St. Wendel Catholic School

Biography

My husband of 14 years, Mike, and I live in St. Wendel with our 2 children -- Aubrey (who's in 5th grade at St. Wendel) and Caleb (who's in 1st Grade at St. Wendel). We love the beautiful country setting of this area! The kids know most of their neighbors and feel safe in this small community.

I have lived in St. Wendel my whole life. I attended St. Wendel School in the 1970s and 1980s. My mother drove a bus for our school and the school district of North Posey. My 3 brothers and 1 sister also attended St. Wendel School. We all have fond memories of this school as we were growing up.

I have been teaching 17 years at St. Wendel and couldn't imagine being anywhere else! I am blessed to teach in the community I grew up in! We have a wonderful group of students to teach, great faculty, and supportive families at home! Our parish community has built on many additions to our school recently and volunteer to help us when needed. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who helps St. Wendel School prosper. Your deeds don't go unnoticed! We wouldn't be where we are without you!

Fun Fact

I enjoy photography, listening to music in the morning before class, and getting a kid to smile - a smile goes a long way. When students have written me a letter or drawn a picture for me, I have kept it to cheer me up when I’m having a bad day.

I thank God that I get to touch so many lives. I hope I make a positive difference in all my students' lives and those I work with.

One of my life goals is to travel to all of the states in the U.S.A.. How many have you been to???

Websites To Help Our Learning

(Websites in orange - link to our textbooks in class, red - link to sites that would improve research and further studies, and blue - link to fun learning areas.)

In case of a school-wide shutdown, please review our current studies in each of the orange web sites.

School Spelling Bee and Young Voices Entries

Claudia Duncan and Kathryn Muensterman made it to the top 10 students competing in the school Spelling Bee (December). Both girls did a fantastic job! Kathryn received 2nd place overall and Claudia received 7th place overall. We congratulate both girls on a great job!

Spelling Bee Finalists from Gr. 4

Recently 3 students - Corey Heath, Lindsey Koester, and Kathryn Muensterman- wrote to the prompt of "What I Like Best about School Is..." for the Evansville Courier and Press. Kathryn's work was published in the Young Voices section of the January 5th edition. We are so proud of her achievements!

American Hero Essay Entries

Students were encouraged to enter the Posey County Red Cross Chapter's American Hero Essay Contest in February. By March, the students who entered, found out who received what place. The results were - 1st place - Claudia Duncan, 2nd place - Lindsey Koester, and 3rd place - Claire Muensterman. We congratulate the girls and all who entered the contest!!!

We're proud of our accomplishments!

Entomology Competition

Lindsey Koester knows quite a bit about entomology (insect study)! Her entomology team placed 1st in our area and she placed 4th in the overall individual competition. At state, her team placed 7th and she placed 20th in the individual competition. Her team identifies the common name and order of 50 insects and answers a 25 question quiz regarding insects.

When we need more information on insects.... I know who I'm going to ask! We are very proud of Lindsey's accomplishments!

Classrooms Care Project

We are reading books to help a program sponsored by Scholastic. If we read 100 books by December 12, 2009, our team captain, Peyton Manning (our choice) will donate books to needy children. Check out our progress at the Scholastic web site, under Classrooms Care.

Using LabQuests Borrow from Southwest Indiana STEM Services

This is so interesting to see the reactions on the graph!!!

Check out the rate of temperature change!!!

Studying Our States, Capitals, and Locations

Pep Assembly - Performing our Class Song, "Welcome to St. Wendel"

Shopping for the Needy at Wal-Mart and Packaging Weekend Food Bags at the Tri-State Food Bank

Finished with our Shopping

French Forts of Indiana

Fort Miami

Fort Quiatenon

Fort Sackville

Parent/Grandparent/Special Person Day

Students Who Entered our Military T-shirt Design Contest

Our Field Trip to New Harmony's Artisan Week

Bread Making

Our Service Project

We are showing support for our troops stationed throughout the world. During the school year we introduce ourselves to military with St. Wendel connections (family, relatives, and friends), send them letters, cards, and care packages. We organize the items brought in by the St. Wendel community and send them to the men and women of the service. This is the least we can do to show our support!!! Military personnel, thank you for protecting us and defending what the United States believes in! May God protect you!!!

A special "THANK YOU!" goes out to the Youth Resources of Southwestern Indiana! They are helping fund our service project again this year. We appreciate any support from other organizations to help us reach out to our special service members!

Here are links to our items we need for our care packages. Can you help us out???

Christmas Care Package List

Easter Care Package List

SPECIAL UPDATE (12/15/09)... WE RECEIVED ENOUGH ITEMS TO MAKE 15 CHRISTMAS CARE PACKAGES FOR OUR 9 SERVICE MEN AND THEIR UNITS. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO MAKE THIS SEASON'S SHIPMENT A SUCCESS!!! GOD BLESS EACH OF YOU THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON!!!

SPECIAL UPDATE (3/29/10)... WE RECEIVED ENOUGH ITEMS TO MAKE 25 EASTER CARE PACKAGES FOR OUR 11 SERVICE MEN AND THEIR UNITS. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO MAKE THIS SHIPMENT A SUCCESS ALSO!!! WE WOULD ESPECIALLY LIKE TO THANK THE LADIES SOLDALITY AND PROMARK SERVICES FOR THEIR MONEY AND T-SHIRTS DESIGNED FOR THE MILITARY. GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU THIS EASTER SEASON!!!!

The following photos show some of our military we keep in contact with.

We were happy to celebrate Veteran's Day with some veterans connected to us!!!

We're with our veterans on Veterans' Day

Our snacks and refreshments were a hit!

We gave the vets a small treat (yummy food and drinks) for all of their efforts. They shared some of their stories and memoribillia in return.

Carl Fehrenbacher shares his current experience with us.

Mr. Martin tells us about Vietnam.

Preparing the Packages and Cards for our Christmas Care Package Shipment

Getting the Packages Ready

Some of our Cards for the Military

Our Final Count of 15 Packages, Ready for Delivery!

Some of our Items for the Easter Shipment

The Girls Show off Some of the Items to Package

Make a Difference Grant Recognition

We were recognized at a reception for all the "Make a Difference" grant recipients. We would like to thank Jessica Fehrenbacher (from the Youth Resources of Southwestern Indiana) and Beth Sweeney (14WFIE anchor) for posing with us in a photo. Way to go 4th graders! Hard work pays off!!!

Make a Difference Grant

Up-coming Dates to Remember...

MAY 3 - 7 -- CELEBRATE READING WEEK

MAY 4 -- MAY CROWNING and MD BAND VISITS WITH US

MAY 6 -- COURTHOUSE & JAIL FIELD TRIP (8:30 - 2:00)

MAY 7 - FAMILY FUN NIGHT AND TALENT SHOW (6:30 pm)

MAY 10 -- 4TH QUARTER AR GOAL DUE DATE

May 12 -- FIELD TRIP TO HELP AT THE SOUP KITCHEN

MAY 13 -- Grades 5 - 8 SPRING MUSICAL

MAY 14 -- FIELD DAY (RAIN DATE/ MAKE-UP DAY ON MAY 18) and All Library Materials Due Back

MAY 20 -- CLEANING DAY

MAY 21 -- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

MAY 27 - 28 -- PICK UP REPORT CARDS

ENJOY YOUR SUMMER AND STAY SAFE!!!

4TH GRADE CURRICULUM

Religion -- Students learn the gospels' values of love, forgiveness, honesty, compassion, and service, as well as the difference between right and wrong. They live their faith through their words and actions. They learn about meaningful rituals and prayers of the Catholic faith. The main ideas expressed in their learning revolve around Christian Prayer, Moral Teachings, the Sacraments, and What Catholics Believe. 4th graders are forming self-identity and building character. They can now see things from an ethical standpoint.

Language Arts -- Students learn how to express themselves in their writing in a clear and creative way. They are exposed to many genres to increase their reading levels. The AR reading program is also used to determine the student's ability level and continues to challenge them daily. Through grammar studies, students learn correct English writing skills. Learning how to comprehend and decipher what is meant in text is another skill used in this curriculum. Many opportunities of publishing their writings are offered this year.

Science -- Students unify concepts and processes in science. They use the scientific inquiry in each lesson. Many investigations apply their learning in experimental work and hands-on experiences. They anticipate outcomes of future events, based on patterns or experience. Intrepeting data helps them draw conclusions to findings. Students engage intelligently in debate about scientific and technological concern. They increase their use of knowledge, understanding, and skills to promote possible future careers in science.

Social Studies -- Students discover their state, Indiana, and its history this school year. They learn about Indiana's progress from the pre-historical years all the way to the present day happenings in our world. Key figures, places of interest, and the steps taken to create our place in the United States are discovered. Charts, graphs, diagrams, tables, and time lines are used to to interpret data about Indiana. Many hands-on projects are used to make this year fun... salt maps, fort construction, and indian group study are just a few projects we do.

This is an exciting year to see the students progress. They come into their own personalities and then develop into young adults! Many facts and bits of information are presented to them, yet they quickly adjust to the curriculum and its more complex structures.

I'm pleased to be a part of their transition years... no longer a young child, but not quite an adult. My, what interesting, future leaders I see in class!!! I hope this school year is a positive and successful experience for them as well.

Science Is Electrifying!!!