from Fr. Timmerman
Parenting for Pure Hearts 

Aquinas & St. Mary's offered an important parenting resource, presented by Fr. Sean Kilcawley, Director of the Office of Family Life in the Diocese of Lincoln. Fr. Kilcawley gave a "Parenting for Pure Hearts" lecture on Tues. Feb. 20th. He shared the latest statistics and effects of pornography (listed below). Fr. Kilcawley advised parents how to create an open conversation with their children about what they may see online and how to create a safer online experience for the entire family.

The following day, Fr. Kilcawley addressed both Aquinas Middle School and Aquinas High School about how easy it is to accidentally see inappropriate images and more importantly, what to do if they saw something inappropriate.
 
Statistics that Fr. Kilcawley shared at the "Parenting for Pure Hearts" lecture.
  • 50% of all Christian men & women say they are addicted to pornography
  • The first exposure to pornography among men is 12 years-old
  • 71 % of teens hide online behavior from their parents
  • 20% of 16 year-olds & 30% of 17 year-olds have received a sext
  • 6 out of 10 girls were exposed to pornography before 18
  • 83% of boys & 57% of girls have seen group sex online
  • 69% of boys & 55% of girls have seen same sex intercourse online
  • 56% of divorce cases involved one party having an obsessive interest in pornography
  • 70% of wives of sex addicts could be diagnosed with PTSD
The Family Life Office shares outstanding resources for parents, adults, and how to protect our youth from pornography.
Fine Arts
Weaving Memories 
Aquinas 7th Graders were directed to choose a favorite or special memory to inspire their Navajo Weaving Project. 
Many students chose memories tied to their families, whether a family trip or experience. One student chose what many would categorize as a nerve-racking experience, the first day at a new school.

"The memory I chose was my first day at Aquinas. I was new there, so I chose white to represent a new start. I chose yellow to represent my happiness. The teal/mint was the color of my dress I wore that day. Pink represents the friends I made that day and purple is the color of royalty, which was how I was treated that day." 

Thank you 7th grade for welcoming someone new into your midst.
Conference Speech
Due to weather, the Centennial Conference Speech Meet was almost canceled for the second year in a row. However, Aquinas offered to host it and was crowned the Centennial Conference Speech Champions.

See all the individual results here.
Districts
Monarchs competed at District Speech on Monday, March 12th at Raymond Central. Ten people will go on to State Speech on March 22nd. Sarah Juranek 2nd Place Humorous; Cody Hein, Nathan Uhrmacher, Dawson Schawang, Kael Jakub, and Issac Archuleta 2nd Place OID; Sarah Juranek, Madelaine Comte, Josh Roh, Travis Roh, and Will Yindrick 1st Place OID. See all the results and video of the OID Results here. Thank you to Deanne Uhrmacher, Melissa Yindrick, and Jean Brown for sharing the moment!
Academics
Seniors ACT Results
Aquinas used the test preparation course, On To College with John Baylor. This is the second year that all Aquinas High School students were able to benefit from this test preparation course. Thirty-six students took the test more than one time with 32 students raising their score. One student raised their score by ten points. Fifteen students improved their score by 4-8 points. Sixteen students raised their score by 4-8 points. Sixteen students raised their score by 1-3 points.
NJAS Regional Competition
Daniel Stara competed in the Nebraska Junior Academy of Science at the Regional Competition on March 6th at Wesleyan University. Daniel Stara, second from the right, earned top honors and qualified for the State Competition on April 19th at Wesleyan University.
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Bellevue Regional Competition
Aquinas Catholic will send Middle and High School Students to the Bellevue Science Regional Competition on March 17th.
Faith & Service
Lent at Aquinas
Not counting Ash Wednesday, Lent at Aquinas may not look any different from the outside. Inside the classrooms, however, Lent is experienced in many different ways. In the religion classes, they include Stations of the Cross along with other Lenten activities. One teacher plays Matthew Kelly's "Best Lent Ever" video of the day before school. He started with one student coming early, now he has eight watching the 4 minute Lenten video. Of course, the teacher's lounge goodies have lessened and the normal Lenten greeting, "have a horrible Lent" (shared by Fr. Homes) is commonly heard.
Athletics
Wrestlers at State and State Duel Image may contain: 17 people, people smiling
Aquinas had three wrestlers place at State. Joe Reimers is a
State Champion.
Kyle Petree placed 3rd. Zach Ziteck placed 5th. As a team, they placed 6th overall.

State Duels results:
Monarchs 4th Place.  
Boys Basketball 
The Aquinas Boys Basketball Team never let up; they fought to the very end. During the regular season they lost to Columbus Scotus 40-42. They then had to turn around and play them the first Peter Emanuelround of sub-district action and won 42-25.
Second round, they fought North Bend and lost 57-59. They finish the season with a 14-10 record. 

Congratulations Monarchs and coaches on a hard fought season.
Track Begins
If you can believe it, Track Season has begun. We have had a few date changes on our Track Meets. Keep up to date with the Monarch's online calendar.
running-track.jpg
David City Triangular on  
Tuesday, March 20th at 4:00 pm 
St. Mary's Elementary
Monarch Warm Up
Students have the opportunity to "warm-up" not just their physical bodies in the morning to prepare for the school day, but their spiritual ones as well. Mrs. Zook has begun bringing two groups of students (one older grade/one younger grade) into the gym to shoot hoops while they are waiting for school to begin. There are three catches, though.
  1. You have to have a buddy...and you have to take the first available person. Then, they shoot hoops or practice dribbling for 10-20 minutes.
  2. Nothing competitive or stressful, just a fun time to help and cheer on your buddy.
  3. No switching partners. All of these students are your buddies here at school-enjoy the time you have together and you might have fun playing with someone you haven't talked to much before. 

At the end of Monarch Warm Up Time they "take a knee," Monarch-style, and an older student leads a prayer. Another reason, it's always a great day to be a Monarch. 

Pre-Kindergarten 'Breathe'
Mrs. Rachel had the Pre-Kindergarten Class make their own body models that actually 'breathe' and have an esophagus (paper towel tube) that allowed their food down to their stomachs. They also learned about the brain, heart, and intestines.

Alumni News
Aquinas Legacy Quilt
International Quilt Study & Museum

The quilt featured in the 1987 Aquinas production of "Quilters" is now a part of the International Quilt Study & Museum at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. The quilt is a seasoned traveler as the background to the "Quilters" play, even going overseas three times. This unique quilt was made by the St. Joseph's Quilters of David City. There are three surviving members left, Shirley Peters, Maxine Aerts, and Olga Lehr. Olga Lehr, Melissa Yinderick (actress in the play), and Fran Oborny Pachta (sister of the drama instructor, the late Joe Oborny) were able to present this quilt on February 22nd at Aquinas to the International Quilt Study & Museum.

See more pictures and information to visit the quilt here.

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