Mission Week is a decades-old tradition at St. Joe, and one of the most memorable events is the annual Faculty Show. On the last day of Mission Week, after mass, but before the total donations are announced, the teachers and faculty perform a show full of singing, dancing, and skits, occasionally embarrassing themselves, as a show of gratitude to the hard work by the students to raise funds for the CSJ missions in Peru and Uganda.

The show began with a dance to a compilation of Dolly Parton songs and went on to include skits, videos, TikToks, dances, the Tortilla challenge, and singing performances. 

Dr. Jacob Yorg, social studies teacher, and math teacher Ms. Hailey Meersman ‘13 and Ms. Hannah Decker, Latin teacher, all acted as emcees during the show, narrating between acts and improvising introductions. Finally, the show concluded with Ms. Karen Davis, principal of student affairs, receiving a penny queen crown herself in recognition of her incredible dedication and service to Mission Week over her career at St. Joe. 

Current junior Lana Wen enjoyed the show so much that she was torn between two choices while trying to decide her favorite act of the show. 

“My favorite part was either Mr. Rio’s performance with Ms. Howley because he had been talking about it all month and it was exciting to see what he would be doing, or Dr. Sudekum singing “All Too Well” and seeing all the girls swaying back and forth in the crowd like it was a real concert,” Lana said. 

In addition to emceeing the show, Ms. Decker also organizes and plans the show for the faculty. 

“It’s mass chaos, but it’s organized chaos. Most of us start planning for the show the week before, but some people start working on their acts over a month ahead. This year I walked a lot of people through the projects and I worked on editing the videos,” Ms. Decker said. 

Senior Vivien Kozeny reflected on her favorite act of the show. 

“I loved Rio and Ms. Howley’s dance! It truly put a smile on my face as I loved their song choice,” Vivien said.  

Ms. Decker also reflected on the meaning and dedication of the teachers to put on this show. 

“It’s not something anybody is paid to do, it’s a giant group project, honestly, it really is a great ‘Not I, But We’ metaphor. It doesn’t come together if we’re not all doing a little bit of something,” she said. 

The faculty show is a tradition that students look forward to every year, and that teachers come together and collaborate on. It is an integral part of the Mission Week celebrations, and students are already looking forward to what’s in store for next year’s show.