from Fr. Timmerman
Eucharistic Family Rosary Crusade

On Tuesday, February 13, Fr. James Kelleher presented to Aquinas & St. Mary's students the importance of praying the Rosary. Fr. Kelleher first shares the sacredness of the Miraculous Medal. Students were given Miraculous Medals blessed by Bishop Conley earlier in the school year. He then asks them the question, "Does God have a plan for your life?" Of the student who say 'yes', he asked them, "Do you think you can discover what that plan is?" Father continues to discuss what a vocation is and how they can discover their own vocation. He suggested to pray one Hail Mary a day, either for their future spouse, or that they become a good priest of religious brother or sister. Fr. Kelleher closes by sharing Our Lady of Fatima's message to pray for world peace.

Fr. Kelleher's presentation is part of the Eucharistic Family Rosary Crusade. Some area parishes have already been asked to take a Rosary pledge as a family to either pray a Rosary a day or a decade of the Scriptural Rosary a day. A Scriptural Rosary includes reading a passage of the Bible before praying a decade of the Rosary. You can find more information about a Scriptural Rosary here.

Another part of this crusade at the parish level is the groups titled,  "Saints on Tap" for men and "Vino et Veritas" for women. These groups will meet in a parishioners house once a month to discuss a different saint who has a special devotion to the Rosary.

All families are invited to attend the Surround the Border Husker-Catholic Candle-lit Rosary on April 29th at 8pm. Follow Eucharistic Family Rosary Crusade on Facebook. Like us on Facebook

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Academics
FFA District Success
Aquinas & David City FFA Members competed at District Speaking Contest at Newman Grove this year. Many members have qualified for State. The Agriculture Demonstration Team Members: Brooke Bell, Caleb Brezina, Ivy Schmid & Hayden Schawang were District Champions and State Qualifiers. Read all the results here.
At the Livestock Judging Contest, the following qualified for state by their proficiency exams:
Miles Eggleston - Beef Production, Allie Frasher - Animal Science Research, Ivy Schmid - Veterinary Science. Read all the results here.
Repeat Spelling Bee Champion
 from left, Braxton Small, third, Jaley Schultz, second, and Matthew Vrbka, champion.
Aquinas 8th Grader, Matthew Vrbka, is the Butler County Spelling Bee Champion for the second year in a row. His winning word: Sarcasm. Vrbka will next compete at the Midwest Spelling Bee on March 17 in Omaha.
Read more here.
Faith & Service
Raising Funds for Well in Nigeria
Father Holdren was able to present a $3,000 check to Joseph Williams, the founder of the International Missionary Foundation (IMF). 
Aquinas Catholic Seniors sponsored an "All is 'Well' Burger Bash" on January 30th to raise funds to pay for a water well in Nigeria. In Nigeria, 57 million people do not have access to clean and safe water, according to WaterAid, an international non-profit organization that works in 37 countries to help poor communities establish sustainable water supplies, safe hygiene practices and sanitation. The current water conditions lead 45,000 children under 5 years old to die each year in Nigeria.

Fr. Ben Holdren, Aquinas Senior Religion Instructor, shared these facts to the seniors and they decided to do something.

"It was a great experience and eye-opening
how we can help people in need with just a fundraiser,"
Fine Arts
Wayne State Honor
Aquinas Sophomore, Libby Aschoff, played in the Wayne State Honor Band on January 30th
Aquinas Vocalists participated in Wayne State Honor Choir on February 5th.
From the back row, left to right: 
Wyatt Moravec, Logan Helgoth
Josh Roh, Will Yindrick
Rylan Chromy, Hannah Moravec
Jude Yindrick. Julie Humlicek
Loren Hoelscher, Libby Aschoff
Kate Slama, Jackie Drozda
Speech Season
Aquinas Speech Team has been very busy. They compete almost weekly. Next week will be Conference Speech at Grand Island CC. District Speech will be held on Monday, March 12th at Raymond Central.

Aquinas were Champions at the Louisville Meet on Jan. 27th. Individual results are: Entertainment: Nathan Uhrmacher 2nd, Isaac Archuleta 6th; E xtemporaneous: Isaac
Archuleta 2nd; I nformative: Collin Hain 3rd; P ersuasive: Collin Hain 1st, Emily Dalton 6th; Humorous Prose: Will Yindrick 1st, Jude Yindrick 4th , Macy Moravec 5th; Serious Prose: Hayden Schawang 4th. Suzanne Oborny 5th ; Oral Interpretation of Drama: Sarah Juranek, Madelaine Comte, Josh Roh, Travis Roh, and Will Yindrick 1st, Dawson Schawang, Kael Jakub, Cody Hein, Nathan Urhmacher, and Isaac Archleta 2nd, Jill Witter, Hayden Schawang, and Jude Yindrick 3rd ; JV Poetry : Dulcie Archuleta 1st. Congratulations participants and coaches!
Athletics
Wrestlers to State
Aquinas Catholic are District Champions and sending 11 wrestlers to State on February 15-17. From left to right, back row: Logan Dybdal, Sam Wisnieski, Michael Coufal, Noah Scott, Owen Schramm, & Anthony Buresh. Front row: Creighton Redler, Zach Zitek, Kyle Petree, Joseph Reimers, & Logan Helgoth. Congratulations to the entire Aquinas Wrestling Team and coaches on an outstanding season.

State Wrestling: Feb. 15-17
You can find links to the information here.

State Duals: Feb. 23-24

Girls Basketball
Aquinas Girls Basketball Team had a great season, ending with a 10-13 record. The Monarchs lost to a tough Scotus team in sub-districts with a score of 31-42. Thanks to our lone Senior, Ronnie Kobza, pictured (below) with Coach Smith, Coach Munter, and Coach Pokorny.

Boys Basketball
Aquinas Boys Basketball Team has won some awfully close games throughout the season. On Feb. 9th they defeated a tough 19-3 Centennial Team by 2 points. For sub-districts, the Monarchs will play Scotus on Feb. 20th at 7:30pm at Columbus High. Good luck on the rest of the season, Monarchs!

St. Mary's Elementary
Catholic Schools Week
St. Mary's had some wonderful visitors and projects during Catholic Schools Week. (Right) every student decorated a butterfly that is displayed in the front hall. (Below) Seminarians visited and had lunch with students.






School Sisters of Christ the King (left) demonstrated the difference between the dress of a Candidate, Postulate, and Novice Sister. The girls were ecstatic to be chosen to model.
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Coin War Success
Every Catholic Schools Week, classes compete in a coin war. This year the school collected over $1,000 in coins to donate to the Religious Retirement Fund. Winning class was 3rd Grade. Second place was 5th Grade. Third place was Pre-S/Pre-K.
Alumni News
Summer Reunions watermelon-2.jpg
The weather doesn't reflect it, but the Spring Alumni Newsletter will be here soon. Please contact the Alumni Director to get your Summer Reunion Date published in the Spring Newsletter.

Missed the last newsletter? Don't fret, you can always read them online.
Other News
Gold Rush Tickets
There are only a few tickets left for the 20th Gold Rush on April 7, 2018. Tickets may be purchased at the Aquinas Office during regular school hours.

Bus Raffle Tickets
$100 per ticket- Only 300 sold!
Winners drawn at Gold Rush.

Prizes: $5,000, $2,500, $1,000, $1,000, and $500

Purchase tickets from a parish representative (below) or at the Aquinas Office during regular officer hours.

Mike & Pam Siroky, John & Barb Dehner- St. Mary's
Al & Diane Moravec, Russ & Diane Moravec- Immaculate Conception
Trev & Michaela Moravec- Ss. Peter & Paul and St. Anthony
Lyle & Pam Jakub- Holy Trinity
Matt & Nissa Hilger- Presentation
Terry & Brenda Eller- Sacred Heart
Annual Appeal Update

We are so blessed to have such generous supporters of Aquinas & St. Mary's Catholic Schools.

Annual Appeal Goal
$125,000.00
Alumni Appeal
- $56,770.43
Parish Appeal
- $ 47,252.33
Total Received
= $104,031.76

Amount needed to reach goal: $20,968.24


You can easily give to this campaign here. 
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