Today, the feast day of St. Juan Diego comes at just the right time for us who spend Advent bustling about rather than patiently waiting and allowing ourselves to be still in anticipation for Christmas. St. Juan Diego was a hermit and lived a simple and humble life. Our Scripture passage for today also speaks of our need to find rest so that Christ might grow stronger within us. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). This Advent I am finding the “waiting” to be more difficult. I sense a longing for Christmas. Perhaps in a unique way, this Advent, I need Christ to grow stronger within me. I anticipate with a joyful heart the coming of Christ again at Christmas.

Recently, I received a small plate as a gift and on it was written “Find Joy in Each Day”. The quote is attributed to St. Philp Neri. What the giver of the gift didn’t know, was St. Philp Neri was the name of the Catholic School my children attended and also the parish in which my own faith and prayer life developed, ultimately leading me to commit myself to serving others through ministry in the Catholic Church. While the word JOY is one that grounds and guides me, I did not know this quote was attributed to this particular saint. In a roundabout way, I believe, I was given a small sign assuring me that where I am in my work and in my own life is exactly where God intends me to be. How beautiful is God’s grace given to us when we need it most.

This past Friday, we experienced in a big way God’s grace poured out on us at the celebration of All Saints Day at the South Campus. The Mass set the tone for the day and the events that followed were fun, educative and practically flawless. The photo of the entire school on the steps of St. Mary Parish Church is a beautiful testimony to the growth of our Catholic School and the 632 blessings we call the ASCS students! The day was filled with JOY. St. Philip Neri was certainly smiling with a large bouquet of colorful balloons in his hand. We are grateful to the teachers, staff and volunteers who helped make the day such a huge success.

This past Friday marked our 5th celebration of the Solemnity of All Saints since ASCS opened its doors in 2011. While the feast day was actually on November 1st, we celebrated it early. The day was special for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it is the day in which we celebrate our Feast Day. In addition, it was the day in which all of the children from our West/North/South campus came together in one school building. Our day began with Mass which was planned by our 3rd grade. Following Mass, we were able to take an all school picture (over 630 students) on the steps of St. Mary Church.  We then moved inside and had an opportunity to “trick or treat” and in that, to learn about our twelve patron Saints.  The children received a token (treat) from the Saint that symbolizes a piece of his/ her story as a Saint. For example, the children received a pack of goldfish crackers from St. Peter-the fisherman. We all joined together for a hotdog lunch and socialization. After lunch we had our whole school Spelling Bee with the winners of the Bee moving on to the Regional Bee in February.   It was a wonderful day and beautiful celebration!

This past School Board meeting, we passed out again our Strategic Plan that was put into place in 2012. At that time, we put an end date of 2016 on the plan. The task of our Board is to revisit those goals, assess how well we did in meeting the goals set and revise or extend any goals that members think necessary moving forward. As I look at
the goals, we are in a different place than we were when we opened the school in 2011! We opened our doors with just over 450 students-as of today, we are serving 632 students and over 50 children in our Saints In Training Program. We have grown in our commitment to our faith. We have grown in our outreach to the broader community.
We have developed an even closer relationship with our Lord. We have learned to walk with one another in times of sickness. We have held one another near in times of death. We have celebrated the joys in one another’s lives. We truly are All Saints Catholic School family. I invite you to look over our Strategic Plan goals and to pass on to me any feedback you have or would like for me to take back to our School Board.

Direction/ Priority One: Catholic Community Relationship, ownership and benefit
Major Goal: All 10 of our supporting parishes view/embrace ASCS as “our school”.
Major Goal: A fruitful, effective, collaborative relationship with St. Joseph Catholic Academy.

Direction/Priority Two: Student character and academic preparedness for the future
Major Goal: Students reach their full academic potential.
Major Goal: Gain a reputation as the best academic/character/faith choice in Kenosha

Direction/Priority Three: Live out Jesus’ instruction in all facets of ASCS life, especially when no one is watching.
Major Goal: ASCS aligns with the National Catholic Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools.
Major Goal: Staff and students demonstrate a visible Catholic faith conviction.

Direction/Priority Four: Enrollment Growth and Financial Health
Major Goal: Increase enrollment annually
Major Goal: Communicate to parishes, accountability through the annual reporting process.

Direction/Priority Five: Wider Community Contribution.
Major Goal: ASCS will embrace and embody Catholic School Teachings.
Blessings,
Dr. Jackie Lichter