As a part of our end of the year GRACE celebration, each of our families was presented with a picture magnet of the Holy Family. Over the past several years, the school has been presenting religious article to the families to place in their homes to inspire devotion. In the past, the students have received a picture of the Sacred Heart, a statue of the Mystical rose, an Elizabeth Seton magnet, and a nite light. The sacramentals all reflected the theme of the year’s final GRACE program.

In the Spirit of St. Philip who asked Jesus to “Show us the Father”, we presented an image of the Holy Family and prayer as a reminder that the family is the first step on the path that leads to God. 

Family Prayer

Dear Lord, bless our family. Give

us the unity, peace, and mutual

love that You found in Your own family

in the little town of Nazareth. Saint Joseph,

bless the Father of our family. Obtain for

him the strength, the wisdom, and the

prudence he needs to support and direct

those under his care. Mother

Mary, bless the mother of our family.

Help her to be pure and kind, gentle and

self-sacrificing. For the more she resembles

you, the better will our family be. Lord Jesus,

bless the children of our family. Help them

to be obedient and devoted to their parents.

Make them more and more like You. Let

them grow, as You did, in wisdom and

age and grace before God and man. Holy

Family of Nazareth, make our family and

home more and more like Yours, until we

are all one family, happy and at peace in our

true home with You. Amen.

Fr. Walt celebrated the school closing Mass and encouraged the children to help at home over the summer and to keep close to God by attending Mass.At the end of Mass and after the Principal's awards, the June GRACE program was held with special prayers for the Fathers of our school family and parish. The theme was the Holy Family and each child received a magnet of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and a prayer.

Congratulations to the following students who received the Principal's Award for maintaining a straight "A" average thoughout all four report periods: Grade 5 Kasey Kaczorowski, Michael Kirsch, Andres Recalde, Erin Sheedy, Loius Worrall . Grade 6 Julian Bonds, Jimmy Hurley, Luke Rattay, Ana Petrak, Maggie Leone  Grade 7 Kevin Costantino, Lauren Kanavy, Ashley Mell, Maura Sheedy, Matthew Tutsock.

Thinking Caps students faced their final challenge of the year in the 2011 Olympiad. Students built Lego catapults to hurl marshmallows, solved cryptic calculation problems, constructed a tower from newspapers to support a tennis ball in a windstorm, deciphered clues on a treasure hunt, brainstormed to fill a category grid with corresponding words, and solved a fascinating feline puzzle. Winner in the Grades 6A, 7, 8 competition was the Blue team : Maggie Leone, Athena Pyros, Michael Mikush, Walter Bonds, and Caitlin Donahue. Taking top honors in the 4, 5, & 6B competition was the
Blue Team of Briana Patterson, Joey Kretz, Hope Grefenstette, Olivia Clark, and Tyler Gura.

The American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary Awards for Scholarship and Citizenship from Frank R. Kirk Post 145 were awarded respectively to 8th graders Aidan Crossey  and Bailey Burgess. The Catholic Daughters of America Chartiers Council bestowed Christian Leadership awards on Mark Shorthouse, Aidan Crossey, Adrianne Kubiak and Bailey Burgess.  Recipients of both awards were chosen by vote of the students and the St.Philip Faculty. Vincenzo Joseph,  Bailey Burgess, and Katrina Zientarski were presented the Principal’s Award for a perfect 4.0 average all 4 quarters this year. A reception for the students and their parents followed the graduation. The  graduates honored that night will attend Bishop Canevin, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Oakland Catholic, Central, Montour, Carlynton, Chartiers Valley, and Pittsburgh Charter with 80% choosing Catholic High School.

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On the North Shore, an impressive building is home to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Our second grade got a behind-the-scenes look at that home when they visited for a tour.  Students were granted "Access Passes" to visit places many never see, like the Steelers' and visitors' locker rooms, press boxes, field paint room, largest luxury boxes,  and Steelers' staff offices.  The biggest treat of all was running through the "tunnel" and entering onto the field just as the Steelers do on game day.  Of course, the heated grass surface was off limits, but just being on the sidelines was exciting!  A Crafton native, Mrs. Galloway, led the tour and knew many facts about the building and Steeler organization which she shared with the children.  After the informative and interesting tour, students shared a picnic lunch outside the stadium.  Thank you to the chaperones: Mrs. Mell, Mrs. Hites, Mrs. Anselm and Mrs. Gardner for coming along. 

Congratulations to Alex Haney who received the award for Vocal Music and to Emily Okraszewski and Stephanie Ryan who were named among the 20 highest ranking graduates from the Bishop Canevin Class OF 2011.