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

St. Ann Scholarships

In an effort to keep Catholic education affordable, we constantly seek ways to help families with tuition assistance. One fantastic way to accomplish this and at the same time honor people who do or have done so much for others is through scholarships. At St. Ann, we have a number of scholarships set up to help our families. Recipients of three scholarships were recognized at the school Mass this past Thursday and at the 11:30 am Sunday Mass.

Below is a description of each of the three scholarships as well as this year's scholarship recipients.

Sr. Connie Tarello

The Sister Connie Passing on the Faith Scholarship is given in honor of Sr. Connie Tarello for her dedication, service, and commitment to not only the Catholic faith but also to St. Ann. Sr. Connie is a member of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and an active member of St. Ann Catholic Church. She was a first grade teacher at St. Ann from 1971 until her retirement in 2013. This scholarship is awarded to students who are formed and grow in the Catholic faith at St. Ann Catholic School. These students are instruments of God's hands and have proven that they carry on the faith in actions and words. These scholarships also serve to help families as they strive to give their children a Catholic education. This year's recipients are Yoeni Morales (2nd grade), Ryan Cronin (4th grade), and Monserrat Zamudio (7th grade).

This scholarship was originally designated to be awarded to two St. Ann students. Because of the generosity of our donors and the success of St. Ann Trivia Night, three students now receive the Sr. Connie Scholarship. If you would like to contribute to the Sr. Connie Scholarship, you can CLICK HERE and donate online through our website. You can also participate in the St. Ann Trivia Night in the spring. Tentative date for trivia night is Saturday, March 28th. All proceeds from Trivia Night go to support the Sr. Connie Scholarship. If you cannot attend that evening, please consider being a trivia night sponsor.

The Dr. Ruth Dinkins Memorial Scholarship in honor of Dr. Ruth Dinkins for her dedication, service, and commitment to St. Ann. Dr. Dinkins, or "Dink" as her friends called her, was a pioneer in medicine. One of the few women in the 60's to study medicine, she became a pediatric anesthesiologist. She also served in the U.S. Army Medical Corp. She was a practicing doctor, but more importantly was a doctor to her small community in Medina, TN. Serving others and being with family and friends gave her the most joy in life. The purpose of this scholarship is to reward students who honor their Catholic faith and have shown an interest and aptitude towards math and science. This year's recipients are Lio Gomez (3rd grade), Evie Arrington (4th grade), Caroline Parker (5th grade), James Kargauer (7th grade), and Karla Ochoa (7th grade).

The Edward J. Kitts Educational Scholarship is sponsored by the St. Ann Knights of Columbus Council #7170. This scholarship is awarded to a student who exhibits Christ-like characteristics such as kindness, thoughtfulness, and a caring attitude towards their teachers and fellow students. This year's recipient is Christian Varela (Kindergarten).

If you would like to learn more about our scholarships and how you can support St. Ann through scholarships, please contact our development director, Angela de Jong, at (901) 386-3328 or angela.dejong@sascolts.org.

Once again, thank you to all those wonderful parents, grandparents, parishioners, alumni, staff members, and friends of St. Ann who constantly support our students. You are making a positive difference.

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

Click here to catch up on past blogs.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends.

St. Ann Trivia Night Sponsors

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

Sr. Connie Tarallo

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

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

Michael Garibaldi

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

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

DJ and Jamie Naylor
at Celtic Crossing

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

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

Ryan Trimm at Sweet Grass

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

Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman

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

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

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

Sr. Connie and the Mosteller Family

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

Winning Trivia Team

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

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

Support St. Ann

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

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

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