Hopefully, everyone enjoyed their four day weekend. This past Friday, All Saints Catholic School hosted the Diocesan Professional Day. Approximately, 450 teachers listened to Mr. John Findlater, an inspiring Catholic school teacher, administrator, and advocate. He inspired us all to meet the needs of each of our students no matter where they are in life. It was a great opportunity for the teachers of the Diocese to get together and share. During breaks it was common to see groups of teachers who teach similar subjects or grades, but from different schools. From this meeting there developed a plan for subject area teachers to meet and discuss what we are doing at our individual schools. Friday was also a wonderful opportunity to celebrate years of service within the Diocese. Ms. Korf, Mrs. Reid, and I each received a service award. See the above photograph and realize in that picture there is over 70 years of service to our Diocese. Our teachers and administrators are dedicated to Catholic education and the development of the adults of tomorrow.
Last week was a great week for sports. The girls cheerleading squad began the week with a second place at the Diocesan cheerleading competition, as explained in last week's letter. Our boys' varsity basketball team fought hard in the semi-finals and we are proud of their effort. Our girls' soccer finished the winning season with a championship. Congratulations girls! They truly molded as a team who worked together for each goal and win. They cheered each other on. It was wonderful to see the graduating girls get their win and be so proud of their team. We have a lot of rising talent so I expect great things. I thank our alumni coach, Corey Wilt and father, Mr. Wilt, for their continued support of this team. Today our JV boys' basketball team will play in their championship game. Good luck boys! We continue with our Marathon Kids Program until March 15th. This program has certainly inspired our youth to run. They are amazing. We now have three students who have reached the milestone of having completed two full 26 mile marathons. WOW! Finally, but not least, congratulations to Ryan Deaver who placed first in his age group for the regional Knights of Columbus Free Throw. The next step for Ryan is the state finals. GO RYAN!
On an academic note - please discuss academic effort with your child during the third quarter. This quarter is always a concern and struggle for teachers to motivate children to continue with their best effort. We do see greater absences, more late work, and a lowered motivation in our students. I think it is a rough time of the year - after Christmas break and before Spring Break. It is broken up with this past long weekend and standardized testing. However, students do struggle. This is particularly important to middle school with regards to motivation and behavior. Please remind your middle school students that grades do matter throughout middle school for the increasingly popular Choice Programs in Palm Beach County. Standardized testing is also important. We truly understand our eighth graders are eager to move onto their next stage of life. However, final report cards do need to be sent to the high schools. In the past some choice programs have removed students from a program for declining grades. Our students are smart and capable of doing great things in high school and beyond. I would hate to have "eighth-grade-itis" affect access to their goals. We are trying some great new incentives and motivation at school, but we encourage our parents to encourage their children with some serious conversations with their children about goals and how they are to be achieved.
I also want to let families know that I will be out of school from Wednesday afternoon through Friday attending the Florida Catholic Conference in Orlando. As I said last week, my school visit was changed and it was not scheduled for me to be out of school for two consecutive weeks. This conference is mandated by our superintendent. It is an opportunity to combine faith, academics, and administration within one conference.
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