Benefactors Mass of Thanksgiving. The schedule conflicts resolved, the locker combinations cracked, the lunch lines mastered, it was time to officially open the year with our first school wide liturgy. We fittingly began the year by thanking the benefactors who make it all possible. We were also inspired by a memorable homily by our new chaplain, Fr Mike Novajosky. Fr Mike is an alum and easily bonded with the students by recalling his days as a new cadet. He, too, had difficulty with those locker combinations. Principal Mayo and Admissions Director Marino toured the new O’Keefe Center with our benefactors, who were awed by the attractive facility, and by the versatility it will bring to the academic focus at St Joe’s.

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Moral and intellectual formation, when combined, is priceless.

SEPTEMBERthe week ahead:

20 Back to School Night -- 6:30

This is your opportunity to meet your children’s teachers, to review our course requirements, and to understand our expectations for success.

21 Opening School Dance 7:30-10:30p all classes are invited.

www.sjcadets.org

This Week atSt Joseph High School

Privilege & ResponsibilitySeptember 9 - 15

Maroon & Gold Day We concluded the first week with the fall sports pep rally. Each sport addressed the fans with high expectations for their season. School spirit was loud and colorful as Maroon and Gold filled the halls and

classrooms throughout the day. Creativity and variety shined throughout.

SJ Students in the service spotlight. “Responsibility” precedes “Privilege” as the school years begins. Students wasted little time in initiating several service projects to the community. Bianca Perez ‘13, president of the Spanish National Honor Society and her fellow NHS members collected and donated baked goods, supplies and water for the annual flag raising at the Hispanic Heritage Committee of Stratford. The Heritage Committee seeks to ‘build cultural awareness by promoting Hispanic traditions embodied in art, music, literature and history by providing cultural and educational events.’ Great to see St Joe’s supporting our Hispanic brothers and sisters. Katie Logie ‘14 has engaged the social networking community to fundraise for a young friend, Chelsea, who suffers from Rett Syndrome, a devastating neurological disorder. Chelsea is in a wheelchair, unable to speak, use her hands, and suffers seizures. Katie is looking for support now from the SJ community for the Rett Syndrome Research Trust organization (RSRT), via the Chase Giving competition on Facebook. The organization with the most votes will win $250,000. RSRT is currently #13 out of 2000. Voting ends Wednesday, so please take a moment to help Katie help Chelsea: www.rsrt.org/vote

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From My Window-- Bill Fitzgerald, PhD

“I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.”

This refrain from Sunday’s Psalm had me reflecting on what it means to be St Joe’s “in the land of the living.” At the beginning of each school year, we review the school’s mission with our constituencies. We reviewed it at the first faculty meeting, at this week’s Advisory Board of Director’s meeting, and we use it as the focus of all our decision making.

St Joseph High School strives to be the premier college preparatory school in Southern Connecticut. The school provides a learning environment that embraces the Gospel values of the Roman Catholic faith and promotes a commitment to family and community. The school prepares our young women and young men to realize their potential, helps them to excel in higher education, and provides a foundation to guide them throughout their lives.

I like the emphasis on “strive,” as it seems we can always improve, that we are always striving to be better tomorrow than we were today. But it seems the real goal is in the second paragraph, that we graduate well educated, responsible young men and women ready to take a leadership role in their communities and in the world. We are responsible for taking the Lord with us into our homes, our communities, our colleges, our careers, “into the land of the living.”

Katie Logie ‘13 and Chelsea

SJ Faculty share that spotlight. Religion teacher Mr Rodgers and English teacher Mrs Halstead will run on a team of 12 and will cover a 200 mile course in the Adirondack over 24 hours. They are running in support of Hope for the Warriors, whose mission is to enhance quality of life for US service members and their families adversely affected by injuries or death in the line of duty. Hope for the Warriors is close to the hearts of Mr Rodgers, a veteran, and Mrs Halstead, whose uncle walked her down the aisle this summer, shortly before his deployment in Afghanistan. Visit their Giving Website here to make a donation.

pictured above: Maroon Girl

Maggie Grasso ‘13

It’s Fall, it’s Football! The Frosh kicked off the season with a great game against Staples, and but for one point, would’ve notched their first win. Some 60 lads are wearing the Maroon and Gold for the first time. The Varsity shined under the lights against the #1 team in Connecticut for three quarters, before being outscored by the Wreckers of Westport. Though both lost, expectations are high. Girls Cross Country kept us in the winners circle with two wins in their home meet, while Boys Soccer celebrated a 3-2 win over McMahon.

...as do our Alumni. Ms Anne Lapera ‘08, who recently graduated from Ursinus College and is considering Law School has decided to join AmeriCore for a year and was

recently accepted as an Urban Fellow in Pennsylvania. Anne will be working with a cohort of volunteers in inner-city schools in Philadelphia tutoring

students in science.

pictured right: Anne Lapera ‘08 and her father, Mr Pat Lapera--head of SJ Advisory Board

www.sjcadets.org/SJPA

Your weekly dose of events on tap for St Joseph High SchoolParents Corner: Upcoming Events at SJHS

Parent Association Membership Parent Association is off to a great start this year

after a well-attended opening meeting. The new membership campaign is underway,

offering a SJHS Mug with your paid membership.

If you’ve already joined at the $15 level, you can upgrade your membership by $5 to

receive your mug. Mugs will be available for pick up at Back to School Night. Look for

the PA membership table! Not sure if you’ve joined already? You can check here!

Back to School Night Thursday September 20th is Back to School Night. You will

have the opportunity to sit in on your student’s classes and meet their instructors.

Look for a copy of their schedule in the mail, which is what you will follow on Thursday

night. Refreshments will be served by the Parent Association, and the Alumni Book

Store will be open all night for your shopping pleasure! The evening will begin with a

brief assembly at 6:30pm in the gym.

St Joseph Alumni Bookstore The Bookstore is happy to announce extended

hours this school year. In addition to lunch hours, the store will be open Tuesday,

Wednesday and Thursday after school from 2 to 3:30pm

.

Walk-A-Thon Planning for Walk-A-Thon will get underway in the next couple of

weeks. As the most important fund raiser of the year, we will be looking for volunteers

in many different capacities. Please consider where you can help out and watch for

the notices. It’s a great day for EVERYONE!!

Futures Program After a successful introduction of the FUTURES program to the

Senior class last year, we are eager to continue this important step in building career

consciousness. Surveys are currently being conducted in the senior homerooms to

determine the fields of students’ interest for placement purposes. Please encourage

your senior to give some serious thought to their responses.

www.sjcadets.org

Parents Association Membership

Click through on the mug above for

membership!

Parent

Quick Clicks

Important Upcoming Dates:

Sept. 17th

Senior Information

Night:

check on Edline

for more information

Sept. 20th

Back To School Night

Sept. 21st

Opening School

Dance

7:30-10:30 PM