Have you noticed that your child(ren) seems to be having more meltdowns? Are they quick to lose control and throw a tantrum? It could be stress.

We are all feeling it. It has been growing since March of last year. This constant state of anxiety. Our bodies may be experiencing the fight or flight response on a daily or weekly basis. We are not made to be in a constant state of fear. It causes us to feel angry, aggravated, and to act out. We may not feel it as intensely as we did in March, April, or May but it is still there, an undercurrent of insecurity and a rollercoaster of emotions. These feelings build up and have to be released in some way. No wonder our students are acting out. They may not know why or be able to really communicate it but we must be aware that they are affected by all of this stress.

The following was taken from an article by Carol Miller of The Middle School Counselor. She shares 6 ways to help our students deal with stress.

1. Teach students to understand their stress. Stress is a normal part of everyday lives. There can even be good stress! We want to teach students that good stress can help get tasks done, meet our goals, keep us safe, and excited to try new things. We also have to acknowledge the bad stress, since that is what most students are familiar with. The bad stress is, when we don’t complete tasks, get sick, headaches, prevent us from falling asleep, change in eating habits, irritability and change in relationships. However, we are in luck because there are a lot of ways to manage stress, but we first need to be taught to recognize what stress is.

2. Help students learn to identify the physical and emotional signs of stress and what is causing their stress. Help students have an idea of what stress feels like to them, whether it be good or bad stress.

3. Teach students to identify what they can and cannot control. There are so many things that students stress about that are beyond their control. By helping them realize what they do have control over helps to shift what they spend their time thinking about.

4. Have students identify their systems of support. Knowing who they can go to amongst their friends, their family and at school, can help students realize they don't have to face things alone. Let's face it, when we feel that someone has our backs we are more confident than when we feel we're alone.

5. Explain healthy versus unhealthy coping skills. When we know what coping skills we are using, whether healthy or unhealthy, we can use this information to focus our energy on creating healthy coping habits.

6. Define and use positive self talk. Our thoughts and words are powerful weapons. They can bring us towards success or be what holds us back. Positive self talk takes practice, and training our brain. Practicing gratitude and focusing on strengths helps to develop positive thinking.

I hope you have a relaxing winter break. Take time to enjoy your family and rejuvenate. There are 6 weeks until Spring Break.

8th Grade Families: We are fundraising for our wonderful kids to have a fun graduation party at the end of the year and we need your help! Please see the below link to the sign up genius for the Fish Fry bake sale. All proceeds go directly to the eighth graders! Thanks for you help and support!

Virtual Viking Gala: March 6th, 2021

Raffle Tickets are now on sale to support the PTO! Only 500 tickets will be sold for a chance to win $20,000!

Visit bidpal.net/vikinggala to purchase your ticket.

Funds raised through the Virtual Viking Gala allow the PTO to support a number of initiatives around the school.

Reminder to 8th Grade parents that we are still collecting baby pictures for the yearbook!

We need a good quality head shot photo, and parents are welcome to upload more than one to ensure we get the best photo to fit our template. Photo Deadline is January 31st. Thank you to all parents who have already uploaded their photos and if anyone has questions, they can contact Elizabeth Schultz at ebschultz@twc.com. See links below to upload photos. Thanks!

Call for Creative Content!

Would you like to see your work featured in the yearbook? Do you have interesting photography, essays, book reviews, short fiction, or poetry highlighting your experience as a student at St. Albert this year, or just about life in general? We'd love to include more student submissions in the 2020-2021 yearbook. Please use this form to submit your work. If you have original artwork you'd like to submit, please fill out the form and we will contact you about getting a high resolution scan of your work. All grade levels are encouraged to submit. The deadline for submissions is March 1st, 2021. If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Sivori at rebecca.sivori@gmail.com

St. Albert will be doing drive-thru Fish Fry's this year for Lent!

This is the largest fundraiser of the year for St. Albert athletics and we appreciate your support!

We will offer online preordering (more details coming soon) or drive-up service, brought right to your car!

Dates: 2/19, 2/26, 3/5, 3/12, 3/19

Times 5:00pm -7:30pm

Please enter from Girard where greeters will direct you which way to go.

We also need volunteers to make this happen!! Please see sign up genius below.

Go Vikings!

Any skill level can sign up for tennis! Those that can’t hit from the baseline and serve will not play in the matches, but they can definitely come to practice and learn. We will have practice once a week for an hour with tennis pros at Louisville Racquet Club. Practices will start the first week of March.

***If your player cannot play in the matches, you do not need to come to the evaluation on February 26th.

Please reach out to Sally Hagy, sally.hagy@erieinsurance.com, 859-310-5599 if you have any questions.

Go Vikings!