Ms. Nepola is needing a JA volunteer; we are reaching out to see if anyone in our St. Matthew community may be interested in volunteering to teach JA to this 2nd grade group. The commitment is 5–weekly lessons that are about 45 minutes each. Training can be provided. Please email JBeer@jaeasterniowa.org with your interest as soon as possible.

St. Matthew Parish has 42 students currently preparing to receive their First Eucharist. We will celebrate as a parish community with them on Saturday, April 18 at our 4pm Mass. You are invited to participate in this special Mass as well as attend the reception in Kearn Hall afterward. Please keep our Communicants and their families in your prayers as they prepare to receive this extraordinary Sacrament.

Save the date Friday, April 17th for Regis’ annual fundraising event, Royal T Night! This is a fun, adult-only, casual evening of great food and drink, silent and live auctions, raffles, games and fellowship with the Regis community.  Proceeds raised from this year’s Royal T Night will go toward updating the computer technology utilized by students for 1-to-1 use and in the computer lab.  A fun addition to this year’s event -- entertainment by Pianopalooza, dueling pianos!  We are looking for sponsors, if you own a company or know of one who would be interested in being a sponsor, email Dianne Clarke at dclarke@regisroyals.org.

We would like to invite you to Xavier High School for the 2020 Middle School Show Choir Competition, Xavier Xtravaganza on Saturday, March 7th.  Performances begin at 10:30.  Choirs will compete during the day, including our very own Cedar Rapids LaSalle and Marion’s St. Joseph’s Centerstage as well as Cedar Rapids Regis’ Eclipse.  The Xavier Show Choirs, Xuberance and Xhilaration will perform in exhibition.  The six highest scoring choirs will advance to the evening finals, which are scheduled to begin at 5:45.  Admission to Xtravaganza 2020 is $13 for adults and $7 for students K – 12 for the entire day.  Concessions will be sold throughout the day, including Zio Johno’s over the dinner break.  Come and enjoy an “xciting” day of music, food and fun at Xtravaganza

As has been reported throughout the various news broadcasts in the last week, a variety of illnesses have been reported throughout the state and most especially in schools. While we put up a good fight, we are definitely not immune to this and are seeing an increase in illnesses at St. Matthew.  The unfortunate part is the variation amongst the symptoms; students coming to the office have reported headaches, stomach aches, fevers and even some without fevers who are experiencing vomiting.  Fevers that have been occurring have been coming on fast with little warning, reaching very high levels and even lasting for 3-4 days.

Please know that we are taking a number of precautions as students report symptoms and will be reaching out should your child come to the main office indicating any of the symptoms above.  Please also help us out by keeping any children home who you know or suspect may exhibit any of the cold/flu like symptoms.

As always, please keep us updated if your student is going to be absent.  If you could also provide details of your students illness, that would be very helpful as we try to understand the illnesses affecting our school community.

--Mrs. Conlon