LAUGHING WITH FRIENDS and family, alumni of Sts. Simon & Jude Catholic School gathered in the newly redesigned hallway to search the dolphin-blue picture frames for photos from their pasts.
FR. REYNOLD FURRELL AND BRETT MINTER CUT THE CEREMONIAL RIBBON TO STS. SIMON 7 JUDE CATHOLIC SCHOOL’S NEWLY RENOVATED LIBRARY. PHOTOS BY SCOTT SMELTZER/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
From the black-and-white shots of the ’60s and ’70s to the sepia tones of the ’80s and the color photos of today, the new Alumni Avenue was filled with history.
“I think it’s important for our students to see who has come through the hallways and where they could be,” said the school’s principal Brett Minter, “and for our community to see the tradition this school has and to know that this has been around for a long time. We are very lucky to continue the legacy that’s here, to build upon it, and make it the best for our current students.”
STUDENTS CHECK OUT STS. SIMON & JUDE CATHOLIC SCHOOL’S NEWLY RENOVATED LIBRARY.
The Huntington Beach campus hosted a ribbon cutting and blessing by Fr. Reynold Furrell for Alumni Avenue and unveiled their newly renovated library on Jan. 28. The night also featured a performance by the Pacific Symphony’s Class Act woodwind quintet. Sts. Simon & Jude’s alumni photos, removed from the wall years ago by past administrations, were recently unearthed by the school’s office manager, Minter said. Reaching out to parents and alumni for help, Minter asked if they would help bring the photos back to life.
The school’s vice principal Erin Watson said she hopes the new hallway shows all alumni just how important they are to the school community.
“This school has what I call legacy families, where it’s not only the first generation here, but also the second and third generations that are going through this school,” Watson said. “We just love their support. We love that they keep coming back, that they want their grandchildren and great-grandchildren to come here.”
Mallory Rose Megerdichian, née Domenici, is one of those legacy families.
A graduate of the class of 1999 and a third-grade teacher for 13 years, she was one of the parents who took up Minter’s call to revive the alumni photos. Megerdichian has one son in first grade, and another will be joining the Sts. Simon & Jude TK class next year, along with two nieces and three nephews.
Megerdichian said she appreciated her time at the school and looks back at it with appreciation — a sentiment that doesn’t happen often in life.
“Being able to give the same opportunity I enjoyed so much to my son is really special,” she said. “It’s so cool that so many people want to come back and bring their kids here because they had such a positive experience.”
Megerdichian’s mother, Kathleen Domenici, worked at Sts. Simon & Jude for 27 years. She said it was “near and dear” to her heart to see so many alumni coming back, but she also choked up thinking about her grandchildren someday joining the hallway.
“I feel like we’re not fancy people, Domenici said. “We’re not going to have our name on a building, but in a way we do. This place has been our home away from home since we moved here in 1980.”
One of those grandchildren, 11-yearold Maggie Geremia, was excited to show her grandmother where her own class portrait would soon be. A fifth-grader, Maggie counted over three spots to where her Class of 2028 would hang.
“I’ll be right here,” she said excitedly to her grandmother.
LIBRARY RENOVATION AND SYMPHONY
The renovated library now features two large bookcases shaped like trees with oversize green leaves overhanging over some comfortable reading seats. There is flexible seating for students to sit on benches, giant foam puzzle pieces or cuddle up with a cozy rug.
“They love it,” Watson said. “They love the tree. They think it’s really cool to sit under it, and they love the seating, because now they get to lay down on these really fuzzy rugs. You see them with just their hands in the rugs as they are reading.”
The old library needed some “love and care,” Watson said. The tables were too big for the littlest learners. The books were well-loved, but outdated, she added.
The $20,000 renovation was funded through donations from the school gala two years ago, administrators said.
For second-grader student Austin Castro, 7, the update has been a big change with more books he likes.
“It’s really good,” he said. “It’s one of the coolest places in the school because you can sit down on carpets and stuff.”
The Class Act performance featured music by Beethoven. Sts. Simon & Jude is one of 13 schools to receive a partnership spot with the Pacific Symphony,
which seeks to increase awareness and involvement of classical music.
The school will be attending a concert featuring the entire orchestra in May.