A Visit to St. Ann

Imagine a beautiful spring day. A young family comes to visit St. Ann. They have a 4-year old daughter walking in with them. The father is busy trying to control and entertain their 2-year old son in his arms. The mother has a beautiful newborn baby girl strapped tightly and sleeping quietly against her chest. They are new to the Bartlett area and looking for a Catholic home for their family. They are filled with excitement and some anxiety as they look for just the right school. Their daughter has not yet attended school because of the unknowns brought about from the pandemic. Now, it is time to let go and do something they have looked forward to yet dreaded for the some time now.

As they enter the school, Mrs. Westrich is the first to greet and welcome them to St. Ann. They have spoken on the phone in setting up the visit but have never met. They are quickly off on a tour where the parents meet Mrs. Morgan and Ms. Farm, our PK4 teachers. They see the PK4 students busy at work in the classrooms. As they are walking down the hall, they meet Mrs. Slattery in the computer lab where she has a wonderful and hilarious St. Ann story to share. They hear the children singing in Mr. Cooper's class and see them drawing in Ms. Lola's. A quick peek in the gym and they see Coach Angotti leading her students through a stretching exercise. They meet Fr. Ernie as he is heading back to his office after morning Mass. They are so thrilled and excited about their child attending at St. Ann.

As they come back into the office to get more information and learn about the enrollment process, there is still one question they have to ask. They know the cost of tuition because they read through the whole website. Being a young family on a single-income, they know they will need financial assistance to be able to afford to send their daughter to St. Ann.  As the father kind of shuffles back and forth, looking down at his feet, it is time for the question they have been afraid to ask. "Is there any financial aid available to help us?" For a few seconds, they hold their breath and anxiously await an answer.

How many of us have gone through exactly what this family is going through? Remember that feeling of not knowing if you would be able to afford to send your child to a Catholic school? How about the conversations regarding the sacrifices we were willing to make to give our children the best education possible? What if there is no financial aid available to help us? What will we do? What if there was no alumni support, no generous friends, no philanthropic families, no giving foundations, no annual fund drive, no fundraising events, and no Fall Fest to help families wanting a Catholic education for their children?

There are so many families who need your support to be able to send their children to a Catholic school. They want what's best for their children, but it is hard for young families to materialize money when they are starting their professional lives, raising children, and working to make ends meet.

Because we do have fantastic alumni support, generous friends, philanthropic families, giving foundations, an annual fund drive, fundraising events, and Fall Fest, we are able to provide tuition assistance to nearly 100 of our students.

Now, back to our question from the young family asking about financial aid. Mrs. Westrich's reply: "Yes, we have financial aid available. When you fill out the online registration, you can also fill out the financial aid form as well. Once we have all the information, we can evaluate and determine the level of financial aid you will need."

Thank you to the many alumni, friends, families, foundations, volunteers, donors, and supporters who come together to make Catholic education a reality for all families. Last school year's donor board is going up on the donor wall this week. As we kick off the fundraising for the 2021-22 school year, we would love to see your name on the donor board. Come join us. We need your love, kindness, and support. You give families hope and all of us a brighter future.

Click on the St. Ann seal to support a St. Ann family.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

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

2020 St. Ann Fall Fest Blog

This week's guest blogger is Stephanie Wilson Nichols. Stephanie is one of the St. Ann Fall Fest co-chairs. She is a freelance journalist, public relations/marketing consultant and event planner. She is the mother of two St. Ann alumni, Conner Nichols, 2013, and Seth Nichols, 2015 and an incoming seventh grader, Ethan Nichols.

We’ve all heard the proverbial phrase that begins, “When life gives you lemons.” Well, I think it’s safe to say that we have all been given our fair share of lemons over the last several months with this global pandemic. And, the annual St. Ann Fall Fest is certainly not immune.

The Fall Fest Team

So, let’s go back to March when all things as we knew it went awry. The Fall Fest team (Jamie Coggins, Kathy Schiavone and I) had a discussion. “Surely, this won’t affect the Fall Fest,” we said. “It’s seven months away,” we said. Then April rolled around. We stood our stance. We kept planning. Then, it was May. We channeled a song from our scheduled Live on the Field concert headliner Starship featuring Mickey Thomas, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” And we kept working. When June arrived, lemons kept falling from the tree. Sponsors weren’t comfortable committing. Many of them were just reopening for business. Ticket sales had slowed as people feared not only the Covid-19 virus, but also whether or not the event would even take place. But we persisted. By July 1^st, Shelby County was talking of going back to Phase I. The forecast was calling for a 100 percent chance of gloom and doom as the number of cases continued to rise. So, the three of us gathered. We put on our masks and put together our best Covid-19 Preparedness Plan and submitted it to the Shelby County Health Department.

The verdict came quickly. In a word, No. Well, that isn’t entirely true. It was a yes, if we could limit the entire festival to no more than 499 people and track the identity of every person that attended in case anyone tested positive within 14 days of the festival. Oh, and a whole host of other caveats. So, we are back to the “No.”

So, what did we do? We did what the second part of that proverbial phrase says. We took all those lemons and made a big pitcher of lemonade. Or at least, that’s what we’ve tried to do. Whether or not it will truly be lemonade will depend on all of you. Your support. Your participation. We will do everything we are physically able to ensure its success, but we need cheerleaders, post sharers and we need everyone to get involved. Not for us. For the school and the church. For you. This is the only fundraiser we have, and neither entity can afford the hit.

So, what’s the new plan? We are calling it St. Ann Fall Fest “Masked Edition.” This modified version of the original festival includes six events. They are: $10,000 Cash Raffle; Curbside To-Go Virtual Italian Dinner and Online Auction; Virtual 5K; Golf Tournament; and Bowling Tournament.

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$10,000 Cash Raffle

The $10,000 Cash Raffle will be run just as the past car raffles have with tickets available for sale online at www.stannfallfest.org/home/schedule/raffle/ for five dollars each. Tickets will also be available for purchase at the Parish Office, 6529 Stage Road, Bartlett, Tenn., 38134. St. Ann parishioners and St. Ann School families will also be given tickets to either purchase or sell. As in years past, the school families will compete for cash and prizes. This year, we are adding P.R.E. families to the mix, asking each family to sell or purchase tickets. The drawing will be held Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020 after the 11:30 a.m. Mass – around 12:30 p.m., at the St. Ann Courtyard. Ticket holders do not have to be present to win.

Curbside To-Go Virtual Italian Dinner & Online Auction

Since we may not gather on campus inside the school gymnasium as we have the past two years, we are taking the dinner to the street! Well, sort of. We will be offering a choice of three adult and three children’s meals available for curbside pick-up at Coletta’s Italian Restaurant, 2850 Appling Road, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020 from 5:30-7 p.m. All dinners must be pre-ordered and pre-paid either online at www.stannfallfest.org/home/schedulue/virtual-italian-dinner/ or at the St. Ann Parish Office. Adult dinners are $20 and children’s dinners are $10. The event will be broadcast live on the St. Ann Fall Fest Facebook page beginning at 6:15 p.m. whereby Rev. Ernie DeBlasio will give the official blessing. The Online Auction items up for bid will be previewed and will be available for online bidding beginning at 5:30 p.m. The auction will close on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020 at 5 p.m. NBC’s The Voice’s Mandi Thomas will be on hand to perform classic Italian and Opera favorites at Coletta’s!

Golf Tournament

The Golf Tournament will be held as previously scheduled on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020 at Quail Ridge Golf Course, 4055 Altruria Road, Bartlett, at 8 a.m. A four-person scramble, the tournament will be held according to the current (10/16/20) Shelby County Health Department Guidelines. Registration is $80 per person and may be done online at www.stannfallfest.org/home/schedule/golf-tournament. Golfers will receive breakfast and a to-go box lunch, along with Tiki Bar snacks and beverages. Contests will be held for Hole-In-One, and other skills, with grand prizes. Teams finishing first through third place will be awarded prizes. Sponsors needed. See sponsorship packages online.

Virtual 5K

A Virtual 5K will be held throughout the day on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. Where? Wherever you are! Another state? Country? No problem! Sponsored by Lance Jolly, field agent, Knights of Columbus Insurance, this virtual event allows registrants to run/walk wherever they wish at any time throughout the day. Not a walker or runner? No problem. Sign up to be a Spirit Runner and join us “In Spirit!” All registrants who sign up by Oct. 7, 2020 will receive a Virtual 5K “Masked Edition” T-Shirt. Participants are invited to send pictures from their event (email and text number included in race packet) to be published on Fall Fest social media. If participating competitively, please take a picture of your completed time of 3.1 miles and send to the email address provided. Registration is $25 and may be completed at www.stannfallfest.org/home/schedule/virtual-5k-race/.

Bowling Tournament

The last of the events, the Bowling Tournament will be held a week later on Oct. 24, 2020 at Billy Hardwick’s All Star Lanes, 1576 S. White Station Road, Memphis, 38117. The tournament will mirror last year’s event with both scratch and handicap divisions with prizes for first place winning teams of each. Teams are comprised of four bowlers and registration is $35 per person and may be done online at www.stannfallfest.org/home/schedule/bowling-tournament/. Door prizes, auction items and entertainment. Sponsors needed. See sponsorship packages online.

So, there you have it! The newly modified plan to ensure funds are raised for both St. Ann Catholic Church and School amidst a global pandemic. It isn’t what we had hoped for, or planned for since October of last year. While we will miss the live music, carnival rides, food trucks, vendors, artists at work, chili cooking, camaraderie and drawing for a car, we will have it all again. In 2021. In fact, we’ve already set the dates. But for this year – we adjust. We make the best of the hand we’ve been dealt.

But now what? Get involved! Sign up! And while you’re at it, let’s all raise a glass of that lemonade and toast to the future success of the St. Ann Fall Fest “Masked Edition!”

Sincerely,

Stephanie Nichols

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.

Fall Fest and the School

The importance of transparency in the workplace cannot be overstated. I learned this years ago when I first became a school administrator. I quickly learned that being a Catholic School administrator is much more than knowing about curriculum, instruction, and student discipline. It is about being accountable to everyone, leading by example and faith, developing relationships, working with parents, building a development network, hiring the best people possible, creating a great team, and becoming a trustworthy leader.

In order to learn more about leadership, I turned to leadership experts for help. I started reading leadership books by John Maxwell, Jon Gordon, Stephen Covey, Jim Collins, Patrick Lencioni, Joel Manby, and The Arbinger Institute. I listen to Minute with Maxwell every morning when I arrive at St. Ann. Been doing that for years. My favorite leadership books are The Energy Bus and Soup by Jon Gordon and Love Works by Joel Manby.

These leadership gurus have many commonalities in their leadership styles. One of several commonalities that stuck with me was transparency. You have to be transparent in what you do or you are going to do whatever you do all alone with no support. No matter how good your idea, you will be on your own unless you keep your team informed and included on what's going on. If you want to succeed and do what's best for the company, you need to be transparent. Transparency creates trust and leads to success.

This brings me to the St. Ann Fall Fest and here's the transparency part regarding Fall Fest and the school budget. The budget for the the 2019-20 school year is a little less than $1.8 million. Most of the school's income comes from tuition. But, with 59% of the families receiving financial aid, there's a pretty big income gap that needs to be filled. The single biggest income gap filler is the St. Ann Fall Fest.

We projected the Fall Fest would make up $50,000 of the school's income gap. That's what it did last year, and hope to repeat that this year. We need for Fall Fest to at least make up that gap because that's what we put in the school's budget.

When the Fall Fest organizers ask the school families to sell raffle tickets, this is why. When they ask us to sell even more raffle tickets on top of the tickets already sold, this is why. The car raffle was the single biggest ticket item and income producer last year. Period! With the choice of one of two cars this year, we anticipate the car raffle ticket sales to be higher than last year. As of today, we are actually down by about $5,000 on the car raffle. That's 1,000 $5 raffle tickets less than last year.

If you haven't purchased car raffle tickets, please consider buying a pack of 10 tickets. We have them in the school office. Come on by.

If you have friends, acquaintances, co-workers, and/or relatives who would like a chance to win a car, please consider selling them tickets.

For more information, call the school office at (901) 386-3328 or visit the Fall Fest website at https://stannfallfest.org/. For more information regarding the car raffle and to purchase raffle tickets online, visit https://stannfallfest.org/home/schedule/raffle/.

If you are unable to purchase raffle tickets, come by this weekend and join us at the best party in Bartlett, TN at the St. Ann Fall Fest.

Thank you for supporting St. Ann Catholic School.

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

Click here to read previous blog.

Award Winning Colt Band

Award Winning Colt Band

As the bus carries the St. Ann Concert Band back to Bartlett from the Music in the Parks band competition in St. Louis, MO, I'm taking advantage of the bus WiFi to write my blog. The bus isn't just bringing home the Colt Band, it is bringing home the award winning Colt Band! After their best performance of the year, the Colt Band earned a 2nd place finish while receiving a rating of Excellent in the competition!

Getting Ready to Compete!

I have the opportunity of listening to our band perform every day because choir and band take place every day at St. Ann for the 5th-8th grade. And for the 6th-8th grade band members, they have been working with Mr. Baum at the end of the school day in the Extracurricular Exploration class. They have put in a lot of work and it has paid off. The students rose to the level of the competition and played beautifully. I'm super proud of our band students and the performance they gave. I'm looking forward to the spring concert on Thursday, May 2nd, at 6:30 at St. Ann Church. Both the band and choir will be performing at the spring concert. The concert is open to the public. Please join us.

Showing Off Our Trophy

Want to thank Mr. Ryan Cooper for stepping in at the last minute to accompany the band to St. Louis to fill in as conductor for John Baum. Mr. Baum decided he should have a mild stroke this week so that he wouldn't have to travel to St. Louis for the competition. Instead, he went to St. Francis for treatment. Fortunately, he was only there for one night and then back home. We are putting Mr. Baum on a diet and exercise regimen. We need him healthy and eating no more chocolate from the school office or drinking Mountain Dew; only water, carrot sicks and celery. That goes for me as well. We love Mr. Baum and don't want anything to happen to him. He is a shining jewel for SAS and our students. A healthy lifestyle begins tomorrow, but definitely not today.

Wonder Women, SAS Moms

Many of the band parents joined us on the trip, and had a wonderful time. We spent all day Saturday at Six Flags riding the rides. I believe many of the parents enjoyed Six Flags as much as the students did. Marquinet Hence, Lori Locke, Lauren Damore, Steve Sones, and Ryan Cooper rode just about every ride in the park besides the kiddie rides.

I rode the Batman, Ninja, Boomerang and Screamin' Eagle. That's when this old body of mine needed a break.  The Screamin' Eagle just flat-out beat me up. After that, I had to sit for awhile and recover. I spent the day at an amusement park and didn't eat a pronto pup, funnel cake, or turkey leg. That might actually be an un-American thing to do. Don't know what I was thinking. Think the rides scrambled my brains a bit. Need to make up for that at the St. Ann Fall Fest. Will there be turkey legs at the fall fest? Need to add that to the menu. Just sayin'.

Click to View 2020 Schedule

We are already planning the trip for next year. Mr. Cooper said that next year we will need two buses because the choir will also be going. Love it and cannot wait. We will shut down the middle school for the competition. I have already checked out the Music in the Parks locations and dates for 2020. I would like for St. Ann to participate in Music in the Parks at a different location every year so that our students have a different experience every year.

After Conquering the Ninja
(Looking a little green)

Mrs. Metaxas and the fifth graders went to Nashville. Mrs. Griffith and the sixth graders went to Discovery Park in Union City. The 7th graders went to the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, MS. The band went to St. Louis. The 8th graders will be going to Washington D.C. We are making plans for an even bigger and better 2019-20 school year. What I'm hoping to include is a mission trip for next year's 7th and 8th graders. I will start working on that this summer. Need to take our bowling team to compete somewhere fun. Coach Angotti and Coach Fillion, please start researching to find a tournament. I'm sure there is an elementary/middle school bowling tournament in Hawaii, Key West, or the Bahamas. Once again, just sayin'.

On another front, this week is ITBS/CoGAT/ACRE/easyCBM week!

A Photo Bombing Opportunity!

Yeah! Aren't we all excited?! Anyway, the students will be testing all week this week. We are moving the Rosary to Wednesday afternoon instead of the morning so that the morning will be used for testing. It is better to test in the morning than afternoon.

Friday's Colt-a-thon and field day will be a welcomed relief for everyone. This will be followed by the 7th/8th grade dance that evening. So, we have another action packed week of hard work and excitement ahead of us. Get fired up and excited. Be positive and energetic. Stay focused and attentive. This week will be an extremely worthwhile week for St. Ann as we continue to improve by giving our best effort. Let's get this done without anyone being a Drama Llama.

See you in morning!

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

The Meaning of Success

Success means something different to each of us, and our meaning of success changes from day to day. On this beautiful Sunday, success to me means an incredible 2018 St. Ann Fall Fest. Wow, what an incredible Fall Fest we had this past Friday and Saturday!

The Sky Over Fall Fest- Beautiful

Hats off and a standing ovation to Stephanie Nichols, Jamie Coggins, and Kathy Schiavone. Over the past year, these three ladies have given up a good chunk of their lives to make sure the St. Ann Fall Fest would be a success. Ladies it was a huge success. Thank you as I bow to you for what you have done for St. Ann Catholic Church and School. Starting with the golf tournament and ending with the Wolfchase Hyundai car give-away and 5th Kind playing great 80's music, the Fall Fest could not have been any better. And yes, there was great music in the 80's.

My Golf Team

American philosopher Dennis Myers once said, "Some dream of success while others work hard to make success happen." Thank you Stephanie, Jamie, and Kathy for working hard to make success happen.

Personally, I enjoyed every Fall Fest event. On Friday morning, my team took second place at the St. Ann Golf Tournament shooting 15 under. I know how to stack a team. I recruited the St. Ann golf coaches Paul Mann and Mike Kauker as well as Derrol Jowell of the Jubilee Schools as my teammates. We were 12 under after 12, and that's when we started parring some holes. We actually parred an earlier hole but followed it up with an eagle to keep up our birdie pace.

The Best Auction Prize

The Italian dinner and auction were a hit. The food was awesome especially the meatballs. I'm craving some right now. Selina Trouy and I start our diet on Monday, so no more meatballs. I'm getting hungry just thinking about dieting. Something is wrong with that.

The silent auction was absolutely huge. The best item was a lunch with the principal. I look forward to hosting that lunch. There goes the diet.

I had the privilege of being the emcee along with Fr. Ernie at the live auction. I hope I'm included in the dinner and shooting with Fr. Ernie. That's one pretty creative auction item, and another diet breaker.

I want to send out a special shoutout to all the St. Ann staff (church and school) members who volunteered to help at Fall Fest. I love it when the people I work with take ownership of the organization. That's what the great folks at St. Ann do; they take ownership of the place, which makes St. Ann a great place to work.

4th Grade Coders

This week's shoutout goes to several students. First shoutout goes to 4th graders, Tomas Gomez and Shannia Bailey, for being the first in their class to complete the Hour of Code (coding assignment) in Mrs. Slattery computer class.

7th Graders at Memphis

The second shoutout goes to Cassie Richardson, Logan Wymore, Zach Griffith, and Luca de Jong for their participation in the University of Memphis Engineering Day. They participated in the water filtration competition. Alex Yong, Johnathan Clowney, and Chloe Ngyugen participated in the bridge competition. These young folks participated in the competitions on a day off from school. Thanks for your dedication. Thanks also to Stacey Griffith and Angela de Jong for leading our students at Engineering Day.

6th Graders at Memphis

St. Ann alum Justin Abart returned to show our middle schoolers how businesses use drones. I taught Justin World Geography at CBHS. I must have had some influence on him because he became a geographer. He earned a B.A. in geography from Tennessee and an M.S. in earth sciences from Memphis. I'm hoping that we can have some influence on the current students to study geography so they can help make a positive difference on global warming, deforestation, desertification, pollution (air, water, and land), rising sea levels...  Justin plans to return to continue helping our students in the areas of science and social studies.

I started off the week at the AdvancED conference at Middle Tennessee State University. The two day conference was to help schools preparing for the accreditation process. Our school is accredited every five years, and the accreditation process changes every five years. The conference helped me get more organized and become more knowledgeable in the new process. We have formed our school improvement committee to help lead St. Ann into the future. Our team members are Lori Locke, Liz Wehmeyer, Susan Hunt, Fr. Bill Parham, Teresa Ferrante, Annmarie Ghio, Angela de Jong, and I. Once we develop the school improvement plan, we will present the plan to Fr. Ernie for his approval. Once we receive his approval, we will present the plan to the St. Ann community, and start working on the improvements and school accreditation.

Justin Abart Returns to St. Ann

This week, we also celebrated Awards Day. We honored the students who made the Faculty Honor Roll, Principal Honor Roll, Father Oglesby Character Award, Student of the Month, and the Colt Star Employee of the Month. This month's Father Oglesby Character Award winners are Rock Garrett (K), Anna Tran (1), Taylor Hill (2), Emily Morales (3), Shannia Bailey (4), Cassie Harmon (5), Johnathan Clowney (6), Zach Griffith (7), and Louis Vidal (8). The Student of the Month is Logan Wymore. The Colt Star Employee of the Month is Susan Hunt. Congratulations to all who worked hard to earn an award.

Chili Cook Off Judges

It was an extremely busy week. Glad I spent most of today resting. Part of the relaxation for me was attending 8:30 Mass at St. Ann this morning and then 11:00 Mass at St. Michael. Nothing like a double shot of spiritual uplifting at two great parishes.

I wish all of you a fantastic week ahead, and start off by making Monday a great day.

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