Author: Janis DeVore

“For I was hungry and you gave me food.” – Matthew 25:35

During this Lenten season, we are pleased to announce that All Saints will be hosting its fifth annual Bread of Life Food Drive (BOLD) to benefit the All Saints’ Bethany Food Pantry and Catholic Charities’ St. Lucy Project. We are excited to once again partner with the University of Notre Dame Club of Staten Island on this nationwide food drive.

Here are details about this community service initiative to assist individuals and families in our local community in need of food assistance.

When will the food drive take place?

All Saints Bread of Life Food Drive will run from Monday, March 17 – Friday, March 28, 2025. All Saints students from the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) will help organize the drive.

Where does the food go?

Almost a quarter of a million people in the Arlington Diocese are “food insecure,” meaning they do not know where their next meal will come from. Our school’s Bread of Life Food Drive will benefit the St. Lucy Project and All Saints’ Bethany Food Pantry to assist families and individuals living within Manassas, Manassas Park and Prince William County.

What can you do to help?

During the drive, your child(ren) can bring in food donations in the morning and leave them in the boxes that will be outside of their classrooms. Donations can also be brought to the All Saints school office (Monday – Thursday) between the hours of 8:00 AM–3:30 PM.

What food should I donate to All Saints Bread of Life Food Drive?

During the first week of the drive, we will be collecting non-perishable food per the chart below. During the second week, we are adding some fresh fruits and vegetables to our collection. Please see the grade level list below:

Grade Level	Week of March 17	Week of March 24
Pre-Kindergarten	Canned Soup	Juice Boxes
Kindergarten	Pasta	Mac & Cheese
First Grade	Peanut Butter, Jelly	Rice
Second Grade	Brownie/Cookie Mix	Oranges
Third Grade	Beans (canned/dried)	Carrots
Fourth Grade	Canned Meat*	Oil
Fifth Grade	Cereal and Oatmeal	Canned Tomatoes
Sixth Grade	Canned Vegetables	Peppers
Seventh Grade	Canned Fruit	Potatoes
Eighth Grade	Pasta Sauce (no glass)	Onions
Faculty/Staff	Maseca Flour/Flour	Sugar

The grade level that brings in the most food will enjoy a pizza lunch, courtesy of the All Saints National Junior Honor Society, and a dress-down day. The grade level that donates the second largest amount of food will receive a dress-down day, and third place will receive extra recess.

If you have any questions about our 2024 Bread of Life Food Drive, please contact Mrs. Janis DeVore at jdevore@allsaintsva.org.

Thank you in advance for your generosity and support of the Bread of Life Food Drive to benefit those in need of food assistance during this Lenten season.

All Saints Bread of Life Campaign – Brochure

Sincere thanks to the University of Notre Dame Club of Staten Island for their continued organizational and logistical support.

We are excited to announce the start of our first annual “Math Madness in March” championship challenge through First in Math! The championship, modeled after March Madness, has begun this week with a qualifying round, generating the top/Sweet 16 classes in the school.

Each week, the bracket will continue; narrowing it down to the “Elite 8,” followed by the “Final 4,” and eventually the Championship! The winning class will be announced on Monday, March 31. Competition will be counted through weekly sticker counts. Students earn three stickers per problem solved in First in Math. 

The overall winning class will get to play a basketball game with Fr. Daniel as their reward!

As a reminder, students can log in through devices at home, as well, to access problems. If you need your child’s login information, please don’t hesitate to reach out to their homeroom teacher! 

CYO registration for Girls Volleyball is now open through March 9, 2025.

• Girls in 3rd-8th Grade are eligible to participate. 
• Practices will be once a week in the All Saints Gym and start March 17.
• Matches will be on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the Diocese and start April 5.
• End-of-season tournament will be held in mid-May.
• Cost is $40 per player.
• Preseason skills clinic is being planned. Date TBA.

All Saints CYO relies on the volunteerism of parents and members of our All Saints community. If you are interested in coaching volleyball (head or assistant) or if you have any questions about CYO Volleyball, please email Laura Emden, Commissioner for Volleyball, at laura.emden@gmail.com. You must be certified for Diocesan child protection (including VIRTUS™) before working with participants. If you are not, we can help you get the process started. 

CYO registration for Boys & Girls Spring Track & Field is now open through April 1, 2025.

• Boys and Girls in 3rd-8th Grade are eligible to participate. 
• Practices will start in mid-March at the Pennington Track. You can still register after practices begin through April 1.
• The Spring Track & Field Meet will be held in late April/early May.
• Cost is $20 per participant. 
• Please email Ruth Kelly, Commissioner for Track & Field, at ruthkelly509@gmail.com, and Hank Konstanty, Assistant Commissioner for Track & Field, at hkonstanty@gmail.com with any questions.

The mission of the Arlington Diocesan Junior Catholic Youth Organization (JCYO) is to organize sports programs through its member parishes for youth to reinforce Catholic values taught in parish schools and religious education programs. In addition to encouraging healthy physical activity, JCYO sports are designed to foster cooperation, respect, sportsmanship, responsibility, leadership, competitiveness, fairness, and courtesy.

If you have a general question, you can email jcyosports@allsaintsva.org or to connect directly with Chi Young, CYO Sports Director, you can email sportsdirector.cyo@allsaintsva.org. No child will be denied participation due to financial need. Please email sportsdirector.cyo@allsaintsva.org if you would like to discuss options for financial aid.

CYO Sports Registration Link:  https://reg.sportspilot.com/106526/leagues

One of the best ways to commemorate the school year is by purchasing an All Saints Yearbook.  Our 2024-2025 school yearbook is currently available to order.

Personalization will again be available this year for an additional fee of $5.00.

All orders must be placed online through the link below:

• Please visit the Victor O’Neill Studios yearbook orders website to order online: http://buytheyearbook.com/
• The All Saints Catholic School ID is 724554.

For questions regarding the All Saints Catholic School Yearbook, please contact Mrs. Janis DeVore  (jdevore@allsaintsva.org).

Thank you for your continued support of the yearbook and All Saints Catholic School.

Looking for holiday gift ideas? We are excited to announce a new partner, 1st Place Spiritwear! Our new spirit wear store is now open! They are currently offering a 25% discount an.

All Saints Catholic School will host an Open House for prospective parents for the 2025-26 school year on Thursday, March 6 at 9:00 AM.  Following a presentation and introduction, tours of the facility will be provided. Plan to attend and experience the dynamic, Catholic environment of All Saints Catholic School.

To RSVP for the Open House, please complete our online Open House Registration Form. For questions or more information, please contact Mrs. Mary Rodriguez at 571-516-3170 or admissions@allsaintsva.org.

Students in grades K, 1, 4, 5, and 6 will be participating in the annual Christmas Pageant, The Living Crèche. The Pageant is one of All Saints School’s great traditions that brings together the music program as well as our theatre arts program. It is a beautiful opportunity to share the message of the Incarnation through story, song, and celebration.

• Date:  Thursday, December 19th, 2024
• Time: 7:00 PM
  (6th graders report to the PAC atrium at 6:25pm; all other grades report to the narthex of the Church at 6:45pm.)
• Parents/ family members who are unable to attend the evening performance are more than welcome to attend the afternoon performance at 1:45 PM in the Church.
• Place:  All Saints Catholic Church
• Attire: Festive, “Sunday best” attire (except for costumed sixth graders). See dress code below.

• Girls:
  Dresses, skirts, or nice dress pants (no bare shoulders or sleeveless dresses; the length may not be shorter than two inches above the knee), blouses or sweaters that are not form-fitting, with a neckline that is an appropriate length (i.e. just below the collar bone); Jeans, jeggings, leggings, or tights used as pants are not permitted. Sweaters should not have words or characters pictured on the front.
• Boys:
  Shirts and/ or sweaters (no sleeveless; sweaters should not have words or characters pictured on the front) and dress pants that are appropriate for church (i.e. navy blue, black, gray colored) and appropriate socks (dress socks).

#GivingTuesday Update – 12/4/24
We are so pleased to share that we exceeded our #GivingTuesday goal, raising $11, 895 in support of this year’s Annual Fund initiatives. Tremendous thanks to our #GivingTuesdaydonors for their generosity and support!

---

All Saints Catholic School will once again be participating in #iGiveCatholic on #GivingTuesday to jump start our 2024-2025 Annual Fund campaign.

#GivingTuesday will take place on Tuesday, December 3rd, but our portal is already open!

DONATE NOW
#GivingTuesday | #IGiveCatholic

Your generous support of our Annual Fund campaign will make a meaningful difference in our school. Previous campaigns have supported the purchase of new ActivPanels throughout our school, the extension of Wi-Fi enabled classrooms, the creation of our parish Video Production Studio, and our new Book Vending Machine.

The goal for this year’s Annual Fund Campaign is $25,000 with $10,000 coming from #GivingTuesday. The Annual Fund will support of the following initiatives:

• Robotics Program
  Launched in the spring of 2014, our Robotics Club is in need of upgraded hardware and
  equipment, and additional training opportunities to better serve the students in our middle
  school club and competition team.
• Expanded Math Skills
  New K-8 math instructional resources and materials will focus on strengthening critical math
  skills, including fact fluency and computational thinking.
• Language Translation
  Real-time English/Spanish translation devices will enhance communications during parent-teacher conferences, PTO events, and Open Houses.
• Cafeteria (K-8)
  Funds will supplement the cost of replacing cafeteria tables in need of a refresh.
  Purchase of an Electronic Visitor Management System to allow a digitized process and enhanced security screening for all visitors entering our school.

This is a perfect opportunity for those looking to make charitable contributions prior to year-end for tax purposes.

If you have any questions or would prefer to donate via check, please contact Janis DeVore at development@allsaintsva.org.

Thank you for your support!

What is the All Saints Robotics Club working on during these last few weeks of 2024? Here is an update from club moderator, Mr. Ben Roy.

Building Momentum:

• Base Builds: Most of our teams have completed the construction of their base robots. This is a significant milestone, and we’re proud of their hard work and dedication.
  
• First Programs: Our teams have taken their first steps into programming by executing simple programs on the competition board in Mr. Saffian’s classroom. Witnessing their problem-solving skills as they debugged their code to achieve the desired robot movements was truly inspiring.

Wednesday 11/20 Challenge: Uber Driving Robots!

This week, we’re taking our learning to the next level. We’ll simulate a real-world scenario by transforming our robots into “Self-Automated Uber Drivers”! Students will navigate their robots through a city maze on the competition board, first using a remote control and then writing a program in Vex Code IQ. (See attached challenge)

Vex Code IQ is a user-friendly visual programming software that makes it easy for our students to understand and implement coding concepts. https://codeiq.vex.com/

I’m continually amazed by our students’ enthusiasm and creativity!