Activities

In addition to full-band rehearsals, students will also receive small group lessons during the school day. Band performs at the Christmas Concert, Spring Concert and various other events during the school year. There is a separate activity fee, plus the cost of instrument rental. Instruments can be rented or purchased at Kidder Music. All beginning band students need an instrument, an Essential Element 2000 book 1, and a stand available to practice at home. All band students are asked to practice 75 minutes a week on their own. CLICK HERE to register for band.

This ministry for junior high boys meets after school on the following dates during the 2024-25 school year: September 18, October 30, November 20, February 19, March 19, April 30. Boys who are interested should look for information at the beginning of the school year from Miss Bogner and Mr. Dippold.

St. Philomena offers Cub and Boy Scouts. The programs are open to all children in the parish, including home-school families and those who attend a non-Catholic school (but are parishioners).

Larry and Katie VanRyn, are again our chess club moderators here at St. Philomena School. If you have specific questions about the club, please contact them directly (contact information can be found in FACTS or ask the school office staff). Students will register [CLICK HERE] for the fall session (September-December), and then for the spring session (January-April) separately.

Club Goals To inspire our children’s interests in the greatest mental game, chess! Promote problem solving, strategic thinking and sharpen cognitive abilities through the game of chess. Improve our children’s abilities to learn, focus and demonstrate patience.

Tournament/Competitive Play

Those students who are interested in playing competitively can enter with the club at local (Central Illinois) and state tournaments (Illinois State Scholastic Championship and potentially IEASA). St. Philomena will host a chess tournament on Saturday, October 19.

Students in 5th and 6th grades rehearse on one day, while 7th and 8th graders rehearse on another. All rehearsals start after school and go until 3:45 p.m.

This ministry for junior high girls meets after school on the following dates during the 2024-25 school year: September 18, October 30, November 20, February 19, March 19, April 30. Girls who are interested should look for information at the beginning of the school year from Miss Bogner.

The organization holds regional, state, and international competitions each year, based on a new challenge and theme.

“The 2024-2025 FIRST® LEGO® League Season theme is Submerged where students build and code an autonomous LEGO Education robot to complete a series of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Science) related missions. FIRST LEGO League teams will use creative thinking and LEGO® technology to explore the layers of the ocean and bring their learnings and ideas to the surface as they “sea” into the future.

FIRST LEGO League challenges kids to think like scientists and engineers. During the Submerged season, teams will also choose and solve a real-world problem in the Project. Throughout their experience, teams will operate under FIRST LEGO League’s signature set of Core Values, celebrating discovery, teamwork, and Gracious Professionalism®.” Click here to register for the 2024-2025 Lego League teams. For more information, please visit https://www.firstinspires.org/ or https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/fll.

The Little Flowers group will be offered for kindergarten-third grade and Little Women for fourth-fifth grades. Both groups will gather Sundays at the St. Philomena Parish Center from 12:15 – 1:30 p.m.  Cost is $10/daughter. All mothers of the girls attend each month with their daughters. During each get-together there will be time for fellowship, fun, creativity and learning about the life of a saint and virtue. We will break out into small groups by age. Mark your calendar for: October 6, November 10, February 2, March 2, and April 6. So as not to interfere with Mother’s Day, our Marian Tea Party will be Saturday, May 10 at 1:00 p.m. CLICK HERE to register.

Past Productions Beauty & The Beast (2025); Aladdin (2024); The Wizard of Oz (2023); The Little Mermaid (2022); Seussical (2021); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (2019); Lion King Jr. (2018); Beauty & The Beast Jr. (2017); Annie Jr. (2016); Shrek: The Musical, Jr. (2015); The Wizard of Oz (2014); The Little Mermaid (2013); Cinderella (2012); Seussical (2011); Beauty & The Beast, Jr. (2010)

It’s fun – fast paced – and educational!  The season starts in January with practices and then meets. We compete against local Catholic and public schools, meets are after school (around 4:00 p.m.) on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Interested students should look for a sign up sheet at school in the Learning Center in December. There is a fee of $15 per student.

Speech develops leadership qualities, speaking and listening skills, and a strong work ethic in our students while encouraging collaboration. 

Students in Grades 5-8 are invited to join the Speech team at St. Philomena School. We prepare motivated students to compete in the Bishop O’Rourke Speech Contest at St. Vincent de Paul School on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. The Speech Contest requires memorization of a 5-10 minute script which can be performed as a monologue, duet, or small group acting. The Family Night at St. Philomena will be on March 13, 2025. Students who are in the School Musical will only perform at the Family Night at St. Philomena.

Students are required to attend a weekly practice session. Practice will run Wednesdays, January 8 – March 12, from 7:00-7:40am in the school cafeteria. Younger siblings are not allowed to attend these practices or to be dropped off early. Eligibility applies to Speech Team. As noted in the SPS Handbook under Eligibility Requirements, students who become ineligible three times may no longer be a part of the team or participate in the activity. Ineligible students may not attend practices or the Family Night or St. Vincent night. In addition, students must be in attendance a half day of class on the day of the meet in order to participate. The principal must approve exceptions. There is a $15.00 fee for students to participate in the Speech program. The fee covers the Speech contest registration, a season-ending pizza party, and funds to purchase new scripts. The permission form and $15.00 fee must be received by noon on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 to join the Speech team. CLICK HERE FOR THE FORM. The fee is nonrefundable. We plan to choose scripts at the January 8 meeting. We ask that students carefully consider this commitment. If choosing a duet or group speech, there will be partners depending on them. If choosing to participate in the School Musical, please reflect on the time involved to do both activities. In addition, there are only 10 speech meetings, so students will be expected to practice at school as well as at home. Partners will also need to be agreed on whether they are performing at both the SPS Family Night and the St. Vincent Night. *We need volunteers to assist in coaching our young public speakers. Safe Environment Program training is required for all volunteers. If interested, email either of us (see addresses below). Assistant coaches are essential to the success of our program. Assistant coaches attend the weekly meetings to listen to teams as they practice. Questions:  Mrs. Amy Breitbach – amybrei@stphils.com Mrs. Debbie Salander – debbsala@stphils.com