Dear JPII family,

Since the beginning of the year, my goal has been to utilize this space to share all the good that is happening at our school. While we are saddened by the loss of Mr. Elliott, for those who did not know him well I would like to share with you just a few of the positive impacts he had on our school. Mr. Elliott was a lifelong learner and seeker of the truth who served in multiple roles in education, including headmaster at Christ Covenant. He joined JPII in 2013 and in those 8 years he served as director of academic life, head of the English department, and taught Senior Thesis Seminar along with sophomore and senior English. He impacted our students outside the classroom as well as an advisor for SGA, Debate Club, Quiz Bowl, and as a soccer coach. He was a native of Kansas and was a big Chiefs fan. He is survived by his wife Judy of 37 years, four sons, and a recently born grandchild. Steve was a great man in his service to our students and his colleagues. To honor him, this Friday JPII students will wear purple (Mr. Elliott’s favorite color) and our football team will wear "SE" decals on their helmets. The Elliott family will have visitation in the JPII Performing Arts Center on Friday from 7:00-9:00 p.m. and the funeral will follow on Saturday in the PAC at 11:00 a.m.

Last week was a week full of activities including Spirit Week, retreat, and Homecoming! We enjoyed seeing our students get creative with the different Spirit Week themes, cheer on their friends on the court and field, and get to know each other better. A huge thank you to the faculty and staff for working extra hours to help make the week a success!

A sincere thanks to the following families for volunteering this past week: Atkinson, Barnett, Daughety, Escobar, Galinis, Hasselbach, Jones, Keeter, Stokes, and Winkler. We appreciate you and all those that have already volunteered this year. There is simply no way we would be able to properly hold extracurricular activities without the help of our JPII families! If you have not had the opportunity to volunteer, we ask that you prayerfully consider donating your time to help our school. The signup link is always included at the top of these emails.