ICS Newsletter: Thursday December 3, 2015

Upcoming Events


December

5 - First Reconciliation Workshop
7 - Creative Writing Club, 3:15 - 4:00 p.m.
8 - School Mass, Immaculate Conception; Optional Advent Program practice for any student in grades 3 - 8, 3:15 - 4:00 p.m. 
9 - Altar Server Training

10 - Reconciliation for students in grades 3 - 8; Family Supper with ICS Households
11 - Friday Morning Assembly; Irish Incarnation Day (Any ICS shirt, Jeans or PE shorts, sneakers); ICS Christmas Movie Night, 6:00 p.m. ICS Pavilion 
12 - First Reconciliation 

14 - ICS - Culver's Spirit Night
15 - Optional Advent Program practice for any student in grades 3 - 8, 3:15 - 4:00 p.m. 

16 - School Mass; ICS Early Learning Program Christmas Show after Mass; ICS Early Learning Program Reception in St. Michael Hall after Mass and the Show

17 - Advent / Christmas Program, 7:00 p.m., St. Michael Hall

18 - ½ Day; ICS Christmas Celebrations: Grades 3 - 8 at PK's Playzone (see below for details); PreK - Grade 2 at ICS for Winter Wonderland; NO AFTERCARE AVAILABLE

21 – 31 - NO SCHOOL – Christmas Break

January
1 - 4 - NO SCHOOL - Christmas Break
5 - Classes resume

For a comprehensive look at all of the many activities we have planned for this school year, please visit our ICS Calendar Page.

Prayers
We pray for Mrs. Maria Valdes, ICS Receptionist, and her family as they mourn the loss of her aunt. May God strengthen the Valdes family during this time of grief. 

We pray in thanksgiving for the gift of new life as Mrs. Maria Casanas and her family celebrate the birth of her first grandchild, Alessandra Emilia Maduri.  

We also pray in thanksgiving for the smooth recovery of Mrs. Michele Moody. Mrs. Moody is doing very well and is recovering quickly. We praise God for His goodness and hope that Mrs. Moody continues her speedy recovery to full health and mobility soon!

We pray in thanksgiving for the protection of life and property during this past Hurricane Season. 

We pray for a faith-filled Advent for all members of our school community. May we intentionally make space for Christ this Advent to come into our hearts, homes and world this Christmas! 

We continue to lift up in prayer the Mazza family (Alex, Grade 6) as they mourn the loss of Mr. Mazza's father. May God surround the Mazza family with His love, peace, strength and consolation during this difficult time. 

Have a prayer request? Send it to icsmzele@icstampa.org.

Schedule Updates

Please note the following tweaks in the upcoming ICS Calendar:

1. The December Friday Morning Assembly has been moved from this Friday December 4 to next Friday December 11. We hope that you will be able to join us next Friday December 11. 

2. Similarly, we will move our ICS Spirit Day to coincide with Friday Morning Assembly. So ICS Spirit Day is also next Friday December 11. 

3. Students who have received the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Grades 3 - 8) will participate in confessions on Thursday December 10. 

4. As you may have noticed, we were not able to schedule our annual Santa's Breakfast this year due to conflicts with the use of St. Michael Hall. As a way to reimagine this important community building event, we will host a Christmas Movie Night on Friday December 11 in the ICS Pavilion. See below for more details.

5. We also ran into a scheduling conflict for our annual Christmas Skating party on Friday December 18. As such, we have secured a partnership with PK's Playzone and Grille for ICS students in grades 3 - 8. Cost will be $10 and will include unlimited access to their 6 zones (rock climbing, mini golf, bowling, bumper cars, ropes course and laser tag), a slice of pizza and soda. PK's will be opening its facility to just ICS on the morning of December 18. See below for more details. 

If you have any questions about any of these schedule updates please contact the Front Office: (813)884-4502. 

  

Hope Will Rise

We can do hard work. Taking the advice of St. Francis of Assisi, one of the ways to do so is to break the overall task into simple components: doing what's necessary and then doing what's possible. This fundamental approach to difficult projects, when applied systematically and with faith, can lead to the accomplishment of AMAZING things. 

At ICS we help our students believe in the power they wield. Please help us in delivering the message that we can do hard work. 

Hope Will Rise.  

ICS Irish Athletics

*Girls Basketball Schedule 2015

Playoffs: Week of December 7. The exact date, time and location of the girls' first playoff game will be determined and disseminated tomorrow, Friday December 4. 

Please contact Coach Garofolo either via email: garofolov@icstampa.org, or phone: (813)884-4502 for more information. 

Go Irish!

ICS Advent - Christmas Music Program
Remember that our Advent / Christmas Music Program is scheduled for Thursday December 17 at 7:00 p.m. in St. Michael Hall. Please see below for these important details about the show:

1. Choir practices on Tuesday December 8 and 15 are slated as school wide-rehearsals for our Advent Program for students in grades 3 - 8. Any student who would like to attend is welcome to do so. Practice will be after school until 4:00 p.m. Pick-up will take place outside of the school office. 

2. On December 17, students should arrive to school by 6:15 p.m. Students should report to their Homerooms upon arriving at school.

3. Kindergarten, First and Second Graders should wear their "Christmas best" clothing. Students in grades 3 - 8 should wear solid white on top and solid black on bottom.

4. The show will start promptly at 7:00 p.m.

If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Maniscalco: maniscalcos@icstampa.org.


ICS Early Learning Program Christmas Show
Our PreK-3 and PreK-4 students will be performing a brief concert after Mass on Wednesday December 16. All families are invited to attend our youngest students spreading Christmas Spirit! A small reception for families of our ICS Early Learning Program (PreK-3 and PreK-4) will follow Mass and the songs in St. Michael Hall. We hope you will be able to join us. 


ICS 4th Annual Family Fun Run

Thank you to the many families who attended our 4th Annual ICS Family Fun Run on Saturday November 20. Special thanks to Mrs. Stavish for her efforts in helping with the event! Extra run t-shirts are available for sale from the front office for $10 each. 

ICS Student Council
Our ICS Student Council Lightning Ticket Raffle in partnership with Culver's is in full swing. Tickets are $5 each; a coupon for a free Culver's sundae accompanies each entry.

The game is scheduled for December 28 vs. Montreal and the two (2) tickets are valued at $95.00 each.

The winning ticket will be pulled immediately preceding our ICS Advent Christmas Program (December 17). You do not need to be present to claim your prize.

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Stahl: icssstah@icstampa.org.

Altar Server Training

Altar Sever training will take place this coming Wednesday, December 9 at 3:30 p.m. after school. All interested and as well as current 5 – 8 grade altar servers will meet Mr. Woodward at the picnic tables outside of the middle school wing at 3:30 p.m. Altar Sever training will take place in the Church and will last until 5:00 p.m. Pick up at 5:00 p.m. will take place outside of St. Michael Hall. It is important for both new and returning Altar Servers to attend practice since many small details regarding the way we serve Mass has changed. Coach Garofolo has given all athletic participants permission to attend Altar Sever training for approximately 30 minutes, prior to attending their scheduled practice. 

If you have any questions please contact Mr. Woodward: woodwardb@icstampa.org. 

ICS Alumni are AMAZING!
Peter Tanner ('14) was selected as one of 4 students to participate in a college level medicine course at Berkeley Preparatory. He will earn two college credits for his efforts! Great job, Peter!

ICS Christmas Pies
ICS has partnered with Village Inn for our first Christmas Pie Fundraiser!

Please return the form included in today's envelope to the ICS Front Office  by Wednesday 12/16 if you would like to purchase a PIE GIFT CARD, good for one Village Inn Pie. 

The cards are $12.50 each and checks can be made payable to ICS. The gift cards will be in the Front Office for pick up, or will be sent home in your child’s Thursday envelope on 12/17.

Please Note:
**These are live gift cards – if you misplace it we are unable to refund your money.
**The cards can be used to purchase pies in any Village Inn restaurant, and have NO EXPIRATION. These would make a great gift as well!  These flavors are included in the $12.50 deal: French Silk, Cherry, Coconut Cream, Pumpkin, Berry, Apple, Lemon Meringue, Strawberry Rhubarb, Lemon Supreme.
**If you would like to purchase a flavor not included in this list, you may still use the value of the card ($12.50) and just pay the difference in the Village Inn Restaurant towards the pie you want.  Cards are not redeemable for anything other than pies.  You must still place your pie order with the Village Inn location where you would like to pick up your pie, or you can purchase what is available in their restaurant on a first come first serve basis.  
**ICS will receive 30% of each sale!


ICS Christmas Movie Night
On Friday December 11, we will host our first ever ICS Christmas Movie Night! Similar to our event in October, the cost for admission is $10 per family. Pizza, popcorn, hot chocolate, soda, water and other snacks and goodies will be available for purchase during the show. We will also have Christmas activities and photos available for families in attendance. 

Please note: 
Students in attendance must be accompanied and supervised by an adult at all times! Students dropped off for this event will not be permitted to stay.

Thank you in advance for your adherence to this policy. 


Christmas Tree Sale
Hopefully you have noticed the Christmas Tree sale on the front of our Incarnation property. Please patron this sale as the school is the direct recipient of this fundraiser! Thank you!


ICS Christmas Celebrations
*Grades 3 - 8:
Students in Grades 3 - 8 are invited to attend a Christmas Celebration on December 18 at PK's Playzone and Grille. Cost is $10 and includes unlimited access to their 6 zones, a slice of pizza and soda. For more details about PK's, please visit their website: http://www.pkplayzone.com. The facility is located a few minutes west of ICS on Hillsborough Avenue. Drop-off and pick-up on Friday December 18 will take place at PK's. Forms, permission slips and more information will be sent next Thursday!

*PreK - Grade 2:
Students in PreK through Grade 2 are invited to attend a Christmas Celebration on December 18 at ICS. This "Winter Wonderland" will be a morning filled arts and crafts, games, songs and snacks! More details will be sent next week!

Please note:
Friday December 18 is a 1/2 day of school devoted to building authentic Christian community and fellowship. As such, this is the day for any Homeroom level Christmas party at either PK's or ICS, respectively.


Advent
Despite all of the many things taking place between now and December 18, please know of the prayers and support of our school community for you and your families during this holy season of Advent.

Advent means, "to come to", and students have been focusing on the fact that Advent is a time for us to prepare for Christ to come to our hears, homes and world!

Please take time this Advent to slow down, pray, receive the Sacraments of Holy Communion and Reconciliation and perform service to others. For some great Advent resources, visit any of the following links:

*Best Advent Ever: http://dynamiccatholic.com/year-of-mercy/best-advent-ever/#bae_about

*Advent Conspiracy:

*Advent Reflection - "Do You Hear What I Hear": http://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/social.aspx?sid=1210&gid=609&pgid=28326&cid=55159&ecid=55159&crid=0

Make this your Best Advent Ever by becoming your Best Self Ever to have the Best Christmas Ever.

Jesus invites us to the Mass, not the mall. He wants us to engage in the Word, not the worry. He beckons us to his presence in the Eucharist, not to the presents under the tree.

He is calling you into something AMAZING this Advent. May you have the courage to follow Him and may He bless you abundantly this Advent and always. 

IN KEEPING WITH OUR TRADITION, WE AT INCARNATION CATHOLIC SCHOOL:

Inspire disciples of Christ,

Challenge each individual to be a life-long learner, and

Strive to live our Catholic faith through service to each other and the community.