Assembly at St. Jerome's

The guest speaker, Mr. Sanders, did a great job of telling our middle schoolers what REALLY matters in life and what makes someone a true "hero". It's doing what
is right no matter what others may think of you. It takes real courage to stand up for justice, fairness, and respect...he said, "WE NEED EACH OTHER! So, be there to help, not to take." The story of the Good Samaritan asks us which of the characters we are....takers, stealers, or givers. Jesus was the ultimate giver....no matter what a person's background or status was, Jesus would stoop down to lift them up. You'll never stand taller than when you do the same thing.

Hope we get the copy of his book, "Success for Teens", soon!!

I'm back...thinking about Treyton Kilar and what a senseless tragedy that wonderful family is having to wrap their heads around....what ARE they thinking, feeling, as the days go on? I can't even imagine how they are dealing with the loss of this amazing little "angel boy".

And why did this happen? Because of the selfish, reckless act of one individual on the night of September 2nd...someone who had "a few beers" and then hit the road.
"There will be no hatred here", Mrs. Kilar so passionately said at her son's eulogy.
But anger? YES...anger that a decision was made that has resulted in a family's life never being the same. I'm angry that the state of Wisconsin has YET to take drunk driving seriously enough to make the laws tougher. How many more kids need to
die before our lawmakers actually do something to discourage people from drinking and driving? But then, laws are on paper, and the bottom line is that each individual makes his or her own choices...pray that because of Treyton's death, there will be greater awareness and attention given to this serious issue of drunk driving in our state.

RESPECT

RESPECT...remember that Aretha Franklin tune? It's more than just a catchy tune you can dance to....it's an attitude, a way of life, a character trait that speaks VOLUMES about you as a human being.

Whom do you respect? How do you show it? Do you respect YOURSELF?

Just some musings about respect in this day and age of it not seeming to be important enough in our society today. And it's only Monday.....

PLAY FOR TREY!!

There are SO many wonderful tributes coming in for Treyton Kilar, our special "SJB Angel"!! One of the memorials will be a new baseball field in Whitewater to be named after Trey.

Another event coming up is "Play for Trey"....October 7th....see flier on the "Class Announcements" page on our classroom website!

God bless Trey and his loving family.

GOD BLESS THE KILAR FAMILY...
Treyton is with Jesus--- the angel that he was on earth is now in Heaven.

My his light shine forever in all that we say and in all that we do.

Off to a GREAT start!!

Ok, so getting back to school has its ups and downs...for me, personally, I am mad at my alarm clock for buzzing me out of a deep sleep so early in the morning!!! But once I've had my coffee and my eyes open and the brain kicks in, things are good.

School is off to a terrific start...the 8th graders are AWESOME!! They led our first middle school assembly yesterday morning and impressed everyone with their leadership...made me proud!!
7th graders are energetic and creative....many "Energizer Bunnies" in this group! But, it should
be a lively year with them....need to be sure I have a stash of coffee, though.

So far...so good....it's nice to be back at SJB, my "home away from home" in my 15th year!

Getting Close!!

Can't believe it's getting closer....SCHOOL! I'll be readier than ever now that my classroom has been thoroughly clutter busted. Well, I'll be in for awhile on Friday to put on some finishing touches. Will be ready for 19...or 18??...8th graders and 24 (!!) 7th graders. The room will be
crowded with more middle school bodies...at least not like sardines in a can yet!

Have started thinking about what I'll have the kids do that first important day....community building, setting the tone for what kind of year THEY would like to have and how THEY can achieve that. We'll have plenty of time to hit the books, study, work, etc. Those first few days
are really important for establishing the most important things about being an 8th grader.

Well, I'll be ready! It's my 15th year at St. John's (Holy Cow!) and my 34th in Catholic education (Holy Herd!!). But, I wouldn't be doing anything else!! :-) SJB is my home away from home.

Ok, time for a nap....

Homework Rocks!

Ok, don't get all worked up! I know most 8th graders abhor homework...go ahead, look up the word "abhor", but maybe you don't need to! Anyway...I was a student last week and took a GREAT class at the John Muir Teacher Academy at Verona High School. The class was "Google Tools for Educators". I learned SO much neat stuff!! The project I did was to design a lesson that would incorporate some Google Tools and would follow the guidelines of the Ide@s Scholars program. After I implement the lesson in September with my 8th graders and "tweak" whatever's necessary, I will resubmit the lesson to the Ide@s organization (through UW-Madison) and they will upload it to their website...cool!!

So, homework is only fun when it's interesting to the student...will keep that in mind when we start the school year on September 1st!