Below is a story that appeared in the school’s official magazine, The Compass, in Summer 2016. You can view the entire magazine online.
By Michael Mallen, Class of 2016 –
Once I graduate I will have completed nine full years at All Saints Catholic Academy. I remember when I was in the lower grades that the school year felt so much longer than it does now. I remember counting down how many days of school we had left one by one. When summer vacation finally did arrive, I was thrilled. Now, I’m not so excited to leave. Not because I don’t enjoy summer vacation; it’s the fact that I’m not coming back to All Saints Catholic Academy. I’ve spent so much time at All Saints Catholic Academy that I feel like it is my home.
I have had so many great experiences because of All Saints Catholic Academy. One of my favorite experiences was in the fall of this year; it was playing soccer. Our soccer team has always been decent, however we have never prevailed in our local soccer league. This past season history did not repeat itself. We had a handful of practices before our first game, and we were unsure how we were going to perform in our first game. We won our first game and from there we won eight more games in a row. We played ten games in total. Our final record was 9-1. That was the most fun I had ever had playing soccer. What makes that experience so great is not how well we performed, but having so much fun with all of my peers. And now that everybody is going to high school, we will never be able to play together like we did beforehand.
All schools try to make school work challenging for their students, however All Saints Catholic Academy has challenged me exceptionally well, in a handful of ways. The most prominent way that All Saints Catholic Academy has challenged me is academically. I did not notice this for a few years until I saw what children in public schools were learning; in the same grade as myself. We were years ahead of those children. I was also shocked to see how well our school performed on standardized testing compared to other public schools. We scored anywhere from one grade above our level, to post high school. This goes to show how All Saints Catholic Academy provided me with an admirable education.
All Saints Catholic Academy has done a spectacular job in providing me with academic knowledge, however the school has done something besides providing me with an elegant understanding of the curriculum. At All Saints Catholic Academy I was given the proper atmosphere where I could grow and mature in a different way than those who attend public schools. I was given an orientation to Christianity at a young age. I was told stories from the bible as early as kindergarten. I may not remember how all of these stories are told, however I do remember the core values that were taught within the stories. This is something that other public schools cannot offer. I understood at a very young age that public schools cannot pray or talk about God freely. I understood how I was blessed in the fact that I had the opportunity to learn about Christianity. I was excited to read stories from the bible and learn about all of the interesting events that occurred during biblical times. There were always obvious lessons learned; do not steal, do not kill, keep holy the Sabbath, and other rules of that nature. These lessons were obvious and easy to obey. What I did not understand is that the stories that I was reading had a relevant impact on the way I grew up as well as how I acted. The stories gave me a considerable foundation at a young age that was built upon in my latter years at All Saints Catholic Academy.
I would not be the person that I am today if I had not attended All Saints Catholic Academy. I was not only provided with an astounding education but also a strong relationship with God. I was able to learn valuable life lessons from the teachings in the bible, as well as proper behavior and virtues that go above and beyond what most children are exposed to. I was pushed to learn as much as I could; I never stopped learning, even when I had mastered a subject. If I possessed the will to learn more All Saints Catholic Academy never failed to enlighten me in yet another level of detail. I have received an extensive amount of knowledge and wisdom from All Saints Catholic Academy that I could not have acquired anywhere else. I am thankful that I was blessed enough to attend All Saints Catholic Academy and I will forever keep the virtues, knowledge and experiences the school bestowed upon me.
