Volunteering is a key component in the success of Mary Immaculate Star of the Sea School.  We could not function without your involvement.

Below is a list of “opportunities” for getting involved and fulfilling your hours of service.  If you would like more information about any of the activities – please call Cindy or Brother Bud in the office at 294-1031.  They will put you in touch with the Activity Coordinator for the event you are interested in.

Every family at Mary Immaculate is receiving tuition assistance.  The amount charged for tuition does not cover the cost of educating your child.  The difference must be made up in fund-raising.  Fund-raising is not only necessary but lots of fun and builds wonderful camaraderie among our “school family.”

Every family is required to contribute at least 20 hours of volunteer service per school year.

Each family who receives extra tuition assistance is required to give in service the number of hours necessary to meet tuition agreement amount.

Remember:  Volunteer Forms must be filled out and returned before you work.

Log hours into Volunteer Book in the Office. PTSA Meetings Count!

You will receive in the mail or email an accounting of your service at the end of each month.

Easy Ways to Get Involved!  How to Get Your Volunteer Hours Accomplished!

Volunteer Opportunities in and Around the School
Sign ups in the office

Lunch Program                    Need Coordinator
Snack Room                        Call Cindy – 294-1031  M-Th – 11:00 – 1:00
Library Aide                         M-F   Any hours – Assist Brother Bud
Weed or Maintain Area of Campus      
Help in Gym Class  for younger grades     
Children’s Day                                                
Book Fair                             Dec. 7 – One week – Need Coordinator
Christmas Performance                             
Christmas Float                                           
School Pictures                                           
Knights of Columbus                                
Phone Tree Calling Coordinator

Fund-Raising Events to Be Involved In – We need everyone to help!

WF Chocolate October                      Kelly Koenig
(Each family receives one box of World’s Finest Chocolate to Sell – Raises $5000.00)

Fantasy Fest Parking Oct.30/31       Tony & Colleen Murphy
(Parking cars on Friday from 1-9 and Saturday  9 am to 10 pm – work any part of these hours and it raises $20,000.00 to $25,000.00)

Book Fair December 7-11         Brother Bud teacher coordinator/Need Parent Coordinator
(Sell books in library.  Raises around $1000.00 to $1500.00)

Silent Auction February        Robin Beede
(Collect items, set up tables, account money. Run along with the Rock and Roast. Big bucks! $12,000.00 or more)

Rock and Roast February                    John Correa
(A fun, fun, fun event!  Pig Roasting and music.  Cooking, prep, decorating.  $10,000.00)

Flea Market February                  
(Collect items, set up items, sell items, clean up afterwards – $3000.00 or more)
When event is finished – take remaining items to dump or Salvation Army.

Car Raffle Ticket Sale -Need coordinator to set up sellers after church  masses.
(Earl Duncan has donated a car in the last few years.   There are 500 tickets. Each family receives 2. They sell for $100.00 per ticket and can be sold easily in front of church. Raises $50,000.00 if all tickets are sold.)

Church Gift Shop           Beth Harris
(The church gift shop donated over $50,000.00 to the school last year.  They also sponsor several scholarships for MISS students. Can work after church or a few hours during the week.)

It is only fair that everyone does their part in this important effort.  We thank you each in advance for the dedication you exhibit in providing the best educational opportunity for your child that this island has to offer.

Other ways to Get Involved and raise money for the school!

MISS-City Ticket Center     10% comes to the school.  www.CityTicketCenter.com/miss
GFS -                                     % comes to the school
Albertsons –                          % comes to the school
Subway-                                % comes to the school
Box Tops –                             10 cents per Box Top – Turn in to office

*  Remember:
Fill Out Volunteer Form – Turn in to the Office.
Call and sign up for the event or job you are interested in.
The Chairperson will contact you.
After you work at the event or area – log in your hours in the Volunteer Handbook in the office.
You will receive a monthly accounting of volunteer hours

Grace,

Beth Harris
Principal

Our children love the hot lunches and look forward to starting them for the new year.  We hope to get the cafeteria staffed and ready to open for Sept 13, 2010.  The kids  love seeing their parents volunteering to work.  If you have any time available to work as a volunteer we need to staff the cafeteria Monday through Thursday. (10am – 1pm)

If you can only offer your time once a month we can use the extra help.

Your class parent coordinator will be contacting you soon to ask about helping in the cafeteria.

We need  to line up volunteers before we can open the cafeteria.
THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT HELPS TO MAKE  THIS POSSIBLE!

The Presidential Award for Excellence in Academics was awarded to:  Libby Isherwood.

The Student of the Year went to:  Shaun Buchman

The Rotary Award was given to:  Antonio Quintana.

Parent of the Year was Mercy Hiller.

On Sunday, May 16, the Art Department will be presenting an Art Exhibition and Auction at our Annual Church/School Picnic. There will be a beautiful painted quilt created by the Mary Immaculate 7th & 8th Grades and a large mosaic mirror that will be sold to the highest bidder. In addition, the 6th Grade has crafted jewelled mosaic cross pins which will be available for only $5. Please stop by our display to see the wonderful works by our very talented students!

Creatively in Christ,

Ms. Nancy La Re & the PreK through 8th Grade Art Classes

The end of the year Parish/School Picnic will be held on Sunday, May 16th. The Knights of Columbus will once again prepare the meat dishes. Parents and Parish members are asked to provide side dishes and desserts as follows:
Last Name: A – N Side Dishes
Last Name: M – Z Desserts.

We also have a Water Slide for the kids so- Please wear your bathing suits!
Mark your calendars and pack up your folding chair and join the fun!

Each class is contributing to the Silent Auction Baskets so check with your teacher on your themed basket.

Pre-K 3- Picnic for Two
Pre-K 4- Arts & Crafts
K- “Children’s Basket”
1st- Dog Basket
2nd- Green Basket
3rd- Bike Basket

4th- Sports Basket
5th- “It’s About the Keys”
6th- Cocktails-It’s 5:00 Somewhere
7th- Movie Night
8th- Cooking Supplies

See you there!

Activities will include:  Arts & Crafts, Movies, Indoor Play, Outdoor Play, Water Activities and Field Trips.

Registration Fee:  $50
Camp Fee:
2-3 Weeks-$175 per week
5-6 Weeks-$150 per week
7-8 Weeks-$125 per week.

To sign up please call the school at 305-294-1031 or Sidney Jones at 305-849-0791.

We have reached the mid-year point in our volunteer hours program, and I would like to share some results with you. While we have had some great success stories (over 1250 hours equaling almost $25000.00), we  are experiencing significant short falls.

Quite a few of you have not managed any hours so far, and we need your help. As you already know it costs approximately $8000.00 to educate your child. This is significantly higher than the tuition your paying which is why we have asked your help in offsetting the cost. If you can volunteer a minimum of 20 hours, that would equal $400.00 per family. We know that our parents work (some more than one job) in order to live in “paradise”, and therefore can’t volunteer. Here’s a suggestion which some parents have already done: Write a check for $400.00 and send it in!

Then there is the issue of those of you who are on extended tuition assistance. Some of you are working like wild bringing your balance down every month. This ,of course, is absolutely marvelous! However, there are some of you who have done nothing at all. Please be aware of the fact that this will factor in if you seek assistance next year.

It ‘s not too late to get your hours in. We have several large events planned for the coming months, which will require a great deal of help on your parts!!!

We’re all in this together in providing a solid Catholic education for your child. We’re just asking all of you for your help as we go into the second half of this year and plan to “keep the doors open” for next year!

There is a very important PTSA meeting this coming Thursday, February 25 at 6:00PM in the cafeteria to line up volunteers for the school carnival; a golden opportunity for you to get involved. I will be happy to discuss any part of this letter with you and to get you signed up.

Another big fund raiser for April is a benefit performance by Harry Schroeder and the Key West Jazz Collective, “Ellington Under the Stars”. Again, we need volunteers for ticket sales and crowd control.

 Sincerely yours in Education,

 Bro. Bud Luks, SM

 The Silent Auction, organized and run by Robin Beede, saw over 300 items donated.  The auction included everything from a sailboat to dinners, trips, dresses, jewelry, fishing supplies, and much more.   A special thank you to Rodger Levering for his contributions. 

 The music rocked the gym!  Music man, Henry Fuller, keep the bands coming!  Paul Cotton, former member of 60’s band Poco, was especially popular.  Dancing children delighted everyone with their “moves!”

 Words can not express the appreciation to each of you for your part in selling tickets, decorating, cooking and prep, cleaning up, serving, baking, advertising, turning in items for the Silent Auction, and all that you did as parents to support the education of your child. 

 We would also like to share with you some exciting new news.  The funding has been made available by a very generous donation, to allow us to hire someone who will work with students with special needs and gifted students.  Our teachers have identified this need within our school and are very happy at the possibilities this added service will provide.

Every family receives tuition assistance as the cost of tuition does not come close to covering the actual cost of educating each child.  Without the fund-raising efforts there would be no Mary Immaculate Star of the Sea School.  The school has grown this year and I am sure that it will grow even more in years to come.  The academics at Mary Immaculate excel. The standardized tests scores confirm this excellence.  The teachers are the BEST available and the most cohesive and dedicated staff I have ever worked with.  They are professional and give each child the attention they need to support their potential.

The Guidance Department has welcomed back Dr. Debbie Lippi. Dr. Lippi provides that “extra listening ear” for students that are in need.  Julia Orofino returned to enhance the Physical Education department.  Father John Baker, Deacon Peter Batty, and our beloved Sisters teach religion and guide us spiritually as we walk down our path of life.

 In closing, the parent participation in the school is extraordinary.  Keep coming! We need you and we welcome your help and imput. If you have not gotten in all the service hours you need for the year, the Carnival is coming up March 11^th – March 14^th.  Linda Shield is our coordinator and can use your help in many ways.  Check out our website soon for upcoming sign up sheets.

10 Pigs, 10 Bands and a 100+ Auction Items!

Saturday February 6th is our 3rd annual Rock n’ Roast fundraiser. For those who weren’t with us last year, this is a fun and profitable event for our school. We’ll have great music, a fabulous Pork Roast dinner as well as Roasted Chicken, Squash, Vegetable Medley and all the fixin’s prepared by Chef Correa from Cafe Sole. We’ll also have a 50/50 raffle and a huge Silent Action with well over 100 items. New this year are some great Sports Memorabilia items and Travel Vacation packages. The complete Silent Auction item list can be found HERE.

We are asking for all families to prepare a dessert for the event. Please bring it in on Friday to school or on Saturday to the event.  We also need volunteers to assist.  Please sign up in the office or call Cindy at 294-1031.

For more information please contact event coordinators; John Correa at 395-8770, or Robin Beede at 304-7451.

And, 7th grader Robert Newman was the winner of this year’s design contest.  Robert’s Rock ‘n’ Roast design will be featured on all on all printouts, advertising and T-shirts.  Way to go Robert!!

Thanks to all and see ya Saturday!

Check out pictures from Rock ‘n’ Roast 2009