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First of all, I can’t write about anything else without first thanking each and every one of you for your participation at Country Fair. It takes all of us to put on an event of this nature, so, it goes without saying that YOU (every single parent at this Academy) have my deep and abiding gratitude.

Truly, it was a GLORIOUS weekend – from the mass on Saturday, through the Chili Cook-off on Saturday night (with the great atmosphere hanging out with the young alum bands) to the Sunday morning 5K and Fun Run, to the beautiful day on Sunday, up to the last drawing of the last raffle at 5:00 on Sunday afternoon! Thank you for donating items, thank you for helping with set-up, thank you for signing-up to ‘man’ a booth, thank you for bringing your extended family and friends to enjoy the festivities, and thank you for helping support this education with your financial support, your sponsorships, your participation and your presence.

A special and HUGE thank you goes to event chairs, Jodie and Gregg Schneider. I could not be more grateful for their thoughtful, strategic input, not to mention their generous gift of time and attention to so many details. The Schneiders were graciously assisted by co-chairs, Terri and Larry McClain for whom I am also deeply grateful.

My hat also goes off to each of the committee chairs. This amazing group of parents and alums took on the responsibility of being point-persons for various portions of what needed to be accomplished. I am so thankful that some are able to take on such leadership roles. Your generous ‘yes’ is noticed, noted and truly appreciated beyond my capacity to even articulate.

Behind the scenes at our big events is the Advancement Office. Our new events coordinator, Silvia Dadian-Smith, survived with grace! It is clear she has the organizational ability, the energy, the graciousness and magnanimity to not only survive, but to help us move forward in our event planning and execution. Kudos, Silvia!

Finally, and most importantly, I thank God for the grace of such splendid weather! The day could not have been more perfect. I credit two new citizens of heaven for their powerful prayers of intercession – Sr. Anna Mae Marheineke (an alum and long-time faculty member at the Academy) and Sr. Pat Steppe (the Headmistress of the School for 12 years, from 1972 – 1984). Thank you Sr. Marheineke, thank you Sr. Steppe and, THANK YOU GOD!

With a heart overflowing with nothing but gratitude,

At this time of year I always find myself walking around the school with deep and abiding gratitude.

First of all, I am filled with gratitude for the amazing skill, the phenomenal hard work and the beautiful hearts of the educators who surround our children. I wish you could see the engagement, the substance and the joy I see as I walk around the Academy. It delights me to watch our mutual charges grappling with ideas that lift their hearts and minds to new levels of thinking, understanding or awareness – whether the conversation is about rhyming words, algebraic expressions, electrical circuits or God’s great love for us! I also wish you could be a fly on the wall and hear the gentle re-directions and the lofty invitations our teachers provide, always lovingly leading our children to growth in goodness, grace and God.

Secondly, I am filled with gratitude for the amazing generosity of YOU, our Academy parents. At the end of a full day at the office, I see you here helping us in a multitude of ways: cutting tablecloths in preparation for the table set-up, making signs, counting raffle tickets, creating items for the Market Place! Others of you are here during the day, generously giving of your time. And, I am CONSTANTLY AWED! I know that in addition to your own work and then helping out here, you still go home, put dinner on the table, ensure children are fed, follow-up to see that homework is accomplished, teeth are brushed and bed-time routines are accomplished. YOU truly awe me!

My heart is overflowing MOST OF ALL because at the bottom of all our collective hard work is the intention to DO exactly what we hope we are educating our children to:  to know (experience) God’s Love, to develop one’s God-given gifts and to inspire them to BE God’s Goodness in the world!

Thank YOU, for being God’s Goodness here in this place where God’s Love is Alive in YOUR generous hearts and hands!

With deep and abiding gratitude,

Maureen Glavin, rscj

If you read my Thursday Mail letters faithfully (and perhaps have been doing so for a few years) you may recall the names of a few books which I have loved. One about which I was effusive a few years ago, is Mindset by Carol Dweck. I know that some of you have read it because it was originally suggested to me by a parent. You might even recall that we chose the book for faculty summer reading a few years ago. Well, what is happening in the world of education is that the ideas in great books such as these are being distilled and disseminated in journal articles and at conferences – educating educators and parents to the same ideas.

Why am I telling you this? I am doing so because, as a happy consequence of all this distillation and dissemination, much of this helpful information is now easily accessible for all of us who perhaps might not have time to read the books that are out there!

With this in mind, as we find articles and resources we love, we will be putting them on the Parent Portal. When you go to the Parent Portal, scroll down and you will see parent resources on the bottom right hand portion of the page.

We have just added three more opportune reads:

True Grit
by Jennifer L. W. Fink

Handle with Care: A Conversation with Maya Angelou
by Amy M. Azzam

Parenting Your Strong-Willed Child
by Dr. Laura Markham

We each will take something different away from these resources because we all have different starting points. I especially loved the first one! My big take-away: Praise Actions, Not Traits.

“Give praise for efforts, strategies, focus, and perseverance,” Ms. Fink says. “This kind of praise focuses kids on the processes they engaged in to be successful.” It also encourages the kinds of behavior that are correlated with true success.

Regardless of my ‘starting point,’, let me reiterate my big message for today: None of us was provided instruction booklets when God gifted us with our beautiful children. Yet, it is true that task of raising these children is probably the most important and sacred task we will be given in our entire lives. So, it behooves us to support each other with our communication, collaboration, and sharing of resources with open hearts and minds as we all continue to do our best raising these children – children whom we hope will become reflective of God’s Goodness and Grace in the legacy of their future lives and loves,

Maureen Glavin, rscj