next week!

The Fab Four

Date for 8th Grade Ski Trip

Just a quick note to let you know that this year's 8th Grade Ski Trip will be Monday, February 4th. We will be in touch by the end of the week with the final details.

Pray for snow!

The Fab Four

RSVP

We've heard from just over half the class regarding this year's ski trip . . . thanks so much! And many are probably still away on vacation, but please know that whether or not your child intends to go on the ski trip we need to hear from everyone so we can work out the costs, etc. for those attending. This will also save us from bugging you with a phone call.

Please email back with the following:
STUDENTS NAME
WILL OR WILL NOT BE ATTENDING
HAVE THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT OR NEED TO RENT EQUIPMENT

Thanks and Happy New Year!

The Fab Four

8th Grade Class Ski Trip

Happy New Year!

Just a quick request regarding this year's 8th Grade Ski Trip. If you could please respond to this email with your child's name and whether or not they will be attending it will be a big help in ironing out the details of this event.

The trip will take place on a school day and all students are invited whether they intend to ski or not. The non-skiers hang out in the lodge while the rest are on the slopes. And while we are sure that cost may be a factor in your decision, we unfortunately cannot give you a clear cut answer until we know how many students will be attending. Worst case scenario shouldn't exceed $42 for skiers who have their own equipment or $62 for skiers who need equipment rentals and $20 for bus only.

This does not include money for food but we hope to provide snacks and drinks on the bus and you may be able to send food with your child depending upon the location.

So if you could please reply to this emial ASAP with the following:
CHILD'S NAME
WILL or WILL NOT ATTEND
DOES or DOES NOT HAVE THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT

Thanks so much and have a Blessed New Year!

The Fab Four