I hope this newsletter finds you and your family well and getting through this pandemic. It sure has turned our lives upside down. But with every dark cloud there are silver linings - like your successful school. Please read all the way to the end - lots of good stuff. Do stay connected with your sweet grade school alma mater and classmates as there are rumblings of an all school reunion in the future...
By the way, there have been some really fun conversations on the SJA Alumni Facebook
group page. Feel free to share memories and pics of your days at 9245 Lawndale.
GO SAINTS!
Jo Ellen Madden
SJA Cheerleader & Newsletter Editor
The Academy is Rocking
The Academy at St Joan of Arc re-opened for its 2nd year on August 24 with in-person classes. Enrollment is now at 184 with 51 new students and 34 new families. The students come from 18 zip codes!
THANK YOU for helping your grade school remain viable & keeping our special neighborhood the way we remember it.
Unbelievably, I graduated from St. Joan of Arc FIFTY years ago last year and I want to share not only the process of a reunion, but more importantly what happened while attending mine last autumn... Read this poignant note
A Dynamic Duo
These two go-getters from the Class of 2003 have been friends since pre-school and will become the newsletter editors and alumni cheerleaders sometime soon in 2021.
Elizabeth Wheeler and Kelly Orf will be focusing on spotlighting alums, SJA history pieces, interviews, planning reunions and more!
Class Liaisons Needed
Each graduating class needs that one person who will be its liaison to the school's alumni committee. That person would help keep their class information up to date, inform classmates of reunions and life happenings, and be able to share information back to the alumni committee.
Email Jo Ellento be that special guy or gal for your amazing class!! (or nominate someone)
Flash from the Past
Raise your hand if you are in this pic!
Class of 1965 in 3rd grade.
How about 45 kids to one teacher! That poor nun. 😬
These cute students graduated 55 years ago from St Joan of Arc!
Thanks for sharing Mark Collins.
Join the Group!
Join the fastest growing St Joan of Arc Alumni LinkedIn to network with other alums, learn of events, alumni info, social gatherings, reunions and more!
Who are these eight students who sang at the Barnes & Noble's book fair? Who went to the first Women's Retreat at Mundelein Seminary. See pics of Junior Girl Scout Troop #20 and more!
Want to help SJA remain a worship site as we go through Renew My Church? Tune into each week's mass via the Saint Joan of Arc Parish YouTube Channel. (You may know the cantor 😄) The link is also on the SJA Group FB page.
Thank you so very much!!
The pic with Fr Simon Peter's family is in front of a plaque recognizing
Fr Jim Barrett's impact on SJA Uganda.
SJA Uganda Arc of Hope
If you were a student at SJA in the year 2000 and on, you would've met Fr. Simon Peter from Uganda. He became SJA's regular visiting priest each summer after receiving his doctorate from Mundelein Seminary.
Remember providing mosquito nets from the funds raised at your Penny Carnival, or donating used gym shoes, or buying cows?
Well this incredible man with the help of SJA Evanston has built an incredible school campus for 600 students that is in the top 3% of elementary schools in the entire country of Uganda.
In September, SJA Uganda's Arc of Hope honored Joe and Sally Bredemann at its hugely successful virtual fundraising event.
How cool is it to be connected to a school in Africa?!
