Dear  School Families,

Is it really June already? I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that question the last week or so. Yes, unbelievably, the end of the school year is upon us and we are about to begin summer vacation. My sincere best wishes to all of you for a great summer filled with family, friends and activities. I wanted to share some final items with you…

On Friday June 4th we proudly graduated 49 members of the Class of 2010. This year 19 students graduated with Gold Cords for maintaining an A- average throughout the entire school year. We also had an amazing 11 eighth grade students earn scholarships to high school. This is a remarkable total and is a credit to their parents, teachers, and to their own talent and ability. We congratulate the follow students on winning scholarships:

    * Kristen
      Connolly (Regina’s St. Catherine of Sienna
      Academic Scholarship)
    * Tommy
      Gonzales (Notre Dame Alumni
      Scholarship)
    * Matthew
      Harrity (Notre Dame Alumni
      Scholarship)
    * Michael
      Littau (Notre Dame Top 5% on
      entrance exam)
    * Shannon
      Malone (Regina Entrance exam
      score)
    * Carmen
      Mueller(Resurrection recipient
      of the Sr. Carmen De Barrios Scholarship)
    * Mary
      Elizabeth O’Connor (Regina Chicago Gaelic Park Student
      Cultural Scholarship)
    * Angelena
      Ohanessian (Resurrection
      recipient of the Sr. Monica Hope Scholarship)
    * Lauren
      Piskiewicz ( Resurrection Pay it
      Forward and Weber Alumni Scholarship)
    * Christopher
      Summers (Top 5% on entrance
      exam)
    * Clarice
      Swanson (Loyola Academy recipient of the Jefferson Park Chamber of Commerce Scholarship)

The following students have been elected as our new Student Council Officers for the 2010-11 school year. President- Giahanna Martorano, Vice President- Patty Cheever, Secretary- Nathan Gayford, Treasurer- Jeannie Frost, Athletic Commissioner- Analisa Martorano, Publicity Comissioner- Kelly Littau and Events Coordinator- Emily Miller. We congratulate these students and thank them for their dedication, enthusiasm, and leadership.

Congratulations to 6th grader, Nina Stuckel, who placed 4th in the State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez Anti-Drug Poster Contest. Nina attended an awards ceremony on May 18th at the National Museum of Mexican Art. Nina was awarded a certificate along with other prizes and her poster will be published in the next calendar issue. We look forward to seeing her work in next year’s edition. We are proud of you Nina!

We also congratulate 4th grader Grace Rodden for being a Runner-Up in the Economic Poster Contest run by the Illinois Council on Economic Education and Dominican University Centerfor Economic Education. Grace was honored at a dinner on May 27th at Dominican University. Great job Grace!

Last week, we were proud to publish our second edition of “The Write Stuff”. Throughout the year students of all grade levels were able to submit original writings and artwork. A team of student editors chose the pieces to be published. We hope that you enjoyed our final product as much “love” went into this new project. We would like to thank all the students who submitted items and the editorial staff for their contributions. We would especially like to thank Mrs. Brady and Ms. Bernd for being the backbone and leading force of this student magazine. Finally, we appreciate the time and talent of Miss McCann who spent countless hours producing the finished copies. What a tremendous job by everyone! We look forward to next year’s edition of “The Write Stuff”.

Over the summer our office hours will be 9:00 a.m. – noon
Monday – Friday from June 14th – July 9th. July 12th– August 6th appointments can be arranged for school related business. The office will reopen on Monday, August 9th – August 20th9:00 - noon. Phone messages will be checked on a regular basis and calls will be promptly returned throughout the entire summer.

Our school year concludes tomorrow with a special mass at 8:30 a.m. This mass will be dedicated to the memory of Sr. Phyllis and a special memorial and blessing will take place in our parish Prayer Gardenat the conclusion of the mass. All are invited to attend.

Please continue to check the website at www.sttars.org as information and reminders will continue to be posted throughout the summer. Already posted on the Principal’s Page is information regarding next year’s Enrichment Program, 2010-2011 school calendar, and School Supply List.

Please continue to pray for our maintenance man Mr. Tom Ziobro who underwent quadruple bypass surgery on Thursday. He is resting comfortably and doing well. We look forward to his return in a couple of months.

We also would like to take this time to thank Mrs. Carol Gillespie for her years of work and service to St. Tars. We all certainly wish her well and are grateful for the time she spent with us. Mrs. Gillespie has certainly made a lot of friends here at the school/parish and we know that these friendships will continue. Good luck Mrs. Gillespie.

On behalf of the entire faculty and staff we wish all of you a very enjoyable and safe summer. We are truly grateful for your support and for the opportunity to work with your children.

May God continue to bless you, our children, and St. Tarcissus Parish.
Happy Summer!

Roy Hecker