News

Students of the Terrific Third Class set out to determine if the length of a shadow will change throughout the day, and if so, why? Equipped with a sense of curiosity, black sharpie markers, a cardboard map, and a straw set in a mound of clay, the class set out to find answers! What did they discover? Students discovered that the length of the shadows indeed changed throughout the day – getting shorter as we approached the noon hour and and lengthening once again throughout the afternoon until dismissal. Students correctly surmised the length of the shadow changed because as the earth rotates on its axis, the angle between the sun and any given point on the earth changes

The students of Terrific Third Class of 2013-‐2104 are the proud recipients of cabbage plants courtesy of Bonnie Plants. Each year Bonnie Plants donate millions of cabbage plants to 3rd grade classrooms across the nation! The program has a mission to inspire a love of vegetable gardening in young people. Third graders at ACS have definitely been inspired! Not only are students taking care of their own plants, but each week students water, weed, and care for our classroom plant, fondly named “Cabbie”. We document Cabbie’s growth in our science journals using measurements and pictures. For more information about Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program, please visit http://bonniecabbageprogram.com/about. To see “Cabbie”, please visit our third grade classroom!

The Pontifical Mass and canonization ceremonies celebrated by the Holy Father, Pope Francis on Sunday, April 27, 2014, began with great solemnity but under dark clouds and with light rain falling.  At the moment Pope Francis prayed the Prayer of Canonization, “For the honour of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and after having sought the counsel of many of our brother Bishops, we declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II be Saints and we enroll them among the Saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”, a visible brightness occurred in the skies above us and the light rain ceased.  It remained this way well after the conclusion of the Pontifical Mass.  

It was a privilege to be amidst others gathered in prayer, among them Pope Benedict XVI, the many Cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and faithful from throughout the world.  All came with loving devotion and praise of these two Popes now recognized as Saints.  We pray for their intercession for the needs of all humanity for which they consecrated their earthly life.

I especially prayed for the hierarchy, clergy, religious, seminarians, and faithful of our Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States of America.  May that same brightness of light and the presence of Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II overtake all of us.  May the clouds and rain drops of earthly life, our hardships with which we must cope and overcome, disappear for all, allowing us to be consumed by the light of the lives of the saints.  May their intercession guide us to more brightly present the light of Christ to the world which surrounds us and thirsts for His light through you and me.

Pope John XXIII expressed a special love and dedication for our Ukrainian Catholic Church while our Church was in the catacombs, interceding in various ways to aid our suffering and persecuted Church during the harsh communist times.  He facilitated the release of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj from his exile in Siberia, initiating hope for a renewed Ukrainian Catholic Church worldwide.  With his calling of Vatican II, all Eastern Catholic Churches were recognized for their dignity as equal Christians.

Pope John Paul II showed much heartfelt affection for our Ukrainian Catholic Church, overseeing our Church’s rebirth with independence of Ukraine.  He personally visited our Ukrainian Catholic Cathedrals in Philadelphia, and in Winnipeg, and elsewhere throughout the world, offering encouragement and recognition of a universal Catholic Church breathing with two lungs, east and west.  Pope John Paul II visited Ukraine in 2001, celebrating Divine Liturgies in Kyiv and Lviv, and blessing many holy sites.  During the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, Pope John Paul II raised twenty-seven martyrs to the dignity of “Blessed”, giving recognition to the martyrdom of our Church and the holiness of its ministers and faithful.  He was steadfast in encouraging our Church to realize its full richness and experience of our rich traditions as a gift to be shared and appreciated by the entire Catholic Church.

I personally met Pope John Paul II on a number of occasions.  Especially I recall a lunch at his residence with eight other Eastern Catholic Bishops during the Special Synod on the theme of Bishops.  Pope John Paul II showed such intense interest  in the affairs of each of the Eastern Catholic Churches, and ensured that each of us were fully involved in the discussion, to the extent of even limiting one bishop who wanted to monopolize the discussion.  Pope John Paul II looked upon people as individuals even amidst crowds.  He expressed this saintly quality as did Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta whom he knew well.  His unconditional service of the Lord and of His Church was expressed in a vibrant, energetic, compassionate and joyful manner, giving you and me saintly example to follow.

Let us especially pray fervently to Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II asking their intercession for Ukraine.  Their lived commitment to strive for human dignity and freedom for all carries forth in their saintly lives.  Our sincere prayers to them will result in their intercession with the bright light of hope as followers of the Risen Christ.

The celebrations were solemn and spiritual, offering much hope in all times, and especially now with the challenges posed by totalitarian regimes in Eastern Europe and in various parts of the world.  May the intercessory power of Saint John XXIII and John Paul II convert hatred and hostility into passionate striving for human dignity for all.  Let us pray for this for people throughout the world, and for all amidst us in our communities in the USA.

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Mother's Day is the second Sunday every May and is a special day for all mothers. Today, our kindergarten students learned how to make crafts for their mothers in preparation for this celebration. This year, moms of our students, will love being showered with hand-made gifts from their own biggest fans.

Our first Family Game Night on Saturday, April 26  was a huge success. Close to 40 people, parents and students, spent an engrossing evening in the school cafeteria playing board games only. Our great thank you goes  to FSA for sponsoring a game night and for making the evening such a success. Thanks to all families for coming! It was tons of fun!

On Good Friday, the Church strives to express her mourning over the passion and death of Jesus in every possible way. Special events are held throughout the day as a way for the faithful to revisit the events of that day. This year, the parishioners of the Assumption Catholic Church in Perth Amboy, NJ  with many students of the Parish School, participated at  the moving service called  solemn Vespers with the burial procession bearing the Holy Shroud or Plashchanitsa. The “plashchanitsa” is a winding sheet with the picture of Christ’s body lying dead in the tomb. After the outside procession around the Church, the shroud was laid out for veneration on a replica of the sepulcher.

The Pre-K class has been learning about the life cycle of a butterfly. They gained an understanding of the four parts: the egg, the caterpillar, the chrysalis, and the butterfly. As part of a cross-curriculum lesson of math and science, the students sequenced the life cycle using picture lift-the-flap cards. They really did a great job showing the understanding of the learned concept!

Have you ever looked at the moon and wished you could really get a good look at it? Recently our students here at ACS had that chance. They each had the opportunity to hold pieces of the moon in their hands.

Bringing the lunar samples to ACS was not something that is done every day. Eighth grade teacher, Mrs. Pickering attended a workshop at Georgian Court University to get certified by NASA as a “keeper” of the samples. Father Ivan and our principal, Mr. S. had to sign paperwork agreeing to the rigid conditions for the samples coming here to ACS. Because the lunar samples are considered priceless, they had to be, and were kept in a safe when not being viewed by the students.

Students of all grades were given opportunity to study the samples. In addition, meteoritesamples were also available to the student to viewing. Parents were given the opportunity at the FSA meeting to also view the samples.

After a week of viewing, the samples were returned to NASA. Students and adults alike, can now carry with them the memory that they had held a piece of the moon in their hands. Who knows? Maybe someday our youngest students may vacation on the moon!

First grade has been busy preparing for Earth Day. We have been learning a lot about our home planet, Earth. Students have learned that earth is made up of land and water, and that there's a lot we can do to help protect it. It all started when the first graders participated in Science Day On March 27, 2014. They learned that one way is to use the 3 Rs; reduce, reuse, and recycle. They each built a vehicle or character, out of recycled products. Before we displayed it in our school auditorium, each student got to present and talk about their  finished project. It was interesting to see how much we can do with recycled items. Students decorated their very own stick person, for our bulletin  board. We placed all of the stick people holding hands around one of our painted plate globes, which we made earlier to learn about our earth's continents and oceans. They learned that in order to make our world a better place, we need to work together. After hearing so many great ideas like planting a tree and reducing water use, students added their pledge to a cloud to be good keepers of this great world give. To us by God.

To welcome in spring, the Pre-K class learned about the season through literature, Spring Is Here Corduroy by Don Freeman.  As a follow up activity they created their very own robin’s bird nests. They are excited to be celebrating and learning about spring and nature by expressing their creativity through art!