To celebrate a new feature, our “Be an Advocate” program, we are offering a Friends and Family 20 percent discount. Please print the coupon code!
The “Be an Advocate” program offers incentives that reward the shoppers and your store!
Here’s how it works:
When you refer a friend or family member and they join our community, they receive 500 Reward Points-a $5 value, redeemable at checkout—and your organization receives 100 points.
When that friend or family member makes their first purchase, you receive 500 Reward Points and your organization receives another 900 points. Everyone wins—click on the Be an Advocate link on your main page to learn more and sign up.
Thank you to the students, parents, and guests who took part in the Music Jamboree Friday evening. It was a great evening of wonderful music. I also want to thank all who helped with the set up and the clean up afterwards. God bless you!
Photos by SSMO Ministries Communications Photographer Casey Braunger
Submitted by VCMS Science Teacher Pat Christiansen
As Valley Catholic School was working toward its LEED Gold certification for the new K-8 building, students have learned along the way what makes their new building so special in the “green” category and how its design measured up to meet rigorous requirements for energy conservation. On April 10 and 11, sixth-grade students worked with fourth- and fifth-graders to design and create parts of a display board that explain some of these energy-saving features.
The students learned about how the building uses recycled corn cobs in the floor, recycled blue jeans in the insulation in the walls, and recycled wood from the trees on campus for the ceiling and the chapel. They learned about how the windows help the HVAC system work efficiently, and how the lights turn on and off to save energy. The students worked together to make different parts of the project, which will be displayed on small boards later this year.
Submitted by VCMS Vice Principal and Science Teacher June Poling
Eighth-grade students once again braved the weather to do their part to improve the environment one tree and shrub at a time. On April 30, students worked with Charlie Vogelheim from SOLVE to handpick and dig out the invading Armenian blackberry shoots in an effort to keep them from overwhelming the newly planted Oregon grapes, snowberries and maples. Students also spread buckets of mulch around the new plantings to improve their chances of surviving the warm/dry summer months. The area adopted by this year’s eighth-grade class is now complete. Students were encouraged by Mr. Vogelheim to return to the site over the years and see how their efforts grow into a natural, native habitat.
To see pictures of the event and a story written by Charlie Vogelheim, click here.
The Washington County Spelling Contest took place on May 1, 2012. The annual event is hosted by The Northwest Regional Education Service District’s Department of Instruction and School Improvement and held at the agency’s regional office in Hillsboro. There were 30 students representing schools in Washington County in three Divisions, elementary school, middle school, and high school.
Valley Catholic School was represented by fifth-grader Divya Amiratharaj in the Division I competition and seventh-grader Helen Buck in the Division ll competition. They both did a great job amid very stiff competition. Congratulations to Divya and Helen for being great representatives for our school!
Submitted by VCMS Language Arts Teacher Amy Harvey
On April 30, the seventh-graders went on a tour of Old Town Portland and the Underground Tunnels. They rode buses downtown and ate lunch at the Saturday Market site, then split into groups for guided tours. They learned a lot about Chinatown and Japantown and how they came to be and how Japantown was lost to Portland during WWII. They toured much of Old Town and learned some of its history while also studying the architecture and the fountains. They learned of the flooding of Vanport, how it is no longer a city, but that it is now the Jantzen Beach area.
The students, equipped with flashlights, were guided through what used to be connecting tunnels originated for storage and flood control, but were also used for the selling of alcohol during Prohibition. The guides told stories about the less-than-glamorous days of the infamous Shanghai Tunnels. They learned about how the “Shanghai-ing” was perpetrated by one terrible man who used to sell both men and women to ships by tricking them or getting them too intoxicated to know better.
At the Oregon Music Education Association (OMEA) Festival on April 21, Valley Catholic Middle School was represented by 36 students. Of those, three received a top rating of I+, which means above superior, and another 21 received a I (superior). The remaining 12 received a rating of II (excellent). That translates to 67 percent of our students getting a rating of superior or higher.
Submitted by Valley Catholic Music School Director Sr. Juliana Monti, SSMO
Valley Catholic Music School is looking to bring some additional independent contractors aboard to teach private lessons on the string bass and saxophone. If you know any professional music teachers who would like to increase their lesson load, please have them contact Sr. Juliana Monti.
Pictured are some members of the VCS Women Build Team for May 12. Standing, left to right: Monique Ierardi, Mary Donovan and Kristen Durbin. Seated: Allison Ierardi and Lauren Bartholomew.
Submitted by Director of Campus Life Mary Donovan
Valley Catholic School is sponsoring two mother/daughter build days at Beaverton’s first-ever Women Build. The first build day, Saturday, May 12, is full. The team from Valley will include two alums, three high school girls and one middle school girl and their mothers, Mary Donovan and VCHS Religion Teacher Mrs. Durbin.
The build day on Saturday, May 19th, the weekend after Mother’s Day, still has a few openings. Moms and daughters 14 and older, please contact Mary Donovan to sign up. See additional information here.
The house they are building is located in the Huntting Park neighborhood at SW Hall and Sussex Streets. Women Build, part of Willamette West Habitat for Humanity is, according to their website, “…not about excluding men; it is about including women. Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program enables women to discover for themselves that they can build Habitat for Humanity homes with NO construction experience necessary! Women Build brings together women from all walks of life to address the housing crisis facing millions of women and children worldwide. Women Build events have helped to construct more than 1,900 houses.”
Submitted by VCMS Vice Principal and Science Teacher June Poling
The top science fair projects representing 10 area Catholic schools came together to compete for trophies and scholarships at Valley Catholic Middle School’s 10th Anniversary Science Fair this past Friday, April 27th. Students tried to solve real world problems such as designs for energy efficient homes and designs for seawalls to protect against tsunamis. Some projects tested the effects of music on spiders and which acne medication most effectively stops the proliferation of E-coli.
To celebrate a new feature, our “Be an Advocate” program, we are offering a Friends and Family 20 percent discount. Please print the coupon code!
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