What Joy Do You Bring To Others?

7th Graders in Ocean Springs

Today's blog might be a little shorter than usual. We will see how the writing goes. We got back from the 7th grade trip to Ocean Springs, MS late on Friday. I spent much of Saturday just getting caught up, and spent time today working. So, this doesn't leave much time for writing a blog since it is 8:30 pm already and tomorrow will be a long day with the start of the Advanc-ED accreditation process for the Catholic Schools of our diocese. I will need to get to work extra early tomorrow just to organize the day before everybody shows up.

Dissecting Sharks

At today's 11:30 Mass, Fr. Bill gave us a lesson on the parable of the Prodigal Son. When I was working on my Master's in Catholic Studies, my classmates and I broke down this parable because there are so many lessons to be learned from this one parable. What Father spoke about I had never heard, and I appreciated the lesson he taught us. His underlying question to this parable is what joy do you bring to others?

What joy do you bring to others? This question had me thinking about what joy I bring to others because as much joy as people bring into my life, I hope I'm doing the same for others.

Just this week alone, I was able to spend Tuesday through Friday with many of our 7th graders on our trip to the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, MS. The students and instructors brought much joy into my life as we learned about the aquatic life of the Mississippi Sound. I didn't even know there is a Mississippi Sound with its brackish waters providing a nursery for the Gulf of Mexico. I'm hoping that adventures such as these for our students will lead to the development of scientists and researchers who will make a positive difference for all of God's creation.

People brought much joy to my life on Saturday as well. Got to spend the day with Kelley, my wife, as we attended Mass at St. Michael with Fr. Ben Bradshaw. We wish him happiness and success on his trip to Our Lady of Lourdes in France. I asked him to say a special prayer for my mother and my mother-in-law while at Lourdes. What mother wouldn't appreciate prayers for them at Lourdes! Fr. Ben brought joy into my life.

Zac Brown Band

Saturday evening, Kelley and I were treated to the Zac Brown Band concert at FedEx Forum. What an incredible concert. They put on a show like I've never seen before. All the musicians in the band were beyond extremely talented. They have perfected their skills and talents through years of practice and performing. I never imagined musicians as talented as these guys. Hearing their songs on the radio is one thing, but seeing them live is a whole nother world. I hope to one day be as great a school administrator as they are musicians. The Zach Brown Band brought joy into my life. I've been singing their songs all day. Keep Me In Mind.

Boating in the Mississippi Sound

I do bring joy to others, but that is not always the case. Being a lead administrator doesn't mean I'm always the nice guy. When the ship is off course or listing, it is usually up to me to straighten the ship. Most of the time, this can be accomplished by communicating and working together. But some times, I have to make some hard decisions that don't bring joy to others. That's part of being the leader. The funny thing is that once things are straightened out, joy is usually a by-product.

What joy do you bringing to others? Are you the type that finds joy first or looks for a reason to complain first? Do people gravitate to you or avoid you? Are your stories happy or sad? Do you avoid drama or are you the center of drama? Do you find yourself smiling for no reason at all? Do you stand to greet people? Answer for yourself the question posed by Fr. Bill: What joy do you bring to others? If you do bring joy, thank you. You make the world a better place.

Student Spotlight:

Cassie Harmon

On March 22nd-23rd, the Rainbow National Dance Competition West Memphis Regionals took place. Cassie Harmon, fifth grader in Ms. Metaxas' class, performed in three dance routines and was honored with multiple high awards, two All Star invites, and an invitation for Dancer of the Year Nationals. Cassie receive three Double Platinum awards and had the highest score for each of the three routines she and her teammates performed. This was the first time she has ever competed in the intermediate division. She and her teammates placed in the overalls for all 3 of the routines as well. Cassie has earned many more dancing awards that I will feature in future student spotlights.

The accreditation process starts tomorrow. Actually, it started back in June. It is just that the Advanc-ED team will be here to finalize the accreditation. Lori Locke and Jimmy Crews will be representing the St. Ann parents at the accreditation meeting. Prayers on the success of this process are much appreciated.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal

You'll Never Walk Alone

Our Friends from Missouri

In 1963, Gerry and the Pacemakers sang You'll Never Walk Alone. Liverpool F.C. adopted the song title as their club's motto. I'm thinking the Catholic Diocese of Memphis needs to also adopt this motto. Maybe we can expand on it a little to make our motto With God, You'll Never Walk Alone.

The Catholic community of our diocese is a pretty tight knit group of people. I've been told that we make up only about 5% of the population in the Memphis area. I would have never guessed that because everywhere I go, I am surrounded by my Catholic brothers and sisters. Even though we make up such a small percentage of the population, we are never far from our Catholic family. In good times and bad, our Catholic community is there together supporting each other.

Carla Bray

After leaving school last Friday, I drove straight over to Memorial Park for Carla Bray's visitation. I met Carla many years ago through her husband Mark. Mark Bray was one of my mentor teachers at CBHS starting back in 1992. Kathleen, their daughter, is a teacher at Resurrection Catholic School. Carla's visitation was a bit of a CBHS and Resurrection reunion. The line of people there to pay their respects was all the way down the hall almost to the door by the time I left. No, Carla and the Bray Family will never walk alone. The Catholic community was there walking together.

On Saturday, we celebrated Mardi Gras in Memphis. It was a crawfish festival at Memphis Catholic celebrating the Jubilee Schools. St. Ann was out there celebrating with the Jubilee Schools. Not only were we out there celebrating with our Jubilee brothers and sisters, we had the biggest turnout of any school. In my short time at St. Ann, I've quickly come to understand to never underestimate what the great folks at St. Ann are capable of getting done.

The St. Ann tent had about 36 lbs of crawfish, 10 lbs of grill wings, 5  lbs of Missouri sausage, 10 lbs of pork steaks, Brazilian caipirinha, and 20+ people enjoying a great time. This is not including all the people who came by to sample our food. By the way, we took 2nd place in the gumbo cookoff! Do you think the St. Ann Fall Fest folks will let us grill some wings at the next fall fest? I had leftover wings for dinner tonight.


I did something new and different today. We had friends from Missouri in town this weekend to attend Mardi Gras in Memphis together. We decided to go to Mass this morning at the Poor Clare's Monastery with Fr. David Knight. Then we attended Mass at St. Michael with Fr. Ben Bradshaw. After my friends left to return to Jefferson City, MO, Kelley and I attended Mass at St. Ann with Fr. Ernie. Don't think that I have ever attended Mass three times in one day. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and might have to do it more often. I was truly with my Catholic brothers and sisters all weekend.

We have a Knowledge Bowl team at St. Ann. They practice several times per week and compete against other schools. Ryan Cooper is the Knowledge Bowl moderator. He informed me that they are in need of a new buzzer system. The one we currently have is about 20 years old and having some problems working properly. Using the buzzer system, each team player has their own light and hand held unit. It makes it possible to easily identify the team and player who buzzes in to answer a question. The system we need is a Quik Pro Deluxe Q614 for 2 teams of 6 players each. The cost is $618 plus $23 for shipping. If you can help us purchase this buzzer system for the Knowledge Bowl team, we greatly need your help. Please and thank you. Here's the link to the site. http://quikprosystems.com/buzzers1.htm

Thank you to:
Susan Garts for donating the 20 headphones we requested last week for the computer labs. The headphones are scheduled to arrive this week. Anna Slattery and the students will be very happy.

Carol Fister and Thomas Lewis for their gift that enabled us to make the school security camera system a reality.

Student Shoutout:

Cadence Orban, Isabella Stuart, and Eriel Wilkins just finished their volleyball tournament in Bowling Green Kentucky. They played in the Vette City Challenge for their Memphis Metro volleyball teams. Way to go girls! Looking forward to watching next year's St. Ann Volleyball Team compete.

Grace Odum is no ordinary dancer. On Saturday evening, she had a late
night of dancing for her solo for the first time this year. She won platinum for her solo and was invited to New York for a dance intensive with the Rockettes. This is a Rockettes dance camp she will be participating in. We are proud of you Grace!

Please continue to pray for our students and staff as we continue to grow and move forward.
Praise God, from who all blessing flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen

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

Spring Break '19!

Spring Break '19! Sounds exciting doesn't it. Years ago, Spring Break meant travel, the beach, overseas soccer tournaments (Italy, Mexico, and Brazil), mission trips, spending time with my own children, or just a break from work to relax. Even though Spring Break '19 sounds exciting, it has now become another work-week at a bit slower pace. No getting to the office by 6:30 am. No carpool lines. No phone calls. And, almost no emails. Yes, I got a lot of work accomplished over Spring Break '19 that I normally would not have accomplished. It is just that I'm the type of person that if I'm going to be at work, I prefer to be there when the classrooms are filled with students and teachers and the office is busy with people coming and going.

I think I Neflixed (I just verbed Netflix.) just about every night during Spring Break. I watched a few episodes of Loser and the first season of Cricket Fever. Looking forward to season 2 to see how the Mumbai Indians fair, and cheer them on to hopefully making the tournament. They missed the tournament by one game. I watched several other movies including Pele', Cars 3, Period, End of Sentence, and several documentaries. I did watch at least one Hallmark Christmas movie.

New Fascia & Soffit

I actually planned to take off Friday but ended up working to wrap things up.  I did take off Wednesday for no particular reason; just did. I cannot remember what I did. Oh yes, I do remember what I did. I SLEPT! That was nice. I slept.

Here's something I did that was pretty cool. I've been waiting for some warm and dry (Dry is the operative word here.) weather so I could finish a project started about a month ago. About half of the fascia and soffit on the back house needed to be replaced. This weekend, I finished repairing the trim, caulked the joints, and painted the repaired sections. It is not often I am able to do home repairs such as this especially due to the lack of time to complete the project and my lack of construction skills. So, I have to brag a little about finishing this home construction project.

Gym Camera View

Speaking of construction projects, a special thanks to Tony Mulrooney and Nathan Harmeier for completing the school security camera project. Nathan Harmeier with Above and Beyond Electric Company installed the wiring from one end of the school to the other. And, if you know the school layout, there are about six different ends to the building. Once the wiring was installed, Tony came in and installed and programmed all the cameras. He still has a little bit of programming to do but the school security camera system is up and running. This was phase one of our school security plan. Now, it is on to phase two, which is installing intercom speakers in the hallways.

This week is STREAM Night week. On Thursday, March 21st from 5:30-7:00 pm, we will host our second STREAM Night for this year. It will be an evening of curiosity, exploration, and discovery for all who attend. We will be showcasing work by students from PK 3 through 8th grade. Several organizations throughout the community will also present projects including Pink Palace Museum, St. Agnes Academy, Bartlett Crime Unit, and several more. Come out and join us in the school gym.

Student Spotlight:
Arabella Schiavone has been swimming competitively since the age of 7. She swims for Memphis Thunder Aquatic Club in Collierville. Recently, she competed in the 2-day Polar Bear invitational, and participated in six events. Her events included 100 yard Individual Medley, 50 yard Freestyle, 50 yard Breast Stroke, 100 yard Freestyle, 50 yard Butterfly, and 100 yard Backstroke. She ribboned in 4 of her 6 events, and even took 4th place in her 50 Fly and 7th place in her 50 Breast and 100 Back. She continues to shed time off each event every race! Congratulations Arabella!

We have so many students involved in bowling that we have our own bowling league. During the St. Ann School Bowling League, Ethan Nichols (5th grader) bowled his highest score ever. This was a scratch game with no handicap. Ethan bowled a 244. Way to go Ethan. Looking forward to you bowling a 300 game. High school bowling coaches might be visiting you soon.

Luca de Jong played the roles of Skater Dude and Jock in Disney's High School Musical production at the Bartlett Performing Arts and Conference Center. St. Ann alumni, Penny Rosenberg, played the role of Sharpay. Luca is an athlete, musician, actor, and honor student: think we are seeing the creation of a Renaissance Man.

We start the last quarter this week. We need everyone sharp and working hard. There are so many activities scheduled for the last two and a half months of school. This is a time to work harder and not get spring fever. No one on campus needs to coast to the end. This is when all of us need to sprint to the finish. Let's encourage everyone to give their best effort starting with ourselves.

One last thing, please keep the students and staff in your prayers. We need the strength of the whole parish to finish strong.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal

Never an Uneventful Day

Fat Tuesday Alumni Party

One never experiences an uneventful day when working in schools. There is never a regular day where we can set our daily agenda and follow it. My daily agenda changes starting at 8:05 am. That's the time we usually finish the daily prayers and morning announcements. 9 out of 10 days somebody is waiting for me to discuss something, and you know that something is usually not about what a great job I'm doing.

Eisenhower Matrix

This makes me think of the Eisenhower Matrix of time management where I'm suppose to focus my time on the urgent and important versus the non-urgent and non-important. What the Eisenhower Matrix doesn't address is who determines what is important and urgent. What is important and urgent to my students, teachers, and parents is not always important and urgent to me. But, my job is to do the best I can for my students, teachers, and parents. So, starting at 8:05 am, I change my role from school principal to school fireman, and I do my best to put out fires. This week, the week before Spring Break, was definitely a firefighting week. Just glad this past week is behind us, and I can focus during Spring Break week on my list of urgent and important. In lieu of a raise for next year, maybe I'll ask Fr. Ernie for a fireman's helmet. :)

With Patrick Norman, St. Ann Grad

Just an FYI, I do enjoy putting out fires most of the time, and I don't mind dealing with unpleasant situations. I don't look forward to dealing with the unpleasant. It is just that I've been doing this for so long I know that it is a part of the job. And unfortunately, not everyone agrees with my methods or decisions of how I deal with the unpleasant or putting out fires. Not every day nor decision is rosy, but I do wear rose-colored glasses. So, I have that going for me.

With Virginia Norman, St. Ann Grad

Since last fall, we have been planning the Alumni Fat Tuesday Party. We had about 60 alumni RSVP and we were excited for such a great turnout. Our decorating committee, mainly made up of St. Ann alum, did a great job of decorating the gym. The Knights of Columbus stepped up as usual and took care of the food. Special thanks to Jack and Stacey Griffith for leading the charge getting the food ready. In the end, about 40 people attended the party. I am not a St. Ann graduate, but I had a great time, and do look forward to the next St. Ann alumni get-together.

Fat Tuesday Alumni Party

Parents and Students! Time for Colt Star Award nominations. The Colt Star Award recognizes faculty and staff members at St. Ann who exhibit leadership, participate in school and community projects, and foster good citizenship and high academic achievement at St. Ann.  CLICK HERE to download the Colt Star Award nomination form.

On Saturday, March 23rd, St. Ann will have a tent at the Jubilee Schools' Mardi Gras In Memphis Crawfish Boil and ETW 5K. We have a Memphis Catholic intern working at St. Ann every day. In return for their support, we are going to support the Crawfish Boil and 5K. Several of our St. Ann friends and alumni are also Memphis Catholic Chargers.

I am inviting all St. Ann folks to come out for a day of fun at Memphis Catholic. Bring your chairs and join us at the St. Ann tent. Admission is $5 with children 5 and under free. There will be live music, bouncy castles, face painting, and corn hole games included with admission. There will be food and drink available for purchase. A box of crawfish will be available for $10. My wing cooking friend from Jefferson City, Philip Schulte, will be grilling his "Soon to be World Famous Wings" and Mid-Missouri homemade sausage. We had a good St. Ann crowd at the Wings of Jubilee last fall. Let's have a great turnout for the Crawfish Boil and 5K.

Wiring for Security Cameras

The school security camera system is almost complete. When everyone returns from Spring Break, they will see our cameras covering every hallway, cafeteria, and gym. We are already working on installing speakers in the hallway. The final step will be the door locks. I might have to take a locksmithing class to get this done, but we need to replace the door locks throughout the campus.

Lastly for this week, the computer labs are being used more this year than ever before. Many of the computer programs such as IXL, ReadWorks, easyCBM, and Spelling Words used by the students require headphones. Many of the head phones we currently use need replacing. Amazon is running a special on the Califone headphones we use. We can purchase a set of 10 Califone headphones for $94.26. We are in need of two of these sets. Purchasing the headphones individually is roughly $13 a piece. If you can help purchase two sets of 10 Califone headphones for our students, we greatly appreciate your help.

Have a great Spring Break. I will be at St. Ann most of the week

Support St. Ann

working on summer camps. Hopefully, the fires will be few but know there will always be fires.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends.

St. Ann Trivia Night Sponsors

This week's blog is dedicated to my friends who step up to help the students no matter at what school I'm working. Whenever there's a fundraising event, these folks aways step up to help make the event a success. The fundraising event I'm referring to this time is the St. Ann Trivia Night benefiting The Sr. Connie Passing on the Faith Scholarship.

Sr. Connie Tarallo

The purpose of this scholarship is to reward students who are formed and grow in the Catholic faith at St. Ann. The scholarship serves to help those families in financial need as they strive to give their children a Catholic eduction. Our hope is to grow the Sr. Connie Scholarship to where it becomes an endowed scholarship benefiting many families every year.

These fine folks sponsor trivia night by donating gift certificates from their businesses so that we don't use any of the proceeds from trivia night to pay for prizes. Instead, all proceeds go to help our families with tuition assistance from the Sr. Connie Scholarship.

Michael Garibaldi

I want to thank a former student of mine, Fletcher Elkington, who was able to secure gift certificates for trivia night from the Memphis Zoo, Zaka Bowl, and Tamp & Tap. Fletcher did the same thing for the Jubilee Schools and Blue Streak whenever I asked him for help.

My son, Jonathan Aur, is also there to help whenever there is a fundraising event. He was able to get us gift certificates from Sweet Lala's Bakery and Salsa Cocina Mexicana.

DJ and Jamie Naylor
at Celtic Crossing

Anna Slattery contacted her friends, the Garibaldis, and they donated gift certificates to Garibaldi's Pizza. All the Garibaldis are always generous when it comes to helping the children. They know the importance of Catholic education to families and our community.

D.J. and Jamie Naylor, owners of Celtic Crossing, have donated year-in and year-out to so many different non-profit organizations throughout the Memphis area. The Jubilee Schools have been recipients of their philanthropic work for years. We thank them for supporting the Sr. Connie Scholarship.

Ryan Trimm at Sweet Grass

Another former student of mine, Ryan Trimm, is a restauranteur and chef at Sweet Grass and Next Door in Cooper/Young. One of his newest ventures is Sunrise located on Jefferson just west of the medical district. Another of his new ventures is 117 Prime located downtown on Union. Ryan donated gift certificates from Sweet Grass and Sunrise to our event. Thanks Ryan!

Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman

The final gift certificate thank you goes out to St. Ann alum, Andrew Ticer. Along with restaurant partner, Michael Hudman (another former student of mine from CBHS), he donated gift certificates to Hog and Hominy for each member of the winning team. That's the kind of alumni support we need! Thank you Billy Gage for contacting Andrew and making the ask.

For volunteering and making trivia night possible, thank you to:

• Michael Han for serving as our trivia night emcee and writing all of the trivia questions.
• Jane Gillespie, Ashley Gillespie, and Ryan Cooper for being the official trivia scorers.
• Dawn Lewis for driving around town picking up the gift certificates.
• Linda Garvey Meisler for donating many of the door prizes.
• Barbara Norman for donating bottles of wine for door prizes.
• Ellie McGhee and Matthew Brooks for helping to run the auction.
• St. Ann staff members Debra Harty, Kristen Sellers, Tricia Cooper, and LaDonna Metaxas for supporting trivia night.
• Fr. Ernie for participating in and supporting Trivia Night.

Sr. Connie and the Mosteller Family

This event would not have been possible if it weren't for the dedication, passion, and hard work of one person: Annmarie Ghio. She is the one who brought everyone together and made this evening happen. She even donated many of the door prizes. She put a lot of time into making trivia night a success, and it showed. Because of her work, more families will be helped through the Sr. Connie Scholarship.

Winning Trivia Team

This year's trivia night was a sell-out with twenty teams participating. Next year, we move to the gym, set a goal of forty teams competing, have a bigger silent auction, and help even more St. Ann families with tuition assistance.

When you're going on your "Friday Night Date Night," and you get into that "Where do you want to go eat?" discussion, please consider supporting these wonderful folks who support St. Ann. Their restaurants are fantastic, locally owned, and well worth it. Let's support those who support us.

Support St. Ann

If your business would like to support next years' trivia night, please let me know. Every gift we receive helps keep expenses down with more donations going to the Sr. Connie Scholarship.

To all those who participated in St. Ann Trivia Night, thank you. Hope to see you at this event next year.

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