Dear Friends,
The
first half of the current academic year has been a special time indeed as our
celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of Saint Joseph Regional High School is
well underway.
In September, we hosted a bar-b-que picnic for friends, families and alumni
that was attended by more than 600 people. Special thanks to Joe Wilson
'99 and his band "Loose Ends" and to "Raised 4 Radio"
featuring Brian Walters '08, Peter Trawinski '08, Greg Reynolds '07 and Ross
Gardner '09 for providing our outdoor concert.
In October, we celebrated the Fifty Golden Moments in Sports Banquet at the
Park Ridge Marriott, honoring the top fifty events and individuals in the
history of the school's athletic program (the top ten were determined by an
on-line poll). The #1 Moment was the selection of the 1969 SJR Track Team
as the Team of the Century. Coach Bob Murphy, and a good number of the
members of that team were on hand for the recognition, along with alumni
athletes from every sports venue.
In November, our new Media Center was officially dedicated in a ceremony
presided over by Monsignor Kevin Hanbury, the Vicar of Education and
Superintendent of Schools of the Archdiocese of Newark. In just a couple
of months, the Media Center has become a focal point for both students and
faculty, and it promises to be a vital resource as we develop the school's
technological capabilities in the years ahead.
In November, the Inserra Theater played host to the Fifty Years of the
Performing Arts Concert that featured nearly two dozen alumni performers
singing a host of songs from the shows that have graced the school's stage over
the years. Mr. Michael Castelluccio, who directed the performing arts
program for most of its first 25 years was on hand, as were Rob '74 and
Willie Reale '75, award-winning musicians and playwrights who have given a great
deal back to the youth of New York City.
On
January 8, we celebrated our Legacy Mass for Alumni Fathers and Sons, and while
there is much more planned for the second half of the year (including our
Jubilee Mass with Archbishop John J. Myers in March and our Fiftieth
Anniversary Gala Dinner Dance on October 27), it is good to take a moment to
consider our blessings.
January's
Legacy Mass was a clear reminder of the continuity between two different SJR
generations, as Alumni dads from the Seventies and Eighties joined with their
Alumni sons from the Nineties and current decade to affirm that SJR's mission
as a Catholic high school is still vibrant and strong.
After all, what better endorsement could any school hope for than that the experience of its graduates be so rewarding that, as fathers, they would want that same opportunity for their own sons as well?
And what better symbol of that relationship than our patron, St. Joseph? Faithful man, protector of the Holy Family and father himself of much a beloved son, Joseph was clearly a man who understood, ever so well, the enduring power of the love that has bound fathers and sons together forever.
And so our jubilee year continues.
Proud to say that we have been "educating the faithful man for fifty years", we are also energized and excited by the possibilities of the next fifty years to come.
Barry
Donnelly
Principal