Noonan Elementary Academy fosters family connections with Annual Mentor Dinner

Noonan Elementary Academy, an independent Catholic school in Mokena, hosted its annual Mentor Dinner to connect new families with established families within their school. The event, hosted by the Holy Family Association (Noonan’s version of a Parent Teacher Association), went down as the largest attended Mentor Dinner in over a decade. “We strongly believe in Mrs. Noonan’s vision to create a family not just a school,” said Janet Le Grand Rice, HFA Vice-President and the event co-chair. This sentiment was repeated over and over again by not only the new families attending the event, but also their mentor families as well. “This is more than a school, it is a family,” commented one mentor family. The sense of community and togetherness was strong as new families were paired up with their mentor families to sit together, share a meal and talk about Noonan.

“When I was a new family, I recall having a million questions, ones that I frankly thought were trivial or were about things I should already know,” said Denise Jelinek, HFA Spiritual Committee Co-Chair and the event co-chair along with Le Grand Rice. “The dinner connected me to the school and more important, at that time, to my mentor family. I remember feeling like I had an advocate or big sister that I could lean on with questions.”

Noonan is unique in that they are taking the initiative to build and then foster a connection with all of their families. “In talking with Mrs. Noonan, she was hoping to see more of a connection made throughout the year, not just at the dinner. Her hopes were for people to become more involved and feel like family,” says Le Grand Rice. “So last year Denise and I created a program for current Noonan families to continue the process throughout the year.”

In a time where some schools are replacing face-to-face connections with technology to foster a sense of community through instance notifications, Noonan is balancing technological advances with personal connections. “ I feel that people can feel like outsiders if they don’t feel informed and I wanted to be part of letting people know they belong, are cared for, will be listened to and that we are here for them,” Jelinek says. “I feel that if families aren’t given outside-of-the-classroom support, they wouldn’t experience all the benefits of being part of Noonan Academy.”

“The goal is to get new parents connected with existing parents. It’s about community.” Joseph Dunn, Noonan Elementary Academy Principal, said at the dinner. “This personal connection allows them to understand what we are about while getting firsthand information about our school from families who believe in what we do.” Maria Karnezis, HFA President, followed up Dunn’s statement with “it’s great to have an anchor family to help you learn the ropes and help you feel connected.”

Noonan Elementary Academy is celebrating its 20th year of educational excellence as an independent Pre-K – 8th grade Catholic school. They will be hosting an open house for all new and potential families to visit and get more information in January. Their website is www.noonanacademy.org