Leadership Mass 2021

Message from the ASA Class of 2021: 

Good afternoon to our principals, teachers, staff, students, and most importantly our fellow graduating classmates. As you know, next year we will be moving up into high school. That means the seventh-grade class will become the new leaders of All Saints Academy. And we know you’ll be great at it. With the support of your friends and classmates, anything is possible. I’m sure that my classmates agree with me when I say that this year has been going great, given the circumstances. And we’re sure that will happen to you too. As eighth-graders, you will have to be examples of the four core values: faith, learning, loving, and serving. In this Leadership Mass, we will pass our candles down to you, symbolizing your turn to lead. 

First and foremost, we’d like to give a big thanks to our homeroom teachers, Mrs. Beckwith and Ms. Arbaugh, who have gone through the blood, sweat, and tears of taking care of us. We are also grateful for Mr. Kress, Mrs. Patterson, our educators from our early years, and the specialist teachers for pushing through this time and modifying their ways of teaching to make the most out of our 8th-grade year. We are incredibly appreciative of the office staff, Mrs. Mitchell and Mrs. Szczytko, for creating a welcoming environment. Last, and most importantly Mr. Debri and Ms. Giroux for keeping every individual part of our school in line and doing everything they can to make our community safe and fun. 

One of the things that makes our community stronger is our faith, which has been a major factor in our lives this past year. With COVID-19, our faith has been shaken. Luckily, we have amazing priests that have been there for us. Fr. Tom and Fr. Danny have been incredibly helpful in guiding us closer to God. We are also blessed with the support of our pastors from our other 3 founding parishes. Although visits from class partner priests haven’t been possible this year we have appreciated the opportunities we have had to celebrate at Mass with Msgr H, Father Rick and Fr. George. 

Our confirmation classes incorporated into our weekly class schedule this year have taught us more about who Jesus is and who we are. Being able to ask questions directly to the priests was a great way to learn more about our faith. If we’re being honest, faith doesn’t come easy. But then again, neither does life. Having our incredible teachers, priests, and principals there for us was key. God has blessed us all with the best eighth-grade year we could have, given the circumstances, and we are sure your year will be just as good. 

We wish you the best of luck on your new adventure. Remember, this isn't going to happen instantly. This is a step-by-step process. Our leadership abilities are still improving. We're all experiencing it, each and every one of us. Eighth-grade comes with being a good leader. One quality needed is the ability to work with others. So, when you begin on this wonderful, challenging, and thrilling journey together, continue to pray for and support one another. We send our sincere prayers, love, and encouragement to each and every one of you.  

Ultimately, thank you to everyone who has helped us. We would never have come this far without you. Lastly, we are thankful for each other. We have learned so much about friendship and life in general. We’ll all miss each other, as we split into different high schools, and hope we see one another someday. And now, future eighth graders, it is your turn to take up the responsibility of leading this school. We believe in each and every one of you. 

And of course, we’d like to say goodbye. Goodbye to our principals, teachers, faculty, fellow students, and most importantly to each other.    

Message from the ASA class of 2022:

Thank you Emma and Grace, and thank you 8th grade for being great leaders of the ASA Upper during this strange, unforgettable, and outstanding year. You have been a great influence on us, the 7th grade, and the whole middle school. We wish you luck in high school. We know you will continue to be great leaders. 

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” This is the verse we picked because it applies to everyday life and shows how to be a good leader. 1 Corinthians 16:13 shows that we need to be strong, brave, and be a good figure in faith. 
  
Our goal for faith next year is to show our faith in eighth grade by participation in mass and in the ways we act. We also want to lead by examples of faith. We want to teach others about our faith to help others grow. As a class, we want to grow our relationship with God. So for eighth grade, we can have a mindset of leadership. 

We will all strive to respect one another and to help each other to become better people. We will make sure that every one of us can support each others' growth. All of us are going to try to help others in lower grades to be the best they can be. 

Our goal for learning next year is to make sure we persevere through the next tough year. We all are trying to get better with learning so we can be successful in life later. We will try to set a great example for the younger grades. 

Through serving we will set a good example and role model for the rest of the school. In any service we do, impacting others and making their life a little bit better is our goal. People need help, and the uncertainty that happened in the past year didn’t help out. We believe that with God’s guidance, we can be that help.

Thank you again 8th grade for being great leaders at ASA. We know we have big shoes to fill. We wish you luck in high school.

The recording of the 2021 Leadership Mass is available on the St Jude vimeo page.