Psalm 105

R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.

Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.

R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.

Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.

R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.

You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.

R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.

He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generationsB
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.

R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.

From the Principal

In the Picture - (from left) Kitch Taylor (Algebra I), Lauren Hebert (English I), Katelyn McKneely (English I), Lauren McKneely (Algebra I)


Dear Parents, 

The Fair went wonderfully well thanks to the effort of some very special people.

Fairchairs - John Falcon, George Waddell, Lori Kyle
Treasurer - Crystal Smith
Prizes - Elaine LeBlanc, Tyleda and Frankie Hartman
Silent Auction - Kristy Wisecarver
Stage - Andre Escude
Food Booth - Thomas Loupe
Sweet Booth - Scott and Courtney Jacobs
Kiddie Games - Jerod Breaux
Cherry Bells - Veronica Pierson and Toni Waddell
Sign-in Booth - Bonnie Falcon
Sand spreading that made the fair possible - Bryce Vining

Other people were here all weekend: Gine Henry, Artie Thompson, Cherri Escude, David Atkins, Dennis Pevey, Joe Lamonte, and Sandor Porta worked hard in various booths.

Thanks to all who so graaciously gave up time this wekend to make the Fair a success. It requires significant effort from numerous individuals to put on such a grat time, and the students of St. Joseph will benefit from the funds raised. We will post the proceeds when the bills are paid and a final tabulation for the net profit is realized.

Congratulations to Katelyn McKneely for placing second in English I at Southeastern Louisiana University in District Literary Rally in Division V in which St. Joseph competes. She will represent SJS at Louisiana State University for the Louisiana State Literary Rally next month. Katelyn had the third highest score among all contestants including every high school from East Baton Rouge, Livingston, through St. Tammany Parish. 

Lauren Hebert also represented St. Joseph in English I at SLU and scored very well. Kitch Taylor and Lauren McKneely were the school's representatives in Algebra I. Both had very respectable scores. 

We thank them for their efforts and wish Katelyn well in Baton Rouge. Finally, congratulations to the ten St. Joseph alums at St. Thomas and Ponchatoula High Schools who participated at Rally representing their schools.

-- Dr. Gerard Toups

Calendar for the Week

Thursday, April 12 
LEAP Testing (grade 8)

Friday, April 13
LEAP Testing (grade 8)
Mass @ 8:30 - All are invited to attend.
Adopt-a-Child Collection
Spirit Dress
H&S Officer Nominations Due

Saturday, April 14
Strawberry Festival Parking

Sunday, April 14
Strawberry Festival Parking

Monday, April 16 - Friday, April 20
Terra Nova Testing

Friday, April 20
Mass @ 8:30 - All are invited to attend.
Spirit Dress
PHS Scheduling (grade 8)

Wednesday, April 25
Midquarter
Secretaries' Day
Spirit Dress for Festival Workers' Students

Thursday, April 26
Home & School Meeting @ 6:30

Friday, April 27
Mass @ 8:30
Spirit Dress
April Crusaders Announced 

See more plans for the year at CALENDAR

March Crusaders

Crusader - Darian Boesch - sixth grade
Mini Crusaders - Hanna Bankston - second grade

Strawberry Festival Parking Event

It’s time for our annual Strawberry Festvial Parking Event!

This coming Saturday and Sunday, St. Joseph parents will get together on the big field behind the playground for sharing some fellowship, soaking up some sunshine, and parking a few cars.

This is a huge fundraiser for the school, second only to the fair. We are calling for volunteers to help out this weekend. No experience is necessary. On-the-job training will be available. This is a most enjoyable way to help the school, and all parents are encouraged to participate.

For convenience’s sake, a sign up sheet, an email, or a phone call are all possible ways to sign-up to help. Please take a moment to sign up for this most important fellowship and fundraising weekend! 

The sign-up sheet was sent home today, or it can be accessed at SIGN-UP SHEET. Please return it by Friday, April 13.  

Parents may also sign up by contacting the parking chairman, Jeff Schmitt at j2ads@yathoo.com or at 985-320-7711.

Available shifts are as follows:
Saturday, April 14 9:00-12:00 
Saturday, April 14 12:00-3:00 
Saturday, April 14 3:00-6:00  
Sunday, April 15 11:30-2:30 
Sunday, April 15 2:15-5:30.

Thank you all for your help with this imporant fundraiser!

Home & School News

The Home & School Meeting scheduled for this week has been moved to Thursday, April 26, at 6:30 in the gym. This week's meeting conflicted with Confirmation. Please mark your calendars for the April 26.

A form for nomination of officers for the Home & School Association was sent home today or it can be accessed at FORM. Please feel free to nominate someone for this important position in our school. The nomination forms are due in the office on Friday, April 13. A ballot will be sent home next week for voting.

Terra Nova Testing

Terra Nova testing will be conducted in grades 2-8 beginning Monday, April 16, through Friday, April 20. 

The Terra Nova is our standardized testing for the year.

It is very important that students come to school ON TIME on those dates with plenty of rest and a good breakfast. Every effort should be made to not have to check out students during those dates. Testing times cannot be interrupted. 

Thank you so much for your help with and understanding of the importance of these tests.

Advisory Council

Congratulations to Jayna Berthelot, Corey Berner, and Artie Thompson. Jayna was re-elected to the SJS Advisory Council, and Corey and Artie have been elected for the first time.

Thanks to all who considered running for Advisory Council positions. The number of nominees was impressive. Voting participation was high showing a great interest in this important election. Our parent participation is wonderful!

We appreciate the service of the retiring members of the board, Mary Ransom and Jerri Pevey. Their contributions have greatly contributed to the improvements at St. Joseph School.

Happy Easter!

SJS students in the lower grades greatly enjoyed a visit Monday from their friend the Easter Bunny! See all of the Easter Bunny pictures in PHOTO ALBUMS.

Operation Rice Bowl

Thank you for participating in CRS' Operation Rice Bowl! Our contributions will help make a difference in the lives of people around the world who are suffering from poverty and hunger. Please return your Rice Bowl to school by Friday, April 13. Thanks again for your generous support.

Cheerleaders

Congratulations to the SJS Cheerleaders 2012- 2013!

7th Grade
Kayla Adams
Blair Atkins
Sydney Gregoire
Alyssa Henderson
Madison Hunt
Cali Lowery
Tori Millet
Claire-Chapin Perrilloux

6th Grade
Courtney Balisteri
Rebekah Bass
Traci Carolla
Mia Delpidio
Caroline Demars
Gabrielle Gremillion
Kayla Guillory
Hannah Henderson
Hailee Krupp
Avery Meyers

5th Grade
Marlee Bohning
Catherine Dahmer
Charlie Guzzardo
Leigh Henderson
Peyton LeSaicherre

4th Grade
Paige Bankston
Clair Cyrus
Maria Guay
Alexa Ott

Eighth Grade Trip

By all accounts, the eighth grade trip March 26-30 was a big 10/10! 

The students went by bus to Mobile, Montgomery, and Atlanta during the week. Many fun and educational stops were made and lots of work was accomplished. Please visit the PHOTO ALBUMS (there are five - one for each day of the trip) to view part of the fun. 

Students also blogged about their journey. Their impressions of the trip can be read at EIGHTH GRADE TRIP.

Students are currently busy making srcapbooks of their journey. This will be for classroom credit as well as a personal momento of their mobile classroom.

Hunger Games at SJS

Hunger Games Fever at St. Joseph School 
(DJ Pevey)

It hardly seems possible for students to feel more excitement over a book than the intoxicating sights and sounds of the St. Joseph Spring Fair being set up right outside their classroom windows. This, however, was the case at St. Joseph School in Ponchatoula as students and faculty alike donned costumes for an after-school celebration of the release of Lionsgate Media’s film adaptation of the Hunger Games based on the books by Suzanne Collins. 

For the celebration, students were asked to come dressed up as their favorite characters from the books and to bring themed dishes to share with their classmates. As the students feasted on goodies such as “poison” black berries and an awe-inspiring cake crafted by the masterminds at Cocoa Bean Bakery, faculty members led them through a high-tech interactive trivia game based on the books using the school’s wireless polling system. 

The only caveat for attending the celebration was that the students must have read Hunger Games and taken the online Accelerated Reader test for the book. The Accelerated Reader program is a method for measuring students’ success in reading and encouraging them to push themselves to earn points towards a personal reading goal. The Hunger Games celebration helped over 60 students at St. Joseph to earn an incredible 1,000 points over the last two weeks. 

The Hunger Games is the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The trilogy recounts the adventures of a 16-year-old heroine, Katniss Everdeen, and her fellow “tribute”, Peeta Mellark, as they battle other children from impoverished districts from the nation of Panem (a post-apocalyptic version of the United States) in the annual Hunger Games hosted by the nation’s capital. Only one tribute will survive and earn food and supplies for their home district for the next year. 

Some may find the violence in these books hard to stomach. However, in a genre dominated by wizards, sparkling vampires, fairies, and teenage romances, Hunger Games has managed to motivate an untapped demographic of students and rekindled a widespread love of reading that began a decade before with the Harry Potter series. 

Thursday night’s celebration was a huge success. Over 40 students from the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades were in attendance. St. Joseph faculty hopes to extend this reading trend into next year by hosting book celebrations similar to the Hunger Games party for each of the remaining films in the series. 

More pictures from the event can be seen in the PHOTO ALBUMS.

Community News

HOOPSTERS BASKETBALL CAMP

The annual Hoopsters Basketball Camp will be held at St. Joseph Gym from 9:00-noon on June 11-14. The camp is offered for boys and girls ages 5-10. Cost of the camp is $55. Each camper will receive a camp t-shirt and a basketball. Refreshments will be sold throughout the week. 

For more information, please contact Kristi Gill at 985-507-4778.

Registration is due June 1. Registrations received after this date will cost $65. Enrollment is limited. The registration form can be downloaded at HOOPSTERS CAMP.



MAGAZINE PREMIERE EVENT

LA Model & Talent Management would like to cordially invite you, your family and friends to our Magazine Premiere Event on Sunday, April 29th at 2pm at the Ponchatoula Community Center. We are proudly launching two new magazines; Better Parenting Magazine and LA Model & Fashion Magazine. This is a free family event and is open to everyone which includes plenty of delicious food, lots of great door prizes and a live Magic Show by Dr. Magic.

Parish News

Personnel
Rev. John Dominic Sims, O.P. - Pastor
Rev. Cayet Mangiaracina, O.P. - Parochial Vicar
Rev. J.D. Logan, O.P. - In Residence
Larry J. Melancon - Deacon

Weekend Mass Schedule
Saturday Vigil Mass - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday Mass - 8:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 5:00 p.m.

Contact Information
Address - 255 North 8th Street (P.O. Box 368), Ponchatoula, LA 70454
Phone - 985.386.3749
Website - www.stjosephsonline.com



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