Kindergarten Informational Session and Round-up
Kindergarten Informational Sessions and Round-up are right around the corner. Parents will have an informational session, and students will get to be kindergartners for the “day.” Find out how the difference in us will make a difference in your child’s education. Please call the school office ahead of time, (563) 391-3030, so we can have a more personalized experience prepared for your child. Click HERE for this week’s church bulletin, which contains more information.
- Feb 6: 7:30 – 9:00 a.m. in the parish center, or
- Feb 6: 6-7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria
Preschool and Daycare Registration
Three, four, and five year old preschool and daycare registration for OLV parishioners and current JFK families begins February 3rd at 7:30 a.m. Open registration begins on February 6th. Morning spots go fast so don’t delay registration. Click HERE for this week’s church bulletin, which contains more information.
Virtus Updates
Did you complete your annual renewal with www.virtus.org? All employees and volunteers working with children and dependent adults within the parishes and Catholic schools of the diocese were assigned the online annual renewal module on January 2nd and given two weeks to complete it. The module takes about 20-30 minutes to complete. If you have not yet completed it, please do so ASAP. In the near future, we will have to move to restricting access to children by those who have not completed the renewal.
Catholic Schools Week
Below is a summary of events for Catholic Schools Week.
Saturday, Jan 25:
- Thank you to everyone who helped with the spaghetti supper! Special events/activities don’t just happen; they happen because of you!
Monday, Jan 27:
- Dodgeball for Diapers Day. Forms for this 3rd-8th grade fundraiser were made available by Mrs. Tilkens.
- Athletic dress day — out of uniform (but following the out of uniform guidelines in our handbook as all our special dress days must)
- PS puppet show is cancelled due to staff absences. Regular PS classes.
Tuesday, Jan 28:
- Talent Show
- 7:45 Grades 4, 1, 2, 3 in this order.
- 12:25 Grades K, 5, 6, 7, 8 in this order.
- All acts and music must be approved by homeroom teachers.
- Forms due January 21st. Forms went home before Christmas break
- Class dress alike day. Look for information from your child’s homeroom teacher.
- Students may bring a pillow upon which to sit.
Wednesday, Jan 29:
- Regular Wed. All School Mass, 7:40
- Bring an Adult Guest to Lunch Day
- Visit the book fair after lunch
- 10:40 – 11:10 K
- 11:10 – 11:40 3rd and 4th grades
- 11:40 – 12:10 1st and 2nd grades
- 12:10 – 12:40 5th and 6th grades
- 12:40 – 1:10 7th and 8th grades
- Parents may take their students home after lunch. However, both a child’s homeroom teacher and office need to be informed.
- A lunch note will be sent home to pre-purchase your adult meal. School lunch for adults will only be available through this pre-payment requirement so we have time to order enough food for everyone.
- Green and white and/or JFK spirit wear out of uniform dress day (Mass appropriate)
Thursday, Jan 30:
- All Catholic schools Mass at AHS for grades 2-8. Permission slips were emailed to parents and sent home hard copy with students.
- Everyone will be in uniform/dress code.
- PS puppet show is cancelled due to staff absences. Regular PS classes.
Friday, Jan 31:
- Wacky Tacky Out of Uniform Day
- 8th grade vs. Staff Volleyball Game, 1:30
- Special activities in grades K-2
- 4 year old preschool puppet show and PS book fair are cancelled due to staff absences. (All our puppeteers will be gone or are ill.) Regular PS classes.
- Quad City Storm players are special guest readers
- Conclude Catholic Schools Week with a Storm game, supporting JFK Home & School. Quad City Storm vs. Peoria Rivermen. 90’s Night!http://fevo.me/JFKHomeandSchool
Trivia Night
The Music Boosters’ Trivia Night is Saturday, February 1st at the Knights of Columbus. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m., and trivia will start at 7:00 p.m. Invite your friends and family for a fun, adults-only, night out. The price is $100 per table with a maximum of 8 people per table. “Double Downs” and “Mulligans” are included in the price of the table. Bring your own snacks and drinks may be purchased from Knights of Columbus. Contact Ethan Connors at ethan.connors@olvjfkmail.com to reserve your space. All proceeds will go to the JFK Music Boosters in support of the 5th – 8th grade bands and music programs.
8th Grade Career Fair
Preparations for the 8th annual Scott County Catholic Schools and St. Ambrose University 8th Grade Career Fair have begun. The career fair is held on in the Rogalski Center on SAU’s campus and will be Friday, March 6, 2020. We would like to extend the opportunity for area businesses, employers, colleges and universities, health care professionals, law enforcement agencies and various career-related organizations to join us in educating our eighth grade students about the numerous employment opportunities available to them. Presenters are asked for a time commitment of 8:15 am-2:00 pm. Presenters prepare a booth with information about their career (job duties, professional expectations, hours, required education/training, technology, general salary range, likes and dislikes, etc). The students enjoy hands-on activities so anything you wish to do or bring that is interactive is most appreciated. The students will rotate in groups and complete a career questionnaire about each booth they visit. A thank you lunch for all presenters will be provided. All presenters are invited to join us for the celebration of Mass at 1:15 in the Christ the King Chapel on campus. If you are interested in being a presenter at the career fair, please email the following information to Mrs. Wolf: emma.wolf@olvjfkmail.com.
- Career Field/Occupation
- Business Name or Place of Employment
- Name
- Address
- Daytime phone number
- Special needs at the fair (Ex: access to electricity, WiFi/Internet access, space for a drone to work)
School Cancellations
Messages regarding cancellations, late starts, or early dismissals are shared with JFK families via phone, text, and email. If you did not receive a text message two weeks ago, it is most likely because you are not registered to receive text messages from JFK. (This primarily applies to families new to JFK in 2019 and/or new preschool families.) To receive JFK text messages, type “Y” or “Yes” to 67587. You will not receive text messages from JFK if you do not take action yourself. There is no action required to receive email or phone messages.
OLV parish bulletin: Click HERE or use the following link/url: https://www.olvjfk.com/olv/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/January-26-2020.pdf
Math Rules/Procedures vs. Understanding Math
Quick! What’s 112 minus 78? (No using a calculator!)
Now, how did you solve it? Did you line up the numbers? Did you then “borrow” to make 12 minus 8 and change the 1 to a 0, and then subtract 7 from 10? Did you even understand what I just wrote? Did you have to write the math problem down on a piece of paper because you can’t keep all that work lined up in your head? This method would likely be more of a rules/procedures basis to math, and probably more like how we learned math ourselves. I remember trying to help my kids with math. I’d say, “Just follow the rule.” They’d ask me, “But, why do you do it that way?” I’d respond, “Because that’s just the rule. Just do it that way every time.”
Today’s math instruction (including the Iowa Core) goes beyond the rules and procedures to help kids understand why math works. In my head, I can more easily do 112 minus 80 and then have to subtract 2 more. Or, I can add two to each number and then determine 114 minus 80 pretty easily. Or, I can add 22 to 78 and then add another 12 to get to 112 to determine that my answer is 34. I can probably only solve the math problem these ways if I understand the math concepts involved.
Yes, I still need to know my “math facts,” and I still have to have a great deal of automaticity if I’m to free my brain to work on the harder aspects of a math problem. But, when the going gets tough, understanding how math works can really help because, let’s face it, 112 minus 78 is not a math fact that I need to memorize. I need to know how math works so I can use a strategy to get to the answer.
Talent Show Regrets
My youngest two daughters tell me almost every year that one of their biggest regrets was to not “dance” with Dad in the talent show during Catholic Schools Week. Every year, especially as they passed through the middle school years, I’d ask them if they wanted to do a dance/comedy/audience participation activity with me during the talent show. We didn’t have to be good at anything or really even dance together. We didn’t even have to speak. I would do a couple of warm ups as if preparing for a big fancy dance, and, then, when the music would start playing, we’d have everyone up to do the “hokey pokey” or the “chicken dance.” What could be more fun than that? Each year, however, they’d tell me no. It would be too embarrassing. Now that they are almost 21 and 23, they regret not “dancing” with Dad.
Chad
