Happening Around the Hive

What's happening around the Hive?

Alumni Award and Open House Event

On April 10, 2022 we celebrated our first Alumni event! The event kicked off with 11:15am Mass where we presented the St. Helen School Alumni Award to Basil Pinzone III and Barbara Somrack for their school and community contributions. Following Mass, alumni were treated to a special luncheon and encouraged to walk around the school during the open house. Thank you to all who attended and look for more alumni opportunities coming soon!

Flat Stanley

Third graders at St. Helen School read the book, Flat Stanley. Students then mailed their own “Flat Stanley” to friends and family around the world. One student sent Stanley to her Godfather who is a police officer. He took Flat Stanley to work and taught him all about the importance of keeping people safe. Stanley was even fingerprinted and given a chance to see what it is like to be arrested, handcuffed, and put in jail. Flat Stanley has been all over the world. He has visited Japan and Singapore. He visited Rome to see the Pope. He visited Washington D.C. to meet the President. The students have been marking Stanley’s travels on a giant map and have loved learning about other parts of the world through this exciting project.

Donuts with Dad

On March 18, we celebrated our dads and other father figures with donuts! We celebrated Mass and enjoyed a tasty treat afterward. Thanks to all the amazing dads and father figures out there that make our community so great and vibrant. We love you!

Typing Olympics

Third grade students spent the month of February working on their keyboarding skills. Students practiced proper keyboard techniques while working on their accuracy and speed. Students chose four events to compete in and submitted their score. This week at the awards ceremony, students were recognized for winning each event and for improving on their WPM and accuracy.

Science Olympiad

On Saturday, March 5th, students in grades 4 - 6 participated in Case Western Reserve University's Elementary Science Olympiad tournament, along with 7 other teams from the area. Competition events ranged from astronomy, to insects, to weather and climate. A few events required students to build contraptions to achieve specific tasks. A few examples included a rubber-band powered airplane and a mousetrap powered car. Gold, silver, and bronze medals were given to the top three teams in each event. St. Helen School students collected medals in seven of thirteen events. The team will compete again on April 9th at John Carroll University. Pictured are the Olympiads with their fifth grade teacher and advisor Mrs. Natalie Hudak.

February Service Project

The Saint Helen School Spirit and Service Team collected items to benefit Project Hope for the Homeless. Some of the items requested were new sweat pants and sweat shirts, pajamas, cleaning products, laundry soap, personal care products, toilet paper, paper towels and plastic garbage bags. Our students set a goal to fill 15 - 16 gallon totes and they exceeded that goal! The items collected will go to Project Hopes Aftercare program. The Aftercare program serves around 75 households and 100 individuals at any given time. The program provides an assessment for subsidized rent, care packages, social events, educational workshops, informal support, and referrals. The program helps guests who are ready to leave Project Hope for the Homeless and transition into the community by providing common household items, personal care products, and clothing. Through their Aftercare program they can continue with the process of restoring hope and renewing lives, even after their guests transition out from their facility. Pictured are some of our Spirit and Service Team with the donations that were collected.

St. Helen School Knights of Columbus Free Throw Winners

The Knights of Columbus hosted a free throw contest at St. Helen School. This event is sponsored annually, with winners progressing through local, district, and state competitions. Champions are announced by the Knights of Columbus based on scores from the state-level competitions. All boys and girls ages 9 to 14 were invited to participate in the local level of competition held on February 20th. Pictured are the students who moved onto the District Championship and will be participating in the Regional Championship held on March 6th at St. Hillary School in Fairlawn, Ohio. Students that advance will then go onto the State Championship.

Internet Safety and Snow Fun at St. Helen School

St. Helen School Fourth Grade students began an Internet Safety unit in computer class. Students learned why we use passwords, why we don't share passwords, and what makes a password strong. Students made their own flyers to display about staying safe and keeping passwords secure. The students at St. Helen School have enjoyed playing in all the snow that has fallen as of late. Pictured are Kindergarteners playing on the snow piles and making snow forts.

Celebrating 100 Days of School

St. Helen School Kindergarteners and First Graders are 100 days smarter! To celebrate their 100 days of school, students “aged” over 95 years to become 100 years old. In addition, first graders did many activities that involved the number 100. Students made fruit loop necklaces, painted groups of 10 to make 100 gumballs, counted by 5’s to tally to 100, wrote 100 rhyming words using short and long vowel word families, built structures with 100 cups and exercised in sets of 10 to complete 100 exercises! Pictured are 100 year old Kindergartners and a First Grader making up 100 rhyming words.

St. Helen School Recognizes First Responders

Students and staff at St. Helen School celebrated Catholic Schools Week the first week in February. Students participated in special activities all week to celebrate being a student in a Catholic school. In addition, students and staff showed their appreciation for our first responders of Geauga County for the tremendous job they do to keep us safe. Students wore red, white, and blue and made signs of appreciation that were given to the local fire departments, police departments, hospital, and Sheriff’s Department along with a special treat. Pictured are some of the students holding the signs of appreciation.