The educational experience at our school includes a focus on delivering opportunities for our students to participate in a variety of enrichment programs.
Honor Society
The St. Thomas Aquinas Honor Society strives to have its students embody the core values held by Catholic Education: Faith, Knowledge, and Service. Once accepted into the Honor Society, students are expected to take up the call to serve others through service-based learning activities such as after-school tutoring. Students who are accepted into the St. Thomas Aquinas Honor Society must maintain a high standard of scholastic excellence and achievement, while also fulfilling volunteer duties in the spirit of service and possess the values and qualities of scholarship, leadership, prudence, citizenship, and stewardship.
Service Club
Service Club, which is open to 6th - 8th Grade students, provides an opportunity for students to work on their Catholic Formation through service and volunteerism. The club’s mission is to prepare students for Catholic-centered service and leadership; inspiring them to lead ethical and community-focused lives, while fostering a positive environment on campus centered on social, academic, and personal development. Students hold positions within the club and devote their time to support local community needs.
Student Council
To foster student leadership as well as contribute to a student centered environment, the Student Council coordinates school events as well as providing a voice for student ideas. With a teacher advisor, the Student Council, comprised of 5th - 8th Graders, is a group elected from a body of students to serve as representatives in student government.
Sports
The Catholic Youth Athletic Association (CYAA) coordinates school year sports programs such as volleyball, flag football, basketball, softball, baseball, and soccer. These sports programs are coached by St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School parent volunteers. Students from 5th - 8th Grade are eligible to participate in the sports program based on meeting our academic requirements.
Robotics Club
The Robotics Club is an afterschool program for students in 5th - 8th Grade. This club is designed to get students excited about science and technology through the use of Legos and the Lego Mindstorm NXT Robot kit. Students who participate learn valuable structured problem solving, programming skills, teamwork, all while having fun and focusing on being a successful communicator. The program is structured in a way that the student build the robot, develop a step-by-step instruction set for the robot, program it, and then make corrections to the program based on the actions of the robot.
Star Wars Club
The Star Wars Club (Jedi Academy) is an afterschool program for students in Kindergarten - 8th Grade. We focus on Jedi philosophies, ideologies, and customs. The club meetings consist of a general meeting and instruction in the three Jedi Pillars: The Force, Knowledge, and Self Discipline. Knowledge is taught through discussions, videos, websites, and varied reading material. Lightsaber Training entails developing emotion control, dueling techniques and combat training.
Geography Bee
Students in 4th - 8th Grade compete in the National Geographic GeoBee, which is an annual competition designed to inspire and reward students' curiosity about the world. GeoBee questions cover geography, civilizations, cultures, physical features, and more. The National Geographic GeoBee includes three levels of competition; school, state, and national. The school champion takes a proctored online qualifying test and the top-100-ranked students in each state qualify to represent their school at the State GeoBee competition. State champions are then invited to compete in the national championship.
Spelling Bee
St. Thomas Aquinas students in 5th - 8th Grade participate in the school spelling bee. The winner then competes at the diocesan, regional, and state competition. The winner of the state competition represents Arizona at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC.
Yearbook Club
Comprised of staff and 8th Grade students, the Yearbook Club works very hard each year to publish a yearbook that features the many activities our students and families are involved with, including the spirit of who we are as a community. It highlights the many ways our students are practicing their Student Learning Expectations in and out of the classroom. Teachers help design class pages and parents contribute pictures to ensure all students are represented well.
Sudoku Club
Sudoku is popular logic-based numbers game and a way for students to develop their logic skills while having fun. No math is needed to complete the puzzles – it’s a great way for students to think strategically as they methodically work to complete puzzles at varying levels. This club is open to all grades.
Chess Club
Chess has long been regarded as a game that can have beneficial effects on learning, especially when played at a young age. Playing Chess helps develop analytical and decision-making skills. This club is taught by an award-winning Chess Master and is open to all grades.
Art Club
The Art Club introduces students to a variety of materials. Along with drawing skills, students learn how to sculpt clay, collage, paint with watercolor and acrylic, and more.
