First Day of School - for the Teachers

Today the faculty and staff came together for our first in-service of the 2008-2009 school year. It's always a great time - a time to reconnect after 3 months apart, to catch up with old friends and to meet new ones. In this first picture, Msgr. Halfpenny chats with Mrs. McShane prior to our opening prayer service.

Five of our teachers were chosen for the Michigan "Tech Champions" project, and spent two days this summer in meetings to learn how to integrate technology effectively into the classrooms. The grant for the project includes consultant support, so we will have a technology consultant working with our teachers on projects this year. Our Tech Champions team included, from left to right, Angela Biske, Carrie Morris, Beth Shaum, Kristen Wojcik, and Kirsten LeBlanc. These dedicated teachers learned about using blogs, podcasts, wikis, and more to integrate technology fully into classroom teaching.

Last, but certainly not least, we welcomed three new teachers to our St. Paul community. Pictured below, they are (from left to right): Ms. Maureen Murphy, our new fourth grade teacher, Ms. Marietta Leon, our new third grade teacher, and Ms. Stephanie Ring, our new Music teacher. All three are graduates of Michigan State University's College of Education, with its year-long graduate student teaching program.


Today was also our Mentor/New Family Reception. A big thank you to Mrs. McShane and Mrs. Skowronski for all their efforts to match up new families with our volunteer mentor families. I know all of the families greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet a friendly face and a listening ear, and to tour the school. As a reminder, class lists will be available on Wednesday at noon (because tomorrow - Tuesday - all of the faculty and staff will be on retreat at the Capuchin Retreat Center in Washington, Michigan). Please pray for the success of our retreat!