Kennedy Basketball Goes Global

The Kennedy Catholic Varsity Boys' Basketball Team had an international experience this afternoon. The Celts hosted the Youth Sports Exchange basketball team from Belgium.

The Youth Sports Exchange was founded in 1982 by Robert Hubrecht it is a division of the International Athletic Foundation (IAF). Gastgezinnen waren buiten het financieel voordeel, de ideale manier om een interactie tussen de verschillende culturen op te starten. The purpose of the Sports exchange Program is to expose talented players who are not selected for the national teams, to participate in international competition.

There are currently three countries involved in the program, Holland, Belgium, and the US. They host sports including: volleyball, soccer, baseball, and tennis.

While the Belgium basketball team is in Missouri they will also be facing teams from Herman, Brentwood, and Borgia.

The Celts are sending their comrades from Belgium home with a loss. Kennedy brought home a win 99-57.

Marching for Life

Guest Blogger: Mr. Roskowske rroskowske@kennedycatholic.net

In addition to being the music director at Kennedy Catholic High School, I play electric guitar for the "Steubenville Band", a group led by Adam Bitter that provides the music for the Steubenville Mid-America Youth Conference every summer. We were asked by the Archbishop and the Office of Youth Ministry to provide music for "The Way, the Truth, the Life" which was the trip to Washington D.C. for the Pro-Life March that took place in front of the nation's capital building on Monday, January 24th. In addition to the march, teens and chaperones listened to inspiring talks, participated in discussion groups, attended mass, Eucharistic adoration, and received the sacrament of reconciliation.

Our trip started with mass at Incarnate Word Parish in Chesterfield on Friday night. The teens then boarded buses that would take them to D.C. I boarded a van with John Schellhorn, our bassist, and Charlie Dent, our drummer. After a delicious dinner at Steak and Shake, we set out on our 16 hour trip to Washington. It's a good thing that we three have been friends for years since we were stuffed into a minivan with our equipment for that amount of time.

Upon our arrival at 4 pm on Saturday, we set up our gear, took showers, and tossed down a couple of cups of coffee. We went onstage at 8, providing praise and worship music for the excited group of 500 teens. Our guest speaker for the evening was Sam Malek, owner of More Than Coffee, which is located on Manchester not far from Kennedy. Sam shared his story and struggles while getting the teens attention with his way of "keeping it real". Sam also spoke of giving people with disabilities jobs at his shop, enabling them to find work at other businesses afterward.

Sunday morning brought mass which was celebrated by Kennedy alum Fr. Brian Fischer along with other priests. After mass, the group had the day to tour the sights of Washington. I, along with my daughter Shelby, went with our Seven Holy Founders Youth group to Arlington National Cemetery where we visited the graves of the Kennedy's and the tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. The ceremony of the changing of the guard was solemn and quite inspiring.
After Arlington, we headed for the Smithsonian History museum. Of particular interest to me was the display of a violin, viola, and cello all made by Stradivarius from the 1600's. After eating lunch, we headed for the capital mall, visiting the World War II memorial, the Vietnam wall, Washington monument, and the Lincoln Memorial.

Sunday evening started with more praise and worship music from us, and then a talk by Fr. Dave Pavonka, a Franciscan priest who helps with the summer Steubenville retreats that are presented by Franciscan University. Fr. Dave talked about the sanctity of life, along with the sacrament of reconciliation. Comparing it to an experience he had washing his clothes at a trail stop on a pilgrimage, just confessing some sins to "get rid of the smell" instead of truly "coming clean" and saying what is in your heart. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with music by us followed. During adoration, over 500 teens went to the sacrament of reconciliation with all the priests that were on the trip, including Bishop Hermann and Bishop Rice. It was a truly moving experience for me seeing all of those teens going to reconciliation.

Monday started with everybody packing their bags and leaving the hotel in the buses to go to a local church for mass, this time celebrated by Bishop Edward Rice. In his homily, Bishop Rice quoted President Kennedy's inaugural address, in which he said that man now has the power to abolish all forms of poverty and all forms of human life, and sadly, the second part of that statement had become true. The other quote in the homily was "the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God".

From mass, we went to lunch, and then to the March. Once again, to see the thousands upon thousands of people (1,000 teens from our archdiocese alone) march for support of basic human existence for the powerless such as the unborn and senior citizens made me proud to be an American where we can express our ideas without fear of reprisal, and sad that many in our government who have the power to initiate change basically ignored this protest, along with many in our national media. After the March, we headed on our trek back to St. Louis. The March took place on my birthday, January 24th, and as I look back, it was exactly the place I needed to be on that day. Hopefully one day Roe vs. Wade will be overturned by the Supreme Court, along with other laws that make the killing of the unborn, the elderly, and the death penalty. Until that time comes, I will be proud to stand and march along with the many people, among them the teenagers of the Archdiocese, for life.

How to Say Thank You

Guest Blogger: Mrs. Sullivan

This is my 8^th school year at Kennedy.

I have always loved my job. Some days more than others, but my devotion has never really wavered.

Working with teenagers keeps me young (I would also settle for "youngish" at this point).

Through my position as Director of Admissions I actively market and recruit students to our school community.

When meeting with prospective parents and students I oftentimes use the "Kennedy Community" as a selling point. I tell students about the family feel of campus, many students consider Kennedy "HOME."

I totally stand behind Kennedy. I believe in the product I sell. I couldn't do this job if I didn't.

In the past when talking about the community my comments were as a bystander, someone who has witnessed the caring and compassion of our students and faculty but had never really experienced it firsthand.

This has all changed.

My husband Casey lost his job on October 8. This was a devastating financial blow to our family. We have two young boys, a mortgage, car payments, tuition, and countless bills to worry about. Casey's job provided our primary income. Although I work fulltime the majority of our livelihood came from his paycheck. Needless to say we have been and continue to struggle financially.

On October 13 Casey was hospitalized for one week with a serious case of pneumonia. He is healthy today (knock on wood), but his hospital stay only compounded our financial stress.

While Casey was hospitalized I emailed the faculty asking for prayers and explaining my sporadic attendance at school. The outpouring of support I got was overwhelming. I don't know why I was surprised but I was.

Fast forward to the holiday season….Casey and I both knew that this would be a meager Christmas. We planned on buying a few gifts for our boys and forgoing the usual gift giving hoopla for the rest of our family and friends. This was somewhat embarrassing to admit to our family, but we needed to be honest and smart with our money.

On Friday December 3 I received a very special gift. Taped to my office door was an envelope. Inside the envelope was an anonymous letter. The copy of the letter is below:

"Advent is the season of giving- that's what we tell the students. I often wonder how many of any of us are truly aware of how giving is good for the soul. We say it, but do really do it and understand it? This year, I have been inspired to give. I know there are lots of opportunities to give in our community, but why not start at home.

Please accept this small gift in honor of Grant and Carter. Use it to put some extra gifts under the tree for them. I wish it was more, but I know you to be a frugal gal who can use resources wisely.

As for you and Casey, I give you my prayers for peace of mind. Please remember that God knows what he is doing and even though you cannot see the wisdom of His plan right now, know that good is coming your way. Take this opportunity to strengthen your love for God and each other. Things will get better and more importantly, be better than ever. Pay it forward one day when you have the chance – I just did.

God bless you and your precious boys this Christmas season.

Sincerely,

One Anonymous Celt caring for another Celt. "

Inside the envelope was $200. This left me speechless. I began to cry and called Casey and then my mom. It was such an unexpected gift that helped us so very much. It wasn't so much the money that moved me; it was the sentiment behind it. Someone cared enough about me and more importantly, my boys to go out of their way to make sure they were taken care of this Christmas.

This is practicing what you preach.

That is what makes this place so special.

Other schools may have more impressive athletic facilities, or glossier brochures, but there is no another school that can compare to the SPIRIT and HEART of Kennedy. This is home to so many students because of the caliber of people that walk our halls. This place has compassion. We live our faith.

I am so very thankful for the Anonymous Celt and I would like to express my gratitude to that blessed soul. This is my only way to do it.

Thank you for taking care of my family. Your gift means so very much and I promise to pay it forward. God bless.