Animal Visitors

This fall, our first graders have been treated to some special classroom visitors. Not a substitute teacher or a guest reader, as you might suspect. These guests had more fur and feathers and fewer verbal skills. First up was a bird belonging to Mrs. Kirchner, our school librarian. The students gathered excitedly around his cage and learned a few facts about him.

Later, occupational therapist and school parent Mrs. Cline brought Hank to visit. Hank, a highly-trained dog, helps Mrs. Cline engage with her patients in a variety of therapeutic activities. The first graders loved hearing about Hank's work and learning how he spends his day.

Cafeteria Art

The halls at OLS are always full of student work. From writing assignments to science reports, evidence of student learning abounds in our hallways. Since most of our readers do not have the chance to walk the halls regularly, we wanted to bring the halls to you.

Last month, we found art projects created by our primary students lining the walls of the cafeteria. Students used warm colors to create fall landscapes, including pumpkins, turkeys, golden sunshine, and brightly-colored leaves. In the waning days of fall, enjoy a moment to revel in the beauty of the season as captured by our students.

Thanksgiving Feast

Before diving into turkey with family and friends, our 5th graders and their kindergarten buddies celebrated their own Thanksgiving feast. Each student brought food to the feast, and the kindergartners set the mood by wearing Pilgrim hats. While the menu did not quite mimic the Pilgrims' celebration, the spirit of camaraderie and joy was the same.

The students enjoyed sharing a special day with their buddy. We hope your holiday was filled with as much excitement and joy as this one!

Happy Thanksgiving!

OLS students are always known for their generosity, but around Thanksgiving, they work especially hard to help those in need. During Tuesday's all-school Mass, students were invited to bring a non-perishable food item to stock our parish's St. Vincent de Paul food pantry. They filled many boxes and helped make a difference in the lives of the many families who rely on our donations.

Over the weekend, OLS Cub Scouts also worked to feed the hungry. They patrolled the streets in our neighborhood on a cold morning in rain-turned-snow to collect donations for Scouting for Food. Along with other Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts throughout the region, they collected almost 2 million items to feed the hungry in our city.

The OLS Wolf den bundled up to collect bags of food.

On this Thanksgiving, we wish you a day of peace and joy with family and friends.

Mario Kart Tournament

Last Wednesday, the OLS Student Ambassadors sponsored a unique fundraiser for the missions: a Mario Kart Tournament. It was a huge success! (For our non-video game readers, Mario Kart is a series of go-kart-style racing video games created by Nintendo.)

The 5th-8th grade students were invited to form teams of four and enter the contest for a small fee. Four teams competed against each other, and the races were closely contested.  The winners of Wednesday's tournament were Clayton, Amy, Connor and Dylan. All the gamers gave the event two thumbs up!

Kudos to Ambassadors Vincent, Jack, George, and Ben who spearheaded this activity and did all of the organizing and planning.

Three Cheers for Johnny!

Over the last six weeks, the OLS Home & School Association launched an unusual fundraising campaign surrounding a traveling toilet. You can read the full details here, but in short, OLS friends and supporters sent Johnny to their friends, and he landed on over 130 lawns when all was said and done. Many people shared pictures of their visit with Johnny, which we've culled and posted here. If we missed your picture, comment on this post! We'd love to add it to our collection.

Tremendous thanks to all who made Johnny's campaign a success. Henry Plumbing donated toilets for us to use. Kristyn Noll (wo)manned the spreadsheet, answered countless questions, and kept Johnny moving along. Andy Noll and Bruce Brunner, aka Johnny's elves, toted and hauled Johnny all over OLS nation.

And thanks to all of our friends and supporters who hosted Johnny on their lawns (or in their classrooms!) and financially contributed to Johnny's success. Thanks to your generous donations, Johnny raised $3,500! His funds will help the Home & School Association provide educational extras that our students deserve but that aren't covered by tuition.

Find the list of Johnny's full support crew here. Thanks for helping us spread OLS love and laughter while raising some funds for our deserving students. We are grateful for you!

Egg Drop

In science, the fifth graders have been exploring the scientific method. To deepen their understanding of the process, Ms. Siekerman challenged her students to participate in an egg drop. Each student had to develop a design that would protect their egg when dropped from the third floor to the second floor.

Cheering for their classmates and waiting to see the next egg fall.

After planning, sketching, and creating their designs, they put their plans into action. Plastic floor protectors in place, they sent their eggs sailing! The students enjoyed testing their theories and seeing which designs survived the fall.

Do you think this egg survived its journey?