On October 22 during respect  life month, St Joseph’s Academy won an award at a convention celebrating the strides that are being made to respect life.

Respect Life Apostolate (RLA) held its annual convention for Catholics in the Archdiocese to gather under a common respect for all life. The 41st annual convention was held at the St. Charles Convention, where the RLA  awarded individuals and groups for their contributions towards creating a community which respects all life.

This year, St. Joe was awarded the Bishop McNicholas Award. This award is always given to a Catholic high school or parish youth group that exemplifies a consistent respect for all life. St. Joe was awarded this honor for our strong campus ministry, overseas mission work, donations made by Cup of Joe which benefit respect life organizations, and homelessness awareness efforts

In addition to the award ceremony, this convention include various workshops on important and controversial pro-life topics and a speech from John Fopp. John Foppe was born without arms and is an entrepreneur of a corporate motivation business and the author of the motivation book What’s Your Excuse? Making the Most of What You Have.

“I was happy to accept the award and speak on behalf of SJA,” junior Maggie Hannick said. “I enjoyed going to Mass with fellow angels, Mrs. Hammell, and Mrs. Sudekum, and the keynote speaker, John Foppe, was wonderful. He was a very inspirational person, and his story was truly amazing. I learned a lot from him and about respecting all life.”

Overall, the convention was a major success, and we await to see what the Archdioceses has in mind for the 42nd convention.

Another honor from the ceremony recognizes includes the Cardinal Carberry award, which is awarded to an individual for their lifetime achievement.