In this very special and uniquely challenging year, our students, faculty, and staff continue to remind us to See the Good and Be the Good; our theme for the 2021-2022 school year. We are so very grateful to have been able to offer the consistency of full-time in-person learning and full time-synchronous live remote learning of the highest quality for our school families this year. As we have been preparing our hearts for Advent, and the incredible gifts this season brings; one very important tradition at Saint Ambrose School is the gift of giving.
Through re-tooled traditional favorite service opportunities, along with some new projects that will surely become treasured traditions; we celebrated this season in very special ways. Our incredible faculty and staff have brought together Next-Generation STEAM project-based learning and serving others; creating a very memorable and Merry Christmas for all.
12 Days of Christmas
From Preschoolers up through 8th grade, this annual parish tradition allowed our students to assist by using their creativity, art, and math skills! Our preschool students made handprint cards with Guardian Angel Prayers for area residents. Our 8th graders completed their tradition of making blankets for those families needing an extra boost of comfort and joy. They used their math skills, creativity, and teamwork to bless others. Saint Nicholas and Saint Ambrose also visited our students and filled shoes with Christmas treats!
Pet Shelter Christmas|
Our 6th-grade students completed a project-based learning unit combining math and religion to complete a toy build project for an area dog shelter. Using the math to complete the project design and incorporating Religion, our 6th-grade students are making sure some very lonely dogs at an area shelter are not missing out on any Christmas joy this advent season! Special thanks to our HSP Middle School faculty for creating this opportunity and project-based learning unit to focus on the joy of giving and problem-solving to fill a need in our community!
The Gingerbread Project
The Gingerbread Project was a new Problem Based Learning Unit for our 8th graders this year that is sure to become a treasured tradition. Our 8th-grade students used the Engineering Design Process to design and build gingerbread houses for area nursing homes. What a wonderful way to bring the joy of Christmas into our community! Our 8th-grade students also had an ELA component where they worked at writing up a real estate listing for the houses and learned about listing their properties on the market! When their creative designs were complete they were scored by a panel of judges on their criteria. This past weekend, our faculty had the opportunity to bless area nursing homes with these gifts and pray over the front line workers and for the residents. Special thanks to our HSP team for this project and opportunity!
A Joyous Noel
Our Christmas Concert and Fine Arts Show took a different turn this year. Instead of our traditional in-person Art Show, our creatively talented art teacher, Mrs. Kinley, challenged our students to turn our school into a living art installation! Students transformed the top level of our school building into a stained glass masterpiece! The lower and mid-level floors suspended artwork on the interior and exterior windows. The lighting team was brought in to spotlight our student artwork and display it for our Nativity Drive Through event last weekend for all to see! Our choir could be found singing outdoors to bring the spirit of Christmas to the cars driving through. They also published a virtual concert production for families to enjoy in the comfort of their homes.
This Christmas may you find the joy in giving, the comfort in the gift of family and friends, and the hope in Jesus Christ who is EVERYTHING for us. We continue to be grateful for the blessing of being together, and our great privilege of training leaders for tomorrow.
