When is Han Solo Going to Slow Down the Millennium Falcon?

If you are a Star Wars fan, you know Han Solo used the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon to make the jump to light speed. I feel like we are on the Millennium Falcon with the hyperdrive fully engaged, going light speed, and not being able to slow down to enjoy the ride. When is Han Solo going to slow down the Millennium Falcon?

After experiencing the most exhausting of all years, this summer leading up to the 21-22 school year has been even more exhausting. If anything, time has accelerated, and we only have one more week to prepare for teacher in-service and the new year. Wow!

The workload for the administrative team is heaviest during the summer. Preparing for the new school year takes place in a two-month span; June and July. The to-do list for getting the school ready has been longer and more involved than any of my previous 33 years in education. The long list isn't just for me; it is for the administrative staff, IT, teachers, maintenance, custodians, fall fest, PRE, and Home & School. Everyone has more on their plate than ever before and busting their tails making sure we are ready.

Life is sure going by quickly, and I don't have the energy I once did. Yet, the workload and number of hours spent at St. Ann continue to increase. Because of this, my hobbies have taken a back seat. Haven't spent nearly as much time on the soccer field or on my bicycle as I wish I had.  After an extra hard day at work, it is sometimes difficult finding the time and energy for either. My trip to ride the Cowboy Trail in Nebraska never did materialize. Disappointing, but glad I live .2 miles from the Greenline, and able to go for a quick ride now and then.

I'm not complaining by any means because I actually enjoy going to work every day. I am thankful to be at St. Ann and work with the most wonderful people. I am thrilled the whole team is on board to make St. Ann the best and continue to build such an incredible culture for our students and families. Our team will walk through fire for each other and the children. For those who might take our school for granted, the grass at St. Ann is a beautiful, lush, deep green.

This year is going to be a mix of pre-COVID and COVID times. It is almost as if we are reinventing education once again. That's why all the extra work. Planning last summer was a monster. We have had to almost completely revise our plans all over again this summer. When we just about have everything figured out, here comes the Delta variant. Yay! This yay is followed with an eye roll, sigh, head shake, and a few expletives. Here we go again.

We successfully and safely made it through last year. We will do it again together this year. Keep calm and persevere. 

If St. Ann is not on your prayer list, please add us. If you normally don't pray, please start. If you already pray for St. Ann, thank you.

Dear God, please give us the faith, strength, fortitude, wisdom, humility, and passion needed to continue to move St. Ann forward, and keep our people safe. Bless us all. Amen.

Hey Han Solo, how about you slowing the Millennium Falcon down a bit! Much appreciate you doing that.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

Update On School Assignments for Next Week

St. Ann faculty members met this morning and many are still here at school working in order to plan how best to continue the teaching and learning process while the school is closed due to the Coronavirus.

Teachers have created or are in the process of creating blogs so they are able to post lessons, assignments, handouts, and videos. Please see the homepage of our website under "TEACHER BLOGS" to see what work is being posted. Only a handful of blogs are listed at this time. As teachers create the blog, we will update the list. Teachers are also sending out emails to the parents to update everyone on assignments.

We are limiting the different online programs to those each grade normally uses: PlusPortal, Khan Academy, IXL, easyCBM, BrainPOP, Istation, ACT Academy, Lyrics2Learn, RQ, ReadWorks, Padlet, Flocabulary, ShowMe…  If we aren’t currently using it, then the teachers probably aren't going to use it. The learning curve of adding a new program will not be helpful to the teachers. One of the exceptions is Starfall. We are sending home activation codes to the PK3, PK4, Kinder, and 1st grade students.

Remote/Distance Learning is something extremely new and different for all of us. It is common for some high schools and all colleges/universities, but not for elementary/middle schools. Even though I am sad we have to close our doors and we will not see the students for awhile, I'm happy about this opportunity for us to learn and grown as an educational community. Our focus is to keep things simple so we may all work together. Some of the things we do might not work, but we won't know until we try them.

I am thrilled with the work my teachers are doing and the positive attitudes as they work during Spring Break because of the love they have for their students. We have an incredible staff of people at St. Ann and it really shows when working through adversity.

Please keep the lines of communication between students, parents, and teachers open so we may support each other in the best ways possible. If there is something you would like to suggest so we may do the remote/distance learning process better, please contact me directly. My email is didier.aur@sascolts.org. We are taking a terrible situation and doing the best we can with it.

The Catholic School principals will meet on Wednesday to discuss future plans and the diocese will make a decision on Thursday regarding re-opening the schools for the following week. We will keep everyone posted.

On Sunday from 2-4pm and Monday from 8-9am, parents are to come to the school to pick up packets with student work and assignments, iPads, Kindles, books, and whatever else teachers want to send out.

Thank you for your support.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

Another Great Catholic Schools Week

Student/Faculty Volleyball Game

Catholic Schools Week 2020 has come to an end, and what an exciting event filled week  we had highlighted by a Mass celebration with Bishop David Talley con-celebrating with Fr. Ernie DeBlasio.  And, what a fantastic Mass that turned out to be with our 2nd graders in charge and doing an awesome job as ushers, gift bearers, and lectors. I'm extremely proud of my students; all of them.  Bishop David was not too bad himself. Loved the way he brought the families together at the front of the church in describing how faith begins with the family and supported by the Church and School. His message was right on the mark. Perfect!

Bishop Talley and the
Montiel Family

I forgot to mention that Thursday was also Grandparents' Day at St. Ann. So, we had a packed house for Mass with the regular daily communicants, the students, staff, parents, and grandparents attending. The reception at the school was also packed. Grandparents and students were spending special time together creating lasting memories. Besides the donuts, bagels, coffee, and juice, grandparents were able to tour the school, visit the classroom, and purchase lots of books at the Scholastic Book Fair.

Catholic Schools Week started with our Open House and ended with the faculty once again coming out victorious in the Student/Faculty Volleyball Game. Thanks to the great play of Deborah Harty (the game's MVP two-years running) and great coaching from Tracy Angotti, the faculty made quick work of the students.

Selfie with Bishop Talley

In between those events, we had the Geography Bee, which was won by Vincent Ho (two-years in a row); Pajama Day, which brought in about 100 pairs of pajamas for Catholic Charities; School Spirit Day; Red, White, and Blue Day; Favorite Team Jersey Day; Student Talent Show, which was won by Zoe Geronimo; Priest Appreciation Day; Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day; and the Scholastic Book Fair, which raised over $1,000 for the school and promoted reading with our students, which is the single most important academic skill.

New 1st Grade Desks

Thank you to all those who took part in Catholic Schools Week. A special
thank you to Selina Trouy and Jennifer Burnett who keep the school going throughout all these events, taking care of students' needs, answering what seemed like hundreds of daily phones calls and emails, assisting dozens of school visitors, and making sure everyone is where they need to be. The work they do is immense and the love they do it with is immeasurable. Also, thank you to all the parents who help make Grandparents' Day a wonderful and joyous day.

Bannister Family at
Grandparents' Day Mass

In the middle of all these activities, the new 1st and 2nd grade desks and chairs arrived from Knowledge Tree. Thank you once again to the Stuppy Family Foundation for purchasing the desks and chairs for our students. Last year, the Stuppy Family Foundation purchased new students lockers for our 8th graders. They have been very good to our students and school. If you would like some of the old desks, come on by and pick up a few. They are yours for the taking while they last.

Support St. Ann Catholic School

This week, we are back to business as usual. Hoping to be able to not add to my to-do list, but I know that isn't going to happen.

Have a great week everybody, and thank God for all the blessings He has
bestowed on St. Ann Church and School.

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

What I Hope to be Thankful For!

Considering it is Thanksgiving Break, one would assume I would write a customary "What I'm Thankful For" blog. Since it isn't like me to do the expected or usual thing, I decided to make this a "What I Hope to be Thankful For" blog. My reasoning for this change is we work so hard today in order to obtain certain positive outcomes tomorrow. Today we sow; tomorrow we reap, especially for the sake of our children.

We envision a thriving school for all children that will provide a premier education in the Catholic tradition. As our vision statement looks to the future, I'm future-casting my thankfulness.

With that being said, I hope to be thankful for (in no particular order):

• our students to continue to grow and succeed in faith, service, and love.
• the continued improvement of the education we offer.
• student enrollment to continue to climb.
• being able to keep our incredible faculty and staff together.
• teachers who continue to look for opportunities for the students to learn, grow and experience the world outside of the classroom setting.
• teachers who continue to use innovative classroom lessons if they believe it will help students succeed.
• having the resources to provide our teachers with the training necessary to better serve students.
• the increase of alumni giving back to St. Ann in order to help current families with tuition assistance.
• our friends to continue to support through in-kind giving and helping to fulfill our wish list.
• the growth of our annual giving campaign to the point we can actually decrease tuition.
• St. Ann Church and School to be seen as one.
• the growth of St. Ann Church and School together.
• adding two sections of every grade.
• being 1-to-1 in technology in all grades.
• providing our students with more individualized learning opportunities.
• all students to participate in SPARKS.
• all students having more opportunities for project-based learning.
• having the resources to provide our teachers with the training necessary to better serve students with dyslexia.
• having the resources to provide our teachers with the training necessary to better serve students on the autism spectrum.
• an increase in Title I funding for professional development.
• having two plays each year that involve more students and are funded through sponsorships.
• all students participating in extra-curricular activities.
• an increase in tutoring opportunities for our students.
• the new HVAC system for the classrooms still on the boiler system.
• for continued parental involvement especially in being the students' first teacher.
• some of our families to be able to use Education Savings Accounts (ESA) to attend St. Ann.
• expanding service opportunities to include parents, alumni, and parishioners.
• expanding service opportunities with Ave Marie, Catholic Charities, and Room in the Inn.
• a week-long vacation to the Cayman Islands for the school principal.

Of course, there's a lot more I hope to be thankful for.

The faculty, staff, parents, volunteers, and supporters work hard every day to make St. Ann a great school for our children. We are life-long learners and want our children to be life-long learners. The work we put in now will have an impact on the future; their future. So, let's work hard together to make these and many more "hope to be thankful for" a reality.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

Thank You Fall Fest!

St. Ann Fall Fest 2019 has come to a close. Fall Fest is like no other parish fun-raising event anywhere. In just its second year under the leadership of Jamie Coggins, Stephanie Nichols, and Kathy Schiavone, this event has grown from a 3-day, 1 weekend event to an 8-day, 3 weekend celebration.

I want to thank Jamie, Stephanie, and Kathy for their work on making Fall Fest an incredible event for our parish. I attended every event; opening ceremony, Italian dinner, outdoor festival, vendor fair, food truck fair, concerts, and basketball, golf and bowling tournaments. I had a great time at all the events.

By the way, I hadn't bowled in about twenty years, and it definitely showed. But, I was with a great team consisting of Seth Nichols, Ethan Nichols and Corbin Kirkland. They more than made up for my lack of bowling anything. Ethan even took time to give me some pointers, which led to a few spares and strikes. Thanks Ethan. Time for some bowling lessons and practice before next year's tournament.

Putting on the Fall Fest is no easy chore. These ladies put their heart and soul into making Fall Fest a success for the parish. Fall Fest helps the school keep tuition as low as possible. Their work helps families struggling to pay tuition, which is probably about 90% of our families. Paying Catholic School tuition is no easy feat and takes sacrifice; family sacrifice. Boy, do I know.

Fall Fest is the main fundraiser for the parish but it is much more than that. It is an opportunity for St. Ann to show the community what a great parish we are. It gives us the chance to put our best foot forward. It is a golden moment for us to evangelize to those who may be looking for a church home. The Fall Fest is the occasion we need for all of us to say "We are St. Ann! Come join us!"

I bet most of you never thought about Fall Fest this way. If you were to look at Fall Fest as the parishes' great opportunity to help others, would you be more likely to volunteer, donate, and participate?

I'm looking forward to St. Ann Fall Fest 2020. I look forward to working with these three incredible women. I look forward to car raffle tickets, golf, basketball, bowling, eating Italian food, listening to great music, volunteering, donating, and the many other things that will be asked of all of us by the Fall Fest committee.

Most of all, I look forward to showing everyone what a great parish we have at St. Ann. And, I pray that through our actions others find a home at St. Ann. "Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father." - Matthew 5:16

Jamie, Stephanie, and Kathy, you are ANGELS. Thank you for helping to make St. Ann a great place to be. Your work is a ministry and you are God's hands and feet.

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

Click here to read previous blog.

What Makes St. Ann a Catholic School is...

St. Ann Students at
Madonna Learning Center

Even though this is only my second year at St. Ann, this is my twenty-eighth year working is Catholic Schools (and my thirty-first in education). I have to admit that I need to sometimes step back and remind myself that St. Ann is a Catholic School first and foremost. Even though I never forget that it is a Catholic School, I sometimes have to remind myself what being a Catholic School means, and it is not just having Catholic in the school's name.

So, I thought this would be a great topic for this week's blog: What Makes St. Ann a Catholic School... 

Colts Running Club at
Autism Awareness Run

The most important thing we do during the week is to attend Mass every Thursday with Fr. Ernie. During the school Mass, 5th-8th graders sing in school choir, serve as Altar Servers, and students in grades 1-8 serve as lectors. The students also run the AV equipment for our school Mass. Mass with Fr. Ernie also becomes a Catholic question and answer session. This has become a neat part of our Mass.

Prayer is an important part of being a Catholic School. We pray the Rosary together on the first Friday of every month. We begin the school day praying the WIT Prayer followed by the Act of Contrition. We end every day praying the Hail Holy Queen (Salve Regina). We also pray before lunch.

Colts Running Club at
FedEx Family House Run

We also recite the school mission statement after the prayers and Pledge of Allegiance. "Our mission is to provide a Catholic education through faith, service, and love." The staff rewrote this mission statement last year and reviewed it again this year to make it reflect what we do every day.

Our 7th and 8th graders partner with Ave Maria Home to do service projects to help the residents and improve the grounds. This is part of the service work our 7th and 8th graders need for confirmation. Even if the students aren't going through confirmation, they are still required to perform these service hours.

During the school year, the 2nd graders prepare for first reconciliation and first communion.

Cop Stop

The 8th graders study Theology of the Body in the spring. They have also started a new program called Angel Wings. The 8th graders do this every Friday morning. The students write letters and prayers for teachers they appreciate. On Friday morning, they put on their angel wings and go read their prayers for the teachers. It is nice having students praying for the teachers.

St. Faustina Youth Society volunteers at Room in the Inn to feed the homeless, Madonna Learning Center, Shepherd's Haven, Ave Maria, and St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry. They have fed first responders in our community, participated in Cop Stop through the Bartlett Police Department, and taken food to the Bartlett Fire Station on Alturia. The students of St. Faustina also pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet once a month.

Collecting Food for SVdP

Volleyball teams supported Dorothy Day House a couple of weeks ago by raising money and collecting needed items.

Every Catholic teacher became certified Eucharistic ministers under the guidance of Jerri Hess.

Colts Running Club participated in charity runs for Autism Awareness and FedEx Family House.

Journalism Club raises money for St. Jude in the fall and Catholic Charities in the spring. They also organized a book drive also for Catholic Charities and diaper drive for Birthright.

Reading Adventures with PDO

The school hosts Trivia Night every spring for the St. Connie Scholarship Fund to help families with tuition assistance.

8th graders team up with Kindergarten students in our school's Big Brother, Big Sister mentoring program.

The 3rd graders partner with students at Parents' Day Out in Reading Adventure with Ms. Cindy's students.

Praying the Divine Chaplet

The Beta Club members prepare Christmas boxes for children in poorer areas. Their boxes went to Ecuador and Peru last year through Samaritans Purse.

Don't forget all our students have religion class, daily. They are taught the importance of prayer. They learn about God's love for them. And, they are active in helping those in need.

Yes, there is more to being a Catholic School. This is just a start. No, we aren't a perfect Catholic School. No, we will never be a perfect Catholic School. Yes, we will continue to strive to improve in our Catholicity. Yes, we will continue to be a Catholic School first and an educational institution second.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

Donor Luncheon

Thank You Donors!

St. Ann family and friends are very supportive and are an extremely necessary part of our school. Because of the generosity of those who support St. Ann Catholic School, we have been able to hold steady on tuition from last year. We hope to hold steady again for next year. We won't know if this is possible until March of 2020 when we put the budget together. If we can follow the plan we put in place for each department to not go over-budget, we will probably be able to hold where we are on tuition. To me, Catholic education needs to be affordable and available to all who want to be a part of St. Ann.

St. Ann Donor Luncheon

The cost of operating a school goes up every year. So, how can we expect to hold steady on tuition? The answer to that question is that our donors make this possible. Simple. No secret formula. No magic spells. No complicated master plan. Our donors provide the school with gifts to make financial aid possible in order to help families needing tuition assistance. Our donors fulfill teacher wish lists to better help educate our students. Our donors pay for school improvements, renovations, and updates. Our donors purchase classroom furniture. Our donors enable us to improve school security. Our donors help us keep current on technology... You get the picture.

St. Ann Donor Luncheon

Because of what all our donors do for St. Ann, we are able to hold tuition steady. Donors pay for all non-budgeted items the school needs. If we add those items to the budget, the per pupil cost would increase. The per pupil increase would reflect on the tuition. The lower the per pupil cost, the lower the tuition.

We just need to continue to work hard to improve our school (Good things come to those who work hard and never quit.), stay true to our mission statement (Our mission is to provide a Catholic education through faith, service, and love.), stick to our philosophy of transparency (the reason this blog exists), include our families in day-to-day operations, continuously develop an already incredible faculty and staff, and do all this while keeping Christ and our students first.

This past Thursday, St. Ann hosted a donor luncheon. We wanted to bring our donors together to

St. Ann Donor Luncheon

simply say "Thank You" because without you, not sure St. Ann would still be here. Thank you for your faith, service, and love.

Sixty of our donors where able to break away from their busy lives to come tour St. Ann, have lunch together, and allow us the privilege of appreciating their commitment to St. Ann. It was a great day for school. For some of our donors, they had not been in the school building in decades. For others, this was their first time to visit the school.

Thank you parents, grandparents, alumni, parishioners, and friends of St. Ann Catholic School for your support. Thank you for helping to improve the lives of our students. Thank you for helping to keep our tuition affordable. Thank you for helping our teachers educate our students. Thank you for valuing a Catholic education. And, thank you for your love.

If you would like to support the students at St. Ann Catholic Schools, here are some ways you too can help.

Annual Giving

Sister Connie Passing on the Faith Scholarship

Alumni: Click Here to share your information with the school

Wish List Part 1

Wish List Part 2

If you have questions on how you can support St. Ann Catholic School, please contact Angela de Jong at angela.dejong@sascolts.org. Mrs. de Jong is our development director.

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

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