Saints Speak - 1/11/2018 - New Year's Resolutions

Making new year's resolutions is an annual tradition in which a person resolves to change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal or otherwise improve their life.  Common themes include improving health (eating better, exercising, losing weight), improving self (reading more, learning a new skill/hobby, going back to school, getting a new job, becoming more organized), and improving connections (spending more time with family, contacting old friends/making new friends, strengthening our relationship with God, becoming a kinder, more loving person to ourselves and others).

Just as the new year brings all of us great hope and resolve to accomplish goals large and small in our personal lives, we return to school after the Christmas break with a renewed sense of energy and a spark of enthusiasm.  The second quarter ends this coming Tuesday, January 16, and our students will begin a new quarter, with new opportunities to work hard, improve and achieve.    How can we channel this spirit and ebullience in other ways?

1.  We can make a difference in the lives of others.   

This coming Monday, January 15, our students will be once again celebrating the Martin Luther King Day holiday by serving others and participating in many different service projects here at ASCA and throughout the Naperville/Aurora/Lisle area.  If you have not yet selected an activity to participate in, please go to http://www.ascacademy.org/Calendar/martin-luther-king-mlk-day-of-service to view the different planned activities and the links to sign up.  Please remember that MLK Day is part of the 176 day school year.  To receive attendance credit for this day, students will be required to turn in their ASCA MLK Service Project Form -  http://www.ascacademy.org/Portals/0/MLK%20Service%20Project%20Form.pdf​-  no later than Wednesday, January 31.  

2.  We can participate more fully in school activities. 

School activities help to promote community and connection with each other.  Our 9th Annual ASCA Fun Fair will be held at ASCA on Friday, February 2.  It is a fun evening to enjoy with young and old friends alike.  Plan to enjoy the carnival games, food and fellowship.  Ordering information about Fun Fair T-Shirts, Wristbands for admission, and ASCA Water Bottles went out to school families today .  To view the information on how to place your order before the January 16 order deadline, please click here.   The fun fair closes our celebratiion of Catholic Schools Week, where we focus on the value that Catholic education provides to young people, and its contributions to Church, local communities and the nation.  This year’s CSW theme is Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed.  

Plan to attend our upcoming ASCA Open House on Sunday, January 28 from 1 - 3 pm.  Say hello to your child's teacher(s).  Take a closer look at the teachers and classrooms where they will move to in the upcoming school year.  Enjoy all of the planned activites.  Participate in the Knights of Columbus free throw contest.  Bring a friend who may be interested in sending their child to All Saints, and maybe give them a personal tour.   Enjoy this afternoon where we take pride in our beautiful facility, and all of the amazing things that happen within.  

3.  We can support the school. 

We are truly blessed with great generosity in terms of the offering of time, talent and treasure at All Saints Catholic Academy.

SHPP (School Home Parish Partnership)

If you would like to become more involved, SHPP (our School Home Parish Partnership group of which all parents are members) is a great place to find out more about what is happening at ASCA, to meet other parents and to volunteer.  Meetings are monthly.  As a matter of fact, the January SHPP meeting is tomorrow morning, Friday, January 12 at 8 am.  If you can't attend the meeting, but would like to be more involved, just let me know.  I will be happy to connect you. 

Dinner Dance Auction

Our biggest fundraiser, the Dinner Dance Auction, "A Green Tie Affair", will be held on Saturday, March 17, 2018 at the Chicago Marriott Naperville.  There are so many ways to support the school via the dinner dance auction (donation, sponsoship and advertising forms can be found at https://ascacademy.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/AGreenTieAffair/Forms/tabid/922960/Default.aspx

• Donate an item to the auction.  The deadline for Auction Donations is next Friday, January 19th.  Please turn in any items and forms to the welcome desk.  Remember, you can receive credit toward your mandatory fundraising fee (up to $500) for item(s) that sell at the auction. Best sellers are: vacation getaways, concert and theater tickets, sporting events, travel gift cards, airline miles and hotel points.
• Become an auction sponsor.  The deadline for Sponsorship is Friday, January 19th.  There are plenty of Sponsorship opportunities ranging from $500 to $3,000 with very attractive exposure benefits. Please turn in forms and payments to welcome desk.
• Advertise in our auction catalog.  The deadline for Advertising is Friday, January 19th.  Advertising options range from $150 - $1,000. Please turn in forms and payments to welcome desk.  Ads should be in JPEG or PDF format and emailed to dda@ascacademy.org
• Place a Saintly Spot ad.  The deadline for Saintly Spots ads is Friday, January 19th.  There is still time to get basketball team ads in.  Please turn in forms and payments to welcome desk.  Photos should be emailed to dda@ascacademy.org.   Go to https://ascacademy.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/AGreenTieAffair/SaintlySpots/tabid/927393/Default.aspx to download the form.  
• Purchase a Tuition Credit Raffle ticket.  Simply go to https://ascacademy.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/AGreenTieAffair/TuitionRaffle/tabid/909642/Default.aspx to purchase a ticket.  
• Most of all, plan on attending.  Look for the invitation that will be going out shortly, and put together a table of friends to enjoy the evening.  

ASCA Annual Fund Appeal

The Annual Fund is an important component in supporting the general operating budget of All Saints Catholic Academy.  Your gift joined with the gifts of others, both large and small, directly supports All Saints Catholic Academy's efforts to meet our mission of developing future leaders who are formed by academic excellence, service to other and respect for all in a Christ-centered community.  This requires an investment in our staff, our curriculum, our technology, our facilites and equipment needs, and in our programs.  All gifts, no matter how large or small, directly support these important components of the excellent education grounded in faith that All Saints Catholic Academy offers to our students and families. 

If you have not yet made your annual fund appeal gift and would like to, it only takes a few minutes to make your contribution online at https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=110623.  

4.  We can recommit ourselves making All Saints a better place.

Just a few suggestions:

• Take a fresh look and refamiliarize yourself with school rules noted in the ASCA Parent Student Handbook at http://www.ascacademy.org/Portals/0/HANDBOOK%202017-2018%20FINAL.pdf.   
• Attend a home basketball game, and cheer on our Saints to a victory.    
• With all of the cold, snowy and icy weather, plan on leaving your home 5-10 minutes earlier than usual so you and your student can arrive to school on time and less frazzled.  
• Make sure that your student is prepared for the weather with hats, gloves, boots and snow pants as needed.  Be sure to label all of your student's clothing so we can reduce the number of items in the lost and found. 
• Join us for our school mass celebration on Wednesday morning.  

If you have more ideas, I would be happy to hear them, and share them with each of you.

In closing, I have been reflecting on our virtue focus this week - Goodness.  Have you ever thrown a pebble in a pond of water?  Even though it may be a small pebble, it still creates ripples that spread outwards.  The same thing happens with goodness.  When we do a good deed, lend a helping hand, offer assistance to others, we create a ripple of goodness that spreads out into the world.  Goodness tends to spread.  This is something that we can do right here at All Saints Catholic Academy,  So, let's resolve to make a lot of ripples, spreading God's goodness in 2018.  In turn, we will make ASCA an even better place.  

News from All Saints Athletic Association

Have you heard…..The TCBY Home Athlete of the Week for 1/7 is Meghan Cronin.  For the Week 12/17 our Athlete of the Week was Eian Pugh. Congratulations Meghan and Eian, keep hustling!

From the Saints Sidelines . . . The cold weather didn’t stop our Saints from protecting the nets and dominating the courts last weekend!  Our Boys 6B1, 8A, 7B1 and Girls 8A & 8B teams all brought home the “W” this week.  Way to go Saints! Way to go Saints!

Congratulations to our teams who played in tournaments over the Christmas break, your dedication to your teams does not go unnoticed!  Special shout outs to the Boys 6A, 6B1 and 8B teams who all brought home hardware!  Congratulations boys!!!

The ASCA gym is the place to be this weekend!  Many of our teams are at home so come in where it is nice and cozy and spread your ASCA spirit and cheer on your favorite teams! You can stay on top of the league standings and schedules by visiting the league website at www.dplbba.org.

Remember to pick up a new ASCA basketball car decal and show your team spirit!

CHECK IT OUT !!! NEW ATHLETICS SPIRIT WEAR OFFERINGS . . . in an effort to offer an ongoing line of spirit wear for our athletics program, ASAA has teamed up with Squad Locker (powered by SI Play). You can access the new line by logging into your SI Play account or by going to https://teamlocker.squadlocker.com/#/lockers/asaa-0

You can now order your ASAA gear 24/7 and items will be shipped directly to your home address. 

SHOUT-OUTS now available!  Does your athlete have a birthday to celebrate? Do you want to recognize your son/daughter’s team or your son/daughter for their academic/athletic performance?  SHOUT-OUTS are now available for $25 through the Athletic Association.  Shout-outs will be placed on the digital scorekeeper’s table at all HOME games for one weekend.  Be sure to purchase a shout-out to recognize your child’s special moment!  Contact Keith Glab at kglab@ascacademy.org

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter (@ASCA_Athletics) and Instagram (@allsaintsathletics) and Facebook (All Saints Athletics)!

Stay Calm and Dribble On!!!

GO SAINTS!!