HS Board

Submitted by Paul Valade — May 14, 2020

“It was a day I will never forget,” St. Raymond School Assistant Principal Cathy Hart said about the school’s recent May Day Parade.

To kick off the month and Teacher Appreciation Week, more than 50 faculty and staff members of the Mount Prospect school participated in a 50-vehicle parade on Friday, May 1. The parade, which wound through nearby residential areas and included participation from Mount Prospect police officers, lasted around 45 minutes.

Nadine Scheller, Marketing & Enrollment director at the school, said the school received positive feedback from families, many who camped out waiting to see the teachers. Parents said the parade was heartwarming and a great way to come together.

Before starting, principals gave treat bags to the teachers and shared words of encouragement.

“I am so proud of the way our community came together for this event. Reconnecting with our students, the families and the teachers really renewed everyone’s spirits. It was a wonderful example of what makes our St. Raymond community so special,” Principal Mary Eileen Ward said.

The Family and School Association also provided gift cards and families gave plants and flowers to the educators.

Scheller said teachers and staff had been feeling disconnected from their school family, which includes more than 500 students from 328 families.

“It was a perfect day to bring the community together. The sun was shining, the weather had warmed up and, for a short time, it felt a little more ‘normal’ to see each other,” she said. “It was the community spirit and family feel that gave everyone an uplifting feeling to a new month.”

Copyright 2022 Daily Herald (www.dailyherald.com)

Submitted by Jason Kaczorowski — April 2, 2020

With the COVID-19 Coronavirus spreading across the entire planet, it is easy to look around these days and see we are sheltering in place at home in safety, socially distancing ourselves during mandatory grocery shopping missions and large events are being cancelled for the foreseeable future.

For couples awaiting their wedding date during this unprecedented global crisis, there is certainly confusion, uncertainty, doubt and depression. Weeks ago everything mattered — which wedding hashtag to pick, the perfect signature cocktail, where to spend your honeymoon unwinding after months of planning madness — and now all that matters is having each other.

In an official statement from its website, the CDC states, “Officials may ask you to modify, postpone, or cancel large events for the safety and well-being of your event staff, participants and the community. The details of your emergency operations plan should be based on the size and duration of your events, demographics of the participants, complexity of your event operations, and type of on-site services and activities your event may offer.”

Fortunately love was not cancelled for Mount Prospect newlyweds, Teri and Steve Gonczy.

In a post on a community Facebook group on Monday, March 30, Mount Prospect resident Angela Nicolosi sought volunteers who were interested in raising the spirits of a couple of local residents.

Angela’s husband Rick Kesler is a pastor at The South Church of Mount Prospect and was contacted by a deacon who was searching for a way to help a couple who was intending on getting married at another local Mount Prospect church, St Raymond Parish, but was unable to because the church was indefinitely closed and he unfortunately couldn’t marry them off-site.

As Angela wrote on Facebook: “Tuesday, March 31, at 2 p.m., Rick will marry them in the sanctuary of the South Church. That’s it — just the four of us with proper physical distancing. However, I was thinking that if we walked them down the aisle and out the front doors of the church that it would be way cool if they were greeted with a bunch of people cheering for them and maybe holding signs saying something like ‘Congratulations Steve & Ter.’ Balloons, kazoos, pinwheels would all be acceptable. Properly distanced of course, especially since they are in the “at risk” group because of their age. If those of you outside the church could snap some pics and send them to me and/or post them on our page then we could “shower” them with more pics and make their occasion a little more memorable in these strange times.”

The couple celebrated their vows at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31 at the The South Church of Mount Prospect. Though nobody was permitted to attended the couples ceremony due to COVID-19, the newlyweds were greeted by neighbors outside the church who held up signs from distance congratulating the couple.

Copyright 2022 Daily Herald (www.dailyherald.com)