THE CROSS & ANCHORS AWARD

The Cross & Anchors Award was created to honor the outstanding achievement of a person who is not a current student but is, or has been, associated with the school community in a variety of ways. It is awarded periodically in the name of the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, students and alumni of Moreau Catholic High School to honor individuals for their outstanding achievement on behalf of our school. Recipients of the Cross & Anchors Award are noted for their leadership and commitment to our school’s Holy Cross mission. The award is the highest honor Moreau Catholic High School confers upon special friends, patrons, alumni, and benefactors of our school.

At our commencement ceremony for the Class of 2023, we conferred the Cross & Anchors Award on a special person who has served the Moreau Community as a volunteer, trustee, and a true Holy Cross leader: Mr. Rick L’Heureux.

Rick L’Heureux has been an active member of the Mariner family since his eldest daughter, Andrea ’07, became a Mariner in 2003; he continued his involvement when his other children Melissa ’10 and Richard ’12 attended Moreau Catholic. Rick and his wife, Jeannie, dedicated their time, talents, and treasure to Moreau Catholic as they both supported their children’s activities and interests. The entire Mariner family has been blessed by their kindness, generosity, and engagement.

During Rick’s twenty years of service to the school community, he has served faithfully on many committees and is currently finishing his term as the Chair of our Moreau Catholic High School Board of Trustees. His leadership has been unwavering, and his countless hours of volunteerism are appreciated and admired. Rick is known for his steadfast patience and creative leadership; he encourages others to let their light shine and share their gifts with our community. He has been an anchor during times of turbulence and challenge in our world, and he continues to be a beacon of hope as we strive to meet the needs of our current and future students.

I think it’s a consensus that our class had the weirdest high school experience ever. Just as we were getting used to the newly-found freedom of high school, we found ourselves in a global pandemic and were sent home thinking we would soon return. Because of Covid, we spent roughly 38% of high school in front of a screen. A regret I have is treating that 38% like such a big number because complaining about lost time only created more lost time. It was easy to get carried away, but as I began to accept loss and the fact that high school was meant to be temporary, I started to focus my thoughts on self-reflection and how much we’d all grown.

It was like staring at a timeline the first time I opened the Senior Google Folder. Some people looked just like they did when they were fourteen, while others were very different. It was nice to see how much had changed in such a short time, but the growth I’m more interested in came between the piercings, haircuts, and hair dye. Seeing pictures of our first Spirit Week, I remembered the freezing rush of adrenaline the day I performed in our class skit. I also remember that we lost, but that pushed us to rehearse more frequently for dance, to create impressive decorations, and to stay later to set up. Having learned from our mistakes, we were able to win as juniors and as seniors. I also saw pictures of junior retreat and remembered the lessons of dignity and respect for all creation. Somewhere in the mix, I caught glimpses of school dances and sports events. Taking it in, I remembered the conga line at our first Welcome Back Dance, how tired my throat always felt after screaming lyrics, and how competitive we all get whenever a game is surprisingly close. Of all the things I saw in that folder, I can confidently say that the prettiest wasn’t any of the costumes or skylines. It was the pictures where people didn’t look at the camera and captured a random moment as they laughed or yelled or posed. It was breathtaking to see the effortless smiles because after spending so much time wondering what high school could have been like if Covid hadn’t happened, I began to appreciate the experience I did get. I stopped thinking about the 38% of time I “lost” and started living for the other 62% of time so that when it was all over, I could say that I enjoyed 100% of it. And when I broke that 100% down, it was a collection of even more laughs and yells and poses, and each of them was beautiful.

Northern California

CSU East Bay (12)

CSU Fresno (2)

CSU Monterey Bay

CSU Sacramento (7)

Chabot College (16)

City College of San Francisco (3)

College of San Mateo

Cosumnes River College

Las Positas College (2)

Lincoln University

Ohlone College (7)

Saint Mary’s College of CA (5)

San Francisco State University (4)

San Jose State University (20)

Santa Clara University (5)

Sonoma State University (2)

UC Berkeley (5)

UC Davis (9)

UC Merced (3)

UC Santa Cruz (5)

University of San Francisco (4)

University of the Pacific (5)

West Valley College

Nevada

University of Nevada - Las Vegas

University of Nevada - Reno

Southern California

Cal Poly (4)

Cal Poly Pomona (2)

California Baptist University

California Lutheran University

CSU Fullerton (6)

CSU Long Beach (6)

CSU Northridge

Chapman University (2)

Grossmont College

Loyola Marymount University

Orange Coast College

Pepperdine University

Point Loma Nazarene University

Saddleback College

San Diego State University (11)

UC Irvine (4)

UC Los Angeles (3)

UC Riverside (5)

UC San Diego (6)

University of San Diego

University of Southern California (4)

Washington

DigiPen Institute of Technology

Seattle University

Oregon

Southern Oregon University

University of Oregon

University of Portland

Nebraska University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Arizona

Arizona State University - Tempe

Northern Arizona University

Ottawa University - Phoenix

University of Arizona (2)

Hawaiʻi

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2)

Kansas University of Kansas

Michigan Michigan State University (2)

Wisconsin University of Wisconsin - Madison

Canada University of Alberta

Indiana Purdue University - Main Campus

New York

Barnard College

Marymount Manhattan College

New York University

The New School (2)

United States Military Academy at West Point

New Hampshire Dartmouth College

Massachusetts

Hellenic College-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology

Northeastern University

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania State UniversityPenn State Altoona

Maryland Morgan State University

Washington, D.C.

American University

The George Washington University

100% of the Class of 2023 graduated and are heading off to college.

Texas Saint Edward’s University