3/14/13 - Palm Sunday EYC/Passover Seder

Hello Family,

This Sunday, March 24, we will be meeting in the gym for a Palm Sunday Dinner based on a traditional Jewish Passover Meal. We ask that all Youth show up by 5 pm. The meal should end around 6:30 pm. The meal is usually celebrated with many generations of family involved, parents and grandparents are welcome to join - If you wish to join us, please let me know via email by Saturday, so I know I have enough food for everyone. Email me at stjohnscolumbia@gmail.com.

A little about a Passover Seder (Meal) is below:

The Seder is a ritual performed by a community or by multiple generations of a family, involving a retelling of the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. This story is in the Book of Exodus (Shemot) in the Hebrew Bible. The Seder itself is based on the Biblical verse commanding Jews to retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt: "You shall tell your child on that day, saying, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'" (Exodus 13:8) Traditionally, families and friends gather in the evening to read the text of the Haggadah, an ancient work derived from the Mishnah (Pesahim 10). The Haggadah contains the narrative of the Israelite exodus from Egypt, special blessings and rituals, commentaries from the Talmud, and special Passover songs.

Seder customs include drinking four cups of wine, eating matza and lamb, partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder Plate, and reclining in celebration of freedom. The Seder is performed in much the same way by Jews all over the world.



Also, There will be no EYC on Easter Sunday.

Youth Breakfasts begin 3/20/13

Hello All,

Just a reminder that tomorrow morning (Wednesday, March 20), we will be having a youth breakfast and fellowship time.  We will be gathering in dining room of the Barr Center.  Everyone from St. John’s is welcome to come for fellowship. The menu will be pancakes, bacon, and juice this week. Any youth without a driver’s license will be dropped off at their respective school by the St. John’s Bus. The breakfast is free! So, come and enjoy the friendship!




Wed. 3/20/13; 6:45 am - 7:45 am

This Weekend March 15 - 17, 2013

Hello Family,

Here is what's going on this weekend:

Winter Jam 2013 Fri. 3.15 @ 5 pm

We will be headed to the Colonial Life Arena, for a night of fun and fellowship. We will be seeing 10 bands for only $10. The headliner is TobyMac - and there will be speakers, and comedians. We will meet at St. John’s at 5 pm for the event. Doors at the Arena open at 6 pm.  St. John's will pay your cover, please bring money for snacks and souvenirs.

St. Patty’s in Five-Points 3.16 @ 7 am

Sat, Mar 16 is the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Five-Points. This year St. John’s EYC will be entering a “float.” I will be driving the bus in the parade, and ask that the EYC come and decorate the bus and be apart of the parade, as well. We will be meeting Saturday morning at 7 am to decorate the bus before the parade. Remember, to wear your best St. Patrick’s Day regalia, or just dress in green or orange. Any ideas for the “float” will be appreciated!

  So far there is a rumor about a "Mine-Craft" Theme.

No EYC on Sunday

March Newsletter

Please, Click on image to enlarge.

Things To Come - March!

Hello Family,

St. J’s Chili Cook Off 3.3

The Chili Cook Off was quite a success.  We had 15 entries and raised $522.10 for the Home Works Mission Trips!  A huge thank you to all who made chili, and to those who came out and supported St. John’s and enjoyed the fellowship!  Also, congratulations to the Meacham Family for winning the Chili Cook Off, and a The Dillard Family for taking a close second.  

Home Works

Home Works’ sign up deadlines are fast approaching:

For the Junior High (rising 6th to 8th grade, Augusta, GA) trip, the deadline for sign up - full payment is not needed - is Friday, March 15, 2013.  The dates are June 7 - June 11, 2013, and the cost is $75.  Please contact me via email at ccr@stjohnscolumbia.org.

For the Senior High (rising 9th t0 12th grade, Johns Island, SC) trip, the deadline for sign up - full payment is not needed - is Friday, March 22, 2013.  The dates are July 21 - July 28, 2013, and the cost is $200.  Please contact me via email at ccr@stjohnscolumbia.org.

Also, July 12 - July 13, 2013, will be a Home Works “Beach Trip” for both Junior High & Senior High!  It will be at Bennet’s Point.  More information to come!

Bible Study and Breakfast

3.18 - From 6:30 - 7:30 am in the Senior High Classroom each Monday will be our Bible Study.  We will begin with the Gospel of Mark, and work through the New Testament, doing a chapter a week.  Any youth without a drivers license will be dropped off at their respective school by me in the St. John’s Bus.  There will be no Bible Study on 3.25, because of Holy Week.

3.20 - From 6:45 - 7:30 am in the Barr Center dining room we will be having a fellowship breakfast.  This will occur every Wednesday from now on.  The menu will change somewhat each time, this week it will be pancakes, bacon, and drinks.  Any youth without a drivers license will be dropped off at their respective school by me in the St. John’s Bus.  There is no breakfast 3.27 because of Holy Week.

EYC

3.10 - Will be a Home Works Themed EYC, we will be welcoming Cliff Moore to help with this event!  The theme will again be humility  (Junior High 5 - 6 pm, Senior High 6:30 - 7:30 pm).

3.15 - We will be meeting at St. John’s at 5 pm to head over to the Colonial Life Arena for the Winter Jam Concert Festival.  Cost is $10 dollars.  For more information go to www.jamtour.com. 

3.17 - There will be no EYC.

3.24 - Palm Sunday - We will be having a Messianic Seder or Haggadah.

3.31 - Easter - No EYC.

St. Patty’s Day Parade

3.16 - We will be a part of the St. Patty’s Day parade in Five Points!  We will meet at 7 am to decorate the bus and get ready for the parade.  Come dressed in green, or in your best St. Pat’s regalia and join us on the bus!  

30 Hour Famine, Lock-in, & Super Galactic Yard Sale

The event will take place 4.12 - 4.13, more information soon to come!

Sumter Native Helps Found Special Needs Program BY JADE ANDERSON

Sumter native helps found special needs program
BY JADE ANDERSON
janderson@theitem.com
The Item

What started out as seeking the best education for one man's daughter has spread into a program that's helping an entire school.


"The amazing thing is how many parents tell us, 'We know this is good for Lucy, but it is helping our children even more,'" said Sumter native Bob Graham. "That's been the real touching part."


Lucy, a daughter of Bob and Susan Graham, has Down syndrome.


"What we've attempted to do with Lucy her entire life is put her in a normal setting with normal people," Graham said. "We felt like that would be the best way to make her as self-sufficient as possible."


The Sumter High graduate raised funds to help found the DeLaSalle Program at Cardinal Newman, a Catholic school in Columbia. The program is named for St. John Baptiste DeLaSalle. DeLaSalle is "the patron saint of teachers, (who) strongly believed that all people, especially the young, have an inherent dignity from being created in the image of God, and that education is the means of developing that inherent dignity," according to the Spring 2012 edition of Cardinal Matters.


The program is modeled on the Options Program at Bishop England, a Catholic school in Charleston. Both schools are in the Diocese of Charleston, which covers the entire state of South Carolina.


"There was no need to reinvent the wheel, and it was so successful down in Charleston," Graham said.


The first class began this fall.


"We are offering a Catholic education that is a fully inclusive education for students with mild intellectual disabilities in the seventh through 12th grades," said Suzy Madden, director of the DeLaSalle Program and a Cardinal Newman alumna. "Kids are integrated completely with their peers through the day."


The three students currently enrolled in the program go to Madden for foreign language and for modification to their assignments and testing. She also helps tutor them in all their work.


"They understand more than most people think," Madden said. "Just because someone has a disability doesn't mean he won't learn. He may not be getting the full extent, but he is definitely learning something. That is what every parent wants."


Students in the program are also invited to participate in extracurricular activities. Lucy is on the junior varsity cheerleading squad.


"She loves it," Graham said. "She absolutely loves it."


The students also have "Friendship Ambassadors" to "practice social skills and develop positive peer relationships," states the issue of Cardinal Matters.


"(About) 100 kids have signed up that they will at different times support kids with special needs," Graham said. "Five or six ninth-grade girls will invite Lucy out to the movies or out for other activities from time to time. It helps a lot from a communication standpoint."


Overall, Madden said, the program is going well so far.


"I can't express what they feel, but by the looks on their faces, they are happier than they've ever been," she said. "They have friends, and they can talk to them. I feel like it's promoting a more accepting and tolerant community. While they are at Cardinal Newman, their peers are learning about people with disabilities. It's a wonderful experience to learn they are more like us than not."


Graham is hoping to see the program grow in time to four students per grade.


"I think it's a good model that can really go anywhere," he said.

Sunday! 3/3/13

Hello All,

  We will need youth and parents to stand outside after each service to advertise for the Chili Cook Off (7:45, 9:00, 11:15).  Evie Dillard has been nice enough to make a few posters for us.  I will put them in the back of the church tomorrow for Sunday.  

 Also, remember the Chili Cook Off is Sunday from 5 pm to 7:30 pm, or whenever we run out of chili!  I have let the parish know, and I ask that you all come out and celebrate this event and be a part of it.  If anyone could show up a half hour before (4:30) and help set up.  That would be much appreciated.