Donuts with Dads 2011

The annual tradition of DONUTS with DAD (and grandpas, uncles, brothers and friends) hosted by our St. John PTL was a really "sweet" event this year.  On Wednesday, February 9, the Family Life Center was filled with students, dads and lots of glazed, chocolate and powdered sugar donuts.  Teachers joined in the celebration too, picking up their students and walking them to classs when the event was finished.  It is always great to see our students and their families gathering together and sharing, while making some fun memories.  We look forward to this every year - thank you PTL for making it a special Saints tradition.

To view more photos from this event, click here: Donuts with Dads 2011 Album

Kindergarten celebrates the 100th Day of School

Story by : Kathy Hossler 
Photos by : Kaley Sandlin                                      

January 31st marked the 100^th day of school for our Saints. The kindergarten class brought in special projects that represented 100 items of anything they were interested in. St. John Kindergarten teacher Mrs.Wilcox said, “We are celebrating this 100^th day to celebrate the new skills that we’re learning, like counting to 100, and to show that we are 100 days smarter." The students really enjoyed being creative with this project.  K-5 student, Emma, says about her project, which was a shirt decorated with 100 things, “I liked putting the numbers and letters on and I can count to 100.” Another student, Codi, explains her projects saying how there are 100 seashells in which she got to glue on and paint the poster board. All around the room, a variety of projects are displayed, celebrating this great milestone.  We enjoyed viewing the kindergarten 100 day projects and all of the excitement that our students had during the week.

To view more photos click here:100th Day of School

Saints take third at Lutheran State Tournament!

Courtesy of Coach John Westol

The St. John Lutheran 7th/8th boys and girls basketball teams both had a successful run at the Florida Lutheran State Tournament this last weekend as both teams won two games while losing one to finish in 3rd place in the six team field.

   The 7th/8th girls took on the #2 seed from the South Region, St. Paul Lutheran of Boca Raton and defeated the Falcons by a score of 24-18.  Leading the Lady Saints in scoring was Grace Ergle with 10 points. 

   In the semifinal, the Lady Saints faced the #1 seed from the north, and eventual State Champion St. Luke of Oviedo, and were defeated in a close game 26-20.  Ergle again led the team in scoring with 8 points while guard Ashley Gallinaro chipped in with 6 and 5 steals.

   In the battle for 3rd place on Saturday night, the Lady Saints faced #1 seed from the South, Trinity Lutheran of Delray Beach.  The Tigers led throughtout the game by as much as 8 points, but the Lady Saints never gave up, and, after trailing by a score of 20-12 in the 4th quarter, rallied to tie the game at 20-20 on two free throws by Ergle.  It was then up to center Jenny Bollinger who was fouled with 7 seconds to go.  Bollinger stepped to the line and, taking her time, made both ends of a 1 and 1 to give the Saints the lead and the victory 22-20, as a last second shot attempt was blocked by Jordyn Chaffin.   Ergle again led all scorers with 10 points while forward Hunter Medero had 8 rebounds and Gallinaro picked up 6 steals and 4 assists.  Guard Grace Ergle was named to the all-tournament team.

    The Lady Saints, now 25-4, also have team members Alex Zeedyk, Amber Lopez, Shamari Adams, and Jamie Daw.  The team is coached by John Westol, Bill Bollinger, Monty Ergle, and Karen Zeedyk

    On the 7-8 boys side, the Saints faced #3 seed St. Paul Lutheran of Boca Raton in the first round and won 44-13.  The Saints, who led 10-8 at the end of the first quarter, put it in overdrive and outscored the Falcons 34-5 over the next 3 quarters. Leading the Saints in scoring was Freddy Goins with 18, while Matthew Westol had 9 and Noah Blake 8 to go with 7 assists.  Center Anthony Barriner had 6 points and 7 rebounds in the game.

   In the semifinal on Saturday morning, the Saints faced the #1 seed from the South, Zion Lutheran of Deerfield Beech.

   The Saints and Lions started out slowly with the Lions taking a 10-6 first quarter lead.  Both teams picked up 10 in the second quarter to make it 20-16 at the halfway mark. 

    The Saints tied it at 22 all in the 3rd quarter, but a late run by the Lions made it 33-25 at the end of three.

   In the 4th the Saints were again outscored by 2 to make the final 41-31 Lions.  Goins again led the team in scoring with 13, while center Carson Vandeven had 8 and  Blake 7.

  The Saints then had to face rival St. Michael's of Ft. Myers in the 3rd place game and it was the Saints against the Saints.

  Both teams started out slowly and St. John led at the half 16-13,  but in the 3rd quarter exploded, outscoring St. Michael's 16-6 on the shooting of guard Matthew Westol who scored all of his 9 points in that period.    The Saints, who led by as much as 18 then finished with a hard earned 39-31 victory.  Blake led the team in scoring with 11, while Goins had 10 and Westol 9.  Guard Freddy Goins was named to the all-tournament team.

  The Saints, now 30-5, include other  team members Chris Tessman, Kraig Lindsey, David Hatcher, Mike Hallgren, Luke Morgan, Jordan Salamone, and Hayden Nugent.

   The team is coached by John Westol, Hayward Lindsey, and Ron McMillin

Kindess Counts

St. John made the newspaper on Monday, February 20th.  In case you missed it, see below for the feature on our focus on kindness during Random Acts of Kindness Week

Local school promotes kindness with week of activities

St. John Lutheran took part in National Random Acts of Kindness Week
By Joe Callahan
Staff writer

Published: Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 10:29 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 10:29 p.m.

 

Six-year-old Evan Greene stood along a fence in the St. John Lutheran School courtyard last week and talked about what he has been doing to show kindness.

“I gave Aiden a basketball,” said the first-grader of his classmate, Aiden Turman. “I also held doors for people.”

Last week the private school participated in National Random Acts of Kindness Week in hopes of reminding its students to always take the kind approach.

St. John Lutheran spokeswoman Vanessa Baxley pointed to signs posted along most every hallway. The signs are to provoke an outbreak of campus kindness.

The signs included: “Say kind words,” “Hold the door for others,” “Take turns,” “Smile,” “Say hello,” “Nice matters,” “Help a classmate” and “Let others go first.”

Students learned the classic Bible verse in the book of Mark, Chapter 7, Verse 12: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

And last week, they all practiced what was preached.

“Our goal is to help students remember to be kind to others every day,” Baxley noted in a written release. “We are focusing on the ‘Golden Rule’ of treat others as you would like to be treated.”

Different classes on campus, which includes all grades through high school, focused on incorporating kindness in their daily routines.

Students wrote positive compliments about other students and focused on helping others. They also collected goods for various charities. Food items were used to complete full meals for needy families. One class even collected socks for soldiers serving overseas in Afghanistan.

Sophie Fisher, 14, said she learned about the troops in Afghanistan while studying world cultures and about the soldiers’ need for white tube socks.

“Socks are really important to them,” said Fisher, who later walked into her classroom to show off the pile of socks gathered, more than 300 pairs in all.

First-year Principal Jeffrey Knutson said he was pleased with what he witnessed throughout the week, specifically how students would help teachers clean classrooms to get ready for events.

Sophomore Caley Carbaugh, 15, said students are making an effort to say hello to students they may not know. The whole school is revitalized.

Students are “going out of their way to do something nice,” said Lynn Tomich, a first-grade teacher.