Did you know that Sacred Heart School is filled with little future saints? The month of November began with our annual All Saints Day Mass and procession.

Our students heard the stories of many of the saints, but the central theme of the day was the realization that everyone can be a saint. This special celebration led all of the children at Sacred Heart on a mission to be more like the saints in their daily lives.

Our focus this month, like many of the saints, is to be more generous and thoughtful of others. Some of the activities we are participating in are:

1) A Pennies for Patients drive for all people with blood-related cancers;

2) A St. Vincent de Paul food drive for the needy in our community;

3) The CYO Turkey Day Run, where over 40 of our third to eighth graders ran in teams and brought back eight turkeys for the needy in our community;

4) During the week of Nov. 18-22, the children voted with quarters for the "Best Turkey Legs." (They are really the teachers’ legs.) This was to help raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation;

5) As we do throughout the year, we continue to write to and pray for any people who need our prayers and support. Children’s prayers are powerful!

The last big event we are coordinating with the Parish School of Religion is the "Pint-Sized Blood Drive" that will be held in the chuch basement on December 13, from 1 to 7 p.m. We ask that any parishioners who might be willing to give a pint of blood should call the school (334-6272) and we will give you the details of this program created by the Red Cross to help increase awareness of the need for blood in our community.

We are also beginning to see the fruits of our goal of making our school a more vibrant part of our parish life. In the month of November, we have invited several parish community members to read to our children to help us celebrate Children’s Book Month. We are also beginning our Mathcounts, Destination Imagination, and Future Cities programs. These groups have asked some "experts" in our parish to assist them in their preparations for competition. Currently, our Extended Learning Program is planning to create a school garden, and is looking for some consultants from the parish to help with that project. We would also like to invite all members of the parish to two special performances of our school groups during the month of December. On December 9 at 7 p.m., our two choirs (Grades 1-4 and Grades 5-8) and our bands (including violin) will entertain us. On Thursday, Dec. 19, the even grades of our school will perform a play, "A Charlie Brown Christmas," at O.J. Work Auditorium. at 7 p.m. Our music teacher, Mrs. Amanda Porter, is coordinating all these programs with the assistance of Mr. Eric Pandrea, parish music director. If you’ve never heard Mr. Pandrea play Charlie Brown on the piano, you are really missing something. We hope you will consider joining us in a night of entertainment by our school children. This is one small way we have of saying thanks to our parish for supporting our school!