If you would have visited CJA last week, you would have found everyone dressed in their most festive outfits and costumes during Spirit Week. Whether it was Christmas socks and other accessories on Merry Monday or pajamas on Winter Wednesday, it was clear our students and families did a lot of hard work at home searching for or even making what they’d wear at CJA. While we don’t bob for apples during Christmas Field Day anymore, Santa and his elves still magically delivered gifts to each of our classrooms while students were out and about enjoying Christmas Field Day, just as they did my first year as a student back in 2009.
What you see below might seem like a collection of happy pictures, but there’s something much deeper at work. As I’ve reflected on what actually makes this time of year so special at CJA, I’ve realized that our students are re-teaching me things that life has made it easy to get away from in the time that I was away from this community.
Our students find joy in being together and being there for one another. They use their gifts and share them generously with our community. They write kind notes of appreciation to their friends and teachers with whom they have formed close relationships. Our oldest students are growing and recognizing the importance of their example in the many spaces they share with younger students throughout each day. These gifts bring renewed joy and hope to many hearts, including my own. As much as faculty and staff teach and coach at CJA, I realize that our boys and girls are often the greatest teachers, reminding me that this season is not about who or what I don’t have – it’s about what God has blessed me with today, and how I can give and serve others.
While our students wonder where the gifts that appear on Christmas Field Day come from, the real magic lies within them and the selfless choices they make every single day. That magic – the love and joy students give and receive in each interaction with each other – is powerful, and it has changed the inner workings of my heart since my return to CJA four years ago.
The holidays can be hard for some. They certainly have been for several years of my life. For those of us who have lost people we loved or have any reason to feel like the holidays just don’t feel the same, I think there is something to learn from our students at CJA. We are called to find joy in the family and friends we do have around us. To share with them the joy they bring to us. To use our gifts to bless someone else this Christmas season. To Love. You never know just how much your heart and those around you could be changed as a result.
Happy Holidays!
Jae Rule
Development Officer (CJA ’13)
Each year, our College & Career Persistence team hosts our Alumni Reunion here at CJA. It’s a chance for alumni of all ages to come back with their families and spend time with their CP counselors and one another. Our faculty and staff stick around to catch up with their old students, too! We had over 100 alumni attend, and I get excited thinking about what this might look like when our first graduating class of girls join us in just a few short years.
Along with wearing festive outfits throughout the week, students take several field trips and participate in some fun activities in their classrooms to fill the building with holiday cheer during Spirit Week. Matching PJ’s, art projects, skating and more – it was a blast!
Christmas Field Day has always been a favorite at CJA. Some of our parents even come in to spend time with their students! After a day of exciting games and creative activities with their friends and field day teams, each student leaves with Christmas gifts from Gabriel Environmental Sciences!
This year our 3rd graders reminded us of what this season is all about in the Christian tradition – the birth of baby Jesus! I can’t help but smile at the great job Mary, Joseph, the angels, wisemen and animals did depicting this story that means so much to us.
Thank you for being a part of this community and for helping make all you see here possible with your support and belief in the promise of our young men and women.
We’re wishing you and your loved ones happy holidays from CJA, and we look forward to continuing to keep you up to date on all that’s happening here in 2026!