from Fr. Timmerman

5 Ways to Make Summer More Spiritual 
Excerpt from Get Fed: Feed Your Faith article by Whitney Hetzel. Read the entire article here.
  1. Commit to new daily prayer
  2. Tell God you are sorry
  3. Make a holy hour
  4. Be grateful
  5. Read the Psalms
You are my God,
and I will give thanks to you;

You are my God,
I will extol you.

O give thanks to the Lord,
for his is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

Have a blessed summer! 
Aquinas Catholic Class of 2017
Graduation
May 21, 2017

You will have trouble
in this world
but take
courage
for I have conquered
the world.
John 16:33
 
The Aquinas Catholic seniors were blessed to have His Excellency, Most Reverend James D. Conley address the Class of 2017 during the  Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, May 21st.
Faith & Service
1 on 1 Program
The Intentional Discipleship Team (IDT) is offering students the opportunity to meet 1-on-1 with Aquinas priests and religious. This opportunity is in response to student surveys with requests to meet 1-on-1 or in small groups to ask questions or receive spiritual direction in order to grow in their faith.
St. Francis DeSales said,
Spiritual direction is necessary to grow 
in the spiritual life
Christ in the City
Christ in the City Missionary, Blake Brouillette, visited Aquinas Catholic Middle & High School on April 18th. Christ in the City is a Catholic non-profit dedicated to knowing, loving and  serving the poor of Denver, Colorado. Fr. Holdren will take a group to a week-long Missionary Trip with Christ in the City this summer. You can read more about Blake's visit here.

#SockittoPP
Aquinas Teens for Life Group sponsored a Sock it to Planned Parenthood Campaign by selling baby socks. The prayerful sponsor kept one sock and its match was sent to the Students for Life in DC. Aquinas sent of 86 socks. The Students for Life of DC will send 323,999 socks to Congress as a visualization of the number of lives lost by Planned Parenthood last year.

Prayer in Sports 
Norfolk Daily News blogger, Tom Behmer @behmer88, caught this prayer on video. These athletes just finished the 3200M Run at the Nebraska State Track & Field Meet on May 19th. Behmer's posted, "Distance runners are a different breed, and it's pretty awesome."  
Aquinas senior, Eli Frasher, is among these athletes with a 12th Place finish. See the video here.
Sports
Conference Track
The Centennial Conference Track Meet was held at Columbus Scotus on May 6th. The Aquinas Girls Team finished in 2nd Place. The Aquinas Boys finished 7th as a team. Becky Roh won the 200M, 400M, & 400M Relay with Dulcie Archuleta, Sierra Meysenburg, and Larisa Sellers. Girls 1600M Relay were silver medalists: Ella Hilger, Mary Fiala, Clare Fiala and Becky Roh. Clare also took silver medals in the 1600 & 3200. Sam Sisco won the pole vault with a new conference record of 14-6 (on right).  Read the Columbus Telegram article.


Boys MS Track:
Record Breaking 
Middle School Boys Track has had an outstanding season with record breaking results!
John Prochaska, Rylan Chromy, Keegan Lavicky, and Kyle Napier broke a 15 year old record in the 4x200M Relay in 1:43.0. Kyle Napier improved his high jump record to 6' 2". Payton Davis ran a 4:48.0 in the 1600M and 8.06 in the 2400M.
Ben Shonka cleared 11' in Pole Vault. Keegan Lavicky 2:09.1 in 800 Meter Run. Brian Cech, Rylan Chromy, Keegan Lavicky, Kyle Napier ran the 4X100M Relay in 48.9. See all records here.
Aquinas Catholic Sweep District Track Meet, 15 State Qualifiers
Aquinas Boys and Girls were Team Champions at the Class C-5 District Track Meet on May 11th.  
Aquinas sent 5 boys and 10 girls to the State Track Meet. Read more information here.

State Track Meet Results
Aquinas Catholic had 15 athletes compete in the State Track Meet in Omaha. Congratulations all Aquinas Catholic track athletes and coaches.

The following Aquinas athletes placed:
6th Place in Pole Vault: Sam Sisco
7th Place in 400M Relay Team
Dulcie Archuleta, Sierra Meysenburg, Rebekah Roh, Larissa Sellers
8th Place in 200M Dash: Rebekah Roh
8th Place in 3200M: Sinclare Fiala
8th Place in 1600M Relay (left)
Isabella Hilger, Mary Fiala, Sinclare Fiala, Rebekah Roh

See all the State Meet results here.
MS Boys are Champs at State Meet
The top 24 boys and girls in each individual event plus the top 16 relay teams are invited to compete in the Nebraska Championship Meet at Gothenburg, NE on May 13th. Aquinas Catholic MS Students: Rylan Chromy, Keegan Lavicky, Brian Cech, Ben Shonka, Kyle Napier, & Payton Davis were invited to compete. The boys had a terrific day! They placed in every event they competed in and brought the Team Championship plaque home. Way to go, Monarchs! You can read all the results here.
Academics
MS State Science Olympiad
The Aquinas Middle School Students traveled to Lincoln to participate in the State Nebraska Science Olympiad on April 22rd. They were 3rd Place, as a team. To read all the individual results, follow the link.

Stara at State NJAS & Beyond 
Aquinas Sophomore, Daniel Stara, attended the Nebraska Junior Academy of Science State Competition on
April 20th. Daniel was a Top Ten Senior Division Researcher. This honor includes an invitation to the American Junior Academy of Science Conference 2018. Daniel just experienced the AJAS 2017 Conference in Boston from his last year's Science Research project.
 You can read about that project here. 
Aquinas Catholic High School Awards Night
On May 8th, Aquinas Catholic held it's annual awards night. Here are a few awards from that night:
OWLS (Once a Week Literary Society) Club Award: Samuel Sisco, Vocal Music Person of the Year: Rebeca Rerucha, Music Person of the Year: Amanda Stuhr, Thespian of the Year: Michelle Brezina, Butler County Arts Council Fine Arts Person: Amanda Stuhr, Keven Sloup Spirit Award: Anne Cech and William Reiter, Athletes of the Year: Elizabeth DeWispelare & Brandon Svoboda, Valedictorian: Branden Daro, Salutatorian: Victoria Whitmore, Angelic Doctor Award: Hannah Moravec, Cardinal Newman Award: Grace Moravec. Congratulations to all our outstanding students. You can read a complete list here.  
Math Contest
Aquinas traveled to Wayne State College to participate in the Wayne State Math Contest on May 5th. The Aquinas Math Whizzes: (from left to right, back row) Nolan Hartman, Valeria Whitmore, Jaydn Siroky, Rylan Chromy 7th Place in Algebra, Josh Pandorf 10th Place in Pre-Calculus, (front row) Hannah Moravec, Ella Moravec, Alex Lyons, Andy Schmid, and Ben Shonka. The Jeopardy Team finished in 4th Place out of 23 schools! Thanks, Mrs. Sypal!  
The Arts
District Music Contest Results
Aquinas musicians, traveled to Columbus for the 3-day Music Contest on April 20-22nd. Band, Chorus, Show Choir, and Jazz Band all received excellent ratings. The freshman girls vocal received an excellent rating. The varsity girls vocal ensemble received a superior rating. Girls sextet received a superior rating. Instrumental groups: clarinet trio, excellent rating; saxophone quartet, superior rating; and flute trio, excellent rating. Please follow the link for all individual solo results.
150 for Nebraska's 150th
Exhibit at Bone Creek Museum
Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art in David City, held a contest to capture 150 artworks to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Nebraska Statehood. Many artist around the state entered this contest. Five Aquinas Artists works were chosen to be included in this exhibition. Take a closer look here.
from left to right: Maria Pytlik, Valeria Whitmore, Austin Polivka, Sarah Juranek, and Sam Sisco.
Governor's Exhibition Display
Aquinas Catholic junior, Mary Fiala, will have her artwork on display at the Governor's Residence Exhibition in Lincoln on June 16 through September 8. Fiala's stained glass mosaic titled, "Nebraska's Gold" won a Golden Key Award at the Scholastic Art Competition  earlier this year. Only 17 Scholastic Art Award Winners were chosen for this exhibition. Plan on visiting this exhibition this summer, foll ow the link for more information.




"Nebraska's 
Gold"

Mary Fiala 
St. Mary's News

First Communion at St. Mary's

Congratulations to all 2nd Graders who were able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ during the celebration of their First Communion. Thank you to Sr. Frances, Mrs. DeWispelare, Mrs. Eller, Fr. Harrison, and Fr. Kimminau.
You can see more pictures here.
Teachers Honored
Apple Wishes is a pay it forward project that honors teachers. Ms. Fiala nominated Sr. Frances Pytlik and Mrs. Bonnie Andrews. On April 18th, Apple Wishes surprised these St. Mary's teachers during class with a wonderful gift basket. Watch the videos of Sr. Frances and Mrs. Andrews here.  
Learning with zSpace Bus
The 4th-5th Graders were able to tour the zSpace Bus on April 3rd. zSpace uses virtual reality technology to make learning come alive.

Mary Crowning at St. Mary's
Oh Mary,
we crown you with flowers today,  
Queen of the Angels and Queen of May.

Gold Rush
TV Land
Thank you to all who made Gold Rush a success; raising $290K before expenses!
Get excited...
The 20th Gold Rush: April 7, 2018  
STAY CONNECTED