The joyful message of Easter was celebrated this week with our Easter all school liturgy. Fr. Walt emphasized the message that Sr. Ger has been greeting the students with each morning - Jesus Is Risen!

Everyone knows what a bully is and can probably name a person or an incident from his or her  past that relates to bullying. But few people know that one of the fastest growing crimes has transformed this form of intimidation into a 21st century nightmare called Cyberbullying - threatening a individual via text message, email, tweet, or social network cite message. St. Philip students were made aware of the nature and consequences of cyberbullying with a frank and informative talk from an agent of the state Attorney General's office on cyber crime. Thorough video and discussion, the speaker related real life examples of cyber intimidation, laid out the penalties of such action, and a set out a plan for coping with it if they become victims.

The following students achieved  Highest Honors -4.0 average - for the Third Quarter at St. Philip School Crafton:

Grade 5- Margaret Begg, Brianna Caridi, Kasey Kaczorowski, Michael Kirsch, Andres Recalde, Erin Sheedy, Louis Worrall

Grade 6- Eric Ashby, Julian Bonds, James Hurley, Maggie Leone, Joey Kretz, Michael Mikush, Ana Petrak, Jack Pulford, Luke Rattay, Ryley Tarasi

Grade 7-Kevin Costantino, Virginia Hasseleu, Lauren Kanavy (not pictured), Ashley Mell, Jodie Mulcahey, Joel Patterson, Athena Pyros, Maura Sheedy, Matthew Tutsock

Grade 8-Bailey Burgess, Vincenzo Joseph, Katrina Zientarski

Our students were treated to a fun lesson on friendship and sharing
thorough a wonderful performance of  Alice in Wonderland through the Gemini Children's Theater group. thank you to the PTG for this opportunity!!

 Congratulations to the following St. Philip students who were recognized for their participation in the national ExploraVision contest sponsored by Toshiba/NSTA:  5th graders Erin Sheedy and Olivia Clark and 7th graders Athena Pyros and Caitlin Donahue. The girls were asked to take a present day invention or piece of technology and project it 20 years into the future. Erin and Olivia “invented” a 2031 refrigerator while Athena and Caitlin imagined how girls might straighten their hair 20 years from now. The girls received calculators from Toshiba as a prize.

St. Philip 6th 7th, and 8th grade Thinking Caps students completed the third phase of the Design Lives Here project sponsored by the WQED Education Department. This project required the students to build a  dance mat that would light a bulb or sound a buzzer when danced upon. Dancing with the Stars it wasn’t but the wiring was a 10  as every team was able to make their mats flash or buzz! Engineer Matt Castiglia lead the project and assisted the students.

For the third time this school year, students participated in an activity of choice for 1 hour of the school day.  Students mixed with others in grade level grouping: K-2, 3-5, and 6-8.  Activities included Learning to Play the Harmonica, Computer Chess, Comedy, Debate, Let's Dance, Oceans of Fun, Let's Pack a Suitcase, Earth-Day Activities, Media (Art), Puppets, Handball and much more!  Teachers, parents, staff and community volunteers all worked together to plan activities that students enjoyed.  What a great start to Easter vacation!

Students in grades 2-5 once again received RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) books of their choosing, at no charge, during the 2nd RIF distribution of the school year.  To celebrate RIF Day, Mrs. Kathy Chamberlin prepared ocean themed activities and stories for the children to participate in and listen to at each grade level.  It was much fun for all students, thanks to the generosity of the PTG and success of the Book Fair.   All students returning the worksheet on Monday, April 25th will be entered in a prize raffle, courtesy of Mrs. Chamberlin.   Of course, we couldn't do it without the her, PTG, and Book Fair chair, Mrs. Chickini...THANK YOU!

What fun it is to be a good listener!!!  Kindergarten students demonstrated patterning and listening skills as they made Easter Bunny necklaces yesterday.  Children did a great job and are now enjoying the necklaces for the Easter season. 


First and seventh grade prayer partners also enjoyed the fruits of their labors as they shared student-made and illustrated Holy Week story books, Easter crafts and a snack together.  The seventh graders are great mentors and examples of the ANGEL Way virtues for their first grade prayer partner.  What a blessed friendship these students share!