Saint James School & Parish Student Activities

American Heritage Girls
American Heritage Girls is a Christ-centered scouting program dedicated to the mission of building women of integrity through service to God, family, community and country. Saint James Troop 1843 engages girls from all grade levels in bi-monthly meetings to grow in faith, build friendships, and have fun. Our merit badge program provides opportunities for girls to enhance life skills. Our emphasis on service helps girls to contribute in a positive way to our community and our world. Social events and outdoor adventures provide occasions to foster friendships and make memories to last a lifetime.

Art Awareness   
Art Awareness is our school based art appreciation curriculum for students in grades K-8.  Parent volunteers assist our art teacher by presenting lessons prepared by the Cincinnati Art Museum.  The lesson consists of teaching about an artist, showing prints of their work, and then doing an activity. 

Band: Beginning and Advanced
Saint James School offers several opportunities for children to learn a musical instrument. Beginning band is open to any 4th, 5th, or 6th grade students and begins the first week in September. The class meets once a week for 50 minutes on Tuesdays after school. The Advanced band is open to any 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th grade student who has at least one year of experience on his or her instrument. This group also meets once a week for 50 minutes on Wednesdays after school starting the first week in September. Both bands are directed by Charles Lauderbach and perform two annual concerts.

Beginning Guitar Classes
Beginning and advanced acoustic guitar classes for any student in the 5th through 8th grades. Each group meets once a week after school and the group is directed by Larry Arsman.

Beginning Spanish Enrichment Classes
The conversational Spanish program provides Saint James students experience in the second most spoken language in the United States today. This year-round, after school enrichment program helps students learn Spanish through singing, playing, listening and speaking.

Bell Choir
The Youth Handbell Choir is open to students of 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. The group plays at one Saturday 4:30 Mass each month. For further information, please contact Mr. Zoltan Marczi, Music Director at 741-5303 or at zmarczi@stjameswhiteoak.com.

Bible Bowl
Bible Bowl is a ministry for youth in 6th grade, which combines Bible study with Christian competition and fellowship. The purpose is to give youth a firm foundation for their faith through the systematic study, memorization, and application of Scripture. Each year, a designated portion of Scripture is chosen as the study text. Practices consist of learning and applying the designated text, devotions, quizzing, plus lots of fun. Teams of three to six players compete against teams from other Catholic Schools in the tri-state. Saint James students begin preparing at the beginning of the students’ 6th grade year and compete in January at a nearby school.

Cantors
Students in 7th and 8th grades are offered an opportunity to serve as cantors (lead singers) during the school's weekly masses.

Choir
The Saint James Children's Choir is open to boys and girls in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. The purpose of this group is to offer students who enjoy singing, more opportunities to perform, to develop their singing voices, and to learn a wide repertoire of music. The choir sings periodically at mass and performs thoughout the year at various venues. 

Cub Scouts & Boy Scounts
The Saint James scouting program for boys includes both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. These programs prepare youth to make ethical and moral choices over the lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Scouting provides opportunities for young men to build character, develop leadership skills, and increase personal fitness. Cub Scouts is open to all boys in grades 1-5, which boys in grade 6 through the age of 18 participate in Boy Scouts.

D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education)
D.A.R.E. is a Police Officer led program that teaches children valuable skills which will help them avoid involvement in drugs, gangs, and violence. D.A.R.E. also teaches students how to resist peer pressure and live productive, drug and violence-free lives.  D.A.R.E.’s success rate and positive recommendations have led to its implementation in approximately 75% of our nation’s school districts and in more than 43 countries around the world. At Saint James D.A.R.E. is implemented in 5th grade and consists of eight lessons presented during science class. The D.A.R.E. Graduation ceremony is always a special memory for Saint James 5th graders!

Eighth Grade Play
During the spring, students of the 8th grade are given the opportunity to take part in the production of a musical play. Students not only serve as performers, but also manage all of the technological aspects of the play. Set construction and art work are completed by students on the weekends prior to the presentation. Some of the more recent productions include Seussical!, Godspell, Honk!, Oklahoma!, The Music Man, and The Wizard of Oz.

Enrichment Program
Each winter the Saint James Education Commission offers after school enrichment classes to the students in grades 1-8. The classes allow students to explore different interests and hobbies including babysitting, acting, karate, drawing, and hands-on science, just to name a few.

First Grade Christmas Pageant
The First Grade Christmas Pageant is an annual event featuring every 1st grade student. The children reenact the birth of Baby Jesus along with singing more than 20 Christmas songs. It is, in most cases, the highlight of the students’ 1st grade year at Saint James School.

Girls On the Run
The Girls on the Run Program is a high energy, self-esteem fitness program for elementary aged young ladies. This program will help participants discover the benefits of consistent physical exercise and good nutrition. Girls learn the advantages of positive peer support and how to stand up for themselves in a healthy manner. Participants also learn to improve body image and strengthen their sense of identity. The program lasts for twelve weeks and comes to a close with participation in completion of a 5K run/walk event.

Girl Scouts
The Girl Scouting program builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.  Girl Scouting helps girls develop their full individual potential and develop values to guide their actions and provide the foundation for sound d4ecision-making.

It’s Academic Team
7th and 8th grade takes the top scorers on a qualifying test to form two teams that practice academic curriculum and trivia for six to eight weeks. The two Saint James teams then compete with other local Catholic schools at LaSalle High School's Academic Bowl.

Junior Achievement
JA Worldwide (Junior Achievement) is the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students about work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs. Volunteers from the business community come into 5th grade social studies classes five times a year to present this valuable program.



Leadership Council
Each year, incoming eighth grade students are selected to be a part of the 8th Grade Leadership Team. The year begins with a weekend overnight at school. The students participate in team building games and activities that promote leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills. From there, the purpose of the Saint James Leadership Council is to develop the leadership skills of those involved and to further promote the school's mission through work in the community outreach, fundraising, and the promotion of school spirit.

Mass Ministries
All 8th Grade students at Saint James School are asked to choose a way to serve the other students at Saint James through some form of ministry. Some of the categories include opportunities to lead at Mass and Prayer Services. This includes: Coordinators who help to care for the sacred vessels used at Mass, Ushers who help with the Communion Procession and help with other needs for the congregation, Greeters who hold doors and assist with seating and other needs, Helpers who assist the DRE and nurse, cantors and choir members who sing and lead the congregation, Lectors who proclaim the readings at Mass and Prayer Services, and Play People who help with skits for Prayer Services. In addition we have a large number of 7th and 8th grade students who donate their talent and time to be Servers at Mass for the parish.

Math-letes - Competitive Math Team
Math-letes is the Saint James Competitive Math Team made up of 7th and 8th grade students. Students work to develop their logic and problem solving skills and learn how to apply these skills to real life situations. Team members compete in late winter in both individual and team categories.


Panther Press - Student Newspaper
Seventh and eighth grade students have the opportunity to join the Panther Press school newspaper staff. Students develop and write articles relating to Saint James, the surrounding community, and their interests. The professionally published newspaper is printed monthly for all students of the school.

Power of the Pen
Power of the Pen is a creative writing competition where students hone their writing skills to become better communicators. The Ohio program is designed for 7th and 8th graders to write interscholastically with a variety of prompts. Team members have the opportunity to compete at district, regional, and state levels.

Prayer Leaders
Eighth grade students serve as Prayer Leaders for the school. Each Prayer Leader selects a homeroom in which to lead prayer at various special times during the school year, especially during Advent and Lent. In addition to the opportunities for prayer and spiritual leadership, the Prayer Leader program encourages connections between the 8th graders and the younger students and provides a mentor resource for the younger students, if needed, in social situations.

Saint James Athletic Association
Saint James Parish has a dynamic Athletic Association which offers instructional and competitive sports opportunities to children in grades K-8. For more information regarding athletic programs, please visit their website at www.stjamespanthers.com.

Speech Team
Students in grades six through eight have the opportunity to compete in speech. The categories of competition are humorous and serious dialogue, humorous and serious monologue as well as storytelling. The team meets periodically from November until the competition date and the competition is held in the spring.

Spelling Bee
Students in grades six, seven, and eight have the opportunity to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Eligible students must win at their grade levels in order to participate in the school-wide competition. The winner of this competition represents Saint James School at the Regional Spelling Bee. The champion of this event wins an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Student Banking Program
Saint James students may participate in the Pawket Savers Program sponsored by the Saint James Credit Union. On a bi-weekly basis students may deposit money into their accounts in order to learn the value of saving and budgeting money.