School Briefs

The College Board of Reston, Virginia, has recognized Zachary Walz, a senior at St. Augustine Preparatory School in Richland, as an Honorable Mention Scholar in the 2008-09 National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP). 

The NHRP was initiated in 1983 to identify outstanding Hispanic/Latino high school students. This year, the program is recognizing nearly 5,000 students selected from a pool of over 200,000 Hispanic students who took the 2007 PSAT/NMSQT, scored highly on it, and have maintained at least a 3.0 Grade Point Average.

Students, teachers, and families of St. Augustine have banded together to bring Jubilee House in Vineland several steps closer to opening its doors. 

Operated by Jubilee Women, Inc., Jubilee House will provide residential services for four women with or without children in a rented house with four bedrooms, common bathroom, living area, and kitchen. During their stay, the women will participate in mandatory classes and established community programs.

On Saturday, Oct. 11, a team of students and teachers from the school descended on the newly acquired property on N. 8th Street in Vineland and thoroughly cleaned and groomed both inside and outside the home. Meanwhile, another group of students collected donated furniture from Prep families in all parts of South Jersey. So much furniture was collected that, after all rooms were filled, other items were sold or given to other community homes.

Jubilee Women, Inc., a 501 (c) (3) non-profit, is designed to provide a loving and supportive home for homeless pregnant women and their children with services such as counseling, case management, educational opportunities, job training, and life skills training, with the goal of empowering the women to grow in self-respect, faith, and independence. 

The home is under the protection of St. Joseph and is dedicated to the Blessed Mother Mary and St. Elizabeth, two pregnant women who lived together for several months.

As part of Homecoming events on Friday, Oct. 17, students and teachers of St. Augustine Preparatory School in Richland prepared over 2,200 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches after school. These were taken to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission to be distributed to the homeless and hungry of Atlantic City. 

The event was organized by the Hermit Ambassador Society, under the direction of math teacher Brooke Coyle. Prep families donated the peanut butter and jelly, and over 200 loaves of bread were purchased for the event. The sandwich making took place “assembly line” fashion in the school gymnasium.