"Our Lady of Guadalupe School fosters Gospel values, inspires academic excellence, and develops service and leadership. We face this as a sacramental community united and empowered by the Holy Spirit."
May 26th Newsletter
May 26, 2016
Dear OLG Families,
Celebration for Staff
Between 3:15 and 5:00 pm today, we hope to see you in the Walmesley Center to celebrate these staff members’ wonderful work at OLG, share your appreciation, mingle and enjoy snacks provided by the Parent Org.
Meanwhile, I have some exciting news to share about new staffing for the upcoming year…
We are thrilled to welcome Beth Sommerville as our new Library/Technology specialist (we’re reworking that title to more accurately reflect the evolving responsibilities of this position – stay tuned!). Beth is currently a Teacher-Librarian/Technology Integration Specialist in the Kent School District. She has run a technology lab, been a classroom teacher, served as a math intervention specialist, and recently earned her library endorsement. She has also served as a Staff Development Trainer through Seattle Pacific University, as well as a TOSA (Teacher on Special Assignment) for instructional technology.
In interviewing Beth, amidst a pool of strong candidates, we were impressed with her passion for fostering literacy and information-gathering skills, with her tremendous expertise in training teachers to use technology as an instructional tool, and her commitment to being on the cutting edge with library sciences and technology integration. We’re very excited about collaborating and growing through the expertise that she will bring! (Beth is also parent of Samantha and Jessica, OLG graduates and current Seattle Prep students. Some of you may know her in this capacity.)
As you know, we have also been searching for our next Math Specialist who will teach middle school math and help us grow our math program school-wide. I am excited to announce that we recognized the right combination of gifts and strengths in one of our own teachers – Allie Savio. Allie has long had a passion for math, having minored in math while completing her major in education. She has also served on the Math Committee for the Office for Catholic Schools, helping to create a Math Toolkit for schools throughout the Archdiocese of Seattle and was an instrumental member of our OLG Math Committee in researching and selecting our new K-5 curriculum. Throughout her years as a teacher, she has sought out professional development opportunities to grow as a math educator. Allie is a teacher who models the best qualities of a lifelong learner and continually seeks new challenges. She is eager to work with our middle school students and as a part of the middle school team and looks forward to collaboration and curriculum integration. I have witnessed Allie’s excellence in teaching mathematics and the passion that she brings to it and am confident that she will excel in her work with our middle school math students.
Of course, this means that we are actively searching for an equally awesome third grade teacher. We will let you know when we have found the right fit! We have been busy interviewing and having sample lessons from potential art teachers and have some promising candidates for that position.
What a Fabulous Spring Concert!
Congratulations to each and every one of our students. Last night’s concert was such a celebration of music education at OLG. Ann Sager‘s creativity and direction led to another wonderful evening. Our preschool – 5th graders sang beautifully and enthusiastically, as did her chorus! The band never ceases to amaze me; they sounded so together and have really grown as musicians, under Frances McKamey‘s leadership. I always enjoy our middle school choir as well, and last night was no exception! Thank you, Jessica Milanese!
Summer Extracurriculars
See the sidebar for the registration link! Registration closes next Tuesday for the literacy camps, so that we can order materials. These are a great way to stay fresh with reading skills, and the science, art, and chess camps will bee awesome enrichment opportunities! (The creative writing class will be postponed until next school year.)
Student Council News
The OLG Student Council fundraiser in support of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) International is going strong! We are more than 3/4 of the way to our goal of $1000! Meeting our goal will earn a school-wide free dress day during the last week of school. We can do it! For more information about this organization, visit their website.
Reminder that all Rock-‘n-Roll Jog-a-Thon pledges are due by Friday, May 27th. Invoices went home with students last Monday. (Check those backpacks!) If you need a reminder of total due, please contact
Invoices can be paid using our secure and convenient event website.
Click make a Pledge/Donation, and sign in. In the pull down menu for Choose A Donation, select runner’s last name. Enter the amount of the donation. (Can pay for more than one sibling in one transaction.) Enter credit card information and click Donate Now.
Thank you again to all of those who have donated. We are so close to hitting our goal, and it is not too late to add donations or round up your donation. (All donations are 100% tax deductible.)
Thanks again for those who have donated and for your support of the Jog-a-thon! Sarah & Linda
Help Needed
Field Day is on the way! The Parent Org is so excited to host OLG’s much loved Field Day Picnic on Wednesday, June 1st. This year, the school picnic will be held after the morning Field Day activities.
The Parent Org will provide all the basics, but we need donations of juice boxes, chips and cookies/brownies/cupcakes. In addition to food donations, we also need help in the kitchen with picnic prep, serving and clean-up.
This is a great way to start earning commitment hours for the upcoming 2016-17 school year! We will also gladly award 0.5 commitment hours (30 mins) for each DOZEN juice boxes or cookies/brownies/cupcakes, or for each big bag of chips. (So, for example, if you donate 2 dozen juice boxes, you get 1 commitment hour.)
Sign up for food donations or to help out in the kitchen.
Save the Carnival!
Currently there is no chair or co-chair for our annual Halloween Carnival. We need two volunteers to take over this beloved tradition ASAP, as planning needs to begin soon. The previous chair is available for guidance and support, but in order for this tradition to continue, we need two willing volunteers to take over and ensure our community carnival is here to stay for another couple of years. So, if you want to get more involved with our school, now is your chance! Step up, answer the call and keep the Carnival alive! (Both chair and co-chair positions receive an automatic 50 commitment hours). Contact Erin Stampe now to volunteer.
Check Your E-mails!
Your classroom Parent Org Rep has been hard at work recruiting parents for classroom volunteers and auction team positions for the upcoming school year. If you are interested in being a room parent, auction project parent, service project parent, book order parent, etc., please contact your classroom Parent Org Rep and volunteer today! If you will be a new family to OLG in the fall and are interested in volunteering in your child’s classroom, please contact Erin Stampe to get more details and to volunteer.
Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, 5/31/16 – New Family Night – 6:30 pm in the school library
Wednesday, 6/1/16 – Field Day (9:30am – 11:30 am) followed by lunch provided by Parent Org
Art News
Pre-K – 8th Grade
This is my final art newsletter for this school year and with sadness my last art newsletter at OLG. I would like to thank all of you for your support and kindness I have been blessed with each and everyday that I walk into this school. From the moment I passed through the doors to be interviewed and through all 9 years I have worked here I have felt the Lord’s presence through this amazing community.
The students at OLG have been and continue to be a true blessing to me. The greatest gift I have received from all of you is your continuous enthusiasm for making art. You take on each and every new lesson and project with so much joy; creativity and confidence that I have come to believe you are unstoppable. As I look at how absolutely unique each and every one of you are and how absolutely unique your artwork you create is, I feel a great sense of happiness. You are all working to be outside the box thinkers, the world’s creative problem solvers and I have no doubts you will change the world in a very profound way.
The teachers and staff at OLG School and Parish are also a true blessing to me. Each and every one of you has made my time here truly awesome. You have to be some of the most loving, creative, caring and genuine humans one building can hold. I have loved all of the collaboration, kindness, humor, support and friendship you have all so willingly shared as we worked together.
I cannot end this without expressing my gratitude to all of the parents, family members and parish members of our community. Thank you for helping me inside and outside the classroom, for collecting and donating materials and for all the smiles, positive energy and love you have given me. Parents, thank you for sharing your beautiful children with me. It has been a privilege to teach each and every one of them.
Thank you to all of you for giving me this opportunity to be a part of this great community. I will miss you all. Keep the creative momentum going, I will be checking in to watch it soar!
With love and gratitude,
Debbie Bellia
The West Seattle Grand Parade
Saturday, July 23rd, 11 am
What’s a great way to support Our Lady of Guadalupe during the summer, get a big head start on earning commitment hours for your family, and have huge amounts of fun? Why, it’s the West Seattle Grand Parade! It’s coming up in a few months, and we’d like to build on the success we’ve had over the past few years with our perennially top-ranked entry in the Community Division. The most important part: getting more parents, students, and teachers involved from the OLG family! Here’s how you can help:
Truck Driver:
We REALLY, REALLY need another truck to for the parade this year! Please volunteer to drive your rig for us in the parade! We’ll decorate it on parade day and hook up our sound system to it for our dancers. Please volunteer!
OLG “Precision” Dance Team:
This is what puts us over the top! Get ready for three dance numbers we’ll do the entirety of the 1-mile route! Kids, parents, teachers, everyone: we welcome you! The more we have in the group, the better OLG is represented to the crowd.
Parade Walkers:
We always need volunteers to walk the route, hand out candy, hold up banners, and wave at the crowd. Please get involved! It’s lots of fun!
If you’d like to participate, please sign and return this form to the school office or email Brian Callanan, or call Brian at (206) 937-2855. Got some great ideas on how to make our parade entry even better? Please include that, too! Phone calls will be made in the next few weeks to line up volunteers and get things ready to go!
Dates to Prepare for:
July 17th, noon (after Mass): Banner Painting and Dance Practice
July 23rd (Parade Day!): 9:00 am Truck/Float Preparation 10:00 am
Dance Rehearsal (please arrive no later than 10:30 am if you want to be in the parade)
OLG’s Chicken Soup Brigade is looking for a couple new members to join the team! This program helps our homebound, aged, and chronically ill neighbors to get groceries and nutritious meals. OLG has a small team of volunteers who pick up the food and deliver it to people in need in West Seattle/White Center. We could use some additional drivers to help with the Thursday afternoon route. It’s an approximately 2-hour commitment every 3-4 weeks. Working in a team provides some great flexibility and a chance to build community with others. Volunteers receive training and support. Interested? Contact Jennifer Ibach at (206) 935-0358 ext. 120.
Open CYO Board Position
There is a position available on the CYO Board. We meet roughly once a month. If you are interested and/or would like more information, please contact the Board by June 1st.
Our Lady of Guadalupe School & Parish acknowledges that we are on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe.
