A legacy of faith at the Skaggs Catholic Center

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The Moynihan family (above l-r) Maria, Quinn, Lisa Whittaker, Michelle, Monica Fuoco.

Carrie Lentz

DRAPER — Lisa Whittaker, an alumna of St. John the Baptist Elementary and Middle schools, and a member of Juan Diego Catholic High School’s Class of 2008, believes that spirit of the Skaggs Catholic Center shaped her formative years and continues to inspire her today.

Whittaker, now a teacher at Juan Diego, experienced a full-circle moment when she dropped off her son Tom for his first day of Pre-K 4 at St. John the Baptist Elementary last August. As she walked through the familiar grounds, past the classroom where her mother once taught second grade, the bell tower and rose garden where she celebrated her own graduation, and the very halls where she formed lifelong friendships and discovered her passion for leadership, Whittaker was reminded of the profound and lasting influence the Skaggs Catholic Center has had on her life, she said.

She recalled her memories from the campus groundbreaking in the mid-1990s, when, as a curious 7-year-old, she stood under a tent in an open field with little understanding of the monumental project taking shape thanks to the generosity of Sam and Aline Skaggs.

“My young mind could never have imagined what would be physically built in the next two years, and even less what would be metaphorically built over the next 25,” she said.

Her educational journey through the Skaggs Catholic Center began in the fourth grade at the newly opened elementary school in 1999 and continued through her years at St. John the Baptist Middle School, and eventually Juan Diego Catholic High School. She credits influential teachers, such as Ms. Jacobson and Mrs. McConnell, for igniting her passion for social studies and history – subjects that would go on to shape her collegiate studies and career path.

Equally formative, she said, was the school’s emphasis on service, rooted in its motto Spiritus Donorum – the Spirit of Giving. Coming from a family deeply committed to service, including her mother Maria’s 24 years of teaching and her father Tom’s tireless volunteer work, Whittaker found that Juan Diego helped her realize that service was not just something she did, but a core part of who she was, she said.

Although at the time she never envisioned returning as a faculty member, she now views her role as a teacher as a calling and a continuation of her family’s legacy of giving back to the very community that raised her.

“The Skaggs Catholic Center is more than a school to me,” she said. “It’s where I work alongside two of my sisters, where my children will go to school, and where my family worships. It is our home away from home.”

As the Skaggs Catholic Center celebrates 25 years of growth, Whittaker expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the Skaggs family, to the visionary leaders and principals who guided the schools, to the dedicated teachers and staff who shaped generations of students, and to God for the extraordinary gift of this community.

“What a tremendous blessing it has been for me,” she concluded. “May that blessing continue for another 25 years, and many more.”

Carrie Lentz is the advancement director for the Skaggs Catholic Center.