Dear Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Victory Families,

Last week, I encouraged you to read more poetry. As many of you know, my wife homeschools our five children. With our day off on Monday, I had the pleasure of listening to them recite “How Doth the Little Busy Bee” by Isaac Watts, which they worked on together during the month of October.

The first two stanzas of the poem are well-known:

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!

How skillfully she builds her cell!
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labors hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.

The third and fourth stanzas are less well known and are, perhaps, a little more surprising:

In works of labor or of skill,
I would be busy too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.

In books, or work, or healthful play,
Let my first years be passed,
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.

Sometimes, we Catholics may be tempted to associate this warning against idleness with what Max Weber famously called the “Protestant work ethic.” Yet Saint Benedict, a keen observer of human nature, writing in the early sixth century, would seem to agree when he calls idleness “the enemy of the soul” in his Rule (Chapter 48).

I don’t want our students to be idle, but I also want them to discover that the remedy for idleness is more than simply keeping busy. It is learning to give ourselves generously to the good things before us: a difficult passage in Latin, a challenging physics problem, a beautiful piece of music, a classmate who needs our help, or a few quiet moments of prayer. The antidote to the busyness of contemporary life is leisure, which, as Josef Pieper reminds us, is a receptive and contemplative disposition of the soul that allows us to delight in the gift of reality (Leisure: The Basis of Culture).

The habits our students practice in the classroom prepare them to receive God’s gifts gratefully and to put their own gifts at the service of others. My hope and most fervent prayer for them is that they will learn both to work diligently and to pause in wonder before what is true, good, and beautiful.

Peace in Christ,
Randy

Congratulations to this week’s winners of the Virtue Awards! You know what you did…

Hope - Aiden Gomez-Castro
Fortitude - Elia Smith

As part of our ongoing partnership with Colegio San José in Colombia, OLV is preparing to welcome one student for a three-month exchange program this spring. We are currently interviewing students and their families to ensure a strong fit with our school’s mission.

To make this opportunity possible, we are seeking one OLV family to help host the visiting student during the January to March exchange. Hosting offers a meaningful opportunity to share your home, build lasting connections, and experience another culture.

If you are interested in serving as a host family, please contact Randy at randy.aust@ourladyofvictorydenver.com.

Thank you for your generosity and support!

This year, we are blessed to have two wonderful seminarians, Dominic and Gabriel, who join our students weekly on Friday afternoons. Their biographies are below:

Dominic Borchers
Hello, my name is Dominic Borchers. I was born in the Midwest (Ohio, then soon after we lived in South Dakota and Illinois) and spent my childhood there and in California before coming to Denver. Most of my education was home schooling, minus high school, which also involved classes at a junior college. After graduating from Christendom College (go Crusaders!), I worked and began dating a woman I had known growing up. During our discernment of marriage, I began to realize how important prayer and my relationship with God had become to me, so much so that I realized I was being called to discern the priesthood. Initially, I entered seminary for the Diocese of Oakland, CA, but after three years took some time off for health and discernment reasons. During that time, I passed through Denver on a road trip and felt clearly called to move there. Later, I had back-to-back weekends of a brother’s wedding and a good friend’s ordination and had a powerful experience of being called back to seminary at the latter. Soon after I re-entered seminary for the Archdiocese of Denver. I am now in Theology 3 and so will be ordained a deacon in less than a year, something I look forward to with sober excitement.

Gabriel Friess
Hello, my name is Gabriel Friess and I’m in my third year of seminary at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary here in Denver studying for the Diocese of Salina, KS. I grew up in a small town in western Kansas called Hoxie, and I graduated from Benedictine College in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. I’ve pretty much always wanted to be a priest, but it wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that I really began to pursue the calling from God. Over the next year and a half, the Lord continued to tug at my heart while in Adoration and Mass. Our Lord continued to give me the desire to serve my diocese as a priest and shepherd. I am looking forward to meeting many of you over the course of the year as Dom and I spend time at OLV.

OLV students have an opportunity to take AP exams through a local public high school this May. We currently have students registered to take AP exams in Calculus and Precalculus. If your student is interested in taking an AP exam for college credit, please contact Randy Aust (randy.aust@ourladyofvictorydenver.com). The exam fee is $99 (plus a $20 non-student fee) and the registration deadline is Thursday, November 12th. Note: Because OLV does not offer standard AP courses, our curriculum does not cover the same scope as an AP class and interested students must commit to work outside of class in order to prepare for the exam.

Varsity volleyball came in 4th place overall in the 5280 league this year. Congrats on a wonderful first year in Chssa and the 5280 league.

For individual awards Clara Riviere and Francesca Chiappone both made 2nd team All- Region and Evie Murphy was Honorable Mention for All- Region! They will play in the All Star game on Nov 9th at Beth Eden at 7 pm (entry is free).

Eleanor McAdam qualified for the state meet at regionals, placing in the top 15 individual runners for girls. She became the first ever OLV student-athlete to qualify for state, while representing OLV. She ran an impressive 24:58.456 at state.

The boys team as a whole qualified for state ant regionals. James Kaess placed third overall in individuals and the team placed fourth!

Theodore Clemens, Paul cotter, James Holman, James kaess, George Gideon, and Isaac Pelster represented the boys at the state meet. They boys placed in 17th overall at state!

The Jesse Tree is a beautiful tradition to mark the days of December leading up to Christmas. Each day a new ornament is hung on a tree or wreath. Each ornament has a symbol that marks a key part of Salvation History and is accompanied by a scripture reading and reflection questions.

This year Ms. Traicoff will host a Jesse Tree ornament exchange. Students may sign up for one of the days and choose a design for their chosen symbol and create 25 copies of the ornament. Ornaments will be exchanged at school after classes on November 30th, 2026 and each participant will get a set of 25 ornaments to start the tradition on December 1st, 2026.

Sign up sheet is in the back of Chesterton Commons. If there is enough interest we may host two separate trees. Siblings are encouraged to pair up to work on one ornament symbol so that they do not come home with multiple Jesse Tree sets for their one house.

As we weigh the possibility of adding soccer to our sports program, one of the biggest factors of this decision is whether or not we will have enough athletes to fill a roster.

If you have a student that would be interested in playing soccer at OLV, please fill out this interest form:
https://www.jotform.com/build/262884944695175

Don't forget about Chess Club! The club meets every Thursday after school until approximately 4:45 p.m. Carpooling is available!

Chess Club is also a team, and its first competition is coming up in November. New members are welcome!

For questions, please contact Alexandra Harden at Alzharden1912@outlook.com.

Before the season begins, we will hold team expectation meetings. This information can also be found in SportsYou.

Boys’ Basketball

• Date: Monday, November 9

• Time: 3:45 PM

• Location: Chesterton Commons Gym at OLV

• Who: Coaches, Athletic Director, parents, and players

Girls’ Basketball

• Date: Tuesday, November 10

• Time: 3:45 PM

• Location: Chesterton Commons Gym at OLV

• Who: Coaches, Athletic Director, parents, and players

All are encouraged to attend if available!

OLV's basketball programs will be using SportsYou for this 2026-2027 season. The calendars are uploaded into the app and the coaches are in the app already. Please download the SportsYou app to get in the know on games, practice schedules, and any updates from the coaching staff. It is pertinent you are in the app by the beginning of November.

SportsYou links for team calendars (download the SportsYou app and add in this code to add your team):

Boys: WF3D-J9ZQ
Girls: TZZ9-ZEDA

CHSAA medical forms are due to Ms. Nalen prior to Nov 16. You cannot participate in tryouts or practice without this form in and being cleared. The form is on the athletics website, and also here! Thank you!

Save the date for the upcoming Spring Formal! It will be held Saturday, April 17 at Holy Name Catholic Parish.

Juniors and Seniors: get your dancing shoes and formal attire ready to go!

The following priests will be celebrating Mass at Our Lady of Victory the upcoming week, November 6 - November 13. Please pray for our priests!

Fri, Nov 6: Fr. Daniel Ciucci
Mon, Nov 9: Scheduled Priest Cancelled, Mass Unlikely
Tues, Nov 10: St. Mark Priest
Wed, Nov 11: Fr. Doug Grandon
Thurs, Nov 12: Fr. Adam Bradshaw
Fri, Nov 13: Fr. Daniel Ciucci

We will have a half day/early dismissal on Friday, November 13 after noon Mass. Pick up will be approximately 12:35pm.

Join us for the Second OLV Line Dancing Night on Saturday, November 14, from 7:00–9:00 p.m. in Chesterton Commons!

Organized by Clarice Burch and Coach Andy Slavin, this is another opportunity for our OLV community to learn some new dances, enjoy a little friendly fun, and spend time together.

The evening is geared toward adults and older kids, but younger children are welcome with parental supervision.

A few things to know:

• When: Saturday, November 14, 7:00–9:00 p.m.

• Where: Chesterton Commons

• Bring: A water bottle

• Food: Please eat dinner beforehand; no food will be provided.

• Dress Code: Boots and jeans are classic, but anything you can dance in works just fine.

No dance experience is necessary—just come ready to learn and have fun! We hope to see lots of OLV families there for another great evening together!

Well Read Mom will meet on Tuesday, Nov. 17th, from 1-3 pm at OLV to discuss The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.  Please sign in at the front office and meet in Ave Maria Hall Rm 003 (downstairs).   

Email Sarah Pelster (sarah.pelster@gmail.com) if you are interested in joining or have any questions.

Calling all movie lovers! Each month (November through March), a different faculty member will choose a film and interested OLV students will gather at a nearby home to watch the movie together. Seats will always be limited, so please RSVP each month if you'd like to join!

This month, we will kick off with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) on Tuesday, November 17th from 6:30pm-9pm at the Murphy home.  In this warm adaptation of a 1939 short story, daydreamer Walter Mitty must learn courage and grit in order to overcome his natural reticence and live his life to the fullest. Come enjoy a great film, popcorn, and some deep thoughts by Ms. Genevieve Riley. Please RSVP to elise.a.murphy@gmail.com for details and to reserve a spot.

Note: OLV does not endorse these movies and parents should make their own prudential judgment about the appropriateness of the film for their students. All movies are selected in conjunction with faculty members and approved by Randy Aust.

Please save the date for our Advent Lessons & Carols, which will take place on Monday, November 30th at St. Thomas More Catholic Church (McCallin Hall). The event itself will take place from 6:30 - 7:30 PM, with a light reception to follow.

We are thrilled to host our annual Advent Toy Shoppe on December 4th from 1:00-2:15! With treats, activities, and toys for children to pick out and have wrapped for siblings' Christmas presents, we hope you and your family will be able to make it! Please use this link to RSVP by Monday, November 30th: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc49heAyQQFGnoJMUYRp9CmZWa0bZOE-GZRPqPhwI3JdWU2Pg/viewform?usp=publish-editor

The First Sunday of Advent is November 29th! Erik and Kirsten Reuter run a small candle-making business, Kindly Light Candles. For the third year, they are selling 100% beeswax taper candles colored with natural vegetable dye. A set of 4 costs $25. This year, they are also offering a white pillar candle option for the Christmas Season! The large, smooth pillar costs $35, and the smaller, honeycomb pillar costs $25. Each family's sets will be completed by Monday, November 23rd and ready for pick-up in the OLV front office. To see pictures and complete the order form, please click here.

St. Mary Littleton has been committed to hosting an annual Pro-Life Symposium to encourage teens to take the pro-life issue seriously and become personally involved in building a culture of life.

This year, they are especially calling all young men to attend. (Young women still more than welcome and encouraged to attend! Notice the familiar female face on the flyer 😁) The keynote speaker, Sean Corcoran, CEO of Men For Life, is eager to speak directly to young men about the important role they have in standing up for life and supporting women and families. (Good for young women to hear as well.)

The morning will include Mass with Bishop Rodriguez, a free breakfast, pro-life speakers, prizes, and ministry tables.

Saturday, November 7 | 8:15 AM–1:00 PM
St. Mary Littleton Catholic Parish

This is a great opportunity for our young men to hear from inspiring Catholic leaders and consider how they can personally make a difference.

You can register here!

Everyone belongs at the table! This fall, support the FIRE Foundation Denver and its mission to help students with disabilities thrive in Catholic schools while enjoying a delicious homemade pie.

Choose from Pumpkin, Cherry, Pecan, or Apple pies for just $25 each. Pies are generously donated by Bluepoint Bakery.

📅 Order by November 15
🥧 $25 per pie
❤️ 100% of proceeds support the FIRE Foundation

Scan the QR code on the flyer to place your order and help make sure every student has a place at the table!

The Archdiocese of Denver invites high school boys to attend an upcoming discernment retreat! These retreats offer young men an opportunity to prayerfully consider their vocation and grow in their relationship with the Lord.

Upcoming Dates:
Sunday, November 29, 2026

Location: Holy Trinity Center at the St. John Paul II Center for the New Evangelization, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210

Register at denvervocations.com/events.