With prom season soon here, high school juniors and seniors looking for a modest alternative to dirty dancing are invited to a “Paris – City of Lights at Night” formal dinner and dance.

St. Monica’s Respect Life ministry and youth group are co-sponsoring St. Monica’s Ball in Duluth. With a planning team of eight parents and three priests, organizers hope to attract more students to this year’s ball. Last year, about 20 young people participated in the event.

Attendees will enjoy a full formal meal and dessert in an elegant atmosphere with dancing to positive secular and Christian music, door prizes, and a commemorative picture, frame and favor bag to remember their evening.

The event is Friday, April 19, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased only through the website, www.saintmonicasball.com. Young people and their parents must sign a behavior and dress code agreement.

“This is done so that all recognize the difference between this event and a school prom,” acknowledged Respect Life ministry chairperson Kathleen McCusker. “Just as the early Christians were known for their charitable acts, modesty in dress and love for God, so should our own young people.”

Here are some earned bragging rights by local young people:

– Nick Fouriezos, a 2010 Pinecrest Academy graduate, is the editor-in-chief of the University of Georgia’s student newspaper, The Red & Black. The rising senior, who is a UGA honors program student in the Henry Grady School of Journalism, has accepted a position this summer as the news reporting intern at The St. Augustine Record and will then spend fall semester as the sports reporting intern at The Baltimore Sun.  – Immaculate Heart of Mary School announced new members of the National Junior Honor Society: Marie Grace, Thomas Pardue, Victor Sorescu, Maya Muhanna, Nathan Banks, Ali Grijak and Rush Lee. Members must be in grades 7 or 8; possess an average of 93 or better in all core subjects; demonstrate outstanding character, leadership, and citizenship; and contribute service to the community. – Reyn Harbour, a seventh-grade student at St John Neumann Regional School in Lilburn, encouraged using his school’s fundraiser to preserve a 62-year-old chapel on the grounds of Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Marietta. Students and staff raised more than $330 during the popcorn-sale fundraiser during Catholic Schools Week. The chapel is to be moved to Gen. Lucius D. Clay National Guard Center, formerly the Naval Air Station Atlanta.

Toni and Tim Egan and their children Elizabeth and John in 2012 completed the pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. James in Compostela, Spain.

The trek is portrayed in the movie, “The Way,” starring Martin Sheen.

The family told the story about their effort to the Southside Ultreya community on Jan. 19. Nearly 70 guests filled the church hall at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Newnan, to hear the stories.

The family traveled 27 days. The women covered more than 220 miles, the men 255 miles. Together, they dealt with four colds, four fever blisters on their lips, a bruised heel and fought worsening blisters. The temperatures were in the 90s, some 20 degrees higher than expected.

Through the struggles, with God’s grace, the family continued to compromise and stick together, working with all of their abilities and limitations, said Toni.

“A central aspiration of the Camino is to just be. Be with Christ, be with Santiago (St. James), be with one another, and be alone with your thoughts. There is no vacation on a sandy beach or a luxurious place to rest my head that has given me more than this trip and my family feels the same way. In fact, we miss it!” said Toni in an email. She added that anyone interested in her family’s experience or thinking about starting the Camino is welcome to contact her at St. Mary Magdalene Church.