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October 2022 Newsletter
Knightly Newsletter
St. Joseph Mission School San Fidel, NM
Hello friends of St Joseph Mission School,
May the Creator be with you and your loved ones. We are so grateful for the school year we have entered into and the growth and blessings we have been trusted with. The day this newsletter is being sent out, we are holding our Quarter 1 Parent, Student and Teacher conferences where we have placed responsibility for students to lead the conversation in evaluating their habits and strengths. This practice builds off how at the school we hold high expectations of our students, as we understand they are called to greatness through God.
Thank you for joining us this October Newsletter, we want to share with you a piece on our successful summer 2022 school program, a call to our school alumni, along with sharing gratitude for our Gala Fundraiser event.
Summer of Learning and Fun
An excerpt from a piece published in the Cibola Citizen from our principal, Antonio Trujillo.
During our outing to visit the acequia, Annabelle, current 5th grader, became enchanted with noticing the bark of this cottonwood tree. Thank you Mr. Gavlak for providing this experience for the students and staff!
David, current 6th grader, Lorenzo, current 3rd grader, and Kory, current 1st grader, closely taking notice of this bee hive brought by school neighbor, Marty Vigil. Thank you Mr. Vigil for sharing your passion for bee keeping!
Raylyn, current 2nd grader, Alanna, current 6th grader, and Amare'e, current 5th grader, sketch and paint their chosen perspective of the local acequia and reservoir.
Mason, current 3rd grader, pointing out his beaded craft to family members present at the summer program's University Day.
"For three weeks in June many students came back to St. Joseph Mission School to continue their learning through project based lessons. These lessons were designed to use all of their senses of sight, taste, feel, hearing, and smell. What better way then to have classes outside in our local area. We didn’t need a trip to the Grand Canyon, instead our students visited Guadalupe Vineyards, San Jose de la Cienega Reservoir, San Jose Acequia system as well as the outdoor experience of school itself. Student learning was project based within our local watershed in San Fidel. This meant that our pupils went from classroom learners to research scientists making observations of the ecosystems along the acequia/ditch in San Fidel, figuring out calculations of water flows, different plant heights, and measurements of different soil levels in the arroyos.
When they were at Guadalupe Vineyards they were able to take water samples from the irrigation pond and under the microscope were able to discover animal life as small organisms that helped in the biosphere of birds, reptiles and insects... Outdoor learning showed students how water brings all types of life to a given area.
When the students went to the San Fidel reservoir they learned about the history of how the community built a 10 acre reservoir to help plant crops. Leon Tafoya, mayordomo of the Acequia, spoke about water as sacred for all communities. So instead of taking pictures of the area, students were asked to draw and paint pictures of what they saw. In drawing the pictures of trees, insects, water, plants, land formations and sky, students imprinted the images in their hearts. From knowledge at a clinical level they moved their knowledge to an artistic level of meaning...
...Students were treated to a beehive demonstration by one of our local villagers. Marty Vigil, who lives up the road from the school, was more than happy to bring one contained bee hive and show the students the miracles of bees who pollinate all the flowers and fruit trees in the world as well as produce food in the honey we eat and the wax for the candles we use. Students learned that bees like water are necessary for the survival of the world.
At the end of the Summer program students gave presentations in a program called University Day. Students led these presentations as if they were professors at a College or University. As budding artists, poets, writers, and scientists they were now becoming instructors with their knowledge and wanted to share with their fellow students, friends and families. They were now teachers. The success of any school is when a student is able to articulate what they have learned and share it with the world. And so, our summer program at St. Joseph Mission School was truly a success that many students shared knowledge that many people who came to listen learned through the minds of our children professors..."
Calling all St Joseph School Alumni
We are looking towards crowd sourcing support and ideas to more impactfully celebrate our 100 year anniversary of the school’s founding.
In July 2022, we held a small gathering with a dinner, live band and door prizes.
Are you registered with the school as an alumni? Want to hear about more events like this? Please fill out the following form, so we can gather interest for another event we can hold.
Present alumni for our spaghetti dinner gathering. Thank you to our planning committee, Rose Leon & Ann Rose Ray & Stacy Martin & Edith Steele, for a wonderful event!
A Night Under the Stars
The weekend of the gala is filled with fond gatherings of supporters to the school, and the finishing up of the final logistics of the event. It is a very prayer filled event, as this year the event fell on the Feast Day of St Hildegard and also of St Robert Bellarmine, two of our doctors of the Church.
The nature of the event is to have a night dedicated to telling the story of the school, sharing our successes and also our needs, so as to be able to request monetary support for our students and the future of the school. We could never have envisioned that the event would become so beloved so as to be regarded as an annual community tradition, for beloved patrons to meet and share the impacts of this school.
St Joseph Mission School holds the charism of being a school of the heart. Our mission as a Catholic school extends beyond sisters and brothers of a common spirituality, and reaches into the interest and dedication of so many as we recognize we live in a world that we desire to be more kind, more just, and more peaceful.
Thank you from the 2022 Gala Committee, we are so grateful for the support at our 12th Annual Gala Under the Stars at St. Joseph Mission School. We enjoyed an in-person event of guests that participated in a silent auction, live bid auction, and raffle events. Further, we extended the festivities for asynchronous participation through silent auction bidding on our event website.
A special message from our Committee Chair, Penni Lovesee: “I am so happy with the patrons who continually attend and support the annual gala. Our 12th 'Night Under the Stars' was a huge success due to our generous patrons & fabulous Gala Team! Looking forward to the 13th Annual Gala celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of St. Joseph’s Mission School. God Bless.”
Brian Vallo, SJMS Board member, led the fundraiser guests in a traditional Keresan prayer to bless the event and the meal that was prepared. Dawaa'e Mr. Vallo!
Edith Steele was our honored speaker at the event, sharing her experiences as a student alumna, school parent, and also her time as an influential staff member. Much gratitude for you, Mrs. Steele!
Antonio Trujillo displays auctioned painting by Veneron Yazzen. The winning bid for the piece was $1,400; this money will go back to the school to support infrastructure needs, and student financial scholarships. Thank you Mr. Yazzen for sharing your talent!
We hosted 100 guests at the dinner and auction event, which was held at the school grounds. There were also auction and raffles that were held online for those who were unable to attend in person.
The school bus was delivered to San Fidel on the school day of October 3rd. We trust this momentous day will be the beginning of new opportunities for SJMS families and students.
We are so excited to share that through the support of wonderful benefactors, Bruce & MaryAnn Larsen, Lloyd & Betty VanHorn and the Raskob Foundation, we have been able to acquire our very own school bus! The school has ran 15 years without a school bus, and now we can extend this service of transportation to support our students who travel up to 20 miles to school.
We pray that you and your loved ones are receiving much peace during this time. We invite you reply to this newsletter, and to let us know how we can pray for you, we would love to hear from you!
Please keep our school in prayer, as we prepare to host the visit from a beloved friend to our school, Losang Samten. Let us continue to take care of one another, as we are entrusted to one another. You will be sure to hear from us next month in our November newsletter.
Pax Et Bonum,
St. Joseph Mission School
St. Joseph, pray for us.