This Week at St. Patrick – Week of February 6

We had a wonderful Catholic Schools Week celebration last week. Thank you for your investment in Catholic education and for your love and support of our school.

🏆 Congratulations to the Varsity Women’s Soccer Team and Coach Cassandra Terry for winning the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!  We are very proud of you!  Check out photos from the big game here.

Priority registration continues this week.  We are expecting to reach capacity very soon and have a waiting list for all grade levels – we want our returning students to have the first opportunity to enroll. After this week, enrollment will open to the public. To complete your reenrollment packet(s), please login to your FACTS Family Portal. Then, click on Apply/Enroll in the left menu and the Enrollment/Reenrollment link. If you have any questions or need assistance with the reenrollment process, please reach out to Emily Aldrich, Director of Admissions and Strategic Communications.

Shamrockin’ the Coast is scheduled for Saturday, March 18th at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino.  Tickets are now on sale. Will you consider donating items for our virtual auction? Auction items will be prominently displayed throughout the week of Shamrockin’ the Coast. In addition, your business will receive recognition on our virtual materials, website, and on our social media accounts. We encourage patronage to the businesses that so generously support our school. All gifts go to work immediately to strengthen and support our mission and commitment to providing families with an affordable and excellent Catholic education. For additional information, please contact Patrick Miller ’08, Director of Advancement.

Check out all the events we have scheduled for this week in the calendar section below. Thank YOU for choosing St. Patrick! Let’s make it a great week!

Go Irish!
Dr. Matt Buckley

Ephesians 6:24: Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

What do you have that lasts forever? Not much unless it is connected to the Lord Jesus Christ. So many things we love and pursue are hollow, fleeting, shallow, and vain. But grace comes; grace stays; and grace lives with those whose love is the Lord Jesus Christ. Neither time nor the grave can strip away our grace in him when he is our Lord and he is our love.

Holy God, I acknowledge that you loved me long before I knew anything about you. I confess that despite your overwhelming love for me, I have strayed from your will. But Father, deep within my heart I love you and thank you for sending your Son Jesus. His sacrifice and your mercy have not only given me hope, but they have given me confidence to face whatever lies ahead today. Please fill my heart with love for you and your Son by the power of your Holy Spirit. Dear Father, may my allegiance to you be as unwavering and undying as your love is for me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Baker, Grace
Blackledge, Joelly
Burnett, Hailey
Cloud, Colin
Guymon, Brooklyn
Le, Ayden
McKenzie, Parker
Nguyen, Preston
Saucier, Eleanor
Stafford, Natalie
Swarek, Jacob
Williams, Andrew

Monday, February 6
Sunny | 70° | 54° | 7%

7:30am Holy Half – Eucharistic Adoration
8:30am Logistics Team Meeting
2:15pm Leadership Team Meeting – Advancement
3:05pm FIRST Robotics Competition Workdays (FRC)
3:05pm Bass Fishing Meeting
3:05pm Robotics Meeting
4pm Women’s Varsity Basketball vs. Perry Central (District Tournament @ West Marion)
5pm Quiz Bowl Meet

Tuesday, February 7
PM Showers | 73° | 63° | 32%

7:45am Student Council Meeting
3:05pm FIRST Robotics Competition Workdays (FRC)
3:05pm LEGO Robotics Work Session
4pm Women’s Varsity Basketball vs. TBA (District Tournament @ West Marion)
5pm Wrestling- South State Round 1 Dual @ Picayune
5:30pm Men’s Varsity Basketball vs. TBA (District Tournament @ West Marion)
5:45pm Spring Band Parent Meeting

Wednesday, February 8
Thunderstorms | 73° | 58° | 84%

7:30am Holy Half – Eucharistic Adoration
7:45am Art Honor Society Meeting
8:15am PTO Meeting
3:05pm FIRST Robotics Competition Workdays (FRC)
3:05pm Choir Practice
3:05pm Key Club Meeting
5:30pm Faculty/Staff Meeting

Thursday, February 9
Showers | 69° | 49° | 60%

We will follow the liturgy bell schedule today, and students should dress in their liturgy uniform including blazers and ties.
7:30am Choir Practice
7:30am Peer Minister Training
7:40am Quiz Bowl Meeting
9:40am Mass
11:30am Student of the Month Luncheon
3:05pm  FIRST Robotics Competition Workdays (FRC)
3:05pm MathCounts Meeting
3:05pm Drama Guild Meeting
3:05pm eSports Meeting
3:05pm Mock Trial Meeting
3:05pm Peer Minister Training

Friday, February 10
AM Showers | 62° | 39° | 35%

Progress Reports will be emailed today.
We will follow the liturgy bell schedule today.
7am Science Olympiad Gulf South Regional Competition
7:45am Science Olympiad Meeting
9am Leadership Team Meeting – Operations
9:40am Irish Provinces – Agape Love
3:05pm Film Club Meeting
5:30pm Varsity Cheer Banquet- End of the Year Banquet
Men’s Varsity Basketball vs. TBA (District Tournament @ West Marion)
Women’s Varsity Basketball vs. TBA (District Tournament @ West Marion)

Saturday, February 11
Sunny | 58° | 36° | 2%

8am FTC Laurel Qualifier
8am ACT
9am Wrestling- South State Round 2 Dual @ Picayune/Vancleave
9am Women’s Regional Powerlifting Meet
9am FIRST Robotics Competition Workdays (FRC)
10am Softball @ Long Beach (Jamboree)

Monday | Hot Lunch: egg rolls, fried rice, stir-fry vegetables; Fresh salad bar; Loaded baked potato; Fresh ham, turkey, and cheese sub sandwich with chips; Grill Items: pizza, french fries, hamburger, spicy chicken sandwich

Tuesday | Hot Lunch: chicken tortilla soup, tortilla chips, macaroni salad; Fresh salad bar; Loaded baked potato; Fresh ham, turkey, and cheese sub sandwich with chips; Grill Items: pizza, french fries, hamburger, spicy chicken sandwich

Wednesday | Hot Lunch: red beans and rice with sausage, coleslaw, cornbread; Fresh salad bar; Loaded baked potato; Fresh ham, turkey, and cheese sub sandwich with chips; Grill Items: pizza, tater tots, hamburger, spicy chicken sandwich

Thursday | Hot Lunch: chicken cheesy rice, peas and carrots, roll ; Fresh salad bar; Loaded baked potato; Fresh ham, turkey, and cheese sub sandwich with chips; Grill Items: pizza, french fries, hamburger, spicy chicken sandwich

Friday | Hot Lunch: hamburger steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, peas, roll, corn; Fresh salad bar; Loaded baked potato; Fresh ham, turkey, and cheese sub sandwich with chips; Grill Items: pizza, french fries, hamburger, spicy chicken sandwich

Welcome to another great week of academics here at St. Patrick!

Celebrating Catholic Schools Week last week allowed for many wonderful memories to be made! The Catholic Trivia on Tuesday was a hit for all of the students and staff. You could hear exciting collaboration up and down all of the hallways. Additionally our Junior Ring Mass was a tremendous success shared by students and family alike.

This Friday will be the end of the first six weeks of this semester, so progress reports will go out that day through email. If you see any issues with any grades for certain courses, we cannot emphasize enough how important it is to communicate with your child’s teachers. Working the issue instead of the issue working the students or the family at home means seeking that extra support and/or tutoring for your child.

Another tip for Canvas in case you are unaware. Next to the grade your child receives for any assignment could be a comment by the teacher.  If you click on the circled icon shown below, you can read any comments that the teacher might have left for the scoring of that assignment.

Remember your child’s courses will each contain a minimum of 9 major grades and a minimum of 18 minor grades for the entire semester.  Here is the grade breakdown for the categories that create the averages.

Major Grades – 60%
Minor Grades – 25%
Final Exam – 15%

Congratulations to our Lady Irish Soccer team for bringing home their first State Championship this past Saturday! Special thanks to all that came up to support the soccer and bowling teams last week!As you can tell, February is already in full swing! Let’s take a look at our events for this week!

On Monday we will have a Robotics meeting, while FIRST Robotics has a work session. During the evening, our Women’s Varsity Basketball team will play in the first round of the district tournament at West Marion. Go Lady Irish!

Tuesday, we will have a Student Council meeting in the morning, followed by FIRST and LEGO Robotics work sessions in the afternoon. Our Band will have a parent meeting in the evening, while our Wrestling team will compete in Round 1 of the South State Dual Meet at Picayune High School. Good Luck to Coach DiFilippo, Coach Chatelain, and our team! Also, the Varsity Basketball teams will both be competing in the second round of the district tournament at West Marion. Let’s Go!

During the day Wednesday, Art Honor Society will have a meeting, while the Choir and Key Club will meet in the afternoon, along with FIRST Robotics.

Thursday is a full day of activities, with Choir, Quiz Bowl, FIRST Robotics, MathCounts, Drama Guild, eSports, and Mock Trial all having meetings during the day.

On Friday, our Science Olympiad team will be competing in the Gulf South Regional Competition. Good Luck to Ms. Moon, Mr. Creel, and team!  The Film Club will have a meeting in the afternoon, and our Varsity Cheer will have their end of the year banquet. Also, our Robotics team will be competing in the FTC Laurel Qualifier. In the evening, our Varsity Basketball teams will be competing in the final night of the district tournament at West Marion. Go Irish!

Saturday is a full day for our programs, with Robotics continuing in the FTC Laurel Qualifier, while Wrestling competes in Round 2 of the South State Duals. Our Women’s Powerlifting team will be competing in their district championships at St. Patrick during the day, while Coach LeBlanc and the Softball team begins their season with a jamboree at Long Beach.

As always, please let me know if you need anything. God Bless and Go Irish!

Results from the Previous Week:

1/31/23 Women’s Varsity Basketball vs. OLA- Won 49-9
1/31/23 Men’s Junior Varsity Basketball vs. St. Stanislaus- Lost 35-34
1/31/23 Men’s Varsity Basketball vs. St. Stanislaus- Won 64-40
1/31/23 Women’s Varsity Soccer vs. OLA (MHSAA South State Championship- Won 7-1)
2/2/23 Women’s Varsity Basketball vs. West Marion- Lost 52-47
2/2/23 Men’s Varsity Basketball vs. West Marion- Won 63-35
2/3/23 Varsity Bowling (MHSAA State Championships)- Boys 6th Place, Girls 6th Place
2/4/23 Women’s Varsity Soccer vs. Tupelo Christian Prep (MHSAA State Championship- Won 6-0)

Congratulations to Haylie Alvarez for being named the MHSAA Scholar Athlete. 

Photo Gallery: 2023 Junior Ring Mass
Photo Gallery: Lady Irish Soccer South State Championship
Photo Gallery: Catholic Schools Week 2023
Video: Class Act with Grand Chighozola featuring “The Green Knight.”
Photo Gallery: Lady Irish Soccer State Championship

Deadlines for the following college scholarships are approaching soon. See our website or reach out to one of us for additional information.

2-20:  Cardinal Newman Essay Contest
2-23:  St. Alphonsus/St. Vincent de Paul
2-26:  Emmy Noether
2-28:  Biloxi Rotary
2-28:  Gulfport Rotary
2-28:  Mary & Gene Levens
2-28:  Lawrence & Lucimarian Roberts
2-28:  Harold & Mary Perlman
3-1:  American Society of Military Comptrollers
3-1:  Nissan
3-24:  USCCB Religious Liberty Essay Contest
3-27:  La Belle Fleurs
3-31:  Friends of the Ocean Springs Library Scholarship
3-31:  Keesler African-American Heritage
3-31:  Help Grant
4-1:  George Sekul
5-5:  Civic League of Gulfport

I often joke that when some parents see me at events, they run away from me! Yes, on behalf of St. Patrick, I’m going to call upon you to give, but don’t worry, I’m not going to do it at an athletic or extracurricular event. I get it, we’re all doing our best. My wife and I pay tuition at St. Alphonsus, and among their annual fundraisers, they are embarking on a capital campaign for the church and school. Of course, we’re prayerfully considering our family’s pledge to their campaign.

Often I’m asked or receive feedback: “Patrick, I pay tuition – why does St. Patrick ask me to give?”

The polished answer is that as Catholics, we are called to give our blessings to support one of the most essential missions of the Church, training disciples in our schools. This is true, and I’ve found that as I give more (time, treasure, talents), the more I personally receive and see God’s grace in return. There is a lot to gain spiritually from joyfully giving to a place like St. Patrick.

The straight answer is we could charge over $15,000 for tuition instead of fundraising. This dollar amount is based on the cost of educating students across the United States. We don’t want to do that, and we never will; however, we will boldly call upon you to answer the call to give. As such, it’s no surprise that as St. Patrick has become more philanthropic and generous, we’ve experienced unprecedented growth (God’s grace at work).

St. Patrick asks you to give as an opportunity to invest in the work of God. Your support allows us to provide an outstanding educational experience for your child – one that is unrivaled and spiritually sound. You are at the frontlines of educational success in this country – the 1%. Together, we do this at almost half of the cost. Be excited and grateful for these gifts!  We are all doing our best and that’s what we’re called to do. Even the smallest acts at St. Patrick make the biggest difference.

 “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” 2 Corinthians 9:10-15.