Welcome to our new Preschool 3 & 4 teacher!

 Hello all!  My name is Sarah Ludovico and I am so happy to be the new 3-4’s Preschool teacher here at All Saints Academy!  I grew up out by St. Patrick’s parish and attended school there from Kindergarten to 8th grade. I am the youngest of nine children and I tell people I grew up in the bleachers because we were constantly at sporting events for my siblings and myself! 

I am married to best friend Joseph and together we have four amazing grown (ish) children (my youngest is still growing). Two boys and two girls with two in college and two in high school at Forest Hills Eastern.  We also have one very spoiled dog. We love traveling, hiking, canoeing / kayaking and camping when the weather allows. 

I am looking forward to helping the littles in my care to grow educationally, and spiritually! I feel truly blessed to have been given this opportunity! 

 

First Friday Rosary

The most beautiful part of attending a Catholic school is participating in weekly Mass.  Sharing in the miracle of the Body and Blood is unmistakably the summit of our faith! 

There are many, many other rich traditions we celebrate daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly to be one as a faith community, and enter into the mercy of Our Lord.   One of those traditions that All Saints Academy adopted several years ago is the First Friday Rosary.  Part of the First Friday Devotion is praying the Rosary on the first Friday of each month in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Praying the Rosary is a wonderful way to slow down, quiet the heart, and spend time in the Gospels, the life of Jesus and his Mother.   

Praying the First Friday Rosary was initiated by Saint Mary Alacoque way back during the 17th century!  She was visited by Our Lord and asked to help spread the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  If the faithful pray the Rosary, receive Communion, and make a good Confession on the first Friday in nine consecutive months, Our Lady promised that there would be an abundance of mercy poured out to the prayer.  

In addition to Graces, praying the First Friday Rosary instills in our kids that no matter how busy the world thinks we should be, we can all intentionally slow down and reach out in prayer for even just 20 minutes.  So, when we bring the huge Rosary into the gym and calm our hearts and pray together as a community, that Friday begins in peace.

Pray the Rosary as a family this month. 

ASA Technology and Your Child

Have you ever wondered what kind of technology your students are using when they are at school? Are they safe when they use technology at ASA? I can assure you the days of trudging to the shared computer lab and playing Oregon Trail on a shared, antiquated, desktop computer are (thankfully) well behind us. So much of the resources students and teachers use are now online, which brings both opportunities and challenges for privacy and safety concerns.

ASA Technology 2008 to Present Day

Lower Campus "new" Computer Lab circa 2012

ASA technology has seen quite a transformation over the past 16 years. In preparation of ASA opening its doors in August 2008, we gathered all the technology from the four previous schools (Blessed Sacrament, St. Alphonsus, St. Isidore and St. Jude) and used the best of what we had for computer labs, as well as faculty and staff computers. There was no WiFi at either campus in those days, and our internet speed was shockingly small by today’s standards. (It was in the single-digit MB per second range, whereas currently it’s in the triple digit GB per second range.) There was no ability to access most of the resources we used unless we were physically in the school buildings. Student access to technology was limited to their assigned time in the computer lab using the software installed on the desktop PCs. 

Students learning in the SmartLab in 2023

With many thanks to the generosity of parents, ASA supporters at Eaglefest, and grants, ASA's technology has come a long way in the past 16 years, both with faculty and staff, as well as students. WiFi was installed at both campuses in 2012, we continued to increase internet speeds as more as more resources were available online. Windows desktop computers and their miles of network cabling gave way to wireless chromebooks - first in one shared cart in each campus's computer lab, and now each student in grades K-8 is assigned his or her own chromebook, and they are stored right in each classroom. Projectors on carts in each classroom have given way to interactive display boards at the Upper Campus and interactive projectors at the Lower Campus. There is also a SmartLab at the Upper Campus, where students have access to a large variety of hands-on technology, including drones, robotics, 3D printing, video creation and more. All of these improvements have helped ASA prepare students for a future world with careers that do not yet exist. 

Student Privacy and Online Safety

In the current online climate where there's a new data breach every week leaking our personal information, ASA takes student privacy and online safety very seriously. The resources students use today are online, and this has the potential to put students at risk. Those with nefarious intentions are very attracted to children's personal information, as it could be decades before anyone realizes their credit records have been ruined - not to mention a child's emotional and physical safety due to exposure online. At ASA, many measures are taken to ensure your child's privacy and safety. These include internet filtering, teachers monitoring student screens with GoGuardian, monitoring student accounts with Bark, creating a "walled garden" for students so they cannot interact with those outside the ASA domain, and vetting all online resources to ensure they comply with student privacy and safety laws. We also use the faith-based digital citizenship curriculum provided by Protect Young Eyes to educate students on safe and proper online habits. 

At ASA we are also committed to making parents aware of the online tools we use with students. Are you aware that there is a page on the ASA website listing all the technology currently in use with or by your students? This page outlines all online resources used by your child, a link to their privacy policy, as well as how we use and monitor those resources. 

As always, if you have any questions regarding ASA technology, please reach out to our Technology Coordinator, Karen Szczytko. You can reach her at kszczytko@asagr.org.

Third Grade Card Making

 With scissors and tape and crayons and paper and glue and stickers and markers all strewn about, another third grader greeting card is being crafted to acknowledge a special event. 

 

Throughout the year, Mrs. Groh’s third graders set time aside from reading, writing, and arithmetic to help the community celebrate events, big and small.

If a new baby is announced at ASA, a stack of handmade welcome cards are bundled together and gifted to the family.

When a visitor shares their time and talent with us, we craft a set of beautiful thank you cards and mail them off to them in appreciation.

Sympathy and prayers are  shared with people who lose a loved one.  

Teachers receive a birthday card to celebrate their special day.

During Advent, festive Christmas cards are mailed to the seniors of the four parishes.  Easter cards are mailed to the seniors, as well, in the spring.  

The third graders love crafting and creating, but more, they love receiving a word of gratitude for their work.  Every year we receive a spattering of mail thanking us for the gift of our time and craftiness.  It’s a special moment when the kids are affirmed for thinking of others.  

“It makes me proud to get a response from someone who got one of my cards,” Weston beams.

“I just feel happy!” says Lena … and she adds #smileyface

“I have joy making cards for others,” Justin says.

“It’s a nice thing we do,” smiles Remi.

“It makes me happy,” says Grayson.

“I feel generous,” announces Kasia with a huge smile.

“It’s nice to hear that they had a good day,” says Thatcher.

“I feel really proud and happy to make gifts,” Mae commented.

“I’m so grateful to help others!  I just say ‘Amen’,” says Vincent.

Angels Among Us

The Kindergartners have been very busy learning about their Catholic beliefs and growing in their faith.  One of the prayers we recite often is the Guardian Angel prayer.  The students were excited to learn that each and every one of us has a special guardian angel assigned to us by God to protect us and guide us throughout our life.  Our guardian angels are a sign of God’s great love for us and are a gift from our Creator.  At the conclusion of the lesson, the Kindergartners illustrated themselves with their guardian angels and wrote about ways their angel helps them.  Here are just a few examples of their amazing work!

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here;

ever this day be at my side, to light, to guard, to rule and guide.  Amen

Faculty and Students Work Together to Create Engaging Morning Prayer

 “What I think is really cool about morning prayer is that we have the chance to take on a leadership role,” stated London, an eighth grade student at the Upper Campus. London is specifically referring to the weekly Wacky Wednesday.

“ Yes,” added Evy, a current seventh grader. “ And with all the new activities, like Trivia Tuesday, it is definitely more inclusive and the students are much more involved by leading and participating in all the activities.” 

Wacky Wednesday? Tuesday Trivia? 

While gearing up for the new school year back in August of 2024, the Upper Campus faculty decided to change up their all school morning prayer in the gym in a few different ways. With the goal of making that time together more communal and participatory, planning began. First faculty chose to center daily prayer on the liturgical year with the target of highlighting the “why” of the liturgical seasons, events, and feast days. In an effort to engage all students, Trivia Tuesday and Wacky Wednesday were born. 

Now, each Tuesday, prayer culminates with a trivia question based on what students learned the week prior during morning prayer. On Wednesdays, an appropriate Catholic kid joke is shared. On both days, students quickly gather around their homeroom teachers, vote on an answer, and then take turns announcing their responses. You would think there would be only one answer to the weekly wacky, but often times grades are given extra points for creativity in the answers shared. There have been some pretty amazing answers that showed higher level thinking and connections to the religious knowledge our students have. 

Wanting activities for the remaining days of the week, Movement Monday, Fun Friday, and Theology Thursday were created.

 On Theology Thursdays, the message of the daily Gospel is shared before students head up to Mass. Along with sharing the message, students are asked to give examples of how they can live that message at home and at school in the year 2025. Previewing the Gospel makes for a good foundation before Mass begins, and it encourages confidence in answering questions that Fr. Ayub, Fr. Christopher, Monsignor Ed, or any visiting priest may ask during homilies.   

Movement Monday and Fun Friday round out the week. Movement Monday is anything from whole group Simon Says, Would you Rathers, or cheering on a friend as classes take turns with a quick game of Lightening. Fun Friday is a minute to win it type of class competition. One class goes each week as the rest of the student body cheers on. 

As staff members take monthly turns creating the liturgical year content for the prayer portion of our morning get together, a newly formed prayer team comprised of seventh and eighth grade volunteers help out, too.  Eighth graders Fletch and Lily often lead us in prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and daily announcements that include celebrating birthdays. As mentioned above, London and Evy lead the trivia and wacky joke portions. 

“Everything is fun. I’m always wondering what’s going to be the new challenge on each Friday,” shared Madelyn, a new member of the team. Because of her curiosity, she is going to take over planning the “fun” on Fun Fridays come February. 

Andrew sets up each morning, and Jesus is soon to take on that responsibility. As Andrew contemplates his next move on the prayer committee, he reflects,  “ It’s just been a fun way to start each day together this school year.” 

Math Tastes Like Chocolate Milk!

In order to solidify their understanding of ratios and proportions, 6th grade students participated in a chocolate milk making activity. The goal was to use equivalent ratios to create different mixtures of chocolate powder and milk to reach certain goals for the “chocolateness” of their mixtures. Students recorded data after taste testing each mixture, always comparing it to “Grandma’s recipe” which was given to them.

After creating as many as 8 different mixtures, students reflected on the taste of each concoction. They compared the actual taste to what they expected mathematically.

 

The 6th graders really enjoyed a creative and fun way to learn about ratios! Of course, sampling the chocolate milk was a crowd pleaser as well! Here is some feedback from students:

“I learned how to find the right proportion of liquid and mix. I need to multiply or divide the original recipe.” Natalie Miller

“Math can be fun. I liked chugging the milk!” Hayden Schneider

“I enjoyed drinking chocolate milk and having a good group.” Madelyn Alt

“Math is used everyday in various ways” Lauren Hekman

“Measurements matter… a lot!” Isla Kemp

“Too much chocolate mix is awful for the tastebuds.” Elise Wuorinen

“I enjoyed watching peoples’ reactions when they had milk that tasted bad!” Alyssa Stamps