This Week at St. Patrick – Week of September 5

Greetings, Fighting Irish!

Happy Labor Day Weekend! Our campus is closed Monday, September 5. Classes will resume and offices will reopen Tuesday morning.

Thank you to all of you who have sold raffle tickets so far! We are excited about our 2022-23 Luck of the Irish Raffle presented by C.F. Gollott & Son, our school-wide fall fundraiser! The Luck of the Irish Raffle supports all of our athletic teams and student activities at St. Patrick.

Our goal for the 2022-23 school year is to raise $150,000 through the Luck of the Irish Raffle. To accomplish this goal, we are counting on each student to sell at least 1 booklet of tickets (10 total tickets). When you sell a booklet, your hard work provides resources for nearly 50 different programs at St. Patrick.

Every student and staff member who sells a booklet of tickets will be allowed to dress in spirit wear (St. Patrick shirt, jeans, and any closed-toe shoes) every Friday throughout the school year.

Let’s keep selling! Tickets are $20 each, and a lucky $1,000 winner will be drawn each month from October through May.  Each month, the winning ticket remains in the drawing, so those who purchase tickets have a chance to win up to $10,000.  Our first drawing will be Friday, October 7, so get your tickets turned in to the front office by October 5 so they will be included in the first drawing.  Tickets may also be purchased online at stpatrickhighschool.net/irishraffle.  If you need additional tickets to sell, please give us a call or stop by the office.

This Friday, September 9, we are hosting our annual Grandparents’ Breakfast here in our cafeteria and gymnasium. We invite all St. Patrick grandparents to join us for a hot breakfast and fellowship beginning at 7:30 a.m. Grandparents may park on the south side of the school and enter under the awnings. This is one of our favorite events each year as we recognize the significant contributions of our Fighting Irish Grands!

We have a lot of events and activities planned for the month of September.  Be sure to check out our calendar regularly at stpatrickhighschool.net/calendar and read the details below from each member of our Leadership Team.

Let’s make it a great week at St. Patrick!

Go Irish!
Dr. Matt Buckley
Principal

2 Timothy 1:13-14: What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you — guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

We live in a world of keys, locks, alarms, and security systems. Paul’s words shouldn’t come as a surprise to us. We protect the things that are most valuable to us. What is more precious to us than the truth of God’s saving grace in the Gospel. Thankfully, God has pre-wired all of us with a security system to help protect that incredibly precious hope. This security system lives in us. It is the Holy Spirit.

Help me, O God, to not compromise your truth to legalism or license. I want to live, and show others how to live, a holy life. I want to share your grace and mercy with them. But most of all Father, I want them to join with me in welcoming Jesus when he returns. Please empower me by your Spirit to see through falsehood and error so I can protect and live your truth. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Berglund, Ian
Bowen, Alex
Callecod, David
Chevalier, Nikolas
Coniglio, Kayla
Doughman, Ava
Harris, Mary
Hilton, Chad
Hilton, Clay
Holder, Maddie
Howk, Carter
McKee, Amelia
Patino, Isabella
Plott, Lucy
Rizk, Gabrielle
Wild, Savanna
Mrs. Tia Edwards

Monday, September 5
Mostly Sunny | 91° | 67° | 6%

Labor Day Holiday

Tuesday, September 6
Sunny | 91° | 68° | 5%

7:45am Student Council Meeting
8am Holy Cross Visit – Seniors
8:30am Logistics Team Meeting
9:20am Inclement Weather Drill
2:15pm Leadership Team Meeting – Advancement
3:05pm Quiz Bowl Meeting
3:15pm JH Cheer Practice
5pm JV Volleyball vs. Perry Central (Away)
6pm JV Football vs. Bay (Home)
6pm Varsity Volleyball vs. Perry Central (Away)

Wednesday, September 7
Mostly Sunny | 90° | 68° | 4%

7:30am Holy Half – Eucharistic Adoration
8am Holy Cross Visit – Juniors
3:05pm Choir Practice
5pm JH Volleyball vs. North Woolmarket (Home)
5:30pm Faculty/Staff Meeting
6pm Wrestling Informational Meeting

Thursday, September 8
Mostly Sunny | 90° | 67° | 2%

We will follow the liturgy bell schedule today, and students should dress in their liturgy uniform including blazers and ties.
7:30am Choir Practice
7:40am HS Softball Player Meeting
9:40am Mass
3:05pm MathCounts meeting
3:05pm Drama Guild Meeting
3:05pm Mock Trial Meeting
5:30pm 7th Grade Football vs. Pass Christian (Home)
5:30pm JV Volleyball vs. Greene County (Away)
6:30pm Varsity Volleyball vs. Greene County (Away)
7pm 8th Grade Football vs. Pass Christian (Home)

Friday, September 9
Sunny | 90° | 68° | 2%

7:30am Grandparent’s Day Breakfast
9am Leadership Team Meeting – Operations
11:45am Senior Luncheon

Saturday, September 10
Mostly Sunny | 87° | 67° | 7%

8am ACT

Tuesday | Hot Lunch: chicken spaghetti, green beans, garlic toast; 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: corn dog, macaroni and cheese, field peas; 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: country fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, peas, biscuit; 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: chicken teriyaki, eggroll, steamed 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

As we are already a short two weeks away from our first progress report of the semester, please be attentive to your child’s grades in each of their courses.

You can always access your child’s grades in the “Grade” icon on the left side of the menu bar in each of their courses in Canvas. Here is an image of this:

If you ever have any questions about your child’s progress and grades in his or her courses please do not hesitate to contact his or her teacher. All teachers’ email addresses can be found on the “Syllabus” page of their Canvas course:

We continue to focus on raising our instructional procedures to require higher levels of cognitive performance.  If you ever have any questions about your child’s Canvas course, modules, lessons, or assignments, please reach out to us.

Ninth through twelfth grade students are reminded to bring their Chromebook, fully charged, to school every day.  This is a student supply item that is necessary to have in each class period.  

I hope your Labor Day weekend was restful! We are full once again this week with athletics and activities.

On Tuesday, our Junior Varsity and Varsity Volleyball teams will travel to New Augusta for an important district matchup versus Perry Central, and will then travel to Greene County on Thursday. Good Luck to Coach Blakeney and the Irish!

Football will be at home all week, first with a Junior Varsity contest versus Bay on Tuesday, and then with a Junior High game on Thursday vs. Pass Christian. Check the teams out!

Our Junior High Volleyball team will host North Woolmarket on Wednesday, beginning at 5pm. Please come out and cheer for Coach Parrish and his Fighting Irish!

On Wednesday evening at 6pm, we will have our first ever Wrestling Meeting in the auditorium. This is our newest sport, and we are expecting a great turnout. If you have any questions about the meeting, please feel free to contact me directly.

Our club and activity meetings for this week are our Student Council, Quiz Bowl, Choir, MathCounts, Drama Guild, and Mock Trial groups. Please check the school calendar for dates and times for these meetings.

Special thanks to the following people who take our children to and from school each day on our buses: Mr. Rick Springer, Mrs. Tia Edwards, Mrs. Rose Murphy, Mr. Stan Dellenger, Mr. Marshall Parrish, Mrs. Dee Blakeney, and Mr. Ryan Worsham. Please be sure to thank them for delivering your children safely to and from school each day. They are a major part of our success.

The same goes for the members of our outstanding maintenance, custodial, and cafeteria crews at St. Patrick: Mrs. Joanie Swetman, Mrs. Judy Gary, Mrs. Rose Murphy, Mrs. Shaneka Louis, Mrs. Tia Edwards, Mr. Jake Vuyovich, Mr. Rick Springer, Mr. Sheldon Black, and Mr. Don Lawson. Please be sure to thank these members of our team as well if and when you get an opportunity.

Below are the scores from our various athletic teams for last week:
8/29 – JH Volleyball vs. Magnolia (Away) – 7th Grade SP 2-1; 8th Grade SP 2-1
8/29 – JV Volleyball vs. Pascagoula (Away) – St. Patrick 2-1
8/29 – JV Football vs. Poplarville (Away) – Poplarville 42-0
8/29 – Varsity Volleyball vs. Pascagoula (Away) – St. Patrick 3-1
8/30 – JV Volleyball vs. Tylertown (Away) – St. Patrick 2-0
8/30 – Varsity Volleyball vs. Tylertown (Away) – St. Patrick 3-0
8/31 – JH Volleyball vs. Bayou View (Home) – 7th Grade SP 2-1; 8th Grade BV 2-0
9/1 – JV Volleyball vs. OLA (Home) – OLA 2-1
9/1 – JH Football vs. West Wortham (Home) – West Wortham 38-0 
(St. Patrick won 5th quarter 12-0)
9/1 – Varsity Volleyball vs. OLA (Home) – OLA 3-0
9/2 – Varsity Football vs. St. Andrews (Away) – St. Patrick 42-0

Coach Kevin Burdine was inducted into the Biloxi Sports Hall of Fame. Coach Burdine has won more than 400 games during his coaching career. You can read the full article here.

St. Patrick is proud to announce that two students have received National Academic Honors. Find out who here.

Congratulations to John Michael Moran ‘23 for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Since the inception of the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America, only 4% of scouts have earned this rank. Moran joins nearly 2.5 million other youth in achieving this honor.

The St. Patrick Campus Ministry Team revealed the theme for this school year. Read more and see the photos here.

📸 Photo Gallery: Junior High Volleyball vs. Creek Bend

All available scholarships have been updated on the website. To access the scholarships, please click academics. Then, on the left hand side, there will be college scholarships. Look at the due date. The date at the bottom is the date the scholarship was first entered. You may also click here to access the scholarships webpage. 

The PSAT is Wednesday, October 12. This test is optional for juniors and sophomores. The cost is $75, which will include preparation with Huntington Learning Center. Mrs. Erin Gibson, the director of the center, will present the workshop on Wednesday, October 5. Please email Ms. Wilkinson and let her know if you are going to participate in the PSAT this year. If you want to take the test, the workshop is required. The deadline to register with Ms. Wilkinson is Monday, September 12, 2022. The $75 will be added to your FACTS account.

The PSAT/NMSQT is the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The PSAT is a great primer for the SAT, and even the ACT, but it is more than just a trial run. PSAT scores are used to identify National Merit Scholars and award merit scholarships. More than 3.4 million high school students (juniors and sophomores) take this nationwide, multiple-choice test every year. The PSAT has two sections: Math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing. Students will encounter passage-based questions—sometimes accompanied by tables, graphs, and charts—and math problems drawing upon algebra, geometry, and some trigonometry.

The ACT College Readiness Benchmarks are the minimum ACT college readiness assessment scores required for students to have a high probability (50% chance of earning a B or higher) of success in credit-bearing college courses—English composition, social sciences courses, college algebra, or biology. Here are the benchmark ACT scores for college readiness as of 2022, according to ACT.org:

English: 18
Math: 22
Reading: 22
Science: 23

Therefore, based on this information, a student who scores an 18 on the English subsection of the ACT has a 50% chance or higher of earning a B in college English composition. The math subscore equates to readiness for a college algebra course, the science subscore equates to readiness for a college biology course, and the reading subscore equates to readiness for college social science courses.

Have you joined the St. Patrick Gold Club yet?  Members of the Gold Club are some of our biggest fans and supporters of the Irish Fund. When you join the Gold Club, you give to ensure students at St. Patrick Catholic High School have all they need to be successful in our athletic programs and extracurricular activities.  As we continue to support champions, we know you’ll be at the tailgate and in the bleachers cheering on our student-athletes!  You may find the link to the Gold Club membership form here: Join the Irish Fund’s Gold Club.