Saints Speak - 4/27/2023 - I Am With You Always
Please take a few minutes to reflect on today’s quote from Pope Francis:
“Jesus does not say: Go off and do things on your own. No! That is not what he is saying. Jesus says: Go, for I am with you! This is what is so beautiful for us; it is what guides us.”
As I started reading this quote, I thought Pope Francis was going to make a point about community and the need for us to work together. While that would have been a great thing for each of us to reflect on as well, it’s not what Pope Francis is talking about here. He’s reminding us instead that JESUS is always with us. There are going to be times in our lives when we feel alone. While we may struggle to find support from another human being, we must remember that Jesus Christ is our guide and is always by our side. If we remember this and pray that we are doing His will, He will continue to guide us and give us strength for our journey.
Teacher Appreciation Week
Next week we celebrate our teachers with Teacher Appreciation Week! Thank you to all who have already planned something special for our teachers or contributed via ASPA. We are so grateful! Please remind your children to show their appreciation throughout the week as well. As you know, a heartfelt “thank you” or a simple handmade card can be a powerful reminder to our teachers of how valued, loved, and appreciated they are!
May Updates
We are entering the month of May, our last month of the school year! While I know we are all excited for summer and looking ahead to vacations, camps, and other plans, we still have 5 weeks of important learning and growing together. Please remind your children to take their academics seriously and do their best to stay focused and respectful these last few weeks so we can finish our school year together in a fun and productive way.
Throughout the month of May, our Church honors our Blessed Mother, Mary. Mary will be our Person of the Month for May as we learn more about her and how we can best model our lives after her. One of the ways we’ll be honoring Mary is by praying the International Rosary together on Wednesday, May 3rd, at 6:30pm. Please consider joining us for this special family prayer time! Click here for more information.
Our May virtue is Zeal. Click here for suggestions of things you can do at home to learn about this virtue.
Our social-emotional learning topic for the month of May is Responsible Decision Making, the fifth core competency of social-emotional learning. Click here for more information.
Invest in Kids Tax Credit Scholarship Program (Empower Illinois)
The Tax Credit Scholarship Program has provided scholarships 58 scholarships to ASCA students over the past 5 years. If our legislators don’t take action, the program will expire at the end of this year and several current All Saints students will lose their scholarships. This means that either a) less students will be able to receive an excellent Catholic education at ASCA or b) our school community will have to find alternative ways to fund these scholarships for families in need. The end of this program could also drastically impact other Catholic schools in our Diocese who rely on these scholarships for a large portion of their school population!
To prevent this from happening, we need your help! Let your legislator know that you support the Tax Credit Scholarship Program and that it has benefited our community. There’s a few ways you can help:
- Click here for an easy way to contact your legislator TODAY. This will only take you a minute or two!
- Write a physical letter to your state senator or representative and deliver it to their local office. All Saints’ representative is Janet Yang Rohr, and our senator is Laura Ellman.
- If you share our passion for this, we are putting together a group to join Mrs. Bajek in Springfield on May 11. If you’re interested in helping in this way, contact Mrs. Bajek for next steps.
Supporting Waterleaf
If you haven’t already done so, there is still time to contribute to Waterleaf Women’s Center! Our virtual baby bottle collection goes until Mother’s Day. Click here to contribute online. You can also send a check to school, or send in gift cards for Walmart or Target. Please keep Waterleaf and the families they support in your prayers!
Upcoming Parish Event
You are invited to a special Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle for the feast of St. Dymphna on Monday, May 15th, at 7:00pm. St. Dymphna is the patron saint of anxiety and mental health. The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick will also be offered during Mass.
Saintly Acts
Congratulations to the many students who earned Saintly Acts this week: Raina K. (3rd grade), Yusuf Q. (3rd grade), Sam C. (3rd grade), Cate H. (3rd grade), Liam A. (Kdg), William V. (3rd grade), Shivani S. (3rd grade), Tyler T. (4th grade), Sarah B. (4th grade), Ashlyn K. (3rd grade), Noah B. (3rd grade), Clementine H. (3rd grade), Will G. (3rd grade), Ariana L. (Kdg), Renee S. (Kdg), Alannah O. (Kdg), Sloan H. (2nd grade), Charlotte W. (2nd grade), Aubrey Z. (2nd grade), Charlie S. (Kdg), 1A & 1B students, Amelia N. (2nd grade), Mateo D. (2nd grade), Frankie L. (2nd grade), Henry G. (2nd grade), Brady R. (5th grade), Matthew B. (5th grade), London B. (Kdg), Graham H. (4th grade), Nathan E. (4th grade), Jackson F. (4th grade), Isabelle A. (3rd grade), and Hayden W. (3rd grade). Keep being saintly!
Warm regards,
Margie Marshall
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A Tremendous Thank You to the Cornerstone Sponsors of our 2023 Dinner Dance Auction (DDA): Great Gatsby Gala
Cornerstone Sponsors
We hope that you will support these generous benefactors of All Saints with your business. Please thank them, and let them know that you are an All Saints school family.
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