Pass this date and time on to everyone you know.

Saturday, Aug. 21
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
At the Old Gym and Play Court areas in the center of campus, behind the Convent

Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon
4440 SW 148th Ave.
Beaverton, OR 97007

The elementary school team has raised approximately $1,000 each year for the past three years. According to one of the team captains, Valley Catholic Elementary Teacher Janet Rabe, their goal this year is to exceed previous years.

She continues, “Our personal goals include to increase awareness of the need to continue to fund cancer research, to honor our family members and friends who have had cancer and to build community in our school by participating in a bigger community event that is held on our campus. We have teachers, administrators, parents, students and community members on our team. This is the fourth year for some of our team members. It is an opportunity to get to know each other better as well as to make new friends.”

The event chair has already stated that compared to last year’s event, the Beaverton Relay for Life has doubled money and donations and also doubled the number of participating teams!

The event runs for 24 hours and will take place on the Valley Catholic track, with camping on the football field.

Everyone interested is encouraged to come out and support this wonderful event.

Christian Richards starts out on his own Oregon Trail

Valley fourth grade students spend the month of May studying the Westward movement. They take a field trip to Champoeg State Park where students learn about the French-Canadian and pioneer settlers. Students complete many hands-on activities including candle-making, washing clothes on a washboard, making a pioneer toy and grinding wheat kernels into flour.

Erin Connelly makes sure her wagon is where she left it

Fourth graders study the Oregon Trail and its many landmarks in May as well. At the culmination of the Oregon Trail unit, students bring in small amounts of items the pioneers would have taken on the trail like portable containers of spices, sugar, flour, coffee, tea, potatoes and small blankets. They load their wagons and take turns pulling them around the perimeter of the campus.

Parents are stationed along the way at the various landmarks like Chimney Rock, Independence Rock, South Pass and the Blue Mountains. At each station, the parent explains a little about that landmark and asks the group of students a question. Then the students move to the next station. At the end, the students circle the wagons just like the pioneers did each night in the covered play court area and have a fruit snack and juice bag to represent the dried fruit and juice beverage the real pioneers might have eaten on the trail.

A former parent who had students at VCES in the 90’s hand-crafted the wagons with wood and cloth covers. On each cover, there are years worth of dates and names from all of the pioneers who have made this journey over the years. The fourth graders have been making this trek with these wagons since 1997. The adventure is one of the highlights of the fourth grade year!

Where: Valley Catholic Valiant Gym

When: Monday, June 7th 9am-2pm

Appointments are still available all day; walk-ins welcome.

To set up appointments or for further questions, call the high school office at (503) 644-3745 ir email Katie McAuliffe.

Principal Ross Thomas enjoys giving sophomore JP Rivera a little clean up.

Valley Catholic held its 10th annual Locks of Love event in May. With a huge K-12 turnout, student participation garnered close to 300 inches of hair. Even High School Principal Ross Thomas got into the act of shaving off some of his beloved’s students’ hair. At least those losing their locks were comforted by the upbeat jazz band playing in the background during the event.

For some it was a family affair. The Shew sisters Theresa at VCES, Kathleen at VCMS and Elizabeth at VCHS all grew their hair out for the event.

Locks of Love is a non-profit organization formed in 1997 that provides wigs to children across the country who suffer from long-term medical hair loss. This hair loss can be a result of many things, from radiation therapy to a currently incurable condition in which a patient loses their hair for no known reason. Wigs cost at least $3,000, and are unobtainable for many children. More than 2,000 children have received the custom-fitted hairpieces they need free of charge.

In the past nine years Valley Catholic students and adults have donated about 3,600 inches of hair.

The Valley Catholic tradition started 10 years ago by the Younkin family.

You can view select images of the fun event here.

Danny Keagbine '08

This Saturday, Valley Catholic students have set up a fundraising concert for one of their own. This event is being held on Valley Catholic’s soccer field to support 2008 Alum Danny Keagbine and his battle with cancer.

The Beaverton Valley Times wrote two articles, one featuring Danny and his family, and another about the concert, the student organizers and the bands who are performing.

You can find the article: “Show of support fuels recovery” by Christina Lent here.

You can find the article: “High school rocks for a good cause” by Gail Park here.

“Groovin’ for a Cure” will be held from noon to 6 p.m. on the Valley Catholic High School soccer field on Saturday, May 15. Tickets are $6 a person.

Mr. Weber comes to Valley Catholic from Blanchet Catholic School in Salem, Ore. serving students in grades 6-12. He has worked as the school’s Principal since 2000 and prior to that was its Vice Principal for three years.

The President of Valley Catholic is responsible for overseeing all management, fiscal, programmatic, and planning activities of the PreK-12 school. Mr. Weber will work closely with the school Board of Directors and supervise and support all school administrators. Major initiatives will be to strengthen the continuity of curriculum development across grade levels as well as to increase the visibility of Valley Catholic School in the Portland area.

Mr. Weber is not new to campus as he spent four years teaching and coaching at Valley Catholic High School from 1993-1997. Weber is a 1987 graduate of Central Catholic High School in Portland and holds a journalism degree from the University of Oregon. He also holds a master’s in teaching from Pacific University.

“We are thrilled to welcome Bob,” said SSMO Ministries President Sr. Adele Marie Altenhofen. “He has a genuine sense of the tradition and values of our unique campus; he is eager to come back and be a part of it again.”

Valley Catholic School Board Chair Tom Cleary said, “The Valley Catholic School Board of Directors is excited to announce the appointment of Mr. Robert Weber. We are pleased to have such a bright, energetic and experienced individual to join us as our school President and are confident he will move Valley Catholic forward in exciting ways. This is a great day for our entire community.”

Mr. Weber will be introduced to the entire faculty and visit the campus frequently in May and June. The school community will hold a welcome event for him when classes resume in September for the 2010-11 school year.
In looking forward to his new role, Mr. Weber said, “My goal is to carry on the traditions established over the past 100 years by the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon and to help Valley Catholic become a stronger, more unified community that shares a common vision of excellence.”

Please visit the Presidential Announcement page to access Mr. Weber’s biography and photo. You will also be able to see the official Valley Catholic press release and read Mr. Weber’s responses to some of the questions posed to him during the interview process.

We welcome Bob, his wife Christina, and his three children, Abby, Grace and Max, to our campus community.

Click here to see the Groundbreaking video and other great school moments on our Web channel www.valleycatholictv.com

Nearly 200 parents and friends of Valley Catholic and the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon attended the festive groundbreaking event for the new K-8 School Wednesday, May 5. The site where the school will be built was transformed into a Cinco de Mayo fiesta. Everyone gathered to eat, drink, celebrate and watch school representatives don hard hats and dig in the dirt with golden shovels.

VCES Principal Susan Friesen said, “You folks threw a fabulous party last night!!! Some of us are still shaking ourselves awake to the fact that it is really happening. Teachers are talking excitedly about having rooms that are actually big enough for 28 students per classroom, with sinks and more than just one or two outlets to boot, plus modern technology to assist us with our teaching.”

Students and teachers are excited that construction has begun as more space and newer facilities are a welcome change from being housed in the 1930s Convent and in portable buildings.

Pre-schooler Simon Armstrong digs in the dirt to start the construction of the new K-8 School where he'll be able to attend Kindergarten.

The new facility will be a 67,000 square foot state-of-the-art building, constructed to achieve a Gold rating with the United States Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. The building will emphasize controlled natural lighting, energy saving mechanical systems, “green” and recycled materials and other strategies as a part of a commitment to sustainable practices. The construction project also calls for a new improved traffic flow for the campus as well as additional parking.

The new K-8 School will be open for students in September of 2011.

A similar groundbreaking event was held for all students earlier the same day where everyone was given commemorative water bottles and ice cream. Pictures will be available at a later date. To view a gallery of pictures from the evening event, please click on this link.

Annex demolition will occur throughout the month of May.

While it will be interesting at any time to observe the activity, it will be especially noteworthy when major events happen such as the demolition of the annex, the felling of trees, and the raising of the walls on the actual building. The cameras are in real-time and will also make it possible for us to create a time-lapsed version of the K-8 School’s construction when the project is complete in the summer of 2011.

You can get to our Web cams any time from our home page at www.unitedwethrive.org. You can also see them here. Be sure to bookmark the site and visit often.