Last night, leaders and volunteers from across the Archdiocese of Hartford came together at the 47th Annual HOPES Awards dinner, to recognize select individuals who help make our Catholic Schools such exceptional institutions.
We are very excited to announce that at last night’s event, our Pastor, Father Marcin, was honored with the Distinguished Elementary School Pastor award. The award was presented by Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Mrs. Valerie Mara, in recognition of Father Marcin’s strong commitment to Catholic education, specifically in the town of Manchester where he leads two very successful Catholic elementary/middle schools – Saint James and Saint Bridget. Congratulations Father Marcin!
Also honored at last night’s event were Saint James School’s 2024-25 volunteers of the year: Mrs. Patricia McCarthy, Mr. Dwayne Harris, and Mrs. Heather Harris! Mrs. McCarthy, Mr. Harris, and Mrs. Harris were honored with the St. John Neumann Award for volunteer service last evening along with other dedicated volunteers from across the Archdiocese.
All three of these parent volunteers have assisted with countless events and activities at our school throughout the past several years. To give a couple of examples, Mrs. McCarthy is currently starting her third year as President of the Home and School Association and has organized and ran many of our fun family events; Mr. Harris organized and ran our theatre club last year and has helped with several other after-school school clubs; and Mrs. Harris organized and ran our school’s newspaper club which put out three publications last year, in addition to helping with other fun school community events. In short, all three have been extremely generous to our school with their time and talents. Saint James School is very grateful for their dedication.
We also wish to congratulate/recognize Mr. Brian Bonds and Mrs. Carmen Bonds from our sister school – Saint Bridget – who also were honored with the St. John Neumann Award last night!
Congratulations to all the honorees!!