A New Beginning

Taylor Swift said, "This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change." I like this quote, but I think I'll make a minor yet important "change" to her quote. Instead of "And things will change," I will say "And things will improve." As we continue to grow, the improvements we are introducing deal with the folks who join our Colts family. These folks will help make St. Ann a better and stronger school. Our people are our greatest asset.

The Ghio Girls

As we prepare for the 2023-24 school year, the first improvement is moving Annmarie Ghio from her role as a 3rd grade teacher to being our full-time assistant principal. Ms. Ghio participated in a two-year program at Loyola Marymount University where she earned a certification in Catholic School Administration. Ms. Ghio's main role is to serve as St. Ann's reading and writing specialist. Our testing shows that our students perform well above national and state norms in reading with just about all our students performing at or above grade-level. We want to keep improving and taking our students to a higher level of achievement. Thank you Ms. Ghio for saying "yes" to this administrative move.

Liz Wehmeyer is our new 3rd grade teacher. Mrs. Wehmeyer comes to us from Bartlett City Schools where she taught at Alturia. Mrs. Wehmeyer is no stranger to St. Ann. Her son is a St. Ann graduate and her daughter is currently a student. She is also a techie and has been a technology professional development leader for our teachers for the past five year. She and Ms. Ghio are responsible for all the inspirational artwork throughout the walls of the school. They painted another one this summer. Welcome Mrs. Wehmeyer!

The 3rd grade has been growing to the point that we are adding a second class. Our very own Tina Ostrowski will teach that class. Ms. Ostrowski is coming out of retirement for a 3rd time. At St. Ann, she has taught just about every grade, with her last class being the 1st grade. At St. Michael, she was the 3rd grade teacher.  Thanks Coach O!

The Dooley Family

Dakota Dooley will be replacing John Baum as our band director. Mr. Dooley stepped in at the end of last year to take over for Mr. Baum and did a fantastic job. He will teach at both SBA and St. Ann. Thanks for being a Colt and an Eagle.

Looking forward to seeing all our personnel improvements in action.

Let's pray for all our educators everywhere. Being an educator gets tougher every year, and every year more and more people are leaving the teaching profession. I've been doing this for 35 years with every year bringing more expectations, demands, requirements, and challenges. I say, "Bring it on!" I love the challenge of being an educator and making a positive difference every day!

Painted by Wehmeyer and Ghio

"This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will improve." Time to listen to some Taylor Swift on Spotify.

God bless you and love!

Happy New Year St. Ann!

I remember back in my youth thinking that I would be 38 years old at the start of the 21st century. The year 2000 seems like yesterday. Actually, my youth seems like yesterday. At the same time, yesterday seems long ago. Time is funny like that. Now, it is 2020. Where did 2019 go?

I started 2020 by watching the documentary film Pope Francis- A Man of His Word. If you haven't watched this documentary, it is worth the time. I watched it on Netflix. Listen, smile, grow, and love. "We have so much to do and we must do it together." - Pope Francis

Kelley and I spent Christmas break in Orange Beach with family. Nice to get away from all the hustle and bustle of the holidays and just relax where the most important decision we had to make was where we were going to eat. Dining at The Gulf, Picnic Beach, The Steamer, and Fin & Fork makes vacation time easy.

Got a lot of reading in while at the beach. Reading, especially non-fiction, is one of my favorite things to do but it is hard to do during the school year because I spend most of my reading time reading articles and blogs on education. Go figure.

Our View of Orange Beach

I read Unlearning God by Philip Gulley, Rediscover the Saints by Matthew Kelly, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey (actually, I re-read this book for the study skills class), and currently reading Engaging Your Team by David Zanca. The next book on my list is Make Your Bed by Adm. William McRaven.

I want to take this time to say thank you to all the St. Ann families for the many, many, many Christmas gifts I received. You were much too kind and I appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity. I'm enjoying my time at St. Ann. I'm surrounded by wonderful people all day long. This includes the students, staff, and families. St. Ann is a blessing to us all, and I'm blessed to be here.

Sunset at Orange Beach

I have been able to share many of the gifts with those around me especially the food. I have chocolate especially chocolate covered cherries to last till Christmas 2020. I've worn my new U of Memphis cap everyday since receiving it. Have it on right now as I write this blog. Go Tigers! The Barnes & Noble gift card is going to the purchase of Make Your Bed. My wife confiscated my new throw blanket to stay warm. She thanks you. The Folk's Folly gift card went to purchase enough tuna salad, egg and olive, and chicken salad to feed us breakfast and lunch while at the beach. The Starbuck's gift cards will be used for some time to come. I want to use the Amazon gift cards to help purchase a bicycle. I love riding but haven't in a number of years because I need a bike! I live one block from the Greenline. Time to start riding again. Any food item I received was consumed at Christmas parties and on vacation. The blueberry pie was last night's dessert. The doggie treats I will share with my own puppies and the puppies in carpool line. The champagne? That's for me to know. The Visa card will go to a Friday Night Date Night with Kelley. I want to use my Subway gift card right now because I'm hungry, but I left it at home. The Buffalo Wild Wings gift card will be used soon enough. That might be a solo lunch date for me. The farm fresh eggs are the best. Kelley took those as well. Farm fresh eggs at the Aur house is more precious than silver and gold. The homemade raviolis and sauce were the best I have ever eaten. We had those with a pound of steamed shrimp from Blalock Seafood. That meal was a little bit of heaven.

Thank you once again for the Christmas gifts. I think the best part of receiving the gifts is seeing the expressions on the faces of the students when they give the gifts. They are smiling and happy. Where there is a smile, there is hope. Where there is hope, there is love. And, LOVE is what our faith is all about.

May God's blessings always be upon you. And, may all of us continue to share our blessings with others. If we grow a little poorer by helping others, let that be a sign of our love. Wish you much love and happiness for 2020!

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