St. John Paul II school lunch menu for December 15th to December 19th
The second graders have been learning so much in preparation for their First Penance and First Communion. It is a joy to help them prepare for these sacraments!
HELP!! We are looking for a few volunteers to sell gift cards after Mass this weekend at 11:00 and 5:00 at Holy Spirit and at 10:30 at Holy Family. Please contact Renee LeBrun or the school office if you are available!
The Snack Shack will be open tomorrow morning!
Today was a very fruitful visit with the kids, sharing about how Jesus is the best gift we will receive this Christmas. The 1st and 2nd graders did a procession to Mary, carrying a flower they made to gift to her. We sang the "Hail Mary" as we processed. They all participated very well and were revenant and excited about their gift to Our Blessed Mother.
We are praying for the children, the JPII staff, and the families!
May you have a blessed Advent season and continue to prepare your heart for His coming.
We are praying for the children, the JPII staff, and the families!
May you have a blessed Advent season and continue to prepare your heart for His coming.
Kindergarten learned about faith, love, mercy, and trust as we learned about St. Juan Diego on his feast day!
5th and 6th Grade students from St. John Paul II School are fundraising to go to Washington DC in May 2026. We are having jigsaw puzzle competition on Friday, January 23, 2026.
Location:
St. John Paul II Gym
1510 W Elm St
Mitchell, SD 57301
-Teams of up to Four persons will compete to see who can complete a 500-piece puzzle with a prize going to the first team to finish successfully.
Registration for the event is $60 per team (includes the puzzle) which can be paid by:
--Venmo to @jennifer-zens or
--Mail a check to:
Jennifer Zens
1300 Firesteel Drive
Mitchell, SD 57301
-Check-in will take place @ 6:45 pm and puzzling will begin @ 7:00pm.
-Light snacks and water will be available for a goodwill donation.
-Please submit the form and indicate which payment method will be used. Registrations not secured until payment is received.
Register at:
https://forms.gle/mpvJWbQDTg7APteF7
Location:
St. John Paul II Gym
1510 W Elm St
Mitchell, SD 57301
-Teams of up to Four persons will compete to see who can complete a 500-piece puzzle with a prize going to the first team to finish successfully.
Registration for the event is $60 per team (includes the puzzle) which can be paid by:
--Venmo to @jennifer-zens or
--Mail a check to:
Jennifer Zens
1300 Firesteel Drive
Mitchell, SD 57301
-Check-in will take place @ 6:45 pm and puzzling will begin @ 7:00pm.
-Light snacks and water will be available for a goodwill donation.
-Please submit the form and indicate which payment method will be used. Registrations not secured until payment is received.
Register at:
https://forms.gle/mpvJWbQDTg7APteF7
We gathered this morning to light the second candle on our Advent wreath: the candle of PEACE. Come, Lord Jesus, let your peace rest upon us. Calm our fears, heal our divisions, and help us become instruments of Your peace at school, in our homes, and in the world. Amen.
Please join us for our Bake Sale on December 20-21st following 5:00, 8:30 and 10:30 am Masses at Holy Family Gathering Space. All proceeds will benefit the 2026 St. John Paul II trip to Washington DC.
We unveiled our virtue of the month on Friday with some help from St. Nicholas and Mary Magdalene. Our December virtue is generosity!
Our 5th grade scientists explored worm behavior. Do worms wriggle torward dark, wet environments?
St. John Paul II school lunch menu for December 8th to December 12th
St. Nicholas visited our students today! St. Nicholas's reputation for generosity and kindness gave rise to legends of miracles he performed for the poor and unhappy. He left our students a gift in their shoes this morning.
Our 6th graders have been doing the afternoon announcements. They are doing an awesome job 🙌🏻
Edited! The date is Friday, Dec. 5th! St. JPII Snack Shack will open for business!
Recess fun in the snow with Pre 2 - 2nd grade!
Advent is joyfully full at St. John Paul II. Please take a look at the upcoming dates!
We are quickly approaching our GivingTuesday goal! Please consider donating so we can take our amazing students on incredible curriculum-based field trip experiences!
Donate at: https://JPIIGivingTues.givesmart.com
Donate at: https://JPIIGivingTues.givesmart.com
Dear Families,
This is a general progress report for early beginning piano lesson students.
All of the students, grades 2 & 3, are learning - some at a faster pace than others. Almost everyone has access to a keyboard now - that’s great! It takes years of practice to become very proficient but it’s always fun to play. And the benefits are many!
-They have all listened to and looked at written music, have found the musical alphabet on the keyboard and know that notes can be written on a staff. Some are working on memorizing the musical alphabet backwards which is helpful when we play down the keyboard. GFEDCBA
-They all know that their left hand is on the low sounding side of the keyboard and their right is on the high side. (Some still have problems with right and left, but Left-Low should hopefully be helping with that.)
-They know that the keyboard is divided by 2-black-key groups and 3-black-key groups.
-They know that the white key between the 2-black-key group is “D”
Mostof them can put their hands on c-d-e-f-g with one finger per note - right hand pointer finger on “D” and left hand ring finger on “D”.
-Most of them can play each note separately - one finger down and up before pressing the next key.
We’ve looked at Ode to Joy - not a well known tune, as I had thought it might be. I’m learning :)
**Currently we are looking at and playing Immaculate Mary as the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is coming up Dec. 8.
Most of the playing is some memorization, some listening, with the written music for somesupport. With reading and writing a language, it’s natural to know a sound before knowing whatit looks like. This is also a good way to learn music.
Our next pieces will be focused on Christmas.
Practice: if there’s a question on what should be practiced, it’s always good to review key notenames. The D is easy to find and go from there. Find all the Ds, all the As, all the Gs, etc. - usethe left hand on the low side and right hand on the high side. Practice shouldn’t be a struggle -the student knows what needs to be worked on, and if it’s forgotten then that’s life and we’llcatch up later. We’ll all just do our best with no worries. Life on earth is too short.We’ll be starting the “Walking” exercise soon. That along with a Christmas song or two will befun challenges. I’ve included a chart to find how the keys on the piano line up with the writtenmusic.
Peace,
Valerie Johnson
Director of Music
Holy Family, Mitchell
HFMusic@mitchellcatholic.org
This is a general progress report for early beginning piano lesson students.
All of the students, grades 2 & 3, are learning - some at a faster pace than others. Almost everyone has access to a keyboard now - that’s great! It takes years of practice to become very proficient but it’s always fun to play. And the benefits are many!
-They have all listened to and looked at written music, have found the musical alphabet on the keyboard and know that notes can be written on a staff. Some are working on memorizing the musical alphabet backwards which is helpful when we play down the keyboard. GFEDCBA
-They all know that their left hand is on the low sounding side of the keyboard and their right is on the high side. (Some still have problems with right and left, but Left-Low should hopefully be helping with that.)
-They know that the keyboard is divided by 2-black-key groups and 3-black-key groups.
-They know that the white key between the 2-black-key group is “D”
Mostof them can put their hands on c-d-e-f-g with one finger per note - right hand pointer finger on “D” and left hand ring finger on “D”.
-Most of them can play each note separately - one finger down and up before pressing the next key.
We’ve looked at Ode to Joy - not a well known tune, as I had thought it might be. I’m learning :)
**Currently we are looking at and playing Immaculate Mary as the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is coming up Dec. 8.
Most of the playing is some memorization, some listening, with the written music for somesupport. With reading and writing a language, it’s natural to know a sound before knowing whatit looks like. This is also a good way to learn music.
Our next pieces will be focused on Christmas.
Practice: if there’s a question on what should be practiced, it’s always good to review key notenames. The D is easy to find and go from there. Find all the Ds, all the As, all the Gs, etc. - usethe left hand on the low side and right hand on the high side. Practice shouldn’t be a struggle -the student knows what needs to be worked on, and if it’s forgotten then that’s life and we’llcatch up later. We’ll all just do our best with no worries. Life on earth is too short.We’ll be starting the “Walking” exercise soon. That along with a Christmas song or two will befun challenges. I’ve included a chart to find how the keys on the piano line up with the writtenmusic.
Peace,
Valerie Johnson
Director of Music
Holy Family, Mitchell
HFMusic@mitchellcatholic.org
Did you ever get to do THIS in P.E. class?!
Our students are snow-shoeing with Mr. Dobesh this week, and they are loving every step! What a great way to embrace winter, stay active, and enjoy God’s beautiful creation.