Fall Newsletter -September 2018
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Dear St. Mary Alumni,
St. Mary is celebrating our 160th year! This means thousands of individuals now call St. Mary their alma mater. Over the last few years, we have worked hard to reconnect with our graduates. It has been wonderful to visit with many of you at our various alumni and school events. However, we have many graduates no longer living in western Kentucky who want to know how St. Mary is doing. We will be sending out an alumni e-newsletter three times a year to help keep you connected. Whether you live down the street or across the globe, you can still be a part of the Viking Voyage!
As an alum myself
(2008)
, I am excited to be back at St. Mary as a teacher and alumni coordinator. All alumni have memories of our days, teachers, and friends at St. Mary High School and/or St. Mary's Academy, and all of those memories combine to create more than 160 years of deep tradition and ongoing Christ-centered education
.
We hope this communication keeps you informed about St. Mary while providing a way to reconnect you with your classmates. If you are planning a class reunion or simply traveling through Paducah, please let us be a resource for you.
Blessings,
Brittney Washam
Alumni Coordiantor
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Vikings are Back to School!
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Students headed back to school on August 9th. Elementary students were greeted by smiling faces and morning prayer!
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Middle and high school kids were greeted by the "paparazzi," who made them feel like celebrities making an appearance! All students participated in a prayer service before class to prepare themselves for the school year.
We welcomed nearly
60 brand new students to St. Mary School System this year! This continues the trend from the 2017-18 school year.
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ALUMNI Back to School Soccer Bash!
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The annual Alumni Back to School Soccer Bash was held on August 10, complete with food, fun and face painting! It is always a wonderful way to celebrate the start of a new school year with our students and alumni.
This year, alumni from the
Class of 1991 to the
Class of 2018 made their return to compete against the current St. Mary soccer teams in their annual game.
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#shareyourstory #shareyourfaith
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If you walk through the halls and classrooms of St. Mary this year, you will mostly likely see the phrases:
#shareyourfaith
and
#shareyourstory
. Sharing our faith is the theme of the school year.
Current research shows that greater numbers of young people are no longer practicing their faith. However, this research also shows that 40% of individuals who attended Catholic school are actively practicing their faith as adults as compared to only 5% of those who did not.
While we continue to encourage our students to grow in their faith through daily prayer, celebrating Mass together, religion classes, retreats, and service, we are focused this year on
sharing
that faith with each other and our community as never before!
As alumni, we hope you will join us on this journey and intentionally #shareyourfaith too! Please join us for our system-wide Masses and remember St. Mary Schools in your prayers.
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The system-wide Opening Mass took place on August 15. Father Brad Whistle, with other area priests, led the Elementary, Middle, and High School in the first Mass of the school year. The Mass celebrated the Assumption of Mary.
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In the past year, many of our alumni have given back to St. Mary in spectacular ways! We want to highlight just a few:
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St. Mary graduate, Hale Sims
(2018)
, gives a presentation during one of the Investment Club meetings during the 2017-18 school year.
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Mr. Jim O'Loughlin
(1952) gave a very generous donation in 2017 with the intent of helping students develop financial literacy and gain hands-on experience investing in the stock market.
While Mr. O'Loughlin currently calls California home, he has never forgotten his St. Mary roots. He hopes this donation will allow students to learn important money management skills, such as understanding taxes and investing in a Roth IRA. However, students are not only learning to invest, they are actually investing a portion of the funds!
Currently, no other local school system offers an Investment Club. We are excited and grateful for this unique opportunity our students have to gain hands on experience thanks to one of our alumni.
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Alumnus, Chris Haas
(1995)
, is back on his home field this year as the Head Baseball Coach of the St. Mary Vikings!
Coach Haas played varsity baseball for St. Mary from 1990-1995 with a Career Batting Average of .592. He was a member of the 1995 All-America Baseball Team by the National High School Baseball Association and the Topps 1995 Player of the Year for the State of Kentucky.
After high school, Haas was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1
st
Round (29
th
overall pick) of the 1995 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. He went on to play 9 years of Professional Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves,Texas Rangers and the Cincinnati Reds.
When asked about his new coaching position, Coach Haas said, “I look forward to helping the players not only develop their baseball skills but most importantly to teach them life lessons that will help them become successful adults. St. Mary was very instrumental in my development as a young man and prepared me for life's challenges. It gives me great pleasure to be able to share my talents and be a positive influence on the St. Mary baseball program.”
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The
Class of 1959 felt it was only fitting to celebrate their
59th reunion on April 15, 2018 with 20 members of their class. They began their celebration with Mass at St. Thomas More and a dinner that followed.
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Members of the
Class of 1968 celebrated their 50th reunion on July 15, 2018. The reunion started with Mass at St. Francis De Sales and then a dinner at St. Mary. Brother Ignatius also returned to help celebrate!
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Upcoming Reunions
Class of 1978
Friday, October 19, 5PM-8PM at the Purple Toad Winery. Please bring an appetizer.
(alumni only for the 19th)
Saturday, October 20, 5:00 pm Mass at St. Francis de Sales. Following Mass, alumni and their guests will go to The Twinkling Star.
Class of 1969, 1979, 1989, 1999, 2009:
Are you a member of any of these classes?
If your class is planning a reunion in the next year,
please let us know! We will be happy to help spread the word
and work with you on planning!
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Update Us!
Let us know how things are going in your life! Have you recently graduated with a degree? Started a new job, gotten married or have other exciting news to share? We'd love to hear about it and feature you in our next newsletter. Email us at
bwasham@smss.org.
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Grandparents' Day Mass
Friday, September 7, 2018
This system-wide Mass honors our students' grandparents! All family and friends, including alumni, are invited to attend at 9:00 AM.
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Oktoberfest
Friday, October 19, 2018
This community-wide event is quickly approaching! There will be games, German food, silent auction baskets, and more for kids of all ages! Fun begins at 5:00 PM. Please join us!
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Other Upcoming Events:
Saturday, September 22, 7:00 PM - Trivia Night
Thursday, November 1, 9:00 AM - All Saints' Day System Mass
Wednesday, December 12, 9:00 AM - Our Lady of Guadalupe System Mass
Saturday, December 15th - St. Mary 1st Annual Jingle Bell Run
Friday, January 4th - Homecoming Game
(Alumni Reception Prior)
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We need your help! We want to expand our alumni database so we can share news with more of you. Please click the button next to this for a link to share.
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