CommonCents
SHELBY COUNTY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION’S
for Kids & Teens!
MARCH 2016 NEWSLETTER
St. Patrick’s Day
American-Style
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
St Patrick’s Day, which falls on March 17, honors the
life of St. Patrick7, the patron saint of Ireland, but most
people don’t know that St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish!
He was born an aristocrat in Britain and at the age of 16
was captured by Irish raiders who attacked his family’s
estate. He was kidnapped and taken to Ireland where
he as held captive for six years, living a solitary, lonely
life as a shepherd. Loney and scared, Patrick turned to
his family’s religion and he became a devout Christian. After leaving Ireland and returning years later, he
became a legend in Ireland, walking across the country
evangelizing and converting pagans to Christianity.
St. Patrick often used the three leaves of the shamrock
to explain the Holy Trinity. As a result, Irish Christians
started wearing shamrocks on March 17 to show their
religious pride. That tradition grew into wearing green
clothing on St. Patrick’s Day.
Fact or Fiction...
There Are No Snakes
in Ireland
FACT! Legend has it that in the 5th century A.D.,
St. Patrick exterminated Ireland’s snakes by driving
them into the sea. That would have been awesome! The truth is though that during the last Ice
Age, which ended about 10,000 years ago, Ireland was completely covered with snow and ice,
making it too cold for snakes to survive. However,
when the big thaw came, the land bridge between
Ireland and the rest of Europe became flooded
causing Ireland to become and island before the
snakes were able to cross it.
St. Patrick’s Day was first celebrated in
America in 1737, organized by the Charitable Irish Society of Boston, for new
Irish settlers in America. This first celebration of the holiday in the colonies was
largely to honor and celebrate the Irish
culture from which so many colonists
had been separated.
Early celebrations continued this modest
tradition. In New York, the first celebration took place as a small gathering
at the home of an Irish protestant. St.
Patrick’s Day parades started in New York
in 1762 by a group of Irish soldiers in
the British military who marched down
Broadway. This began the tradition of
a military theme in the parade, as they
often feature marching military units.
Today the New York St. Patrick’s Day
Parade has more than 150,000 attendees, and Chicago dyes their river green!
This holiday that began as small modest
religious dinners has evolved into the
raucous holiday we know today.
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Spring into Spring Cleaning!
Ahhh ... warm weather is just around the corner. And that means ...
spring cleaning? Don’t worry! Spring cleaning doesn’t have to bring
you to tears!
Make cleaning fun with your parents by playing the game called “Keep,
Sell or Toss”. Gather up three large containers (plastic totes, boxes, garbage bags - whatever you have on hand), and designate a “Keep” box,
“Sell” box, and a “Toss” box. Then start your initial sort. The trick is to do
this part as quickly as possible. There’s one rule for this spring cleaning
game, and it’s pretty simple: Nothing goes into a box without both you
and your parents agreeing!
Make it fun by seeing how quickly you can do the initial sort. Then go
through the “Keep” box again and see if there is anything in there that
can be thrown out or sold at a rummage sale. Anything that is broken
or missing pieces automatically goes into the “Toss” box.
Consider this as part of the game ... anything that goes in the “Sell” box
can turn into money for your efforts! Or you can donate whatever ends
up in the “Sell” to a charitable organization.
The Importance of Gratitude
Everyday someone does something special for you. Whether it’s your parents, teachers, coaches,
friends or others, in ways large and small you have a team of people helping you become a better
person and provide for you. How often do you stop and say thank you?
Gratitude in the most basic terms is being thankful and appreciative of the good things you have
and what others have done for you. You can be grateful for a wide range of “gifts,” everything from
nature and good food to good luck or a wonderful opportunity for the people in your life. Expressing — and feeling — gratitude are important parts of life.
A sense of gratitude can benefit all of us in a variety
of ways. It can actually decrease stress and can lift
us up emotionally. A person who is grateful tends to
spend less time comparing him or herself with others
and feeling envious. It also helps us better appreciate
kind gestures that others do for us.
Totally Weird Facts
There are more stars in space
than there are grains of sand
on every beach in the world.
For every human on Earth
there are 1.6 million ants.
On Jupiter and Saturn it rains
diamonds.
You are two times more likely
to be killed by a vending
machine than by being bitReflection of what we are grateful for makes us more
ten by a shark.
appreciative of what we have. A great way to start
or end the day is to reflect on the things that you are
grateful for. Another good exercise is starting a gratitude list. The gratitude list can be good things that
happened, but can and should also include possible
good things that can come out of something bad
that occurred.
When someone does a kind gesture for you, be sure
to say thank you, write a note, or if appropriate return
the gesture with a small gift. You will find that showing someone you appreciate what they’ve done for
you is a gift to yourself.
NO EXCUSES!
NEVER TEXT AND DRIVE!
It can wait.
Scotland’s national animal is
the unicorn.
A strawberry is not a berry
but a banana is.
The white dots you see floating when you look at the sky
are actually your white blood
cells.
A texting driver is 23 times more likely to get into
a crash than a non-texting driver. The average
text takes a driver’s eyes off the road for nearly five
seconds. When traveling at 55mph, that’s enough
time to cover the length of a football field. Texting
while driving is essentially driving blind.