Mr. Pierogi Tony Panek ’08, left, interviews Bishop Noll theology teacher Jeff Smolinski about the meaning of Polish words. Smolinski had just received a Polish Christmas dinner from Bishop Noll board members Wallene Swentko ’63 and Mark Cloghessy ’76.
Mr. Pierogi hams it up at Noll to help staff celebrate Christmas
The school board at Bishop Noll Institute wanted to show the faculty and staff how much they appreciate them at Christmas and always so they brought in a little help from a famous friend.
On Monday, BNI’s faculty and staff received family sized meals featuring traditional Polish favorites. To show some extra gratitude, the future Mr. Pierogi, Tony Panek ’08, returned to his alma mater to help spread Christmas joy and pierogi!
Bishop Noll’s school board chairman, Mark Cloghessy, a 1976 graduate of the school, said the board members always look for ways to say thank you to Bishop Noll’s incredibly dedicated staff and faculty.
“This is a simple way to say thank you to each of them for the time and effort they put into making Bishop Noll such a wonderful and welcoming place to work and learn and flourish,” he said. “Our faculty and staff are at the heart of all we do here at Bishop Noll. They are such an impressive group of dedicated professionals and without them we could not accomplish our mission to educate our students, mind, body and soul.”
The meals included a dinner complete with ham, pierogi, Polish sausage, kolacky and Oplatki wafers, which are a beloved Christmas tradition in Polish homes on Christmas Eve. The Oplatek is a thin wafer similar in consistency to a communion host. They are often stamped with elaborate Christmas scenes and historically were distributed by churches to parishioners’ homes during the advent season.
“We are so proud of our Bishop Noll family,” Cloghessy said. “It is through their hard work and dedication that we are thriving as a pre-eminent educator of young people in Northwest Indiana. Great things are happening here. We would encourage everyone who wants to be part of this incredible Bishop Noll story to contact our admissions team for more information.”
WATCH TONY PANEK'S WJOB VIDEO SEGMENT ABOUT THE GIFTS.
Bishop Noll faculty members Brian Lambie, Ed Watrobka, Rosalie Schmidt, Samantha Chapleau and Pat Aguila receive Polish Christmas dinners from the Bishop Noll school board and Mr. Pierogi Tony Panek.
Bishop Noll teacher Eloy Melero ’14 receives a Christmas dinner from board members Wallene Swentko ’63 and Mark Cloghessy ’76.
Originally published 12/19/22