Recent News

7th Grade Stewardship

(September 23, 2022) – Last year, Mrs. Sue Tony’s homeroom (6T), wrote letters to senior parishioners who were homebound, maybe couldn’t get out as much as they used to or don’t have family in the area with them. This effort was so successful and well-received that when Mrs. Tony moved to a 7^th grade homeroom this year, she decided to continue sending the cards and Mrs. Colleen Donlan’s classroom (7D) is also on board. This year they have been able to add even more parishioners to the list.

Briana Hernandez and Theodore Girsch are currently 7^th graders and were in 6T last year. “It made us feel good that we were reaching out to our community and helping other people,” said Briana.

The card recipients were thrilled and started writing cards back to the students. From there a pen pal relationship evolved. “They would tell us that we cheered up their day and they were hoping for more letters from us later on,” said Briana.

“We were told that they decorated their rooms with our cards,” added Theodore. He continued, “Our cards were themed with the holidays and sometimes they would tell us a story about their holidays when they were younger.”

The students said that at Christmas their pen pals unexpectedly sent them hot chocolate bombs, a very fun surprise. And while they weren’t writing to receive hot chocolate bombs in return, you can see that beautiful things happened between the generations by building community.

In addition to the pen pal relationship, both seventh grade classes have chosen to serve St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and its patients this year. While it’s early in the school year and they are still ironing out details for the year, they are starting with weaving hats and conducting a coin collection throughout October.

When asked if he had ever woven yarn before, Jack Hapke said “I have not, but I am enjoying it!” Jack went on to say, “I hope that we will be able to hand deliver the hats so we can meet some of the people who are receiving them.”

The students shared that in October they are embarking on a “Coins for Cures” fundraising effort. “We will first create a presentation and then go to each classroom, with the 7^th grade homerooms each taking half of the school. We’ll set out decorated jars and ask people to share their spare change by putting it in the jar,” said Theodore. The students plan to collect money throughout the month. “We hope to bring the money with us to St. Jude when we bring the hats,” concluded Jack.

St. Philomena Tumbler & Water Bottle

(September 6, 2022) We are excited to share this online store for the purchase of SPS 30oz tumblers and 20oz water bottles! The items feature our new SPS paw and the price includes optional personalization. The logo on the bottle will be the logo pictured here in black and white, NOT the logos that you see pictured on the bottles at the bottom of this page.

The store will be open September 6-20, 2022. All orders are online and must be placed by 11:55 p.m. on September 20.

Completed orders will take about four weeks and will be delivered to the school office and distributed from there. If you’d like to pick up your item from the parish office, in case you do not have a child in school, that is an option during our regular hours (Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.). Sorry, we cannot deliver.

If you have questions, contact Rhonda Parker in the parish office at 309-682-8642 or parish@stphils.com. To access the order form, click here.

PTO Sign-Up

(August 23, 2022) PTO is excited to fully implement most of our past events and add new into our 2022-23 school calendar. As a PTO member, you can help plan, organize, and run events such as Tanner’s Night, Trunk or Treat, Catholic Schools Week, Trivia Night, SweetHeart Ball, Olympic Day, and more. To sign up please click here. 

Contact Sara McKee if you have questions, saramdavis@yahoo.com.

Auction Committee Meet & Greet

(August 19, 2022) Our annual auction is November 12, 2022 and plans are moving along. Now, we need YOU!

You can devote as much and as little time as you want to the auction and there are jobs for everyone! Join us on Thursday, August 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the parish center for our kickoff for this year’s fundraising event. People with all interest levels are invited and welcome. Come with a friend, or come solo.

Reach out to learn more and ask questions about getting involved in a way that you are comfortable with. The committee is made up of widely varying families: one child in school, multiple children in and not yet in school, children in college, working full time, part time and stay at home parents. Your time, talent and ideas are valuable! Join us!

Click here to fill out our interest form.