Page 42 December 2014 602-840-0010 x200 5001 E. Thomas Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85018 www.stcs.us ATTEND THESE INFORMATIVE SESSIONS: OPEN HOUSE (Preschool – grade 8) Sunday, January 25, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Tour the campus, meet our exceptional faculty, and learn why generations of families continue to choose STCS to prepare their children for high school and life. Parent and student ambassadors will also be on hand to answer questions. MIDDLE SCHOOL NIGHT (Grade 6 – 8) Wed, January 28, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Father Feeney Hall Presentation on preparing grade school students for success in high school, college and beyond, with a focus on preparing graduates to excel in the Catholic high school of their choice. PRESCHOOL AND KINDERGARTEN NIGHT Wednesday, January 28, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. (Preschool); 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (Kindergarten) in the Early Childhood Center-Extended Care Room Join us for grade-specific presentations on the curriculum and methods for achieving objectives that prepare each student for the next level of learning. • 2010 National Blue Ribbon School • Catholic Faith and Family-Centered Community • Technology-Supported Learning Environment • Athletic, Fine Arts, and Extracurricular Programs • Extended Care Before and After School and Bus Service SAINT THERESA CATHOLIC SCHOOL SAINT THERESA CATHOLIC SCHOOL Faith Knowledge Values Success in high school starts with a solid foundation at the preschool and elementary level. St. Theresa offers a rigorous, faith-based program that prepares students spiritually, academically, and socially for the future. Preschool through Grade 8. St. Theresa is accredited by Western Catholic Education Association PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS: Makings of a masterpiece By Kindra Hall My mother is a tradition-artist. She can whip up a tradition on a whim and it will last a lifetime. And if you have ever known a tradition-artist you know the holiday season is nothing but a blank canvas – the perfect place to create their masterpieces. And growing up my holidays were just that – a masterpiece. As if a direct descendant of Mrs. Claus herself, my mother dominated Christmas. Her cassette player was the first station to switch to all Christmas music on November 1. She baked cookies from the recipes of our ancestors. She painstakingly wrapped 24 individual Nativity figurines – one for each night leading up to Christmas Eve – that my brother, sister and I would take turns unwrapping as we gathered around a fire while singing Christmas carols. On Christmas Eve we wore matching, handmade Christmas pajamas and ate a single scoop of ice cream out of special Christmas bowls before heading to bed where she sang a song, and said a prayer with each of us. Not enough? For my first Christmas my mother “helped me make” a special ornament for each member of our extended family (and one for Santa). Every year, each child did this until we were in high school: dough art candy canes, clothes pin Dorothy with red glittered shoes, skis made out of Popsicle sticks. If Pinterest had been around when my mom was running Christmas, she would have blown that thing up! But even after all that, no tradition was more sacred, or grander than that of decorating the family Christmas tree. The tree decorating always started out ugly. My mother fought with the artificial branches that had to be placed in the green metal pole in a specific order. She then wrestled with a thousand variously colored Christmas lights that had become lazy over the summer and would now refuse to light. I rarely heard my mother swear except at the beginning of this festive holiday. My brother, sister and I hid in the basement until the tree was standing and lit, but otherwise empty. The decorating was our job. Once the sun had disappeared and the snow outside glowed blue in the Minnesota darkness, my father, younger brother, sister and I would gather around my mother who sat on the floor surrounded by boxes of ornaments. Each one telling a story from our past: ornaments from generations before, newer ornaments with our faces as babies, ornaments my grandmother made – including three needlepoint unicorns – and of course the ornaments that my brother, sister and I made. Each one a treasure. Each one to be handled with the utmost care. And after hours of decorating, after my mom placed an angel on the top of the tree, we turned out the rest of the lights in the house, sat on the sofas and stared at our masterpiece. And while some may have called it gaudy, we spent the next month circling that tree, running our fingers gently over the years of memories that hung there. Unfortunately, I did not inherit my mother’s mad-tradition-making skills. My first few Christmases as a mom have been a little awkward as I’ve been “trying- on” traditions. I’ve fought the crowds at ZooLights with two children under 2 and a reluctant husband. I tried baking cookies Kindra as a child, standing in front of her mom’s perfect Christmas tree. Continued on page 43

Page 43 December 2 0 1 4 (800) 339-3548 www.cpspeo.com Let Us Simplify Your Business! Locally Owned for Over 20 Years! OUR PAYROLL SERVICE INVOICE ________________________________ Start-Up Fee............included Tax Filing Fee..........included New Hire Reporting Fee..included Employee Set-Up Fee.....included Direct Deposit Fee......included Online Services.........included Are You Overpaying for Your Payroll Services? Call for a Quote and Save! e JCL.com/practices We’re here for you Right around the corner, you’ll find three primary care practices, giving you easy access to family medicine physicians and services. Whether you need to be seen right away for a cold or flu, or you want to schedule your regular checkup, we’re nearby and ready to help. Call today. shc.org/primarycare Affiliate of Scottsdale Lincoln Health Network Arcadia Family Clinic 4131 N. 24th Street, Suite B102 602-955-6632 Primary Care Arcadia 100 4840 E. Indian School Road, Suite 100 480-882-7360 Primary Care Arcadia 101 4840 E. Indian School Road, Suite 101 480-882-7350 • Accepting new patients • Same day appointments • Most insurance plans accepted • Extended office hours Need a Doctor? but they were super ugly. I thought about making ornaments, but sheesh, that’s a lot of work. Right now the best I’ve got is watching Santa fly in on a helicopter at the Arizona Country Club – which for this Minnesota native is still surreal – and a reminder set in my phone to get some milk in case Santa doesn’t like Almond Breeze. There is absolutely nothing about “my” Christmas that resembles a masterpiece. But just as I was about to get discouraged, I turned to my mother who reminded me of our tree-decorating tradition – and its slightly awkward evolution. You see, as Christmases passed and the tradition continued, it changed. It happened ever so subtly, as my mother slowly lost control of her teenage children. Instead of finding the perfect place for each item, we used the tree to make statements. My sister would place the ornament with her photo squarely over the ornament with mine. My brother’s Lego men and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures began making their way into the branches. Instead of the plastic needlepoint unicorns being placed inconspicuously among the Christmas balls, they now traveled in a herd across the front of the tree ridden by a clothespin Dorothy, an angry ballerina, and Boba Fett wearing Popsicle stick skis. And during the decorating, we took turns distracting mom as we sneaked Homie figurines my sister bought from the quarter machine at the grocery store in with the family heirlooms. These new decorating tactics did not please my mother. She would spend the morning after the tree ceremony combing every artificial twig looking for the offending faux-ornaments and huff and puff every time she found one. She would shake the intruders at us, asking if we had no respect for tradition. But that’s the thing about tradition, no matter how hard you try to preserve it, things change. Children grow and families expand, and just like adolescence, these times of transition can be a little awkward, hormonal and uncomfortable. My mother assured me this didn’t make me a tradition failure, I was just at the beginning of a new masterpiece. And to help with the transition, she gave me a box. Filled with ornaments. Ornaments from my childhood. Ornaments with my face as a baby. Even a Lego man and a needlepoint unicorn. Ornaments I had made every year since birth and given to Santa – who was now giving them back to me. Whatever your traditions – old and perfected, or new and awkward – may you have a blessed holiday, a Merry Christmas and a masterpiece of your own. d on page 43 Masterpiece Continued from page 42