Latest Newsletter

In This Issue                               2nd Edition New SJBA Website Launched! Visit our new site       Apple Picking SJBA students enjoyed their visit to Hillcrest Orchards on October 30.  In addition to picking apples, they were able to milk a cow, ride a tractor, and watch pig races.      The weather was perfect and they had a great time!       Upcoming Events   Tuesday, November 5, 2013 Fr. Tri Nguyen, parochial vicar at St. Peter Chanel visits SJBA.  He will hear confessions from 11:30 am-1:30 pm    Wednesday, November 6, 2013 3rd grade field trip to Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory   Friday, November 15, 2013 Girls and Boys Middle School basketball game vs. Fideles at Covenant Christian, 5 and 6 pm   Thursday, November 21, 2013 Girls and Boys basketball at Warhill MSB- 4 pm / JVB- 5 pm VG-6 pm / VB-7:30 pm Thanksgiving Feast/ Bosco   Boutique 12:30-2:30 pm All school early release for feast   November 25-29 Thanksgiving Break   Monday, December 2 Academics resume   Saturday, December 14 All School Choral Concert 7 p.m.   December 16-20 Lower School Enrichment days   December 16-18 HS first semester exams Half days for high school students   December 19-20 High School Enrichment days   December 23-January 3  Christmas Break   Monday, January 6 Home Study Enrichment   Tuesday, January 7 Classes resume   Monday, January 20 MLK Day-No Academics SJBA Sports in Action! Congratulations to the  SJBA Cross Country team for completing their first, successful season.  The Gray Wolves participated in 5 meets around the Atlanta metro area, including the GICAA State Championship on November 2, 2013.   Varsity: Megan Spillane Pippo Boyle Nicolas Bowring Kevin Nelson Jim Stewart Maria Ross Mimi Drapeau Patrick Smith Emily Cross           JV: Ray Rennell Andy Cross Joseph Spillane Olivia Gannon Annabelle Holtkamp Julia Ross       Newsletter Submissions Needed!!   newsletterSJBA@gmail.com All Saints Day Procession The super-cute SJBA Saints were a blessing to all in attendance!   Great SSO  Time is running out to participate in the St. John Bosco Great SSO program which helps provide scholarships to qualified students from taxpayers' redirection of their taxes.   Go to http://www.greatsso.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/GREATSSOTP12013.pdf  to access the form.  Fill it out and return it during carpool.  Please write  "Attention: Susie" on the envelope. The deadline to submit your form is November 5, 2013 .    Please help us reach our goal of 30% participation this year!      Contact Diana Bowring at sjbagreatsso@aol.com or 484.942.3730 with your questions.     Homeschooling Tips The most valuable piece of advice that I can offer a home schooling family is that home education is a full-time job. Mothers and fathers should expect the house to be messier, not only because Mom now has a new career, but also because the children are home all day long when they're not running around to activities.  They're not going out to school giving Mom plenty of time to clean, cook, and shop.  They're home---living, learning, and being a family.  So, give yourselves a break, and don't expect everything to be the way it was when the children were in school.  And if Mom has another, paying, gig, then give her a double break!     That said, that means it is very important to have some sort of organization.  Our job in home education includes training children to be part of a functioning household, and run their own, eventually.  Put them to work.   Last week's Gray Wolf Gazette listed some helpful links.  Here is a great article on how to get your kids to work during the day.  http://www.home-school.com/Articles/10-kids-10-minutes.php .  At our house, we call it "Team Cleaning."  Everyone enjoys it more and we get a lot done in a short amount of time!                                                             ----Sara Boyle, 19 year veteran   Educational Website:   www.khanacademy.com is an excellent resource for all kinds of questions.  They have thousands of free videos to help with concepts that the kids aren't quite getting.  Especially helpful for high school math and sciences!      SCHOLARSHIPS:  Interested in scholarship money?  There is a website with resourceful information for middle and high school students at www.scholarshipmentor.com.  Check it out and then get on their subscription list so they automatically mail you the monthly scholarships available. What a fabulous resource!    AWESOME BOOKS: Got a good reader?  Need Christmas ideas?  Check out the website www.bethlehembooks.com for incredible books.  Boys and girls will love the wholesome books/series with interesting, virtuous and adventurous plots while in a Christian/Catholic setting.      Fall Dance SJBA students are looking great! Virtues                                                                                                                                                                "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his mercy endures forever." Psalm 108:1   In November we celebrate Thanksgiving for all of our abundant blessings. With a grateful heart we gather at feast with loved ones, and are thankful for Jesus and the Church, the gift of family and friends, our Country, peace, the food we eat and for all the many gifts our Heavenly Father bestows.   November is also when we dedicate our prayers to the Holy Souls in Purgatory to help alleviate their sufferings, so they may reach heaven more quickly. "Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin." 2 Maccabees 12:46  The souls in purgatory can no longer pray for themselves, but they are thankful for our prayers, and pray for us out of gratitude.   November 16th is the feast of St. Gertrude the Great, a Benedictine nun and mystic who lived in the 13th century. According to tradition, our Lord promised her that 1000 souls would be released from purgatory each time this prayer is said devoutly.   Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen. The Grateful Leper  Family Spotlight The Czabala Family The Czabala family, with the "4 P's in a pod" (Patrick 7th grade, Penny 3rd grade, Peter 1st grade and Paul 3 years old ), are excited to be in our 3rd year of SJB.  It has been one of the best decisions we have made for our family. We are also excited to have even more St Peter Chanel families joining us this year and sharing in this wonderful community.  We came to SJB from public school in Roswell and are so happy to be with such wonderful Catholic families where our faith can remain in the center of our everyday lives and with the subjects they are learning in school. Thank you- administration and facility for being a part of our lives and educational experience!!!!    Cherie and Mike Czabala. The Kassalen Family    The Kassalens are happy to be part of the SJBA family!  Paul and Kris just celebrated 23 years of marriage!  We are blessed with 4 children and two in heaven!  Kenny is 20 years old, Clare is a 10th grader at SJBA, Katherine (8th) and Mary (6th), school at home with Georgia Cyber Academy. We have only been homeschooling for a couple years coming from Pinecrest and/or public schools. Kris worked full time as a media specialist prior to deciding to homeschool.  Paul is a Quality Control Manager at Makita Corportation in Buford, Ga.  They attend Christ Redeemer Catholic Church in Dawsonville, GA.   We thank God and Our Lady for the gift of SJBA!     The Brookshire Family   Doug and Andrea Brookshire have been married for 15 years and have three children:  Lilly (9), Hudson (6), and Clare (2).  They live in Roswell and are members of St. Peter Chanel Catholic Church.   They started at SJBA last year and are so grateful for all of the benefits that the hybrid system has provided them - especially more time together as a family!  Some of their favorite family activities include - tennis, game nights, camping, and watching Auburn football! Mr. Cathey John Cathey is a convert to the Catholic faith and an Atlanta native. He teaches the 4th and 6th Grade religion classes, and assists with 5th grade religion at SJBA. As well, he is the TA for 4-6th history. His work with teens has steadily increased over the past few years, hearing God's call to ministry after a short career as a touring musician. He attended Vanderlynn Elementary School and Peachtree Middle School, earning his B.A. in Music Performance at Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Georgia. John is currently enrolled at Holy Spirit College in the Masters of Theological Studies. John enjoys nature and art, discussions and coffee, as well as an occasional retreat into the mountains of North Georgia. Before anything else though, he is an avid pursuer of having a good time while learning.       Bosco Boutique   Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Calling all Vendors and Volunteers! Introducing the First Annual "Bosco Boutique!"   We need your help to make it a success! The boutiques will be open in the FCS Gymnasium during the Thanksgiving Feast on Thursday, November 21, 2013. We have limited space for vendors so time is of the essence! We also need volunteers! Open to all parents, teachers, students and families of SJBA. Bring your wares, services, goodies and gifts to sell just in time for Christmas. If interested please email us at newslettersjba@gmail.com. Vendors please include your email, phone number, two images and a brief description of your wares. If you would like to volunteer, please send your email and phone number.   *If you have any events that you would like to make the newsletter aware of, please email us at     newslettersjba@gmail.com   Creative Corner CREATIVE CORNER  "To all who are passionately dedicated  to the search for new "epiphanies" of beauty  so that through their creative work as artists  they may offer these as gifts to the world. " Blessed Pope John Paul ll - 1999 Letter to Artists