1 Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
With the Thanksgiving break and as hard as we have been working, I took advantage of this break in many ways including not publishing a blog the past two Sundays. Instead, I spent part of the week wrapping up some work that needed to get done and to get caught up on the Advanc-ED accreditation process. Didn't get nearly as much accomplished as I hoped to but that is typical of my ADD life.
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| My Family in San Antonio |
Plus, my daughter, Celina, came home for Thanksgiving! I'm extremely thankful for the opportunity to be with her. Kelley and I get to see her about every three months or so. She lives in San Antonio, which makes for a long drive. To fly to San Antonio isn't cheap especially for two people. Frontier is supposed to have direct flights between Memphis and San Antonio. Good luck trying to find those flights. It is much easier and less expensive to fly her back to Memphis. The problem is we miss out on the opportunity to visit San Antonio. Once Celina returned to San Antonio, we might not see her till maybe March of 2019.
On the other hand, my son and daughter-in-law, Jonathan and Brittany, live half a mile from my house. We get to see them almost every day. So, Kelley and I will appreciate and take advantage of our proximity to them as best we can.
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Madonna & Child
by Katie Jones |
Our art teacher, Katie Jones, is working to incorporate religion into her art classes. During art class for the next few weeks, the students are working on the Keep Christ in Christmas poster contest for the Knights of Columbus. Teachers are asked to speak to the students about the history of Christmas, have the students write a special Christmas prayer, and/or discuss what images they think of when they think of Christ and Christmas. This is also part of incorporating Religion and Art into our STREAM program. I look forward to seeing what the students come up with on their Keep Christ in Christmas poster projects.
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| IXL Stars Wall |
The IXL and Honor Roll Walls are complete! Teresa Ferrante and
Annmarie Ghio put together the Walls to honor student achievement. The IXL Wall honors the top three students in each grade level in Math and Language Arts. The top three performers in each of those two subjects are listed on the wall. The Honor Roll Wall honors the students on the Principal and Faculty Honor Roll.
The Father/Daughter Dance took place last night. It was a magical evening of dinner and dancing. Not sure who enjoyed the evening more: daughters, dads, or volunteers who made the evening possible. Lots of thank yous to go around starting with Lori Locke and Home & School for organizing and putting on this event. It was such a fantastic dance, especially for a first time event, that Home & School wants to add another dance event to the calendar for the students and parents. Thank you to the daughters for getting your fathers on the dance floor. The dance floor was rockin' last night as DJ Cel cranked out the tunes. Thank you to the fathers for putting their daughters ahead of everything else to spend a memorable evening sharing lots of love and a great time. The memories fashioned last night will last a
life time. Congratulations to Greg and Cassie Richardson for winning the dance contest. They better spend a lot of time preparing for next year's Father/Daughter Dance because they will have to defend their title. There will be plenty of Father/Daughter Dance Teams ready to take their title away. Next on the agenda is the Mother/Son Video Game Night in February. Should be another great evening for our St. Ann families.
The Christmas Door Decorating Contest was a big hit! With enthusiasm, creativity, and Christmas spirit abound, the contest brought out the best in staff, students, and room parents. The winner
of the 2018 Christmas Door Decorating Contest was Mrs. Metaxas and her 5th graders! I have to admit that their door was better than the school office door, but only barely. 2nd place went to Mrs. Odum's 2nd grade class. 3rd place went to Mrs. Harty's 1st grade class.
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| Mrs. Metaxas: 1st Place |
Through Title II program with Shelby County Schools and Bartlett City Schools, we have been able to send teachers to national conferences for professional development. The latest to take advantage of this program is Annmarie Ghio. She just spent part of this past week in Charlotte, NC at the National Science Teachers Association Conference on Science Education. The conference sessions provided hands-on learning opportunities for science educators. The sessions were geared towards the latest in science content, learning strategy, and research to enhance and expand professional growth, as well as having opportunities to collaborate with science education leaders and peers. This was a wonderful opportunity for Ms. Ghio to gain more knowledge and experience to help her students.
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| Mrs. Odum: 2nd Place |
We have been able to take advantage of the Title program to fund our CPR training; dyslexia workshop with Bodine School; easyCBM webinar; Tracey Angotti attending the state physical education conference; Deborah Harty participating in a learning behavior management seminar; and I attending the Advanc-ED conference. We are greatly benefitting from attending these conferences, and helping to make St. Ann a better school. So far, eight teachers have already been approved to attend conferences in the spring for professional development. We also plan to bring in an expert in gifted learning to assist our teachers on working with our gifted students.
Finally, our annual giving campaign started this past week. Annual giving brochures have been mailed to our school parents and grandparents. Soon, they will be going out to our supporters and alumni. This year's goal is $50,000.
Quality schools like St. Ann that offer exceptional programs, staffing, and facilities
could not continue to operate and maintain such high standards without substantial
support beyond just tuition. The actual cost of a St. Ann education is supplemented
by generous gifts and additional financial support that make the difference between
a good school and a great one. Please join us in supporting St. Ann Catholic School.
God bless you,
Didier Aur, Prinicpal
St. Ann Catholic School
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