Mothers’ Club Presentation at Basket Mass

January 5, 2015

At the conclusion of the Christmas Basket Mass, Mothers’ Club officers (from left) Megan Lee (vice president), Aimee Centorbi (secretary), Erin Grieshaber (treasurer) and Melanie McClure (president) presented Sister Glavin with a check to the school for $15,000. This remarkable contribution represents their indefatigable efforts over the past few months, in large part organizing and overseeing two Gently Used Uniform Sales and the Taste of Christmas Boutique event. The Mothers’ Club donation has been earmarked for The Sister Anna Mae Marheineke Student Enrichment Fund, which helps families who find themselves in need of assistance during the course of the school year. Thanks, Mothers’ Club officers and volunteers, for this amazing contribution!

Gratitude to Pundmann Ford

January 5, 2015

Our thanks to Pundmann Ford for their very generous gift to the Academy of the Sacred Heart. We partnered with them in a marketing initiative at Country Fair that netted $6,000 for our school. Support for the Academy from the corporate and business community is an integral part of our operating budget, and very much appreciated!

Christmas Eve Liturgy

December 20, 2014

Join the Academy community in celebrating the birth of the Christ Child!  All are invited to attend our Christmas Eve Liturgy in the Shrine, beginning at 10 p.m.

Christmas Baskets

December 19, 2014

Hundreds of food baskets await delivery to charitable agencies after this  morning’s Christmas Basket Mass. We’re grateful to the many Academy families, as well as alumni, who donated baskets of food that will provide a holiday meal for area families in need. Merry Christmas!

The Habit of Generosity

December 18, 2014

20141212_073358It is often easier for me to tell success stories of our alums who do well in the development of their mind: Successes in high school, college and career are bountiful and perhaps a bit more measurable. But, a Sacred Heart education is an education of both mind AND heart.

So, today I would like to tell a simple story of heart success. As you may know, Academy alumni have begun joining you, our generous and good parents, in collecting and donating baskets for distribution after our Christmas Basket mass. They began doing so last year. The work, energy and excitement about this among our alum leaders is a heart-success story, in and of itself! But, I want to tell a more singular story.

IMG_1169This week, a young alum who is doing a practicum in a medical career united her work colleagues to join in creating a basket of food for our mass. Not only did they collect food, but they collected some money which is allowing the alum basket coordinators to fill out a few other baskets. The FACT that she did this (while still in college) is indeed indicative of a beautiful heart. But the fact that she did this and dropped the basket off at the Academy with such JOY and LOVE moved me to gratitude, awe and tears!

Children of the Sacred Heart really DO become, each in their own way:

Courageous and confident leaders who know and love God, and who reveal that love by serving others!

Developing the habit of generosity is something our students become practiced in. Not only do they learn it from you, their parents, by watching YOU be generous, they have opportunities to engage in generous activities themselves. Advent opportunities included:

  • The toy drive
  • The Middle School Adopt-a-Family
  • The Christmas baskets
  • The visits to nursing homes

By engaging in acts of selfless service, each of us becomes ever more heart-ready for God to be born anew in the world through us.

Thank you for manifesting God’s Goodness and Love through your acts of generosity. And, thank you for partnering with us and allowing your children to manifest God’s Love by engaging in acts of generosity. May God’s Love continue to be made more manifest in this world which so desperately needs it!

With deep and loving gratitude and wishes for a beautiful, joy-filled, love-filled Christmas,

Maureen Glavin, rscj

Silver Tea Memories

December 17, 2014

Academy students gave a beautiful gift to their parents and grandparents with their Silver Tea performances last weekend and Monday.  We’re left with heartwarming memories, and gratitude to all of the adults who helped the children prepare and present. Merry Christmas!

[nggallery id=125]

2014 Ornament

December 17, 2014

Ornament2014Looking for a last-minute stocking stuffer? The 2014 Academy ornament could be just the thing. It features the riverboat Franklin, with the following inscription: “This year we celebrate the 250th birthday of our neighbor city. St. Louis was more than 50 years old when five Religious of the Sacred Heart arrived there in 1818 on the Franklin. They brought Catholic education to an area where it would flourish for the next 196 years.” To purchase the 2014 ornament ($12 each), stop by the Advancement Office or call 636-946-5632.

Advent Poems

December 16, 2014

Advent poems written by Sister Kimberly King—former Fifth Class teacher, librarian and resident poet at ASH—invite reflection as we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth.

Sister King now resides in a Sacred Heart community in Nova Scotia. We’re grateful for the sharing of her singular voice on Consider the Lilies.

Advent I, 2014

With bare spread arms and fullness of being

I ache for your coming and praise you already

in the becoming colors where night awakens the sun

with stories and visions and hope.

Where day bows to starlight and promises tales

when next they meet to dance

on the edge of Mystery’s vastness.

–Kimberly M. King, rscj

Advent II, 2014

Where the voice cries, plaintive or piercing,

at the bend of becoming and no return, I am

watchful for the low words

that draw me down center,

that humble me, impassion me,

steady me, move me,

move my light, move my being,

into the here and the now of

the still and the fray of the world,

to proclaim the time

of Love’s incarnation.

–Kimberly M. King, rscj

(words in italics are from Janet Erskine Stuart,

Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart, 1911-1914)

Advent III, 2014

My counter-weight,

my center down,

my metronome, my joy,

my song, my strength,

my fascination,

my hope, my help,

my rumination,

my wonder, awe, best inclination,

grace, cry, laugh, word,

moving me out to the neighborhood;

Born a baby, born of yes,

born to journey, born to bless.

Joy to the world, parumpapumpum,

Hark, herald, welcome,

COME!

–Kimberly M. King, rscj

image: c. Natesh Ramasamy

Performing at the White House

December 12, 2014

Yesterday’s Photo of the Day at the White House features the feet of some of the Patt Holt Singers, who traveled to Washington to perform for the President. After the first set, the group was invited into the Diplomatic Room where they performed “Let There Be Peace On Earth” for the President and First Lady. ASH parent and alum Laurie Kirchoff Strickland served as music director, and seven of the 20 performers were ASH students and alums. What an honor! Congratulations to the Patt Holt Singers.

Christmastime at the Academy

December 12, 2014

We look forward with excitement to tonight’s, tomorrow’s and Monday’s Silver Teas. The students have been working for weeks on their performances, lovingly prepared as a Christmas gift for their parents.

  • MIDDLE SCHOOL (Classes 5-8):  Friday, December 12  •  7:30 p.m.
  • LOWER SCHOOL (Classes P-4):  Saturday, December 13  •  2 p.m.
  • PRE-PRIMARY:  Monday, December 15  •  10 a.m. (for morning class) and 2 p.m. (for afternoon class)

The Academy Band will give a Christmas concert on Sunday, December 14, at 2 p.m. in Rauch Memorial. On Thursday, Dec. 18, the band will perform their concert for the whole school, and classroom Christmas parties will follow.

BasketFood In a tradition dating back many years, each Academy family is invited to provide a basket of food for the needy. As we joyfully anticipate Jesus’ birth during Advent, assembling items for your family’s food basket can become a special family activity and a new holiday tradition. When students (P-8), faculty, staff, parents, alums and friends gather for Christmas Basket Mass on Friday, Dec. 19 at 10 a.m. in Rauch Memorial, hundreds of bountiful baskets will fill the bleachers, representing the incredible generosity of our families. Not only is this a prayerful way to part before the holidays, it is also an opportunity to realize the abundance of our blessings.

Academy alumni will lend support to this effort by assembling additional food baskets the evening before Basket Mass. They’ll gather from 7–9 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 18 in the White Center.

Dismissal for Christmas break is Friday, Dec. 19 at 11:30 a.m. [NO LATE DISMISSAL]

IMG_5188Finally, all are invited to attend our Christmas Eve Liturgy at 10 p.m. Dec. 24 in the Shrine of St. Philippine Duchesne. This is a beautiful, joyful and prayerful way to celebrate the birth of Jesus!

If you have questions about any of our December events, please call the school office at 636-946-6127.