An ASA alum joins the staff!

Hello everyone! My name is DJ Needham, and I am the new co-teacher in the 3rd and 4th grades this year. I am very excited to be back at ASA after an 11 year break; My 4 sisters and I (Kayla ‘11, myself ‘13, Katherine ‘15, Abby ‘17, and Margaret ‘19) have all gone through ASA K-8!

I began school at Blessed Sacrament and attended BS until its doors closed at the end of my 3rd grade year. I then began attending ASA during its inaugural year in the fall of 2008, and I was a member of the 2013 graduating class. I then went on to attend West Catholic (2017 graduate), then University of Dayton (2021 graduate), and I just graduated from the University of Notre Dame this past summer with my M.Ed. While attaining my M.Ed. these past two years, I had the privilege of teaching middle school Social Studies at St. Ignatius Martyr Catholic School in Austin, Texas. I must say that it is a nice change of pace to live back in a part of the country where it rarely tops 88 degrees!

8th grade graduation with a few familiar faces

My 2023 8th grade class at St. Ignatius

It is both a thrill and a blessing to get the opportunity to teach alongside some of the teachers who taught me at ASA (Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Bowman, Mrs. Livingston, Mrs. Zimelis, Mrs. Davidson) and at West Catholic (Mr. Gietzen). 

In my spare time, I enjoy running, reading, spending time with my family, learning about history, and watching sports of all kinds–especially my beloved Michigan Wolverines, Detroit Red Wings, and Detroit Tigers.

When I think back to my past years of school, undoubtedly, my K-8 years have had the most lasting and indelible impact on me, and it is nothing short of a blessing to have the opportunity to play a small role in the lives of the ASA students; my memories of sitting in Mrs. Zimelis’ 5th Grade ELA class or Mrs. Livingston’s 6th Grade Math class are still as clear to me as if they occurred yesterday! Elementary and middle schools play such an instrumental role in the development of young minds and hearts, and I am so thankful that I have been brought back into this special community to do just that.

Thank you, once again, and I look forward to getting to know everyone!

Welcome, Mrs. Cusack!

Hello!  My name is Amanda Cusack, and I am the new Administrative Assistant at the Lower Campus.  I was lucky enough to work with Ashley for two-ish months before she left.  

I am originally from the Kalamazoo area, and moved to Grand Rapids in my last year of Pharmacy School.  I completed my RCIA classes at Holy Trinity in Comstock Park in 2007.  I married my husband, Ted, in 2008.  He is a special education teacher at Creative Technologies Academy in Cedar Springs.  We have three children, Matthew, a freshman at the Rockford Freshman Center, Joshua an 8th grader at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Belmont, and Samuel, a 3rd grader that transferred to ASA this year.  We also have two cats, a dog and a leopard gecko.  We live in Rockford, and enjoy visiting the Rockford Dam area.

Prior to joining the ASA family, I worked for two years at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary School as a classroom aide and before and after school supervisor.  Before joining Assumption, I was a Pharmacist at Meijer for 17 years, working all across Grand Rapids.  I keep my Pharmacist license current by working at Walgreens a few times a month - so you may see me there too!

At Assumption I served as Home and School president, on the School Board and as part of the Marketing committee, among other things.  I enjoyed my time and experiences at Assumption, and look forward to new challenges and opportunities at ASA. 

Thank you to the families and staff that have welcomed me to the ASA family over the summer.  I look forward to meeting the rest of you as the school year progresses!

Heading Back to School is Bittersweet for One Family

June 9th 2023 was a bittersweet day for our family.  For the past 10 years, we have been dropping off at least 1 of our 3 children at the doors of the Lower Campus and entrusting their growing brains and safety to a wonderful staff that we now see more like family. 

We fell in love with ASA the first day we arrived to visit and have grown to love it even more since.  Knowing that the kids are loved and cared for each day is such a relief to a parent.  We have watched all three of them grow so much and develop into such great kids and I know that we have all of you to thank for helping with that.

This community is like no other that we have ever experienced and we feel so blessed to be a part of it.  Both our children and ourselves have made so many friends and have had so many great memories in this building. 

As our youngest makes her way to the Upper Campus next year we want to send a huge shout out to all of the amazing teachers, staff and students that have helped our children grow over these past ten years! 

We will miss seeing your smiling faces each morning but are looking forward to these next few years at the Upper Campus as we know they will be in great hands there as well. 

We will definitely still stop by to visit.  

~The Truszkowski Family