Blogging Changes

"Progress is impossible without change." I used these words on progress to review my blog in order to figure out what changes need to be made. Readership of my blog was extremely high then dropped off quite a bit towards the end of the year. The novelty of the blog simply wore off. I need to do something different. If my blog isn't progressing, it is time to make some changes.

If you have been reading my blogs, you know that I have no problem trying to do things differently and changing things up. I'll take a chance on making things work. If it doesn't work, change/improve it and move on. With that being said, I am making several changes to my blog.

First of all, the blog is TOO long! A blog needs to be shorter because blogs should be a quick read. We live in a time where you have 3 to 9 seconds to get and keep people's attention. If not, the backspace and delete keys work quickly. So, I plan to shorten the blog.

Secondly, the blog focuses on too many topics. The blog should cover one topic at a time. Kind of like when you are writing a paper; focus on one topic.  In many of my previous blogs, I tried to cover way too many topics. So, I will focus on one topic for each blog. This will be so hard to do because I have so many topics I would like to cover.

Thirdly, I started this blog back in 2011 when I lived in Missouri. The reason I started this blog was to focus on Catholic education with an emphasis on Lasallian education because of my roots with the Christian Brothers. Not only am I a graduate of CBHS and CBU, but I also worked at CBHS, Holy Names, Helias, and Resurrection. All these schools were part of the Lasallian family. Plus, I am a founding member of the Blue Streak Scholarship Foundation, which is an organization whose mission is founded on the teachings of St. John Baptist de La Salle. Today, I am serving my third term as president of Blue Streak. My plan is to continue focusing on different aspects of Catholic education especially with updates on St. Ann Catholic School.

And finally, I will make the blog a little less predictable. Instead of publishing the blog every Sunday evening, I'll publish it at different times when I have something to share. And, I already have a long list of topics I would like to share via my blog.

Let's see what change will bring. Some people hate change. I'm not one of them.

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

Spring Break '19!

Spring Break '19! Sounds exciting doesn't it. Years ago, Spring Break meant travel, the beach, overseas soccer tournaments (Italy, Mexico, and Brazil), mission trips, spending time with my own children, or just a break from work to relax. Even though Spring Break '19 sounds exciting, it has now become another work-week at a bit slower pace. No getting to the office by 6:30 am. No carpool lines. No phone calls. And, almost no emails. Yes, I got a lot of work accomplished over Spring Break '19 that I normally would not have accomplished. It is just that I'm the type of person that if I'm going to be at work, I prefer to be there when the classrooms are filled with students and teachers and the office is busy with people coming and going.

I think I Neflixed (I just verbed Netflix.) just about every night during Spring Break. I watched a few episodes of Loser and the first season of Cricket Fever. Looking forward to season 2 to see how the Mumbai Indians fair, and cheer them on to hopefully making the tournament. They missed the tournament by one game. I watched several other movies including Pele', Cars 3, Period, End of Sentence, and several documentaries. I did watch at least one Hallmark Christmas movie.

New Fascia & Soffit

I actually planned to take off Friday but ended up working to wrap things up.  I did take off Wednesday for no particular reason; just did. I cannot remember what I did. Oh yes, I do remember what I did. I SLEPT! That was nice. I slept.

Here's something I did that was pretty cool. I've been waiting for some warm and dry (Dry is the operative word here.) weather so I could finish a project started about a month ago. About half of the fascia and soffit on the back house needed to be replaced. This weekend, I finished repairing the trim, caulked the joints, and painted the repaired sections. It is not often I am able to do home repairs such as this especially due to the lack of time to complete the project and my lack of construction skills. So, I have to brag a little about finishing this home construction project.

Gym Camera View

Speaking of construction projects, a special thanks to Tony Mulrooney and Nathan Harmeier for completing the school security camera project. Nathan Harmeier with Above and Beyond Electric Company installed the wiring from one end of the school to the other. And, if you know the school layout, there are about six different ends to the building. Once the wiring was installed, Tony came in and installed and programmed all the cameras. He still has a little bit of programming to do but the school security camera system is up and running. This was phase one of our school security plan. Now, it is on to phase two, which is installing intercom speakers in the hallways.

This week is STREAM Night week. On Thursday, March 21st from 5:30-7:00 pm, we will host our second STREAM Night for this year. It will be an evening of curiosity, exploration, and discovery for all who attend. We will be showcasing work by students from PK 3 through 8th grade. Several organizations throughout the community will also present projects including Pink Palace Museum, St. Agnes Academy, Bartlett Crime Unit, and several more. Come out and join us in the school gym.

Student Spotlight:
Arabella Schiavone has been swimming competitively since the age of 7. She swims for Memphis Thunder Aquatic Club in Collierville. Recently, she competed in the 2-day Polar Bear invitational, and participated in six events. Her events included 100 yard Individual Medley, 50 yard Freestyle, 50 yard Breast Stroke, 100 yard Freestyle, 50 yard Butterfly, and 100 yard Backstroke. She ribboned in 4 of her 6 events, and even took 4th place in her 50 Fly and 7th place in her 50 Breast and 100 Back. She continues to shed time off each event every race! Congratulations Arabella!

We have so many students involved in bowling that we have our own bowling league. During the St. Ann School Bowling League, Ethan Nichols (5th grader) bowled his highest score ever. This was a scratch game with no handicap. Ethan bowled a 244. Way to go Ethan. Looking forward to you bowling a 300 game. High school bowling coaches might be visiting you soon.

Luca de Jong played the roles of Skater Dude and Jock in Disney's High School Musical production at the Bartlett Performing Arts and Conference Center. St. Ann alumni, Penny Rosenberg, played the role of Sharpay. Luca is an athlete, musician, actor, and honor student: think we are seeing the creation of a Renaissance Man.

We start the last quarter this week. We need everyone sharp and working hard. There are so many activities scheduled for the last two and a half months of school. This is a time to work harder and not get spring fever. No one on campus needs to coast to the end. This is when all of us need to sprint to the finish. Let's encourage everyone to give their best effort starting with ourselves.

One last thing, please keep the students and staff in your prayers. We need the strength of the whole parish to finish strong.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal

A Thanksgiving Blog

1 Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

With the Thanksgiving break and as hard as we have been working, I took advantage of this break in many ways including not publishing a blog the past two Sundays. Instead, I spent part of the week wrapping up some work that needed to get done and to get caught up on the Advanc-ED accreditation process. Didn't get nearly as much accomplished as I hoped to but that is typical of my ADD life.

My Family in San Antonio

Plus, my daughter, Celina, came home for Thanksgiving! I'm extremely thankful for the opportunity to be with her. Kelley and I get to see her about every three months or so. She lives in San Antonio, which makes for a long drive. To fly to San Antonio isn't cheap especially for two people. Frontier is supposed to have direct flights between Memphis and San Antonio. Good luck trying to find those flights. It is much easier and less expensive to fly her back to Memphis. The problem is we miss out on the opportunity to visit San Antonio. Once Celina returned to San Antonio, we might not see her till maybe March of 2019.

On the other hand, my son and daughter-in-law, Jonathan and Brittany, live half a mile from my house. We get to see them almost every day. So, Kelley and I will appreciate and take advantage of our proximity to them as best we can.

Madonna & Child
by Katie Jones

Our art teacher, Katie Jones, is working to incorporate religion into her art classes. During art class for the next few weeks, the students are working on the Keep Christ in Christmas poster contest for the Knights of Columbus. Teachers are asked to speak to the students about the history of Christmas, have the students write a special Christmas prayer, and/or discuss what images they think of when they think of Christ and Christmas. This is also part of incorporating Religion and Art into our STREAM program. I look forward to seeing what the students come up with on their Keep Christ in Christmas poster projects.

IXL Stars Wall

The IXL and Honor Roll Walls are complete! Teresa Ferrante and
Annmarie Ghio put together the Walls to honor student achievement. The IXL Wall honors the top three students in each grade level in Math and Language Arts. The top three performers in each of those two subjects are listed on the wall. The Honor Roll Wall honors the students on the Principal and Faculty Honor Roll.

The Father/Daughter Dance took place last night. It was a magical evening of dinner and dancing. Not sure who enjoyed the evening more: daughters, dads, or volunteers who made the evening possible. Lots of thank yous to go around starting with Lori Locke and Home & School for organizing and putting on this event. It was such a fantastic dance, especially for a first time event, that Home & School wants to add another dance event to the calendar for the students and parents. Thank you to the daughters for getting your fathers on the dance floor. The dance floor was rockin' last night as DJ Cel cranked out the tunes. Thank you to the fathers for putting their daughters ahead of everything else to spend a memorable evening sharing lots of love and a great time. The memories fashioned last night will last a

life time. Congratulations to Greg and Cassie Richardson for winning the dance contest. They better spend a lot of time preparing for next year's Father/Daughter Dance because they will have to defend their title. There will be plenty of Father/Daughter Dance Teams ready to take their title away. Next on the agenda is the Mother/Son Video Game Night in February. Should be another great evening for our St. Ann families.

The Christmas Door Decorating Contest was a big hit! With enthusiasm, creativity, and Christmas spirit abound, the contest brought out the best in staff, students, and room parents. The winner

of the 2018 Christmas Door Decorating Contest was Mrs. Metaxas and her 5th graders! I have to admit that their door was better than the school office door, but only barely. 2nd place went to Mrs. Odum's 2nd grade class. 3rd place went to Mrs. Harty's 1st grade class.

Mrs. Metaxas: 1st Place

Through Title II program with Shelby County Schools and Bartlett City Schools, we have been able to send teachers to national conferences for professional development. The latest to take advantage of this program is Annmarie Ghio. She just spent part of this past week in Charlotte, NC at the National Science Teachers Association Conference on Science Education. The conference sessions provided hands-on learning opportunities for science educators. The sessions were geared towards the latest in science content, learning strategy, and research to enhance and expand professional growth, as well as having opportunities to collaborate with science education leaders and peers. This was a wonderful opportunity for Ms. Ghio to gain more knowledge and experience to help her students.

Mrs. Odum: 2nd Place

We have been able to take advantage of the Title program to fund our CPR training; dyslexia workshop with Bodine School; easyCBM webinar; Tracey Angotti attending the state physical education conference; Deborah Harty participating in a learning behavior management seminar; and I attending the Advanc-ED conference. We are greatly benefitting from attending these conferences, and helping to make St. Ann a better school. So far, eight teachers have already been approved to attend conferences in the spring for professional development. We also plan to bring in an expert in gifted learning to assist our teachers on working with our gifted students.

Click Here to Support St. Ann

Finally, our annual giving campaign started this past week. Annual giving brochures have been mailed to our school parents and grandparents. Soon, they will be going out to our supporters and alumni. This year's goal is $50,000. Quality schools like St. Ann that offer exceptional programs, staffing, and facilities could not continue to operate and maintain such high standards without substantial support beyond just tuition. The actual cost of a St. Ann education is supplemented by generous gifts and additional financial support that make the difference between a good school and a great one. Please join us in supporting St. Ann Catholic School.

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

EE, CPR, 1st Aid, Advanc-ED, and De La Salle

I wrote my first blog in 2011 when I was the president of Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City, MO. That first blog was on St. John Baptist de La Salle's 3rd guideline in his Meditations for the Time of Retreat, which stated: "That those who teach the young are cooperators with Jesus Christ in the salvation of souls." That blog explains why I believe in Catholic education. Seven years later, I feel even stronger about our role as Catholic School educators. If you get a chance, Click on the link below to read that blog.
http://didieraur.blogspot.com/2011/07/catholic-education-de-la-salle-style.html

St. John Baptist de La Salle

Back then, my blog wasn't a weekly blog. I would write when there was something I felt like sharing. Also back then, the blog got 12-35 hits. That number has been increasing as I've published more blogs. Now, my blog is weekly, and averages about 1,200 hits. The purpose of this blog is to create a positive culture of transparency while generating support for St. Ann Catholic School and my students.

Writing a weekly blog isn't easy. I don't develop an outline with the main points. I don't create a first draft, rewrite, second draft, rewrite... I just think about those things you should know about what's happening at St. Ann, and I start writing. When I'm finished writing, my wife reads it over to help find mistakes. Kelley also lets me know if what I'm writing makes sense. I definitely cannot proof read my own writing. We aren't English majors. We just do the best we can on the editing part. When she gives me two thumbs up, I hit the publish button.

New Fences
Campus Beautification

All that to say that I hope you find this blog informative. I hope it gives you a sense of ownership as to what's happening at St. Ann. I also hope that my students are reading the blogs, and it creates in them a desire to start writing a blog. You don't have to be a certain age or in a certain grade to create a blog. If you feel you have something worthwhile or interesting to share, start your own blog. I highly recommend it.

I'm excited about the great things going on at St. Ann. The Extracurricular Exploration (EE) classes have been a hit. The 3rd session of EE classes begins October 10th. Ideas for EE classes keep coming. I believe Mrs. Griffith is going back to the robotics class and combine it with the Robotics Club. The Robotics Club could start during the EE time and continue after-school. This is something she is working on.

I also want to try something new with EE. Our students are bright and creative. Are there classes they could actually teach if we have adults to help supervise? Yes, we do have classes they could teach. Just for starters, Ruby Langford can teach a sewing class and Michaela Crews can teach a baking class. When I mentioned this idea to them, they were super-excited about the possibility. Let's find a way to make it happen.

The girls self-defense class has been a hit. Like to take this a step further and include the boys. Tracy Angotti wants to add a dance class to EE. Maybe we can alternate between dance and self-defense just like the A and B day schedule. We could have the dance class on A days and Anime on B days. That's another possibility.

Our development committee is growing with the addition of Sr. Connie Tarallo. The committee continues to meet every Thursday at 4:00. Our alumni database continues to grow. We are hearing from more and more alumni. The plan for the Fat Tuesday Alumni Party is materializing. We have lots of ideas brewing. But, we are not going to do anything until after the St. Ann Fall Fest. The Fall Fest is everyone's top priority. We will do nothing to distract from the Fall Fest.

Fall Fest Events

Speaking of Fall Fest, if you haven't volunteered yet, my question is: Why Not? To me, every parishioner and school parent should give a little of their time to help. We are all talented people with something positive to share. It is going to be a great event. I hope we can all enjoy that weekend together.  To volunteer to help with the Fall Fest, click on this link.
https://stannfallfest.org/home/contact-us/volunteer/

Since this is a school accreditation year, we are using the Advanc-ED ELEOT classroom observation form. It is a student and not teacher-centered observation. The ELEOT observation identifies seven student-centered areas within the classroom environment. The other observation form we use is teacher-centered. The ELEOT is much more detailed and comprehensive. It also takes twice as long to complete but it is worth it. There is a good short YouTube video on the ELEOT observation form if you are interested in seeing what areas this observation covers. Here is the link to that video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2yx8sfoLig

St. Ann Volleyball Team

The 3rd-8th graders completed the Advanc-ED surveys, which is part of the accreditation process. The teachers will complete the survey this next week. Parents were asked to complete their survey last school year. I will find out if this year's parents will have the same opportunity to give feedback.

On Monday and Tuesday, all St. Ann staff members (teachers, front office, E-Care, administration) will go through CPR and First Aid training with the Bartlett Fire Department. This means that all of our employees will be certified in CPR and First Aid. We want to be prepared. This isn't a part of Advanc-ED certification but is a part of Pre-K certification with the State of Tennessee.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Looking forward to another great week of educating our students, continuing our development work, doing more classroom observations, mentoring the young men in fourth grade, teaching my geography class, working the carpool line, and having treats for the puppies in the carpool line.

Finally, remember that without your support, St. Ann Catholic School would not exist. If you are looking for ways to support the school, please contact me at didier.aur@sascolts.org. Look forward to hearing from you.

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