There are a number of items to fill you in on so I’ll just list them this time in an easy to read format:
–I will be out of the office on Monday and Tuesday spending that time at Fremont St. Joseph Central Catholic High School as part of a team reviewing their accreditation plan. It’s a good chance to see what other schools are doing and meet with other school administrators. I will be checking e-mail in the evenings if you need to contact me.
–We are having a “Brownie Sale” in the Academy on Monday and Tuesday. Thanks to Bob Scarlett we have 24 boxes of brownie mix that were donated by his employer and many of you kindly volunteered to make a batch of brownies this weekend. We will sell them for $.50 each and, hopefully, add a little money to the class trip fund.
–Speaking of the class trips, a fundraising opportunity is coming up–the SJJ Car Raffle. Information will be sent home next week, but I can tell you now students will earn a portion of the cost of each ticket they sell.
–A school wide mission collection of canned goods begins on Monday. Please help us collect canned food products—especially canned meats—to distribute to agencies that help those in need. In these difficult times the number of people looking for assistance is escalating and anything we can do to help those in need is greatly appreciated.
–On Wednesday the 8th grade students will “shadow” their Senior Big Brothers for the day. This will give them an opportunity to experience high school life as they contemplate the next step n their educational journey. Students who take a class in the high school can attend that class and re-connect with their Big Brother after the class.
–On Thursday and Friday 8th grade students have the opportunity to challenge themselves on the high ropes course at Camp Miakonda. Students have enjoyed and benefited from the experience over the last few years and we encourage the 8th graders to challenge themselves to discover and achieve their personal best on the course.
–A reminder that the Academy Wrestling Club gets underway with a parent information meeting on Monday evening at 6:15 p.m. in the commons. Several Academy students have indicated an interest in wrestling and we look forward to a great season.
–Thanks to the efforts of the Zirbel family we also have several opportunities for Academy students to compete in chess matches and tournaments. If you haven’t already contacted us and your son in interested in playing please let me know as soon as possible. Maria Zirbel is coordinating the matches and even the transportation, all your son has to do is show up and play!
–Basketball season is underway and we thank all the coaches who are volunteering their time to work with our students throughout the season. As soon as schedules are ready we will post them online. One of our 8th grade teams is playing in a tournament in Cincinnati and started the season off with a 55-14 win last night!
–Thanks to senior Zach Francis, several Academy students are learning to play the guitar. Zach meets with groups of students at 7:30 a.m. three mornings a week—another example of what it means to be a “Man for Others!”
A final note as we head to the halfway point of the second quarter: one of the goals of the Academy program is to prepare the students to do well in the high school program. Each quarter I check on the grades of all of our Academy graduates who are in the high school and I can proudly say that they are doing great! The average Academy freshman grade point average is 3.54, for sophomores it is 3.38, for juniors it is 3.27, and for seniors it is 3.63. Additionally, of the six seniors who earned “National Merit Semi-finalist” status on the PSAT test, four are Academy graduates! Congratulations to Ian Keigley, Curtis Clemens, Kevin Litzenberg, and Josh Davies.
Enjoy the weekend—let’s hope it stops raining..at least for a little while.
