March 2015 The Guardian Omnia in Excellentia

From the Headmaster

In just a few weeks, on Thursday, March 19, John Paul the Great Academy will celebrate the second of its two major feasts, the Feast of St. Joseph. In addition to setting up a beautiful St. Joseph altar, the children will begin their celebration of Holy Mass by participating in a Eucharistic procession and period of at our beautiful to St. Joseph. After Mass, students will enjoy a traditional Italian spaghetti lunch and a few treats from the St. Joseph altar! Throughout the past two years, as part of our mission within the Church to serve the poor, homeless, and marginalized, JPG seniors have served lunch at the St. Joseph Diner at Lafayette Catholic Services. This past week, thanks to our new hydroponic greenhouse and the work of our horticulture students, we were able to deliver 300 heads of lettuce to the diner! We will Upcoming Events continue to donate at least 10% of our produce (our “first fruits”) in this way. It is just one more way that our patron St. Joseph will continue to be Mar 6 present in the life of our school. Mar 11 Quarterly Parent Meeting Indeed, from the earliest days of John Paul the Great Academy, our mission Mar 14 Science Olympiad - UL has been entrusted to the providence and care of St. Joseph. Mar 19 Feast of St. Joseph Mar 21 Abbey Youth Fest • As Protector of Families, St. Joseph has long been a principal source Mar 28 Marriage Made for Heaven of grace for JPG families who humbly seek to model their family Apr 3-13 No School - Easter Break life on that of the Holy Family. • As the model for all fathers, St. Joseph plays a special role Mirror of patience, in challenging and encouraging JPG dads to struggle in the Lover of poverty, battle to be faithful, virtuous, and holy. We look to St. Model of all who labor, Joseph daily to help us lead our children through our own Glory of family life, example of Christian discipleship. Protector of virgins, • And lest we forget that we are ever in the midst of a raging spiritual battle for the salvation of souls, St. Joseph, the Pillar of families, “Terror of Demons,” strengthens us and guides us along Consolation of the afflicted, our path to sainthood. Hope of the sick,

Just one week before the Feast of the Annunciation, we celebrate Patron of the dying, this great feast of St. Joseph, and we recognize in a special way our Terror of the demons, call to follow in the footsteps of St. Joseph and to serve the poor, Protector of Holy Church the weak, the hungry, and to bring to all those who are hopeless the - Excerpted from the Litany of St. Joseph everlasting hope of Christ.

St. Joseph our Patron, Ora Pro Nobis!

John Paul the Great Academy is a small, Catholic, college preparatory school that preserves and promotes the sacred traditions of the Roman

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SPIRITUAL FORMATION grace is evident as Mr. Freddie accepts his cross while offering up prayers for others, and Mrs. 1. Senior Apostolic Projects – Thursday, March 12: JoAnna lovingly takes wonderful care of him. We Seniors will be heading out to their monthly apostolic have already had a positive response to the plea for projects at either St. Joseph's Diner or Amelia Manor helping to fund their home repairs. We appreciate all nursing home. The students have made new friends, the prayers and donations you have so generously and even had a few friendly arm wrestling tournaments! given. Our goal for the immediate needs of the roof and the air conditioning amounts to $12,000. The response has been overwhelming, with $7,000 already given. If anyone has questions about the repairs needed, please direct those to Eric Hebert (337) 385-7127. Thank you!

4. CONQUEST:Beginning next Wednesday, the boys in 6th grade and up will be invited to volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity on Wednesday afternoon. Space is somewhat limited, so we will be asking the boys to sign up in advance.

ACADEMICS

5. Speech & Debate Competitions – March is an important month for Guardian Speech & Debate students. Two major tournaments take place to determine if students will attend national competitions later this year. March 6 & 7 will be Catholic National Forensic League Qualifiers. Students who place in the top 5 of their event will earn a spot to compete at the CFL National Competition in May, taking place in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The next weekend, March 12-14, 2. Abbey Youth Fest -- Saturday, March 21. JPG will students will be competing in the National Speech & take a pilgrimage to Abbey Youth Fest in Covington, Debate Association's National Qualifying LA. Any 8th-12th grade student is invited to join for a Tournament. The top two students in the state for day of speakers, music, fun, and prayer. This year's each event will qualify to NSDA nationals this June keynote speaker is Fr. Mike Schmitz, who was featured in Dallas, TX. Please pray for our students during in Ascension Press' new short film I Will Follow. (Check these times. Additionally, any students in grades 5-8 it out at WillYouFollow.com) We will leave after school who are interested in competing this June in Dallas on Friday, March 20, and return late Saturday night. for nationals should see Mr. Artigue or Mrs. Mahan The cost is $75, which includes event registration, for more details about attending the largest middle lodging, transportation, and four meals. Students who school tournament in the nation. are participating in District Rally on March 21 but would also like to come to AYF, please talk to Miss 6. State Qualifiers in Speech & Debate – Sarah Chustz. Visit abbeyyouthfest.com for more Throughout the course of this academic year, JPG information. students have worked hard in speech & debate competitions. As a result, we have a number of 3. Support for the Gaspards! During this Lenten students who have qualified for the upcoming Season as we all continue to pray, fast and give alms, Louisiana State Tournament of Champions, to be we ask you to please lift up the Gaspard Family. God's held in Shreveport from March 26-28. Please keep

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JPG state qualifiers in your prayers as they prepare for 10. Rome-Ward Bound Garage Sale – Postponed Louisiana's most competitive speech & debate untill Saturday, May 2. We will continue accepting tournament. The following students have qualified to donations until that week. Stop by or call the front compete at state in these events: office for assistance with drop-offs. -Alexander Brown - Duet Acting & Lincoln Douglas Debate 11. Pre K News – After reading The Little Red Hen, the Pre- -Brock Cambre - Extemporaneous Speaking K classes made homemade bread. They mixed the -Jordan Doiron - Lincoln Douglas Debate ingredients, kneaded the dough, and rolled it into balls. -Aidan Fletcher - Lincoln Douglas Debate With the assistance of Upper School teacher and bread -Logan Habetz - Public Forum Debate expert Mr. Craig Baker, they baked it in JPG's outdoor -Laura Howard - Oratorical Declamation oven. All of the children helped and all of the children -Logan Huval - Duet Acting were able to enjoy the fruit of their labor... Warm, soft, -Luke Kirk - Student Congress, Extemporaneous delicious bread! Speaking, Impromptu Speaking & Public Forum Debate -Stephen Melancon - Impromptu Speaking & Lincoln Douglas Debate -Jack Moore - Student Congress

7. PARCC State Testing - March 16-20 - for students grades 3-8 who are participating in the State Scholarship Program. One part of the test will be given each morning during this week. Please contact the main office with any questions.

CAMPUS LIFE

8. Cheer -- Cheerleading sign up for the 2015-16 school year is now open for girls in grades 7-12. The deadline to sign up is Friday, March 13. For more information, contact Mrs. Shelley Gallet at [email protected]

9. Track – Began Monday, March 2! We are excited to announce that we will have a track team this year, coached by Miss Taylor McCaulley and Mrs. Lauren Cudihy. If your son or daughter will be 15 or older on December 31, 2015, he or she can compete on Saturday, May 9 in Baton Rouge against other teams in the ACEL. Since this is the first time that our league has hosted a track meet, we encourage any student interested to come out, learn the basics of the sport, and have fun! If your child is 7-14 years old, he or she can also compete in a few meets hosted on Saturdays in March and April at Lafayette High. Practice schedules for the season were announced at practice on March 2. If any parent has experience in track and field, and would like to help with the team, please contact Ms. Fouchi [email protected]

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