July 13-16
July 20-23
Camp costs $130 per student with multi-camp/student discounts. For more information, please contact Conrad Miller at cmiller@sta2.org or 517-902-4456.
Welcome!
My name is Mrs. Grace Votel and I am the Drama Teacher at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School! I can’t wait for summer 2026 and our first year of theater camp! The chance to be in a show is such an incredible gift, and I hope many students (even from other schools and parishes) get the chance to participate this summer. This page should contain all of the links you need to learn about camp, register, and get ready for the best week of the summer! If, after taking a look around, you still have questions, feel free to reach out to me at gvotel@sta2.org.
Pope St. John Paul II, pray for us!
In Christ,
Grace Votel
Incoming 8th-12th Grades
July 20-24
Come put on Oscar Wilde’s hilarious play in just one week! This show has a small cast full of iconic characters. We will perform an abridged version of the show on Friday, July 24. To offer these busy high schoolers more flexibility, campers can choose either the morning or afternoon shift to attend.
Right now, we are still making sure we can have both a morning and an afternoon cast. Reach out to gvotel@sta2.org if you are interested in coming to this camp!
When and Where: July 20-24, 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. OR 1:30-5:00 p.m.
Monday – Thursday at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish Rooms
Friday at the Annex Stage at PARC in Plymouth
Performances: July 24 at 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Cost: $165 per student
To Register: Fill out the Registration Form and then proceed to our Payment Page on Zeffy (links will be added soon)
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
Incoming 4th-7th Grades
Enjoy a week of acting, games, crafts, and of course, preparing a full-length show! With hilarious characters and classic songs like “Be Our Guest,” Beauty and the Beast is the perfect summer musical.
When and Where: June 22-26, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. each day
Monday – Thursday at the St. Thomas the Apostle Parish Hall
Friday at a Theater (TBA)
Performance: June 26 at 3:00 p.m.
Cost: $200 per student (+$20 for optional t-shirt; register by June 1 to get a shirt)
To Register: Fill out the Registration Form and then go to our Payment Page on Zeffy!
Some Helpful Links:
2026 Information Packet – Everything you need to know!
We are delighted to announce that St. Thomas has been blessed with an anonymous gift of $300,000, offered as a matching gift for our campaign. Going forward, every dollar contributed to this effort will be matched until the full matching amount is reached. In other words, $300,000 raised by the parish will be doubled to $600,000 by this generous donation, multiplying the impact of your sacrificial giving. Since our diocesan goal has been met, all pledges to this campaign will be allocated directly to St. Thomas to advance our local initiatives.
St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church and School have stood at the heart of Ann Arbor since the city’s earliest days, serving as a spiritual and educational anchor for the community. Founded in 1840 and rooted in the first Catholic gatherings in the area, the parish has grown alongside the University of Michigan, with which it shares a long and vibrant relationship. For generations, St. Thomas has been a welcoming home for families, students, faculty, and other parishioners, drawn together in a diverse community centered on the Eucharist.
Since 1868, our school has faithfully formed students in both faith and virtue, making it the oldest Catholic school in the area. In 2018, the school embraced a renewed mission by becoming the first fully classical Catholic school in the diocese. Following the re-inauguration of the high school grades in 2022, this fall St. Thomas will again offer a complete preschool through twelfth grade education, fulfilling a long-held vision that unites parish and school in a shared, Christ-centered mission.
To support this growing mission, we are embarking on a campaign that looks boldly to the future. This effort will not only significantly strengthen our school endowments by providing long-term support for teacher salaries, tuition assistance, and classroom resources, but also fund much-needed physical maintenance and repair projects across our parish and school campus. These investments in our people and our facilities will ensure that St. Thomas continues to thrive as a strong, faithful, and welcoming community for generations to come. We plan to fund these important projects concurrently, with a 70/30 split between the endowments and building projects.
Bishop Boyea has identified $1,815,000 as the Stewardship for Saints & Scholars (S3) contribution that St. Thomas parishioners will make to the diocesan campaign so that Catholic schools across our ten counties can be ever more on mission, affordable, and accessible. Of this target, twenty cents out of every dollar that we collect will be sent directly to St. Thomas to address our needs. At goal, that 20% represents an additional $363,000 that St. Thomas will use to support our existing goals.
Once our diocesan campaign goal is surpassed, every additional dollar pledged and received will remain with our parish. These funds will be directed toward our campaign priorities, with 70% supporting our endowments and 30% dedicated to essential facility repairs.
Since 1868, our parish has been dedicated to offering Catholic education, sustained by the generosity of our community. Alongside the vital Sunday offertory, we support students and families through our dedicated funds.
St. Thomas recently created an Endowment for Educators with
an anonymous donation intended to fund teacher salaries,
recruitment, and retention bonuses. Our teachers make
remarkable sacrifices, guided by faith and dedication to our
children. Through this campaign, we intend to match that
incredibly generous donation!
Through the St. Thomas School Trust Fund, we provide vital tuition assistance and address essential needs such as new textbooks and updated technology. By strengthening this fund, we can ensure that more children have the opportunity to attend our school and be shaped for a lifetime of discipleship.
Recognizing that parents are the primary educators of their children, our parish is called to accompany and assist them in fulfilling this sacred vocation. Through the generosity and engagement of our community, we hope this campaign will make possible the creation of a fund that provides essential resources such as homeschool curricula, materials, and textbooks. Over time, this foundation would also allow us to develop and offer upper school classes in subjects like Latin, Math, Science, and Applied Arts—empowering parents and enriching the educational journey of our homeschool students.
Significantly expanding these endowments is fundamental to our long-term stability, enabling us to better attract and retain high-quality educators while reducing the financial burden on families. Through this growth, we help secure the future of Catholic education in our community, ensuring the school remains a foundation of faith and learning for generations to come.
Caring for our church and school buildings is vital to our mission at St. Thomas. These spaces are more than just structures; they are the foundation for community, education, worship, and growth. Essential repairs are needed not only to enhance the appearance of our facilities but more importantly, to ensure their safety, stability, and readiness to serve future generations.
After a thorough professional inspection, five priority areas requiring replacement or repair have been identified:
By addressing these critical needs now, we fulfill our responsibility as good stewards, prevent more costly issues in the future, and protect the long-term well-being of our parish and school. Investing in these improvements is not just an investment in our buildings—it is an investment in the enduring strength and future of our ministry.
“I am truly humbled and thankful for the sacrifices and generosity of the St. Thomas Parish community. Please know that your support has made a lasting impact on my three children and I. As a single Mom, I can’t express how much this school has helped me raise my kids to be rich in faith and education. God has always been faithful to my family, making this financially possible for us for six years. God bless all of you, and thank you!”
“St. Thomas is filled with the kind of peace that is difficult to find in a school environment. I have seen so much growth in my son and in my students, and I know it comes from keeping the community Christ-centered and letting everything else find its proper place. In today’s modern world, school is designed for the purpose of making students better workers for jobs. St. Thomas is a beacon of light that properly orders the cultivation of virtue in each student first so that they can know and love God to the best of their ability. Hearing our son ask questions about God and Catholicism has only strengthened our conviction that this school is one of a kind and we are very blessed to be able to send him there.”
“It is beautiful to be in a school community where the teachers see the eternal value of each student the Lord has entrusted to their care! They understand that their primary calling as teachers is to lead each student to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and they embrace sacrifice and prayer to form Christ in the hearts of their students. They endeavor to be attuned to the needs of each student entrusted to their care so they can tend to the souls of each student and encourage them to embrace the unique, sacred calling upon their lives. Through their witness, the teachers strive to give testimony to the transforming power of Divine Love, and I am so blessed to receive formation through teaching at this school!”
At the diocesan level, the Stewardship for Saints & Scholars campaign is focused on four key pillars:
The Stewardship for Saints & Scholars (S3) target was set based on a calculation from the average of the parish’s most recent three fiscal years of annual giving. Here is how it breaks down:
Our combined campaign has a total goal of $3.3 million. This amount will allow us to fully support the Stewardship for Saints & Scholars (S3) initiative while also funding important needs here at St. Thomas the Apostle. Here’s how the $3.3 million will be reached:
By making these repairs now, we’re helping to save money and protect our parish and school for the next generation.
Based on the high percentage of those reporting that they would support the campaign (89% of respondents indicated that they would make a personal gift to the campaign), the Steier Group and parish leadership are confident that St. Thomas will achieve its fundraising goal. In addition, all parishes will run the S3 campaign and that is our only opportunity to tackle these local projects until the five-year pledge period ends in 2029. We simply cannot wait any longer.
Pledge payments will be made to Stewardship for Saints & Scholars over a five-year pledge period. Funds will be received, held, and distributed by the Catholic Foundation in Lansing. The Catholic Foundation will manage pledge redemption, including acknowledgment letters. No campaign funds will be used to support diocesan offices or programs.
As soon as pledge payments start to be received by the Catholic Foundation, St. Thomas will receive quarterly payments. During the period in which the S3 target is raised ($1.815 million), the parish will receive quarterly payments of 20% of any funds collected during the previous quarter. Once the initial $1.815 million has been received for the campaign, 100% of all subsequent pledge payments will be distributed to St. Thomas via quarterly payments.
The combined campaign will be a major effort, asking for gifts beyond regular weekly, monthly or yearly offertory contributions. Since the church and school will still need support for everyday expenses, parishioners are not being asked to reduce their usual giving. Instead, they are encouraged to consider making a special gift in addition to their regular offertory. Over time, campaigns like this have often led to increased offertory giving, as they inspire parishioners to deepen their commitment to the church.
Fr. Bill Ashbaugh
John and Sara Carriere
Michael and Emily Hanley
Paul and Michelle Schultz
Gail Fromes
Joe and Nadia Kettinger
Dcn. Tom and Anna Loewe
Mark and Sarah Meinhart
Jim Norman
Douglas Trevor
Judy Truckey
Kenneth Weingartz
