Holy Angels Messenger

Holy Angels Messenger
S P R I N G
A Newsletter
Publication
for Holy
Angels
School
Alumni and
Friends to
share school
activities,
programs
and events.
INSIDE
THIS
ISSUE:
2 0 1 5
NCEA Distinguished Graduate
Award
During Catholic Schools Week each year, Holy Angels School recognized a past student
with the National Catholic Educational Association’s Distinguished Graduate Award. This
year’s award was presented to Ann (Matenaer) Casper, a member of the Class of 1949.
The school’s mission statement begins with the words: “We belong to a Catholic community
which gathers together to proclaim the gospel, serve others and praise God” and Principal
Mike Sternig noted that “this year’s distinguished graduate has certainly proclaimed the Gospel by the way she lives her life. She regularly joins the praying community in giving praise to
God. Ann is a wonderful role model of service in the community.”
Presenting the award, Sternig recalled that when her own children were students at Holy Angels, Ann and her husband Herman were instrumental in providing all of the cabinets, carpentry and wooden items for the new kindergarten room.
Greetings
from Mike
2
Fun 4 All Day
3
Valentines
Party
4
HA Classic
6
Casper’s personal faith and fortitude were recalled from the experience she overcame in
2007 as part of the Medjugorje pilgrimage group which was involved in a tragic accident.
Undaunted by her own injuries, she always managed a laugh and a smile to make the best of
the situation because of her faith.
DARE
7
In his concluding remarks, Sternig praised Casper for a lifetime of joyful service which
serves as an example for Holy Angels students and others in the community.
100 Day Fun
8
Save the Date
9
Alumni Updates
9
Casper’s service to the community includes involvement in the parish Mission Circle, Salvation Army “bell ringers”, Samaritan volunteers and making sure the desserts at Germanfest
are served with a smile. In addition, she is a dedicated member of the Thursday morning
church cleaning crew that makes sure the Holy Angels worship space is neat and clean each
week.
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2
From the Desk of Mr. Sternig …
Another school year is quickly passing as we move from Catholic Schools Week
to the annual Valentines Party to Ash Wednesday and Lent. Before you know it,
you’ll be receiving the last HA Messenger of the year and an invitation to the
Festival of Angels.
The 2014-15 school year is a very special one. Several years ago, I was reading Dorothy Williams’ book “The Spirit of West Bend”. According to her research, “the building committee
of the Catholic Congregation of West Bend [was] to meet at the Catholic School house at
West Bend to let the…work for the new church.” She indicated that this was a notice in the
West Bend newspaper in February, 1866. She went on to say, “The location of this first
Catholic school is not known, but it can be stated with reasonable certainty that Holy Angels…had its own parish school.”
This is the earliest found reference to Holy Angels School and implies that our school was in existence as early as the
1865-66 school year. If that was indeed the first school year, that means the 2014-15 school year is the 150th! And so
we’ll be celebrating 150 years of Catholic education in the West Bend community and the contributions that Holy Angels students have made during the past 150 years.
In addition to celebrating our 150th year, we are also looking at a school facility that is fifty years old…the “old building” dates back even further. A recent feature in the Daily News even included a story about an older building which
was located south of our present “old building”. We’re looking at ways to renovate the present facility to make it ready
for another fifty years! We’ve been working to develop a master plan and timetable for some needed renovations.
What a great way to build upon the heritage of the past 150 years and provide for the next 50. More to come…
Over the years, I’ve heard many stories about Holy Angels from graduates who were students even before I started
teaching here! They are wonderful recollections which need to be preserved and passed along! See the related articles
about sharing stories and about the events that are being planned for the weekend of May 15-17.
On the homefront (former students tell me they enjoy the updates), the Sternig family keeps growing and I recently registered another grandkid to attend Holy Angels in Fall…and there’s more on the way! My knee hasn’t healed as well as
I hoped. I had to hop up and down the court to ref the student-faculty game. Oh well. I’m in awe of students and others who have had to deal with a lot more than I have. They are my inspiration!
I hope to hear from many of you as we get closer to our 150 year celebration. I am thankful for the many wonderful
memories that I have of past students. Believe it or not, it’s the wonderful memories that I recall…I seem to have forgotten any that were not-so-good. There is just so much memory space available and I choose to keep the good stuff!
Wishing you many springtime blessings,
Mike Sternig
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3
Catholic Schools Week - Fun4All Day
One of the favorite activities during Catholic Schools Week is the Fun4All Day. Held every other year, students have their choice of activities for some late morning fun. This year’s most popular activity was tubing
at Sunburst with over 100 students taking to the snow-covered hill.
Cosmic bowling at King Pin (formerly Weiland’s) provided an opportunity for younger students to strike
often using the bumper rails with many ricochets by the ball. Of course older student had to post legitimate
scores without the benefit of the bumpers. One has to wonder why DRE Joseph Heit bowled with the first
graders!
Students also enjoyed ice skating at the frigid Kettle Moraine Ice Center and swimming in the warm waters
of the YMCA Adventure Pool.
PAGE
4
Valentines Party
The annual Valentines Party continued its long history at Holy Angels with another day of
fun and games for some good causes. Students played Ring-a-Can-of-Soda, walked the
Cake Walk, bounced in the Bounce House, played Poker with the Principal, trolled the Fish
Pond, and enjoyed other activities. This year's proceeds have been designated by the
Student Council to assist Big Brothers and Big Sisters, American Red Cross, Kathy Hospice, and the Albrecht Free Clinic. Holy Angels alumni will likely have their own memories
of their Valentines Parties...the tradition continues!
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5
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6
37th Annual HA Classic
The 37th annual Holy Angels Basketball Classic again provided some exciting basketball featuring West Bend area schools. After dropping their first two games in this year’s Classic, the
8th grade team put together a solid game against Badger-White (WBW). The win earned the
Royals seventh place in this year’s tournament. Final 8th grade standing: 1st…St. John’s; 2nd…
Badger-Red (WBE); 3rd…Good Shepherd; 4th…St. Kilian; 5th…Cabrini-Green; 6th…CabriniWhite; 7th…Holy Angels; 8th…Badger-White (WBW).
The Holy Angels Royals seventh grade team easily handled Badger-Red (WBE) in their first
round matchup. They defeated Good Shepherd in the second round to advance to the championship game against Lumen Christi (Mequon). The two teams traded baskets early and it appeared that the title would be decided by a close game. However, Lumen Christi’s defense prevented the Royals from getting good looks, and shots simply would not fall for the home team.
The Saints used good ball movement and picks for easy scores as the visiting team claimed this
year’s title. Final 7th grade standings: 1st…Lumen Christi; 2nd…Holy Angels; 3rd…Good Shepherd; 4th…Cabrini; 5th…Badger-White (WBW); 6th…Badger-Red (WBE); 7th…Badger-Blue
PAGE
D.A.R.E Graduates Fifth Graders
Holy Angels fifth graders recently completed the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program sponsored by the Washington County Sheriff’s Department. To mark the end of the
program, fifth graders gathered with fourth graders, parents and friends, and several community leaders to review what they learned.
Detective Hope Demler had been the D.A.R.E. instructor again this year and she presented
several awards to students. For their part, the students presented a skit and sang the
D.A.R.E. song which provided evidence that much learning had taken place. In addition, several students read their reflections on what they learned and their intentions for the future.
Local dignitaries included Mayor Sadownikow and Sheriff Schmidt. District Attorney Mark
Benson led the students in reciting the D.A.R.E. pledge. Fifth grade teachers Jody Bender
and Chris Thelen presented the students for their certificates of graduation and congratulations from community leaders.
Memories of Holy Angels School
In celebration of 150 years of Catholic Education at Holy Angels, we are trying to collect stories
from the past. There are many, many recollections which have been shared orally by past students
which need to be preserved and passed along. They can be stories of faith, stories of fun, stories
of friends, almost anything that’s a memory can be worth sharing and saving.
We ask that you take a moment to look back and reflect on a few memorable events that have
stayed with you over the years. Jot down your memories and send them to: Holy Angels Memories,
230 North 8th Ave., West Bend, WI 53095.
Of course, you can also send them via email to: [email protected].
Please be sure to include your name (and maiden name) and year of graduation. We’ll be collecting
the memories and hopefully publishing them for the 150 Year celebration.
7
PAGE
8
Students Defeat Faculty…again
The annual student-faculty basketball game got off to a rough start as someone deflated the basketball for tip-off (which was controlled by the students).
Replacing the faulty equipment seemed to have little effect on the game
though. Scoring was rather limited in the first half by either great defense or
poor shooting. In the end, the students rallied to post a 28-21 victory over a
beleaguered faculty.
The final day of Catholic Schools Week was also Day 100 and classrooms were
visited by a large group of 100-year-olds…actually it was the first graders
dressed as really old people. The students helped the rest of the school celebrate the milestone day by leading a Day 100 cheer during the half-time of the
student-faculty basketball game.
A highlight for the day in the kindergarten (K5) classroom was a visit by someone who was actually 101 years old! Kindergartner Abigail Glaszcz’s greatgrandfather visited with the students and shared stories from his childhood. The students also had the experience of really seeing “four generations”
together and understanding how all of that makes sense!
Almuni Updates
PAGE
9
Mike Backhaus, class of 2011. Currently right now I am finishing up my bachelors this spring at
UW-Milwaukee with a degree in Political Science. After that I plan on looking into getting my teaching certificate. For work I referee/umpire football, baseball, and basketball at the grade school and
high school level which keeps me plenty busy. I was refereeing the Catholic School league ( Don
Bosco League ) in Milwaukee which I do every Sunday and saw the 2001 Padre Serra banner,
which was the year my grade was in it, and coincidently was the team that we lost to. Still managing the Benders in summer which has been challenging but we should be a lot more competitive
and have fun this season.
Lu Ann ( Nowack ) Desteli, class of ’ 73
Following my own tour in the USMC I became a military spouse. We make our home in Florida
where I work in fitness.
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10
Holy Angels, days past
March, 1952, 8th Grade, Sr. M. Agatha
Teacher and Principal
1962 Holy Angels football team, undefeated champs
Back row (left to right) includes Rick Arkenberg, Jerry Steilen (quarterback), Coach Bob
Stoffel, Bill Kranstove.
Front row (left to right )includes Terry
Michels, Pat O'Meara, Jim Stoltz, Rusty DeGueme, Gerome Brunner, Rick Hall, Dan
Guse, David Barrett.
1939, First Communion
PAGE
Holy Angels Messenger
The Holy Angels Messenger
is published three times annually and is overseen by the
Development Committee.
Newsletter Editor:
Susan German
Development Committee:
Amy Barnes
Pam Bollen
Peter German
Karen Girard
Kara Guse
Ingrid LaForest
Peter Winkler
Matt Sternig
Mike Sternig
Ross Zautner
HA is going green!
As part of our mission to be “Unique, Premier, and Enduring” Holy Angels is requesting all of its alumni
to share their current e-mail address. We are planning to expand our e-mail data base so that future
alumni correspondence, HAM publications and other announcements can be sent electronically.
Please send an e-mail including your name and graduation year to [email protected] to get
on our “gone green” list of HA Alumni!
We hope you enjoyed this issue. If you have feedback or ideas on what you would like to read about,
please let us know.
Also, we would love you to share your favorite HA memories! We hope you enjoyed the class of 1919
photo and would love to share more. Please e-mail us, and if you have pictures we could feature in an
upcoming issue, please scan them in and send to us at the e-mail address above. We want to make your
alumni newsletter fun to read!
11
Non-Profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Holy Angels Catholic
School and Parish
138 North 8th Avenue
Permit No. 70
WEST BEND WI
West Bend, WI 53095
Phone: 262-338-1148
Holy Angels School Alumni Update
What have you been up to lately?
We’d love to hear about your families, marriage and birth announcements, occupations, travels and interests.
Send information to Holy Angels School, Alumni Relations,
230 N. 8th Ave, West Bend, WI 53095 or e-mail [email protected]
Date ______________________________
Name ________________________________________________________________________________
Maiden Name _______________________________________ Class of ____________________________
Address (street address, city, state, zip) _______________________________________________________
Phone ________________________________ E-mail __________________________________________
Spouse and Children (Names/Ages) ________________________________________________________
Here’s what I’ve been up to: ________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________