What an amazing weekend celebrating 100 years of Saint James School!
Thank you to all the volunteers, families, students, staff, clergy, grandparents, and other community members who helped make this weekend such a successful commemoration of our Centennial anniversary.
Below please find a recap of this weekend’s events as well as a picture gallery from each day:
Sunday, September 18th: Centennial Celebration
MASS OF THANKSGIVING
This past Sunday we were blessed to have Archbishop Blair and Father Whyte celebrate a special Mass of Thanksgiving at Saint James Church, alongside our own parish clergy – Father Marcin, Father Jaime, Deacon LaRocque, and Deacon Germain – in commemoration of 100 years of educating students at Saint James School.
Also joining us were many other priests with a special connection to our school including Monsignor Barry, Father Cavanaugh, Monsignor Clancy, Father Lerner, and Monsignor O’Grady. Father Marcin also addressed the congregation, reflecting upon the multitude of people who have helped our school achieve this wonderful milestone.
A VERY SPECIAL SHOUT OUT to our awesome readers: SJS 6th grader Michael Kellerman and SJS 8th grader Cora Tierney. A HUGE THANK YOU to them and all the other SJS students that helped at Mass as greeters, gift bearers, and Altar servers. All of our SJS student volunteers showed exceptional grace under enormous pressure on Sunday and we truly commend them for agreeing to be part of this special Mass.
Lastly, but certainly not least, we wish to extend our gratitude to parent volunteer Mrs. Modugno for helping organize our student volunteers and preparing them so beautifully for Sunday’s Mass.
OPEN HOUSE EVENT
Following Mass, a Reception and Open House event took place at Saint James School. We wish to recognize and thank Mrs. Guenther, Mrs. Modugno, and Mrs. Lowe for organizing this celebratory event and pulling it all together. In addition to all the clergy mentioned above, we were blessed to have Mrs. Valerie Mara (Superintendent of Catholic Schools), Mrs. Nadaskay (President of the Consortium), Mayor Jay Moran, and of course Mrs. Zorger (current SJS Principal) joined us after Mass to speak on behalf of our school.
There were many other special guests joining us throughout the day including Former Principal Sister Louise Kelly, 1936 Graduate Bob Gorman (who is 100 years of age!), and Sisters of Mercy/former SJS teachers Sister Jean, Sister Claire, and Sister Janice as well as many other past SJS teachers, parents, and alumni. We are so grateful to our SJS School Board members and the Foundation Board Members who spent the day celebrating with us as well.
Thank you to Highland Park Market for the delicious food and beautiful cake, to Mrs. Fiereck for capturing the entire weekend so splendidly with the amazing pictures below, and to Mr. Carter and Mr. Yirga for their hard work throughout the weekend.
We would also like to acknowledge Mr. Corcoran and our talented Advanced Band for a great performance, and all the parent volunteers who helped with setup, clean-up, and the running of the Open House event this weekend. We could not have pulled this off without you!
Lastly, a very SPECIAL SHOUT OUT to Mrs. Carol O’Neill who was recognized on Sunday for 50 YEARS of volunteer service to our school! While she could not be with us this weekend to accept the award, other members of her family were in attendance to accept a special plaque, dedicating the new Innovation Lab in her honor. More information on this will be shared shortly!
SATURDAY, September 17th: Fall Festival
FALL FESTIVAL
We are so grateful to everyone who came out on Saturday for our Fall Festival! For over three hours the air was filled with laughter and joy – what a way to kick off the weekend! It was great to see all of our teachers there and to have so many families catching up with each other while the children played.
A HUGE THANK YOU to volunteers Mrs. Tierney and Mrs. Fiereck for spearheading the Fall Festival for us, and to all the grade-level ambassadors for organizing each of the fun stations. We truly appreciate all the Parish/school staff who took a turn in the dunk tank to raise money for our school: Father Jaime, Mr. Carter, Mrs. Tierney, Mrs. Rafferty, Mrs. Mitchell, Mrs. Anderson; and SJS parents: Mr. Santodonato, Mr. Joyner, Mr. Fiereck, and Mr. Rataic.
Special thanks to Highland Park Market and Kona Ice for the wonderful food and cool treats!
Lastly, thank you to Mrs. Freund, Mrs. Vassallo, and Mr. & Mrs. Vignati for cleaning up the flower beds around to the school to get them back in tip-top shape for this weekend!
A full gallery of pictures from both events, courtesy of Mrs. Fiereck (of J.Fiereck Photography) can be found here:
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION PICTURE GALLERY: https://jfiereck.shootproof.com/gallery/19254149
FALL FESTIVAL PICTURE GALLERY: https://jfiereck.shootproof.com/gallery/19254149
A sampling of pictures can be found below:
