I spent this past weekend at the Special Olympics State Surfing Competition at Cocoa Beach, Florida.  My oldest daughter was born with neurological difficulties and is now an active 22 year old who participates in a multitude of sports in this amazing organization. While I was away, my family was able to attend a wonderful Mass at the Church of Our Saviour.  The Church of Our Savior's main catch phrase reads "Be part of our Journey" and this phrase is realized from the moment you enter the welcoming front doors to the final shaking of hands by all the religious associated with this church.  It is a simple, yet powerful phrase.  As Catholics, we are all called to be one community under God and help one another through this journey of life.  In this Year of Mercy we are called to do good so as to be the extension of the love of Jesus Christ.  Our journey while on earth, cannot simply be about ourselves, but must embrace the teachings of Christ to help all, particularly the less fortunate. The less fortunate encompasses more than the financially poor, and must include the poor in spirit due to losses, health, and emotional distress.  As the community of All Saints Catholic School, let us embrace this Year of Mercy and mindfully plan to participate in one act of mercy every week.  No act is too small.  The power of a community to help others is monumental.  I thank our faculty and students who participated in the Diocesan Friends of the Poor 5K Walk/Run this past weekend. This event was a true testament of mercy and community. May God bless all of our acts of mercy.

A sincere thank you to all our family and friends who participated in our Magazine Drive. Our final numbers are not yet in, but the preliminaries look good. Please have some patience with our committee as the number of orders submitted was overwhelming last Thursday.  We ran out of Hershey bars and prizes.  The committee is working hard to get every student their items by the end of this week.  Thank you again.

For some of you, it appears the car line is not getting better.  However, from the administrators' perspective people are getting to school earlier, thereby, causing less traffic towards the final 8:00 AM bell, resulting in less tardies. There are three concerns arising that must now be addressed.  Please make sure your child is not released from his/her seatbelt until the vehicle comes to a complete stop.  We see many students standing next to a parent in the car as they approach the drop off area.  If your car was struck from behind, the results could be devastating to a child unrestrained in a vehicle.  Also, parents please stay off your cell phones anywhere on the property.  Cell phone usage has been the cause of some near accidents or problems in our parking lot.  The third concern is the sneaking in of some cars off of Indian Creek Parkway in the morning, rather than entering through the Maplewood entrance.  This is unfair to those rule following parents.  All of our families have jobs or responsibilities to which they must be on time.   Please let us all gather as a community and follow the traffic flow. If you are still unclear of our parking lot rules, we are now posting the flow of traffic on our website under the 'Parents' tab on the Car Line page.  Thank you for paying close attention to these matters.