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

Doing Good for the Sake of Doing Good

Want to start this blog with some great news. The security cameras and all the wiring have been ordered and have arrived at school. The installation of the security cameras begins tomorrow morning! I'm looking forward to having the cameras in place to better protect everyone on campus. I'm also looking forward to the next step in making our campus more secure by adding the speakers to the hallways, gyms, cafeteria, and kitchen. After that, we will work on replacing the door locks.

My style of leadership is one where I work with people to get their input on what needs to be done. I don't lead in a vacuum. I want people's input and help in making decisions. When things go well, everyone gets credit. I think that is very important. And, I will take the blame when things don't go the way they are supposed to go. Hey, that's part of leadership. I'll throw myself under the bus, but I will do my best to never throw anyone else under the bus.

I say all this because there are some times where I have to make a decision without getting everyone's input. I don't like doing that, but I will make those decisions every once in awhile and move forward with that decision.

Select Members of the SAS Band
Performed at CBHS.

One of those decisions I've made recently has to do with the Extracurricular Exploration (EE). As part of the Advanc-ED accreditation process, I reviewed, reviewed, and reviewed our students' ITBS and easyCBM scores. I saw individual strengths and weaknesses. I discovered where our students can benefit from extra help and those who will benefit by giving extra help.


So, in organizing this latest EE, I added tutoring to the EE

classes. Except, I did not make this class an optional class for students. The middle school teachers submitted a list of students who need extra help in different subject areas. I confirmed the names on the list with the test scores. I did not ask the students on the list if they wanted to be in the tutoring class, I pretty much mandated it. But, I mandated it for a purpose, and that is to give our students another opportunity to improve academically. Student academic success is part of my job.

There is something else I did with the EE tutoring class. I reviewed the test scores and got the students with the highest test scores, who I felt would do a good job of tutoring classmates in helping those classmates improve academically, and made them tutors. I did not ask those students if they would tutor, I assigned them as tutors for that EE class.

I have several reasons for doing this. So, here's my explanation. Let me start off by saying that assigning these students as tutors is about as high a compliment as I can pay any student. If I know you have the academic ability to help other students succeed, and I believe you have what it takes to help other students succeed, you have won my confidence and trust. There are plenty of adults out there I wouldn't want tutoring in my school, but these students that have been selected to tutor, I want them to not only share their knowledge, I also want them to use the talents God has given them to help others. "To whom much is given, from him much is expected." (Luke 12:48) God gave you the talent, I'm giving you an opportunity to use your God-given talent.

At the school Mass last Thursday, Fr. Bill talked about how teaching is a witness. He even used the example of students teaching students. He said that when students teach students, they are doing God's work. In today's Gospel reading from Luke, we are reminded to "do to others as you would have them do to you." With that in mind, I'm going to do the best I can to help others because I sure hope they will help me when I need it. That's not the main reason I help others. The main reason I help others is because I was taught to see Jesus in all my brothers and sisters. I sure hope they see Jesus in me.

Also in today's Gospel, a part that stands out for me is "lend expecting nothing back." These tutors are lending their knowledge to their classmates, and together, their knowledge will grow. Your reward is knowing that you are doing God's work. In the end, "gifts will be given to you," for you are doing good for the sake of doing good.

I would like to thank Patrick Bennett, Jonathan Clowney, Brayan Garcia, Luca de Jong, James Kargauer, and Logan Wymore, for helping to tutor their classmates. I also want to thank Stacey Griffith and Teresa Ferrante for leading the Tutoring EE. Without all of you, this tutoring effort would be fruitless.

Student Shout Out:
This past weekend Jonah Odum competed in the TN-AAU Region 4 Championship and placed 4th out of 10 wrestlers. This qualifies Jonah to compete in the TN-AAU State Tournament where only the top 4 athletes from each region can compete. During Jonah’s qualifying match, he overcame extreme adversity. He was down four points with 30 seconds left. Jonah was able to flip his opponent and put him on his back where he then pinned him to earn his spot to compete at the state championship.  Congratulations to Jonah and good luck while competing at the state tournament in Knoxville, TN on March 2nd.

Parents, please share student shout outs with me so that we may recognize our students in my blog and morning announcements.

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

I Can Exhale Now!

Sunset in Orange Beach, AL

Thursday and Friday, I worked away from St. Ann so that I could finish the Advanc-ED accreditation process. There is no way I could have worked from St. Ann and met the accreditation deadline for our diocese. I spent those two days completing the narratives, graphs, charts, and surveys that we have been working on for awhile now.  Well, it is done!  About 6:45 pm last Friday, I submitted the final document, which included 33 ELEOT classroom observations; 10 teacher, staff, student, and parent surveys; and 36 attachments of all kinds especially ITBS and easyCBM results.  I'm sure more will need to be done.  But for now, we have met the diocesan deadlines, and the accreditation process has made it to the next level. To all those who contributed in any way, thank you.  I will keep you posted on the progress as it is now in the hands of Superintendent Janet Donato and the Catholic School Office. Please say a prayer that all goes well.  Divine intervention can only help.

My workstation and a pile of
Advanc-ED paperwork when
I submitted the document.

The cameras have been ordered for the school security system. We hope to start the installation process within the next two weeks. Thank you to the donors who are making this possible. School security is of utmost importance. We surveyed our students on school safety as part of the accreditation process. 96% of the 3rd-5th graders and 98% of the 6th-8th graders feel safe in their classrooms. Those numbers are extremely high, and we want to make sure everyone in our school is safe from any possible harm.

The next step is to work with the installers to figure out a way of putting speakers in the hallways, cafeteria, and gyms. We want to be able to communicate with everyone at the school, especially in a crisis situation. They will have to figure out what type of speakers are needed for this project. I lean heavily on Mike Green to help figure out the best route to take on these projects. His expertise provides a positive difference in making decisions on how best to get these things done.

Once I completed the Advanc-Ed
work, I was able to spend time
with family on our mini-vacation.

For those who have contributed to this project, THANKS! Once we figure out the cost of improving the communication system, we will let everyone know. We will need your continued support for these projects because these aren't budgeted projects. As we see the need for improvement, we start working to make those improvements. If we budget these projects, there would be an increase in tuition, and we do not want to increase tuition. We depend on our supporters for these extra projects.

My 7th grade class sampling
Middle Eastern cuisine.

Now, for a not so pleasant topic:

The spike in teenage depression and suicide we have seen nationwide is scary. I had a conversation with one of the lead counselors from Lakeside last week. The conversation was about the huge increase of depression, harmful behavior such as cutting, and suicide with our youth today. My one word question, “WHY?” was answered with her two-word reply, “SOCIAL MEDIA!”

The following is a quote from an article on social media and depression by Caroline Miller, the editorial director of the Child Mind Institute.

"Is using social media making our kids unhappy? Evidence is mounting that there is a link between social media and depression. In several recent studies, teenage and young adult users who spend the most time on Instagram, Facebook and other platforms were shown to have a substantially (from 13 to 66 percent) higher rate of reported depression than those who spent the least time. Does that mean that Instagram and Facebook are actually causing depression? These studies show a correlation, not causation. But it's worth a serious look at how social media could be affecting teenagers and young adults negatively."

Hanging out with my favorite
person at Picnic Beach in
Gulf Shores.

Below is just one of many videos that deals with social media and depression. If you perform a search on social media and teenage depression, you will be shocked as to the amount of information and research there is out there. Just watch this one video, and you can decide for yourself if you, as a parent, need to do more research on this topic.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2018/11/24/study-social-media-increases-depression.cnn

I bring this up because many of our students have Instagram and Snapchat accounts. Few young people are on Facebook because that form of social media is for old people. Parents, if your child has a social media account, and you have access to your child’s social media accounts and monitor those sites; fantastic! You are ahead of the game. If not, please do not be naïve about the dangers of social media. As you know, I’m all about communication and transparency. Spend valuable time communicating (listening) to your children. They need to be heard, and social media is a way for people to hear what they have to say.

Support St. Ann

Follow your children on social media. If they don’t have a social media account, as my Irish friends would say, “Good on you!”

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

St. Ann: Our Mission and Vision

St. Ann Catholic School Mission and Vision Statement

Mission: Our mission is to provide a Catholic education through faith, service, and love.

Vision: We envision a thriving school for all children that will provide a premier education in the Catholic tradition.

This message goes out to everyone who is part of the St. Ann community, especially since our accreditation process takes place in less than two months. I want to share these statements so our greater community is informed. I want you to be aware of the mission and vision statement the St. Ann staff created during the first days of in-service last August. The staff came together to examine and update the school's mission and vision statement, which should be reviewed every year. The last time it was updated was in 2013 when the school was going through the last accreditation process.

7th Graders Taking Geography Test

Our goal in developing new statements was to write an honest statement that could be understood, lived out, and memorized by everyone at St. Ann, especially the students. The previous mission statement was inclusive but too long to be memorized, especially by students. The mission statement answers the question of why we exist. Well, we exist to provide a Catholic education through faith, service, and love. The vision statement is future-casting in guiding us to where we hope to be five years from now. As we look to the future, our goal is to improve the quality of education we offer our students to the point we are offering a premier education to all our students at every level. At present, we provide our students a very good education. We aren't premier yet, but I do believe with a lot of hard work, we will get there sooner than later. What I ask from every teacher, staff member, student, family, parishioner, alumni, and supporter is to help get to where we need to be. Let's become a premier Catholic school for all our students together.

Chess Extracurricular Exploration

At this point, the accreditation process is taking most of my time. With so much yet to be done, the accreditation process hangs over all of us. As the head of school, this is the fifth time I've led a school through the accreditation process. This is nothing new to me. Every five years, the accrediting agency changes the accreditation process to keep up with the changing times. The idea of the process is that work is done on a yearly basis to achieve a five-year goal. There are steps that need to be put into place to be able to reach goals.

Scholastic Book Fair

One of the goals from 2013 was to improve math scores on the ITBS by five normal curve equivalent (NCE) points. This is a great goal to achieve. I wasn't at St. Ann five years ago, so I commend those who set that goal. A five NCE point improvement makes sense; one NCE point for every year of a five-year process. The first year, 2014, huge improvements were achieved, only to drop back near the original scores. The five NCE points were not achieved by any grade after five years. These scores are from the ITBS, which is administered late April or early May. The other two goals dealt with increasing the amount of technology used in classrooms and in classroom instruction.

Scholastic Book Fair

The goals we are setting for this new accreditation process will not be five-year goals but one-year goals. After accomplishing these three goals, we will set three more goals for the following year. If we achieve three goals on a consistent basis, our test scores will improve; everything will improve. In the words of Fr. Ernie, "Improve the quality of the school." That's what we are doing. Sustainable improvement cannot happen over night and cannot be done in a vacuum. Improvement is going to take time, and is going to take us working together.

Library Volunteers

St. Ann Improvement Goals:

1. St. Ann needs to add a school counselor to the staff. The hope is that the school counselor will also be qualified to work as the school’s assistant principal.

2.  St. Ann would like to become a one-to-one school with iPads for grades 2-4. We are already one-to-one in grades 5-8.

3.  St. Ann would like to develop more individualized lessons geared toward the individual students to better serve them.  This is where a counselor and assistant principal would help, especially in breaking down the data and helping teachers create more individualized lesson plans.

Kindergarten Free Play

All the Catholic Schools of this diocese minus the Jubilee Schools are going through the AdvancED accreditation process together. The visiting AdvancED team will be here April 1st & 2nd to meet with all the school leaders. One of their meetings is with parents from all the schools. Lori Locke and Jimmy Crews will be the parents representing St. Ann.

Members of AdvancED School Improvement Plan committee are: Didier Aur (principal), Angela de Jong (development director), Annmarie Ghio (teacher), Teresa Ferrante (teacher), Mike Green (technology coordinator), Susan Hunt (parish administrator), Lori Locke (Home & School president), Liz Wehmeyer (parent and Apple certified teacher), and Fr. William Parham (associate pastor).

Thank you to everyone who completed a teacher, staff, parent, or student survey last fall. These surveys have come in handy in developing goals for the school. We hope to use annual surveys to keep the improvement process going.

Support St. Ann

If you have a little time, please say some prayers for a successful accreditation process. We need and appreciate those prayers.

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

A Thanksgiving Blog

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Click Here to Support St. Ann

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

Transparency: Keeping People Informed

Being Interviewed by Local News

I had a number of people this week, many of whom I never met before, thank me for the culture of trust via transparency we have created at St. Ann. The way to build a culture of trust is to let everyone know what's going on good or bad. Don't hide the truth. If I'm trying to accomplish something you might not completely agree with yet I'm transparent in what I'm trying to accomplish, at least there is an understanding. If I don't let you know what's going on, I'm not developing a culture of trust. A lack of communication usually leads to rumors and mistrust. Instead, fill that void with transparency and communication, and you won't have to worry about rumors and mistrust.

Abe Abuelouf
Being Interviewed

Communication and transparency! That's why this blog. That's why Monday Notes. That's why Flock Notes are sent out by Fr. Ernie, Kathy Schober, and Nicole McGlaughlin. That's why we post as much information possible on the school's Facebook page. That's why there is a Colts Parent Page on Facebook. We are on Twitter @stannschool. We are also on Instagram and YouTube. If we don't have a LinkedIn page, that's next.

Last week's blog received more publicity than all my other blogs put together. Channel 3 and Channel 5 news came out to the school to interview us. People stopped me everywhere I've gone to talk about it. Kelley and I enjoy going to Maximo's on Broad for Friday Night Date Night. Customers and employees alike were talking about it mainly because they know Fr. David Knight. Abe Abuelouf and our staff are heroes, and I come out looking like a genius. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read last week's blog.

The crazy thing is that my blogs receive anywhere from 800 to 3,600 hits. Last week's blog didn't even receive 400 hits. Fewer hits but much more publicity. Funny how that works.

Last week was an extra busy week even though we were off for All Saints Day. I took full advantage of the school being closed on Thursday to lock myself in my office to get some of my work done. We are playing catch up with the AdvancED accreditation process. We are basically having to do five year's worth of work in eight months. With students, teachers, staff, and parents completing the surveys, I'm confident our AdvancED leadership team will be able to create the school improvement plan.

I also worked on paperwork that's been building on my desk. I was taught to do the most important/urgent work first, the important/non-urgent work second, and everything else when you can. I believe I finished the important, the urgent, and some of the everything else.

I also learned from a former superintendent of mine that sometimes, when important/urgent work needs to be done, take a day away from campus, hole up somewhere, and get the work done. That's what I did last Friday. I spent a big chunk of that day at Panera on Stage Road, and worked without any interference. It was nice getting work done, but I missed the blessing of the pets, and my dogs need some major blessing. I did get to treat myself to a Panera breakfast. I do love me some egg & cheese on a plain bagel.

Sewing E.E.

If you were to ask me what are my least favorite things to do as the principal at St. Ann, they would be payroll and paying the bills. I reserve Wednesday mornings to do payroll. The first couple of times I did payroll, it probably took me five hours with more mistakes than I can count. Every time there is a mistake, I can expect a phone call from HR at the diocese. If there is a mistake on payroll, it is no one's mistake but mine. So, I've got to fix it. I don't like to make mistakes, but it happens. Now, I've got payroll down to two hours and only one or two mistakes. The week I don't receive a phone call from HR will be a very good week.

Sewing E.E.

Paying bills I reserve for Thursday mornings so that I can get them to the church office before Friday. Reviewing the bills is probably the day I cringe the most. I've been in Catholic School so long that I know we have to watch every penny. We have to scrutinize every bill to make sure we aren't being overcharged.

Sewing E.E.

Joni Crocker is our controller. So that we can keep a closer eye on our spending, I have asked Joni to add many lines to our budget so we can see how much we are spending with individual companies. I'm hoping this will give us a better idea of how we can save money, and help us build a better budget for next year. Thank you Joni for your leadership with the budget.

Thank you to everyone who responded to our request for the classroom speakers. The response was so enormous that we have more than we actually need. Mike Green is in the process of installing the speakers in the classroom with SMART Boards and also the gym. Installing the speakers with the SMART Board is a bit more complicated because more electrical work is needed. I believe speakers are already installed in all the other classrooms.

PEYOU Tripod for SPARKS

Romana Wendenon, our SPARKS teacher, requested five tripods for the work the students are performing in her class. She purchased one of the tripods herself. We asked some of our families who donated speakers if they could return the speakers they ordered and purchase a tripod instead. We were able to exchange three sets of speakers for four tripods. Thanks to our wonderful donors, this was a win-win for the students and school. Now, Mrs. Wendenon has the tripods she needs for her students.

Sewing E.E.

My favorite Extracurricular Exploration (EE) class this go-around is sewing. It is very practical for our students to learn how to sew. The best part is that it is taught by two of our 8th graders, Lauren Truelove and Ruby Langford. There is interest in having sewing EE class again next time. Starting in January, we will offer volleyball and hopefully scrapbooking. Who can lead scrapbook?

Food Drive List

The St. Vincent de Paul Food Drive starts on Monday and runs for two weeks. The food will be presented on Thursday, November 15th during Mass. Attached you will find a picture of what each class has been assigned to bring.

Also on November 15th, we will host STREAM Night from 5:30-7:00 pm in the school gym. Check the school's website and Monday Notes for more information.

League of Million
Word Readers

I love what Annmarie Ghio is doing with The League of a Million Word Readers. This is a new reading program designed to motivate students to read more, which will develop vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. After reading a book, students take a reading comprehension quiz, which calculates word count. Ms. Ghio's goal is to have 100% of our students in grades 1-8 participate. 3rd grade is at 100% and 1st grade is at 94%. 4th grade had the highest increase in participation (31%) from September to October. Please help encourage your child to participate in the League.

Congratulations to 8th grader Alex Galvez for reaching the one million word mark. He joins Michaela Crews as the first two students to reach that mark. Way to go!

When the opportunity arises, I want to brag on our students for

Dominic Podesta
ATA Champ

accomplishments achieved outside of the school setting. 3rd grader Dominic Podesta competed in the ATA Fall Nationals in Orlando, and earned 1st place in Combat Sparring and 3rd in Traditional Weapons. From now on Mr. Podesta will serve as my dean of students. If you get in trouble, you will have to deal with him.

In my next blog, I hope to address our annual giving campaign, the importance of the campaign, and why it is necessary to have an annual giving campaign.

Support St. Ann

Until then, thank you for following my blog. If you aren't following the school on Facebook, please do so. That's where you will get the majority of the news about the school.

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