PARENTS AND PARISHIONERS went through the looking glass on a recent Saturday night and landed in a wonderland of possibilities and faith.
St. Juliana Falconieri Catholic School hosted about 270 guests for its 28th annual gala on Jan. 31, held at the Charleston in downtown Fullerton. The sold-out event featured an Alice in Wonderland theme, roving magician, live and silent auctions, dinner, drinks, dancing and a milk and cookies bar.
FR. MICHAEL PONTARELLI MINGLES WITH THE CROWD DURING ST. JULIANA FALCONIERI CATHOLIC SCHOOL’S ANNUAL GALA. BY ALAN WENDELL/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
“I hope everyone can experience our wonderland of possibilities,” said gala cochair Jordan Gonzalez. “I hope that they see what we see in this community and how on fire it is, and I hope they are ready to support that. We have a lot of camaraderie between our school and parish right now, and we’re just excited to celebrate that.”
AN EXCITED BIDDER HOLDS UP HIS CARD TO PLACE A BID AT THE JAN. 31 GALA.
The event brought out women in colorful gowns and men in suits to raise funds for the Fullerton campus. The gala sold out in December, but event organizers were able to utilize the downstairs space at the Charleston to open up additional seats.
“Tonight’s wonderful,” said gala cochair Amanda Pohlen. “It’s a way for us to give back to our community. Most of us go to school here because of the community; we are all like family. It’s really cool to put on an event where everyone really comes together and makes it happen.”
Before the gala started, the event had raised $15,000 for the school. Gonzalez said she was hoping they could up that total to $100,000 after the live and silent auctions.
The live auction featured items like a private tour of Jay Leno’s garage from the comedian himself, tickets to the Magic Castle in Hollywood and a chocolate- brown Australian Bernedoodle puppy that made an appearance in a red bow tie. Guests could also bid on silent auction items that ranged from gift baskets and signed baseballs to a slime party for their children.
The money raised goes straight back to St. Juliana to help subsidize the school and keep tuition as low as possible, Gonzalez said. This year’s Fund-A-Project focused on replacing an existing modular building with a new one that will feature two classrooms, office space and dedicated TK bathrooms, said the school’s principal, Dr. Teresa Puccini, a St. Juliana alumna. This will allow the school to open a second TK classroom.
“We need to make our class sizes for TK smaller, so in order to do that we need to split the class, but our modular is older,” explained Assistant Principal Heather Molina. “We need a new one to make it so it’s more convenient for the kids, with sinks and bathrooms inside. Those are important upgrades so we can do this safely for all our children.”
The TK classroom is currently at capacity with 24 students. Some families who wanted to enroll their children have had to find other schools. The goal is to not have a waitlist for TK, Puccini said.
“There are already a lot of TKers who want to come to our school, but unfortunately we don’t have the space right now to accommodate everyone,” Pohlen said. “In order to grow, it’s important that we grow downward and accept all these kids while also not hindering our ratio, which is important for young minds. It would be nice to have that extra space to keep that ratio low but still accept more kids.”