Please plan to attend any or all of the events planned at Jordan Catholic School to celebrate Catholic Schools Week January 25-31, 2015.

Saturday, January 24: Faith, Knowledge and Service: In Our Parishes Friends of Jordan Trivia Night will be held at the Moose Lodge in Rock Island. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. with Trivia beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Trivia Night supports the Friends of Jordan Scholarship Fund.

Catholic Schools Kick-off Mass at 4:00 p.m. at St. Pius Parish with students participating as lectors, gift bearers, greeters and as the choir.

Sunday, January 25: Faith, Knowledge and Service: In Our Parishes

Catholic Schools Week Kick-off Mass at 9:00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Parish and 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Parish in Rock Island with students participating as lectors, gift bearers and greeters.

Monday, January 26: Faith, Knowledge and Service: In Our Community

Students and staff will gather in the gym as a school community for a prayer service at 8:10 a.m. Mayor Pauley will be with us to sign and read the proclamation to officially open Catholic Schools Week. Students in Grades 6-8 will be attending a special Mass at Alleman High School at 9:40 a.m. Grades Kindergarten through Grade 6 will have a visit from the Alleman Ambassadors at 1:15 p.m. Students and staff will have a SPIRIT Day and be invited to wear a Hat for "Hats Off" to Catholic Education at Jordan Catholic School.

Tuesday, January 27: Faith, Knowledge and Service: In Our Students

Students and staff will be invited to wear pajamas today as we will have DEAR time. (Drop Everything and Read) Classroom Religion Bees will also be conducted during Religion classes today.

Wednesday, January 28: Faith, Knowledge and Service: In Our Nation

Parents are invited to come to school to share about their career choice and how they use their talents to serve others. Students are invited to come dressed in their favorite career choice.

Thursday, January 29: Faith, Knowledge and Service: In Our Vocations

Area priests and religious sisters will be invited to share with the students about their call to the priesthood and religious life. It will be a Dress-up Day for students as we will celebrate a special all school Mass at 2:00 p.m. Tom Weaver will be honored during Mass as the 2014-15 Outstanding Alumni of Jordan Catholic School.

Friday, January 30: Faith, Knowledge and Service: In Our Faculty and Staff

The staff will be honored with a special lunch today hosted by the Home and School Association. A special bulletin board display of staff baby pictures and three interesting facts about themselves will be on display throughout the week.

Saturday, January 31: Faith, Knowledge and Service: In Our Families

The Jordan Catholic Home and School Association will sponsor a Family Fun Night and Basket Raffle beginning at 5:00 p.m. in Farrell Hall and the gym.

Sunday, February 1: Faith, Knowledge and Service: In Our Parishes

Students will close Catholic Schools Week by serving as lectors, gift bearers and greeters at 8:00 a.m. at St. Patrick's Parish in Andalusia and 9:30 a.m. at St. Ambrose Parish in Milan.

The Jordan Engineering Team, also known as JET, competed in the Regional Competition on December 6^th in Moline, Illinois. The team walked away with two awards this year in Robot Design and Performance and will be competing in the Illinois State event in Champaign on January 24th.

The teams are judged in four areas. Robot Design, Robot Performance, Core Values/Teamwork, and Research Project. This year marks the fourth time out of the last six years that the team has qualified for the State Competition. The team has been very successful bringing home multiple awards every year from the regional and state events.

Those competing this year are: Tony VanDeWalle, Collin Cincola, Johnny Dopler, John Hunter, Adam Hyder and Michael Showalter.

GRADE EIGHT CHEER COMPETITION

Jordan 8th Grade Cheerleaders took 3rd place at the annual cheer competition held at Northeast Junior High School in East Moline on December 8th. Congratulations!

Taking part in the competition were Paige Nimrick, Courtney Young, Natika Woods, Lauren Hird, Haley Mosley, Olivia Manternach, Olivia McCarthy, Emily Elliott, Chloe Boyd, Claudia Ruiz and Kaitlynn Zonnevylle

Today, Students and Staff of Jordan Catholic School celebrated "All Saints Day" (November 1st) and honored the "Day of the Dead" (November 2nd) celebrated in Mexico and other Latin countries. This is a wonderful way to share the Mexican/Latin culture of many within our Jordan Catholic School community and in our Quad Cities community.

The note below was sent home to our Jordan Catholic School families from Ms. Salavarria and explains more about our celebration:

The Day of the Dead is a Mexican Holiday that is celebrated in honor of those who have passed away. The celebration begins on the last week of October and culminates on All Soul's Day, November 2nd. The tradition is to create an altar with memories of those in our family who have died and to pray for them, for them to watch over us and protect us. Along with many decorations, food and drink; the altar is composed of pictures of family members for whom we pray.

This year, we are creating a school-wide altar for the Day of the Dead. We encourage your family to participate, as our school community, to acknowledge this wonderful holiday. Please send with your child/children a picture or pictures of family members for whom you would like to pray for. Also, please list below names of deceased family members that you would like for us to sign into our prayer book. We will locate the altar at the entrance of the school by Ms. Leonard's office. Please have pictures brought to school between October 31 and November 7.

On Monday night, Rock Island Mayor Dennis Pauley and the City Council presented Jordan Catholic School principal Joan Leonard, school parents, and students with the Council's Choice Award for their entry in the 2014 Rock Island Labor Day Parade.