Reminder: Jr.-High School Faculty Meeting set for 1:10 p.m. Wed.

This is a reminder to faculty that tomorrow (Wed.) is the first Wednesday of the month, and our regular K8-K12 faculty meeting is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. It is not expected to go over half an hour. Main items on the agenda are short briefings by Beth Andrade on important Country Fair matters, Dave DeCleen on our modified Disciplinary System procedures, and me on upcoming new State laws regarding TROs (Temporary Restraining Orders) and related matters, particularly laws that mandate paid-leave for certain domestic-abuse situations.

 

ATTENTION: Seniors (& parents) Planning for College, READ THIS NOW!

We just received a gracious invitation to participate in an open forum for college bound seniors set for Wed. Oct. 1, 7:00-8:00 p.m. at the Hilo High School Cafeteria. The focus of the forum is: Everything you wanted to know about College and did not want to ask. Questions which will be answered include: What do I need to do to apply to college? How will I pay for college? When do I need to start applying? Outstanding professional presentations will be delivered by Charlene Masuhara, Career & College Counselor at Hilo High and Mrs. Jan Taniguchi, UH-Manoa Admissions Counselor who is flying in from Oahu for this special evening program. St. Joseph Juniors and Seniors and their parents are most cordially invited! A hui hou!

 

"What Patriotism Means to Me" Essay Contest Launched, Cash Prizes

The Fleet Reserve Association with 159,000 active duty, reserve and retired members of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard has launched its annual essay contest for all students enrolled in grades 7 - 12. The local Hawaii FRA Branch will award first, second and third place prizes ($150, $100 and $75, respectively) for each grade. In addition. Hawaii entrants may also qualify for the national grand price of $15,000 in U.S. Savings bonds. This year's theme is "What Patriotism Means to Me" and all essays must be under 350 words. Submission deadline is Dec. 1, 2003. A 3-page information packet can be picked up at my office during working hours. For detailed information, call Bill Daves at (808) 422-2121.

 

Congressman Ed Case accepting applications for Military Academies

Here are excerpts of a letter sent to me from Congressman Case: Each year I am privileged to nominate qualified students to our nation's service academies: the U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Naval Academy. I am also entitled to submit a competitive list of qualified students to the U.S. Merchant Marines. Further, I am permitted to have five cadets at each service academy at any given time. This availability of slots in any year for nomination is dependent upon the number of my nominees (and those of my predecessor) already attending each service academy. I am very committed to directing Hawaii's youth to our service academies and into subsequent military careers... The Congressman enclosed a two-page fact sheet and 2-page application form. The deadline for getting the application form in to the Congressman is Dec. 1. Parents may pick up the fact sheet and application form from my office during working hours. For more information phone Ed Case's Honolulu office at (808) 541-1986.

 

Get your free Ad on the air during the Fair!

Country Fair co-chair, Therese Fuata, announced plans for LIVE on-site broadcasts from a special KWXX/B-97 communications booth. Business sponsors for this booth get to have their businesses mentioned "on the air" throughout the day. This is a wonderful way for business owners to help St. Joseph in this, our major fundraising effort of the school year, while, at the same time, helping themselves. Call Teresa at 935-4935 for details. Do it now. Mahalo!

 

Country Fair Co-Chairs Step Forward! Oct. 2 Meeting set

Mahalo to Therese Fuata, Lisa Johnson, Kevin Hopkins and Beth Andrade for answering the call for volunteers to help us coordinate this year's Country Fair! Come to the Thurs. Oct. 2 planning meeting to meet the new coordinators and to volunteer your much appreciated support at 6:30 p.m. in the Elementary School cafeteria. Reminder: The fair date is set for Sat., Nov. 15.

 

A Reminder from Ann Usagawa regarding Sack-N-Save matching fund

With a about 10 more days to go on the "Save Aloha" program, Ann, the dynamic chairperson for our White Elephant component of the country fair, reminds all of us to go to Sack-N-Save, buy something, then donate, say, $25. Around November, St. Joseph will get $50! What a great way to double your money! You can earmark your donation to a specific St. Joseph project, say, Country Fair, etc. (smile) Ask any Sack-N-save staffer if you need more information. Mahalo, Ann, for the reminder!

 

Heads-up for Senior Freshmen Day, Wed. Sept. 24

Activities take place during lunch time and period 4. Thus, 9th and 12th graders will be missing that class. Mrs. Wehrsig, Mrs. Malinowski, Mr. Kua and Mrs. Chung, the Senior/Freshmen Advisors, will be supervising activites on the patio, the gym and on the field.

 

St. Joseph Girls Volleyball Team Ranked near top 1 percent in Nation

The St. Joseph girls volleyball team made the front page of the latest issue of the prestigeous national Prep Volleyball online newsletter. The caption reads: "Number 65 St. Joseph of Hilo Hawaii has spunk, attitude and the Hawaii state title that eluded them last year on their wish list."    (NOTE 10/25/03: I have been informed that the the "Prep Volleyball online" newsletter is a private on-line publication. Although we had initially posted their short front-page article on our girls volleyball team here - along with information on how to subscribe to that publication - because we are a tax-exempt, non-profit institution, commercial "advertising" per se is not allowed. Since posting that on-line commercial publication's subscription information may be construed as commercial advertising, I have removed that reference from this site.)

 

Augustine Educational Foundation Scholarship Timeline

For families applying for Augustine grants, here's a timeline for management of this important assistance program: Jan. 23, 2004:, St. Joseph receives application forms for distribution to interested parents. Feb. 21-22: Annual Parish Collection for the Agustine Educational Foundation, March 12: Deadline for families to turn in scholarship applications to St. Joseph. March 19: Deadline for St. Joseph to forward applications. June 1: First round of recipient's enrollment confirmations Aug. 6: Second round of recipient's enrollment confirmation Sept. 10: Final round of recipient's enrollment confirmation Sept. 27: Checks sent to schools with confirmed recipient's list.

 

Katherine Proctor named National Merit Scholarship semifinalist

Bringing great honor to St. Joseph, senior Katherine Proctor, was one of only six Big Island high school students to earn this distinction. Her outstanding performance on national tests that got her to this prestigeous semifinalist stage at the national level reflects well on the the high academic standards at St. Joseph School. The scholarship is based on merit and scores on the PSAT. Atta way to go, Katherine!

 

Colette Tyrin earns Nana title

With the birth of Aiden James Kapukawai Tyrin at 3:30 a.m. this morning (8 lbs., 15 1/2 oz.) to Bruce & Stephanie Tyrin, our Elementary/Pre-School Office Manager, Colette Tyrin, earned the much deserved title of "Nana." The "Tutu" title goes to the mother of her daughter-in-law, Stephanie. Congratulations, Colette!

 

Father Thomas Splain, S.J. Speaks to High School Faculty & Staff

Father Thomas, a professor of cultural anthropology at Pontificia Universita Gregoriana in Rome, was the surprise visitor to our Faculty In-Service program today. Items covered were: Health Issues by Jet Proctor, Discipline issues by David DeCleene, Accreditation issues, by Susan Wehrsig and Ad Hoc Status Committee issues handled by me. I also did a short slide presentation titled Congregation for Catholic Education that focussed on the Catholic Identity issue, and Father Splain handled a short question-answer period. Yesterday, Father Splain, conducted the morning mass at Malia Puka Okalani Church. He will also do the homily at that church's evening mass this coming Sunday. Father Scott is on vacation this and next week.

 

Duty Rosters, meetings

This is to remind faculty and staff that duty rosters for Sept. 15-19, were placed in your mail boxes last Friday and will not be posted here in its entirety to avoid redundancy. However, the following important meetings are noted FYI: Tues. Sept. 16, 6:30 p.m.   High School Open House  Wed. Sept. 17, 1:10 p.m. Joint High School/Elementary School faculty/staff meeting. Thurs. Sept. 18, 6:30 p.m. Country Fair Meeting, Elementary School Cafeteria.

 

Important Message from Lisa Johnson

This week's fair planning meeting is set for Thurs., Sept. 18, at 6:30 p.m.. Although the chairperson for the White Elephant booth is yet to be determined, we do need to get the word out out this important component of the Country Fair. Clean out those closets and drop off your donations of used books, clothing, toys, sporting equipment, household goods (etc.) at the elementary school. Items should be clean and in good condition to help us have a great sale. (Used computers and computer equipment should be placed in the airconditioned development director's offices where Stofer Smith is fixing as many as possible.)

Volunteers are also needed to help sort and price merchandise. If you enjoy yard sales this may be the job for you! Hours to work are very flexible - work as little or as much as you'd like - get your friends to join you! If you are interested, please leave your name and number with Mrs. Tyrin in the Elementary School office and someone will get back to you.

Mahalo to everyone who came to our highly successful PTG meeting last Thursday!

 

High School Faculty & Staff Meeting Schedule

First Wednesday of every month: High School faculty meeting.

Second Wednesday: Joint High School / Pre- Elem.School meeting if necessary. Otherwise, usual discussion of scholastic/curriculum matters at individual schools.

Third Wednesday: Departmental Heads meeting to focus on on-going WASC (accreditation) matters, efforts to integrate curricula with the elementary school and related matters.

Fourth Wednesday: Scholastic/Curriculum matters.

For Monday, Sept. 15, the faculty in-service day, suggestions, of course, are always welcome. My preliminary thoughts are to provide a forum to help you capitalize even more on our new block scheduling system and to suggest ways we can use our upgraded computer system more effectively to save time and energy while giving students another avenue to interact with us on a one-on-one basis. We'll also cover important health issues related to new federal guidelines and disciplinary issues. Addendum 9/10: I hope to do a presentation on the Future of Catholic Schools in Hawaii (power point from the Superintendent of Schools, hot off the press!)(smile)

 

Department Chair & Staff Support Assignments

This is to confirm the following departmental chair assignments (in alphabetical order): Art, Kathleen Kam (Acting); Business, Anson Chong; Computer Science, W. Stofer Smith; Languages, Toshime Sugimura; Mathematics, Suehere Shehata; Physical Education, Miri Sumida (Acting); Religion, Jan Malinowski; Science, Pamela Lyman; Social Studies, David DeCleene.
    Staff Support: Counseling, Sister Stephen Marie Serrao, OSF; Health Room, Jet Proctor, R.N.; Library, Sister Charlene Epil, OSF; Main Office, Marilyn Pakele & Aileen Mattos
    After School: Athletics, David Mena & Rachelle Hanohano, Co-Directors (Acting)

 

Open House set for Tues. Sept. 16

Parents are invited to the annual St. Joseph High School open house to meet the teachers, talk story, see the facilities, new equipment and meet other parents. The tentative plan is to gather in Lecture Room 409 for a brief welcome from the Principal (that's me!)(smile), then go to the classrooms of individual teachers to talk story. I look forward to meeting you personally. (Reminder: The first PTG meeting is next Thurs., Sept. 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Elementary School cafeteria, and I hope to see you there too!). A hui hou!

 

Parent Teachers Guild First Meeting is Thurs. Sept. 11

Kevin Hopkins, this year's PTG President, announced the appointments, with my concurrance, of two important members to the PTG board: Suehere Shehata, the Math Department Chair, is the official High School representative, and Penny Yu is the elementary school representative. All parents and teachers are invited to the first PTG general meeting of the school year on Thursday, Sept. 11, at 6:30 p.m. in the Elementary School cafeteria. Here are summary notes of questions that have been submitted, to date, and which will be addressed:
(1) What does the school budget look like?
(2) Financial Aid status and programs.
(3) Do we have a school board, if not what is the status of it?
(4) Is there an active search going on for a permanent principal?
(5) What is the Interim Principal's day to day involvement in elementary
school operations.
(6) What is the Interim Principal's goals in the upcoming year. Long term
goals for the permanent Principal?
(7) How involved is Fr. Scott in the school?
(8) If foreign student enrollment increases substantially, do we have the
resources to provide a good academic program while improving education
offerings to existing students?
The following resources persons will be present: Father Scott Bush, Mr. Ed Andrade, Chair, Parish Finance Committee, the Interim Principal (me).
A hui hou!