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.

The Good News Players

By Christina Shepard

          A school wide assembly yesterday proved entertaining for the St. John Lutheran students and staff. The Good News Players visiting from Minnesota made a stop at St. John on their road trip through Florida. The Good News Players started 20 years ago when Dr. Jeffrey Burkart, a professor at Concordia University in St. Paul, began writing Christian dramas for children. There were about 14 different plays in the theater in Minnesota for 10 years before the show began to travel. Each year, nine students are selected for the Good News Players along with their director, Dr. Burkart. Their goal is to bring people to Christ through their creative modern twists on biblical stories.

          When the Good News Players came to St. John, they acted out seven very creative and well written bible dramas. Don’t Get Burned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was the first play that caught everyone’s attention. This was about the biblical characters Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s defiance against the king because they would not bow down to him. They knew God is the only One they should worship. This depiction also included wonderful singing and dancing. Follow That Star was the next play about the exciting journey of the three wise men going to visit baby Jesus. It showed the birth of Jesus with each actor playing a different role, whether they were the manger, the wise men, or even baby Jesus. The next play done was the Healing of the Ten Lepers about the time when Jesus healed ten lepers and only one came back to him to thank him. This was to show that we should be thankful to Jesus for dying on the cross for us. It also had a wonderful singing part where each leper told their story of their life after being cured. Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders was the fifth play acted out. This was about the parable Jesus told to show that we, as Christians, should build our foundation on the rock (Jesus) and not on the sand (worldly things). David and Goliath was the sixth play acted out for St. John today; it was about how David, a young Israelite, beat Goliath, a giant, with something as simple as a slingshot. David beat Goliath because of his massive faith in God.  The seventh, and final, drama that was done was loved by the children of St. John, who found the donkey talking hilarious. The Good Samaritan was a drama about the story that Jesus told of the Good Samaritan who helped a dying Jew whom he found on the side of the road. This was to show that we, as Christians, should “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). Each play was unique and different, and a great way to spread God's word. 

         The Good News Players are now touring all over Florida. They started in Orlando, and are going from the east coast of Florida to the west coast of Florida and finally back to Orlando, where they will fly back to their college in Minnesota. When asking what the teams favorite part of doing this, they answered collectively, “seeing the looks on the kid’s faces, spreading the gospel, and traveling.” St. John was extremely happy to have the Good News Players and everyone loved the creative show.

History's Greats Have a Party

Story by: Kathy Hossler   

              Photos by: Vanessa Baxley                 

Entering the room, what does one see? Queen Elizabeth I, Machiavelli, Mary Wollstoncraft, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Catherine the Great, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Louis XVI, de Stael, and Napoleon! These great thinkers and leaders are brought to life through the students of Kitty Janousky’s Advanced Placement European History class. The students share their character’s thoughts, defending their beliefs, and arguing against others at “a le Salon de Madame Janousky” (Mrs. Janousky’s Salon). The topics of heated debates range from government to religion to women’s rights and to the people.  However, much laughter goes around too. For instance, the digging of Tim Brigg’s character, King Louis XVI of France, who got beheaded or the well-acted arrogance of Ryan Oltz as Machiavelli.

Teacher and creator of her sixth salon held, Kitty Janousky, states, “My favorite part about these salons is the first day when we get together and everyone is in costume and excited, but also anxious to share.” Student, Jake Radford, also says of the salon, “I thought it was a very interesting way to learn about the history of Europe and the people that have made its history so rich.” Kitty Janousky’s salon was indeed a hit with the students as they got to interactively learn and better understand European history as well as some of its leading figures. To view more photos of the Salon, click here: History's Greats Have a Party



Senior Moment: Teddy Lausier

                        
Story  by Jake Radford

For Teddy, golf is a way of life, he enjoys it because of the competition and camaraderie. His hard work on the course was rewarded last season when he won the prestigious Marion County Boys Golf Player of the Year award. “After I won, I was recognized by a few people. So that was pretty cool,” said Teddy. Teddy’s coach is his father Teddy Lausier Sr. “I feel that it really has helped me become a better golfer. I trust him and trust that everything he teaches me to do is going to help me to be a more successful golfer.”

Although, this year for Teddy is one of the most important years of his entire school career.  “I hope to get a scholarship to go play golf in college. After college, I plan to have a family and, if it works out for me, to play on the PGA Tour.” If Teddy continues to work hard and study hard, we'll be sure to watch him make  these dreams a reality.