Our entire school participated in the UPMC Dignity & Respect Program featuring Steeler Quarterback Charlie Batch. The students watched the program via livestreaming over the Internet on their classroom SmartBoards. Mr. Batch focused on the importance of team work,  getting along with team mates to achieve a goal, and treating each person with dignity and respect. All of the students took the dignity and respect pledge with Mr Batch and were permitted to ask questions which primarily dealt with bullying. The popular Steeler emphasized the truth that each person is created by God for a special purpose and therefore must be treated as

Kindergarten, First and Second graders attended a baby shower as a part of their Respect Life Month activities. The children brought in new and gently used baby clothes for distribution to Pro-Life agencies that assist new Moms and enjoyed games, refreshments, and a visit by a real life baby, Lucy Wrabley. Respect Life coloring books were given as favors. Thank you to all the Moms and Dads who helped make the shower so much fun!

Our annual Rosary for Life was celebrated asking Mary's protection of all life, especially the unborn. The names of those remembered in the October GRACE program were read and Fr Walt spoke to the children about the origin of the October as the month of the Rosary.
He recounted the story of the defeat of the Muslim Turks on October 7, 1571 through the power of the Rosary. Father also blessed the Rosaries which the prayer pals in 1st and 7th grade made together.

The theme of this year’s Respect Life month is  I came so that all may have life and have it to the full. Our Respect Life window with each of the babies you colored expresses this thought. Each baby that God creates is in His image has the promise of eternal life and must have the chance of living life to the full. Today, we will dedicate a baby’s breath plant in our Respect Life garden in memory of Sr. Annina Fox. There are many reasons we chose this plant to remember Sr. Annina. Its botanical name means "lover of chalk", because of  the type of soil in which this plant likes to grow. Sr. Annina certainly loved blackboards, learning and school - particularly St. Philip School. She dedicated her life  to making God’s presence known  in the world and drawing others to Him as teacher, Principal, and mentor of our school.  Baby’s breath also symbolizes purity of heart, innocence, and the breath of the Holy Spirit. Sr Annina certainly exhibited those qualities and breathed God’s Spirit wherever she went. No person was too lowly or hopeless for her hand to touch or her smile to comfort. Finally, we chose baby’s breath because of Sr Annina’s strong  dedication to, and work for, respect for the life of unborn children. She helped organize prayer services, prayed at the abortion clinics, donated her time to pro-life projects and  always gave those around her an example of how  all people, especially all children, should be treated with deep respect.

First Grade used a Halloween theme to create story problems in Math and solve them.

St. Philip 3rd graders were the proud recipients of their very own dictionaries as part of a special project sponsored by the Greentree Rotary. Through the Dictionary Project over 15 million children have received a dictionary thanks to the generosity of sponsors who have participated in the Dictionary Project.  The goal of this program is to assist all students in completing the school year as good writers, active readers and creative thinkers by providing students with their own personal dictionary. The dictionaries are a gift to each student to use at school and at home for years to come. The Greentree Rotary, an organization of business and community leaders in our area, is the local sponsor of the Dictionary Project and members Linda DeAngelo and Dave Wandrisco personally came to St. Philip School to present the dictionaries and encourage the children to develop good reading and writing habits.

The goal of this program is to assist all students in becoming good writers, active readers, creative thinkers, and resourceful learners by providing them with their own personal dictionary. The dictionaries are a gift to each student to use at school and at home for years to come. Educators see third grade as the dividing line between learning to read and reading to learn, so we encourage our sponsors to give dictionaries each year to children in the third grade.

Congratulations to the following runners and their coach Mary Aiello for a great effort at the Season Championships:

Varsity girls :Sarah Green 50th place out of 155 runners

 Varsity boys: Jimmy Hurley 77 place,Ryley Tarasi 133 place,
Luke Rattay 139 place out of 166 runners

 JV boys : Patrick Carnahan 169 place, Brendan Callahan 204 place out of 233 runners

JV girls : Hope Kelly 159 place, Abby Aiello 211 place out of 233 runners

Students from St. Philip School, Bishop Canevin High School, OLSH, Holy Trinity, and Holy Child presented their masterpieces at the annual Art Exhibit held in Fr. Kelty Hall. Congratulations to all of the artists and their teachers for this wonderful show. Special accolades got to Mrs. Bartlett and Mrs. Kennedy from Bishop Canevin for sponsoring the show each year and to St. Philip 7th grader Kevin Costantino whose work was chosen as the cover for the programs and note cards.

Director of People Concerned for the Unborn Child , Helen Cindrich, met with our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders as a part of this year's Respect Life Program. Mrs. Cindrich informed the group about all of the activities PCUC sponsors to encourage women in difficult situations to give their children life and a chance at living productive lives. She also explained many of the activities such as counseling those with difficult life decisions, writing letters to the editor, organizing  the March  for Life in Washington D.C., and praying at abortion clinics that her group sponsors to promote Respect for all human life. 

Our 5th grade scientists have moved on to the digestive system using breath mints to study the effects of stomach aid on food.