MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Dec. 20 – 12:30pm dismissal, NO Kids Time
Dec. 23 – Jan. 3 – Christmas/New Years Holidays
Jan. 4/5 – Winter sports blessings will be at all masses
Jan. 5 – 10:30am Youth Led Mass (more info below)
Jan. 6 – School resumes
Jan. 20 – MLK Holiday
JOIN OUR NATIVITY SCENE CONTEST!
Celebrate the Christmas season by sharing your family’s nativity scene in our parish-wide contest! Participants may submit up to three photos: one of the full scene (required and must include your family or a family member with the nativity scene), one highlighting a unique detail or section of your choice, and one of baby Jesus. Submissions are due by the Feast of the Holy Family (12/29).
There are no strict judging criteria outside of one submission per household: crafted, bought, small, big, indoor, or outdoor scenes are all welcome! The Parish Council will review submissions, and the winner will be announced at Epiphany Masses (January 4-5). Prize: fish fry meals for you and your family this upcoming Lent. To submit your photo(s), go to our homepage and look for Nativity Scene Contest underneath the main menu.
7th & 8th Grade Retreat
This January, NET missionaries will be coming to give a retreat to our 7th and 8th graders. To keep the retreat costs down, NET missionaries are housed by the parishes they minister to, trusting that God will provide for them one day at a time. If you feel called to house 2 or more missionaries the night of January 14, please email our principal, Terry Mullaney, at terry@ascension-parish.com. Feel free to ask Fr. Robert also for more info after masses. The missionaries are between 18-23 years old and are Safe Environment compliant. We are looking for housing for 6 women and 4 men, but they can be divided among multiple houses. They can sleep anywhere (couch, floor, etc.), as long as they have a roof over their head. Also, if anyone would like to help provide dinner for them the evening of January 14, please also let us know about that (for example, all the missionaries could eat dinner here at church and then go off to various homes to spend the night). Thank you for your consideration! More info about NET Ministries can be found at https://www.netusa.org. NET has been a very fruitful youth ministry across the US, and we are excited to have them back at Ascension!
SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING
Do you need Safe Environment Training? St. Agnes will host one on 1/21 at 6:30pm, and St. Margaret Mary will host one on 1/27 at 6:30pm. If you have children in athletics, please take this training. If there is ever a sports practice where 1 coach cannot make it, we would need a second adult with Safe Environment Training in attendance for the practice to still be held. If you happen to have this training, then your presence can help ensure that our youth events can still be held in such situations. More information on the trainings can be found at www.archlou.org/safe. For more info on Safe Environment Training see below.
YOUTH LED MASS JANUARY 5 – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
There will be a Youth led Mass on Jan 5th at 10:30 am. Mr. Jarboe is looking for children who want to volunteer to be Readers, Gift Bearers, and Ushers. If you are interested, please contact Mr. Jarboe at ejarboe@ascension-parish.com . There will be Christmas cookies available afterwards for all who attend.
CAFETERIA VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Starting in January we are looking to have volunteer help in the kitchen. We need one volunteer each day to work from 10:30 to 1:00. If you would like to volunteer, please email Margaret Steurer, msteurer@ascension-parish.com, when you would be available to help out.
ASCENSION SUMMER CAMP
The first of January is when we begin our planning and preparation for summer camp and know that our families begin to plan their children’s summer experiences as well. Since we are without a summer camp director, our admin team feels it is prudent to cancel our summer programming. I am hopeful this will give everyone ample time to find alternate arrangements for care/camps.
I plan to work with the teachers to see if we can host a week or two of camps this summer. I will keep you updated on those if we are able bring those to fruition.
Please continue to send leads you may have for the full-time position to vshell@ascension-parish.com
ATHLETICS
Future Longhorn Swimmers:
If you are interested in signing up for Ascension Swim Team please follow these directions.
Go to GameDay and register your swimmer(s) (see link below). There is further information at the bottom of this email regarding practices and the swim meet date. Please make sure you note these dates. More information will be sent out for tentative dates.
You are now able to register for swimming on GameDay: https://gameday.loucsaa.net/
Grades 1-8
Boys & Girls
Cost: $35
Coach – Haley Mussler
Swim Coordinator – Stephanie Koenig
Practice: Sundays 6-7pm at St X Pool.
Swim Meet: TBD
Registration closes: 1/12/25
Program begins: 1/5/25
Program ends: end of February or beginning of March
Excited for an awesome swim season! Please let me know if you have any questions!
Stephanie Koenig
Swim Team Coordinator
Basketball Coordinator needed!
We are still looking for a basketball coordinator for boys 3-8th grade!!! Please if you are interested let us know at ascensionlonghornathletics@gmail.com
Also, our basketball season gets long, and help with gym management is sometimes really appreciated. It is also very helpful to give some rest hours to our busy coordinators and coaches. If you would be able to support the Athletic one day this season with a single weekend for 3-8 grade basketball game as a gym manager, please also let us know. That will help tremendously!!!
Band/Athletics
Have you joined Band? We have 171 members and climbing! If you have not done it yet, please use the link https://band.us/n/a3abA9T6v5Udd to get to the free app that can be accessed from a PC or mobile phone. We are updating our Basketball Calendar; posting training courses and drills for practices; organizing extra fun games days and clinics; access to our latest board meeting minutes; and very soon we will be posting days for fun games after Sunday Mass for all the family!
Please also remember that all students, regardless of participation in Ascension Athletics, are required to complete and return the Ascension Sportsmanship Contract. Please return those to your children’s teachers as soon as possible if you have not already done so.
As always, feel free to reach out with any athletics questions to the Athletics Board – our email is AscensionLonghornAthletics@gmail.com.
FROM THE PTO
PARLOUR J-town – December 18th 5 – 9 PM
Join us at PARLOUR J-town for pizza and good times! The Ascension PTO will receive 15% of proceeds from the evening. Be sure to present the flyer (physical or digital) prior to ordering in order for Ascension to receive credit!
The PTO is transitioning from Slack to the BAND app to help streamline communications. Join the “Ascension PTO” group on the BAND app by clicking the link below so you don’t miss any important updates!
https://band.us/n/aba4A1A1R49fX
“Glow Girl” Daughter Dance – January 11th @ 6:30 PM
Let’s “glow” crazy in your best neon gear! Join us for a night of dancing and fun in the Ascension gym!
Pajama Party Bunco! – January 25
Come have a fun “Mom’s Night Out” at our Pajama Party Bunco on January 25th! Feel free to bring your friends, snacks, and your comfiest PJs while we have a fun-filled evening. Stay tuned for more info on how to get your tickets!
Ascension Dance-A-Thon – February 8th 12 – 3 PM
Our first Dance-A-Thon is set for February 8th from 12-3 PM. This event will include dancing, pie in the face, face painting, bounce house obstacle course, photo booth, and the popular Art Auction!
Our next PTO meeting is Tuesday, January 14th in the Ascension library.
Service hour opportunity: If you have a student interested in volunteering to offer childcare during PTO meetings, please sign them up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4CA5A829A7F8C52-51176614-ptomeeting
Upcoming Restaurant Night Fundraisers:
Dec. 18th – Parlour Pizza (J-Town location)
Jan. 20th – Texas Roadhouse
PTO WEBSITE – https://sites.google.com/view/ascensionpto/home
PTO FACEBOOK – https://www.facebook.com/groups/421480501922288/
PTO NEWSLETTER – https://sites.google.com/view/ascensionpto/monthly-newsletter
Thank you,
Ascension PTO
SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING
The Archdiocese requires all who volunteer or work with minors to have a background check done every five years (processed for free by the parish office). Also, an initial in-person Safe Environment Training must be completed (dates and locations available at www.archlou.org/safe). This training must be renewed every five years by doing a one-hour online course (ask parish office for the website).
If you volunteer or work around children at all, you must be up-to-date on these requirements. Please call the parish office if you have any questions.
If you are currently not up-to-date, you may continue in your work only if there are two other adults present who are up to date AND you are currently in the process of renewing your training and background check.
Anyone who is not currently volunteering but who might possibly volunteer in the future is welcome to go ahead and receive the initial in-person training. That way you wouldn’t have to scramble to do the training if you suddenly decided to volunteer for a youth event. Please submit the certificate you receive there to our parish secretary for her records.
Thank you so much for your service to our community and for your diligence in helping our parish be a responsible and safe place for our kids.
Sincerely,
Fr. Robert
BOX TOPS COLLECTION
Did you know that Ascension is a Box Tops school? During this challenging time, our teachers and students need more help than ever. No matter what school looks like, Box Tops for Education is a fast and easy way for you to help out from home.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: Buy participating products and use the Box Tops mobile app to scan your store receipt. The app identifies eligible products and automatically adds Box Tops to your school’s earnings online. Even if you’re shopping online or doing grocery pickup, you can still submit your e-receipts and earn Box Tops. Twice a year, our school gets a check!
The PTO uses money earned from Box Tops to fund our iPad program and other classroom needs for our students!
Here’s how YOU can help earn money for our school!
• DOWNLOAD the Box Tops app and select our school to support. This ensures that your Box Tops purchases count toward our school’s earnings.
• SHOP for Box Tops products and use the app to scan your receipt to add to our school’s earnings online.
• LOOK for any remaining Box Tops clips on packages. If you find some, clip them and send them to school!
• SPREAD THE WORD about Box Tops!
FUN TIP: You can also use the “Invite Friends” feature in the app to ask friends and family to help support our school!
Your earnings may seem small, but they really do add up. The more people that participate, the bigger the impact we can make. So let’s give our teachers the support they need and help give more kids the opportunity to dream. Little by little, we can help make a BIG difference.
LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW BOX TOPS WORKS AT BTFE.COM
INCLEMENT WEATHER NOTICE
As winter approaches, there is always the chance we will need to close, delay or dismiss early. Here is what you will need to know in each event:
INCLEMENT WEATHER: The decision to close schools due to weather conditions is announced by radio, TV, and social media for Catholic schools in Jefferson County. One of the following announcements will be made:
1. All Catholic elementary and high schools in Jefferson County are OPEN.
2. Catholic elementary and high schools in Jefferson County will be OPEN BUT ON A DELAYED SCHEDULE.
3. All Catholic elementary and high schools in Jefferson County are CLOSED.
Ascension will also send closure announcement via email and text to all Ascension families.
DELAYED SCHEDULE- two hour delay: Café doors will open at 9:10am. Carpool begins at 9:40am. Classes begin at 9:55am.
EARLY DISMISSAL-ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS: No public announcement is made about system-wide early dismissal in Jefferson County Catholic elementary schools except in the case of extreme emergency. Ascension will notify parents via email and text of an early dismissal.
REMINDER
Student’s who are absent should be phoned in or emailed to Ms. Thomas by 8:15am. There is a 24 hour message system for you to phone in absences, 451-2535 ext. 22.
Also, it is very important that your child/ren arrive at school on time daily! Students should be in their class and chair by 7:55am. If your child is late, you must come in to sign them in. Thank you!