November 14, 2008

Dear Parents/Guardians & Friends:

Please note that there is no early dismissal on Thursday, November 20 as previously scheduled.

Registration for 2009-2010 School Year is Underway
We are accepting applications for next year from students currently in Grades 8-11.  You may download an application from our website.  The non-refundable registration fee is $200 of which $100 goes towards next year’s tuition.  If you attended the Open House you may take $25 off that fee.  If you send in your registration by December 15 you may take $25 off the registration fee.  Those who did both may register, then, for $150.  If you, or anyone you know, have questions about the school, please contact me at 740-654-1231 or at jsilcott@cdeducation.org.

Returning students do not need to register for next year until February, 2009.

Band Concert Tonight and Sunday
Come hear our award winning Marching Band in concert tonight at 7pm or Sunday at 2pm.  Admission is free!

Thank you to Disability Resource Network
We would like to thank Mr. Scott Lockett of Disability Resource Network for matching the funds donated in today's grub day.

Kairos Retreat Begins next Week
Please keep the following students in your prayers next week as they participate in the Kairos Retreat from Wednesday, November 19 through Saturday, November 22:

Amber Adams, Matt Ford, Dave Mitchell, Lena Barrows, Eric Hamann, Rachel Mooney, Veronica Beatty, Emily Hanson, Liz Nixon, Justin Beck, Beth Haynes, David Scarpitti, Jeanie Born, Paul Hoffman, Brenden Shea, Phillip Bowes, Matt Householder, Tyler Shonk, Blair Browning, Richard Janita, Lindy Walton, Paige Carpenter, Bourke Kelley, Brandi Wright, Annie Cleary, Madellyn Kennedy, Ryan Mooney, Tim Corcoran, Adam Marque, Matt Roberts, Tyler Coy, Kaitlyn McCord, Luke Roesch, Alex Craine, Maryellen McCrady, Aaron Tobin, Amy Fernow, Dallas McFadde,n Kelly Turner, and Mark Vajen.

Holy Trinity Christmas Bazaar
On Saturday, November 15 Holy Trinity is holding its Annual Bazaar from 10am-3pm.  There will be a variety of crafters and specialty vendors there along with delicious baked goods and hot lunch.  Holy Trinity School is located at 225 S. Columbus Street (SR 13) in Somerset.

Jesus Jams is November 16
This month’s Jesus Jams is at St. Catharine’s in Bexley on Sunday, November 16.  The guest speaker that night is Justin Fatica who is in a youth ministry group called “Hard as Nails.”  To find out more information about him, visit his website at www.hanm.org

Bowling Team Tryouts Announced
Tryouts for the Bowling Team are November 17, 18 & 19.  Students planning on trying out should be at the lanes by 3:15pm for check-in.  There is a $10 tryout fee to cover lane costs.  The fee is due on the day students try out.  If your student is planning to try out please sing up in the office.  Any questions call Coach Tim Deitz at 687-5610 or 808-1743.

OSU/Michigan Ticket Raffle
Stop by the Fisher Catholic Main Office and purchase a chance to win 2 tickets to the OSU/Michigan football game on Nov. 22nd .  The cost is $20.00 per chance and the proceeds will go to benefit the Kairos Retreat Program and Fisher Catholic Athletic Programs.  The drawing will be November 16th.  Thank you in advance for your support!!! 

Thefts in Locker Room
Unfortunately, we have had a number of thefts in the boys’ locker room.  The coming and going at different times of students into that locker room make it impossible for us to keep it locked.  I regret these acts of thievery, mainly because I know that it is one or more of our own students committing the acts.  I have told students to keep locks on their lockers or to place valuable in their cars.  If anyone knows who might be doing this they are encouraged to contact me.
 
Principal Observations
One of the first things I learned when I moved to Bermuda in 2005 was the very old tradition of greeting one another before passing in a hallway or on the street or before engaging that person in conversation.  Between dawn and noon it was expected that you would say “good morning.”  From noon until dusk the greeting was, “good afternoon.”  In the evening, of course, you would say, “good evening.”  This tradition is so ingrained in the population of this little island that if you go into a store to order some item and do not preface your order with the greeting first, you will sometimes be either ignored or embarrassed as the clerk will, rather than acknowledge your order, greet you so that you know a greeting is expected in return.  This tradition is so important in Bermuda that there is a statue of a retired bus driver at a busy roundabout, a man named Johnny Barnes, who greets hundreds of cars and bikes each day with a hearty hello and blown kisses.  Thankfully, the real Johnny still maintains his post yards from his likeness.

Students at Mount Saint Agnes, where I was principal, would follow the same rules, and when walking down the hallway I would have to be prepared to speak to as many students as I made eye contact with, as well as teachers and staff members.  When any adult walks into a classroom the entire class, from Kindergarten through seniors in high school, will stand and greet their elder with a greeting.

Bermuda, like all of modern society, has its issues and problems.  Towards the end of my time there I was mugged, and I can assure you that the mugger did not say, “good evening” before pushing me to the ground, kicking me and trying to take my wallet!  But this tradition of greeting is one that Bermuda prides itself on trying to maintain even as many others fade away.  It was one that I enjoyed immensely in my time there.

Here at Fisher Catholic, on most mornings, I am out in front of the school greeting students, faculty and staff as they come in the doors and waving to parents and bus drivers as they stop and unload their passengers.  It is something that I started doing when I first became a principal at St. Timothy Elementary School in 1989, which is why I was delighted to see a whole country partaking in this act of civility when I moved to Bermuda.  For me it is a wonderful way to start the morning, as there are days in which meetings and other activities may prevent me from seeing those students at any other time of the day.

Most of the students who pass me say good morning in return.  Some thank me if I hold the door open for them when I see that their hands are full.  Most parents give a quick wave as they drive away.  Some even put down their windows to give a verbal hello.

However, there are many students who walk by me as if I were not there.  Some are even more explicitly non-responsive as they look at me and remain silent.  A few blink their eyes or quiver a lip as if to say, “That is all of a response that you are going to get from me today!” 

I don’t take these rejections personally.  I don’t think that they are ignoring me because they don’t like me or are mad at me, although the odds are good that, for a few, this might be the case. 

I have conducted my own very unscientific study on this and have found that for the vast majority of non-responders it is a case of living, at that moment, inside their own heads.  I hear comments such as, “I’m tired this morning,” I’m having a bad day,” “I’m in a hurry.”  I even hear students say to me, “I did say hello,” although like Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter when he thought he was shouting his confession on the scaffolding to the whole town, no sound actually leaves the lips.

I refuse to say that our non-responders are rude or that they haven’t been taught proper manners.  I do think that we all need to take a moment to be more kind to each other, no matter what the circumstance.  I remember very clearly when the Sign of Peace was introduced to us in Catholic Churches.  At first it was awkward, especially for Catholics not used to much human interaction during the liturgy.  I know that I always feel more a part of the congregation at church after I have shaken hands with the people around me.  The new President of the Lancaster Rotary, Martin Barker, has started asking us to shake hands with those around us after the prayer and National Anthem.  I believe it has increased the warmth of those meetings.

A quick greeting between two human beings is a sign that we are all in this big world together and that, despite our differences, we share much more in common than any differences that are between us.  Even Senators Obama and McCain greeted each other before intensely debating their differences during the Presidential campaign.

As we strive to grow our teenagers into adulthood, urge them to greet people with a smile and quick hello before passing by.  Maybe we can even import the Bermudian custom in landlocked Lancaster and wish each other a “good morning,” good afternoon” or “good evening.”

Whatever happens, I will still make it a custom to be in front of school most mornings.  I do enjoy it no matter what response I get.  It is good to see everyone, including many of you!

Thanks for all that you do for your children and our school.

Jim Silcott
President/Principal