Portland St. Patrick Catholic School

I have to confess that I am a little tired as I write this because of all the activities that have been taking place around our school recently.  We have celebrated homecoming, our annual Fall Festival, and the end of the fall sports season (with the exception of varsity volleyball).  Looking ahead, there is no immediate let up in the schedule with many upcoming activities scheduled over the next few weeks.  Here are some of the activities taking place recently during the month of October.

•    Spirit Week:  Spirit Week was the first week of October.  Each day had a different theme and a different way for the students to show their school spirit.  On Friday afternoon the middle and high school hosted a pep assembly, followed by our annual Powder Puff Football Game.   The only major controversy surrounding Spirit week was the mysterious appearance of a foreign exchange student named  “Helga”, who was on the senior Powder Puff team.

•    Homecoming:   St. Patrick School hosted our annual Homecoming football game on Friday, October 7 with a 40-13 victory over Potterville.  King Paul Pung and Queen Holly Wieber were crowned at half time.  Following the game, students and parents headed to Father Flohe Field for our annual homecoming bonfire, which was large but quick burning.  On Saturday night, the Student Council hosted a dance at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant.  Students were dressed to the nines for a lovely evening of dancing and fun.

•    Fall Festival:  On Sunday, October 9, the Athletic Association hosted our 51st Annual Fall Festival.  This is one of the major fundraisers sponsored by the Athletic Association to raise funds for our Shamrock sports program.

•    Fire Prevention Week:  The Portland Fire Department visited and talked with our elementary students about fire safety and prevention on Tuesday, October 11.

•    Parent/Teacher Conferences:  We held our annual Fall parent/teacher conferences  on Tuesday, October 18 and were pleased that nearly all of the parents of our students attended.

•    Fall Sports Wrap Up:  All of our fall sports have wrapped up with the exception of varsity volleyball which still has tournaments left.  Our annual fall sports banquet is scheduled for Wednesday, November 9.

•    Staff Development Day:  Our staff participated in a Staff Development day at St. Patrick School on Friday, October 21.  They worked on completing a bible study and learned more about the technology available to teachers and students including:  Smartboards, Wikis, Web 2.0, and Skype.

•    Quiz Bowl:  We hosted the CMAC quiz bowl competition on Wednesday, October 26.

•    Pay It Forward Day:  Our students participated in the school’s annual community service day known as Pay it Forward Day on Friday, October 28.

•    Confirmation:  Our freshmen will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday, October 30.

It definitely has been a very busy, yet fun and exciting time of the year at St. Patrick School, with not much rest available for the weary.  The winter sports season will begin kicking off soon and then it is a dash towards Thanksgiving and Christmas Breaks.