October News

2009

AT A GLANCE: Contents of newsletter

· October message from Sister Dorothy

· Dates to Remember

· PTG Auxiliary/PTG

· Certificate Program

· Fundraising

· Important Cafeteria Information

· Students in the News

· Miscellaneous Information/Events

· Monthly Calendar/Lunch Menu

October Message from Sister Dorothy

October has always been one of my favorite months. The days are cool and crisp. Mother Nature paints the landscape with beautiful colors. The weekends are filled with football games. You can attend and enjoy the smell and taste of numerous Oktoberfests. The students at school are settled in with the routine of the year.

However, October has more meaning to me. First of all it is the month of the Holy Rosary and Mission Month. During the month, our students will gather at the Blessed Mother shrine and pray the rosary. We will also start our annual collection for the missions in Peru.

October is also filled with the feast of many great and wonderful men and women whom the church calls Saints…Catholic heroes.

The month starts with the Guardian Angels on the 2^nd. Many of us are familiar with the famous painting of an angel protecting a boy and girl as they cross over a dangerous bridge. Our life is full of ‘bridges’ that we cross during our life. May our angel always be there to protect us. Everyday at dismissal time, the students pray ‘Angel of God’. Maybe some days you can pray this with them.

On the 4^th is the feast of St. Francis. St. Francis lived his life in peace. He addressed the moon and sun as brother and sister and respected all God’s creatures. There will be a blessing of pets at the church at 1:00. Let us also pray for peace in our own hearts and family and in the world.

Two women with the same name are honored this month. St. Therese of the Child Jesus (the Little Flower)’s feast is the 1^st. She was a Carmelite nun who never left her monastery and died at the age of 24. Her prayers were so powerful that she has become the patron of the Missions. St. Teresa of Avila is celebrated on the 15^th. She also was a Carmelite who conducted a reform of her order. Her spiritual writings have earned her the title of ‘Doctor’ of the Church.

October 18 is the feast of Saint Luke. There is a large statue of him on the 1^st floor of the school. St. Luke is the patron of physicians and artists. He is the author of one of the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. (He is very special to me for when I first became a Sister I had the religious name of Sister Mary Luke.)

May the month of October be filled with many memories of good times and Saints for you and your family. God bless you always!

Sister Dorothy Dolak, SCN

Principal

October Dates to Remember

Please review the Monthly Calendar for a complete list of CDTCA events/activities

Friday, October 2 8^th Grade girls visit Oakland Catholic

PTG Aux. 9:00-10:30 AM Pastoral Center

All School Mass 10:30 AM

Sunday, October 4                            Animal Blessing 1:00 PM St. Scholastica Church

Wednesday, October 7                     4th and 5th Field trip to Fort Ligonier

                                                        PTG Meeting 7:00 PM School Library

Thursday, October 8                         8^th Grade Boys visit Central Catholic

Monday, October 12                         In-Service Day – NO STUDENTS

Tuesday, October 13                         6^th Grade trip to visit the Observatory

Wednesday, October 14                    Dress Down Day for the Missions $1.00

Friday, October 16                           Gift Gathering Party – 7:00 PM See location under PTG

Saturday, October 17                       Aquinas Guild Luncheon and Fashion 11AM @Field Club

Tuesday, October 20                         Max & Erma’s Night

Thursday, October 22                       Pre-3’s,K, 1st and 2nd Trip to Reilly’s Pumpkin Farm

Friday, October 23                           Pre-4’s Trip to Reilly’s Pumpkin Farm

Wednesday, October 28                    Redd-up Day 1:30-2:10 PM

Thursday, October 29                       Mass 8:30 AM (Not on Friday)

Friday, October 30                           Halloween Costume Parade 1:00 PM

                                                         End of 1st grading period



FROM THE PTG AUXILIARY:



Thank you to all of the CDTCA parents who took time out of their busy schedules to attend the first PTG Auxiliary meeting of the 2009-2010 school year. What a wonderful start of the school year to have so many actively involved families! Your thoughts, ideas, questions and feedback are so critical to the success of our school. We hope that you will make the CDTCA PTG Auxiliary meeting a "First Friday Fixture".

We look forward to seeing everyone at the next PTG Auxiliary Meeting on Friday, October 2, 2009 from 9-11 AM in the Pastoral Center. You bring your ideas and questions and we'll bring the coffee and pastries!

We would also like to thank all of the CDTCA families and the CDTCA faculty for your support of the Family Social. We had a fabulous turnout and we hope everyone had a wonderful time! The food was amazing and the weather turned out to be perfect (thanks to everyone’s prayers for good weather and once again, St. Scholastica comes through for us despite the forecast)!

We hope to see all you ladies at the Gift Gathering Party on Friday, October 16^th. Don’t miss this opportunity to spend a fun casual evening with the fantastic moms of CDTCA! See location and details under the PTG News section. Feel free to bring a friend and treat yourself to a wonderful evening out! Your support of this event will help to make this Fall Fling auction the best yet!

PTG NEWS:

The first PTG Meeting of the year will be held on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 7:00 pm in the school library. Agenda items include an update on school issues with Sister Dorothy, a marketing/development presentation with Jocelyn Bosick, a review of our financial status with school fundraisers and an update on the Fall Fling.

We will also elect a new PTG Board member and elect a new Vice President and Secretary. If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else to be considered for the Board position, please contact Joanne Saunders at js.saunders@verizon.net prior to Monday, October 5, 2009. All parents are encouraged to participate in the PTG. It is a great to stay involved and be informed. We hope to see you at the meeting on the 7th!

DON'T FORGET TO MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE FALL FLING TO BE HELD ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2009 AT THE PITTSBURGH FIELD CLUB!!! Exciting things are in the works for our annual Fall Fling and we hope that you are planning to join us!! Great auction items are coming in daily, we are planning a fun and delicious menu with strolling dinner stations and we have a few surprises planned to rev up the evening. Invitations will soon be mailed to all school families - look for yours and send in your replies as soon as you can. If you are interested in donating an auction item or in sponsoring or underwriting opportunities, please contact Sandi DiGregory at sandsdigregory@comcast.net or Joanne Saunders at js.saunders@verizon.net.

Moms and guests - don't forget to attend the Gift Gathering Party held on Friday, October 16, 2009 at Joanne Fallon's beautiful home at 169 North Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15238. Attendees are asked to bring an item for the Fall Fling auctions. Suggested items include home or personal gift items, bottles of wine or alcohol or monetary donations. You don't want to miss this wonderful evening.

The PTG is launching a new community activity aimed at promoting and marketing our school and raising some money as well!! Starting with the Aspinwall "Fall in the Wall" event and continuing through December, the PTG will be selling luminaria kits to be used on Christmas Eve. Each kit will contain six white decorated bags, six seven hour votive candles and the sand necessary to hold the candles, everything you need to put together luminaria for your property. Our hope is that we will light up Aspinwall on Christmas Eve and any other surrounding neighborhood. More information on this activity will be sent to all school families via email.

CERTIFICATE PROGRAM:



UPDATES

Panara Bread Gift Card is available in a new $25 denomination in addition to the already available $10 gift card.

ORDER DATES

As you prepare for the holiday season please be aware that no orders will be placed on Tuesday, Nov. 24^th due to the Thanksgiving Holiday and the last placed order for Christmas will be Tuesday, Dec. 15^th. As always local and on-hand certificates will be available during school hours.

PAYOUTS

The first payout will be applied to your Fundraising Account in October. No statements will be sent out at this time. Fundraising Statements will be sent in January and will reflect two payouts.



FUNDRAISING

Max & Erma’s fundraising event at the Fox Chapel location will be Tuesday, October 20th from 11:00 am until 10:00 pm. This is a great fundraiser, 20% of your bill is credited to our school. This offer will be accepted on take-out orders. Please remember to order your Max & Erma’s gift certificates on the certificate order form.

Flyers/coupons will be sent home for this event. Additional coupons are available at the office for friends and family.

We will be the only school participating at this location.

TARGET AND CDTCA!!

Our school has received money on behalf of Target and the Take Charge of Education Program, Target donates up to 1% of purchases made using a REDcard to eligible schools. (REDcards include Target Visa Credit Card, Target Credit Card and the new Target Check Card)and ½% of purchases on the card use at other stores. You will need to designate our school ID # 15093 with your Target card. To sign up, please go online with Target or call 1-800-316-6142. Please consider designating CDTCA with your Target Card.

Magazine Sale:

Magazine sale wraps up on October 7th, which is the final magazine turn-in day. Top prizes will be given to the student with the highest sales, the class with the highest percentage of sales/student and the student with the highest Internet sales. Please consider ordering or renewing your favorite magazine. Remember magazines make great gifts and Mrs. Casile may have a wish list for the school library if you are able to donate a subscription. You can also order/renew online at www.qsp.com <http://www.qsp.com/> using our school code #425013254. CDTCA receives 40% of all sales, so your support is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at 412-781-7163 or kim.herr@verizon.net.

Campbell's Labels for Education Program:

REMEMBER to clip UPC's from Campbells, Pepperidge Farms, Swanson and Market Day products. Save the lids from Prego and V-8 juices. Drop off the UPC's and lids in the bin by the front office. We'll redeem the UPC's and lids for merchandise from Campbell's Labels for Education catalog. Thank you!

IMPORTANT CAFETERIA INFORMATION:

Needed: Cafeteria Volunteers
When: Mondays thru Friday (See October dates below)
Time: 11:00 am - 12:30 pm

                                           Tuesdays Oct 6 & 20

Thursdays Oct 1, 15, & 29

Fridays, Oct 9, 16 , & 23

Please call or email if you can help. Please call Chris Gentilcore @412-782-4557 or email ccream@msn.com.



STUDENTS IN THE NEWS:

Learn more about our Administration and Staff through student interviews. Each month we will feature a new CDTCA person. The interviews can be found on our website, cdtcatholicacademy.org, under the News section on the home page. Just click the link and read. Our first is: A Talk with Sister Dorothy by Patrick Duggan and R.J. Walkowski.

Let's congratulate the 2009-2010 CDTCA Student Council Officers!!!

President- Patrick Duggan

Vice President - Thadeus Pawlikowski

Secretary - Dustyn Altenbaugh

Treasure - William Saunders

Publicity - Jonathan Smith

Activities Chairman - Alexander Butler

These fine young men have many exciting events and activities planned. This is the beginning to a wonderful year!

Twenty students from our school will have their original poems published in the upcoming edition of Creative Communications. It is a publication devoted to the promotion of language arts and recognizes writers for their work and gives them audience.

Current students:

Paul Altenbaugh, Alex Butler, Patrick Duggan, Clayton Gentilore, Daniel Hinterlang, Geoffrey Miller, Thadeus Pawlikowski, Christine Pilewski, Maria Powers, Hailey Daniels and Dillon Schetley

Graduates and previous students:

Lauren Butler, Nicole Gruden, Grant Hettinger, Allison Nedrow, Rhodora Moore, Bridget Podgorski, Patrick Reilly, Nico Stelitano, and Spencer Thurman.



Misc. Information/Events:

The annual "Fall in the Wall" event is Saturday, October 10, 2009 from 11am-4 pm. CDTCA will have a booth and PTG will be selling our luminaries. Please stop by and say hello!

Autumn Song Luncheon and Fashions:
The Aquinas Guild of St. Scholastica Church welcomes all to this annual event on Saturday, October 17 at the Pittsburgh Field Club. Proceeds will support church and community activities and world relief projects. Doors open at 11 AM to socialize and shop the auctions and bake sale. A fashion show by Carabella follows the noon lunch. Tickets are $35, available through Mary Ellen Maher at 412-767-5863.

St. Scholastica Parish is having its annual "Stewardship Fair" on the weekend of October 24th and 25th. CDTCA will have a table at this event and PTG will be selling luminaries as well.