MS Assistant Principal 1995-2021

What are the attributes that define St. Laurence Catholic School…

being the largest ministry of St. Laurence Catholic Church, ranking as one of the largest Catholic elementary/middle Schools in the Archdiocese of Galveston/Houston, having a staff and school community who have provided a challenging and appropriate education for 20,000+ students over the past 31 years, fostering service opportunities and consistently striving to meet the needs of all students, and also acknowledging and valuing the voice of its students, parents and staff?

If you are responding “yes” to these defining attributes of St. Laurence Catholic School, then one can truly understand and appreciate the gift of our Parish school as a ministry within the Church community. Yet, there is a more inherent part which manifests itself as the glue that holds the SLCS community together. That glue is the joy experienced by the students who attend, parents who support and educators who strive to educate. All who have been, as well as, those who currently are part of the “Trinity of Student/Parent/School” can examine our experiences and recognize the joy gained as being a part of this trinity at SLCS.

Having been a Middle SchoolAssistant Principal at St. Laurence Catholic School for twenty-seven years and the parent of children who were students there for thirteen years, I can honestly affirm that my family and I appreciate and value the joy shared at SLCS! Some may remember a slogan used in an advertising campaign for Mastercard (1997) which describes its services as “priceless”. This description could similarly be applied to the SLCS experience. It has been this priceless joy that has carried the SLCS community through some tough days/years and through many more great days/years.

Looking back at conversations with some of the main “stakeholders” within the community, I still smile (and laugh out loud) at some of the antics and situations that have taken place at our school. As I want to share some of these stories, I would like you to remember the following: many years ago, there was a television series known as “Dragnet”. In each opening scene of the weekly program, viewers would hear, “Ladies and gentlemen, the stories you are about to hear are true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.” Names have not been used in the stories I share as I wanted to protect the “guilty” as well as those who claim to be innocent. At this time, some of you may be breathing a giant sigh of relief!!!

During my first celebration at SLCS of “Go Texan Day” in 1995, I was asked by the principal to deal with a third grade student who had chosen to bring a Swiss Army knife to school as part of his Go Texan Day attire. When I asked why he had brought this knife to school, he innocently responded, “Because the knife has a toothpick on it and I wanted to use it after lunch to clean my teeth.” As best I can figure, this student is celebrating his thirty-sixth birthday this year.

While doing after school carpool duty on one very hot August day (112 degrees on hot cement), I had set up four stations with large umbrellas where duty staff could stand to load students into their cars. Unfortunately, a parent in a large SUV got a bit too close to the loading station and drove off with the umbrella which had been partially entangled at the top of the passenger door. As we have heard, “Agood intention is meaningless unless it is followed by a good action”. The mother who was driving the SUV returned the remaining pieces of the umbrella the following day during afternoon carpool dismissal.

Then, there was the day that a most outstanding teacher had to step out of her classroom to pick up tests at the copy machine across the hallway in the Faculty Workroom. I happened to be in the area so I stepped into her classroom and the students agreed the perfect natural consequence for the teacher would be to return to her classroom which was now emptied of students. Much to the students’ chagrin, they still would have plenty of time to complete the test.

Twice in my career at SLCS, two bright and calculating students thought that if evidence was destroyed, there would be no repercussions for their poor choices. The students had each been given a disciplinary referral by separate teachers. The students went to the student restrooms and tore the referrals into small pieces then proceeded to flush them down the toilets. In both incidents, pieces of referrals stubbornly did not go down the drains. A couple of “law abiding” students reported their findings to me. I was able to fish out the evidence with a yardstick and discover the rightful owners who were then able to take home clean referrals. One of the witty teachers created a poster for my office door that said, “G. Guedry, Private Detective Extraordinaire”.

One of my favorite smile-maker stories involves a group of eight to ten former SLCS students who were visiting for lunch after they had early dismissal from Strake Jesuit following the Mass of the Holy Spirit. I had lunch duty in the cafeteria this particular day. The boys formed a circle around me and proceeded to tell me about discipline-worthy incidents they had gotten away with while at SLCS. For example, one student told of how he took my keys out of my office door and only allowed them to reappear at the end of the school day. Another tech savvy student admitted to adjusting his own report card to reflect Honor Roll status and excellent behavior. This explained why his father was so astounded on Fall Conference Day when a group of teachers and I met with him to share our concerns about his son’s academic and behavioral performance.

Being a school parent and administrator at the same time, I was once called to “rat” on my own child. The track coach had the team run from the school, downAustin Parkway to the Sugar Land Mall at Lexington Blvd. and then back to school. As fate would have it, my son asked me to drive by the mall on our way home following track practice so that he could buy the new Michael Jordan shoes (with his own money, of course). When I asked how he knew that the mall stores had the new Michael Jordan shoes, he shared that he and his friend took a detour to the mall during track practice and saw the shoes in a store. The following day, I confessed the story to the track coach so she could take the appropriate disciplinary action to deal with the track stars. There is nothing quite like serving after school detention with your best friend…and with your mother.

This last testament to the joy shared at SLCS involves one of my favorite students whom I will not name; however, many may recognize. This student was handicapped by a debilitating illness and was sadly eventually confined to a wheelchair. He was a true gift and joy for our school. All of his classmates wanted to carry his books or push his wheelchair during class-switch times. Often at recess, a caring and devoted parent in our community would come over to school and toss a football to this wheelchair bound student making sure that he had a full experience…not just academically but socially too. This student was so intelligent and had the most exquisite handwriting until the illness robbed him of it. At his Eighth Grade Graduation Mass, he shared his beautiful voice when he sang “Oceans”. He brought to our school community a loving attitude, a determination to make each day matter and quiet joyfulness. He taught us to learn to accept God’s will and to trust in God’s plan.

This is an example of why the SLCS experience is “priceless” and cannot always be categorized or measured but only experienced. This joy is truly the glue that binds and has kept our school community strong in our faith, committed to quality education and joyful in our spirit.

Germaine L.Guedry

Principal Class Of 2003

Robyn Wethington ‘03

We were excited to see Robyn ‘03 at the Steps for Students Race! Great picture with Mrs. Barto before the run!

Class Of 2005

Grace Kwong ’05

Class Of 2004

Siobhán Thompson ‘04

Siobhán ’04 is teaching choir at Rodeo Palms Middle School in AISD, and has two daughters.

Congratulations to Grace ‘05, Saints Alumna and Assistant Principal at St. Francis de Sales Catholic School. The Catholic Schools in theArchdiocese of Galveston-Houston recognized her at the Mass of celebration for the new school year held at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. Grace received the Archdiocesan Leadership Award from his Eminence, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, and Dr. Haney, Superintendent of Catholic Schools. Way to go, Grace!

Class Of 2008

Molly Brown ‘08

Class Of 2007

Kevin Thompson ‘07

Kevin ‘07 works at Community Bank of Texas. He and Daniel Perez ’07 play music together at various breweries and venues around Houston.

Molly Brown MPH/MSW ‘08 is in St. Louis working for Optometry Cares, the foundation of the American Optometric Association. She is involved in many projects but one of the main Public Health initiatives she helps carry out nationally is the InfantSEE program. The program provides no cost comprehensive eye and vision assessments to infants regardless of family’s insurance or ability to pay. The goal is to improve the child’s quality of life by identifying and correcting vision problems early in life. Molly was also able to visit her brother Jake ‘11 in Japan where he is teaching this year.

Class Of 2011

Jake Brown ‘11

Jake ‘11 spent three years teaching High School biology in Alief. In 2021, he applied to a program to teach in Japan. For the 2022-2023 school year, he is teaching English at Shingu Senior High in the Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan. According to Jake, the biggest difference in high school in Japan is that the students stay in the same room all day and the teachers move. The students get very close to the people in their homeroom class. The students are all very polite and teachers are treated with great respect so it is a good place to teach. Jake likes living in Japan because he has met many new people from many countries and also had many new experiences. He plans to stay for next school year.

Tyler Tumbleson ‘11

Tyler ‘11 currently works for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. He got engaged in October. His fiancé, Paige, is a nurse in the NICU at Memorial Hermann Hospital.They plan to get married in the spring of 2024.

Class Of 2012

Paulina Kardoush ‘12 and Jonathon Murray ‘12

Congratulations to Paulina Kardoush ‘12 and Jonathon Murray ‘12 on their 1st wedding anniversary! What a beautiful love story of two kids who grew up together at St. Laurence Catholic School from PK-4 through 8th grade, continuing through high school at St. Agnes and SJ College Preparatory, and Baylor University.

Spring 2019

Class Of 2013

Kylie Tumbleson ‘13

Kylie is a 4th grade teacher at Bluebonnet Elementary in Round Rock ISD.

Class Of 2014

Thomas Le ‘14

Thomas ‘14 graduated from UT McCombs School of Business and will be joining the team at JPMorgan.

Colton Marks '14

Colton '14 visited our school! He began his religious life and entered the Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Monastery. Colton gave a presentation to Mrs. Gomez's 4th grade class about the contemplative order he is entering. He asks that everyone pray a daily Hail Mary for him. You are in our prayers, Colton!

Class Of 2015

Catherine Cashiola ‘15

Catherine ‘15 is graduating in May from Baylor University and will graduate with a Bachelor's degree in Education specializing in Middle Grades Science. She is engaged to her high school sweetheart, Bruno Rodriguez. They will be married on November 18, 2023 at St. Laurence Catholic Church.

Avery Tumbleson ‘15

Avery is in her senior year studying Criminal Justice at Tarleton University and will graduate in December 2023. She works at St. Joseph Catholic School in Bryan, Texas, where she runs the after school program and is a substitute teacher. She is a member of the College of Liberal and FineArts Student Advisory Council for the College of Criminal Justice at Tarleton University. She is also the representative for the Rellis Campus in Bryan/College Station.

Class Of 2015

David Gutierrez ‘15

David Gutierrez ‘15 graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas in May of 2022 with a degree in Computer Science. He has since started his professional career as a Software Engineer at Google. David currently resides inAustin,TX, where he is pursuing his passion for software engineering and technology.

Class Of 2016

Alex Garcia ‘16

Alex ‘16 is in his second year at the University of Oxford, Balliol College, studying a joint honors degree in History and Politics.After a successful stint in student politics in the world’s second oldest debating society, the Oxford Union, Alex has turned to events photography to fund travels to South America, Europe, and North Africa. He has become involved in the Oxford University Economics Society and the Oxford University Strategic Studies Group, which he hopes will compliment his study of international relations and global history, as he looks forward to a future in the realm of international affairs.

Natalia Kardoush ‘16

Natalia ‘16 celebrated her 21st birthday in September! She is a junior at Baylor University Business School. Natalia is studying marketing and entrepreneurship in the business school and vice president of member development for Kappa.

Class Of 2017

Josie Reyes ‘17

Josie ‘17 is a sophomore at Texas A&M. She is active at St. Mary’s in College Station and is a group leader this year for John 15, which is an organization at the church for freshman and transfer students to find community and to grow in their faith in college. She also helps out on retreats for high schoolers, as a member of S.M.Y.R.T.

(St. Mary’s Youth Retreat Team). During the summer, Josie will be a missionary for LifeTeen International at Camp Covecrest inTiger, GA.

Nathan Cashiola ‘17

Nathan ‘17 is currently a sophomore at Baylor University, where he is pursuing a degree in Health Sciences.

Class Of 2017

Piper Bratton ‘17

Piper ‘17 is a junior studying Landscape Architecture with a minor in Environmental Sustainability. She recently accepted a summer internship in Charleston, South Carolina.

Class Of 2018

Margaret Riebe ‘18

Margaret ‘18 from St. Agnes Academy in May 2022 and is studying Engineering atTexas graduated A&M.

Lilianna Garcia ‘18

Lilianna ‘18 is in her first year at Durham University in Durham, England, near Newcastle. She is studying Biological Sciences and loves learning about animal behavior. This summer, she sang with the St. Laurence Choir and the Houston Choral Society in a tour around Italy. She is an active member of the Women in Stem Society and enjoys practicing aerial arts in her free time.

Kathryn Reynolds ’18

Kathryn ‘18 graduated in May 2022 from George Ranch High School in the top 5% of her class. During her high school years, she completed a total of 258 hours of service for many organizations, such as leading horses during a disabled rider’s therapy session at SIRE Therapeutic Horsemanship. Kathryn is currently a freshman at Texas A&M in College Station, pursuing a double major in Forensic Investigative Science andAnthropology.

Class Of 2019

Bryce Fucik ‘19

Congratulations to Bryce Fucik on signing his National Letter of Intent and committing to continue his athletic career in college! Bryce signed to play football at TexasA&M Kingsville.

Grace Kardoush ‘19

Grace is a junior at St. Agnes and is a JV Cheerleader at Strake Jesuit.

Class Of 2019

Lynley Pace ‘19

Lynley ’19 was named a 2023 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist! She was chosen among over 16,000 semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, and she got a perfect 1520 score on the PSAT, which is incredibly exciting. Read more here!

We are blessed to have had Lynley coaching cross country and track at SLCS for the past three years! She loves helping out our athletes. Here is a message from Lynley to her Saints family:

“I'm extraordinarily grateful to all the teachers who have helped me along the way. I'm looking forward to using my blessings to better the world as I major in bioengineering next year.”

Class Of 2020

Whitney Bratton ’20

Whitney is a junior at Incarnate Word Academy. She is a member of the National Honors Society, National Spanish Honors Society, as wellasanIWAAmbassador.

Darci Purdy, Jamie Reyes andAllison Riebe ‘20

Darci,Jamie,andAllisonrepresentedSLCSclass of2020attheSt.Agnes/StrakeJesuitMixed ChorusperformanceofHandel’sMessiah.

Class Of 2021

Michelle Nguyen '21 and GabbiArenas '21

Michelle ‘21 and Gabbi ‘21 visited us!They are sophomores at St.Agnes Academy and active members of the Robotics team, Spectrum 3847.They were previously Robotics students at SLCS and discovered their passion for STEM through their involvement in Robotics.They wanted to give back to SLCS, where their curiosity was first sparked, and shared their experience with the 7th grade Robotics class.They talked about what they do at Spectrum and inspired the students to pursue their interests.Thank you for your visit and your fantastic presentation!

Saints supporting their fellow Saint! Taylor Le ‘18, Trinity Le ‘15, and current SLCS student Theresa Le watched alumna Emily Nelson ‘15 playing at the Trinity vs St. Thomas University basketball game! Once ASaint,AlwaysASaint!

SLCS Class of 2019 and Strake Jesuit Class of 2023 football players are pictured on Senior Night! These boys have played football together since 7th grade. What fun it has been watching them grow up as young men. From left to right: #8 Bryce Fucik, #90 Gavin Ortega, #38 Gavin Cruz, #9 Kale Dolar, #47 Stephen Murray, and #18 Gabrian Maldonado.

We love to see many SLCS alumni at Life Teen Covecrest Camp in Georgia. What an amazing group!

Allison Riebe ‘20 and Margaret Riebe ‘18 at St Agnes/Strake Jesuit DoubleTripleTrio Performance at theTexas Renaissance Festival.

During a recent SAA Varsity team game, St. Agnes students Hadley Boudreaux ‘19 and Maddie Holy ‘22 were awarded the Hustle shovel for their exceptional work on the court. Hadley's impressive performance was highlighted by her playing the entire 32-minute game. This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication that both Hadley and Maddie have demonstrated as key members of the team.

With heavy hearts, we share the passing of SLCSAlumna Lori Dickinson '02. Her funeral was Friday,August 19th, 2022. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.

We also share our deepest condolences with the family and friends of SLCS Alumnus Brice Wolters, Class of 2001, who passed away at the age of 35 on May 20th, 2022. His funeral was held at St. Laurence on June 8th.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. Let perpetual light shine upon them and may they rest in peace.