Preparing in Hope and Courage

School Entrance

Kelley and I enjoy attending Saturday Vigil at St. Ann with either Fr. Ernie or Fr. Parham, and Sunday Mass at St. Michael with Fr. Ben Bradshaw. We have some great priests in our diocese. Through their homilies, they help us grow as Christians.

This weekend, Fr. Parham's homily was about hope. Hope is a virtue as is faith, charity, and love. His definition of hope goes a lot deeper than most of our definitions of hope, and I didn't quite understand everything he had to say. No surprise there. To me, hope is a want for something better such as a better life especially an eternal life. I was taught when there is a lack of hope in our lives, evil uses this lack of hope to enter our lives.

Teacher Lounge is Clean!

Fr. Ben's homily was about courage. As Christians, we must have the courage to grow in our faith. As one of my former students in Missouri once said, "We are not called to be comfortable." That former student is soon to be Fr. Brad Berhorst!  We are called to make a positive difference in the world. It is hard to make a positive difference if we aren't willing to sacrifice. I've always said that being a Christian is not easy. If you are going to walk the Christian walk, more is expected of you. Saying yes is just the beginning. It takes some courage to say yes, but it takes a lot of courage to live a truly authentic Christian life. It takes courage to live a life of faith, hope, charity, and love.

Kitchen Work Stations Refinished

I bring this up because as we plan for this new school year, we plan in hope and courage. Our hope is for a better life for our students and ourselves. We need to have the courage to push beyond our comfort zone, to grow as teachers in Christ, help our students grow in their faith, and open our hearts for all to see the Christians we truly are. Fr. Ben always says that it takes courage to open ourselves to the world. What sets Catholic Schools apart from other schools is Jesus Christ. Yes, we work to educate the whole child (mind, heart, body, and soul), but the ultimate goal for our students is salvation.

Kitchen Wall Repainted

This week has been super busy at St. Ann. Our staff participated in an active shooter training with Bartlett City Schools and the Bartlett Police Department. Thank you to Dr. David Stephens and Dr. Korrie White from Bartlett City Schools for allowing us to participate in the drill. I would also like to thank Captain Steve Sones of the Bartlett Police Department for leading the drill. Captain Sones and I met at St. Ann for a walk through to make a list of corrective measures needed to ensure our students and staff are safe. Captain Sones will also participate in a Q&A on school safety with our staff during in-service this week.

More Kitchen Work Stations

Angela de Jong and I met with Home & School representatives this week. Part of the meeting was to figure out expenses and contributions for the 2017-18 school year. We needed to finish up old business before discussing 2018-19. Plans are in the works for Home & School events. You will be hearing more about these from the Home & School representatives.

Two other staff members have decided not to return to St. Ann. Erica Winchester has the opportunity to become a stay at home mom and raise her children. Rebecca Bates has taken a library position at Immaculate Conception. We thank both of them for their years of service to the students at St. Ann.

Kitchen Make Over

I hired Justin Kissell as our new Language Arts and Social Studies teacher. He will also be the Student Council moderator. Many of you know Mr. Kissell because he is a parishioner, attended St. Ann Catholic School, and taught here for six years. He comes back to us after teaching several years at Resurrection Catholic School under the direction of Principal James Shelton.

I have made an offer to an incredible teacher for the LIFE position. I have known this person since the 90's. I plan to meet with this candidate this week to hopefully finalize the offer. Please say a prayer for this person as they discern this opportunity to work in a Catholic School. Chances are slim, but all things are possible with prayer.

The construction and clean up are reaching crunch time. We are almost there. We are hosting a walk through next Sunday, August 5th, after the two morning Masses. Come see the school and all the improvements.

Principal's Office (finally)

After being in my office since the beginning of June, my office is finally clean! The junk room it used to be is no longer the junk room. I've even rearranged the office, and my memorabilia and books from so many years in education now populate my office. I need to hang my college diplomas in my office, and pretend I'm some kind of intellectual. Maybe not. I would rather hang my children's diplomas on my office wall. Their diplomas are more important to me.

The school enrollment has climbed to over 200 students with several families applying, and some on the waiting list. Students are still taking the entrance test. Thank you for Angela de Jong and Selina Trouy for their work on student admissions. I'm sure the numbers will continue to fluctuate between now and the first day of school.

Crosses on My Office Wall
Rosary from the Vatican

We are working on the EXTRAS for the middle schoolers. This is a thirty minute period at the end of the school day where the middle schoolers will be able to participate in a variety of classes from robotics to coding to creative writing to blogging/vlogging... We have many options we are discussing. Thanks to Jimmy Crews for saying yes to teaching a coding extra for our middle schoolers. Home economics was going to be one of the offering but that went out the window. Maybe we have a parent out there who would be willing to lead a home economics extra for our students. We want parent and community participation in offering these extras. I'm looking for a guitar player to lead a guitar club as an extra. If you have an idea for an extra (30 minute ungraded class for the students to do something fun yet educational), please call me at the school or send me an email at didier.aur@sascolts.org.

During in-service, Liz Wehmeyer is going to lead three sessions in iPad and Apple professional development for our staff. Ms. Wehmeyer is a St. Ann parishioner and parent. She is an employee of Bartlett City Schools in their IT department, and is Apple certified. What a great resource for our teachers and students. Thank you Liz Wehmeyer!

As I do with every blog, I will end with asking for your support. The last blog had a wish list we need help with. If you have the ability to help make a difference, we need your help. Check out last week's blog for the wish list. Click on the school logo to go to our donation page. Without your support, Catholic education doesn't happen. It has always been that way. No more bingo to subsidize Catholic education. We have a great thing going. Need your support to keep it going.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal
St. Ann Catholic School

Community Coming Together

Welcome to Colts Country!

St. Ann Catholic School is coming together. Clean up has been taking place. Many volunteers along with the maintenance staff have been putting everything back in place and in order. There is still much work to be done before we are ready for our students. Being new to St. Ann, it is pretty neat watching the St. Ann community coming together to get the school ready. Many of the pictures in this blog are of the volunteers getting the school ready. If you are willing to help us, please contact Susan Hunt (susan.hunt@stannbartlett.org), the parish administrator, and please volunteer. We need the St. Ann community to continue to help us if we are to be ready on time. The first day of school is Tuesday, August 7th.

Once the school is cleaned up and in order, we will host an open house/walk through for all to see.  Date for the open house/walk through is Sunday, August 5th after the Masses from 9:30-10:30 and 12:30-1:30.

I mentioned in a previous blog, that we would hold a meet and greet so we could meet each other.  I want the opportunity of meeting St. Ann students, parents, parishioners, alumni, and supporters before school starts. That meet and greet will take place during the open house/walk through set for Sunday, August 5th. Instead of hosting two different events, we are combining the open house and the meet and greet.

Kitchen Clean Up

We have a number of students who are dyslexic. On Friday, August 3rd, Lyle Davis and Gay Landaiche from The Bodine School will present to our faculty on working with students with dyslexia. Parents are invited to this presentation.  Please contact me at didier.aur@sascolts.org if you would like to attend. Thank you to Priscilla Williams for organizing this presentation.

On Tuesday and Thursday, our staff will be attending active shooter training with the Bartlett Police Department at Bon Lin Middle School. Sad that we have to do this but it is a reality. We want to be prepared for the worst.

I met with Mayor McDonald at his office this past Monday. He is a super nice guy. Being the only Catholic School in Bartlett and being across the street from city hall, I want him to know who I am, and that St. Ann is alive and vibrant. I also invited him to the Fall Festival. I hope to see him there.

Our student enrollment is just under 200 students with several families still applying. If you are a St. Ann

Some Classrooms are Ready!

parishioner and are interested in a Catholic education in PK3 through 8th grade for your child(ren) or grandchild(ren), please contact Angela de Jong at angela.dejong@sascolts.org. We are also reaching out to the parishioners of Nativity and Ascension especially since they do not have a parish school. We have scholarships based on need available to help families afford a Catholic education.

Refinishing Kitchen Doors

For those of you who don't know, I have been involved with the Jubilee Schools since 2002. At the
Jubilee Schools, we don't turn families away if they cannot afford a Catholic education. If a family wants a Catholic education for their children, I believe it is our responsibility to do all in our power to make that possible. If you are interested in a Catholic education, and don't have the financial means, please contact Angela de Jong. Don't not inquire and miss out on a Christ-centered education for your child(ren). You never know what's possible.

The date we set for our staff spiritual retreat did not work out with Gary Wilbers. He is the speaker we were hoping to get for the retreat day. I'm now working on Plan B for our spiritual retreat.

A part of being the principal of a Catholic School is development. If there is a need, it is our

Cafeteria is Ready!

responsibility to figure out how to make it happen. In Catholic Schools, we have plenty of unbudgeted items. Those items become wishlist items. Many times, we make an unbudgeted purchase based on faith that donations will come in to help finance those wishlist items. In my time as a Catholic School administrator, God has always provided by bringing the right donors into my life. It is not a coincidence that this happens. God is a pretty good development director. I said in my last blog that I would have a wishlist.  So here is a partial wishlist of items we need.

Library is Ready!

WISH LIST
Bloomerang Database: $806.20 for the first year. The price drops in half for year two. We need a database to keep up to date with our alumni and donors. If we plan to be in existence in the future, we have to have a lot more support than just tuition paying families. Catholic Schools that depend on tuition only to keep the doors open eventually have to close their doors. Let's not be one of those schools. We are the only Catholic School in Bartlett. We need to be here for future generations.

Scholarship Donations: As Catholics, I believe it is our

Replacing Kitchen Ceiling Tiles

responsibility to help families afford Catholic education. It is not easy for a young family wanting a Catholic education for their child(ren) to pay full tuition. Please consider providing a quarter ($1,625), half ($3,250), or full scholarship ($6,500) for a student. Any amount will help a family.

Middle School Math Books: In order to improve our math offerings and our math scores, we are going with a different math book series. We ordered new math books for 7th and 8th grade. The cost of the new math books is $2,767.50.

Another Classroom Ready!

iPads: We would like to finish our 1-to-1 iPad initiative for PK-3 through 4th. Grades 5-8 already have 1-to-1 iPads. Cost of each iPad with Apple Care is $400.

Wireless Printers for the Classrooms: We would like to have wireless printers for all the classrooms. This would greatly help the students and teachers with their work. Each printer is $300.

We also have a lot of big ticket items like HVAC replacement,

Spirit Shop is Ready!

roof repairs, new windows, new blinds, renovate school bathrooms, finish the renovation of the St. Ann kitchen (everyone at the parish uses the kitchen), security doors, and security cameras.

Click to Support St. Ann!

If you are interested in helping with any wish list item.  Please contact me at didier.aur@sascolts.org or click on the St. Ann logo to support online. Please contact me if you have any questions.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal
St. Ann Catholic School

God's Grace Raining Down

Fr. Ernie DeBlasio

Fr. William Parham

There is so much good going on at St. Ann.  It is as if God's grace is raining down on us. St. Ann has in Fr. Ernie DeBlasio one of the most charismatic and dynamic pastors of our diocese. Now, we have an associate pastor, Fr. William Parham, who is one of the most intellectual biblical scholars of our diocese.  We have the honor and privilege of Mass celebration with these two priest every day. Since my time at St. Ann, I rarely miss daily Mass. I find myself continuously growing in faith. The Holy Spirit works through both these priests to touch many hearts, minds, and souls. I greatly appreciate their work and devotion.

Our efforts are coming together well. The new school sign has been installed at the school entrance.

New Fountain & Garden

Through the generosity of parishioners, the school has been retiled, the hallways have been repainted, the kitchen is being renovated, gardens are being planted, and fountain and statues are being installed. Our parish family continues to grow every week as is evident in the new members listing in the parish bulletin. To me, it appears that Mass gets a little more crowded every week.  The church and school are working together more like one. I appreciate the great working relationship we have between the parish and school staff.

Mrs.Trouy & Mrs. de Jong with the Coat of Arms

God's grace is raining down on the school staff as well. We have continued to do some shuffling of personnel. And, we have an 8th grade religion teacher!  First for the shuffling. Erica Winchester will not only teach Language Arts for grades 6-8, but also Social Studies for grades 6 & 7. Stacey Griffith will not only teach Science for grades 6-8, but also Religion for grades 6 & 7.

Our new 8th grade religion teacher is Abe Abuelouf. Mr.

Mr. Abe Abuelouf

Abuelouf is a retired nurse anesthetist with 37 years of experience in the field of medicine. He holds a Master's of Art in Catholic Studies from CBU, and is a certified chaplain with Methodist Hospital. Mr. Abuelouf has teaching experience in medical school.  I am excited that Mr. Abuelouf has agreed to teach our 8th graders. His main responsibility is to help prepare the 8th graders for confirmation.

Mr. Donnie Shea will not be returning to St. Ann. Instead, he will be applying to graduate school. His goal is to be a graduate assistant in a college football program. We are thrilled for Donnie Shea, and wish him much success and happiness as he follows his dream. Tracy Angotti will take over the Physical Education classes, and continue as the school's Athletic Director.

As for the 8th grade Social Studies class, I will be the instructor. Having ten years of experience teaching Social Studies at CBHS, I look forward to the opportunity to be back in the classroom. I have already started to work on developing a Project Based Learning (PBL) 8th grade social studies curriculum for my students. Project based and interactive learning are great ways to engage students in their learning. Today's students want to learn actively. They are used to getting information online, and using tech tools to communicate and collaborate.

If you want to learn more about PBL, just do a search and you will find more research and examples than you will ever be able to read. Believe it or not, one of the best examples of PBL projects is Pinterest.  If you are a teacher and don't have a Pinterest account, it is time to sign up.

The 8th graders are raising money for their end of the year 8th

8th Grade Car Wash for D.C. Trip

grade trip to Washington D.C.  They held another car wash this past Saturday at Buffalo Wild Wings.  I was able to support their efforts and got my car washed.  My wife and I also ate lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Here is a list of their upcoming fundraising events for the Washington D.C. trip.  Please support our 8th graders when you are able.

Wed Aug 1 - Detergent Fundraiser will begin- Kick off at School Registration

Wed Aug 22- Give back night at Buffalo Wild Wings Wolfchase

Thursday Aug 30 - Detergent Fundraiser Orders and Money Due In to the school

Sat Sept 15- Bake Sale after the 4:30 mass at St Ann

Sun Sept 16 - Bake Sale after all of the masses at St Ann

Thurs Sept 20 - Give Back Night at McAlisters Bartlett

Sat October 20 - Booth at Fall Fest (tentative)

Sat October 27- Bake Sale after the 4:30 mass at St Ann

Sun October 28 - Bake Sale after all of the masses at St Ann

Mon November 12 - Give Back Night at Buffalo Wild Wings Wolfchase

Sat December 8 - Bake Sale after the 4:30 mass at St Ann

Sun December 9 - Bake Sale after all of the masses at St Ann

This week, I hope to compile a wish-list for the school and teachers. There are many non-budgeted items we would like to purchase in order to help our students. In order to improve the quality of the education we offer our students, it takes training and hard work to do a better job. If you want to improve, you cannot keep doing the same thing. We will need your support so that we can improve on the quality of education we offer our students.

As always, your support is welcomed any time throughout the year.  Click on the school logo if you would like to help our students.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal

School Starts in One Month!

New Tile in Hallway

The 2018-19 school year is about one month away.  So, get your vacations in while you can.  We plan to start fast because we've got a lot to accomplish.  Now, let me get you caught up on last week's progress.

It finally happened.  Fr. Ernie and I have had our first disagreement.  I stated in my last blog that I really like the Hallmark Channel and their Christmas movies.  Fr. Ernie stated at Mass this weekend that he really dislikes the Hallmark Channel and their Christmas movies.  This is going to be a tough one for us to get over.  Maybe I'll just have to watch fewer Hallmark movies and Fr. Ernie will have to find a couple he would be willing to watch.

New Tile in Hallway

The tiling and painting of the school continues.  Cleaning, waxing, and coating the new tiles started this weekend.  The work on renovating the kitchen continues, too.  Lots of work going on.  The school is looking good!  Thanks to all those involved from donors to organizers to workers.  You are making great things happen.

We hired a math teacher!  When Mrs. Dickens mentioned to me that she might not be returning to St. Ann, I only had one person in mind for this position.  Well, this person has agreed to teach middle school math at St. Ann.  I'm excited for St. Ann and the students.

Julie Langford, a St. Ann parent and parishioner, will be our new middle school math teacher.  We worked together at CBHS.  She is one of the best math teachers I have ever observed.  She has lots of middle and high school teaching experience.  Mrs. Langford knows where our students need to be and how to get them there.  She is a no-nonsense teacher who will push the students to succeed while being compassionate with those who need extra help.  She has experience with differentiated learning from her time at CBHS, and will provide our students with what they need.

Mrs. Langford has been reviewing the math books to see what would be best for our students in getting them ready for high school math.  If financially possible, we hope to make middle school math text book changes this summer.  We will continue reviewing this week to find a solution.

The other changes being made at this time are in the front office.  Selina Trouy is moving over to Lynn Stricklen's position dealing more with finance.  Amanda Bannister is moving from the classroom to take Selina Trouy's position in the front office.  I've been in education long enough to know that the school goes according to how well the front office operates.  School morale and customer satisfaction begins with the folks in the front office.  With that being said, I want the two best people possible running the front office.  I am extremely pleased Mrs. Trouy and Mrs. Bannister have said yes to running the front office and being the face of St. Ann Catholic School.

The class schedules have been completed for 6th-8th grade.  For PreK-5th grade, the schedules are almost complete.  All the specials (Art, P.E., Music, and Computer) are scheduled including lunch.  The grade level teachers for each grade will plug in ELA, Math, Religion, Science, Social Studies, and Recess into the schedule.

We have eliminated the A,B,C Days and have just A Days and B Days; alternating days.  Physical Education and Art will alternate, as will Computer and Music for grade levels PreK-5th.  6th-8th will alternate Physical Education and Art only because they will have Music/Choir every day.  6th-8th do not have computer class.  5th grade will also have Music/Choir every day as well as computer class on alternating days.

Middle School M,T,W,F Schedule

Time	6th Grade	7th Grade	8th Grade
8:00	Homeroom	Homeroom	Homeroom
8:10	Math	Language Arts	Science
9:10	Language Arts	Science	Math
10:10	Science	Math	Language Arts
11:10	Choir/Band	Choir/Band	Choir/Band
12:00	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
12:25	PE/Art	Social Studies	Religion
1:05	Religion	PE/Art	Social Studies
1:45	Social Studies	Religion	PE/Art
2:25	Extras	Extras	Extras
2:55	Pack Up	Pack Up	Pack Up
3:00	Dismissal	Dismissal	Dismissal

For grades 6-8, the schedule on Thursday changes a little because we have Mass in the mornings.  Language Arts, Math, and Science will be shortened to 40 minutes instead of 60 minutes.  This still gives each of the core subjects 280 minutes per week.  None of the other classes will be shortened on Thursdays.

Fr. David Knight

Recess has been eliminated for middle school but Extras have been added at the end of the day.  We will have more information on the Extras soon.  Lots of ideas for Extras are still coming in from the teachers.  The middle schoolers will enjoy and benefit from the Extras.

We hope to have the schedules posted on our website this week.

The parent/student handbook for 2018-19 is also complete.  We will have the handbook on our website this week.

Priscilla Williams is organizing the staff spiritual retreat for the fall.  We will be guests of Fr. David Knight at His Way Retreat Center in Frayser.  The retreat center is next to the Poor Clare's Monastery.

Gary Wilbers

We might be in luck as far as a presenter is concerned.  Nationally recognized inspirational speaker, Gary Wilbers with Ascend Business Strategies, contacted me last Thursday, and has offered to lead our spiritual retreat.  We will take time this week to see if his presentation fits our spiritual retreat needs.  I am confident we will work things out.  Gary is a great friend from Jefferson City, MO.  His passion for many years has been Catholic education and Special Olympics of Missouri.  To learn more about Gary Wilbers, check out his website, https://goascend.biz/, as well as his blog, podcast, and newest book Positive Culture Wins.  I read his book earlier this year.  Loved it!

Nick Scully

In last week's blog, I mentioned that we are still on the negative side of the budget by $50,000.  The accountants out there are curious as to our plans for this -$50,000 because you cannot have a budget that doesn't balance.  Here's the solution: We have been ultra-conservative on the fundraising side and I want to keep it this way.  This week, we are meeting to put together our development committee led by Nick Scully.  Nick is also a great friend who wants to see St. Ann succeed.  Nick is the guy who sees both sides as green.  In other words, there are positives and opportunities; no negatives.  Love his way of thinking.  Learn more about Nick at http://www.therightdirection.com/about/team/nicholas-scully.aspx.  So, the answer to our budget deficit is Nick Scully, Angela de Jong, and our soon to be development committee.  I hope to also be a part of the solution.

We need your continued prayers and support.  Please keep our students and staff in your daily prayers.  We need some prayer champions out there leading the way.  Please click on the school logo to help support financial.

 Thank you.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School