Fall 2007 - St. Joseph's Academy

Greetings from the SJADevelopment OfficeMolly SanchezDevelopment DirectorThe month of November always remindsus to give thanks for the blessingsin our lives. St. Joseph’s Academy is oneof those blessings that has enriched somany lives. I am certainly thankful to bea part of SJA.We are also thankful to the Sisters ofSaint Joseph and the faculty and staffwho have been a part of the formationof our students for so many years. Twoteachers who inspired students in theirlove for science and math are Sister JeanFryoux, CSJ and Sister Ursula Harelson,CSJ. We are honoring them this year witha scholarship in their names to benefitthe science department. A mailing wasrecently sent to alumnae who weretaught by Sr. Jean or Sr. Ursula. Forthe time they dedicated to St. Joseph’sAcademy, it’s now time to give back andrecognize these servants who gave somuch of themselves.Each year, St. Joseph’s Academy isgrateful to the donors who support ourAnnual Giving appeal. We began ourParents’ Annual Giving appeal in thefall. George and Mary Karam have donea fantastic job in working with parentleaders to get the word out about the appeal.The goal for parents is 100 percentparticipation at any giving level.In a few months, all alumnae willreceive Annual Giving information.We are happy to announce this year’sAlumnae Annual Giving co-chairs: ReneeThibodeaux Brian ’86 and DorothyAertker Ewen ’94. Renee and Dorothyare so enthusiastic about their love forSt. Joseph’s Academy that it’s contagiouswhen you are around them. We appreciatetheir help with this year’s appeal.6 • Fall 2007Our Friends appeal mailout will besent this spring. Holly Randow andBrenda LeBlanc, both faculty membersat SJA, are our Friends co-chairs. We areexcited to work with Holly and Brendato reach out to everyone in the community.The Annual Giving campaign bridgesthe gap between tuition and the operationalcosts of the school. The generosityof the Annual Giving appeal makesa tremendous difference in our schooloperations.We are very grateful to the parentswho sacrifice to pay tuition for theirdaughters to attend school here eachyear. Parents are really making a differenceby preparing these young womento be future leaders.Our alumnae recently celebrated awonderful event that brought many ofour graduates, their children and grandchildrento our campus: the HalloweenCarnival in October. This is always afun event for families and a nice wayfor alumnae to keep in touch with theirfriends and come back to campus for avisit. The SJA students reached out tohelp with the activities and games. Ifyou didn’t get to attend this year, planto come next year with your ghosts andgoblins dressed in costume.We have many reunions planned thisyear. We hope the alumnae in the reunionclasses can attend, enjoy the companionshipand relive their memories.Connecting with our alumnae is sovery important to St. Joseph’s Academy.Lauren Griffin, our alumnae coordinator,recently visited with graduates in St.Louis while our volleyball team played ina tournament there. SJA administratorsalso met with alumnae in Memphis lastsummer. The gatherings were so well-receivedthat we decided to continue themin other areas where we have alumnae.If you would like to be involved withhosting a gatheringin another city, letus know.In September, theSJA School Boardapproved movingforward with aCapital Campaignto build a new AcademicPerforming Arts Center and toMolly Sanchezconsider renovations to Mother AliceHall. We are in the early stages of campaignorganization. The addition willprovide much-needed space for the artsand allow other areas of the curriculumto benefit by moving into additionalclassrooms. You will be hearing moreabout this in the next year.All this exciting news reminds usof the hard work, dedication, supportand kindness of many others beforeus who established the community ofSt. Joseph’s Academy. We are now leavinga legacy for the future through thework we do today. We will always be St.Joseph’s Academy.In Memoriamcontinued from page 3Frances Noel Selserfather of Cecilia Selser ’60, Bette SelserArnold ’63, Susan Selser ’66, Ann SelserForshag ’69 and Helen Selser ’70James Thomas Teritobrother of Beth Terito Cannon ’67CorrectionsIn the Summer 2007 issue of Connections, thelate Jason Vallie was listed as the brother ofTara Brown LeBlanc ’73. He is not relatedto her.Robert Sawyer Jr., father of Jessica ’00, Audrey’02 and Laura ’04, was included in the InMemoriam section of the Summer 2007 issueof Connections. It was Robert Sawyer Sr., thegraduates’ grandfather, who passed away.We sincerely regret these errors.