The Academy of St. Benedict the African, 6020 S. Laflin St., showed its appreciation for local first responders with its annual barbecue at the school on Aug. 11. Over the years, the school has formed a special relationship with Chicago Police Department’s 7th District and the Chicago Fire Department’s Engine 116. Police officers and firefighters regularly visit the school, which is located in the city’s Englewood neighborhood, to check on them. “District 7 and the Fire Department take such good care of us over here, so we wanted to thank them and we wanted to give back, so that’s how this started,” said Principal Jennifer Farrand. One officer in particular, Mike Cleary, regularly stops by the school to make sure the students get in and out of school safely. Cleary has stopped by the school for about 15 years and has formed a positive relationship with the students and staff. “The kids love him. They just know ‘Officer Cleary’s here. Everything is good,’” Farrand said. Officers also help with dismissal at the end of the day and interact with the students. During the past year, one of the younger students was shot while he was sleeping and police officers came to a liturgy and gave him an award for bravery, she said. “They are just present. They are present in the community. They are present with our kids,” Farrand said. “They really make sure that our kids see them as the helpers that they are.” Deacon LeRoy Gill also ministers at the school and was the volunteer pit master for the barbecue. “We’re so blessed that the District 7 police officers really care genuinely about the kids here,” Gill said. “They stop by, they come in and they talk to the kids. We appreciate it.”
Students at Chicago Jesuit Academy learning culinary skills On a Tuesday afternoon in January, about 20 students in fifth through eighth grade at Chicago Jesuit Academy, 5058 W. Jackson Blvd., crowded around Chef Sebastian White at a table in the cafeteria for their weekly culinary lesson.
St. Ferdinand students pack 300 lunches for people in need Students at St. Ferdinand School took time out from their classes on Jan. 27 to make 300 packed lunches to feed people in Chicago over the next 24 hours.
Josephinum Academy making plans to stay in Wicker Park Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart, a 134-year-old high school for girls, is hoping to take control of its future with an agreement to buy the property on which its facilities stand and launching a capital campaign with a goal of $23 million.