Summer Office Hours 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED July 3, and July 13-17
$150.00 Non- Refundable Books and Materials fee
charged August 1, 2020
$125.00 Supply and Activity fee charged July 26, 2020
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL August 24, 2020
Full day of school for 1st - 8th
Half Day of School for Pre-K and Kindergarten
For any questions or changes to your account,
Please Contact:
stmarywilliamston.td@gmail.com
STAFF ASSIGNMENTS for 2020 - 2021
Introducing Mrs. Laura Hahnenberg as our new Director of Marriage and Family Life for our School Community
In addition to her work in the parish, Laura will also work with school parents helping them to fulfill the St. Mary School Covenant, provide enrichment opportunities as well as support for parents as they teach/pass on the Faith to their children. She will organize and lead talks and retreats for parents, encourage virtues to come alive in the home, connect older school families with newer school families, provide Theology of the Body training, and be a resource for parenting as a Catholic. Mrs. Hahnenberg's husband, Nick, a secondary teacher in Pinckney schools, and they have 5 children. The youngest two, Seth (6th) and Zachary (K) are students here at St. Mary. The Hahnenbergs have been parishioners at St. Mary for 14 years and Mrs. Hahnenberg has been the Director of Youth Ministry for 7 years.
Mrs. Bonnie Whelton – Prekindergarten and Young 5’s
Mrs. Whelton will be returning as the Director of our Pre-Kindergarten and Young 5’s programs. Mrs. Whelton completed her Child Care Administration training through Michigan State University in 2019 and this will be her 11th year at St. Mary, 20 years total in child care. She has done an outstanding job preparing our young children for St. Mary’s Kindergarten through our new Young 5’s Classically focused curriculum. Our PK staff has a combined 92 years in child care!
Mrs. Marlene Dipple – Kindergarten
Mrs. Dippel will be returning to the Kindergarten room, beginning her fourth year as Kindergarten teacher at St. Mary School. She is a very dedicated and loving teacher and has done an excellent job preparing her students for first grade at St. Mary School. Marlene works very hard at recognizing the needs of every student and always looks for creative ways to address those needs in a way that guides her students towards success and confidence. Mrs. Dippel and her husband live in Fowlerville and they have two boys, Dominic(5th) and Nathan(8th), both of whom attend St. Mary School.
Miss Emma George – 1st Grade
Miss Emma George will be our new first grade teacher. Emma has had a desire to return to her hometown in Michigan after completing her education at Ave Maria University in Florida and her first-grade teaching position at Treasure Trove Classical Academy (an affiliate of Hillsdale College) in Naples, Florida where she was highly regarded and respected by her colleagues and her administration. Emma has a dynamic vibrant personality and a deep love for her faith and the Classical model of education. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Ave Maria with minors in both psychology and literature. While in Florida Emma participated in a variety of volunteer opportunities including tutoring disadvantaged students in Imokkalee, Florida. She worked in the Student Support Services of the University as a writing tutor and also served as a philanthropy specialist in the University Office of Advancement. She is in the process of transferring her Florida teacher certification to Michigan and is anxious to begin planning for her new class of first graders!
Mrs. Danielle Custodio – 2nd grade
Danielle’s journey to pursue teaching came after a variety of experiences in both the education and the business world. Though she held licensure as an independent insurance agent her heart kept directing her to education. Danielle served as a preschool director and teacher which then led her to pursue opportunities as a substitute teacher. These experiences fueled that desire to teach and led her to begin the process of earning a degree in education from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Education, Social Sciences, English), Masters of Arts (Elementary Education), and is presently working to complete a Doctor of Education in Higher Learning and Administration. She holds certification in Elementary Education through ACSI – Association of Christian Schools International and is actively pursuing additional certification in the State of Michigan. Danielle has spent the last two years as a K-8 STEAM teacher at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Fenton. Though she loved that position she has been anxious to have her own self-contained classroom. Her principal spoke very highly of her skill, dedication, and commitment to providing the very best for each and every student. He emphasized that we are very fortunate to have Danielle as part of our teaching staff. Danielle has two children, a fifth-grade daughter, Emily, who will be attending St. Mary’s and a high school age son. Her family are members of St. John the Baptist in Hartland. She is very excited to begin preparing for her new 2nd grade students!
Mrs. Justine Dailey – 3/4 grade
Mrs. Dailey will be returning as our third and fourth grade teacher entering her fourth year at St. Mary and 6th year as a teacher. Justine is a highly skilled and spirited teacher who has done an excellent job in forming our young students in the faith and preparing them for the 5th and 6th grades at St. Mary. She sincerely loves St. Mary School and is always willing to go the extra mile for her students and the school in general. Mrs. Dailey lives in Williamston with her husband, Dan, who is studying for the Deaconate. They have been St. Mary Parish members for 22 years. Her children, Isabella and Nicholas, are both St. Mary Graduates. Nicholas is a Physics Major at Benedictine College in Atkinson, Kansas and Isabella getting married in October to Joshua Gregor who works for The Acton Institute.
Miss Heather Huguet (Ingle) – 5/6 grade
After considering a vocation to religious life with the Sisters of the Poor, Heather discerned God was calling her to join her deep love of the Catholic faith, her education, her talents and gifts and use them towards the formation of youth. This prompted her to apply for a teaching position at St. Mary’s. Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Health Sciences from Carroll College in Helena, MT as well as a Master of Arts in Theology and Ministry from Villanova University. Heather is actively involved in securing her State of Michigan teacher certification. She has extensive background in the combination of faith and education as she served in a variety of roles such as Camp Counselor, Campus Minister, Youth Minister, Chaplain Intern, and Campus Ministry Intern. Her love for not only educating but also ministering to the hearts of young people make her a wonderful fit for this position at St. Mary’s. Heather is engaged and preparing for marriage with her fiancé at their home parish of Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian in Mason. She comes highly recommended from all her previous positions as well as Fr. Steve Mattson, Pastor of Resurrection Church in Lansing. Heather’s previous supervisor and employer at Carroll College said of Heather, “She brings a plethora of wisdom, intelligence, and experience that is rooted n Christ and is transformative for any institution she enters. Simply put, Heather is one of those special students that come through only once in a great while and inspires everyone she knows to become better through her own example.”
Mr. Brian Koski – 7/8 grade
Mr. Koski will be returning as our seventh and eighth grade teacher entering his second-year teaching and third overall. Mr. Koski is well-liked and respected by his students. He is a hard-working teacher who brings a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to the middle school level. In addition to teaching, Mr. Koski has been balancing his life as a husband and father, along with entering his final year in the Schoolcraft College Teacher certification program. Mr. Koski currently has his interim teacher certification. He and his wife Amy, and daughter Marcella, are parishioners of St. Mary’s and Marcella will be attending our kindergarten program in the fall. We are very blessed to have Mr. Koski as a part of our St. Mary faculty. Mr. Koski came to St. Mary’s after one-year teaching at St. Thomas with high regard from the principal at St. Thomas along with a desire for classical education and to move closer to his former home and St. Mary Parish.
Mrs. Nancy Hilker – Catechesis of the Good Shepard
Mrs. Hilker will return and continue to facilitate our Catechesis of the Good Shepard program for grades Pre-Kindergarten through Sixth Grade. We are very lucky to have someone like Nancy working in our school! She has a Diocese of Lansing Senior Catechist Certification, National Catechesis of the Good Shepard Certification as well as Catechesis of the Good Shepard Level One Formation Certification for training new catechists in addition to a Bachelor of Science in Child Development and Elementary Education from Michigan State University. She is married to her husband of 40 years and they have 9 children and 10 grand children.
From Fr. Mark: "I have had the pleasure to assess our three new teachers and I am 100% confident the Lord has brought them to the St. Mary school team. They are completely dedicated to the mission of the school and the education of your children. I am also 100% confident in Fr. David Fons, our new shepherd! The Lord has gifted him for this season in the life of the school to bring it to the next level. Join me in welcoming them all!"
We are very pleased both our returning and new staff members are all devoted, Christian/Catholic individuals who are modeling their faith and committed continued growth and development as Catholic Classical School teachers in the 2020/2021 school year!
We want to sincerely thank Miss Magguilli (1st), Mrs. Cook(2nd) and Mrs. Niemiec (5th-6th) for all their hard work and efforts this past year and we wish them the very best as they pursue their new future endeavors.
We continue to prepare for the 2020-2021 school year, monitoring all the data and developments connected with Covid 19. We will keep you informed and updated with all the information, guidance, and directives we receive from the State of Michigan and our Diocesan Department of Education.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by email or at
(517) 655-4038 X111.
Thank you for donating to St. Mary School through your Amazon Smile account! This quarter we have received $65.39 through Amazon Smile donations alone! Thank you!
The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ
June 19th
Devotion to the heart pierced on Calvary is nearly as old as Christianity, but it has undergone many changes over the centuries.
Patristic writers saw in the blood and water issuing from the crucified Lord’s side (John 19:34) the fulfillment of his promise to give living water (John 4:13–14; 7:37), the fountain from which the Spirit flows upon the Church. Medieval piety placed less emphasis on Jesus’s heart as the source of grace and moved toward more personal and sentimental devotion.
The public cult celebrated today began in the seventeenth century, when Saint John Eudes (August 19) pressed for a liturgy (Mass and Office) of the Sacred Heart. Toward the end of that century, Saint Mary Margaret Alacoque (October 16) received visions of the Lord exposing his heart and urging public devotion. Her apparitions gave impetus to the devotion and shape to its purpose: to promote greater use of the sacrament of penance to offset indifference to the Blessed Sacrament.
Pius VI saw the devotion as a means of refuting Jansenism, which rejected the doctrine that Christ died for all people. Clement XIII first granted the petition for a liturgical observance to the Polish bishops and the Roman Archconfraternity of the Sacred Heart in 1765. Pius IX extended the observance to the universal Church in 1856 and, late in the nineteenth century, Leo XIII raised its rank to a feast.
Popular devotion includes the nine First Fridays and the enthronement of an image of the Sacred Heart in homes as a sign that love is the Christian way of life.
Reflection
A Jewish midrash on the Exodus account of Moses’s encounter with God compares the burning bush to the human heart: the only created thing which can burn without being consumed. Yet nothing seems to be harder for human beings to believe in than unconditional love—love that is neither deserved nor earned. The Sacred Heart of Jesus, aflame with an unquenchable fire, stands today against lingering traces of Jansenism as a powerful symbol of Christ’s unquenchable love for the whole human race.
Supporting the social-emotional well-being of children during the COVID-19 crisis is a critical challenge. The following materials include and expand upon Second Step School advisory activities. You can use them to build an effective child's social-emotional needs. Here are some tips and tricks and exercises for a child's psychological and emotional well being.
I can’t resist the urge to brag about my Dad, Jim Fay. Growing up, my sisters and I quickly learned that he meant business. We learned that his word was always gold. We learned that the quality of our young lives was far improved when we obeyed. We learned that he was strong and not to be messed with.
We learned many other things about our Dad through the years.
We learned that he loved us no matter what. We knew that we were forgiven even before we did something that needed forgiveness. We knew that he always saw the best in us. We saw him loving our Mom. We even saw him loving every stray and stinky dog that wandered his way!
My Dad has always been the strongest and
most loving man in my life.
Speaking of his love for us and his love for dogs, I’ll never forget how my beloved furry pal was accidentally killed by trying to herd our neighbor’s Saab. I was nine. I was devastated. My Dad was devastated. We cried together as he held me in his strong yet loving arms. He reminded me that he loved me, and he also reminded me that I had made an obligation to entertain seniors by playing my trombone at the Elks Lodge that afternoon. I cried all the way to my performance… but I completed it!
Many important lessons were learned that tough afternoon. I learned that my Dad really loved me and was sad for me and my canine buddy. I learned that I was strong enough to move on with life even when I didn’t think I could. I learned that somehow it makes things feel a little bit better when we do things for others. I’m reminded of a quote from our book, Love and Logicisms:
Without saying a word, we constantly show our kids what we believe they can be. They will either live up to our highest expectations… or down to our greatest fears.
Strong and loving dads help children grow to become strong and loving adults.
