Looking Ahead:
Tues, Feb. 8 .............................. Auction Procurement Cards Due to Office

Tues., Feb. 8 ............................. PTO Meeting, 12:10 St. Andrew Gym

Wed., Feb. 9 ............................. Tom Sawyer, Myrna Loy Theater, Gr. 3-7, 9:30 a.m., $4/student

Wed., Feb. 9 ............................. Ash Wednesday, 11:30 dismissal

Wed., Feb. 9 ............................. Grades 4 – 7 to Sing at Noon Mass at Cathedral

Fri., Feb. 11 .............................. Stations of the Cross, 2:00 pm

Sat. Feb. 12 ............................... School Clean-Up Day, 10 a.m.

Wed., Feb. 16 ........................... Auction Items Due (NO EXCEPTIONS)

The Virtue for February is Fortitude

Fortitude (For"ti*tude) (?) , n. [L. fortitudo , fr. fortis strong. ]

1. Power to resist attack; strength; firmness.
2. That strength or firmness of mind which enables a person to encounter danger with coolness and courage, or to bear pain or adversity without murmuring, depression, or despondency; passive courage; resolute endurance; firmness in confronting or bearing up against danger or enduring trouble. "Extolling patience as the truest fortitude ." Milton . " Fortitude is the guard and support of the other virtues." Locke.

Synonyms -- Courage; resolution; resoluteness; endurance; bravery. See Courage, and Heroism .

Ever wonder what makes classical Christian education so effective? First, it is based on what has been called the trivium. No matter how your child learns, he or she goes through three phases. In grades K-6, students are excellent at memorizing. In grades 7-8, students become more argument-oriented. They are ready to be taught logic and critical thinking. In grades 9-12, students become independent thinkers and communicators particularly concerned with how they appear to others. To this end, classical education teaches them “rhetoric,” the art of speaking, communicating, and writing.

Report cards went home Monday, February 7. If you have not seen your child's report card, they might need to be reminded to give it to you.

AUCTION NEWS

Only 18 days left until the auction!!!
Please keep the success of the auction in your prayers

Last Meeting prior to Auction Night

Thursday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. in the St. Andrew High School wing. All Committee Chairs must attend, as well as Auction night volunteers. This meeting will cover checkout, inventory, reservations, ticket sales, spotters, runners, cocktail waitresses, recorders, security, parking, clean-up, etc.

Raffle Tickets

If you do not intend to sell the remainder of your raffle tickets, please return them to the office by Monday, Feb. 14, so that others may sell them and we will not have to incur the cost of printing more tickets.

Posters Are Here!

The posters for the Auction have arrived. Please stop by the office and pick up a few and distribute them throughout the city of Helena .

School Clean-Up Day in Preparation for the Auction

Remember, there will be a clean-up day beginning at 10 a.m. , on Saturday, February 12 in order to get the school ready for the Auction. All parents are welcome (and needed) to help and PIP points are awarded for every hour you help. We need lots of volunteers, including volunteers with strong backs!!!

Please bring rags, buckets, cleaning supplies, a vacuum and any other cleaning items you can spare. Volunteers will be given a list of tasks that need to be done and can choose jobs by preference. If you have any questions, please contact Mary Buswell at 442-0107.

• Please look at the following list and see if you know any of the businesses or individuals listed. If you do, consider contacting them for this year's auction. The yellow procurement cards with their names on them are in the office. Time is of the essence so please do so as soon as possible. Smiths Place; Dennis Loveless (attorney at law); Blue Heron healing Arts (Janice Miller); Betty Goettle Massage; John Andrew; D & E Depot; LaCasa Fiesta; Curves; Green Thumb; Bistro Restaurant. As you procure try and ask for something that keeps on giving, such as 6 massages a year, Flowers for the major holidays etc.
• If you know anyone who has a signboard (i.e., Carroll College, Home Beautifiers, Outside In, The Lundy Center, Knight's Rest Motel, A & W in East Helena), please contact them and see if we can advertise our auction on their boards. We would like to start advertising on Friday Feb. 11 th . Call GG Grotbo if you can help out. Thank you.
•   Please bring the raffle tickets you have sold and the money you have collected into the office as soon as possible. There are more tickets left to sell, so work hard to earn that free annual fee this year!!
• Dinner tickets are selling out quickly. Please stop by the office and get yours today. Cost is $25 per ticket. Tables can also be reserved at this time. Payment is due at the time of reservation. If you have already reserved your table we need the names and addresses of your guests as soon as possible. This is how they receive the correct invoice at the end of the night of the auction; so if you don't want to pay for your guests' items, get their addresses to the office.
• All procurements cards are due back in the office no later than Tuesday, February 8 th . This date is just around the corner, so please hurry!! All items need to be turned into the office no later than Wednesday, February 16.
• Volunteers are needed to pick up items before the Auction. Please contact Mary Eckman (495-0031) to find out how you can help.
• Volunteers are needed to sell raffle tickets the night of the Auction. The shifts are 45 minutes each and there are three shifts. Please contact Kathy Ramirez 443-7301.

Outside Clean up

Keith Smith is organizing an outside clean up of the school grounds on Saturday, February 19 from 9 a.m. to noon . If you are interested in helping, please contact Keith at 458-5455.

St. Andrew School is happy to Pray for the following priests during the week of February 8, 2005 :

Jozef Perchubka, Libby , MT
Herbert Pins, Deer Lodge, MT
Bruce Plummer, Polson , MT

Please join us by keeping these priests in your prayers as well.

Health Watch

There are a few illnesses going around St. Andrew School right now. We have heard that some of our students are suffering from influenza and chicken pox. Please keep your children home if they are ill, especially if they are running a fever.

PIP Corner

The following volunteers are needed:

• Gr. 1 needs a volunteer to put tennis balls on chairs.
• Gr. 2 needs classroom help—reading assessment and assisting students with correcting papers.
• Gr. 4 needs someone to remove the chalkboard.
• Gr. 5 needs volunteers to assist students with reading.
• Volunteer(s) need to haul the brown piano to Rebecca McCoy's home. (WE CURRENTLY HAVE A VOLUNTEER TO HAUL THE PIANO; HOWEVER, HE NEEDS SOME MUSCLE TO HELP HIM LOAD THE PIANO.. Please contact Richard at 447-7433 (w) or 410-0458 if you can help!)

St. Andrew Choir

All students in grades 4 through 7 will be singing at noon Mass on Ash Wednesday at the Cathedral. If there is a reason that your child cannot participate, please contact the office immediately. Parents need to pick up their children at 11:30 from school and bring them to the Cathedral by 11:45 . The students can be picked up immediately after Mass at 1 p.m.

St. Andrew Wish List

• Gr. 6/7 would like a new white erase board.
• Gr. K/1 would like cork tiles for their art displays.

Dance Classes

Have you ever gone to a dance and just sat on the side like a wallflower? Then this class is for you! Ms. McCoy will be teaching a little jitter-bug and a little swing dance in the school gym on the following dates from 7 to 8 p.m. : Thursday, Feb. 3; Monday, Feb. 7; and Thursday, Feb. 17. Come one, come all. Guests are welcome! To thank Ms. McCoy for her time and effort, please bring one dollar to each class. Now let's get swinging!!

Myrna Loy Presents

Tomorrow students in grades 3-7 will attend a production of Tom Sawyer at the Myrna Loy. The company producing the show is from the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Judy Klevins from this company came last week to teach a class incorporating literature and drama. The students enjoyed the class and the teachers learned something too.Students participating need to bring $4 to cover the cost of the presentation.

Geezer Basketball

Geezer Basketball Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. in the gym!

St. Andrew Uniforms

We have gotten a few new students who are in need of uniforms (girls jumpers, shirts, pants, etc.). If you have any girls' uniforms sizes 5-8 and are willing to donate them, please bring them to the office and we will put them to good use! We could also use smaller size pants to use for extras. Thanks!

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS FISH FRY

February 18, March 4 and March 18
5:00-8:00 p.m.
Knights of Columbus Hall
2201 Chestnut
$6.00 per plate Menu to include:
Fresh cod, fried red potatoes and cole slaw
Clam chowder available for an additional $1.00 per cup
Bar will be open
Coffee and soft drinks will be available 

PAPER TOWELS NEEDED

Next time you are at the store, pick up an extra package of paper towels or maybe two or three. Keeping the desks, white boards, tables and anything else that moves clean takes a massive amount of paper towels. Please send in an extra package with your students, we can really use some more. Thank you.

From the Academic Dean's Desk

The Jungle Book performed at St. Andrews

We would like to invite the Missoula Children's Theater to direct a play at our school in April. Here's how it works. Two professional directors come to Helena for a week. They bring the script, props and sets to put on a play. St. Andrew students in grades 4-12 may audition for the parts. The directors will coach the students in the evenings and will give a few classes to our students during the day. At the end of the week the students will perform the play for the community. There would be a fee per participant in order to offset the cost of this program. This fee would be anywhere from $20.00-$40.00 depending on how many students want to participate. If you think your child would be interested, please let me know by the end of next week. In addition, two directors from the Missoula Children's Theatre will need a place to sleep for the week. If you have an extra bedroom and are willing to help out to make this program possible please let me know.

New Science Room

Last summer our school's web site was noticed by a charitable foundation. They were impressed by what they saw and asked us to send more information. The school sent a portfolio describing our school's curriculum, graduates, scores, activities, and staff and sent it to them. After receiving this information they decided in consultation with us to donate equipment and furniture for a totally new science department. I am currently working on a science curriculum to fully utilize this new equipment. Lisa Reidlinger is making a plan for the room. By next fall we hope to have all the lab stations, microscopes, chemicals and test tubes we could possibly need for a top rate science lab!

First Grade Reading

The kindergarten and first grade started a new phonics program this year. Sing, Spell, Read and Write will not replace the Spaulding program, which we have used successfully since the school began. It does supplement that program nicely however adding music and drill as a perfect complement to the Grammar stage of our classical curriculum. Miss Maloy reports that her first grade students are blowing her away with their reading abilities. Recent tests place the students well above grade level for reading.