Saints Speak from Mrs. Marshall - 3/12/2026 - Holy Habits Bring Us Closer to God

Our saint this week is St. Rose of Lima, and our holy habit is piety. Piety is a sign of a deep love for God. Our Lenten practices often help us practice this holy habit. Whether we are spending more time in prayer, giving to those in need, or looking for extra ways to do good deeds for those around us, each of these actions can help bring us closer to God this Lenten season.

DDA Update

The DDA is just 2 days away! We are excited to celebrate with so many of you. Thank you to all who have helped in the planning stages; it’s going to be an amazing night. As a reminder, cocktail hour begins at 6pm, and the evening will include silent and live auction, raffles, and lots of fun and fellowship!

At the conclusion of the live auction, we will have the paddle raise for our Fund-A-Need. At All Saints, our teachers are the heart of our school. They devote long hours to preparing engaging lessons, offering thoughtful feedback, and partnering closely with families. As experts in their fields and lifelong learners, they bring passion, a wealth of knowledge, and unwavering commitment to their classrooms. Beyond academics, they nurture the whole child, ensuring each student feels known, valued, and loved. Through their words and actions, they model Gospel values, leading with compassion, integrity, and kindness.

Research consistently affirms what we already know: teacher quality has a greater impact on student achievement than any other in-school factor. Our children spend more waking hours with their teachers than with almost any other adult. We are incredibly blessed to have educators who view teaching not simply as a job, but as a calling. 

Despite the profound impact teachers have on our children’s lives, their compensation does not reflect their value. Over the last three years, I have shared how these amazing individuals are underpaid for the work they do. There is a significant discrepancy between the Diocesan salary scale and the pay scales used in our neighboring public school districts. You have joined me in recognizing the great need for a salary enhancement fund, and I have been blown away by your extraordinary generosity. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! Your support has made a meaningful and measurable difference. 

In just three years, we have increased the teacher salary enhancement from 3% to 30% above the Diocesan pay scale. This has raised the median teacher salary at All Saints to $46,535 for the 2025-2026 school year. We have made great progress, but our work is not yet complete. 

With your help, we hope to increase our salary supplement to 40% above the Diocesan pay scale next year and to 50% for the 2027-2028 school year. Each year, contributions support our current teachers while also building a fund for the future. With two more strong years of support, we can reach 50% above the Diocesan scale, and, more importantly, sustain it for the long term. Your generosity will greatly benefit not only our current students but generations of future saints and scholars.  

I humbly ask you to raise your paddle on Saturday in support of our faculty. Your gift – at any level – is an investment in academic excellence grounded in faith. It is an affirmation of the sacred work happening in our classrooms each day, and it is a powerful statement in support of those who care for our children each day. If you can’t join us in person on Saturday, you can still support this important cause by contributing online. 

Thank you in advance for your prayerful consideration and for your continued generosity!

Honor Roll and Academic Awards

Congratulations to all our junior high students who earned a place on the Honor Roll for the second trimester! Click here to view the full list. They will be recognized at Mass tomorrow, along with the recipients of the math and band awards below.

Last weekend, our team of four competed at the state level MATHCOUNTS competition. As I’ve shared previously, just making it to the state competition is a tremendous accomplishment. We are proud to share that our team finished 10^th at the state level. Congratulations to James Budd, Jeffrey Jiao, Cindy Montgomery, and Sebastian Mourad! Additionally, James finished 5^th individually. Way to go!

All 6^th and 7^th grade math students took the Illinois Math League (IML) contest in February. Congratulations to our top scorers on the 6^th grade contest:

• 1^st place: Clementine Hansen
• 2^nd place: Alex Welch
• 3^rd grade: Adam Ogoudou and Austin Tang
• 4^th place: Evan Askew, Natash Gianan, Robin Kuttiatoor, and Hunter Li
• 5^th place: Will Galise, Henry George, Harrison Plencner, Shivani Schroeder, and Hayden Walgreen

Congrats as well to our top scorers on the 7^th grade contest:

• 1^st place: Sebastian Mourad
• 2^nd place: Joe Costello and Jeffrey Jiao
• 3^rd place: Edison Leonard
• 4^th place: Zachary Ling
• 5^th place: Graham Hinz, Olivia Jones, Emily Pinnow, Jax Rusin, and Stephen Van Dyke

Lastly, good luck to our 7^th graders who will be representing All Saints at the Regional Science Fair tomorrow!

Athletics

It was a great basketball season for the Saints! Congratulations to all our student-athletes. Five of our thirteen teams made it to the league championship game, and two teams won! Congrats especially to our champions, 6A Boys and 8A boys. They were be honored at an upcoming pep rally; more information to come.

Band Awards

Some of our band students recently took part in Music Education Services’ Solo and Ensemble Festival. Congratulations to the students on their awards:

• Genevieve Summers (1^st place, flute)
• Caroline Murray-Doherty (1^st place, saxophone)
• Nathan George (2^nd place, trombone)
• Mattison Booker (2^nd place, clarinet)

Saintly Acts

Thank you and congrats to the following students who earned Saintly Acts recently: Lydia S. (Kdg), Luke B. (5^th grade), Sarah B. (7^th grade), Matthew Bou. (8^th grade), James B. (8^th grade), Julie Ann C. (4^th grade), Everett J. (7^th grade), Olivia J. (7^th grade), Krystian M. (8^th grade), Safa Q. (4^th grade), Cash C. (1^st grade), Cosette L. (4^th grade), Siya V. (4^th grade), Geena C. (4^th grade), Noelle V. (5^th grade), Gigi G. (6^th grade), Madison M. (5^th grade), Beau W. (4^th grade), Wesley A. (2^nd grade), Joe C. (7^th grade), Walter H. (1^st grade), Josie N. (5^th grade), Finley S. (5^th grade), and Nic W. (5^th grade). Keep being saintly!

Warm regards,

Margie Marshall

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