What began as a plea for help became a show of gratitude from St. Joseph School students, teachers and alums on Monday.
The 151-year-old school, the Big Island’s only Catholic school, announced on its website that it’s nearing the $500,000 in donations and pledges it needs to remain open.
On Monday, the St. Joseph high school student council brought people with various ties to the school to campus so they could thank the community for donating to the school’s survival.
“Initially, we were in disbelief that the school could close,” said student council member Johnathan Eftink. “We immediately started to have Zoom meetings to check on each other and see what we could do.”
Monday’s event was originally planned to be a fundraiser to help increase donations. When enough funds were raised last week, the event became a way to thank the community for its support.
“It’s nice to have our classmates here thanking the community, especially when we haven’t seen each other in months,” said student council vice president Lillian Salvador-Smith. “There are also a ton of people honking when they pass by and it’s great to hear that support.”
Salvador-Smith will be a senior this year and is looking forward to her last year at St. Joseph.
“Some of us have been at this school since we were in preschool,” Salvador-Smith said. “I’m am so happy to know that I get to spend my last year here.”
One of her goals for her senior year will be to start a foundation that will allow students and alums to pledge a certain amount of money to the school every month.
“I think it could help the future of St. Joseph, so there won’t be a need to find that many donations on such a short notice,” Salvador-Smith said.
Principal Michael Pa‘ekukui watched as the students and faculty thanked the community with signs, shakas and waves.
“The students were devastated to hear we might close,” Pa‘ekukui said. “It was a lot of stress on them, as well as the parents and our faculty.”
Pa‘ekukui was worried the COVID-19 pandemic might have added to students’ stress since they had not been in class since spring break.
“COVID-19 has kept many of the kids away from their friends and they haven’t had a platform to speak about their school,” Pa‘ekukui said. “Seeing them come out today is a reminder that the school is for them and not about the money.”
Now that the future of St. Joseph is ensured, Pa‘ekukui and other faculty started to plan how the school will operate under the guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The mood has very much lifted,” Pa‘ekukui said. “School will probably look and feel different, but we’re excited to get back.”
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.