Back to School
I welcome our St. John Bosco school community back to school for the 2022-2023 academic year. I am thrilled and can’t wait to see the excitement in the students when they resume on Wednesday, August 10th. Lots of surprises await them after a summer of enhancements including, beautiful landscaping that will provide outdoor learning spaces, state-of-the-art Smart Screen Monitors in all classrooms, new classroom furnishings, and the construction of our new Church. This academic year looks very promising as we currently have a higher enrollment than anticipated and we continue to process more new enrollments. I welcome all the new families and teachers that will be joining our school community and look forward to meeting them soon.
We will begin the academic year with a Eucharistic Procession around the campus, followed by the first school Mass at 1:30pm on Wednesday, August 10th. Fr. Manasseh and I will also be visiting the classrooms during the day to bless the students and teachers with Holy Water. Please Note! We will have our regular daily Mass at 8:15am on Wednesday in the Annex 2 Chapel. The opening Mass for the school is at 1:30pm, the same day in the St. John Bosco MPR. We will resume the regular school Masses on Friday mornings at 8:15am in the MPR beginning this Friday, August 12.
We will give a special blessing to all students both from SJB and other schools as well as college students during all Masses this weekend as they begin their new school year.
Congratulations to our Fr. Bob Binta Knights of Columbus Council
My congratulations to our Grand Knight, Isauro Amaro, and members of the Fr. Bob Binta Council for winning the Double Star Award for 2022. I thank our Knights for their commitment and active support for our parish and neighboring community that gains the attention of the State Council. Our Knights have won several State awards such as the Star Award for three consecutive years, and Council of the Year Award for 2022. I encourage all men, especially new members of our parish, to consider signing up to become a Knight.
Congratulations to Pam Boggs
Congratulations to Pam Boggs for being elected Vice President of the Parish Pastoral Council this week. By tradition, the Vice President of the Council automatically becomes the President the following year. I assure her and the President, Russ Spencer, of my continued prayers and support.
Construction Update From The Building Committee
After the rain storm of July 28th, there was up to three (3) feet of water and mud in many of the footings. The water was pumped out of the footings and the mud was hand shoveled in preparation for the concrete to be poured. The mason's were able to begin the installation of the foundation layer of the block, before the second rain storm hit St Benedict..The masons will continue laying block after the footings are pumped out again. The good news: most of the footings had concrete poured in them prior to the second storm hitting.
The additional roof anchors were installed to secure the existing roof, as the west wall has been removed, which allows winds to enter the building. The footings for the staircase to the choir loft and the footings for the elevated cry room are ready for the rebar and to be poured.
The team is working with Southwest Gas to relocate the main gas line and the gas meter. As the supply chain issues continue to be a challenge the team is anticipating that the plumbing items will finally arrive next week, which will allow the underground plumbing work to begin.
The photos for this week are:
North restroom stem block
North transept stem block
Footings for the arch walkway by the offices
Stairwell footings waiting for rebar and to be poured
Bell tower area with water after the second storm