Matlak's Marauders

Simulating Valley Forge at ASA Middle School

By Gael Silvestre and 7th Grade 

On Wednesday, March 14, 2018, the 7th grade left the middle school after lunch, and we went to the baseball diamond. The fires were there in fire ring parents brought, and there were pancake mix boxes and toilet paper rolls. 

“I enjoyed wearing my captain's hat. I learned about the steps to load a musket. It was hard deciding who to write my letter from Valley Forge to.” - Kalem

We were called up in groups Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta. Each group had their own fire ring. I was placed in the Bravo group. The first thing we did was marching in a perfect straight line. It was pretty, hard but I thought it was pretty fun. Our social studies teacher was our commanding officer. We called him Colonel Matlak. I thought it was pretty funny calling him that because i’m so used to him as Mr. Matlak. 

After our marches Colonel Matlak told us to go to our fires. He called up each group to go up learn how to load a musket gun. Obviously we aren't going to use real muskets but instead we each had a big toilet paper roll that had tape on the bottom of it. And for gun powder we had sand and for musket balls we used rocks and the ramrod was a meter stick. We put sand in the roll and put in the rock bullet ball and we went BANG! It was pretty cool Mr. Matlak also told us cool facts about the musket and how to fire as well which was super cool. 

After that we had firecakes and they tasted really bad. They were bland and tasteless but I had 3 for some reason. 

After that it was time to pack up and go back inside. After that we had hot chocolate and it tasted really good. After that is was time to go home and to leave school. And that's the adventure we had at valley forge.

Additional student reflections from the day: 

What was your favorite part about the afternoon: 

• The drills
• Getting to make and eat flour cakes
• Sitting around the fire

What did you learn? 

• The soldiers at Valley Forge sat through a very cold weather
• The effects of smallpox on the army 
• I learned about the women at Valley Forge that aren’t talked about much and their important roles

What was the hardest part of the experience? 

• Staying warm - the wind was making it much colder, it got hard to write and we kept getting smoke in our eyes 
• Marching inline and doing push ups 

“I thought it was really fun. And it was really cool hanging out with my friends and camping out with my favorite social studies teacher”

“I liked how Mr. Matlak called everyone private and then their last name.” 

“I loved the experience and would love to help or do it again any time.”

“Honestly, I just had a great time.”

“Next year there should be senior officers helping out.” 

Looking to The Easter Vigil 2018

We Are One Body in Christ

And we continue to grow!

One of the many beautiful elements of The Easter Vigil is welcoming new members into the Catholic community of faith!

Please consider joining the All Saints Academy extended family for the Easter Vigil on Saturday March 31, 2018 at 8:30 pm at either Blessed Sacrament or St. Jude this year as we have three ASA families join the Church! Charlie (4th Grade) and his family, as well as Chris and Justine Bohan (Parker in Kindergarten and Lennon in Toddler Care) will be celebrating the sacraments of initiation at Blessed Sacrament, while Kalem (7th Grade) and his family will be celebrating the sacraments of initiation at St Jude.

“We are so grateful for the love and support shown to Charlie and our entire family since we have joined the All Saints Academy and Blessed Sacrament Community!!

We truly feel that we have been led to this through that support and the kindness and love demonstrated to us and are incredibly excited to be “making it official” this coming Easter weekend!” - Sam

“I am looking forward to my baptism” - Kalem

“I am excited for confirmation.” - Mandi

“I wanted to say how thankful my family is for all of the love, support and prayers given to us from the church and school.  It has been a more then welcoming environment and showed us all how great people can be through and with God’s love.  Thank you to all that have been there for us and helped us on our journey, you know who you are.” - Ryan

Please offer these families, and all catechumens and candidates for entry into The Church, up in prayer these last few days of lent!

Saints in The ASA Entryway

We Are One Body in Christ

Forming Saints to Serve All 

Artist John McCoy has completed the digital version of the new Saint Art for the entryway a the middle school campus. He will now begin transferring his vision to canvas. 

At the center of the piece we see The Blessed Sacrament with St Jude, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St Isidore and St Alphonsus on either side. 

As All Saints Academy we wanted to include a number of other Saints to represent the entire Body of Christ. Students and ASA staff were given an opportunity to suggest additional Saints for the artwork. Ultimately we landed on 8 additional Saints who both exemplify ASA’s Core Values and who were commonly mentioned by community members. 

Our additional Saint exemplars of Faith, Learning, Loving, Serving are: 

• Cecilia - The patroness of musician
• Sebastian - Patron of athletes and soldiers 
• Albert the Great - A Doctor of the Church and a “Universal thinker” whose interests included science, ethics, logic, philosophy, psychology, theology and demonstrates the  pursuit of truth
• Joan of Arc - Defender of faith, and an example of both contemplation and action 
• Juan Diego - A native to Mexico and a convert, news of his encounters with Our Lady of Guadalupe caused thousands to convert to Christianity  
• Kateri Tekakwitha- The first Native American to be canonized a Saint, the patroness of ecology and the environment, she is also inspiration for missionaries, those in exile and those adopted 
• Elizabeth Ann Seton - First native born American Saint and founder of the nation’s first Catholic girls’ schools, Elizabeth was a prolific reader and both a wife and mother and also a religious sister and foundress of the Sisters of Charity 
• Teresa of Calcutta - Foundress of the Missionaries of Charity and a modern exemplar of a life lived in loving service to others 

Check out John's first video about his work so far: 

Prayer for Peace

March 14, 2018 Walk into The Church

At 10am on March 14, 2018 ASA students walked into the church to offer this prayer:

At ASA We Believe We Are One & All Things Are Possible Through Christ,

so today we pray for peace, wisdom and love at ASA and in all schools across

our country and around our world.

Prayer of Saint Francis:

Lord make me an instrument of your peace

Where there is hatred (All) let me sow love

Where there is injury (All) let me bring pardon

Where there is doubt (All) let me bring  faith

Where there is despair (All) let me bring hope

Where there is darkness (All) let me bring light

And where there is sadness (All) let me bring  joy

(Mike) O, master grant that I may

Not so much seek to be consoled as to console

To be understood as to understand

To be loved as to love

For it is in giving (All) that we receive

It is in pardoning (All) that we are pardoned

And it is in dying (All) that we are born to eternal life

(All) Amen

17 eighth graders each lead us in 1 Hail Mary

Dorothy - Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

Carrie - It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered.

Tom - Love keeps no record of wrongs.

Claire - Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

Stacey - Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Tim - Love never fails.” - 1 Cor 13:4

(All) Our Father & sign of peace

A Tradition of Academic Success

Quarter Two 2017-2018 Catholic High School Honor Roll Data 

At All Saints Academy we are proud of the many ways our alumni get involved in high school and beyond. Our students can be found marching for their high school bands, playing on varsity teams, performing in plays and musicals, and serving in their parishes. They also consistently experience impressive academic success and growth.

As the 2nd Trimester here at ASA comes to an end, we are excited to look back to the first semester of this school year at Catholic Central and West Catholic and celebrate our alumni on the Quarter 2 Honor Rolls at both schools! 

• 65% of ASA alumni who are currently freshmen made the Quarter 2 Honor Roll at West Catholic or Catholic Central  
• 54% total ASA Alumni made the Quarter 2 Honor Roll at West Catholic and Catholic Central for the 2017-2018 school year 

• 52 students on Honor Roll Quarter 2 of 2016-2017
• 64 students on Honor Roll Quarter 2 of 2017-2018

3rd Grade Top 10 List 2017-2018

3rd Grade Top 10 List March 2018

10.   Hatching Chicks

9.   Going to Hawaii

8.   Mileage Club

7.   Ski Club

6.    Walking to Burger King

5.   King and Queen Ball

4.   Pajama Day

3. Field Day

2. Reading Buddies with 3 year olds

1. Bandana Tag

Welcome Mrs. Manning

Building The Student Support Team at ASA

Jesus, however called the children to himself, and said, “Let little children come to me, and do not prevent them: for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these…” Luke 18:16 

At All Saints Academy we believe we can all grow and our vision is to provide a transformational education, grounded in the Catholic faith that meets the needs of individual learners. 

At the very core of the Catholic Church is the idea of community and how we are all called to come together in the name of Christ.  As a school, we must be cognizant that while we are all created in God’s image, no one person is the same.  Each and every student brings different gifts and abilities to our school.  Before we can carry out our mission of partnering with and serving our families, parishes, and communities to develop the whole child, we must first recognize the differences each child brings and meet that student at the place they are developmentally, so they themselves are better served. 

At ASA we aim to be as inclusive of a school as possible so we have actively been building our capacity and support structures for students and teachers. Teachers have been learning about and begun implementing PBIS and RTI processes. We are so blessed to have our Coordinator of Interventions, Jenny LaPonsie, a School Counselor, Nicole Stoner, and two support tutors, Louise Davidson and Lynne Kloska currently working with students and teachers. And now, we are incredibly excited to be adding a Middle School Interventionist to our team! Below is a short introductory message from Melissa Manning. 

Hello ASA Families,

My name is Melissa Manning and I am very excited to begin working at All Saints Academy Middle School, providing academic and positive behavioral intervention supports.  

While my first day was last week, I already feel at home, as my three children attend ASA (Makenzie 5th, Cassie PK 3, and JJ Toddler), and we are members of St. Jude. 

 I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to serve my community and students. 

I am coming to All Saints with ten years of teaching experience and most recently was a MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Support) Coordinator, while continuing my education in the Masters of Education Leadership program at Western Michigan University.

Please let me know how I can best help serve our students and families, and I look forward to further communication and collaboration to ensure student success.   

Blessings,

Melissa Manning