Exciting, Productive and Humbling Day

THOUGHTS FROM OUR HEAD OF SCHOOL, JOSEPH VORBACH:

Yesterday was an amazing day at Bishop O'Connell.

For the fourth year in a row, we held a one-day giving campaign to support our annual fund, the Knight Fund.  The response from the community was unbelievable as we raised over $136,000, thanks to all who participated including a generous group of matching donors.  In short, we blew through our initial $40,000 matching challenge and set new records for one day giving. Another impressive fact is that there were nearly 400 gifts made to the school, a number that beat our goal by 100.

All of this made for a very exciting, productive and humbling day.  When we see the community rally around the school's mission as it did yesterday, it is inspiring to all of us who work here.  I was also inspired by the work of the advancement team and the many volunteers from our faculty and staff who helped generate energy for the cause yesterday.  They are passionate about the mission too and they shared that energy and commitment with the broader community yesterday.

At the end of the day, we can do more and do it better for today's Knights because of strong support for the Knight Fund.  Every gift, regardless of amount, is a blessing to the school and we are very grateful.

While all this was going on, our students continued to get ready for their final assessments and our counselors arranged to bring in therapy dogs as part of a "laugh more, stress less" initiative before examinations.  When I wandered down to the courtyard, it was a treat to find a beautiful English springer spaniel named Finney.  This dog reminded me of my family's dog growing up, also an English springer named Salty, shown in this photo when he was about 12 in 1984.  I laughed more and stressed less for a few minutes.

I was also really moved by the prayers service that Ms. Madden, Ms. Moynihan, Ms. Durdle and Mr. Shirey organized along with Student Council officers and some beautiful singing from Kiaris Alvarado Rojas.  The prayer service was a prayer for peace dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives in the several school shootings that have occurred since Jan 1, 2018.

And of course, as you may have heard, the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.  The whole DMV feels connected to this success on some level, including our state champion O'Connell Knights hockey team that is proud to practice at the same facility in Ballston where the Capitals practice.

What a day!