Catholic Diocese Of Peoria

Alumni Newsletter
SAINT PATRICKS ALUMNI NEWSLETTER
Dear Alumni,

100 Harvey St. Washington, IL 61571 309-444-4345 Website: stpatswashington.com Email: schooloffice@stpatswashington.com

NOV 2013

I am Father Steve Willard, the new pastor at St. Patrick Parish and School. On July 1st, I arrived in Washington with a wonderful welcome from everyone. Coming to St. Patrick's is like coming home because I grew up just across the river in Peoria Heights and attended St. Thomas Church and School. I have great memories of my 8 years at St. Thomas. My parents knew that it was important that my siblings and I should have a Catholic education. I also went to AOL/SI (Academy of Our Lady/Spalding Institute) for my high school years. Immediately after high school, I entered the Seminary for the Diocese of Peoria. After 8 years of study both at St. Mary's College in Winona, Minnesota, for the first 4 years and Mount Saint Mary's in Emmitsburg, Maryland, for my last 4 years, I was ordained a priest on May 29, 1993. My first 10 years of priesthood were in the Bloomington/Normal area, and my last 10 years have been in the Champaign area. Now I am truly blessed to be back home. My parents instilled in me the importance of Catholic education, and I am happy once again to be in a parish with a Catholic school. I was fortunate when I went to school in Emmitsburg, Maryland, to walk in the same footprints as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. As you may know, she is the first American-born saint; and she established with the help of Bishop Carroll the first Catholic school in the U.S.A. I just want all of you to know that your school is going strong; and as the pastor, I will continue the tradition you already have established, especially the Spirituality and Academic Excellence. Please pray for our school and parish each day that we can truly be a witness of Christ in our school, our parish and our world. Know that you are in my prayers. May God bless you all. In Christ, Fr. Steve Dear Alumni, I took over the position of Principal of St. Patrick School on January 1, 2013, when Dr. Sharon Weiss went full-time as the Superintendent at the Diocese of Peoria. She is doing quite well as the leader of Catholic Schools in our diocese with new hopes and dreams for all of our schools. I feel much honored to have worked closely with her at St. Patrick School as Assistant Principal/Technology and as a principal colleague before coming back to St. Patrick School. I am very excited for the opportunity to continue leading St. Patrick School as we move forward. It has been quite the busy year finishing up the 2012-2013 school year and moving on to 2013-2014. I would like to share with you, as I already have with current parents and parishioners, some of the events and things we have accomplished for the new 2013-2014 school year. New bleachers were installed compliments of our Athletic Committee and the efforts of many who worked at the State Track Meet and other fundraisers. New two-way radios have been given to each staff member to help with our school safety program, compliments of PTC. New playground equipment for recess has arrived, also compliments of PTC. We have new additional science units for Grades 1-5. We use a hands-on inquiry-based curriculum. We started this program last year and have expanded another module unit for each of these grades this year. All the stairwells were painted by parishioner (and alum) Mike Chirass painting company and made possible through a special donation. Also, many rooms and ceilings were painted. Window blocks were painted (thank you to Mr. Jones, maintenance) and new curtains were made for classrooms in the older part of the building. Students and teachers will be able to see their SMART Board presentations much better. New room-darkening blinds have been installed in the windows of the newer school wing, compliments of PTC. 100 Microsoft Surface RT tablets have arrived for classroom use. They will be shared by classes on each floor and stored in carts when recharging. These tablets are from a special offer being made to schools through Microsoft. again compliments of a special do nation and PTC funds. All of these things have been blessings from so many wonderful people and groups to help us start off the new school year. These are just the highlights and none of it could have happened without their hard work in fundraising and special donations. We look forward to many more exciting changes and advancements to our wonderful school. As always, we invite alumni to come back and visit. Sincerely, Mrs. Doreen Shipman

WHOS WHERE, DOING WHAT NOW?

James (Jamie) McDonald, 1983
I started at St. Pats in 5th grade and I played basketball all 4 years. I remember cleaning trays at lunch.forgot what gra de that was. I also remember being an altar boy at morning Masses during the week. I thought 8th grade was cool because it was in the basement! My wife, Jessica, and I have been married for almost 14 years and live in Oswego, IL, about 2 hours north of Washington near Chicago. We have two sons, Andrew (11) and Aaron (4). Im a truck mechanic at a dealership in nearby Aurora. Jessica works in the healthcare field. Andrew keeps us busy with his love for playing baseball. Aaron is starting to like soccer. My parents, Gene & Carol, have lived in Morton, IL, for the last 20 years. Dad is still working part-time driving a shuttle van for a dealership in Morton (with his new shoulders and hip. I think the knee is next!) My sister, Karen Donaldson (1984), and her husband, Jerry, live in Washington only three houses from St. Pats!! Karen has 2 kids, Sara (15) and Sam (13). My email is catcar31@gmail.com.

Andrea Dean, 1995

I remember our 8th grade volleyball team went to State that year. We were a great team! I also had the honor of being chosen to crown Mary during the May Crowning. I have many happy memories of St. Pats! Mrs. Campbell was a great teacher! I am a 6-7 grade Special Education teacher at Beverly Manor Junior High here in Washington. I also coach 7th grade volleyball. I live in Washington with my two cats. My brother Ryan (class of 1996) and his wife are expecting their first child later in September.

Did you know...

This year, St. Patricks School graduated 21 students. Of those, 10 of the graduates went to Peoria Notre Dame High School. The May Crowning was performed by Rachel Horning with Regina Pesely and Abby Weisbruch (daughter of Sheila [Widmer] Weisbruch, 1978) as attendants. Abby was also awarded The American Legion Female Athlete of the Year. Dyllan Foster was the American Legion Male Athlete of the Year. The Clarence Linsley Outstanding Christian Award was given to Regina Pesely and Jordan Zwilling. Elizabeth Deiters received the YWCA Award and the Angie Linsley Outstanding Volleyball Player Award. The American Legion Award for top student went to Mackenzie Olsen. Mackenzie was also awarded the Spirit Award by the American Legion. Andrew Malcom received the Mark Burroughs Sportsmanship Award and the Evan Knoblauch Track Memorial Award. Rachel Horning received the Josephine Goebel Sportsmanship Award. Congratulations to Sister Marie Leona Dostaler in celebrating her 70th anniversary of consecrated life with the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation. Sister Marie Leona is retired now and living in North Dakota. She was a teacher for 50 years 25 years in North Dakota and 25 years in Illinois. Congratulations also to Sister Elaine Lange! She is celebrating her 25th anniversary. Sister Elaine taught at St. Pats from 19881998 and has served at St. Louis School in Princeton, IL, since 2001. She currently teaches a combined class of first & second graders. Our newly elected Chief of Police is Don Volk (1973). He has been with the City of Washington Police Department for many years working himself up in the ranks. He has truly served our community. Congratulations Chief Volk! The Shurley method of teaching/learning English grammar and writing is a dynamic program that St. Patrick School uses so successfully that its fourth grade class travels to Springfield every year with their teacher, Mrs. Becky Moran, to present the program at the Illinois Reading Council convention. What is amazing about their presentation is that there is no prepared script. The students are given sentences on the spot; and they must present them orally, according to the method, based on their knowle dge of the patterns and form they have been taught. Angie (Mall) Larson (1977) of Pecatonica was recently selected to join the Board of Directors at the German-American State Bank located in German Valley, Seward, Pecatonica, & Winnebago, IL. Angie is Director of Marketing and Communication for Woods Equipment Company in Oregon, IL. She has served in the past on various not-for-profit boards and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Rockford Area Arts Council, instructs leadership courses, and serves as advisor to the executive director of the Northern Illinois Center for Non-profit Excellence.

Did you know

Diana (Stewart) Vandeschraff (1973) has been the Treasurer of the Eastside Volleyball Club since its inception in 1997. She and her husband started the club volleyball program in East Peoria. It has grown over the years, moved to the Peoria RiverPlex, and been a very successful and nationally recognized program. Mrs. Shirley Meagher (long-time teacher and parent at St. Pats) was the third student to sign up for classes at Illinois Centra l College when it first opened in 1967. She was 44 then and was recently invited back to her alma mater for a tour. She remembers that she was usually the only adult in her classes, older than some of her teachers, and a little self-conscious too. Her then 19 -year-old daughter, also a college student, warned her not to raise her hand all the time even if she knew the answers! She graduated from ICC in 1969 and went on to graduate from Eureka Colleges teaching program. She retired from St. Pats after teaching 17 years. Shes also an accomplished author. Her book Well God, What Now? was published in 2010 and is about her missionary work after retirement. It has been available online and at Lagron Miller in Peoria. Congratulations to Coach Kurt Draeger. He was named Junior High Coach of the Year for District 18 by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association. This was the 2nd year in a row for Coach Draeger to receive this award. He led the 8th grade girls basketball team to a third place finish at the IESA state tournament last December. In addition to being the girls basketball coa ch, he is the 5th grade teacher too. The newly formed St. Patrick School Speech/Declamations team was successful in their first year. They participated in the Bishop ORourke Speech League Contest this past March and earned six 1st place medals and two 2nd place medals. Ben Asher (son of Patrick Asher, 1979) has been competing in the hurdles since 5th grade. This past school year, as a 7th grader, he earned third place in the 110-meter hurdles at the IESA State Track meet in May. The IESA State Track meet is currently held in East Peoria, and St. Pats volunteers have been assisting at this meet for the past few years. This past May, Carl Hendricksen (1970) retired from teaching as Peoria District 150s engineering teacher at Woodruff Career and Technical Center. He had taught 35 years in District 150 working at Calvin Coolidge Middle School, Manual Academy, and Woodruff. What really counts, he says, is when I get asked Remember me? Many changes happened this summer. Following are just a few: The Sister Mary Ann Gym had new bleachers installed. The glass window blocks in the older classrooms were painted black so that the students and teachers will be able to see their SmartBoard better. One hundred Microsoft tablets arrived for classroom use. Many classrooms, hallways, & ceilings were painted. All of these were compliments of generous donations, fundraisings, and hard work from parents, parishioners, and staff. This years WCHS Homecoming Queen was Claire Hagan. Shes the daughter of Tammy (Yakle) Hagan (1982). Congratulations! In a recent Washington Courier newspaper article, U.S. Navy veteran Bill Vericker (1955) told his story of his service beginning at age 17. He traveled the world during his enlistment. He now travels the country participating in military reenactment festivals and rendezvous weekends. Ten years ago, he said, he participated in a wagon train in Wisconsin. This was a school program which taught about how the people lived in the 1700s. The number of returned newsletters continues to increase due to an incorrect mailing address. Would you please submit your change of address either by mail or email? Many newsletters are being sent to parents. However, with the increasing number of cell phones instead of land lines, it is becoming much more difficult to find correct addresses. If you are a parent reading this, your name can be added to the mailing list, too. All responses are welcome.
If you have had an address change, please complete and return this form to St. Pats School, 100 Harvey, Washington, IL 61571. You may also email the information to: schooloffice@stpatswashington.com.

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NI M U AL ETTER SL 13 W E 20 N V O N

Welcome to our new parish priest, Father Steve Willard. He received the phone call from Bishop Jenky, head of the Peoria Diocese asking him to be the new pastor of St. Patrick and St. Monica in East Peoria. About 2 hours later, white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel in Rome announcing the new pope, Pope Francis. Fr. Willard replaces Monsignor Prendergast, who is serving as special assistant to the bishop. Father Willard is 46 and began July 1st at St. Pats. He is a graduate of St. Thomas Grade Sc hool in Peoria and Spalding High School. He has served in Bloomington and Champaign. This past summer he celebrated the 20th anniversary of his ordination. (Listen to his October 5 St. Gabriel Catholic Radio interview (out of Columbus, OH) about his priestly calling. It is archived on http://stgabrielradio.com/programs/audioarchive-2/answering-the-call/.) He and Fr. John Steffen, parochial vicar, have settled into the rectory..complete with a Chicago Cubs bench on the front stoop.much to the chagrin of one of the schools lunch ladies. Sue (Hobbs) Shannon (1974) has vowed to cover it with a Cardinals blanket if she has to look out the cafeteria win dow every day at it! God works in mysterious ways. This past summer, the owner of 111 Bess St., Washington, came across homework papers belonging to Mark Burroughs when she pulled out a drawer of a dresser built into a wall in the home. The papers were dated Sept. 3-11, 1963, when Burroughs was a 12-yearold sixth-grader at St. Patrick. Mark Burroughs died of Leukemia at age 14 on April 6, 1965. He was in the 8th grade at St. Pa ts. The owner called St. Patrick the day she found the papers and dropped them off at the school. Theyre still at the school, sa fely encased in clear plastic folders. The homework papers found were math, geography, and spelling. A drawing was also found. Long division and story math problems were answered, and theres a perfect 50 out of 50 spelling test. The math paper includes th e phrase "All for Jesus" at the top. Back then, the back sides of typed and copied church bulletins were used for arithmetic problems. On September 30, 2013, the Peoria Journal Star included an article about the find. even showing some of the papers and the drawing. Today, St. Pats continues the Mark Burroughs Sportsmanship Award to a graduating eighth -grade male athlete as it has since 1966. Please keep in your prayers those who have recently passed away: Mrs. Bernice Knapp, Mrs. Ann Romack, Mr. Robert Preston, Mrs. Norma Mall, Mr. Harold Shipman, Mrs. Kathryn Turnbull, Mr. Don Evans, Mr. Gene Hamas, Mrs. Louise Thomas, Mrs. Mary Jane Mowbray, Mr. Harold Bockler, Mr. Don Boehle, and classmates Pat (Pfister) Johnson (1965), John Rynell (1956), Elizabeth (Lamb) Howard (1989), and Bob Hramec (1963). Another long-time supporter to our church and school passed away. Mr. Clarence Linsley was always civic, and community-minded, and our parish has been a grateful recipient of his kindness. Please also remember two other parents who passed away and also served our school: Mrs. Mary Atterberry (long time teacher) and Mrs. Goldie Paluska (long time secretary). May all the families find peace in knowing Gods grace.