HOW do you celebrate a 50-year tradition of faith, excellence, and success?
With jubilation!
Mount Carmel School celebrated its Golden Jubilee Anniversary with many activities. Likewise, many excited alumni were more than happy to return to their alma mater for a weekend of memories and reunions.
The Jubilee Weekend, as it has come to be called, was fun and rewarding not only for alumni, but also administrators, faculty, current students, and their parents. And with a full plate of events lined up, there was sure to be something for everyone.
One of the first items on the agenda was an Alumni Career Fair scheduled last Friday in the MCS high school faculty lounge. Alumni from a variety of professional fields were available at their respective booths to answer any questions students might have about possible careers, and to guide students in beginning a particular career track.
The following morning, Saturday, May 18, at 8 a.m., a prayer service took place on a part of campus where the original prayer services and campus assemblies were held in the 1950s: the campus field. Since these early assemblies often coincided with the daily flag-raising ceremony, the campus flagpole had recently been refurbished for the occasion. Immediately following the prayer service, an alumni-sponsored breakfast treated attendees to some light refreshments.
Later in the morning, alumni and attendees availed of campus tours, student art and science exhibits, a screening of the MCS Jubilee Video, and a silent auction of school memorabilia, all held on campus.
In the evening, many members of the school family joined a Jubilee Family Banquet. The banquet, at $40 a plate, was a fund-raising event for the school, and featured a fashion show of school uniforms since 1952.
On Sunday, May 19, the school’s Jubilee celebration was capped with a host of activities. At 2 p.m., Bishop Thomas A. Camacho celebrated Mass as the entire school community, alumni and current members alike, gathered to commemorate this special occasion.
Immediately following the Jubilee Mass, ground was broken for the new middle school facility, scheduled for completion and opening at the beginning of the 2002-2003 school year.
The Jubilee celebration culminated on Sunday night with a Jubilee Fiesta. The fiesta hosted the entire MCS alumni community, along with the current school community, for an afternoon of food, entertainment and nostalgia.
The weekend also witnessed the premier of a long-awaited video documentary of Mount Carmel School. This hour-long Jubilee Video tells the history of the school with vintage photographs, interviews with numerous alumni and MCS personalities, and many other elements fitting for a 50th anniversary video. The video was on sale throughout the weekend for $20.
