Lilburn’s St. John Neumann Regional School was honored on April 29 as the first place winner of the 2010 Kroger Atlanta Division’s Earning Plus Learning Grant.

Kroger’s theme, “Active! Mind. Body. Community,” required schools “to creatively catalog how the school stays active academically, physically and within the community.”

St. John Neumann’s entry, a DVD newscast anchored by Student Council co-presidents Amelia Kisling and Mackenzie Hogan, showcased students in everyday life. An added highlight was the students’ extensive involvement in the community—both locally and through its support of humanitarian efforts around the world.

The grant of $2,500 will be used by the school to improve its programs.

A group at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Atlanta, in March marked a special anniversary.

Called Eracism, the group traces its roots to New Orleans when it was started by Beatrice and Lawrence Soublet and brought to Atlanta when the Soublets moved here after Hurricane Katrina.

Beatrice Soublet said the group’s goal is to tackle the issue of racism by having conversations with people.

“We are committed through person to person communication to treating persons of all colors with love and respect. This mission statement is the foundation of our bi-weekly meetings at Our Lady of Lourdes Church. We are able to discuss racism passionately but without rancor.

The March 13 meeting celebrated the fourth anniversary with a lively discussion and a delicious lunch.

Attending the event were Dorothy Walker, Maureen Ingalls, Cheryl Odom, John Laurich, Beatrice and Lawrence Soublet, and Daniel Kelleher. Stuart Cashin and E. John Francis are also faithful members of the group.

On a sad note, the life of a a former Pius X High School football standout was remembered by his many friends. Nick Rogers died in a car crash in College Park, just outside Atlanta, Monday, May 3.

The funeral was at St. Anthony of Padua Church, Atlanta, where he served as an altar boy. Crowds packed the West End church on Saturday, May 8, to say goodbye.

Rogers, 30, played football at Georgia Tech before going on to the NFL. The 250-pound linebacker played four seasons in the NFL.

Mark Kelly, the athletic director at Pius X High School, said Rogers was an incredibly successful football player: three-year starter, linebacker and running back and team MVP his senior year. He graduated in 1997.

“As successful a player as he was, what I remember most about Nick is what a nice young man he was. You never saw him without a smile. He was incredibly humble, and he was so supportive of everyone else. He was a joy to be around and was loved by everyone. He will be dearly missed,” he said.

Kelly added that the combination of Rogers, his brother Philip, and his sister Dana, comprised, from an athletic standpoint, the most honored and successful Pius family ever, and each of them was a joy. This says a great deal about their parents, he said.

The family asked that in lieu of flowers contributions be made to the Lyke House, the Catholic chapel at Atlanta University Center, 809 Beckwith St., SW, Atlanta.

Some 577 students at Christ the King School were each given $1 in September. The students returned the dollars multiplied many times over five months later.

How much? Try $19,879.75.

That’s right. The student used their imaginations to raise the money for the Mustard Seed Ministries.

Msgr. Gregory Ramkissoon, founder of Mustard Seed Ministries, was given a check to celebrate the achievement. The ministry cares for disabled and abandoned children in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Jamaica.

All in all, the nonprofit received the proceeds with checks donated to Mustard Seed, online donations and $1,000 from the Order of Malta.

How’d they do it? The students did it with hard work and creativity.

One group, the band The Southern Trees, comprised of four sixth-grade students who rehearsed for three months preparing for the benefit concert they held at their neighborhood clubhouse, raised $1,000.

One pair of siblings organized a Read-A-Thon and collected approximately $4,000 for the nearly 2,000 pages they read.

In addition, students held garage sales and lemonade stands, while others sold handmade jewelry, did chores such as cleaning windows, went caroling and sold mistletoe at Christmas, put on puppet shows and hosted theme parties and camp days.