Happy New Year, to All!Happy New Year, to All!Happy New Year, to All!Happy New Year, to All! May this Year of Mercy help us experience the love of God who consoles, pardons and

instills hope. May it be a source of Peace in our hearts, our lives and our neighborhoods!

Enjoy a brief review of some of the events during the month of December at SMT School:

Helping Others Have a Merry Christmas!

Our students and their families shared the true spirit of giving for the

Christmas season with children not so fortunate as we are. Our first

ever “Pajama Drive” was held in school in

connection with the Scholastic Reading

Club and the “Pajama Program.” Families

sent in pajamas for children of all ages…and

Scholastic will donate a new book with

each pair of pajamas! The Pajama Program

will deliver the PJs and books to children living in homeless shelters

in time for Christmas morning! We thank our third grade teacher,

Ms. Tieri, for organizing this opportunity for all of us to continue to

share the Christmas spirit!

We CelebrateWe CelebrateWe CelebrateWe Celebratedddd the Feast of St. Lucythe Feast of St. Lucythe Feast of St. Lucythe Feast of St. Lucy

In honor of the Feast of St. Lucy, some of our Student Council Officers donned white robes with a red sash and wore a wreath of candles (battery operated!) in imitation of St. Lucy. This saint was known in her time to visit the persecuted Christians in the catacombs bringing them something to eat and drink. She wore a

wreath of lighted candles on her head so that her hands were free to carry the food. In Scandinavian countries, her feast day became known as the Festival of Lights and is celebrated even today by children wearing white robes and wreaths of candles, distributing sweet treats to others. The faculty and staff enjoyed sweet treats of hot chocolate and doughnuts on December 13th…brought to them by our own “St Lucy” Student Council members, S. Ellen and Mrs. DiNardi!

From the LION’S DENFrom the LION’S DENFrom the LION’S DENFrom the LION’S DEN St. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School Newsletter

We are

P M e a a k c e e r

s

January 2016

Vol. VI,

Number 4

St. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School Newsletter – January 2016 p. 2

Our School Was Alive…with the Sound of Christmas! Our annual Christmas Concert took

place on December 16th (too late for

Bulletin publication) and families and

friends packed our gym, eager to hear

the results of many hours of practice.

We were first treated to the Jr. Chorus

(grades 2 to 4), who sang two new

songs: Were You There? and Run, Run, Reindeer! They were

followed by Guitar group’s rendition of Let It Snow and an all-time

favorite, Winter Wonderland. Our Bell Choir – always a favorite –

entertained us with Jolly Old St. Nicholas and Silent Night! The

Orchestra joined in with more carols…and then the Choir, who

cheered everyone with their songs. Finally, the Jr. Chorus joined the

Choir with a medley of Feliz Navidad, Angels We Have Heard on High,

Joy to the World and We Wish You a Merry Christmas…inviting the

audience to join in singing with them. Everyone left with a great deal

of Christmas Spirit to spread to others!

On Monday afternoon, our 3 and 4 year-old Pre K children and

the Kindergarten brought smiles and cheers to their parents and

family members with their Christmas presentations of songs and

poems. It was obvious

to all that they, too, had

spent much time

practicing – it was a

perfect performance! A standing ovation from the

audience was a given!

The morning of the last day of school, the entire school

gathered in the gym for a Christmas sing-a-long. Each

class performed a favorite Carol, complete with some

costume, including a

“hippopotamus!” or

action to enhance

their performance.

All joined in singing

favorite Christmas Carols at the end of the classroom

performances – and gathered additional Christmas Spirit to take

with them for Christmas break!

More can be seen on our website: www.stmartinoftoursphila.org

St. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School Newsletter – January 2016 p. 3

“Earthquake” Shakes“Earthquake” Shakes“Earthquake” Shakes“Earthquake” Shakes Gingerbread Houses!Gingerbread Houses!Gingerbread Houses!Gingerbread Houses!

The sixth grade students of St. Martin of Tours School meet with

engineering graduate and undergraduate students from Villanova

University once a month in an after-school program entitled

NovaCANE. The students are given a lesson on structural

engineering, and then they participate in a hands-on activity.

December’s lesson, the Gingerbread House Earthquake Project, taught the students the

importance of having a strong foundation in order to build a structure. The students were

given graham crackers, candy, pretzel rods and frosting, and used these materials to build a

“Gingerbread House.” The houses were then placed on an

earthquake simulator and tested to determine the success of

the students’ designs. After discussing their strategies in

building the houses, the students then enjoyed eating the

rubble!

Contributed by our Sixth Grade Teacher, Mr. Joseph T. Smith

Marty Says…Character Counts!Marty Says…Character Counts!Marty Says…Character Counts!Marty Says…Character Counts!

As we continue working on the six Pillars of Character to help

us become the best we can be, our teachers were also looking

for students who showed growth in Fairness during the month

of December. We CONGRATULATE the following for their

spirit of fairness: Eileen Velez-Arce, Lauren Moscato, Anthony

Tadeo, Jordan Borrero, Nicolle Hernandez-Guessero, Sara

Hatter, Jadun Webb, Aslenny Valerio, Rayhan Ekobeni, Mel

Grace Calixtro, Morgan Morais, Elionze Pierre, Favor Akaluka,

Julio Ayala, Emauri Leggett, Leielle Lane, Genevieve Yang,

Nicholas Ehling, Khoa Pham, Sanaa Owens, Kaitlyn Salazar-Ramirez, and Aniah Jones.

KUDOS to the following students who are recognized for

earning the most Marty Tickets in their class for

December: Mariam Dambly, Christian Cupid, Endrick

Rodriguez, Victory Eleazu, Joshua Sibre, Joel Foreman,

Sofia Galicia, Jossia Joseph, Leielle Lane, Daniel Victoria,

Mei Lin, Nevaeh Coleman, Fernando Nido, Valeria

Albarouki, Kayla Brown-Williams, Clifton DeBrosse,

Michelle Vo, Sara Hatter, Michael Eniola, Sianne Rivas,

Eileen Velez-Arce, and John Solano.

St. Martin of Tours School NSt. Martin of Tours School NSt. Martin of Tours School NSt. Martin of Tours School Newsletterewsletterewsletterewsletter – January 2016 p. 4

My Daughter’s Kitchen Wraps-Up

Another Session!

“These eight weeks really went fast!” “I learned a lot of

new things!” “Now I can help my Mom cook dinner for us!” These were some of the

sentiments expressed by our five fifth-grade “chefs” who spent Tuesdays after school in

the school gym kitchen with two wonderful volunteers, Mr. Frank and Ms. Chris, as well

as staff members, Mrs. Farrell, Ms. Stadtfeld, and Ms.

Hamlin learning the basics of cooking. Following the plan

set up by Mrs. Maureen Fitzgerald of the Philadelphia

Inquirer (editor of the Food Section), William, Kennedy,

Aslenny, Luis and Jasmin learned to read recipes and

measure ingredients; they learned how to chop and

sauté vegetables for a meal or for soup, and also how to

prepare fish and chicken for baking or broiling.

Sometimes they prepared a vegetable they had never before eaten. It was a great

learning experience in all aspects. Each week, they looked

forward to enjoying the meal they learned to prepare!

There were rarely leftovers to take home!

As is the tradition, the students invite two family

members to join them for dinner at the last session. To

get ready for this, they carefully reviewed all the recipes

made over the seven weeks – and planned the menu!

Dinner for their guests would be a special salad, penne pasta

and a new, fruity dessert made with strawberries,

blueberries and raspberries! There was a lot of excitement

preparing this final meal – but even more pleasure in sharing

it with family and teachers!

We congratulate William, Jasmin, Luis,

Aslenny and Kennedy for their interest in the program and their

willingness to learn something new, different and useful as they

grow older and more helpful at home!

Additional photos may be found on our school website:

www.stmartinoftoursphila.org