Congratulations Homecoming Queen Nicole Gallinaro

Senior Nicole Gallinaro was crowned the 2011 Homecoming Queen on Friday night.

Homecoming Week 2011 was a great success with lots of fun activities for students, families and alumni.  Watch the Blue & Gold for more albums and stories to come this week!  Congratulations to the SAINTS football team for a victory over Florida Air Academy.

It's a ZOO around this place.....

The Saints kicked off Homecoming Week 2011 with quite a "roar."  From elementary to high school, it was difficult to tame the excitement of the "wild beasts" roaming campus on Monday. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my - might have been heard as you passed the herd in the hallways.  Pretty pink flamingos and cuddly panda bears completed our cadre of zoo inhabitants. Check out the photo album below for more of our zoo friends:   Zoo Animal Day Homecoming 2011

Homecoming Week

By: Kathy Hossler

What is the fun-filled week that gets the whole school buzzing with excitement? Homecoming Week, of course, and this year will be more fun than ever. To start off, all week (October 10-14^th), is dress up week for the entire school. Each day has a different theme for the students to dress up and have the chance to break the dress code. For example, Monday is zoo animal day, Tuesday’s theme is find my twin day, Wednesday is tacky tourist day, Thursday is your favorite decade day, and Friday’s day is spirit day. One of the highlights of the week is the school wide Pep Rally on Wednesday night at 7pm in the gym. This is a fun event to see all of the athletes, skits, dance routines, and cheers. The highlight of the evening is the coronation of the Homecoming King and Princes. After the Pep Rally, high school students can go to the Blue & Gold Bash with fire pits, smores, games, and music. Another tradition, for high school, is the Olympiad held on Thursday and Friday (the 13^th-14^th). Over these two days, each grade competes against one another in a series of games and athletic events. On Friday night (the 14^th), families, students, and friends are all invited to attend the Homecoming game at Brick City and then watch the Queen coronation during half time. The high school students are excited for the Luau themed homecoming dance on Saturday the 15^th held at Kimberly’s Cottage from 7:30-11pm. Be sure to check the Saints Blue & Gold Blog again for an update and lots of pictures of this eventful week!

SEE YOU AT THE POLE in Review

"Our God is greater. Our God is stronger. God, You are higher than any other. Our God is healer. Awesome in power. Our God. Our God," our Saints students sang in honor of the day that celebrates national prayer. See You At the Pole, was held on September 28th. This is an annual event that St. John recognizes and coordinates students, staff and parents to start the morning early with a group prayer led by our Prayer Force and songs led by the chapel band.. With about 200 St. John students and parents praising God and about a million more around the world, God was there as we all convened. "It was great to see the kids lifting up their school in prayer and praise," reflects St. John teacher Rebecca Schaffer. Students were driven by a simple promise from Matthew 18:20, "Whenever two or three of you come together in my name, I am there with you," or were they driven by the donuts? No. Prayer was put first. Students and parents rallied and converged at St. John's front flagpole to pray for their friends, school, city, and nation. There was no greater way to start the day than with a God who is greater, stronger, healer, and awesome in power: Our God.

For more photos from See You At The Pole:  http://www.photobucket.com/SYATP

Author Visits St. John

Mrs. Pam Fisher, Florida preschool teacher and author, visited St. John last week to share her love of teaching and storytelling with our elementary students.  She read Pammy the Pig, a story of a little pig who is different from all the others because of her straight tail, to the students.  The story is a great lesson on accepting ourselves and others for the differences that make us all individuals.  Mrs. Fisher also shared the process of writing and illustrating the book with our students.

The author visit made the paper!!  Check out the Ocala Star Banner from Friday, September 30th.  Below is the link to the Ocala.com Photo Album from the author visit.
Pammy the Pig Author Visits St. John

Double Bag Lunch Day

Students walking to class last Tuesday morning might have been struggling a little bit because their hands were so full - filled with extra lunches and large bags of food to donate to the first Double Bag Lunch Day.  This is the first of a series of service opportunities that St. John will be coordinating this year.  "Our goal is for students to take an active roll in giving back to the community on a regular basis," said Vanessa Baxley, School Relations.  The first of the monthly planned Double Bag Lunch Day events collected approximately $4,000 worth of food to donate to the Ocala Domestic Violence Shelter.  Each month, the school will promote one day to encourage students and families to donate simple lunch items, fresh fruit, or items for complete meals to donate to local shelters and agencies. 

This service project, sponsored by the Student Ambassadors, would not have been possible without the hard work and giving spirit of our students and families.  "Double Bag Lunch Day had a great turn out.  Seeing everyone participate made me feel like we are really making a difference in the community," said Student Ambassador Kathy Hossler, junior.  All morning, students helped collect boxes of donated items, sort and organize like items, box up donations and load all of the heavy boxes. 

A special thanks to St. John parent Mrs. Norma Lopez(mom of Amber and Gabriel) who volunteered her whole morning to assist with the project.  She helped organize the students and food and allowed us to fill up her truck to make the delivery to the shelter.  We couldn't have done it without her - thank you Mrs. Lopez. 

Watch for future Double Bag Lunch Days to be announced!

To view our photo album, click here:   Double Bag Lunch Day September