Pay Attention!

Preschool and Primary
It is such a busy time of year and that is not lost on the students in our Sunday School classes. When we had our introduction about the Living Crèche and Pageant, we talked about why we tell the story in these two presentations. Yes, it is the Christmas Story and while there are references to Santa in any discussion about Christmas, the children came up with the true meaning of Christmas all on their own. Chloe said it is the birthday of Jesus and all the children gave a resounding "yes" to her answer. Charlie said that the reason we want to tell the story through the Living Crèche and the Pageant is so we "pay attention" to what is most important. What an amazing observation from a third grader. A simple statement, but it requires gargantuan effort sometimes.

The Jesse Tree
The younger grades colored and cut the ornaments for the Jesse Tree, the 4-5-6 Grade Students attached the ribbons and helped place them on the tree. When you selected the ornament to purchase the gift for Connections for the Homeless, did you pay attention to the ornament? It's a small part of the process, but one the children take very seriously. And if we pay attention to the true meaning of the Jesse Tree, we will see that it is a reflection of God's love. As Fr. Hardman explains it: the ornaments on the Jesse Tree remind us of people who are the spiritual ancestors of Jesus, people who gave of themselves and thus prefigure or foreshadow the self-giving love of Jesus. Since our children will be giving of themselves as they contribute to Connections for the Homeless this Christmas, then they reflect the self-giving love of Jesus and are thus his descendants/children. Therefore we will place a picture of our children on the Jesse Tree in recognition of their self-giving as well.

4-5-6
Students in our Intermediate Grades have played an important role in our Thanksgiving and Christmas Outreach projects. Representatives for both the Primo Center and Connections for the Homeless spoke to these students about the services they provide. Did you pay attention to the posters the students made to promote our Outreach efforts? They included the J. Westerhof quote from one of Fr. Hardman's sermons: "You can't think your way into a new way of acting; you have to act your way into a new way of thinking."

Junior High School
Talk of hopes and fears, POW and WOW took place in the Junior High classroom. From a stack of newspapers, the students found examples of a "pow"; something really bad or unpleasant and a "wow"; something good or uplifting. What a great thought for December: pay attention to the "wow" moments in our day!

All Things Bright and Beautiful
A parent shared with me recently a letter she received from her child's grade school teacher that relayed the story of the kindness her daughter has continually shown to her classmates. The mom shared it with me and said "I give ATB&B all the credit". While I am happy she acknowledges the impact this preschool has had on her child, I said I give the credit right back to her. When what we do here is validated, celebrated, reinforced AND modeled at home, the results are awesome! The modeling comes from loving parents who are fully vested in their child's life. We see it on Dad's Day when the children share their experience at ATB&B with Daddy on a Saturday morning in November.

REGISTRATION for 2010-2011
Applications are currently available for the 2010-2011 school year. The first phase of the application process will close January 15. Applications are available in the parish office or may be downloaded from the ATB&B page on our website.