Lumen News – November 5, 2020

Important Upcoming Dates:

• Nov 6: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Annual Fundraiser & Auction.
• Support our sister school! See attached flyer.
• Nov 8 – 14: Discover Catholic Schools Week
• Nov 11: Veterans Day Dress Up
• Nov 9-Nov 18: Thanksgiving Basket Drive
• See below under “Share Hours Opportunities”
• Nov 25:  NO SCHOOL/Start of Thanksgiving Weekend
• Nov 25-29:  Thanksgiving Weekend

Principal’s Update:

Watch your email for a separate update from Mr. Ross later this afternoon. Included will be safe return and operating plans next week for High School, and results from last week’s survey.

Campus Ministry:

 Virtue of the Week:  Gratitude

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Thank you to 7th graders Vincent, Nicholas, Henry, XinMei, Liv and 8th graders Maggie and Divine for taking part in our remote Mass this week.

Students who would like to read and/or serve for our 8a.m. Friday remote Masses, please contact Mrs. Loeffler. When possible, we will schedule siblings to read and serve together in order to keep our students safe in social “bubbles.”

 Happy and blessed birthday to Maggie and Mia next week!

• This Friday and Saturday, Nov 6 & 7, St. Benedict HS Youth Group is holding a Fall Retreat here at Lumen Christi School. All High School Students are welcome to attend! Information and registration is in the school office.  This is a wonderful time for students to come together in prayer and community.

• We love to celebrate our kids’ victories!  Please let us know when your son or daughter wins an award, performs well in competition or has other special achievements so we can recognize him or her.

• I am available in the Campus Ministry office (located in the library) for student and parent support. Parents, email or call, and students, drop by any time. If I am in class, leave a note and I will get back to you within 24 hours.

Prayer Spot

Please remember the following in your prayers this week:

For peace and unity in our country
For those experiencing homelessness and poverty as our winter approaches
For comfort to the Tiernan family who grief a loss
For healing of all infected with COVID – 19
All medical workers

If you would like special intentions listed in Lumen News and Prayer Book of Intentions send them directly to Mrs. Loeffler.

Archangel Sports:

Shout out to 11th grader Brenden Gregory who was the QB for Dimond High’s Varsity Football team this season; Brenden just received the “Honorable Mention Award for Football” from the Anchorage School District. We love our agreement that allows our Archangels not just to play, but shine on non-Lumen teams within the public school system. Way to represent on the field, B!

The Girls High School Volleyball team has their first game against Birchwood on Monday, November 9th at 5p. Good luck to our Lady Archangels, it’s been a wacky road to get to this point for sure. We’ll be rootin’ for you.

Co-ed Jr. High Volleyball practice continues to be on hold. STILL. Stupid Covid.

Front Office News:

LUMEN-ary Drive

Donations continue to come in – THANK YOU! To date, 24 Lumen families have contributed a total of $9,370.00. Add in family-of-Lumen families (aunts, uncles, grandparents) and that brings numbers up to 33 donations for a total of $11,910.00.  Add in the St. Benedict’s parishioners and school friends and we’re up to 80 donations for a grand total of $24,255.00.  This is awesome!  The total goal is $50,000 so we’re nearly half-way there.

As parishioners and friends continue to give, and if all Lumen families contributed (our goal is 100% family participation – right now we’re at 30%) we would absolutely reach our goal by Thanksgiving.  You can drop off a cash or check donation, or to make it super easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy, just click here: https://www.osvonlinegiving.com/199/DirectDonate/2946  Select an amount that feels right for you, click “Continue” and you’re on your way.  Cheers!

Debate 2020-21

The presidential debates may be a thing of the past but Lumen’s Debate Team goes on. On Friday, October 23rd, the team began their 2020-2021 debate season with a twist: the students presented their arguments not face to face, but to a screen. Instead of a buzzing cafeteria full of excited students from area schools, competitors Liam Dupras, Vaeda Michaelson, Jack Murkowski, and Emily Ross met in their virtual team room to prepare their speeches and decompress between rounds during West High’s virtual tournament.

Vaeda and Jack returned to Public Forum debate after representing Lumen Christi at the state debate tournament last season. They made cases for and against the enactment of a Medicare for All Act in the United States. Emily returned as an experienced Lincoln-Douglas debater, making cases for and against compulsory voting in democracies. Liam Dupras also tackled this topic, joining the team to compete in his first Lincoln-Douglas debate.

While the new online format presented challenges, the team found debating online to be every bit as engaging and spirited as in-person debates. “Two pages! I took two pages following that last round!” Emily shouted as she showed her full notebook to the screen. The team will return to the virtual debate stage again for the Chugiak Tournament this weekend, November 6th and 7th.

Water Bottles

Please send your students with their own refillable water bottles. I had a small stash of water in the Office which has been depleted by students (no, this is not a request to have that stash replenished!)  We’d much rather have them bring their own bottles to fill and refill at our new fancy pants refilling station in the hallway instead of tossing more plastic bottles in the trash. Don’t forget there are Archangel stickers for sale in the Office (2 for $5) that they can use to decorate their bottles.

Vaping Info 

Jr. High parents saw their students come home with information about the dangers of e-cigarettes and vaping earlier this week.  High school parents, your students will get the same info when they come back to school. Teen vaping in Alaska is on the rise with 1 in 4 students reporting consistent use.  Statistically this means that 22 Lumen students are vaping regularly. Eeeewhhhh. Educate yourself and your student on the dangerous effects of nicotine on the teen brain (addiction, permanent lowering of impulse control and mood disorders, to name a few.) This information was provided to the school free of charge by the State of Alaska Tobacco Prevention & Control program and the Volunteers of America.

26th Annual Mardi Gras Gala & Auction Fundraiser:

Online Auction & “Live” Virtual Event – February 6th, 2021

Thanks for the great response to our request for leading class projects last week!  We have all but one spot filled.  We’ve also gotten a few Archangel Community Sponsors!!  Thank you!  We would love to have more sponsors though so please consider if your business or a business you know might be interested in sponsoring our event.  You can also share the business name with us and we would be happy to reach out.

There are so many ways to help – thank you for your support!

• Now accepting donations- email us, call us, or drop donations off to the front office.

• Become an Archangel Community Sponsor- $250 and $500+ options available.  See the attachment to share this opportunity with others (also available on the school website)

• Sign up to help with 8th Grade A Class Project (there is already a lead – looking for a helper)

• Sign up to donate a bottle of wine or a dessert to auction for share hours!

• Gala SignUp Link:  https://signup.com/go/HbuYQJt

Please reach out to the gala team if you can help in any way – gala@lumenchristiak.org/273-1530.

Share Hour Opportunities: 

We have loads more Christmas cards to fill out for our “Mail for the Military” program. Please consider having your student bring home a box home to fill out with a few sentences of encouragement for our brave men & women serving around the world.  Deadline for returning cards to the Office is next Friday, for each box of 12, you’ll get one Share Hour. Just email me back that you would like a box of cards and I’ll make sure your student brings them home. This is an easy way to earn Share Hours from the comfort of your dining room table.  Thank you!

Saint Benedict’s is conducting a food drive to ensure those in need have a happy and bountiful Thanksgiving.  Sending your student in with donations according to the list below will earn your family a Share Hour! Please give generously if you can. The class with the greatest participation will earn a dress down day!