High school reunions always bring a sense of completion and recognition to those attending. The Golden Jubilee Celebration in July 1997 will be no different. Stop. Wait. It will be very different. Eighteen-year-olds will talk about their school days with alumni/alumnae several decades older. Some coming from such places as New York, Vancouver, cities like Chicago, El Paso, and Manila where most of the graduates now reside. Together once again, the old school ground werhe all of this started will come alive with stories to be told. Together, they will eat manok nga inubaran, binakoe, linabog or maybe inasae nga pantat and tell stories of how they 'felt chicken' with their hands perspiring whjile on their own on prom nights.
July 13-18, 1997 will be the biggest reunion St. Joseph's Academy has ever seen. Father Jake Beltran, now of Vincent de Paul Church in Brooklyn, New York, speaks with a quiet joy about the upcoming event. St. Joseph's Academy is the only high school in Aklan named in honor of a town's patron saint. "What makes this institution special, I believe, is the feeling of belonging," he said. "I believe the celebration is a metaphor in terms of a giving community such as what we have in Malinao, Aklan." He can still name every teacher we had, and memories of our high school days without any hesitation.
Friends old and new will have a grand time at the 50th anniversary of our school. There will be an honoring of the graduates on their achievements. The week-long event will include: registration of alumni/alumnae, opening mass, "mardi grass" torch parade, and time for socializing. Candidates for Mr. and Mrs. SJA alumni will be proclaimed, opening of exhibits, parlor games, athletics, cultural presentation --- variety talent show, and ballroom dancing complete the first three days of the festivities. The foruth day is scheduled for Barangay tours, starting with a holy mass at St. Joseph's church and a pilgrimage to Fatima Hills immediately thereafter.
Thursday and Friday will include a memorial mass dedicated to all the deceased founders, instructors, alumni and alumnae, and a Santa Cruzan. On the last day, Thanksgiving Mass, a symposium, a testimonial banquet, awards, then the grand binayle and the coronation ceremonies.