The St. Joseph Mammoth Sale is a week away, with a sneak peek on Wednesday night from 5 to 8 p.m.

The sale continues on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

On Friday, prices are 50 percent off.

Everything that is left on Saturday, April 15, is 75 percent off, or buy and fill a $5 box or a $10 box.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 15 everything is free.

Bring your own bag on Saturday.

The Lions Club is running the snack bar.

St. Joseph School is located at 2 Summit St, Batavia

Photos by Howard Owens.

The school is located at 2 Summit St. in the City of Batavia.

Food will be catered by Eli Fish Brewing Co.

Live music will be performed from 7 to 10 p.m. Dance to the sounds of "Groove."

Plus there will be a euchre tournament, ticket raffle, and lottery.

For more information, contact the school at 343-6154.

Press release:

A total of 120 teen leaders from New York State, including six from St. Joseph Catholic School and Notre Dame High School in Batavia, targeted Altria Group executives and shareholders on Thursday, May 16^th, with an anti-tobacco, anti-nicotine message for the fourth consecutive year.

Their actions, centered outside the Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Va., and areas nearby, focused on why the tobacco giant baited consumers and public health officials with the promise of withdrawing pod-based nicotine products from the market in order to combat teen vaping use, only to invest billions in an e-cigarette company.

“Altria blamed nicotine pods and fruity flavors for fueling a surge in teen vaping,” said Brittany Bozzer, coordinator of the Reality Check program of Tobacco-Free GLOW. “If that’s the case, then why did they invest in Juul, the company that made these types of e-cigarettes so popular?”

Altria Group poured $12.8 billion into the e-cigarette company Juul Labs. This investment will allow Juul products to be displayed alongside regular cigarettes in the nation’s retail outlets, a combination that undercuts earlier promises Altria made with former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb to clamp down on the youth vaping “epidemic.”

“Despite what they say, Altria spends billions marketing their deadly products right in front of us, first cigarettes and now Juul,” said Krysta Hansen, a Notre Dame High School sophomore and Reality Check champion.

“Their goal is to create a new generation of customers—just in a different product. Enough is enough, already!”

The demonstrating teens represent Reality Check of New York and some were dressed in waders and carried fishing poles with a fresh catch of Juul nicotine pods and Marlboro cigarettes dangling from them.

Eight Reality Check teens and two youth leaders were given shareholder proxy tickets and went inside the meeting to address corporate tobacco executives and ask questions.

Some youths took their stories right to the biggest fish – the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Altria Group, Howard Willard.

They want Altria executives, as well as the entire tobacco industry, to know that they won’t be “Fuuled” by Big Tobacco investment in Juul and will continue to carry out the awareness-raising work they start in Richmond in their communities back home.

Public health officials and youth leaders for Reality Check, who have successfully fought to eliminate youth-attracting marketing tactics like colorful packaging and candy flavors in cigarettes through the years, see this as their next big battle to reduce teen tobacco use.

Studies show that kids who shop in stores with tobacco marketing, such as gas stations and convenience stores, are 64 percent more likely to start smoking than their friends who don’t.

Reeling in more information:

Findings on youth tobacco use and tobacco industry marketing in places where children and young adolescents can see it indicate:

• The average age of a new smoker in New York is 13 years old, and 90 percent of adult smokers say they first tried smoking by age 18.
• The U.S. tobacco industry spent an estimated $9.5 billion on advertising and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in 2013. This includes nearly $220 million annually in New York State, or nearly $602,000 a day.
• Stores popular among adolescents contain almost three times more tobacco marketing materials compared to other stores in the same community.

Last week's Altria shareholders demonstration was a joint effort between Reality Check NY, No Limits of Nebraska, and Counter Tools of Chapel Hill, N.C., a nonprofit organization that provides training to public health workers who are working on point-of-sale tobacco control.

Reality Check is a teen-led, adult-run program that seeks to prevent and decrease tobacco use among young people throughout New York State.

In preparation for demonstrating on Thursday, the Reality Check youth spent all day Wednesday learning about tobacco control policies; how the tobacco industry contracts with retailers; and how they can stand up, speak out and make a difference in the fight against Big Tobacco.

For more information about Reality Check, visit realitycheckofny.org.

The New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Tobacco Control funds Tobacco-Free GLOW to increase support for New York State’s tobacco-free norm through youth action and community engagement. Efforts are evidence-based, policy-driven, and cost-effective approaches that decrease youth tobacco use, motivate adult smokers to quit, and eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke.

Reality Check volunteers from St. Joseph School in Batavia have Seen Enough Tobacco.

Submitted photos and press release:

Reality Check advocates from the GLOW region recently held events for Seen Enough Tobacco Day at their schools.

While youth across New York State declared Saturday, Oct. 13, as the second annual Seen Enough Tobacco Day, Reality Check members from both St. Joseph’s School and Notre Dame High School in Batavia celebrated one day early with both Chalk The Walk and Fence Cupping events at their respective schools.

Youth used their artistic talents to express startling statistics and health outcomes that they hope will inspire their community to protect children like them from the billions of dollars of tobacco marketing in places where kids can see it.

There is overwhelming evidence that the more young people see tobacco marketing, the more likely they are to start smoking, according to a U.S. Surgeon General report, which also calls smoking among youth a pediatric epidemic.

In a landmark case of the U.S. Government against tobacco companies, the court found tobacco companies violated racketeering laws after lying to the American public for decades about the dangers of smoking and about marketing their products to children.

Yet, they are STILL allowed to spend billions of dollars marketing their products using colorful signs, walls of tobacco products, special discounts, and displays that youth find appealing. Tobacco companies put most of their marketing in stores where 75 percent of teens shop at least once a week.

Seen Enough Tobacco Day is part of the overall statewide “Seen Enough Tobacco” initiative focused on putting an end to youth smoking and other tobacco use.

Youth members of Reality Check held events across the state to help raise awareness and encourage community members to stand up in support of reducing youth exposure to what they say is deceitful marketing by the tobacco industry that attract kids.

Activities included pop-up "birthday parties" to represent the average age of a new smoke, cigarette butt cleanups, educational activities and creative displays that draw attention to statistics about youth tobacco use and marketing.

Findings on youth tobacco use and tobacco industry marketing in places where children and young adolescents can see it indicate:

• The average age of a new smoker in New York is 13 years old, and 90 percent of adult smokers say they first tried smoking by age 18.
• The U.S. tobacco industry spent an estimated $9.5 billion on advertising and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in 2013. This includes nearly $220 million annually in New York State, or nearly $602,000 a day.
• Stores popular among adolescents contain almost three times more tobacco marketing materials compared to other stores in the same community.

Several community members attended the Seen Enough Tobacco Day events at both schools, shared photos on social media using #SeenEnoughTobacco and were encouraged to visit www.SeenEnoughTobacco.org to sign an online petition and pledge their support.

Reality Check New York empowers youth to become leaders in their community in exposing what they see as the manipulative and deceptive marketing tactics of the tobacco industry. The organization’s members produce change in their communities through grassroots mobilization and education. Reality Check in this area is affiliated with Tobacco-Free GLOW.

Photo below: Krysta Hansen and Ben Streeter, Notre Dame sophomores and Reality Check members, use disposable cups to take a stand against tobacco.

Bottom photo: Students at St. Joe's Chalk the Walk on Seen Enough Tobacco Day.

 

Submitted photos and press release:

St. Joseph Catholic School is proud to announce its graduating class of 2018.

Congratulations to: Cole Ashley, Jayce Ashton, Madalyn Bochicchio, Nathanael Brew, Michael Cianfrini, Aaron English, Gianna Fanara, Nicholas Grover, Cody Henry, Aidan Hume, Camden King, Norman-Vincent March, Colin McCulley, Conner McWilliams, Hope Miceli, Matthew Neal, Amanda Nguyen, Danilee Schneckenburger, Aiden Sisson, Lucia Sprague, Christian Swiercznski, Benjamin Tomaszewski, Jose Torres and Lindsey Weidman.

On June 20, these 24 students along with their families, friends and teachers gathered together at Resurrection Parish (St. Joseph Site) one last time to celebrate mass and receive well deserved awards and scholarships.

Although this is the last time these students will walk the halls of St. Joseph School, this is not the last time they will see each other. Many of these students will be continuing their catholic education at Notre Dame High School.

St. Joseph Catholic School held its annual Lil Irish Basketball Banquet on Thursday, April 26, to honor those students that participated this year.

These third- through sixth-grade players and their families gathered together to celebrate the hard work and perseverance that they showed throughout the basketball season.

Their dedicated coaches taught them how to always play hard but more importantly to always show respect and sportsmanship toward their teammates and other players.

Congratulations to the following 2018 Lil Irish Basketball players and their coaches for another great year:

Third- and fourth-grade boys coached by Mark Fitzpatrick

Colton Callard, Clayton Conrad, Finn Davies, Benjamin Ferrando, Evan Fitzpatrick, Steven Karas, Noah Kowalski, Noah Figlow, Owen Therrien, Nicholas Compton, and Andrew Compton.

Third- and foruth-grade girls coached by Michelle Falleti, Vincent Falleti & Dan Milliman

Maddison Klotzbach, Sofia Falleti, Emma Fitch, Peyton Goebert, Elizabeth Lankford, Riley Yunker, Amelia Sorochty, Karleigh Driffill, Gianna Falleti, Lyllian Miller, Clairissa Milliman, and Lucia Zambito.

Fifth- and sixth-grade boys coached by Ed King

Andrew Kaus, Chance King, Nilsson Laska, Matthew Compton, Gabe Castro, Jaden Firmstone, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Nate Goras, and Kalen Muehlig.

Fifth- and sixth-grade girls coached by Kati Sisson and Ed King

Sara Murray, Gracie Phillips, Katelyn Kowalski, Kaitlyn Landers, Kate Ricupito, Emma Sisson, Hannah Tenney, Katelyn Witherow, Sophia Papponetti, Loretta Sorochty, and Teresa Compton.

Submitted photo and press release:

St. Joseph Catholic School is proud to announce that it has inducted 10 new students into its National Junior Honor Society (NJHS).

Parents, family and friends gathered at St. Joe’s earlier this month for this special ceremony to recognize select students for their outstanding efforts.

Matthew Landfried, Todd Bowman, Karen Green and the current NJHS members welcomed these new members with a ceremony sharing what the NJHS is all about. They shared that not only is the society about academics but it also serves to honor students that have demonstrated excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, character and citizenship.

The students in eighth grade that were honored this year were: Jayce Ashton, Michael Cianfrini, Camden King and Amanda Nguyen.

The students in seventh grade that were honored were: Veronica Bochicchio, Maylee Green, Kaylie Kratz, Amelia McCulley, Arabella Rogers and Aaron Treleaven.

Joseph Scanlan, Ph.D., shared some special words of encouragement and congratulations to end out the evening. Congratulations to all these hardworking students!

Submitted photo and press release:

St. Joseph Catholic School is proud to announce that its Special Education Teacher, Mrs. Kate Winters, was nominated for the Inclusive Teacher of the Year award.

The Foundation for Inclusive Catholic Education (FICE) held its fourth annual Taking Flight Dinner on March 8^th where it announced this year’s nominees.

Being nominated for this award is an honor as it recognizes the teaching professional who has dedicated their time, compassion, and creativity toward making an impact on the lives of students receiving inclusive education within their school.

Congratulations to Mrs. Winters as well as the nine other nominees from Catholic Schools within the Diocese of Buffalo.

Pictured above are: Back row, from left – Karen Green (St. Joseph School Principal), Kate Winters, Christopher Suriano (NYSED Assistant Commissioner of Special Education), and Sister Carol Cimino (Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Buffalo); Front row, from left – Gina Bergman, Elizabeth Hofmaster, Sharon Fischer, Marianne Clattenburg, Diane Fraser, and Alicia Palmer (St. Joseph School teachers).

Submitted photos and press release:

The students at St. Joseph Catholic School took part in one of the largest learning events in history! More than 100 million students in 180 countries participated in the Hour of Code during Computer Science Education week which was Dec. 4^th – 10^th.

The kindergarten through fifth-grade classes spent their time in the computer lab with their technology teacher, Mrs. Paserk, directing robots, “Switch and Glitch,” through different scenarios to save their captain.

The middle school students worked on the “Robot Rattle” activity, programming a robot to make different movements to complete tasks.

Although these activities may seem fun to these students, what many don’t realize is that they are gaining problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. Mrs. Paserk will continue to work with her students on coding throughout the school year.