Basketball Tradition at St. Mark's!

St. Mary's of Bloomington has a nice tradition of praying together with the opposing team, at home and on the road, after games.

The last part of the St. Mark's School motto is: Traditions Thrive. Talented, hard-playing basketball teams have taken the floor on Underhill for decades. For the fifth year, Luke is suiting up in the Marksman blue and gold.

The start of Luke's 8th grade basketball season was delayed a couple of weeks, due to some back pain and a respiratory infection. But he is back in the saddle now. Above he waits with his teammates before the start of the game against St. Mary's of Bloomington.

The boys have been fortunate to have Coach John Stephens mentor them through the years. 

They are a quick, hard working team and always give a great defensive effort.

The Marksmen won this evening.

I didn't get too many action shots. But I promise this won't be my only basketball post. :)

Our children are setting a great example for us!

Classroom Scheirer: PreK 3 & 4

Mrs. Antoinette Scheirer is our wonderful PreK 3 & 4 teacher and our English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. She has worked at St. Mark's for eight years. Luke did not have her for preschool. However, he has attended and helped at Camp S'mores, a fun and academics camp that Mrs. Scheirer and Mrs. Willi run each summer. Camp S'mores helps children continue to learn over the summer months.

Mrs. Scheirer has a great enthusiasm for teaching three and four year olds. As the first professional teacher many of her students have, she says, "I want to get the children excited about learning!" 

She does this in a number of ways. Funds of Knowledge, a program she introduced to St. Mark's, solicits parents and others interested in St. Mark's to come into the classroom and share with the students their area of expertise, whether it be career, hobby, or other interest. Above SMS dad and alum Tom Dwyer talks to the students about his job.

As part of the ESL experience, Mrs. Scheirer invites people into the school who can teach the students about the richness of other cultures. She helps Hispanic, Asian, and African students improve their English language skills.

Professional development is important for teachers. Mrs. Scheirer is doing graduate work at the University of Notre Dame. She is also a big help to parents and serves on a committee of the Education Commission.

We are very blessed to have Mrs. Scheirer as our Pre-K and ESL teacher at St. Mark's!

It All Starts With the Teachers

One of the things-the most important thing-that has made Luke's experience over the past almost nine years at St. Mark's so outstanding has been the teachers and staff. Most of the people in the photo above he has had as a teacher. Or if they haven't been his teacher, they know him by name. Because we are a family at St. Mark's. We know and care about each other across classes.

Throughout the months of this blog, I will introduce you to the wonderful teachers and other staff members at St. Mark's and some of what they have done to make St. Mark's such a great place for children to learn and grow in their faith.

Making the Streets Safe at Bradley and Underhill

I remember when I was a student at St. Mark's, how big all of the 8th graders seemed. Especially when they were in their role as crossing guards. As an 8th grader, Luke and his classmates have rotating one week shifts serving as guards through out the year. It's an important job as Bradley Avenue is a busy street, especially when school is getting out.

Here Luke and Ethan must be plotting crossing strategy, while Zach listens and learns.

Happy about another afternoon of helping students safely cross the street. . .

. . . from the best school in the world!

Portraying Saints on All Saints Day

A few weeks ago, Sr. Diane of the Heading Avenue Franciscans, asked if Luke and I would portray two saints-St. Bernadette and St. Dominic Savio- for a presentation that she was making today. Talk about intimidating! Luke and I had to do a little research on the two saints and dress how they might have dressed.

St. Bernadette is familiar to many for the visions of Mary that she saw which led to the shrine at Lourdes, France. She was born in 1844 and when she was 14, Mary visited her 18 times while she was by a spring near Lourdes. In the years since then, at least 69 people have had unexplained authenticated cures from visiting Lourdes. Despite the great honor of having Mary appear to her, Bernadette remained humble. When people would ask about the apparitions, St. Bernadette would say, "The Virgin used me as a broom to remove the dust. When the work is done, the broom is put behind the door again.

I am humbled to say that I had never heard of St Dominic Savio until Sr. Diane asked Luke to portray him. Dominic, who was born in Italy, was a very holy and loving boy who kept his friends from fighting and showed them kindness. One winter day, a couple of his classmates filled the stove at school with snow and garbage. Dominic took the blame for this action. When his friends found out the real story, they asked him why he didn't say anything. "Jesus remained quiet during his persecution and crucifixion and I wanted to imitate him." For this, St. Dominic Savio is the patron saint of the falsely accused. He was 14 when he died and is the only non-martyr child saint.

Becoming a saint seems like an impossibility. But during her presentation, Sr. Diane said that in order to be a saint a person has to want to be a saint. This is where it starts. Another way to put this is to want to be what God wants us to be. Perhaps this start is within all of our sights.

P.S. John was in Haiti doing the work of a saint!