The Four Pillars, which are the basis of the mission of Nazareth Academy, are Scholarship, Spirit, Unity and Service. 

Throughout the school year, the entire Nazareth Academy community works toward making a positive difference in people’s lives while developing a sense of responsibility and leadership within its students, faculty and staff by ministering to others. 

During the first week of May, the Senior Board, in collaboration with Campus Ministry, sponsored a book drive to benefit Marillac St. Vincent. By the end of the week, more than 500 books for kids of all ages were collected from students, faculty and staff during homeroom. The homerooms that collected the most books were Casey Moran’s, Jeanne Paliatka’s and Mike Sliwinski’s. 

Two groups of seniors delivered the books on Friday, May 13 during the 

“Circle the City” service day. The groups traveled to the Marillac Social Center and the St. Vincent DePaul Center in Chicago, to deliver the books that will be sorted and displayed for the centers’ 3rd Annual Free Book Fair. 

“Circle the City” is a community-wide service project aimed at confirming that a Nazareth graduate is someone whose gifts are used in service of the community. 

Other “Circle the City” service projects this year included environmental restoration at Bemis Woods, packing meals for Feed My Starving Children, working with people with disabilities at Helping Hand, distributing food for clients of St. Cletus Food Pantry and assisting with various needs at SCARCE, Caring Place 4 Kids and First Baptist Church of LaGrange.