2019-20 St. Ann Wish List

We have a number of very generous supporters who asked me to post a school wish list for non-budgeted items the students and teachers need. Below is a wish list the teachers have started sending my way. There will be more items to come and some items have already been gifted to us, so I have taken them off the wish list.

If you would like to contribute to one or more of the wish list items, please CLICK HERE to access our giving page. In the comment section, please designate the wish list item you would like to help purchase.

For the computer lab near the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade classrooms- Califone International CII3068AV10L Switchable Headphones Classpack of 10.  Each set of 10 is $93.13.  We need two sets for a total of $186.26. To be used for IXL and ReadWorks.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013TQ7E50/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

For our growing school band: Used musical instruments in good condition.  If you have a used band instrument you no longer use, we are in need of instruments because the school band is growing, improving, and competing.

Patrick’s Press Quiz Pro Deluxe buzzer system for Knowledge Bowl competition.  The cost of the system plus shipping is $525.  $510 has been donated so for towards the purchase of the buzzer system. We are on $15 away from being able to make this purchase for the Knowledge Bowl team.  http://www.patrickspress.com/buzzers1.htm

BrainPop and BrainPop Jr. are educational websites with over 1,000 short animated movies for students in grades K-12, together with quizzes and related materials, covering the subjects of science, social studies, English, math, engineering and technology, health, and arts and music.  The cost for an annual subscription for the whole school is $2,550. An annual subscription for an individual teacher is $230 for BrainPop and $175 for BrainPop Jr.  https://www.brainpop.com

Starfall was created to teach children to read.  It includes language arts and mathematics for PK-3rd grade.  Starfall’s emphasis on phonemic awareness, systematic sequential phonics, and common sight words in conjunction with audiovisual interactivity has proven effective in teaching emergent readers.  Starfall activities are research-based and align with individual and common core state standards in English language arts and mathematics.  The cost for a school membership is $270.  The PK teachers have added Starfall to the school’s wish list.  

www.starfall.com

Jupiter JTU700 Tuba is the band director's dream. This 3/4 size tuba includes a detachable lead pipe, valve body and bell for easy cleaning and repair, plus durable construction that is perfect for the classroom. The tighter wrap and compact size will not overly tax younger players, while still offering an ample dynamic range and rich, sweet tone. The 378 tuba features stainless steel piston valves for easy action, plus a size, which makes the sound easy to control for beginning tuba player. The Jupiter JTU700 is a full-sounding 3/4 tuba any band director will enjoy hearing hold down the low end.  The cost for this tuba is $3,389.

If you have any questions regarding the wish list, please feel free to contact me at didier.aur@sascolts.org. Thank you.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

Grit

I love the word grit when used to describe students who give their best effort to succeed. It is the effort they give especially when the learning gets tough that helps develop grit. Grit is the mental toughness needed for an individual to achieve success. Angela Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania wrote in her book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance that "grit is a strong predictor of success and ability to reach one's goals."

As an educator, I feel we do a disservice to our students if we do not push them to work harder by reading at higher levels, solving more difficult problems, and grasping deeper concepts regardless of the subject matter. I do not expect my educators to develop easy lessons for the students. Teach with love and compassion, but do not accept lower level work. Push them to struggle. If they struggle and persevere, they develop grit. If they struggle and give up, they aren't developing the grit needed to succeed when the going gets tough. Anybody can succeed when things are easy.

So, a word to educators and parents: do not make things easy on your students and children. Push them to develop grit because we all know people who fold like a house of cards whenever things get tough. They cannot handle the pressure and blame others for their lack of success. Let's help our students learn how to deal with failure and still move forward.

Unfortunately, I did not possess this grit when it came to academics especially when I struggled in school. CBHS was definitely a struggle for me. Thank God I had teachers who would not give up on me and pushed me to succeed. They didn't make it easy on me. They held me accountable. Catching up academically at CBHS was my battle. My parents never dreamed of stepping in and finding a way to make it easier for me academically. That's why they sent me CBHS. They did not want to make it easier for me.  Just the opposite, and I'm glad they did.

I had grit in athletics but not enough for me to fulfill my dream of making soccer my career. I could have used more grit there. But, where I have always had grit is in the work place.

In all the places I have worked since I was a teenager, I have never been the smartest person in the room, but I did and will continue to out-work everyone in the room. I put in more time, energy, and passion into my work and have constantly moved up. I am proud of that. I love to work and I love where I work. And believe me, it takes every bit of time, energy, passion, and love to push forward at St. Ann. Most people wouldn't know this but it is a tough place to work.

For those of you who did not hear nor read my speech to the 8th graders at graduation (check out my previous blog to read the graduation speech), one of the things I focused on was not being afraid to fail. There is nothing wrong with failing if you are working hard to succeed, and you work even harder to pick yourself up and try again. Failure happens. Failure is a part of success.

This is a lesson Kelley and I taught our children early on in life, but we used a different phraseology with them. Instead of saying "Don't be afraid to fail," we would ask the question, "Are you afraid of success?" It was our way of teaching them that they cannot be afraid of dedicating the time and energy needed in order to succeed. Success isn't easy and it shouldn't be. You do not learn nor grow when times are easy. That happens through struggles and hard work; grit.

As a soccer player, if my team scored goals easily, it wasn't worthy of a celebration. Yet, the hard-earned goals are still etched in my mind. I am a believer that a hard-earned D, C or B is more worthy than an easy A. As parents, we need to remember that. Instead of complaining, making excuses, or looking for others to blame for hard-earned grades that are less than an A, we should praise our children for earning the tough grades. And, if they didn't work hard for that D, C, or B, there should be negative consequences involved. Think I was grounded and in summer school most of my high school years. I wasn't the best student. I paid the price. And, it helped teach me a valuable lesson. If you want to succeed, there is a price to pay.

There is something else I've learned about parenting. Do not praise your child(ren) for being smart and/or talented. Ex: You are so smart or I cannot believe how talented you are. Instead, praise your child(ren) for working hard in trying to accomplish a goal. The way I look at it, you might be smarter than me, but I'm going to outwork you. Being smart gets you nowhere if you don't have the grit to see things through.

My parents didn't praise me for doing what I was suppose to do. They praised me when I went above and beyond. I am very thankful for their parenting because they helped create the grit I needed to succeed in the workplace. My children were raised the same way. Through hard work and dedication, they have become the young people Kelley and I hoped they would be. We are extremely thankful. We led by example and our children followed. That doesn't always happen, but it did for us.

Did we make mistakes as parents? Oh God, we made mistakes just as all parents do. But we never fought our children's battles for them. We taught them their battles were for them to fight and overcome. How else are they going to survive and become independent in this world? It is a dog eat dog world out there and we are all wearing milk bone underwear (thanks Norm Peterson from Cheers).

Yes, I have the right to give advice and lecture on parenting. I'm old enough, my children are grown up, and I have worked with thousands of school aged children. I have made mistakes, but I have also learned a lot of lessons. Learn from me so as not to make the same mistakes.

Teach your children to walk on their own two feet. Helicoptering and snowplowing helps no one. No one wants to see their child struggle but the sooner they learn how to fight their own battles, the better off they will be. I've heard several parents at St. Ann use this phrase when their child complains and I love it. "Suck it up, Buttercup. That's life." I heard a great quote last week that makes so much sense. "Don't love your children so much that no one else can."

I love my children and all my students. I love them enough to make sure to teach them to be independent and successful. I love them enough to not keep them from failing. I love them enough to teach them how to get up and keep working to succeed. And, I love them enough to not do it for them. It is hard to step back sometimes. But, it is necessary.

Wishing all children throughout Shelby County a restful and safe summer.

Now, go read a book.

St. Ann...Pray for Us!
Live Jesus in our hearts...Forever!

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

Happy :)

5th Grade Altar Servers with Fr. Bill

I wasn't planning to blog during Easter weekend because there are more important things to do during this weekend, especially to go to church and spend time with family. Between attending services at St. Ann and St. Michael and being with my family, it was a pretty full and wonderful weekend. But, I decided to take part of today to write a blog for this week. I'll take another week off some other time.

I will begin with a realization that struck me

Empty Tabernacle on Holy Thursday

like a jolt when Fr. Ernie left the tabernacle empty at the end of the Holy Thursday Mass. I was actually moved and saddened seeing the empty tabernacle. That's when I realized that when the tabernacle is empty, the tomb is not, and vice-versa; full tabernacle equals an empty tomb. I know for most people it is probably a "duh, of course it is" moment. For me, it was a very moving epiphany. If I got nothing else out of Easter this year, that realization is enough for me in appreciating even more Jesus's sacrifice for us all. Without the resurrection, Christianity would not exist. An empty tabernacle means no resurrection.

That's why the chief priests and elders "gave a large sum of money to the soldiers" to say that "His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep." This is from today's Gospel reading. (Matthew 28:8-15) If they convinced everyone that the resurrection did not take place, then there would be no risen Lord.

As for this blog, you might think that the title of this blog, Happy :), is for Happy Easter. I guess it could be since this is the most important day for all of Christendom. So, I do wish everyone a Happy Easter, and that all of you spent time in prayer giving thanks for the resurrection.

As for the title, it is for another Happy. So, I have an assignment for St. Ann families. Actually, this assignment is for anyone reading this blog. When you are looking for something to do as a family, please take the time to watch the  documentary Happy by Roko Belic on Netflix. The reason I suggest watching Happy as a family is because it is a documentary and some of the younger family members might need just a little explaining about what some of the researchers are saying about happiness. In this fast-paced, self-centered, negative leaning, materialistic world of instant gratification we live in; we many times forget the importance of happiness, compassion, caring, gratitude, love, appreciation, while thinking of things bigger than ourselves, and making the world a better place.

This documentary shows the happiest and least happiest people on earth. The producers/researchers of this documentary traveled the globe to learn more about happiness. We could all use a big dose of happiness and a lot less drama and unhappiness. It is easy to get caught up in a world of negativity. In my family, we call it negativitude. This just means having a negative attitude. Need to replace it with lots and lots of positivitude. Or as Jason Mraz says in his song Have It All, "May the best of your todays be the worst of your tomorrows." Happy is definitely worth watching. If you need some happiness, this might just be the kick start you need. It was a great reminder to me to focus more energy to just be happy.

I was able to spend half of Holy Thursday and all of Good Friday at St. Ann all by myself trying my best to make the school better for next year. We are up to date on teacher contracts for the 2019-20 school year. Still have a few more hires to make because we are growing. I have also completed a big chunk of the budget for next year. There are a few things to add but not many.

With the improvements we have made, people recognize the changes being made to make our school a better place for our students. And, these folks believe in our mission and the work we are doing so they are entrusting their children to our care. This means the number of students and families joining our school is on the rise. We have already surpassed this year's enrollment for next year, and it is still April.

No matter how much we've improved, there are a few families who believe the grass is greener somewhere else and some who don't like the fact that I'm asking the teachers to push the students to the next level. That's fine. My job is not to make everyone happy. My job is to make St. Ann the best school possible. We've made lots of improvements and plan to make even more in the future.

I was once told by a great leader that if I and my actions are universally liked, then I'm not pushing hard enough.

With that being said, my goal is to make St. Ann the best school. Another goal is to be the best principal I can possibly be. I don't show up every day to be average. I don't work hard to just get by. I don't work to bring people on board trying to be mediocre. I do all these things in striving to be the best. And, I'm going to do it through hard work, putting together a great team, and most importantly by being HAPPY! For those who are on board and happy, let's kick this pig, together! In other words, let's get started! Let's get started anew every morning in making St. Ann a better school.

Alumni Spotlight:

Ashlen Cook made the Color Guard team at SBA! SBA is starting a marching band and color guard for the first time starting next school year. Also, the SBA Rock and Soul Band went to Atlanta last weekend for a band trip and performed for the students at Hamilton Middle & High School. In addition, their last concert will be this coming Sunday, April 28th, at Neil's Music Room from 4-6 pm. Cover charge is $5. Ashlen is a vocalist for the band and there are four other St. Ann alums in the band- Jack Conway, Wyatt Packard, Matthew Li, and Andrew Mays.

If you have never been to Neil's, it is a treat. Neil Heins is a great guy and a supporter of Catholic education.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal

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

Preparing in Hope and Courage

School Entrance

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

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

Teacher Lounge is Clean!

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

Kitchen Work Stations Refinished

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

Kitchen Wall Repainted

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

More Kitchen Work Stations

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

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

Kitchen Make Over

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

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

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

Principal's Office (finally)

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

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

Crosses on My Office Wall
Rosary from the Vatican

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

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

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

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

Measuring Success: Class of 2017

"Coming together is the beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."

This post is dedicated to the Memphis Catholic Class of 2017 and the faculty and staff members I have had the pleasure and privilege of working with over the past two years. (#1 below is a list of successes achieved by the Class of '17)

Memphis Catholic Class of 2017

Henry Ford said that, "Coming together is the beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." Success is no accident and there is no secret to success. Success happens when you put your mind, heart, body, and soul into your actions no matter how great or small. It is the result of preparation and hard work. And, success isn't achieved in a vacuum. It takes teamwork.

Administrators, teachers, and staff members work together at Memphis Catholic to educate the nearly 270 students in grades 7-12. These educators have earned a combined 44 degrees from 18 different colleges/universities with 13 educators having earned a master's degree or higher. 13 of these degrees have been earned at the University of Memphis and 10 from Notre Dame. (#2 below is a list of colleges/universities the members of the Class of '17 will be attending)

The reason for the previous paragraph to say these educators came together from everywhere to teach at Memphis Catholic. "Coming together is the beginning."

Principal Kevin Kimberly is one fantastic leader. Is he a taskmaster? Does he expect excellence from his staff and students? Is he intelligent? Is he a no excuse and no nonsense person? Is Memphis Catholic better because he is the leader? Does he love his team and students? And, does all this pave the way to student success? The answer to all these questions is resounding YES! He holds the parents to the same standards as the students and his staff. No one gets a free-pass with Mr. Kimberly. You earn everything you get. He is the leader of the school and he leads from the front. He makes sure that everyone and everything stays together and moves forward. "Keeping together is progress."

Working together is the culture that has been created at Memphis Catholic. Our high schoolers learn to work together through the Education that Works (ETW) program. Even though we are not a Cristo Rey school, we follow their model in that all our high schoolers have an internship. After four years of high school at Memphis Catholic, our graduates will have had four-years of internships (#3 below is a list of all the ETW sponsors). Our students work in some of the top businesses in Memphis. They learn the importance of working as a team. And, they learn at a young age what it takes to succeed in the business world. They work with highly educated and motivated mentors. They know it takes hard work and teamwork to succeed and they aren't afraid of success. "Working together is success."

Is there one reason more than any other the students of Memphis Catholic are succeeding? Yes, there is one reason and it is that the school is Catholic! We are a school of faith. We educate our students because we are Catholic/Christians! We believe God loves us and our schools are here for a reason. We believe that Jesus Christ suffered and died for our sins.

Jesus said in order to inherit eternal life, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27) This is what we do in mind, body, heart, and soul.

Our community is very diverse with students coming from 35 zip codes in the Memphis metropolitan area and 9 different countries. The majority of our students are African-American (58%) with 26% Hispanic/Latino, 7% Caucasian, 5% African, 4% multi-racial, and 1% Asian. Many of our families are either one-parent families or encounter significant financial hardship, or both, but the goal of this school is to provide a Catholic education for students who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it.

The successes achieved by the  Class of 2017 are outstanding and it mirrors the successes of the Class of 2016. The culture has been created and the wheels are in motion to ensure continued success.

Thank you to everyone who plays a part in helping our students succeed from donors to the faculty and staff to the parents to the students to the volunteers to those who pray for us. Thank you.

1. Statistics from the Class of 2017:
35 Seniors
100% graduation rate
100% 4-year college acceptance rate
100% college attendance rate
67 unique colleges
$3.54 million in scholarships
19 Tennessee Hope Scholarships recipients
28 Attended Memphis Catholic H.S. all 4-years
7 attended Memphis Catholic for 6-years
13 National Honor Society members

2. Colleges attending:
10- University of Memphis
4- Southwest Tennessee College
3- Christian Brothers University
3- Philander Smith College
2- Mississippi Valley State University
2- University of Mississippi
1- Austin Peay State University
1- Carson-Newman University
1- Cumberland University
1- Fisher College
1- Freed-Hardeman University
1- Kentucky Christian University
1- Lane College
1- Maryville University
1- Spalding University
1- University of Oklahoma
1- Voorhees College

#3. Education That Works Sponsors
A to Z Construction Services
Adams Keegan
ALSAC
American Residential Services
AutoZone
Baptist Memorial Health Care
Cargill Cotton
Cloverleaf Animal Hospital
FedEx Express
Gerber Taylor
Greystone Servicing Corporation
Interactive Solutions
Kroger
Landmark Community Bank
Le Bonheur
MLG&W
Monogram Foods
nexAir
Pediatric Dental Group
ReTrans
Rhodes College
Southern Eye Associates
St. Paul Gift Store
RGT Management
Southeastern Asset Management
The Day Foundation
Thomas & Betts
Wharton Charitable Trust
Plus 10 Family and Individual Sponsorships

If you would like to join our list of sponsors for Education That Works, please contact me. You will be helping to make a positive difference in the lives of our students.

God bless you,
Didier Aur

Brooks Schollmeyer, Helias Class of 2012

Brooks Schollmeyer is a Helias graduate from the Class of 2012.  His first mission trip was to Memphis as a chaperon.  He hopes to become a Heart's Home missionary and has even traveled to their U.S. headquarters in Brooklyn for a Come and See Weekend.  This blog is about his mission to Memphis.

Brooks Schollmeyer, Class of 2012

Luke 9:23 “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

            That decent anxious feeling was running through me as I sat on the bus headed to Memphis on November 28^th.  Being my first mission trip, as well as being a chaperone, all that I was capable of doing was begging to God to send his wisdom into my thoughts, actions, and words, due to my lack of experience.

            Arriving in Memphis, we ate at an Italian restaurant called Coletta’s.  Ian Thompson who was also a chaperone, sat at my table while we ate.  I was very blessed to have had a conversation with him as he encouraged me in the right direction starting the week off, along with being much help with any advice I needed throughout the trip.

            I came to realize very quickly that his Helias group was selfless towards one another, unloading bags and equipment into the gymnasium, and lending a hand until everyone was situated.

Holy Names Catholic School

When my group and I first arrived at Holy Names Thursday morning, certainly the environment was consisted of heavy poverty.  As we were walking towards the school, Mr. Aur pointed to a couple of houses nearby saying, “That one used to be a crack house, and this one two young boys were shot to death in.”  Keeping this in mind I walked into the school.  Two of my students helped sixth grade math, the other two went to seventh grade English, as I went back and forth between the two.  I must say we didn’t have as many activities to engage/help the students as hoped for, but this didn’t take away the amount of love we received and gave.  They quickly invited us into their discussions and made us feel right at home.  Each one of the students in English class introduced themselves by saying what their hobbies were and what they wanted to be when they grew up.  During their responses, I was hearing their heart cry out.  With hope, they were determined to live a better life than what their parents have chosen and to make them proud.  From wanting to be a doctor, artist, engineer, etc.  They were joyfully thankful to be in school to receive an education, thus they could pursue their dreams.  The teachers were on a mission to give them all they offered.  With infinite love, they were genuine and heart driven to help these kids enjoy school and succeed.  As I walked in for lunch, they all screamed at me to hurry over and sit with them!  They were so excited to be in my presence along with their friends, just giving and receiving love.

Brooks & his team at Holy Names

            Looking up at this big cross in the school with no arms, Mr. Aur tells us about history and the meaning behind it.  “We are the arms of God in this world.”  We are all here to help each other grow with God’s love.

            On Friday, my group and I went to a school named New Hope.  I helped organize school work with Liz Myers.  At first, I thought I wasn’t doing too much help.  She specified to me, “Being with the kids is great because you really sense the good you are doing, but they are grateful for everything you do for them.”  Which made me realize helping in any sort of way is of equal cause.

            The St. Jude Marathon was truly a memorable experience.  Each person was running for their own cause.  In the minds of many, “Let’s punch cancer in the face!”  Many were nowhere near in shape for this journey.  Out of straight willpower, they pushed themselves.  How grateful they were of our action in this event by just handing out water, cheering them on.  This kept me baffled for quite some time as they were my idol.

            This mission trip bears immeasurable fruits that I know I’ll never fully understand.  I have experienced the need of fellowship.  Rich or poor, whichever way life has taken you.  We all long for love by one another and without it, loneliness will take over which will rob us of the true beauty in life.  It is through one another that we see the face of Christ.

            As everyone knows who has been on a mission trip before, it’s a life changing experience.  I do believe, however, it is after your experience that you must take the gifts God has given to you and use it in your everyday life; otherwise you lose the value of it.  My mission simply doesn’t end here.  Jesus invites me to take up my cross daily.  Every day I must die to myself and live for Christ, which is challenging but well worth it.  I encourage others to do the same.  Luke 9:24 “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will save it.”

Memphis 2012 Chaperons

            I decided to go on this mission trip because I feel a heavy calling by God to pursue one, called Hearts Home, that Mr. Aur’s son and daughter have chosen to become a part of.  If this is what the Lord has down his path for me, I will be sure to partake on this mission.

            Thanks to the Helias Catholic students, and chaperones.  I would like to give special thanks to Mr. Aur.  Thank you so much for not only letting me come on this trip, but believing in me as a chaperone with no experience.  I can only hope I met your expectations.  I owe you one.

Grace to you, and Peace,

Brooks Schollmeyer

Final Letter from Heart's Home Mission

Jonathan’s Letter # 4 - May 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

As month nine is coming to an end, we are starting to prepare for my return to the United States. Things have been going hard here and I don’t see it letting up any time soon. As I said in my last letter, Mayra and Yesse finished their missions and went home. There are now four of us here. I currently live with three Argentinians named Guilhermina, Nicolas, and Nany. It has been a big transition period since their departures but things are slowly getting back to normal.

A Different Kind of Mission

On March 18^th, I went with Fr. Arnaud and the new head of Heart’s Home, Fr. Guilherme, to Rio de Janeiro for ten days to work. It was an incredible experience. We worked like crazy with our talks on the radio, lectures, and testimonies in front of large groups, etc. The purpose of our time in Rio was to spread the word about Heart’s Home and that we did. It was an honor to get chosen to represent Heart’s Home in such a way.

Jonathan, Gabby & Kaka

Some More Friends

Ninha - I know I already told you all about Ninha but I just wanted to let you all know that João Guilherme is due June 10. Also, Gabby now can say my name.

W. - When I arrived last July, W. was at our house almost every day. His relationship with our house was as strong, if not stronger than any. He was also a great friend of mine. W. was a great person with only one defect. He was the head drug trafficker of the area. W. didn’t let his work life and his personal life get mixed up too much until one day he killed a co-worker of his. After that day, W.’s life turned upside down. Things just went from bad to worse. We did everything we could to try and get him to leave the drugs and get out the city. A lot of time passed without hearing from W. until one day I received a phone call. It was W.. He told me that he had left the drug industry completely and was living in a city a few hours outside of Simões Filho. It was a miracle. W. was able to do the impossible. I was very happy about what he had done until a few weeks ago I had an encounter with W. again but it was different than our normal encounters. He was runni ng away from the police after robbing a school and was trying to break into our house. It was a very difficult thing that happened, not because he was trying to rob us, but because the life he has reentered will only end in death.

L. - L. is our 17-year-old next door neighbor. She is someone to be looked at as an inspiration to all of us. Lau has 4 sisters who all got pregnant when they were sixteen or younger. She lives in a two room house with her mother. She is surrounded by a world of sex, drugs, and alcohol. But, thankfully, L. has spent every afternoon at our house since the day it opened. She knows our daily prayers better than we do. She goes to church at least 4 times a week. And on top of all this, L. has dreams. This may sound silly to many of us Americans who live in a country filled with dreams but remember, this neighborhood doesn’t exactly produce dreams. L. wants to be a doctor. She says she doesn’t want a boyfriend because that only will distract her. This girl came from nothing but she wants everything. We have already made a promise within our house that we will do anything it takes to make her dreams come true. We have already taken her to the Medical University in Sa lvador and that is just the start of it. L. is truly an example of why we continue when things get tough.

Donha N. - Donha N. is another inspiring woman in our lives. She calls us her white children and she treats us like it, too. Donha N. is a proud mother of nine, is seventy-eight, and lives with her daughter and three sisters. At the age of seventy-eight, Donha N. has still not taken a single day in her life for just her. She passes most of her time taking care of her sisters and daughter. M. , her daughter, has the mental capacity of a toddler due to drugs. B., her sister, has breast cancer. M., her other sister, suffers from a rare skin disease that slowly eats away at her skin. D. N. is never down in the dumps, sad, or without hope. Every time she tells us about something wrong in her life she ends the story with a big smile and the words, “It’s okay because I am in God’s hands and if I stay there, I’ll be good.”

Donha M. - Eighteen years ago, D. M. took in the daughter of a friend who didn’t have the means to take care of her. A few years ago, the daughter became very involved in drugs and prostitution. She ended up getting pregnant. Her son, D., is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen. D. stayed with D. M. every day, all day. The daughter managed to get out of the drugs and prostitution but went straight to the police to clear her name. When her “ex co-workers” found out, they kidnapped, raped, and killed her. Since D. M. is not D.’s real grandmother, she lost custody. She has now lost her daughter and grandson.

Work On Top of Work

A few months ago, four young boys playing soccer at the bottom of the favela were killed by stray bullets. We immediately decided we needed to do something. We now have a project in progress to build a small soccer field in our back yard. This area will also be used for Mass, Permanences, Gatherings, etc. It is a project that will also ensure the safety of our house. It has been a great experience for me to have started this project and carried it to the point I have for the next head of the household and community to continue. It has also worn me out. Our days don’t leave much time for ourselves but the project is all in order. We have also asked for local help on this project. Just this morning I met with the mayor and a city council member to see about receiving help from the city. This is work I never imagined I would be doing throughout my mission but it is more rewarding than I ever could have imagined.

Adrian, Nany, myself, Guillermina

The Last Bit

I received my ticket for my flight back home already. I closed my eyes and just like that, almost ten months have gone by like nothing. My “despedida” (farewell) process has already started. It is my preparation to go back home. It normally takes about a month to say goodbye to everyone and invite them to my farewell mass. It is also a big preparation for the people of the neighborhood as well. It is never easy for any of us to say good bye... especially when we don’t know when the next time will be that we see that person. I am sure many tears will be shed but also many memories made. I will let you all know how it turns out when I have my feet back on American soil. It looks like I will be arriving at the Columbia Airport at 3:00 pm on June 15. Until then!

In Him,
Jonathan Aur