News from our Principal

 May 22, 2015

I know that all of you know that we, at Saint Anne Parish School, have amazing students!  Each and every day, I am continuously impressed with the abilities, accomplishments and talents of those in our building.  Our students are given many opportunities to share the different gifts which they possess. Today, I am proud to share a few recent achievements.

The role of the Student Servant Leadership Commission is to give all the students of Saint Anne a voice in how our school is run as we work to develop student leaders.  Under the direction of Mr. Bob Olsen, Mr. Andrew Carter, Miss Jill Johnson, and Miss Katie Parker, this year's members worked well together and worked tirelessly to fulfill their obligations as student servant leaders.  The monthly Make a Difference Day collections resulted in a very generous donation to each of the chosen organizations.  Their leadership was demonstrated through the creation and facilitation of the Meet Me at the Flagpole prayer service, Sharpen the Saw Week and Catholic Schools Week assemblies.  This group of students assisted at the talent show where $200 was raised and the parish food bin was filled with an abundance of items for those in need.  The members of the Student Leadership Commission also attended the Feed My Starving Children site in Schaumburg, and packaged meals for people in Madagascar.  They help all of us at Saint Anne Parish School to live out the example of Jesus, who came to serve and not be served, through their words and actions.  At this time, we thank this year's members for their service.

President Shiva Neelakantan, 

Vice President Anne MacDonald 

Secretary Lily Werner

Treasurer Miguel Mercado 

Public Relations Directors Ryan Koehler & Madison Wrzos

Room Representatives:

Grade 8 Brian Finn, Jack Gainer, Nick McCaulley, Maddie Smith

Grade 7 Will Graff, Ryan Iannone, Frankie Kmet, Patrick Zerrudo 

Grade 6 Jackie Albrecht, Greg Bowman, John O'Neill, Jackie Smith

Grade 5 Mara Janess, Eliza Perry, Mikey Schumacher, Jarrod Skyta

Grade 4 Evan Coombs, Bridget Daugherty, Kellen Marks, Ava Olczyk

Grade 3 David Koziol, Paul Pituch, Iza Russe, Kaitlin Taylor

This morning, the students of Saint Anne Parish School voted for next year's officers of the Student Leadership Commission.   The following students presented their platforms today:  Aisling Finnegan, Will Graff, Ryan Iannone, Cailin Kozlowski, Miguel Mercado, Emily Nakiganda, Emily O'Donoghue, Meghan O'Donoghue, John O'Neill, Emma Samonek, Zosia Stawiarska, Lily Werner, Madison Wrosz.  We would like to thank all the candidates for writing such eloquent and thoughtful speeches.  The following students will be officers for the 2015-16 school year:

President: Miguel Mercado

Vice President:  Ryan Iannone

Recording Secretary:  Madison Wrosz

Treasurer: John O'Neill

Public Relations Directors: Emily Nakiganda and Meghan O'Donoghue

Our Scholastic Bowl teams continue to excel in their competitions. This year's sixth grade team competed at the Rockford Invitational, showed much improvement in their on-line Competition (81%  to 89%), won 2 matches at the Northwest Invitational for seventh/eighth grade teams and some members played in seventh and eighth grade Invitation tournaments.  Our seventh and eighth grade competitions resulted in the following:  Semi- Finalist at the St. Ignatius Invitational, 2^nd place  at the Notre Dame Invitational, 3rd place at the Loyola Invitational, 4^th place at the Station Invitational,  1^st place at the Northwest Catholic Invitational, National Qualifier in 2 On-Line tournaments and 2^nd Place in the IESA Regionals. Thank you to Mr. Terry Ehardt, our SAS moderator,  and the following students: 

Jackie Albrecht, Sam Carens, Matt D'Amore, Olek Drobek, Emily Dunkel, James Graft - Captain, Zoe Green, John Holsworth, Jack Hoppe, Ryan Koehler, Joe Laterza, Evan Lauderback,Nick McCaulley, Ozy McEvoy, Rylan Mueller, Shiva Neelakantan, Bella Pierce, Jackie Smith, Maddie Smith, Joe Taylor, Conor Warner, Maddie Wrzos, Sofia Zitella

The following six students qualified for the Illinois Junior Academy of Science State Science Fair which was held on  Saturday May 2nd, 2015 at Southern Illinois University:

Evan Lauderback, Shiva Neelakantan, Emily O'Donoghue, Madison O'Meara, Patrick Schumacher and Jillian Vlasak.  Three of these students were able to attend the competition. The results are very affirming to our school's seventh/eighth grade science program led by Ms. Laura Burnton.     

Patrick Schumacher, Jillian Vlasak and Madison O'Meara received a gold award.  Patrick also received a Best Consumer Science category award. Saint Anne Parish School received the Dr. Lyell J. Thomas Memorial Award which is awarded for supporting outstanding student research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at the IJAS state exposition!

Our seventh and eighth grade students, under the direction of Mrs. August Link, competed in the Barrington Art Poster Contest.  Seven of the nine finalists are from Saint Anne Parish School.  Congratulations to Tommy Fitzpatrick, Minsu Kim, Anne MacDonald, Madison O'Meara, Charlie Rolecek, Maddie Smith and Cali Brady.  

On Saturday, May 9^th, Gisela Bischoff attended a ceremony at the Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago for the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative (IFI). Gisela was presented with a certificate, as well as a commemorative coin to give to her father for her winning essay. Out of 10,000+ essay entries, Gisela was one of 156 students (K-12) and one of the 12 Kindergartners that were chosen for this award.

This weekend we celebrate Pentecost Sunday.  May the Holy Spirit strengthen us with wisdom, understanding and knowledge.  I hope that this three day weekend provides you some prayerful and relaxing family time.  

Respectfully,

Mrs. Dawn Kapka

Principal