2017 came to a close with some great excitement. My high school alma mater, St. Thomas Aquinas ('08) (Overland Park, KS) had an interesting fundraising campaign goal that they needed help with. A well-known private donor in the Kansas City area was offering to match $500,000 if the school could raise the same amount before Dec 31st. A lofty goal, but one that brought a feeling of belonging for me. I hustled to shoot as many Saints events in about 3 weeks time and quickly edited a piece together of which the school could be proud. OK so football, cheerleading, Can Food Drive, opening night of the play, interviews with students, alumni, all-school Mass, classrooms, lunch, etc.!!! OK now only a few days to edit before I left on a 2 month trip (a story for another time). It was a whirlwind, but it really brought me back and reminded me of why I take on these challenges. The people inside the school really have great intentions for how to better the school, which they knew was/is in need of an update.

I watched as the school released the video, confident, but unsure what our alumni were capable of. Then I left for my trip and heard nothing. I was cut off technologically and would have to wait to see the results. It was a long time to be away. But as I returned, I emailed the school to see how we did and with almost an immediate response I heard, "we met the goal." and "We hit our goal and give credit to the video"!! I was elated. I'm so proud we succeeded but also so excited to have been asked to work with my school. It means a lot.

Our team (the school and I) did such a great job of scheduling interviews and giving me access to cover the school. It couldn't have been done without a lot of help and of course the great community of Saints that pitched in to hit the goal. Well done and I can't wait to work on the next project for STA. Go Saints! You can still go to the sta website to get involved or donate to the school's various funds.

Here is the video for your viewing...