Dear parents, teachers, and friends of SSP School,

Happy Friday, and welcome to the weekend. I enjoyed visiting with so many of you and seeing you at various venues such as the Palmer Band parent meeting and the SSP AA uniform pickup last night. From our perspective, we had a successful first week of school and a successful start to the 2025-26 academic year. Not everything is unicorns and rainbows every moment of every day. Still, we strive to provide a nurturing environment where our children can be formed in the faith and build a relationship with our Lord and Savior.  We will encounter spiritual and material potholes in our paths this year. How we respond to these encounters, attempt to repair the harm, and return to goodness is an essential part of our mission and one of the pillars of quality Catholic education.  Please don't read too much into the last line or two. We have a new energy in the way we do day-to-day business, and we are recommitted to our vocation as educators this year.  I have the honor of working in the vineyard with an extraordinary staff; I am truly blessed.  We hope that throughout the course of this school year, you will feel this way as well.

On a side note, it seems I have been "educating" many people this year about the word Protomartyr.  Most of us understand the term martyr; protos is a Greek term for first. i.e., St. Stephen was the first recognized/documented martyr for the Christian faith. Stephen was from Jerusalem.  The term protomartyr is applied to more martyrs than St. Stephen. St. Thecla was the first female martyr for the Catholic Church. She was from ancient Turkey. There was even a first martyr in the state of Kansas, Juan de Padilla, a Spanish Catholic priest and missionary who spent much of his life exploring North America with Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. He was killed in what would become Kansas by Native Americans in 1542. That is my history lesson for the day.

Enjoy your weekend and God's Peace,
D. Greg Sturgill