A very special guest joined us at our Prayer Assembly yesterday to help announce the totals from the Move-a-thon. His helpers, Mrs. Flora, Miss Grelle and Mr.Haffey provided his “voice” while he provided the fanfare. Thank you to the Seahawks and Blitz for celebrating that we not only surpassed our $42,000 super goal, we blew it out of the park, by raising $51,111.30! Thank you again to our co-chairs, Scott and Amy Graff and all of the parent volunteers. We couldn’t do it without you!!!
After eighteen months of work on our accreditation renewal process, a team of outside educators will arrive at 7:30am tomorrow morning to begin their three-day visit. They will be spending time in classrooms, meeting with faculty, school staff and administration, parish leadership, parents and students before completing their report. Their task is to verify and provide evidence to confirm what is written in our self-study document. On Friday afternoon they will present their “Report of Findings” to the faculty and staff after school. (Reminder that school is dismissed at noon on Friday, Nov.9th for the reading.) Following their visit the report will be sent to the WCEA Commissioners who will review it and approve the team’s recommended term of accreditation. We will have to wait until June to have final word on our term, but our hope is that once again we will receive the maximum six-year term with no interim review.
The entire process has been demanding, time consuming and extremely rewarding. It is good to take the opportunity to examine our accomplishments in light of the goals we hope to achieve using this research-based educational protocol. We’ve learned much and our action plan (once verified by the site visit team) will give us clear direction for advancing our program in the coming years.
At last weekend’s Masses we heard Mike Borte, Pastoral Associate, speak of the blessings in his life and the pleasure of giving back to God’s community. His main point, and one that is consistently expressed year after year by so many, is that the community of St. Anne is the kind of place where people will always rise to the occasion and meet any need. Every November during the parish Stewardship campaign we are asked to reflect and re-evaluate our financial gift (Sunday offering) to be used for parish operations. This is the main source of yearly income for the parish and helps provide financial stability. It is from this source that the school ministry receives its annual subsidy – the sum of money that helps make up the difference between our full operating cost and the net we receive in tuition. St. Anne’s does not receive money from the archdiocese for operations. It is up to us to provide support to help our parish operate. In order to receive the in-parish tuition rate, a family must have a Stewardship Giving card on file and update it each year. Each parishioner family received one of these in the mail this week. If you have not already done so, please fill out your Stewardship pledge card and return it to the parish or school office. You can also go online to sign-up or update an Electronic Funds Transfer. This is a great community and we want to assure our parish and school have sufficient funds so we can continue to thrive and grow.
The 7th grade Spanish Class has created an offering space in the middle school hallway to commemorate the Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos). This Mexican holiday celebrated on November 1st and 2nd honors those who have died. It began when the Catholic holy days of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day merged with the Mexican and Central American native celebration honoring the dead. It is not intended to be a frightening or sad remembrance, but a time to reflect on the person who passed and to remember the good times. One of the most important traditions during this celebration is to build an offering space to honor the lives of those who have passed and to visit graves at the cemetery. The 7th graders have brought pictures and words of remembrance for a family member who has died. The offering space will remain throughout the month of November for viewing. Please feel free to stop by for a visit.
Have a great week!
