2023 Adventure Gala: THANK YOU!
We are so thankful for all of the support from our families, friends and donors for this past Adventure Gala! We had a beautiful night full of lots of fun, fellowship and generosity. Thank you so much for supporting St. John Paul II High School.
Admissions for SY 24-25 Have Begun!
Applications for SY 24-25 are now open! Find it at this link: APPLY NOW. Applications submitted before Tuesday, December 12 are free, so apply early!
Our first Open House of the year will be held on Saturday, October 7 from 10:00am-2:00pm at Our Lady of the Valley. Come by to meet our teachers and get a taste of our curriculum, as well as an opportunity to explore the school!
Pelican Joe’s PTO Fundraiser
Come join us to support JPIIHS and eat some delicious pizza!
Pelican Jo’s Pizzeria in Windsor is hosting a fundraiser with the JPIIHS PTO. Between the hours of 11:00am and 9:00pm on Wednesday, September 27, 25% of sales will be donated to the school! Be sure to mention the fundraiser while ordering online (write in “other instructions”) or in-person!
Pelican Jo’s Pizzeria: 263 Eastman Park Drive, Windsor, CO 80550
Save the Date: JPIIHS Feast Day Festival (formerly Fall Festival) October 21!
Our most fun event of the year is coming up soon!
Join us for a day of fun in honor of our patron, St. John Paul II. There is no admissions cost, and all are welcome! We will have carnival games and prizes, food and drink, a pie-in-the-face fundraiser, and a barn-style dance to end the night.
Join us at Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Windsor, CO from 2:00pm-9:00pm on Saturday, October 21.
Free to attend! Bring cash for carnival tickets and food & drink.
No need to RSVP!
Student Article: A Day In The Life
Alexandre M., Senior
Having only been 5 weeks into my senior year, things seem to have taken off whether I am ready or not. Though senior year can be stressful, I am still able to find passion in my studies at St. John Paul II High School. As crazy as it may sound, I still look forward to going to school everyday, even at 17 years old. My senior class is a very close knit group and I enjoy learning and discussing with them throughout the day.
My first class of the day is Latin, which is taught by Ms. Ielmini. So far we have been working on translating the Book of Psalms as a class. Although Latin isn’t commonly spoken today, the grammatical principles I have learned while translating Latin texts have still helped me understand English Grammar because they have many similarities.
After Latin we have Daily Mass. Mass is something I always look forward to because we come together as a school to celebrate the Holy Mass. Our students help run the mass by altar serving and lectoring, and sometimes our schola choir sings. The homilies given by Fr. Greg or Fr. Isidore are basically a bonus Theology class and are always a good way to start off your day.
Following Mass we have Theology, which is taught by Mrs. Bratnick. This is one of my favorite classes because of the conversations we have about the modern Catholic world and our place in it. In our past 3 years at JPII we have studied the Bible, Early Church History, Morality, and the Sacraments. Now as seniors we are able to focus more on the Catholic Church in modernity, as well as some more mature topics such as Theology of the Body.
For 3rd Period we have Calculus with Mr. Pace. Although the material in Calculus can be a little challenging, Mr. Pace always does his best to help us understand the concept at hand.
After Calculus we have Physics with Mr. Engblom, who is always excited to teach us new material and he does a great job helping us learn to explore the physical world. Every other week on Wednesdays, we have a Physics lab where we take a hands-on approach with the material we are learning in class and use it to conduct experiments.
Following Physics we finally have lunch! This is our time to wind down for a little bit and reconnect with friends as well as students in other grade levels. We typically play baseball, soccer, and spikeball, and usually the teachers join in too.
In the afternoon, our 5th period is Civics with Mr. Hockel where we learn about the systematic governing style of America. So far we have taken an in depth look at the Constitution of the United States. For the last 2 periods of the day we have Humanities, again with Mr. Hockel. In Humanities we are learning about the early stages of American History such as the Revolutionary war, Expansionism, and we are now focusing on the Civil War.
After 7th period our day is over, and I head to Loveland High School for soccer practice. While I am excited to graduate, I am not looking forward to leaving my friends as we have made many memories over the years. I do feel confident that St. John Paul II High School has prepared me for whatever may come next and I will be forever grateful for my high school experience.
Staff Article: Reflections from Theresa Branney, Former Capital Campaign Director of St. John Paul II High School
God knew what was in my heart. That is why the Holy Spirit led me to be a part of the amazing, important mission of St. John Paul II High School, to create intentional disciples.
As the school kicks off its third academic year, I wanted to reflect on why the mission of St. John Paul II High School is so important. My support and involvement in the school was for a multitude of reasons but there were two that resonated. First, the young adults of today need a classic, faith-based education. High school can be so formational in the development of our young adults. It prepares them to make choices, based on a firm foundation of faith. The school provides an environment where the Catholic faith is celebrated, and they are taught to “critically think “during high school and when they walk out the doors of the school to jobs or college. Secondly, high
school is often a time where influences can pull a young adult away from God. When they are surrounded by teachers, staff and clergy that provide a safe, faith-based environment, it can make a major difference in the choices they make while in high school and thereafter. It could be the difference between a journey of hope and joy that only the love of God can bring or a journey that results in separation from God, and the loss of hope and joy. I hold dear to my heart the memories of hope and joy that I experienced in attending Mass with the students, in the classroom, or just walking through the hallways.
The community in Northern Colorado is like no other – you rock! What a blessing to be part of such an amazing group of families, donors, volunteers, and faculty. So many within the community have been the hands and feet of Christ to further the mission of St. John Paul II High School. My husband and I are grandparents of four beautiful grandchildren. The best gift we can give them is to pray that they can someday be part of an amazing faith-based community like the one that exists at St. John Paul II High School.
I want to acknowledge and thank the Capital Campaign Executive Committee that worked tirelessly for the Capital Campaign. The team of 28 volunteers was truly a blessing to lead, as each of them carried the mission of the school to donors in their communities. We wouldn’t be where we are today in the Campaign without their dedication and hard work. THANK YOU for your joyful spirit in serving God and helping to make a permanent home for the school become a reality.
There are many exciting milestones ahead in the Capital Campaign for St. John Paul II High School. Mr. Hockel will continue to keep you advised of the Campaign progress with upcoming announcements.
I continue to pray for the school and the community. I will see you again soon as we continue to be the hands and feet of Christ in this important mission! We have formed close bonds with many of you and know we will be part of each other’s lives for years to come. I am always amazed at how God blesses us tenfold when we commit to His will. St John Paul II, pray for us!
Peace,
Theresa
From the Headmaster’s Desk: Our “Kids”
My dear friends,
Welcome! Or, if you’re one of the old hats, welcome back! We find ourselves at the
commencement of our fourth year at St. John Paul II High School, and I am nothing short of elated at being back at it once again.
I am now entering into my twelfth year of education with high schoolers, and in that time I’ve come to learn a few interesting things about the norms of high school. The first is that the seniors and the freshmen dictate the new energy of the school—as the eldest and the most excited respectively, there is no faster way to tell how a school year is going to go than by knowing the top and the bottom rung. And let me say, this is going to be a wildly eventful year. Next, it is always true that the sophomores go into the year clueless and come out of the year cultured. I suppose that trend comes with the name. The juniors always come into the school with that top-dog attitude, and they are usually surprised at how much work it is to get to be an upperclassman. This year already seems to be proving those norms right again.
Our day-to-day life has remained much the same with getting to go to Mass every day (what a blessing!) and having the gift of our faculty and staff to lead us on the great adventure for the discovery of truth. So why is there a strange melancholy that’s sitting over my heart this year?
Perhaps it is because this year is a very strange one to come back into. Our first graduates are gone on their various pursuits, not longer chittering in the halls with that giddiness we knew so well. The new freshman class has enough energy to outdo last year’s seniors ten times over, and the more we test their mettle, the more we see that they’re up to scratch. Perhaps it’s because the new and rising sophomore and junior class hold a level of confidence that elevates the feeling of all of us around them—they are so eager and so confident that we can’t help buy be buoyed by their spirit.
No, rather I think the change is because this senior class is the first rising class that has spent four whole years with us. Think of that! They’ve delt with us for their entire high school career. Yes, that’s it, because it’s starting to make me misty-eyed even just thinking about it. For those of you that did not have to sit through my graduation speech last year, I cried (and a fair amount) because I was just so proud of those first graduates. At the end of the proceedings, a parent of one of the class of 2024, told me that I’d ‘better keep it together’ for his daughter’s graduation. Allow me to say now that I can promise that I certainly will not.
For those of us who have been in education for a while, we know that we come to love our students. And we come to love them rather a lot. We revel in their triumphs and we agonize over their woes. We invariably start referring to them as our ‘kids’ or the like because we get to spend so much time watching them growth that, even though they’re not ours, we love them like we do our own.
Walking the halls this year, I am going to rejoice in every second we have with these marvelous, ridiculous, wonderful creatures. And I’m going to relish getting to better know our freshmen, sophomores, and juniors as I have these seniors. It’s the beginning of the year, and I am just so grateful to be at it again!
Blaise A. Hockel, Headmaster