Alumnae Serve Up Charity

On Wednesday, February 9th, Girl Scout Senior Troop 1140 covered the Parish Second Wednesday of the Month dinners at Christ House.  Under the direction of Mrs. Judy Rybak, who coordinates the Christ House dinners from our Parish, the Girl Scouts prepared and served 60 dinners to the needy of our community, ensuring all was cleaned up afterwards.

The room was filled with homemade food, energy, kindness and smiles from the scouts.  Senior Troop 1140 is composed of 9th graders, all graduates of St. James School, now attending Bishop O'Connell, Georgetown Visitation, and Washington-Lee High Schools.

The girls who attended were (standing): Caroline Metzmaier, Thalia Falcon, Katie Keating, Matilda Mubiru, Eileen Breslin, Alexa Saffelle, Camila Simons, Caroline Johnson and (seated): Maria Toch and Mary Donnelly.  Elizabeth Schilling helped with preparations but was unable to attend.  Troop leaders Connie Donnelly and Jane Schilling were both very proud of all the young women.

If you know of any other Rockets in service to others, please let us know!  Contact Christine Hughes at advancement@stjamescatholic.org

For the second year in a row our Parish community is coming together for Lenten Fish Fries.  Lead angler (and SJS Parent) Tim Aubry sought to relive the family fun he remembers from his childhood parish in New York.

In 2010 we served almost 1000 dinners on Fridays during Lent.  Our first of 2011 saw almost 250 in Heller Hall gathered for fun, friendship, and of course: fish.  If you're local or will find yourself in the area during Lent, please stop by... for the Halibut!  Dinner is free, but donations are gladly accepted.  Last year, proceeds from the dinners supported efforts of our Social Outreach Committees and the School.

That's Lead Angler Tim Aubry on the far left!

FISH FRY FRIDAYS IN HELLER HALL:

MARCH 25th

APRIL 1st (No Foolin'!), 8th and 15th

Doors Open at 5:00pm; we serve until 8:00pm 

It was not until their time as "Bando-s" at Central Catholic High School that Lou and Karen met.  She, by her own admission a "second tier flutist" with the band, sat directly in front of first chair trumpet player, Lou.  "I knew [Karen's] older sister at school, so I knew who she was as a freshman."  Karen interjects here with a laugh, "[t]ell what you thought of me!"  Lou, rather sheepishly but not without mischief, recounts how "I thought to myself, 'I want to marry someone like her someday.'"

"Someone like me!  Not necessarily me, but someone like me!"  The reproach by the now Mrs. Lucchetti is half-hearted and gentle. 

While they attended different universities (Lou first at St. John's College in Maryland, then Pittsburgh; Karen at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania) they kept in contact.  After earning degrees in Political Science (Karen) and Philosophy (Lou), they married in 1994.

Jobs brought them to the Washington, DC area; Karen with the Department of Defense and Lou as a stockbroker.   With the birth of their second child, Karen decided to stay home.  Three children later and a move to the Bank of Montreal for Lou, and we find ourselves in 2011 with all five Lucchetti children attending St. James School.

You cannot sit with the Lucchettis and not notice several things right away.  First, their openness and good humor; second the love of their children (you need a sense of humor with that many children); and most importantly their commitment to, and love of, their Catholic faith.

"We had always planned on sending them [their children] to Catholic school; it was the norm for us, with 12 years of Catholic education ourselves," says Karen.  She goes on to say how much she "loved the Sisters: Sisters of Mercy, of St. Joseph, but especially the IHMs.  They were fabulous, well-educated women."

The Lucchettis talk of how they researched various Catholic schools in the area, but it was the "IHMs that brought us to St. James."  Karen remembers how impressed she was at her first Open House.  "It had everything I wanted in a school; high test scores, a good curriculum ... and welcoming."

Everything that brought them to Broad Street "is still here.  The Sisters set the tone and the standards for the school.  The important things haven't changed.  The kids love it.  Teresa [their youngest] comes home just as happy as when she leaves."

Such a shame the Lucchetti children are so morose

Karen is quick to point out that family is extremely important to them.  Their faith is a common thread which binds the generations.  Lou agrees. "We wanted a school where faith was central.  Saint James is a good choice because of this and the IHM charism.  The fact that there are three grades per class is beneficial; it gives flexibility to kids and teachers.  Saint James is warm, despite its size.  We appreciate the diversity here."  More importantly the Lucchettis note that Saint James has "strong academics and is very open about their curriculum and test scores.  There's a transparency here which is very good."

From left to right: Teresa, Gabby, Angelina, Frank & Madeleine 

But, don't take our word for it; listen to the experts: 

"I like all my friends and Music," says Teresa.  Gabby (aka "Gabby glasses" because, well, you can guess!) echoes the faculty theme: "I have a really nice teacher, Ms.Milligan.  And Spirit Day is really fun."  As you move up the age ladder, the responses get more thoughtful: "we get to learn a lot of different things, which is cool," says our Third grader

Angelina. 

Our graduating 8^th grader Madeleine has seen "a lot of changes, especially with the construction.  But we have a close group [in our grade].  It's been a lot of fun here and I am really prepared for high school.  I know I've made life-long friends here."

 But perhaps it's Frank, our thoughtful 5^th grader who puts it so eloquently.  And just to prove that he really did compose his own thoughts, see the picture with him and his handwritten notes about why he likes St. James:  "I think St. James is a great place to be because it fulfills its duty to faithfully educate Catholic children with the highest quality teachers and staff."  Truly - he wrote that!  WOW!

"We so are blessed to have the Lucchettis with us.  Karen and Lou are dedicated to Catholic education and supportive of our efforts at St. James.  They are warm and charismatic; but most of all, alot of fun," says Principal Sister Nancy Kindelan.

Fully aware of the choices available to them, the Lucchettis are happy with their decision for their children.  While it would be disingenuous to ignore the financial sacrifices made by families with multiple children attending Catholic School, Karen and Lou feel "there is no other place than St. James for us.  It was the right choice all those years ago [for their eldest] and it remains so now.  We're here for the long haul!"

DID YOU KNOW?