Catholic Schools Week (CSW) was such a special week for St. Joseph School (SJS) in Fort Atkinson.
Tag: St. Joseph School
Fort Atkinson teacher retires after 42 years
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| Pat Bries, fifth grade teacher at St. Joseph School in Fort Atkinson, hands out Turkish Delights to some of her students. Bries is retiring after 42 years at the school. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash) |
FORT ATKINSON — As Pat Bries completed her fourth, and final, decade teaching fifth graders — bringing the total to more than 600 — her classroom displayed her career, both the past and the present.
A Smartboard has long replaced the chalkboard, but signs with the cursive alphabet still adorned the classroom.
Bries said the handwriting style is still needed in the real world, “I don’t think it’s on the way out yet.”
Her desk displayed small school pictures of every student she taught since the school started having the photos taken more than 20 years ago, while her current students listened to her read to them from an eBook reader.
The book was Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck, a book she has read to all of her classes toward the end of the school year.
Bries reads it because one of the book’s main characters has a “strong sense of right and wrong” and her soon-to-be-departing fifth graders are “going into middle school now and they realize that life is not all black and white — there are a lot of shades of gray.”
Despite the school year and a teaching career of 42 years coming to an end, it was just a normal day in Pat Bries’ classroom located at the end of the hallway at St. Joseph School in Fort Atkinson.
‘Principal for the Day’
On Friday, Feb. 6, Max Jonas walked the halls of St. Joseph School in Fort Atkinson, gussied up in a dress shirt, tie, and sport coat, like any school principal would — checking in on all the classrooms, greeting students and staff, and also helping out in gym class.
Equine soccer comes to Fort Atkinson
For students at St. Joseph School in Fort Atkinson, it’s not unusual to look outside and see a soccer game taking place on the field next to the school.
Bringing children in Baraboo and Cuba together
“Only the human person, created in the image and likeness of God, is capable of raising a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to the Creator. The earth, with all its creatures, and the entire universe call on man to be their voice.”
Pope John Paul II — Homily, San Antonio, Texas 1987
BARABOO — This year, the fourth and fifth grade students at St. Joseph School in Baraboo became that voice talked about by Pope John Paul II and so much more — through their participation in Children Are The Hope (CATH), a project that aims to connect Wisconsin children to Cuban children through environmental and cultural education.
Children Are The Hope is an organization based in Wisconsin, partnering with the Empresa Nacional para la Proteccion de la Flora y Fauna and University of Havana in Cuba, along with nearly 20 primary and elementary schools from the north-central region of Cuba and the southern half of Wisconsin.
Mosaic remembers Treyton Kilar
Two Catholic parish communities gathered at St. John the Baptist Church in Jefferson on a recent afternoon for a celebratory Mass and dedication of the Sacred Heart Mosaic in honor of Treyton Kilar.
New mosaic construction begins at St. Joseph School
FORT ATKINSON — A one-of-a-kind work of art has been planned and the call for alumni volunteers from St. Joseph School in Fort Atkinson has gone out.
Baraboo school marks 100 years of Catholic education
BARABOO — Over 1,200 invitations were sent to past graduates, staff, and faculty for a centennial celebration and reunion that will take place at St. Joseph School on Saturday, Oct. 3.
The festivities will begin with Mass at 4 p.m. celebrated by Fr. Larry Bakke. Following Mass, all are invited to the school for supper, an open house, and entertainment. Alumni can take time to tour the school, laugh over memorabilia, and enjoy connecting with past acquaintances.