Category: General

Catch up on all of the latest GRACE news by checking out the Fall 2022 Newsletter. Read about Chesterton Academy of St. John Paul II’s updated science lab, follow St. Bernard Catholic School principal, Crystal Blahnik, on her trip to the Third International Congress in Rome, see photos of what our students have been up to recently and more!

Do you possess a bachelor’s degree? If so, you may be qualified to support our school through substitute teaching—-a teaching degree is not required! Lesson plans and support are always provided.

By substitute teaching at GRACE, you can:

• Generate income with flexible hours you choose
• Come and go with your children
• Choose your buildings and types of classrooms
• Share special moments with your child during a quick lunch, recess, or in the hallway unexpectedly

Your comfort and convenience are important to us. Do you only want to substitute teach at a specific school? No problem! Open to other GRACE schools? We would be happy to assign you to additional sites that work for you.

To help GRACE as a substitute teacher, please reach out to your school principal or learn more by clicking here.

You can also share this post with those who may be interested by copying the URL and pasting it to them. Consider a retired grandparent who would enjoy visiting the school once a month or so, for example. Lastly, please keep our school and staff in your prayers while we continue to navigate this extraordinary time of staff shortages. Thank you!

We are excited to recognize the second outstanding volunteer within GRACE–this time, from St. John the Baptist School, Mrs. Karen Tooley!

Mrs. Tooley is both an active parent currently at St John the Baptist, and an alumni. Karen’s two oldest daughters are graduates of SJB, Analese is still with us in 7th grade. Karen serves on the Site Advisory Council as the Marketing Chair right now, but she has participated on the Council in many ways over the years, including past president.

Not only is Karen involved in the school, she is also an active parishioner at St. John the Baptist and coordinates many activities for the parish including the children’s area of our upcoming Blessfest. As if that isn’t enough, Karen organizes our Back to School Open House and for many years, managed the annual auction.

St. John the Baptist Principal, Mrs. Dana Vance stated, “when I first arrived here at SJB, Karen’s name was one of the first I heard. The answer to almost any fundraising question I have has been: did you ask Karen Tooley? She offers to do anything that is asked of her, always with a smile. She supports our teachers in so many ways, big and small. Karen truly lives our three tenets of faith, family and academic excellence in all that she does to champion St John the Baptist School.”

Thank you Mrs. Tooley!

Learn more about St. John the Baptist School by visiting their website.

The Chesterton Academy of St. John Paul II Classical School is well into its second year of operations this school year and is celebrating the addition of a renovated, updated science lab.

Patrick McKeown, headmaster of Green Bay’s newest Catholic high school, explains the process that was undertaken to prepare the new facility for this year’s sophomores in their biology year of the science curriculum: “We began gathering science equipment from Holy Family College [in Manitowoc] in the spring of 2021.” The institution was closing its doors and liquidating materials were perfect for the future lab at the new Chesterton Academy. They purchased many items through the generosity of the Cherney family, the main investors for the lab. “After the liquidation was over, [the college] called us and asked if we would be interested in 10 lab tables and even more equipment.”

With the needed equipment procured, the construction phase of the science lab project got underway. McKeown says, “This summer, we went through an extensive renovation in order to convert a 1950s classroom into a high-functioning science laboratory. This included: A new ceiling, new LED lights, new electrical, two new wash stations, new flooring, new cabinetry, a new teacher workstation, five new windows, commercial refrigeration and more.”

The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity are a group of Franciscan nuns that have been part of Wisconsin and Green Bay education for centuries. St. John Paul II and Chesterton Academy are located in Green Bay at 320 Victoria St., the former site of a Franciscan grade school and the current home of the St. Philip the Apostle Parish.

McKeown proudly concludes, “It is only right that some of that tradition and material returns back to the once thriving powerhouse of the East side.”

Learn more about Chesterton Academy by visiting their website.

We had a great time surprising our first #FacesOfGRACE nominee, Mrs. Kim Matzke!

We headed over to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School for the wonderful Mrs. Matzke, their third grade teacher. Her passion, joy, and love for learning are ever-present in the classroom:

“My favorite part of teaching is my students and how every day is new and exciting. I love interacting and learning from them. My happiest teaching moment is watching my students grow into caring, creative, and confident learners and people. I am excited to build new relationships and memories with my students.”

As her students say, “BEST TEACHER EVER!” Thank you, Mrs. Matzke!

Learn more about Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School by visiting their website.

The fourth graders from Notre Dame of De Pere School had a fun day learning about Wisconsin history at Heritage Hill State Historical Park. From fur trading to school days to the printing press, they learned how life was centuries ago. We are so lucky to have this living museum so close to home here in Green Bay, Wisconsin!

Learn more about Heritage Hill on their website and see more photographs of the trip posted on Facebook below.

It feels great to get involved! Last week, the GRACE Riverside team volunteered for the Feed My Starving Children organization. The afternoon involved setting up the mobile packing station locally in our community. Feed My Starving Children is a Christian nonprofit dedicated to fighting world hunger by breaking the cycle of poverty across the globe. More information about the organization can be found on their website.

GRACE thanks you for making 2022’s third annual Run/Walk a huge success. It took place at the start of October with a total of 224 participants and was hosted at Father Allouez Catholic School’s Resurrection Campus. There were post-race activities, snacks, inflatables and more!

Stay tuned for more details about next year’s event.

You can scroll through a photo gallery of images from the event over on our Facebook page (shown below).

September 16 kicked off GRACE’s Outstanding Volunteer series! We will be featuring an “outstanding volunteer,” recognized for their servitude, from each of our nine school sites.

The very first Outstanding Volunteer Award went to Mr. Marv Wall from Notre Dame of De Pere! Mr. Wall served as a parish representative on both the Notre Dame of De Pere Site Advisory Council and the GRACE Board of Trustees for many years. While other committee members rotate through every few years, Mr. Wall is a constant.

“His consistency and willingness to pitch in wherever is needed to get the job done are just some of his many admirable qualities. During Notre Dame of De Pere’s building project, Marv was integral in the entire building process. Not only did he help the project come to fruition on schedule, he also became an honorary and volunteer member of our staff. Marv stepped in to serve lunches, oversaw and personally carried many of the boxes in the moving process, set up a live stream so we could all watch the process, spoke to classes, and offered to come build a basketball hoop I had promised to my own boys at home. We ended up building that hoop ourselves and the whole time I wished Marv was there. Marv has a big heart and an easy going sense of humor. He is an outstanding role model for our students and all who have the privilege to know him. Marv continues to be one text away when we are stuck and is an important part of the Notre Dame of De Pere Family.”

Thank you, Marv!

At GRACE, our mission is to nurture the whole student – mind, body, and soul.

Each week, our students attend and participate in Mass during school; a sacred and time-honored tradition that brings our school communities together in spiritual reflection and prayer. Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School was just one of all GRACE schools that celebrated its first school Mass of the year on September 1!

Learn more about our schools here and see their upcoming mass schedules on their individual websites.