ROOTED IN FAITH, TRADITION, AND ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE |
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A LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT |
To our St. Francis Borgia Family,
I was able to partake in my first Celebrate the Knight Gala on February 19, and it certainly did not disappoint! What a fantastic evening we had on campus. At some point, I promise, I will stop being surprised by the largesse of our community. That night, however, I was again blown away by the generosity of our supporters, who contributed to a record-setting evening, raising over $422,000 for our school. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Approximately 400 guests enjoyed a fun night with fantastic food from Cafe Mosaic, beverages from the nattily-attired bartenders, and music from the Borgia jazz band. There was a wide variety of silent auction options as well as some hotly contested live auction items. We are very excited by our community’s help with this year’s Fund-A-Need initiative, adding a zSpace AR/VR computer lab to campus. That was a $100,000 ask, and, as always, the Borgia family stepped up and has made that possible. Again, thank you!
There are dozens of people who deserve the credit for the success of the evening, people who put in literally hundreds of hours making it possible. I want especially to thank our auction chairs, Laura (Riegel) '90 and Joel Rickman and Manager of Special Events, Anne Lober for their tireless efforts in the months, days, and hours leading up to the Gala. I look forward to working with Tanya and Ed Guehne as the chairs of the 2023 auction after seeing their hard work on this year’s Gala as co-chairs.
And while we celebrate that success, we also turn the page toward March 3, when we welcome the majority of our newest students to campus for Freshman Registration Night. For the second straight year, we anticipate a growth in enrollment with a large freshman class. If you know prospective students who would benefit from a Borgia education, encourage them to give us a call!
Matt Schutte, President
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Take a moment. Think about your special sports memories at your alma mater, St. Francis Borgia. While the winning atmosphere was present, it's the friendships and traditions that we hope will bring a smile to your face. The district titles, sectionals, and quarterfinal games helped mold you into having the character you have today.
As a Borgia athlete, you may remember the dedication and commitment previous generations provided for you. We ask that you consider providing those same standards for current and future athletes.
We need your help. Our stadium turf is in dire need of replacement and poses a risk of injury to our young athletes. So we ask you to join us for an evening with our football and soccer coaches to discuss the future of St. Francis Borgia athletics and how you can help YOUR school, the one "we hold so dear!"
If you have any questions regarding the field project, please feel free to contact Donna Grahl, Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations, at 314-803-7813 or donna.grahl@borgia.com. Or if you would like to make a contribution to this project, please go to borgia.com and click on the DONATE button on the top right. Once at the Make A Gift page, scroll to the bottom and type in Stadium Field Project in the OTHER field.
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BLUE AND GOLD MARCH MADNESS EXTRAVAGANZA |
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MIDDLE SCHOOL TRIVIA KNIGHT |
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CELEBRATE THE KNIGHT GALA 2022
A HUGE SUCCESS
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On Saturday, February 19, Borgia held its 38th Annual Dinner Auction, Celebrate the Knight Gala, in the Ray DeGreeff Gymnasium. Our chairs, Laura (Riegel) ‘90 and Joel Rickman and co-chairs, Tanya and Ed Guehe, led us to a very successful event. Thank you to our alumni, faculty, parents, friends of Borgia, staff, and students who volunteered and donated to help make this gala a record-breaking year! Borgia is truly a wonderful family.
Preliminarily, we realized gross proceeds of $422,703, with $100,995 going toward our Fund-A-Need project, zSpace, and the remaining for tuition assistance. Congratulations on a huge success!
The Gala Raffle Winners
$10,000 – Casey & John Patke ‘02
$ 1,000 – Christine (Eckelkamp) ’70 & Tony Ballmann
$ 500 – Katelyn (Voss) ’12 & Patrick Moroney ‘12
Apple Raffle – Kelly (Kriete) ’98 & Harry Benhardt
Gun Raffle – Stacy (Kober) ’93 & Brad Bleckman ‘93
Handyman Raffle – Amy & Chris Dunard
Ladies Raffle – Hollie & John Strawn
Wheelbarrow of Booze – Fr. Kevin Schmittgens
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THIS YEAR'S DISTINGUISHED KNIGHT IS...
FR. KEVIN SCHMITTGENS
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Each year, since 2008, our annual Auction/Gala has recognized an individual who has a lifelong involvement with SFBHS, has given exemplary service and is committed to our school's mission, lives a faith-filled life, and has vision for the future of this school.
This year, we recognized someone who has been a part of our school for many years as a teacher, chaplain, theatre director, and administrator. Congratulations to Fr. Kevin Schmittgens for receiving the Distinguished Knight Award at our 2022 Celebrate The Knight Gala!
Also, many thanks to our Video Productions instructor, Emily Brasher, for creating this video shared the night of our event!
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CONNECT WITH BORGIA ALUMNIFIRE
Network for career advice. Find a mentor. Be a mentor. Hire a Knight.
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AlumniFire is a powerful networking platform to help alumni open doors for one another in the real world. It's free to use and powered by Borgia alumni. Use AlumniFire to share your personal and professional expertise with fellow alumni and current students, help your own career growth, and find jobs at companies where our alumni work. And it's easy to sign up.
Whether you're looking to mentor a student or recent graduate, seeking a mentor, or navigating your career search, AlumniFire can connect you to Knights all over the world who want to help you succeed.
Questions?
Please contact Donna Grahl, Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations, at donna.grahl@borgia.com or 636-239-7871 ext. 131.
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Did you know that many companies match employee donations?
Find out if your company will match your contributions by clicking on the button below. Double the Donation makes applying for matching gifts easy with everything you need all in one place.
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If you shop at Schnucks, you can earn up to 3% of your purchase amount for St. Francis Borgia High School. Click the link below to sign up. Our eScrip school id is 6674669. Thank you! |
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PLANNED GIVING
Planned gifts can make a substantial impact on St. Francis Borgia High School, creating a legacy for our ministry that lasts for generations.
Planned gifts can offer you significant benefits. For example, planned gifts allow you to maintain control of your assets during your lifetime, take advantage of a number of tax benefits, or perhaps even secure a lifetime income stream for yourself or others.
Planned gifts typically come from your assets, rather than income. They are perfect for individuals and families of all ages and levels of income who wish to leave a sustaining gift to the school they hold dear. Strategic planned giving can allow anyone to create a lasting legacy for St. Francis Borgia High School.
To learn how you can sustain St. Francis Borgia with a planned gift, please contact Donna Grahl, Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations, at 636-239-7871 ext. 131 or donna.grahl@borgia.com.
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Each year St. Francis Borgia High School gives away $25,000 in prizes through our annual Borgia Mega Raffle. There are two $1,000 drawings each month and an additional $1,000 drawing on October 10 to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis Borgia. |
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FEBRUARY 1
Luanne (Repaso) Manz '89
sold by Ella Brinkmann '22
FEBRUARY 15
Rebecca (Struckhoff) Brinker '92
sold by Ellie Bley '23
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IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR BORGIA ALUMNI |
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Dennis Glosemeyer '61
February 16, 2022
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Jerry Jasper '69
January 31, 2022.
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Donna (Marquart) Owens '79
January 18, 2022
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Christopher Tebbe '85
November 20, 2021
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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR
RECENTLY MARRIED ALUMS
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Emily (Grahl) '14 and Andrew Beckerman '13 |
Congratulations to Emily and Andrew on their wedding held on January 22, 2022. |
Check out the photo above of just some of the Borgia alums who helped celebrate Emily and Andrew's big day! |
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Derek was recently selected to be a Commanding Officer in the US Navy Reserves. He is in charge of a unit located out of San Diego, CA, in COMMANDER, US Naval Forces Pacific (CNSP).
Congratulations, Derek!
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Emma (Kriete) '16 and
Luke Deline '16
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Luke and I met at the freshman parents' athletic meeting. His dad sat next to my mom and asked for a pen. We had mutual friends, so I knew who he was and introduced myself. We started chatting and over the next year became best friends. We started dating sophomore year of high school (2013), got engaged in December 2020, and just got married on December 18, 2021. |
Katie (Lindemann) '13 and
Jack Kopmann '12
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Jack and I are a year apart in school, but our paths didn’t really cross until his senior year at a boy’s soccer game. Seven years later (down to the exact week!), Jack proposed. We’ve had over a decade of adventures and just celebrated our third wedding anniversary on New Year's Eve! |
Jennifer (Meyer) '97 and
Travis Maune '97
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We began dating freshmen year. Travis proposed in Judy Kandlbinder’s homeroom because that is where “he made the best decision of his life- asking me to the Homecoming Dance!” |
Ashley (Sincox) '16 and
Gabriel Overman '16
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Gabe and I have been friends since we met our freshman year in 2012! It wasn’t until junior year, though, that we attended Kairos together and became inseparable. He was and always will be my rock, confidant, and biggest supporter. Gabe was also incredibly shy and couldn’t get the nerve to ask me out. I tried everything to clue him in that I liked him, including inviting him over on Valentine’s Day to watch movies. When that still didn’t work, I decided to take matters into my own hands and asked Gabe out myself! But don’t worry, he did the proposing. Flash forward to today; we’re happily married with two beautiful kids and the most wonderful life we ever could have imagined together. |
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Taylor (Frankenberg) '16 and
Elijah Garcilaso '16
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Eli and I met freshman year and became friends. We both had a friend in common, Hunter Warmack. Nothing really came of our friendship that year. Then, in sophomore year we were in Mr. Halaz’s class and sat right next to each other in a corner where we again got to talking all the time. That Thanksgiving, our friend Hunter pushed us to realize we both liked each other, and we finally started dating. We dated all through high school. I went on to Maryville University, and Eli went on to join the U.S Army in 2017. After Eli finished Basic Training and Army Individual Training (AIT), he was stationed at Fort Riley, KS.
We continued a long-distance relationship this whole time—lots of written letters, phone calls, and me visiting Kansas. We were engaged shortly after this in August of 2018. We got married in October 2018 at a beautiful chapel on Fort Riley, KS. We also found out we were expecting our first baby to arrive in March of 2019! Eli was set to leave for his first overseas non-combat deployment in January of 2019. Eli was able to travel back from Europe a few days before I delivered our baby, Samson. He got to spend a week in Missouri where I delivered, and then we were back to long-distance, this time as a family of three. After many months of FaceTime and care packages, Eli came home on Halloween of 2019! We did some more back and forth until I graduated from Maryville University in May 2020. We lived in Kansas until April 2021, and then Eli was transferred over to Fort Carson, Colorado. We currently live in Colorado Springs, CO, and we love it! This year in 2022, we will have been together for nine years and married for three years. We are so grateful to have met at Borgia and have created this life together.
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Annamarie (Polizzi) '17 and
Jacob Maune '13
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We met on Facebook the first week into my sophomore year and had zero idea we went to the same school until we bumped into each other on the bottom-level hallway. After that, I got a message asking if that was me he bumped into, and it grew from there.
We were dating until my Senior year and after I graduated, got married on December 16th, 2017. We uplifted our lives to Clarksville, TN, where he was stationed that January (he is in the US Army). Three years later, we relocated to Baumholder, Germany, and we love it! We have been married for four years, with two pups & two sweet girls!
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Katie (Ince) '17 and
Eric Mitchell '17
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We met in the marching band! Mike Edsel told Eric that he needed to jump on asking me out. He asked me out in the band hallway, and we had our first date at Los Cabos (classic) and saw a movie. Eric asked me to officially be his girlfriend in the Borgia theater parking lot next to his yellow F-150, and the rest is history. We always used to walk down the Riverfront and sit at a bench overlooking the bridge, and almost five years later, we went back to that exact spot where Eric proposed. Then we celebrated with our families at Balducci winery. We married on July 25, 2020, and are loving life together! |
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In thanksgiving for the sacrifices and contributions offered by those before us on our behalf, we at St. Francis Borgia High School offer our afternoon prayer for different members of our alumni each day. |
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If you have children who are graduates and still receive mail at your home, but no longer live there, please contact Donna Grahl, Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations, to update your child's address. She can be reached by phone at 636-239-7871 ext. 131 or via email at donna.grahl@borgia.com.
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OUR DANCE TEAM WINS THE DIVISION 1 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP...AGAIN! |
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Introducing your 2022 Division 1 Dance State Champions!!! 1st in Precision Jazz, 2nd in Pom, and 1st OVERALL! We couldn’t be more proud! |
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THE MARTIN LUTHER KING MODEL OF JUSTICE AWARD WINNER
CHLOE THACKER
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Congratulations to Senior Chloe Thacker! Chloe is a recipient of the 2022 Martin Luther King, Jr., Model of Justice Award. She and other honorees were celebrated during Mass at the Basilica on Sunday.
This award recognizes students within St. Louis area Catholic schools who demonstrate outstanding commitment to improving equality.
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ADAM KOPP - POPE PIUS XII AWARD WINNER |
Congratulations to Borgia student Adam Kopp who recently earned the Pope Pius XII award! He and a fellow scout from Troop 439 were the only two in the St. Louis Archdiocese that earned this award. According to proud Grandma and scout leader Ann Kopp, the scouts don’t need to earn their religious awards for any type of advancement. They choose to do so to further their faith. The Pope Pius XII is Catholic Scouting’s church-related ministries and vocation program. The program deals with different life choices (single, married, religious, ordained), occupations, and ministries in the church as calls from God. It includes youth-led discussions on current issues facing the church and society, scripture, prayer, and the opportunity for retreat and a day of recollection at the seminary. For more information on this award, click here: https://www.nccs-bsa.org/.../religious-emblems/pope-pius-xii
The boys were presented their awards at the Cathedral. Adam is pictured here with Bishop Rivituso.
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Check out our very own Spirit Shop for gifts and apparel for you and your family! |
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ATHLETIC AND ACTIVITIES SCHEDULES |
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Borgia Athletics and Activities are well into another exciting school year. Together, let’s always and, in all ways, celebrate the efforts of our students, players, coaches, and teachers as they strive to make Borgia #1 in class, style, sportsmanship, and competitiveness. B-O-R!
Click on the logo to see a comprehensive athletic and activities schedule.
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WE'RE EXPANDING OUR READERSHIP |
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We're excited to announce that the monthly alumni e-newsletter is now being distributed to all current parents, grandparents, and parents and grandparents of alums (if we have your email address). If you know of anyone who would like to be included in our distribution, please email donna.grahl@borgia.com with contact information. If you would like to discontinue the receipt of the newsletter, you may unsubscribe at the very bottom of this page.
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Recently married? New baby or job?
Let us know what's going on in your life so we can share it with your classmates in this newsletter!
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St. Francis Borgia High School
1000 Borgia Drive, Washington, MO 63090
P: 636-239-7871
F: 636-239-1198
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