St. Mary Catholic School

The Swarm News

Events

Dec. 2

•Girls Basketball Game

@home vs St. Cathe-

rine

Dec. 4

•Toy Coffee

Dec. 4-6

•Girls Basketball

Games @ St. Anne

Dec. 9

•St Mary Spelling Bee

8 am

•Girls Basketball Game

@home vs Legacy

Dec. 12 •ipod Day

•Middle School Dance

Dec. 11

•NJHS Meeting

•Girls Basketball Game

@home vs Community

Dec. 18

•Christmas Program—

6:30 pm

Dec. 19

•Early Dismissal

Our News is the Buzz!

December 2014

Volume 2, Issue 10

Stu Co Wraps School in Red Ribbon Week

Red Ribbon Week started on

October 24, and ended on

October 31. The first day

was Pink Out Day. Monday

was Neon Day with the

phrase “My future is Bright,

No Drugs in Sight!” Tuesday

was Superhero Day with the

phrase of “Be the Hero of

your Life, Don’t do Drugs!”

Wednesday was Movie/

Storybook Day with the

phrase of “My Class Charac-

ter Counts, Be Drug Free!”

Thursday was

Pajama Day,

with the

p h r a s e ,

“Don’t Sleep

your Life

Away, Stay

Drug Free!”

On Friday, it

was Hallow-

een Shirt/Jeans with the

phrase of “Say BOO to

drugs” and “I’m a JEAN-ius,

I’m Drug Free!”

Pink Out Day came with peo-

ple decked out from head to

toe in pink. On Neon Day,

there were all sorts of neon

colors from head to toe. On

Superhero Day, superheroes

such as Batman, Superman,

Cat woman, and Power Rang-

ers came to school. On Sto-

rybook/Movie Day, movies

and books such as 101 Dalma-

tians, The Very Hungry Cat-

erpillar, Noah’s Ark, and Toy

Story came to life. The

eighth-graders made a very

special High School Musical

dance appearance. On Pajama

Day, students came to school

clad in pajamas of all sorts

of colors and types. On Fri-

day, there were plenty of

jeans and different Hallow-

een shirts.

All in all,

it was a

very fun

and educa-

tional week

a b o u t

s t a y i n g

away from

drugs.

By Elizabeth Johns/7th Grade

November 3rd was St. Mary’s

All Saints Day Parade. Every-

one (except Pre-k and Kin-

dergarten) was assigned a

saint to research as a pro-

ject. Then they either made

a drawing or a costume of

their saint. First grade made

large drawings while the oth-

er grades dressed up as

their saint. During the pa-

rade, each student took a

turn at the microphone to

tell information about their

saint such as their feast day

and what they are a patron

saint of. The stu-

dents were very

knowledgeable about

their saints. It was a

wonderful and enjoy-

able event.

Saints Parade Through Gym By Ian McHann/7th Grade

Have a

Wonderful

Christmas

Break!

Classes

resume on

January 5

4th grade as 101 Dalmations

Mrs. Orillion

and Mrs Bra-

quet on Super-

hero Day.

Saints Brady Ander-

son, Aidan McAllister

& Coy Darby

Photogra

phy b

y M

unawar R

ahman

Monday Nov. 17- Thursday Nov. 20 was

the yearly St. Mary Book Fair. Every

year the book fair has a certain theme

that they like to base the fair around.

This year the theme was Sir Readsalot’s

Castle, so the entire book fair was medi-

eval themed. Throughout the week,

there were drawings for free posters

and $5.99 and under books. During most

of the week, the book fair was open

7:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. each day, but on

Wednesday they had family night and it

stayed open till 6:45 p.m. On family

night, Mrs. Darby was locked in the dun-

geon until the purchases equaled $1000.

They ended up earning $1000 by 4:30

p.m. and Mrs. Darby was released. Dur-

ing family night, they had a lot of fun

events including a scavenger hunt, juggl-

ing and joking with Vinny Hale, and slay-

ing the dragon. The book fair made more

money than last year, so overall it was a

success.

Ye Olde Book Faire Reigns In Library

The Swarm News Page 2

Photogra

phy b

y E

lizab

eth

Joh

ns

Guess who writes the newsletters arti-

cles, and takes all the pictures? The

Publications Class! We design the year-

books, write the newsletter, and take all

the pictures for both. If you take the

Publications Class Elective in Middle

School, you can do all this fun stuff, too!

The class was offered as an elective for

the first time last year. If you would

like to take this class, simply mark it as

your elective class during registration

this spring. Take the Publications Class

if you want to take pictures, type, de-

sign and have new experiences. You will

learn to use a professional camera and

use graphic and publications software.

See you next year.—The Publications

Class

So Who Writes This Newsletter? By Munawar Rahman/7th Grade

was Patrick “Pacman” Paris. He talked

about the road to your dreams, and be-

ing who you are. He was also a break-

dancer. After his talk, we ate lunch and

had a dance break. After lunch, we

played some games to get to know eve-

ryone better. Following the games, the

counselor spoke again. We took a group

picture with all the Student Council, and

went back to school. Everybody in Stu-

dent Council thought it was a really fun

time, and hopefully some day you will be

able to go, too.

This October 1st, our Student Council

members participated in the TASC Dis-

trict 17 Fall convention at the Beaumont

Civic Center. The first event that hap-

pened at the convention was the project

presentation. Our school had three pro-

jects. Three groups of our students

presented table talks for Energy and

Environment, our Teacher Appreciation

project--Make a Better Monday, and our

No Smoking project--“What does a

smoker say.” Thomas Nyugen began the

Make a Better Monday project. He ex-

plained how the project works. Members

of the Teacher Appreciation Committee

bring various gifts for teachers. Every

Monday, Mrs. Darby draws the name of

one of the staff members from a con-

tainer. The name she draws gets an

award from the gifts that the commit-

tee supplies. Shelby Smith also present-

ed information about the upcoming

State Conference for Middle Schools

along with information about the Winter

Retreat. After the presentations, a

counselor talked to all of us. His name

Student Council Attends Fall Convention By Jagger McCollum/6th Grade

By Landon Acord/6th Grade

King Ian and Knight Munawar escort Mrs. Darby to the dungeon.

Volume 2, Issue 10 Page 3

On November 11th, our

Boy Scouts opened the

Student Council’s annual

“Salute to Veterans”

program by posting the

colors. Immediately

following the pledges,

the SMS choir consist-

ing of Grace Gothreaux,

Laynie Wright, Amiyah

LeBlanc, Jonire Pete, Elizabeth Johns,

Ariah Washington and

Laney Vigil sang the

National Anthem. The

pre-k 4 class sang

“God Bless America.”

Our announcer was

Student Council Presi-

dent, Shelby Smith.

Megan Do said our

opening prayer. Next

Matthew Erb read his Veteran’s Day

essay which placed third. Then we

heard from our guest speaker, Mr. John

Clark about his service and his involve-

ment with the VFW. After our speaker,

Thomas Nguyen read his second place

essay and Mallory Huggins read her first

place essay. Our ceremony was conclud-

ed with the roll call of Veterans. We

thank all of our Veterans for their ser-

vice especially those who attended our

ceremony.

Veterans Day Program Honors Local Vets By Bryce McAllister/7th Grade

Pre-K 4’s New Aide—Mrs. Braquet

By Logan Russell/7th Grade

Mrs. Lindsey Braquet is the new Pre-K4

teacher’s aide and she loves working

here. Mrs. Braquet loves her Pre-K4

class. She came here to finish her

teacher’s degree and she hopes to have

her own class to teach someday. Mrs.

Braquet grew up in Sulfur, Louisiana and

went to high school there. She attend-

ed McNeese State University. She

hopes to the stay here for a long time

and loves St. Mary.

Photogra

phy b

y E

lizab

eth

Joh

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Teacher of the Month—Mrs. Wimberley

November’s teacher of the month is

Mrs. Suzy Wimberley. She was chosen

for this award because of her dedica-

tion to her students and their parents,

her willingness to help others, her tre-

mendous pride in St. Mary School, and

her dedication to her job. Along with

her reward, she also received a reserved

parking spot, teaching supplies, ad per-

sonalized snacks.

By Landon Acord/6th Grade

Recently the middle school students

participated in a Veterans Day essay

contest. The winners of this contest are

Mallory Huggins, Thomas Nguyen,

Mathew Erb, Jenna McCorvy, Audrey

Johnson, and Krystal Lester. They wrote

their essays about why they appreciate

American’s Veterans. The judges were

the VFW which stands for Veterans of

Foreign War.

Veterans Day Essay Contest Winners By Zack Keszeg/6th Grade

Mrs. Darby

presents

goodie basket

to Mrs. Wim-

berley

Jenna McCorvy, Audrey Johnson,

Matthew Erb, Thomas Nguyen,

Mallory Huggins and Krystal Lester

Girls basketball has returned. It’s a new

season this year and there is a new

coach, Coach Shane Johns. The teams

have only played 6 games so far. The B

team has not won but they have been

close to winning. The A team has won 1

game so far. Every game that they play

makes them better. We all thank Coach

Johns for helping us out by coaching

basketball.

Girls Basketball Season Begins

St. Mary Catholic School Page 4

Photogra

phy b

y B

ryce

McA

llister

By Laney Vigil/6th Grade

Photogra

phy b

y B

ryce

McA

llister

This year the Student Council is again

sponsoring the “Biggest Turkey” con-

test. The teacher with the most feath-

ers will have to dress as a turkey and

dance in the gym. Students can give 50

cents to buy a feather for the teacher

they want to win. They can also pay a

dollar to pluck a feather from a rival

teacher. The money collected will be

sent to Orange Christian Services. The

class that brings in the most money will

receive an ice cream party.

Biggest Turkey Contest Grows Feathers By Ariah Washington/6th Grade

Good Samaritans for November

St. Mary staff nominates students they

witness displaying acts of kindness,

helping others and showing respect at

school and within the community for the

Good Samaritan Award. Recent winners

were Addyson Orillion and Bryce Wiley.

Winners receive a certificate at morning

announcements for their wonderful be-

havior.

By Logan Russell/7th Grade

Our vendor focus this month is Eye On

Security Systems. Mr. Henry Breaux

goes above and beyond to help our

school. His company specializes in ac-

cess control, burglar alarms, video sur-

veillance and vehicle GPS. If you are in

need of any of these items, we highly

recommend him. He is located in Bridge

City at 3165 Texas Avenue. You can

contact him at (409) 792-9212 or

www.eyeonsystems.com. Support the

vendors who support our school.

Vendors Corner—Eye On Security Systems

Joanna

Henry

looks for

an opening

Sydney

Schmitt

shoots a

free throw.

Bryce Wiley and Addyson Orillion

The Mission of St. Mary Catholic School is to ensure learning for all students within the framework of Catholic Christian values by

maintaining accreditation through the Texas Conference Education Department. The stu-

dents, PreK 3 through 8th grade, are challenged to grow in a manner consistent with their needs, interest and abilities, preparing them to live in an ever-changing world as self-directed, caring,

responsible citizens.

The Swarm News

A monthly Newsletter

published by the Publications

Classes of St. Mary Catholic

School

Our News is the Buzz!

2600 Bob Hall Road

Orange, TX 77630

(409) 883-8913

www.stmaryschooltx.org

Don’t forget to order

your yearbooks!

Dec. 13

Mrs. Rosa

Dec. 14

Heather Hughes

Dec. 15

Brooklyn Bellon

Dec. 28

Jaci Doucet

Dec. 1

Teanna Tran

Dec. 4

Benjamin Foote

Dec. 7

Colton Claybar

Dec. 10

Zachary Khatt

Dec. 30

Elizabeth Quintero

Mrs. Hughes

Birthdays By Laynie Wright/6th Grade