Thoughts from our Head of School, Dr. Joseph Vorbach:
One of the blessings of working in a high school is the chance to be a spectator to the spirit and enthusiasm of young people on a daily basis. Spirit Week before Homecoming is a special opportunity for students to show their spirit a bit more and we did see them having fun this week with their costumes, their preparations for the dance, and today's pep rally. Some choose to go "all in" on the silliness and creativity and others take a more moderated approach, but in general everyone enjoys the brief shift from our uniform of the day, and the whole exercise helps build excitement for the events of the weekend.
A lesser known dimension of the Homecoming weekend for current students and families is tonight's Alumni Awards Dinner. Among those honored tonight will be pediatric pulmonologist Dr. Joel Schmidt (DJO 1976 - Distinguished Alumni Award) who is a member of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, our own Sister Catherine Hill (DJO 1966 - Alumni Service Award), Olympic swimmer Kate Ziegler (DJO 2006 - Athletic Hall of Fame); and the 1996 Softball Team. At this event, alumni will reminisce about their time together as Bishop O'Connell Knights, probably recalling, among other things, a Homecoming moment from years ago. This is a wonderful event when award recipients pay tribute to parents, siblings, coaches, teachers and friends who made a difference in their lives and the truth that Bishop O'Connell is a special place is affirmed.
I hope to share with the alumni tonight a sense of the energy, purposefulness, idealism and compassion we see in the student body today...not only during spirit week, but throughout the year.