SJA Performing Arts presents our 2023 Spring Musical, DISNEY'S NEWSIES - April 21-23 at Saint Joseph Academy in the Brother Francis Garza Student Center at 8:00 PM, with an additional matinee performance at 3:00 PM on Sunday, April 23. Newsies, the smash-hit, crowd-pleasing, Tony Award-winning musical. Newsies is an extraordinary story, inspired by actual events. When a band of underdogs became unlikely heroes and stood up to the most powerful men in New York, it shook the world. It’s an energetic tale about fighting for what’s right… and staying true to who you are. 

Dr. Adriana Babiak-Vazquez, PhD '81 has been confirmed as keynote speaker for this year's Saint Joseph Academy 12th Annual Community Prayer Breakfast. The SJA Alumna is currently the Lead Epidemiologist in the Biomedical Data Reduction & Analysis (BDRA) Group, within the Space Medicine Division with KBR at NASA Johnson Space Center. She formulates and executes strategic plans for data capture and analysis related to disease prevention and occupational surveillance of space travel risks to astronauts (e.g., radiation and microgravity exposure). She frequently collaborates with fellow NASA experts on scientific research papers, abstracts for publication and internal/external presentations. One example led to the first joint research collaboration between the Mayo Clinic and NASA. In addition to our keynote speaker, this year's Community Prayer Breakfast will present the President's Distinguished Community Service Award to Dr. Emilio Hernandez '72 and Amanda and Patricio Sampayo '00 on Friday, March 3rd. 

We are exc ited to announce that Amanda and Patricio Sampayo ’00 and Dr. Emilio Hernandez '72 have been selected as this year’s recipients of the 2023 President's Distinguished Community Service Award. They will receive this award during the 12th Annual Community Prayer Breakfast on Friday, March 3rd. At SJA, Amanda chaired the Religious Studies Department and taught Social Justice, World Religions, and Women’s History. She served on the United Way Board from 2012-2018 and currently serves on Brownsville Wellness Coalition, Planned Parenthood Cameron County and Friendship of Women. After graduating from Harvard College with an A.B. in Economics, Patricio partnered with his father and brother to start Centro Medico Internacional in Matamoros, where he has been managing director since 2005. In 2011, Patricio was appointed to the Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of Brownsville, where he helped preserve and develop affordable housing for our community’s most vulnerable families as its Chairman for 9 years. Dr. Hernandez has been practicing dentistry for over 40 years. He was the first chairman of the inaugural SJA school board in 1998 and then later served from 2012 to 2019. He served on the Finance committee for 21 years from 1998 to 2019. He has served the community by sitting on over 10 different boards. He is a founding member of the Academy for Sports Dentistry created in 1981. For 42 years now, every August, he fabricates 25-30 mouth guards for each of the six football programs at BISD and SJA.

Earlier this week, the SJA Sweethearts Dance Team was named State Champions at the 2023 TAPPS Dance Competition in Waco where they earned a superior rating in their division and placed at the top. Several members of the team even made it onto All State Teams. Division IV - 1st Team Maria Sarmiento Gabriela Ortiz Miranda Villafranca Division IV - 2nd Team Leslie Herrera Turn Company Frida Zedillo Maria Sarmiento

Jaime Andrés Díez has accomplished a lot since his graduation from Saint Joseph Academy in 2014. The Southern Methodist graduate is currently starting up the first scrap tire recycler in the Rio Grande Valley in an effort to eliminate the numerous abandoned tires seen through out The Valley. With Valley Tire Recycling, Díez hopes to eliminate the problem and public health issues that abandoned tires cause. Water collected inside tires is used as a breeding ground for vermin and insects like mosquitoes which can spread West Nile, Dengue, and Zika Virus. The operation plans to collect and intake scrap tires in order to convert them into rubber granule and sold in various markets, including asphalt crack sealer, surface treatments and steel to be sold to foundries and nylon fibers to be sold as cement aggregate. In June, he competed in the StartUp Texas Pitch Competition to get funding for his scrap tire recycling project. Out of 9 teams, Valley Tire Recycling was selected as the winner and received $25,000 to use towards permitting, machinery installation, and electrical. Q: What has life been like after graduating from Saint Joe? A: There’s a quote that goes, “It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” I graduated from Saint Joe almost 9 years ago and a lot has happened since, some things good and other things bad, however, Saint Joe taught me the skills to always be able to make the most and get value out of each experience I’ve had. Q: How has Saint Joe contributed towards your success thus far? A: When I started my college application process with Mrs. Cisneros, my college counselor, my plan was to only apply to UTB and stay in Brownsville. Mrs. Cisneros motivated me to apply to other school so that if I changed my mind I would at least have other colleges to choose from. With her encouragement I ended up applying to other schools and I was able to get into other universities. After graduating from SJA, I initially decided to attended George Washington University in Washington, DC. I had the opportunity to intern at the U.S. Capitol with Congressman Filemón Vela Jr. However, I ended up transferring out of GW to attend SMU and changed my major from International Affairs to Mechanical Engineering, I grew tremendously during my time in DC and Dallas and I would’ve never had this opportunity without the encouragement of Mrs. Cisneros. Thank you! Q: What is one achievement you accomplished while attending SJA? A: While at Saint Joe, my favorite class was always art. In high school my art teacher was Mrs. Rodriguez. My senior year I took art portfolio as one of my electives. The purpose of this class (since I’m not sure it’s still offered) is to give student the chance to complete art projects and compile a collection of works that they can then submit to art colleges for admission. I was able to complete my portfolio and get accepted into an art school. Although I ended up going down a different path, I have always been extremely proud of the art portfolio I was able to complete while in this course. Reminiscing about this time, I always feel very happy. Q: What were some of your favorite things about Saint Joe? A: Without a doubt my favorite thing about Saint Joe was the lifelong friends I made. To this day, I’m still friends with a lot of the people I was friends with while in high school. Having a group of people, you can lean on during hard times is invaluable especially because those people always have your long-term best interest at heart. When things get complicated it can get difficult to discern the things that truly matter vs the things that simply don’t and sometimes all you need is a good friend to help you restore that clarity. Q: Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? A: Honestly, I have no idea but I’m optimistic about the future.

Dear SJA Community, On behalf of the Marist Brothers and the entire SJA community, we mourn the loss of Mr. Tony Cantu ’75 who passed into eternal rest on Saturday, December 17, 2022. Very rarely does a person become synonymous with an organization or institution—yet Tony Cantu’s legacy will forever be linked to his lifelong work and dedication to his ministry at St. Joe. He dedicated over 40 years of his life to St. Joseph Academy, as a student and a beloved teacher/Campus Minister. He was the definition of what it meant to be truly Marist and he will be dearly missed by our entire community. As the history of St. Joe is retold, Tony Cantu will forever be a legend in that story. Not only is Tony’s loss felt immensely here on our campus, but he also touched so many other lives around our Marist World. When the province first created our Marist Mission in Liberia, they needed to educate the teachers there on how to teach Religion from a Marist perspective. Tony was the person chosen to best accomplish that task and he did so remarkably during his time in Liberia. He also represented the Marist Province at many International meetings and was an active member of one of their Arco Norte committees. He helped ensure that the Marist Encounter program continued to impact the lives of most juniors at SJA. For the past twenty years, he was a key participant and visionary for many of the Province's Evangelization Programs. As we attempt to navigate life at St. Joe without Tony’s presence, let us pray for the repose of Mr. Cantu’s soul and for the needs of his family and friends. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. Saint Marcellin Champagnat, pray for us. Mary Our Good Mother, pray for us. St. Joseph, pray for us. And let us remember, to pray for each other. Blessings from the entire SJA community, Michael Motyl President Obituary

The National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) has awarded a College Counselor Service Award in the amount of $1000 to Vilma Wolfe. The grant has been awarded to Wolfe, a high-achieving educator who has shown outstanding leadership and commitment to the feild of education to better serve the academic community. This award is sponsored by the NSHSS, an honors organization founded by Claes Nobel, member of the family that established the Nobel Prizes. The NSHSS offers a lifetime of benefits, pairing the highest performing students worldwide with high school and college scholarships, events, connections, internships, and career opportunities that begin in high school and carry on through college and careers.

Get to know the Student Leaders of Saint Joseph Academy. Meet Student Council President Salomon Najera '23. The video spotlight was produced and directed by Digital Media Intern Will Hainley '23

On Saturday, October 29, 2022, our very Marist students spent their day volunteering and serving the community. In true family spirit, students went out to serve our school and community as agents of justice and peace. At Saint Joseph Academy, we live and teach the Marist Way of Life, and we believe that anyone can “Be Marist”. Chosen and called by Mary to bear her name and share in concern for the Church, the world, and the whole human race, Mary is our model in all that we do. We are called to think, judge, feel, and act as Mary did and to embody the Marist Charisms or virtues of Mary in our daily life. One of the ways we do this is by serving the community. Many thanks to all the organizations who gave us the opportunity to serve: Good Neighbor Settlement House Brownsville Wellness Coalition Tip of Texas Family Outreach Proyecto Juan Diego Incarnate Word Academy SJA Green Team Brownsville Parks Spanish Meadows