As an adjunct professor at Benedictine University, I receive a daily meditation from Brother Poro. Last week, he sent one that has stuck with me. “Go to your peaceful place. When something does not go your way, take a moment to ‘think of what is above, not what is on earth,’ as Saint Paul advises. That is not to say that you should conjure up an image of choirs of angels; but rather, remember what it means to be one with Christ, the Prince of Peace. Daily prayer practice—spiritual exercise—trains you to get to that place of peace before you get swept away by daily stresses. Pope Francis tells the story of watching a well-respected older businessman impatiently waiting for his luggage at a baggage carousel in an airport. ‘He didn’t hide his frustration at all,’ says Francis. ‘What first surprised me was that an older person could be so impatient.’ The long view should come with age and seasoned faith.”
At my age, I realize that this means I should be in a reasonably formed place on my journey of faith. Clearly I still need some work, but as I sat trapped in a line of cars trying to get out of the Grant Street Garage to discover that the machine that took our tickets was broken, I thought of Pope Francis’ observation. The employee was working frantically to get the machine to work despite a lot of honking and impatient comments. In our car, with thanks to Pope Francis, we decided to use the moment to get caught up on what had happened the past week. It felt good not to get upset about something out of my control.
Innisbrook Wrapping Paper - Order due Monday, September 23rd!
Wrapping paper orders are due through EZ order by this coming Monday, September 23rd. Our school number is 111557. Please remember to print out your receipt and submit it with payment to the school office. If you have any questions about ordering through the EZ link, contact Innisbrook Customer Service at 1-877-525-5608. 40% to 50% of the total order will be credited to your 2013-2014 fundraising obligation. If you are having family and friends order Innisbrook through internet orders, and you would like to receive fundraising credit, be sure to complete the Online Order Form found in your Innisbrook packet, and return to Tim Traynor, our new Director of Institutional Advancement, by Friday, October 4th. Please do not miss out on this fundraising opportunity.
Some Great News and Somewhat Challenging News
For better than two years, the Board of Trustees led by Matt Gambs has worked to obtain a grant to offset some expense in the replacement of our chillers. This system also interfaces with the heating system and the internal control systems of our classrooms. Your children will tell you that, historically, the room temperature control has been inconsistent at best. The background work and financial assurances are finally in place to replace the chillers which will improve the internal control system for both heating and cooling. While the students are on break October 10 - 14, the old chillers will be removed and the new ones placed on their pads. The esthetics will occur when the project is done, so we will look “under construction” for a while. This is all the very good news. The challenge comes into play in that we will need to operate without heat or air conditioning for most of two weeks when they actually do the hookups for the system. Assuming that the weather report is reasonable, we would like to have that work start as we return to school on October 15th. We will follow the forecasts and make the decision as we get closer. We will keep this conversation open, but we may need to add sweaters and sweatshirts for some days during the conversion. We will have a few days of inconvenience, but the long view is simply awesome. I am so grateful to the Holy Spirit for allowing us nine years of operation on a system that was at the end of its life when we purchased the building. We are also very grateful to the Board of Trustees and to its leader Matt Gambs for ensuring our comfort in learning as we go forward. God is Good!
One Call Now – ASCA’s New Automated Message System
All Saints will now be using One Call Now, the largest notification company in the United States serving over 35,000 clients nationwide, to send out phone and email messages to our school families and staff in the event of a school closing or emergency. If the school is closed due to inclement weather, flooding, power outages, or any other reason for closing, ASCA will let families know in a timely and comprehensive manner via multiple messaging options.
Today, Wednesday, September 18, All Saints will initiate a test of this system to all school families and staff beginning at noon. The test message will be sent to all home phone and parent cell phone numbers, and parent email addresses in our data base.
If you do not receive the test message at your preferred phone/email contact, please send an email with the appropriate addition/correction to Helen Kolar at hkolar@ascacademy.org, and we will update our contact list. In your email to Mrs. Kolar, please be sure to include the contact name, and contact phone/email detail. If you do not have access to a computer, please call Mrs. Kolar at (630) 961-6125 with any changes. Student contact numbers or emails SHOULD NOT be included.
For any notification system to be effective, it needs to always have the most up to date contact information. Please notify Helen Kolar at (630) 961-6125, or via email at hkolar@ascacademy.org when your phone and/or email contact information changes. Please contact Patty Bajek at (630) 961-6125, or pbajek@ascacademy.org if you have any questions about One Call Now.
5th Annual Fall Fun Fair – Sunday, September 29th from 1 - 4 pm
We have ordered the t-shirts for 563 students. Awesome! Now is the time to return your Ticket Pre-Order Form. Pre-order your tickets by Tuesday, September 24th at 9:00 am to take advantage of discounted tickets. Also, don't forget to order your Boozle B's Hairdo that can be worn to school on Monday, September 30th. This year's fun fair includes Sandy Candy, Bounce House, Cake Walk, Photobooth, Button making, Sports Zone, Games, Prizes and much more. This year’s fair will include a Wheel of Teachers for your chance to win a Homework Pass!!! See you at the Fair – you do NOT want to miss the fun! The Ticket Pre-Order Form was sent home with all oldest and only students last week, and can be found at the school website.
Bakers Needed for Fall Fun Fair
If you like to bake, we need YOU! Bakers are needed to make peanut-free cakes for the Cake Walk for the Fall Fun Fair. If you can help, please email Carla Griffin at carla_griffin@ipsd.org. Cakes can be dropped off at All Saints either Friday, September 27 after school, or on Saturday, September 28 from 9 am – Noon at Door 1 ONLY (by the stained glass windows).
Service Form
As your child performs acts of service, please let us know so they can be recognized! The ASCA Service Project Form can be found at the school website (Go to www.ascacademy.org, click on Support Our School - School Home Parish Partnership – and scroll to the bottom of the page where you will find the form). All returned forms will be put in the monthly Community Outreach slideshow which is displayed on the big screen near the staff lounge for all to see. Please submit drawings and pictures too!
September Instrument Collection
During the month of September, Community Outreach will be collecting musical instruments in good condition. Instead of collecting dust, give the precious gift of music to a child. All donations can be brought to the ASCA office. The instruments will be donated to local students. “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” ― Plato Please contact Ann Zediker at jazediker@comcast.net with any questions.
All Saints Volleyball
All of our girls and boys teams continue to have a great season! A full schedule can be found by clicking on the following link - http://dplvba.org/schedule.asp; or by visiting the All Saints website and clicking on School News -ASCA Sports.
Volleyball Fans
Come support your 8A Girls team as they take on some of the league's toughest competition at the 1st Annual Benet Academy 8th Grade Volleyball Tournament this Sunday, September 22nd. Pool play will begin at 12:00 pm, and the first playoff game is slated for a 4:00 pm starting time. All of the games will take place in the Benet Academy Gym, located at 2200 Maple Avenue, Lisle. The All Saints 8A Girls team took 1st place in the Joliet Catholic Academy tournament just last weekend. Help cheer them on to back-to-back victories. Hope to see you there!
All Saints Cross Country
Come out this Saturday, September 21 for our cross country meet, which starts at 9 am sharp. Location information will be available later on this week on the ASCA website. Come out and cheer on our runners!
All Saints Basketball
Basketball season is just around the corner. Evaluations will take place on Saturday, October 19, Sunday, October 20 and Saturday, October 26. Details on specific times will soon be posted on the ASAA website, www.ascasports.org.
Boy Scouts
All 1st and 2nd grade boys are invited to an informational meeting on Thursday, September 19 at St. Margaret Mary, 1450 Green Trails Drive, Naperville. The meeting will be held at 7 pm in the Upper Room, and all are invited to learn more about the scouting adventure. Please contact Jeff Wade at (630) 301-0974, or jeff@jeffwadeagency.com with any questions.
19th Annual Harvest Pow Wow - Naper Settlement September 21-22
Celebrate Native American heritage with dancing, cultural demonstrations, children's games and crafts, special presentations and more. Special guest is Robert Mirabalo, a Pueblo musician and Native American flute player. For more information, please visit http://www.napersettlement.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=606