The last Saturday in September has become known

as Villanova Service Day to all of us here at St. Martin of Tours.

We once again welcomed about 20 students and faculty

members, as well as friends and family members of ‘Nova,

who came to help with various projects. Most were

involved in painting the stairways

and railings in school while some put

a much-needed fresh coat of paint on the powder room in the convent.

The entrance to the Music Department got a good power-washing and

this has made a remarkable difference!

About 12 of our own eighth graders with Mr.

Pavonarius joined in on the service project…great experience for their

future years! They weeded around the statue of Our Lady on the

Boulevard side of the church as well as around the statue of Mary in

front of the convent and did general clean-up of the church and school

area.

We also received a very large donation of teacher resources and incentives from a Villanova

parent, Jim Connelly, President of Creative Teaching Press based in California…another

expression of thoughtful generosity!

We are always grateful for the help of our Villanova friends and our students…and the

“sprucing up” they give our school and grounds!

To see more photos of this day of service, visit the Post on our new

website: www.stmartinoftoursphila.org.

Join Us! Burger King Night Coming Up!

Our school will hold another Burger King Night this coming Thursday,

November 13th

, at the nearby BK – Castor and Cheltenham – from 4:00

to 7:00 pm. Just tell the counter clerk that you are from St. Martin of

Tours so that our school programs will benefit from your sale! We

thank you in advance for your support!

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November

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Vol. V,

Number 2

St. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School Newsletter – November 2014 p. 2

Our First Graders Learn Fire Prevention Methods

Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, the tragic 1871 conflagration that began on October 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on October 9, 1871. On the 40th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, the Fire Marshals Association of North America (today known as the International Fire Marshals Association), decided that the anniversary of this tragic event should henceforth be observed not with festivities, but in a way that would keep the public informed about the importance of fire

prevention. The commemoration grew incrementally official over the years. Since 1920, Fire Prevention Week has been observed on the Sunday through Saturday period in which October 9 falls. Our First Graders had an up-close opportunity to learn about Fire Prevention when Mr. Iannarelli (father of one of our teachers) visited their classrooms and showed the children some of the gear he uses as a volunteer firefighter. He also

read them a story that explained exactly what the children should do in the event of a fire. His most important message was to encourage the students to share with their families the need for a family-escape plan in case there was a fire in their home. Of course, they also talked about smoke detectors and not playing with matches or lighters. The children enjoyed the visit and will, hopefully, remember all that Mr. I told them!

Our Fifth Grade Chefs – Cooking Away!

My Daughter’s Kitchen, the after-school program

begun through the efforts of Mrs. Maureen

Fitzgerald of the Philadelphia Inquirer, is now in its

second year here at SMT. Five of our fifth graders

meet every Wednesday with Mrs. Stack and this

year’s volunteer, Mr. Frank Petrillo, to learn how to

make simple, healthy meals. Our new “chefs” – Javen,

Heaven, Elizabeth, Christopher and Tamika – have already

learned to make zucchini parmesan fries, whole grain pasta

with turkey sausage in tomato sauce, and tuna melts. The

young cooks are learning to use knives properly to chop and

dice, as well as to saute, marinate and bake. A wonderful,

varied menu awaits them each week…and they are eager to

don aprons and begin. Best part – eating what has been prepared and cooked!!

St. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School Newsletter – November 2014 p. 3

A warm sunny afternoon enhanced the reverent spirit that

prevailed on the convent lawn the afternoon of October 24th as all

from Kindergarten to Grade 8 gathered to honor Our Lady of the

Rosary. This beautiful tribute to May brought

student representatives from each grade to form a

“rosary circle,” standing by the large statue that is

actually over the convent Chapel. The students took turns praying the first half of

the traditional prayers, while the rest of the group prayed the second part. All

kept in mind the many intentions placed in these prayers, especially for peace in

our world, knowing that Mary would hear them and bring them to her Son, Jesus.

Our Sixth Graders spent the first week of the month of October

reviewing what they knew about Our Lady’s rosary, including

the prayers said and the various Mysteries of the Rosary.

An ending project for the students was to make their own

rosaries…using whatever materials were handy at

home. Many creative ideas came into Ms. Cush’s

classroom…there were rosaries from beads, small fluffy craft balls, candy and

even cereal! Surely these students will remember well what they learned from

this “hands-on” activity!

Marty Ticket Update!

As of this writing, our faculty and administration have distributed a total of 24,367 Marty Tickets during

September and October! That’s how much effort our students are putting into the four school rules that promote positive behavior throughout our day: Be Respectful! Be Responsible! Be Safe! Be Helpful! Our October classroom winners are: Grade 3, Ms. Hansen (twice) and Ms. Hamlin and Grade 1, Ms. Marcel and Ms. Berry in the lower school with a combined total of 1682 tickets earned! In the upper school,

our winners are Grade 6, Mr. Smith and Ms. Cush; Grade 5, Sr. Emily and Ms. Grant, and Grade 7, Mr. Flanagan with a combined total of 812 Marty Tickets earned! Congratulations to all of our students for their positive attitude and super-effort in doing the right thing – because it is the right thing to do!

St. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School NewsletterSt. Martin of Tours School Newsletter – November 2014 p. 4

Congratulations Congratulations Congratulations Congratulations –––– to our Students of the Month!to our Students of the Month!to our Students of the Month!to our Students of the Month!

The following students have been recognized by classroom teachers for their efforts in carrying

out the spirit and rules of our school: for September – Daniel Twyman, Devin Shaw, Sofia

Pendleton, Thomas Dinh, Anne Chen, Elizabeth Abellard, Alyssa Crespo, Nehemiah Lezin, J’dah

Alexandre, Catalina Reveron, Ava Burgos-Peguero, Julia Hun, Jayden Jordan, Elvia Mejia, Asher

Alexandre, Sandy Lin, Skky Wilson, Miguel Martins, Sianne Rivas, Lauren Moscato, Faheem

Sultan, Dennis Morales and David Eniola…and for October – Zoe Evans, Samya Bazomo, Elijah

Crespo, Kayla Dougherty, Julio Ayala, Selene Morpeau, Aliyah Mendes, Sofia Higuita, Mei Lin

Sun, Christopher Cavez, Aurora Alvarez, Shenaire Chandler, Megan Joy Calixtro, Jose Ortiz,

Hillary Wong, Michael Pham, Grace Salas, Kiana Sampson, Gavin Secora, Eileen Velez-Arce,

Liliana Sanchez, Gabrielle Hoang and Natalia Chavez.

September Students of the Month October Students of the Month

Our New Website!

St. Martin of Tours has a new website, under the main page of The Independence Mission Schools!

We have been working on this site for nearly a year and it is just about complete. We still need to

place a Parent Contact Form under the main heading of Parents…for any questions you may have

about upcoming events, etc. We also need an Alumni/ae Contact Form so that our graduates may

“sign in” and update their information with us. Once these two items are set, we will use only the

new site. You may have been on our “old” Weebly one; it has not been updated since June…you

are now directed to www.stmartinoftoursphila.org for all current information, photos and news. If

you have any questions – or know of an alum looking to reconnect – please go to the Weebly site;

otherwise, you will find our calendar and current news on the new site address given above. You

will be notified when we completely discontinue our use of the Weebly site. Thank you! Please let

us know how you like the new one!

A special feature on the new site is the small button on the bottom right hand corner marked

“Language.” You can click on that and choose whatever language you wish and the entire

website will be converted to that language, making it easier for all to read.