On the Feast of St. John Paul II, our new Sisters began their ministry in Assumption Catholic School in Perth Amboy, New Jersey!
Mary, Beloved Mother of East and West.
October 22nd, 2021 marked the feast of St. John Paul II, a saint who has an important place in the life of Sisters Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara, who recently started their mission at Assumption Catholic Parish/School in Perth Amboy, NJ. Their community patron is St. John Paul II who encouraged the universal Church to “breath with both lungs” through deepening in the beauty of the Eastern rite. Last week, Fr. Ivan Turyk, Pastor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish, together with 60 sisters celebrated a Moleben — a prayer service of petitions, praises and hymns to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Father spoke to Sisters about Our Blessed Mother’s love and care for all mankind and how Mary is never too busy to hear a sincere request for our aid and guidance. After Moleben, Sisters joined our new Sisters Sr. Veronica and Sr. Maria for a pizza luncheon and a short concert dedicated to St. John Paul II.
It’s Book Fair Time at ACS!!
Our students have the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of books and materials here at school! The store has come to you! Now thru Friday all ACS Students can browse and make purchases. ALL PURCHASES BENEFIT OUR SCHOOL. Parents will have the opportunity to make purchases on Thursday Night at the FSA Meeting (6:30pm) for early Christmas gifts. There is a large selection and plenty of new releases and box sets. Unlock the powerful world of books and support ACS!
Project Based Learning
While ACS students were enjoying a three day weekend, Mrs. Shumny and all the teachers met in school for a professional development day, Friday, October 22. The topic was project based learning (PBL). Guided by Mrs. Shumny, the teachers completed two modules, Authenticity and Real World Projects. Using the guidance provided, a plan was made to implement PBL using our math program’s Pick-a-Project component. Much was accomplished within several hours. However we did enjoy a brief visit from Father Ivan, Sister Veronica, and Sister Maria who joined us to start off the day with a prayer.
National Hispanic Heritage Month
From September 15 to October 15 the United States honors the history & legacy of Hispanic & Latinx people by observing National Hispanic Heritage Month. At Assumption Catholic Middle School Students celebrated as well by creating a poster board project of an Influential Hispanic person. Students learned from one another and can appreciate the Hispanic individuals who have made an impact through the arts, music, politics, sports, & have excel and achieve success in their community!
Welcome Sisters to ACS!
This past Sunday, we welcomed to our parish and a school, Mother Mary of the Immaculate Conception Ambrogio, Provincial Superior of the Sisters Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará, SSVM who with other six Sisters joined our congregation at the Divine Liturgy and later discussed with Pastor Fr. Ivan Turyk, Principal Mrs. Lissette Shumny and Bishop Andriy Rabiy, the final details of the new Sisters ministry at the parish. Sr. Veronica is already here in America and Sr. Maria is arriving from Ukraine on October 18.
The two new Sisters, that will be serving at our Assumption parish and school belong to an Eastern branch of Sisters that opened their mission in Ukraine in 1998.
When their mission in Ukraine opened, the Eastern Rite Sisters started wearing the black habit, which, except for the color, is the same as the blue and grey habit of the Latin tradition, including the Cross of Matará.
As Sisters establish their first Byzantine Catholic Rite mission in the United States, we strongly believe that while fulfilling their main role of “prayer” their presence will be an instrument of evangelization in our parish and school.
We also hope they will play a key role in organizing and working with parish youth, working alongside parish kids, students and teachers at Assumption in providing catechesis for the children, preparing them to receive the Sacraments and encouraging them in their friendship with Jesus Christ.
As Pastor, I am very grateful to the Sisters, for their generous “YES” to be a part of our new parish family.
Let’s pray that they have a successful apostolate in our Assumption community and help many people come closer to the Lord through their service.
ACS PreK had an amazing and successful first month of school!
We began the month with reading the book, Pete The Cat, Rocking in my School Shoes. We made crafts and got to take guitars home to show our families, how we rock in our school shoes. We learned all about green and red choices. Children began learning letter recognition and sounds and are practicing writing our names. We enjoyed our specials of Music, Art, Spanish, and Notable People. Of course, our favorite part of our day is centers. Miss Cuff and Mrs. Florez are very proud of all their Pre-kindergarten students and are looking forward to a wonderful year
Notable “Peeps”
Students at ACS have been enjoying a new special class this year called “notable people.” When Miss Lawrence comes in to talk about some notable “peeps” the students never really know who they will learn about! So far this school year we’ve learned about former US President Jimmy Carter, activist Ruby Bridges, and Cuban-born, world renowned musician Gloria Estefan, just as an example. When we learned about the first woman to climb Mount Everest, Junko Tabei, we also did some math to figure out how many times you’d have to walk up the main staircase at school to equal the climb up Everest – it’s a lot! (Over 2,000 trips, to be exact) When we’ve learned about saints, there’s always an accompanying coloring page that students of all ages enjoy. This week we learned about St. Francis of Assisi, and why he loved nature and animals so much. We are looking forward to a full year of learning about movers and shakers from all walks of life, from Nobel Prize winners, to inventors and explorers, leaders and activists from the civil rights movement, men and women who were notable firsts in their fields, world-class entertainers and of course, inspiring saints and important religious figures.
High School Bound
Just because the school year has just begun, it doesn’t mean the the Class of 2022 is not thinking ahead. Together as a class they visited the websites of vocational schools, Catholic schools, and other private schools that they had an interest in. They have been discussing school choices since the beginning of 7th grade. Now, they are ready to take their final steps towards choosing the school that will best meet their needs. Best of luck Class of 2022!
