September School News

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Our school year is off to a great start! Our students returned happy and refreshed after their long summer vacation. We had a wonderful turn out of parents at Back-to-School Night and welcomed many new families. Father Antonio celebrated Mass on Sept. 7 to mark the beginning of our school year.

Thanks to the generosity of our parents and parishioners for the many fund raisers to which they contributed. As a result, faculty and students are benefiting from the new dry-erase boards in the classrooms. Our 7th and 8th graders are thrilled to have SMART boards in their classrooms as well as ceiling-mounted projectors and computers. The installation of this interactive technology was made possible by the generosity of the Ahmanson Foundation. The SMART boards are greatly enhancing the teaching of the curriculum and further increasing student motivation.

We extend a warm welcome to our new music teacher, Antonio Espinal. Mr. Espinal is well known for his work as an organist at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. We are very fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated man to teach singing to our students and accompany them on the piano and organ. Our students musical experience is being further enriched by the individual classes in voice, recorder and piano which Mr. Espinal is making available to them.

We are very proud to be offering Spanish classes, with an emphasis on Spanish music and culture to our students this year. Our students are enthusiastic to be part of this new program.

We were honored to be invited to participate in a special Mass, celebrated by the Most Reverend Edward Ozorowski, Archbishop of Bialystok, Poland. The Archbishop was very impressed by the children's singing.

Many of our families and students visited the San Gennaro Festival and enjoyed good food, games and music. We thank our acolytes, Fidel Alonso,
Jessica Bautista, Mark Caraan, Melissa Magana, Toni Recinos, Thomas Roe, Ryan Toledo and Cassie Yearwood, who helped lead the procession along Hollywood Boulevard and then assisted at the Mass.

Our sports program got off to a great start! The girls' varsity volleyball team has already participated in the American Martyrs' tournament. In recent games, they defeated St. Brendan's, Cathedral Chapel, Our Mother of Good Counsel and St. Francis. Congratulations girls! Meanwhile, our football team is practicing hard and eagerly awaiting its games.

Thank you so much to the many families who so generously contributed to the success of the car raffle. Our school sold ninety tickets and as a result raised $9000. What an accomplishment! Congratulations to all the lucky winners!
The first prize of a car was won by parishioner, J.R. Lopez. Parents who won cash prizes were Young Ju Kim ($500), Ok Hyun Lee ($500), and Ray Solomon ($250).

Christ the King families are now preparing for the fifth annual Autumn Eve dinner dance which will be held in the Wilshire Country Club on Saturday, November 10. We are looking forward to a wonderful evening of families, alumni, parishioners and community coming together.

Ruth C. Anderson
Vice Principal