Dear Parents,
We are only 15 days away from the Aurora Conference Boys and Girls Basketball Tournament.  Our committee has been working diligently to ensure we run a spectacular event.  

​I am including several sign up genius links for you to click on and volunteer.  There are opportunities to volunteer AND opportunities to donate food items.

We have another sign up genius that will be coming out in the next day or two, regarding the preparing and serving of meals.  Becky Zaverl has graciously offered to head this up.  Once she provides me the link, I will get it out to everyone.  This will be a big deal and need a number of helping hands, as we will be preparing nine meals for roughly 120 student athletes.  

I am happy to announce we have enough game sponsors.  However, if your business, or the business of someone you know wants to sponsor the live streaming, we are looking for $50 per game.  This will allow their business to be featured as the sponsor of a game on line.  We have 18 games and the cost to live stream is $900.00.  So $50 per game will insure we can stream the game at no cost to the school.

Here are the links I spoke of.  If you have questions, please do not hesitate to get back to me.  I want to reiterate, this is a Community event, not a basketball event.  We are going to need the help of everyone associated with the school, whether your son or daughter is in third grade, or a senior!

Best of Everything,

Frank Ostanik
Director of Athletics
Catholic Schools of Fairbanks
Hospitality room

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/4090A49ADA82EA1FD0-regional 
 
Concession and Gate link
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/4090A49ADA82EA1FD0-20181 
 
Videotaping sign up
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/4090A49ADA82EA1FD0-2018

Team Meals
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/5080448abae22a1f58-2018

​

​THE SALE IS NOW ON
FOR THE 2017-18

AURIGENA YEARBOOK
$60
TO BUY A YEARBOOK FOR YOUR MONROE STUDENT ONLINE, GO TO WWW.JOSTENS.COM AND CHOOSE THE YEARBOOK TAB. SEARCH FOR OUR SCHOOL: MONROE JUNIOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL IN FAIRBANKS, ALASKA.

You may also pay at the school. Make out your check to Catholic Schools of Fairbanks. You can leave your check at the front desk for Ms. Bristow or have your student bring it to her classroom.

​We would prefer online purchase or a check for record-keeping purposes, but will also accept cash. If your student brings cash to school, make sure he/she receives a receipt from Ms. Bristow in Room 9 or Mrs. Wallace at the front desk.

Please click here to sign-up for MCHS parent teacher conference.  The conference will be held on Feb 19th & 20th.

The last week of January, we celebrated National Catholic Schools Week along with the nearly 6,500 Catholic schools nationwide. 
In an email to staff, Kathleen Balko, CSF Religion Coordinator wrote, “Please keep the focus of the week on what a gift it is to attend and teach at a Catholic School, especially the Catholic Schools of Fairbanks where our chapel is the center of our schools and we are family. It’s time to celebrate! We are blessed we can pray and worship together, talk about God and our faith, and teach the whole person–body, mind, heart and spirit.”
Kathleen and her committee planned an activity-filled week starting with a kick-off party on Sunday, January 28. School families gathered to help prepare for the week by making banners, decorating donation boxes, and writing prayers. They prayed together and watched the movie Toy Story. The MP Room was filled with blankets and pillows that families brought from home to make movie watching more comfortable. To top it off, popcorn and cotton candy were served. 
A Jesuit pillar was highlighted each day of the week: 
Monday: Committed to Doing Justice. The entire school met in the gym to form a prayer chain. 
Loving was Tuesday’s focus. Students wrote thank you cards and thought about what it means to be a loving person in the community and in our families. 
Wednesday’s theme was Religious. Students from grades K through 12 gathered in the Holy Family Chapel to celebrate Mass with Bishop Chad Zielinski. After, students enjoyed lunch with Bishop, priests, and religious of our Diocese.
Thursday: Intellectual Competence. We celebrated our students with ice cream treats.
Friday: Open to Growth. To wrap up Catholic Schools Week, students and staff gathered in the gym to play dodgeball. Then, students in PreK through 6 performed a dance to the song, “I’m better when I’m dancing,” by Meghan Trainor. What a fun way to bring the community together!
“Catholic Schools Week is a week to celebrate God as the center of our schools, our lives and our hearts. Our school is different and we, having God’s light and love in our hearts, can make a difference in this world,” says Kathleen.
Speaking of making a difference, our students are learning the importance of community service and giving back.  Throughout the week, students and their families collected donations of all sorts–from books to canned food and personal hygiene items–for distribution to the following agencies: Literacy Council, Fairbanks Community Food Bank, The Door, S.O.A.P., Rescue Mission, and ICC Soup Kitchen. 

Over Christmas Break, one of the Monroe science rooms was remodeled. Old tables and flooring were removed to make way for new. The project was completed on schedule and we were able to begin the semester in the newly remodeled room. 
Mr. Joe DiTommaso spends most of his day in this classroom. The room had been a challenge because many students had to sit with their backs to him. Here’s what he has to say:
“Science is a function of cooperation and discipline. Now, this room maximizes both. The only downside I can see is now other teachers may be interested in using my room.”
The remodel added an additional demonstration table and moved non-functional plumbing and electrical into the floor. The tables can be rearranged depending on teacher preference and the type of class. 
A huge thank you to the Bill Stroecker Foundation and HIPOW Friday Night Fund-an-Item donors for making this transformation possible. 

Thank you to the following donors who generously contributed more than $500 to the schools in the past three months: 

• Walt & Grace Becker
• Bert & Becky Bell
• Bill and Joyce Bernheim
• Bill Strocker Foundation
• Thomas Boeh
• Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions
• Dave and Patti Burglin
• Wyatt and Lauren Cerny
• Chena Hot Springs Resort
• Silver and Marie Chord
• Warren Christian
• Shayne and Martina Coiley
• Charlie and Christine Cole
• Curtis and Chris Fortenberry
• Jeffrey and Nancy Gibson
• Mike and Judi Grahek
• Great Northwest, Inc. 
• Stanley and Sheila Gwizdak
• Robert and Mary Harter
• John and Marcia Hajdukovich
• Todd and Kim Hill
• Jim Immel
• John and Karen Immel
• Jeff and Debbie Johnson
• Tod and Linda Johnson
• Monte and Elizabeth Keleher
• Mike and Judy Kelliher
• Virginia Kittredge
• Tom and Kate Lamal
• Janet May
• Marie McGowan
• Mt. McKinley Bank
• Frank and Nancy Murkowski
• Obermeyer Family
• Lee and Linda Payne
• Kirsten Powers
• The Prospector
• Dana and Deanna Pruhs
• Rasmuson Foundation
• Robert and Angela Ritchey
• Jim and Marilyn Sachtjen
• Rick and Cheryl Schikora
• Simard Automotive
• Bob and Jeanne Sundberg
• The Ornamentry
• Edward Toseland
• Robert and Joan Weis
• Wise Enterprises & Wise Family Trust
• James and Sandra Woodruff

You may have heard this before, “If you are lucky enough to do what you love, your job won’t feel like a job, and you will be very fortunate.”
Guitarist and 1983 Monroe Alumnus Rick Holmstrom considers himself fortunate. While he admits there are some downsides to being a career musician–like grueling travel schedules and time away from his family–he’s doing what he loves. 
Rick was introduced to music at an early age. His mother, Diane Holmstrom, took him to see the Beatles movie "Help!" when he only a few months old, and his father, Larry Holmstrom ‘61 was a local DJ, so their home was filled with records. 
Rick always had a guitar in his room, but doesn’t remember being particularly fond of it. “It was just another toy in my room,” says Rick. 
It wasn’t until his third grade teacher, Joan Rorro, taught him a few chords that he became interested in playing. The initial guitar affair didn’t last much beyond the third grade for a couple of reasons: 1. Rick became very interested in basketball and 2. playing guitar seemed daunting. As a kid, he thought, “Forget it; how could I compete with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen?”
Rick played basketball at Monroe and has fond memories of the team winning the state tournament. “I was a freshman–5’6” and 95 pounds–so while I didn’t play much, I sure was proud of our team.”
After graduation, Rick wanted to get away for awhile. He set off for University of Redlands in California.
College brought about many life changes. During his sophomore year, Rick met his future wife, Toni, in the dorm laundry room. She took him for a ride around campus on her electric scooter and the rest is history. 
Rick picked up the guitar again his senior year of college. When the guitarist in his friends’ band graduated, they asked him to play.
“I remember playing at a house party on campus,” Rick says. “People were dancing to the music–it was a fantastic feeling. I was hooked.”
Rick has played with blues gospel singer Mavis Staples for the past 11 years. He spends about half of the year on the road. 
“If there’s one thing I’ve done, it’s a lot of traveling,” he says. “Travel has given me the opportunity to see what the world is really like, to experience different cultures, and to recognize that as humans, we’re really not that different.” He encourages everyone, especially students, to travel more.
Rick, Toni and their two daughters, Lusa (14) and Ellie (11), live in Venice Beach, California. They come back to Alaska in the summers for a week or so to unwind at their Harding Lake cabin.