by Jan HoffbauerSt. Francis of Assisi, Ann Arbor’s students, facility and parishioners celebrate the 60th anniversary of the grade school Oct. 4 on the feast of St. Francis.
The vision for the celebration began a year ago when Eileen Peck and Glenn Gottfried started talking about what an incredible accomplishment it is to have a Catholic grade school survive 60 years. Not only has the school survived, but the students are being blessed every day.
Glenn said, “Today is just one piece of our year long celebration. The same values are important today that were important 60 years ago.”
In the homily, Father James McDougall, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi, talked about his trip to the birth place of St. Francis. He said that Francis was a soldier but came to realize that there was more to life than being a soldier; and he started to follow Christ.
During the liturgy, the eighth-graders took care of the first- grade students and showed them how to celebrate together. The children’s choir sang Francesco. Part of each verse called for a celebration of time, rejoicing, a call to action and to be a witness. The refrain was “St. Francis you challenge us to live a Gospel Faith.”
Principal Julie Fantone stated, “The Holy Spirit is here. We are a part of history,” as she welcomed almost 20 former teachers, some of whom taught her when she was a student, to the luncheon after the Mass, which was followed by a tour of the school.
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