Continuous Improvement

Work life sure would be simple if we had no desire for continuous improvement. Imagine showing up for work and going through the motions just making sure everything ran smoothly.

Oh, how we could eliminate stress and all the extra hours spent planning, implementing, analyzing, and revising. Teachers wouldn't have to spend so much time in professional development, learning new programs, creating daily lesson plans, and attending to the needs of their classes as well as the individual students. As an administrator, maybe I could work an 8 hour day instead of 10-12 hours, take a normal lunch break, and not work on the weekends and holidays.

Since life isn't simple, since we live in an extremely competitive environment, and since good isn't good enough, continuous improvement is a necessity if we want to survive. We have to be at our best and offer our best if we hope to improve. We either improve or we die. The choice is ours.

My choice is for continuous improvement, 10-12 hour work days, working on the weekends, and having lunch with my students and teachers.

The latest project in continuous improvement is our new study skills class. We have a number of middle school students who we felt could benefit from having a study skills class. Since we didn't have a study skills class, we had to figure out how to create, design, and implement a study skills class at the almost halfway point of the school year. This has been a middle school team project. The team consists of Billy Gage, Stacey Griffith, Leslie Harden, Tina Ostrowski, and me.

By the way, this team meets everyday for about 15-minutes during lunch. When needed, we also meet after school in Mrs. Hardin's office. All the middle school teachers were either hired last year or this year. We want to make sure we are doing the best we can for our students, and we want St. Ann to have an outstanding middle school for our students.

We selected 13 middle school students to participate in this class and created a supervision schedule for the team members. The class is split between study skills lessons and study hall to allow the students more study and homework time.

We introduced the class by teaching organizational skills. The first step in organization was to clean out their lockers and organize their books and notebooks. We have also focused on character development and creating better study habits. We hope to have the students better prepared for the December exams.

Starting in January, we will be using The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey. I read this book several years ago after reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey Sean's father. I also participated in two 7 Habits week-long trainings when I was the president of Helias Catholic High School in Missouri. I am currently reading the updated version of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, which we will use for the study skills class.

This is a new venture for us at St. Ann. If successful, our hope is that we can develop a study skills class for all our middle schoolers. Study skills is also about character development and learning to live a better life. Coupled with our religion classes, this should help in the development of the people we would want all of our children to become.

I look forward to seeing what the study skills class becomes for our students and the outcome created for each student.

As always, would love to receive feedback from my readers. And, don't forget to support St. Ann Catholic School. We do great work and our students and teachers are fantastic. Without the financial support of our alumni, families, and friends, we couldn't do what we do for our students. Thank you.

If you haven't read last week's blog, please CLICK HERE to do so.

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

What I Hope to be Thankful For!

Considering it is Thanksgiving Break, one would assume I would write a customary "What I'm Thankful For" blog. Since it isn't like me to do the expected or usual thing, I decided to make this a "What I Hope to be Thankful For" blog. My reasoning for this change is we work so hard today in order to obtain certain positive outcomes tomorrow. Today we sow; tomorrow we reap, especially for the sake of our children.

We envision a thriving school for all children that will provide a premier education in the Catholic tradition. As our vision statement looks to the future, I'm future-casting my thankfulness.

With that being said, I hope to be thankful for (in no particular order):

• our students to continue to grow and succeed in faith, service, and love.
• the continued improvement of the education we offer.
• student enrollment to continue to climb.
• being able to keep our incredible faculty and staff together.
• teachers who continue to look for opportunities for the students to learn, grow and experience the world outside of the classroom setting.
• teachers who continue to use innovative classroom lessons if they believe it will help students succeed.
• having the resources to provide our teachers with the training necessary to better serve students.
• the increase of alumni giving back to St. Ann in order to help current families with tuition assistance.
• our friends to continue to support through in-kind giving and helping to fulfill our wish list.
• the growth of our annual giving campaign to the point we can actually decrease tuition.
• St. Ann Church and School to be seen as one.
• the growth of St. Ann Church and School together.
• adding two sections of every grade.
• being 1-to-1 in technology in all grades.
• providing our students with more individualized learning opportunities.
• all students to participate in SPARKS.
• all students having more opportunities for project-based learning.
• having the resources to provide our teachers with the training necessary to better serve students with dyslexia.
• having the resources to provide our teachers with the training necessary to better serve students on the autism spectrum.
• an increase in Title I funding for professional development.
• having two plays each year that involve more students and are funded through sponsorships.
• all students participating in extra-curricular activities.
• an increase in tutoring opportunities for our students.
• the new HVAC system for the classrooms still on the boiler system.
• for continued parental involvement especially in being the students' first teacher.
• some of our families to be able to use Education Savings Accounts (ESA) to attend St. Ann.
• expanding service opportunities to include parents, alumni, and parishioners.
• expanding service opportunities with Ave Marie, Catholic Charities, and Room in the Inn.
• a week-long vacation to the Cayman Islands for the school principal.

Of course, there's a lot more I hope to be thankful for.

The faculty, staff, parents, volunteers, and supporters work hard every day to make St. Ann a great school for our children. We are life-long learners and want our children to be life-long learners. The work we put in now will have an impact on the future; their future. So, let's work hard together to make these and many more "hope to be thankful for" a reality.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

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.

2019-20 Annual Fund Drive

The 2019-20 Annual Fund Drive has begun!

In my July 9th blog entitled St. Ann Alumni Matching Challenge (https://didieraur.blogspot.com/2019/07/st-ann-alumni-matching-challenge.html), I wrote about our annual fund drive goal for this year being $130,000. I called this our BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal), and this is definitely one BHAG.

Just a reminder, a BHAG is clear and compelling, serves as unifying focal point for effort. It has a clear finish line, so the organization can know when it has achieved the goal.

I don't know this for a fact, but I bet St. Ann has never set an annual fund goal anywhere near this amount. This amount even eclipses last year's total giving of just over $120,000. $67,000 of that total was through in-kind giving, which doesn't count towards the annual drive. Annual giving funds are unrestricted funds that help pay the school's annual operating cost. The more financial gifts we receive, the less we charge for tuition.

In my last blog, The Fall Fest and the School (https://didieraur.blogspot.com/2019/10/fall-fest-and-school.html), I explained the revenue from the Fall Fest is the biggest fundraising event for the school. This year, we need the annual fund drive to surpass the Fall Fest revenue by 2 1/2 times.

If we accomplish this BHAG of raising $130,000 in our annual fund drive, we will be able to meet another BHAG of going three years in a row without a tuition increase.

What is so important about the annual fund drive? Giving to the annual fund drive goes to assist every student in our school by keeping tuition as low as possible. If we want to stay true to our Catholic mission of providing education to all, we need to be affordable to all and not just the families who can financially afford a Catholic education.

My pledge is we will continue to do our best to make St. Ann the best school possible while remaining true to our school's mission statement: Our mission is to provide a Catholic education through faith, service and love.

We started mailing out the fund drive brochures and envelopes this past week. We ask that you take some time to read the brochure. We also hope and pray you will consider St. Ann Catholic School as part of your annual giving plan. Help St. Ann reach our BHAG.

$130,000 is one BHAG. For St. Ann and our students, please help us achieve this goal.

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

Click here to read previous blog.

IStation and Kindle Fire

The faculty and staff at St. Ann are constantly working to improve the education we offer our students. I have never worked with such hardworking and creative educators who are willing to step out of their comfort zone to try something new and different if they feel it will help our students.

Our St. Ann families, friends, and alumni have joined in by financially supporting our efforts to incorporate new programs, material, and technologies so that we are able to enhance our educational offerings for our students. We have asked for support, been extremely transparent regarding our needs, and have been faithful stewards of the many gifts we have received. I do feel the improvements are visible and take place on a daily basis. Because of these factors and many more, those who want to see St. Ann continue to improve and grow have stepped up to support the work taking place.

Sometimes, the ideas on how to grow and improve don't come from within. They come from those outside our school. That's how it is with Mike Devereaux. Just to refresh your memory, Mike Devereaux is the gentleman who lives in Dallas, TX and challenged St. Ann to match his $10,000 donation.

Well, Mike is super involve with education especially Catholic education in the Dallas area. He learned about IStation (www.istation.com) and how this program is helping schools. IStation is a fun, interactive program that allows the children to engage in reading and math activities that target challenges they may be encountering with particular reading and math skills.

He offered to pay for an IStation subscription for St. Ann PK-2nd grade. So, we took him up on his offer!

Leslie Harden (assistant principal) is our IStation leader. She has been working with Angela Odum (2nd grade teacher) and Melanie Wall (1st grade teacher) on using IStation in the classroom. Our 1st and 2nd graders have been using IStation and love it. With Istation, the teachers have a chance to differentiate instruction while allowing the program to create the lesson plans and activities for the students. Furthermore, the students get an individualized learning plan that hones in on what the students may need for extra practice.

When, Mike Devereaux learned that our students are having to share iPads (4 students to every 1 iPad in 1st and 2nd grade), he did his research with the IStation folks. He discovered the best technology for IStation and younger students is the Kindle Fire HD8. So, Mike is challenging us once again. This time, the challenge is to raise half of the cost so that St. Ann will be 1-to-1 with the Kindle Fire in the classroom. That way, students don't have to wait in line to use IStation.

With that being said, we are seeking $2,800 to purchase Kindle Fires for our first and second grade classrooms. We need a total of $5,600, which Mike is willing to give us half if we raise the other half! With this, we can purchase 45 Kindle Fire HD8 (32GB) including protective case and two charging carts. The charging carts will keep the Kindles charged and protected.

The cost of purchasing 45 iPads would be over $22,000. The Kindle Fire option for our younger students makes much more sense. Plus, they will be able to use the Kindle Fire with other programs they use.

How can you help? CLICK HERE to donate to this challenge. In the comment section, please write for IStation or Kindle Fire. We've sent out this information via direct email request and Facebook. Our supporters have already started giving to help our students. We will keep you posted via our Facebook page on the progress of this challenge.

Thank you for helping our students and teachers.

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.

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