Principal’s Letter
In the words of Sesame Street, today’s installment of NewsViews is brought to you by the letter “O,” for Opportunities. Starting off with tomorrow night’s Schools Out, Grills Out BBQ, we are still in need of a number of volunteers to help run games and activities throughout the event, sign-up here; we won’t be able to offer these games and activities if we don’t have adults to supervise. This is your opportunity to complete the those volunteer hours. I would like to thank Chef Stephanie, the Crispin’s Kitchen crew and the Maintenance team for the preparations they have put in to hosting this large-scale event. Also special thanks to our Event Coordinator Karen Bombino, the student ambassadors, and all the parent/student volunteers. We are expecting over 900 people to attend so please be considerate of the neighbors and mindful of where you are parking. Better yet, ride-share or walk/bike to festivities.
Service to others is a part of our mission, and our Parish has three upcoming service opportunities for families to participate in. This Sunday, our St. Francis of Assisi Ministry is leading a Neighborhood Clean-up Event from 1-2pm here at St. John. Bring gloves, wear bright clothes, and join me and others in our community as we help clean up the St. John campus and nearby streets. Our second service opportunity is the St. Vincent de Paul ‘Stock the Pantry’ Food Drive. From June 2-6, we are asking families to help St. Vincent de Paul ‘Stock the Pantry’ for the summer by donating food and hygiene supplies. Our third service opportunity is the AGAPE Service Project on August 13. Join other St. John families in bringing food, fun, and fellowship to farmworkers and their families in Whatcom County. Detailed information about these service opportunities can be found in today’s NewsViews post, St. John Service Opportunities.
This time of year is always a little bittersweet as we experience inevitable shifts as staff members leave us to pursue other opportunities. Mollie Overa, 8th grade teacher and middle school academic support teacher, will be leaving us to return to her first love: working with severe to moderately impacted students in the special education department at Broadview-Thompson K-8 School, and Jana Kohler, 2nd grade assistant and K-3 PE teacher will be retiring from St. John at the end of this year. We will miss them both but are excited to announce Mary Baur, who spent this year filling in for our intermediate reading specialist, will be joining the team as our full-time, 3rd-8th Learning Specialist. Ms. Baur comes to us with over 20 years of experience working as a learning specialist, and we are thrilled to have her join our Learning Resource Team. Erik Skipper, who many of you will know from his time covering for our math specialist, Mrs. Olsen, while she was away on maternity leave, will be moving into our K-3 PE teacher position. Mr. Skipper has over a decade of teaching experience and is currently the Assistant Coach for Seattle Pacific University’s men’s soccer team. Mr. Skipper will also continue to support middle school math. Speaking of maternity leaves, we will soon have a couple of new-future St. John community members: Ms. Rzegocki and Ms. Shaw are both expecting babies next year – congratulations to you both!
Next week we say goodbye to our 8th grade students as they move on to pursue future opportunities in high school. We are so proud of this graduating class; they have pursued academic excellence, worked together for the common good, and developed strong moral compasses – soar on, Class of 2025, we wish you well!
See you tomorrow night at the Schools Out Grills Out BBQ, and don’t forget to sign-up to help!
Princpal Mansfield
