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St. Isaac Jogues School honored the Blessed Mother on Tuesday, May 5th with a May Crowning Mass that was attended, in person and socially distanced, by the 2nd graders who wore their First Communion clothes and by the 8th graders who wore dress clothing. The Mass was celebrated by Father De Salvo and assisted by Deacon Randy. Isabella P., an eighth grader, crowned the statue of the Mary at the beginning of the Mass. The 2nd graders made their First Communion last Saturday, May 1st and this was the first time the 2nd graders received Holy Communion at a school Mass. The rest of the children in the school were able to watch the live streaming of the Mass in their classrooms. It was beautiful to see the 2nd and 8th grade children at Mass to honor Mary. After Mass, the second graders celebrated a special tribute to their moms. Each student wrote and read a heartfelt letter to their mom and presented them with a beautiful rose. What a wonderful way to show how much our second graders love and appreciate their moms. Happy Mother's Day! Spring has sprung! Our preschoolers have been enjoying the great outdoors and all their fun activities. Fostering the love of learning through stories and play is an integral part of teaching our early learners. After listening to the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, the PK4 students used playdough to count and put leaves on their beanstalks. They also practiced placing numbers in order. Another book they enjoyed was Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The students were excited with the enrichment activity of making their own letter trees. In Religion, the preschoolers are learning about the season of Lent and the importance of Easter. Waving their palm branches, our PK3 students took turns acting out Jesus’ triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem. Both our PK3 and PK4 students continue to work on letter sounds with our Jolly Phonics curriculum and like playing the butterfly letter-sound matching game.
St. Isaac’s students in Preschool 4’s, Kindergarten, and First Grade celebrated 100 days of school! Preschoolers and first graders dressed like they were a hundred years old. Preschoolers counted objects to 100, danced to 100, and talked about what they would want and not want a 100 of. Kindergarteners shared their 100 item collections with classmates. First graders completed various activities in Math and Literacy geared to the number 100. They used their knowledge of skip counting, place values, and base ten manipulatives to identify how many colored sprinkles they would need to get to the number 100 to create a cupcake. First graders also raced to see how many words, tallies, and jumping jacks they could do within 100 seconds. What a fun day!
Last weekend the SIJ Theatre Program presented Radio Plays, a four-part production in which storytelling was done solely through voice and sound virtually. The directors of the program, Ms. Martin, Ms. Senick, and Mr. Bromann have been working hard all school year with students in grades 5-8 on their acting and design skills. Students on the crew created the concept artwork for both the poster and t-shirt. Audience members were able to hear the live Zoom performance this past Friday, February 19th and again on Saturday, February 20th. In lieu of ticket fees, donations to the Little Sisters of the Poor and Hinsdale Community Services were accepted through live links during the performances.
St. Isaac's School is so grateful to the directors of Radio Plays for giving our students an opportunity to participate in a theatre program this year! V is for Valentine! Our classroom Dramatic Play Centers have been transformed into post offices where students can make and send valentine cards to each other and their family members. Our teachers have created several games that foster learning while having fun. One math game is Valentine Cover-Up. After rolling two dice, the students count and add the dots together. They then used heart markers to fill up the paper hearts to match the number that they counted. As a group, they practiced identifying shapes, extending patterns, and graphing. The preschoolers are learning number order and number recognition by cutting and gluing hearts. In Language Arts, they have been practicing identifying the upper and lower case letter ‘V" and learning the sound the letter “V’ makes. In religion, our stories have focused on how we can show and spread love the way Jesus did! Deacon Randy came to our preschool classrooms on Ash Wednesday and sprinkled ashes over our heads to mark the beginning of Lent.
 The SIJ Theatre Program is proud to present Radio Plays , a four part production in which story-telling will be done solely through voice and sound virtually. The directors of the program are Ms. Martin, Ms. Senick, and Mr. Bromann. Students in grades 5-8 have been working hard on their acting and design skills this school year. Crew students created the concept artwork for both the poster and t-shirt. Audience members can view the live Zoom performance on Friday, February 19th at 7pm and again on Saturday, February 20th at 7pm. There is no fee for these performances; instead, donations to the Little Sisters of the Poor and Hinsdale Community Services will be accepted through live links throughout the performances. Please join us and support our students’ passion for the performing arts!
Please see the information below to log into the Radio Plays performances. Please note that you will first need to create a Zoom account. There is no fee to attend these performances. Friday, February 19th at 7pm (The Zoom lobby will begin at 6:30pm) Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/95819028203?pwd=ZHJacjVOMndJSW9VRFJPeHM1WVYydz09 Webinar ID: 958 1902 8203 Webinar passcode: 7s4qdV Saturday, February 20th at 7pm (The Zoom lobby will begin at 6:30pm) Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/94922467315?pwd=R0dNRGUyeStNN2c5MmxlRlEvV2tmUT09 Webinar ID: 949 2246 7315 Webinar passcode: Ex1Zq9 During Advent, our preschool students enjoyed all things Christmas! One of their learning center activities was to decorate a ‘Christmas Letter Tree.’ After rolling a letter die, students searched for the matching letter on the tree and dotted it with a marker to make a colorful letter ornament. In another activity, students practiced extending gumdrop patterns. They loved working with the gumdrops and even created their own patterns. Our preschoolers prepared for Christmas by singing songs, making Christmas trees, and playing games. They even filled their plates with homemade Christmas cookies baked in their classroom pretend center.
Our religion curriculum focused on the birth of Jesus. The preschoolers loved learning how the Angel Gabriel visited Mary and Joseph and listening to the story Jesus is Born. They had fun telling and retelling the Advent story. Our students realize they have many blessings including family, friends, school, and Jesus! SIJ STUDENTS PLACE FIRST IN CHICAGO AREA SCIENCE COMPETITION!
In late November, SIJ 7th & 8th grade students participated in the Annual Fenwick High School Science Competition. This year was an online version of the test, and our students excelled by earning a 1st place finish out of seventeen Chicago area and suburban schools. The students were tested on their knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology and earth science. Hayden S. was recognized as an individual winner by placing 4th, while Paige M. placed 6th. Abigail G. placed 13th, and Finn R. earned 20th place out of over 275 students. All of the students represented SIJ with academic diligence and excellence. SIJ 7th and 8th GRADE STUDENTS MASTER SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS WITH GREAT SUCCESS! All SIJ 7th and 8th graders have successfully completed and presented their annual science fair projects. Despite the absence of the usual trifold boards and open house to showcase the projects, the students have worked diligently to complete this major junior high academic expectation. Students started researching their topics last spring. They created their project designs and followed through the procedures of the scientific method in experimentation, analysis of data, and finally communication of data. Students were awarded ribbons from 1st through 3rd place based on their written science fair documents (typically 30 pages consisting of an abstract, full lab report, and background research) and oral presentation. Many students’ projects included topics of their own interests. Students researched and experimented on the physics of ball movement and composition. Some studied facial recognition, memory, and auditory vs. visual perception. Other students focused on the chemistry involved in various types of medications and their unique solubilities. Experiments on desalination, biofuels, temperature of magnets, earthquake proof buildings, and even dog intelligence were all conducted by our bright and curious students. The following students earned Gold Medals for their outstanding efforts: Ella B., Beatrice C., Elizabeth D., Abigail G., Paige M., Ethan O., Merrick P., Isabella P., Isabel P., Lucy R., Winston S., Ellie W., Liam C., Julia C., Abigail G., Oresta H., Lukas J., Katelyn K., Sloan M., Anika O., Thomas P., Mia S., and John T.. Due to the pandemic, it is uncertain at this time how many students will be able to advance to the regional and state levels of competition. Nevertheless, we celebrate ALL of our SIJ students and their excellence in science! On Tuesday, December 1st, and Thursday, December 3rd, the 8th graders were sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation. We are happy to have been able to celebrate this sacrament which was conferred by Bishop Joseph Perry of the Archdiocese of Chicago with social distancing, wearing of masks, disinfecting, and lots of cleaning. The bishop spoke about the tradition of renewing Baptismal Promises going back to ancient times. On the first Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit changed everything: the emboldened Apostles no longer hid ~ they proclaimed the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Our prayers go with the newly confirmed eighth graders as they prepare to go out into the world to live more divinely and bear witness to Christ.
Eph 1:13 “In Him you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” St. Isaac's first graders celebrated All Saints' Day by dressing up as "little saints." Each child selected a saint and learned about his/her life. The children dressed up as their chosen saint and processed into church for an All Saints' Mass Celebrations. Father DeSalvo and Father Twaruzek celebrated two different Masses to allow for social distancing. They gave special sermons about the meaning of being a saint and following Jesus. Everyone enjoyed the Mass celebrations and the special saint outfits. It was a beautiful day and we were so grateful that we were able to maintain this St. Isaac’s tradition for our first graders and their families. |
