St. Jude Regional Catholic School Del. Sam Arora (D-Dist. 19) visits with St. Jude Regional Catholic School Principal Glenn Benjamin during an open house at the Aspen Hill school on Nov. 16.

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The photo caption was corrected on Nov. 29. An explanation follows.

St. Jude Regional Catholic School [recently had] a fall Open House. An Open House is an interesting concept, opening your doors to all who would come and sharing what you have and what it means to you.

I find that having this event in November is quite appropriate, as we celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving - a time when we open our doors and share what we have been given.

For St. Jude, we have the opportunity to share what our school can offer the community. Our students escorted guests throughout the building, sharing the wonderful experiences they have had and the possibilities for all of our students. Parents greeted guests, answered questions and shared how St. Jude has affected their child or children.

It is our nature to want to share our successes with those we encounter, and especially the successes of our own children.

St. Jude has been blessed with 55 years of academic excellence and students who have gone on to serve our community, county, state, country and world in a manner befitting the school. In reality we hold Open Houses often, scheduled or unscheduled, [to] celebrate the success of our children, as we should.

November is not only when we open our doors to new community members, but when we open our doors to those that founded our communities. Before we depart to break bread with our families at Thanksgiving dinner, St. Jude invites the grandparents of our children to partake in a celebration in their honor. Who better to invite into our building than those that support, and spoil, our children?

Grandparents are a special category of our community, the gentle hand that cares and the strong foundation of our future. When we gather these patriarchs and matriarchs in our school, our children will celebrate the founders of our community here at St. Jude. In our 55th year we have the pleasure of hosting those that built this school and in some cases even attended it in the founding days.

On Nov. 16, we held an Open House to share our successes with others, but in reality our doors are always open, accepting those that wish to receive an education that is second to none. During this Thanksgiving, my first as a principal, I give thanks for the opportunity to serve this community, as they have welcomed me with open arms and a full heart.

Glenn Benjamin is a volunteer contributor to The Gazette. This is his third column; he first wrote in September about the first day of school as a new principal and again in October about the school’s fundraisers.

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Correction: The date was incorrect in the original photo caption.