from Fr. Timmerman
Kentucky Derby Gold Rush Takes First Place!
The 20th Annual Gold Rush was celebrated Kentucky Derby style on Saturday, April 7th at Aquinas Catholic in David City with another sellout crowd in attendance. With oversized hats, jockeys, and roses galore over 540 guests celebrated in support of Aquinas & St. Mary's Catholic Schools. It all began with the celebration of Mass in the Aquinas Chapel. Nine silent auction tables opened following Mass and closed throughout the night with over 400 items for guests to bid on. Dinner was served by 30 Aquinas Catholic High School Students and the meal was prepared by CK Catering with all of the prime rib donated by Dr. Ray and Lu Metzner of NaturALL Steaks. A video prepared by Pam Jakub was shown before the start of the live auction. This video is a big hit every year and can be viewed on the school website. The Live Auction followed the meal and featured 42 items with the Russ Moravec Family serving as auctioneers. Sandy Archuleta (below) was crowned as Best Kentucky Derby Hat and Ryan Hilderbrand (far right) was crowned the best dressed man.

  

rose-bouquet.jpg
Starry Night Prom
Aquinas
Royalty

From left to right, back row: Will Yindrick, Josh Roh, Isaac Archuleta, Kyle Ruth, Sarah Burwell, Sarah Juranek, Madelaine Comte, and Ashley Eller. Front row: crown bearer Heston Meysenburg, King Eli Frasher, Queen Becky Roh, and crown bearer Cece Lyons.
Fine Arts
State Speech Success
Every member that qualified for the State Speech Meet at Kearney received a medal... every participant! The Aquinas  Catholic Speech Team placed 5th overall, Sarah Juranek placed 4th in Humorous Prose, O.I.D. Teams took the Runner-Up and Champion. Runner-Up O.I.D. Team: Nathan Uhrmacher, Cody Hein, Isaac Archuleta, Dawson Schawang and Kael Jakub. Championship O.I.D. Team: Sarah Juranek, Madelaine Comte, Josh Roh, Travis Roh and Will Yindrick. More pictures of reactions.
 
Mark your Calendars: April 22, 1-3pm 
See the Aquinas Catholic Champion O.I.D. performance on NSAA Speech Best of the Best 2018 on NET
Fine Arts Salad Luncheon
Every year the Aquinas Fine Art Department sponsors a Salad Luncheon to help raise funds for next year but also to put together a performance of the many musical talents of Aquinas Catholic.

Spring Musical

Fri, May 4 at 7PM
Sat, May 5: Dinner Theater at 6PM, Show at 7PM
Sun, MAY 6:Luncheon Theater at 1PM, Show at 2PM
Download your dinner theater tickets here.
Academics
State FFA
We are very proud of the David City Chapter of FFA students who participated in the FFA State Convention in April.


Above is the Ag Demonstration Team (from left to right) Hayden Schawang, Brooke Bell, Caleb Brezina, and Ivy Schmid. This team received a Gold. The David City Chapter won the Chapters Governors Excellence Award.
Read all the results here.
Academic All-State Award
The Nebraska Chiropractic Physicians Association has announced the Winter Academic All-State Awards. Students must show academic excellence and hold a 93% GPA as well as showing leadership in their NCAA Activity. Congrats to (boys basketball) Braden Smith, Tyler Vavrina, (girls basketball) Vanessa Bohuslavsky, Veronica Kobza, (speech) Sarah Juranek, Nathan Uhrmacher, (wrestling) Joseph Reimers, and Samuel Wisnieski.
NSAA Journalism
The NSAA has released the 2018 Preliminary Journalism Contest Results in Class B. Jenna Kobza, Sarah Burwell, and Sarah Juranek qualified in Newspaper Layout. Regan Pelan qualified in Headline Writing. Ivy Schmid, Sarah Burwell, and Brandon Timoney qualified in Editorial Writing. Madelaine Comte qualified in Editorial Cartooning and Newspaper News Writing. You can view all the contestants and their work here. These students will travel to compete in the State Journalism Contest on Monday, April 23rd at Northeast Community College in Norfolk. Congratulations and good luck!
Upcoming Finals
As the year comes to a close, that means: prom, shorts, sun, graduation, summer vacation, but don't forget finals. With some final test grades being a percentage of the entire class grade, finals are important. There are many great tips on how to prepare for these final exams 
  • Take great notes ahead of time
  • Find a quiet environment to study
  • Eat healthy foods and get plenty of sleep
  • Disconnect from social media
  • Refrain from last minute cram sessions
  • For every hour of studying, take a 10 minute break
You can find these and more test taking tips at EducationQuest.  
Faith & Service
Super Stations
Fr. Homes continued to make Holy Thursday an important experience for the students, faculty, and staff at Aquinas Catholic. Every year 'Super Stations' are performed in a labyrinth around the gym. These Stations are not like normal Stations of the Cross. After each station, an excerpt of "The Passion" Movie is played. This movie has graphic content of Jesus' way to the Cross so principal, Mr. McMahon, conducted a student survey to continue showing the movie. The answer was an overwhelming "yes". For those students who do not want to watch, they can be placed in the gym where they can't see but can still participate. It may be uncomfortable to visually see what horrors our Lord went through for each and every one of us, but it is such an important reminder.    
Annual NHS Blood Mobile 
Aquinas Catholic National Honor Society Members hosted their annual Red Cross Blood Mobile on Wednesday, March 28th. There was a record 138 donors.
National Champion Visits
Aquinas Catholic was blessed to welcome senior Husker volleyball outside hitter, Annika Albrecht. Annika was a member of the two-time National Championship Volleyball Team at Nebraska. What most people don't know about Annika, is that she places God above volleyball. She shared her faith journey and how her family taught her the importance of their Catholic faith. Annika used her talents as her parents taught, to glorify the Lord.

Fr. Holdren met Annika at the Neumann Center at UNL and invited her to speak to the Aquinas Students and meet the St. Mary's 5th Grade Class. Read the whole story here.  
Athletics
Enduring the Changing Weather
3-22: The first track meet of the season was moved due to weather, and it turned out to be a beautiful day for track. You can view the results of the Aquinas Triangular here
3-27: The Columbus Relays were on a chilly day, but that didn't hinder our athletes. The Boys Team was Champions and the Girls' Team were Runner-Ups. 
4-5: Aquinas Invite was held on the nicest day of the week, before it snowed. View the results here.
4-7: Due to weather, the Wisner-Pilger Track Meet was postponed to Friday, April 13th.
4-19: Track Meet at Schuyler at 10AM 
St. Mary's Elementary
Kindergarten Living Stations
Mrs. Smith's and Mrs. Schlautman's Kindergarten Classes led the Living Stations of the Cross on Friday, March 23rd. The children read the stations and prayers while other children act out the scene. St. Mary's has held Stations of the Cross each Friday during Lent, always led by a different class.
Grandparents Day
About 350 honored grandparent/friends attended.
Spring Program
Thank you to Mrs. Rachel Wisnieski for preparing the Pre-school and Pre-Kindergarten classes for their big performance. Thank you to Mrs. Mimick for directing grades K-5th on their Spring Program Performances.

Father/Daughter Dance 
The St. Mary's Spirit Club hosted the second annual Father/Daughter Dance on March 24th. Besides dancing the evening away, each family got a father/daughter portrait, treats, and picture frame craft. Earlier in the year, the Spirit Club hosted a Mother/Son Bowling Day in Columbus.
Other News




thank you! thank you! thank you!
thank you! thank you! thank you!
thank you! thank you! thank you!
thank you! thank you! thank you!
thank you! thank you! thank you!
thank you! thank you! thank you!
thank you! thank you! thank you!

Due to all the generosity of our Parishes, our alumni, our parents, and our supporters the $125,000 goal of our 2017 Annual Appeal has been met!
 
 
STAY CONNECTED