St. Joseph Catholic School students and teachers hosted their 25^th Annual Patriot Day (this year in a Virtual format on social media and with students in their classrooms) on the memorial of 9/11, on Friday, September 11, 2020. In years past Patriot Day was a big event that local law enforcement, military, and veterans were invited to be a part of.  This year COVID-19 made it difficult for everyone to gather to pay their respects.  This didn’t stop St. Joseph School students from putting together a virtual Patriot Day to celebrate.

They started the morning of 9/11/20 with a school-wide Rosary, led by the 8^th grade class and their teacher, Sister Claudine, through Google Hangout. This invited each class of students to stay in their classrooms to allow for distancing.  The rosary and other prayers during the day were offered for police, fire and first responders. Middle School students sang patriotic songs (both vocal and bell choir) as well as a duet from two 8^th grade students. To top of the day, Rice Lake Police Chief, and St. Joseph School Alum ’93, Steven Roux, spoke with students about the importance of being good citizens and working hard. He shared about how as a St. Joseph School kindergarten student he was inspired by a local police officer who visited his classroom. It was that little inspiration that was the beginning of his live-long dream to be a police officer. Chief Roux encouraged Middle School students to play sports and be in activities as a way of challenging themselves to do their best.

With the help from Mrs. Mary Shearer (Music Teacher), Mrs. Emily Hagen (Director of Marketing and Advancement), and several Middle School students, they were able to pull together a Virtual Patriot Day video that was shared with all classes to watch the morning of 9/11. St. Joseph School also shared the Virtual Patriot Day video with the community on their Facebook page.

St. Joseph Catholic School is a PreK-8 Catholic School with a mission to develop youth to grow in faith, value family, excel in academics, and follow Christ. They have has a long standing history of celebrating service and promoting a culture of giving back to their community. It’s no surprise that students felt the need to make sure our Patriot Day celebration lived on, even during the pandemic.