Grounded in Faith; Growing to Serve

School is back in session and I am always excited to see what the school year theme will be. It sets the tone for the whole year, all the way from the new song for Mass created by Orin Johnson to the decorations in the classrooms and hallways. I’m not sure if there has been a more fitting theme for our children than this one. We are often asked what makes Sts. Joachim and Ann different from other schools and reminded that there are a lot of Catholic schools to choose from in St. Charles County. And the truth is there is a difference, a HUGE one and that is that we are a community called to serve.

It is impossible to step foot on our campus without feeling this. As children are dropped off in the morning, their parents pass right by the Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Service which is a social service agency with the tagline of Planting the Seed of Hope…Breaking the Chain of Despair. What better feeling for your child to experience as you drive past a building where hope is born and then you pass our beautiful Church where faith is formed and sometimes restored. The mission of the Care Service is so ingrained in our Parish that it can’t help but overflow into the school.

It is not unusual for the tiniest of students to decide to forego birthday gifts and instead share the wish list of the Care Service like seven year old Joanna Oberhill or six year old Daniel Baragiola who made a whole community smile as he sold lemonade to earn enough money this summer to fill the food pantry shelves at the Care Service.

This type of selfless giving demonstrated by our youngest parishioners happens all year long! Several times a year our students are working together to make sandwiches for the Street Outreach team of the Care Service that minister to the homeless in our community.

When two special families were faced with unimaginable diagnoses, our school families rallied around them with 5K runs, a dodgeball tournament and penny war collections for the Make a Wish Foundation. It is the norm to have a meal train going when someone notices that one of our own is struggling. It is not unusual at all for CYC memberships to be paid for a child that may not have been able to join the team otherwise, for monthly tuition to be split among families when a job is lost or for lunch accounts to be donated to so that overwhelmed parents have one less worry in the morning. That is who we are as a school family, that is the community we want for our children.

Last year, our Innovation Station was born and our school was chosen as the recipient of a gardening grant. It was a natural choice to have the garden be at the Care Service and to plant the tiny plants that were grown in the Innovation Station’s tower garden. These hearty plants fed members of our County in need all summer long with fresh produce. Our children experienced what it is like to feed God’s people with their own two hands, start to finish. Our kids learned the science involved as well as the steps to feed their heart.  As needs arise in our community, activities and opportunities to serve are created.


For example, as it became apparent that the Care Service was low on cereal and it was almost Super Bowl time, the “Cereal Bowl” came to life and kids now bring their box of cereal to donate as a vote for the team they think will win. No curriculum is untouched, even physical education classes present the opportunity to jump rope or shoot hoops for the American Heart Association. Our children spend every day of their elementary years learning how to take care of each other and their community.

Much to parents’ dismay, the day comes when our kids have their last day of school and the trips down McClay go from daily carpool, soccer practice, scout meetings, STEM club, band, volleyball and more to once a week for Sunday Mass. Thoughts wander through parents’ heads wondering if your kids will still hear enough of that critical message to their faith, to serve all of God’s people. And then it happens.

You hear that a young man from our parish, Matt Klekar, a recent graduate from high school was chosen to receive the Archbishop May Service Award. And then you see a special alumni feature series where you learn that Kelly Rau, another past graduate of Sts. J&A, is spending her adulthood serving in a Life Teen ministry in Georgia, and yet another past graduate Angela Kendrick has been volunteering with the Peace Corps in Belize, Columbia. You see there is a difference with our school. Our school is full of flames that are lighting the way all the way through adulthood. Our parish children have and are growing into adults that have the eyes and hands of faith as they serve all over the world! And each week you have the opportunity to sing along with them these beautiful words before they head to their classroom:

    “We are grounded in faith and growing to serve, we are holy, we are strong!”