When St. Joseph School in Cockeysville changed the logo on its clothing in fall of 2014, the question was, what to do with the T-shirts and polo shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants with the former logo?
Father Jose "Jo Jo" Opalda, associate pastor of St. Joseph Parish, had the answer. "The faculty [of the adjacent parish school] called and asked if I wanted the unused uniforms? If there was any use in the Philippines?" said Opalda, a native of that country who, coincidentally, had worked in a school there called St. Joseph.
"I told them, 'Yes, there's a school in the mountains,'" he said.
After ordination as a priest by the Philippine Diocese of St. Carlos, St. Joseph in the Philippines was Opalda's first assignment. He served as associate pastor and taught religion in the school from 2002 to 2004.
The Diocese of St. Carlos' Commission on Education runs a number of schools like St. Joseph's in the remote mountains of the Philippines. "That is one of its main missions, to help poor children get a quality education," Opalda said of the diocese.
At the time he worked in the school, it had about 400 students, boys and girls, although he believes that number is probably closer to 800 now. "Any clothes, especially new clothes, are certainly welcome," he said.
The Cockeysville school, which was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2013, had previously sent books to St. Joseph School in the Philippines.
"So there was already a connection," said Opalda, whose diocese sent him to the United States to study for a degree in canon law from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He has also served at St. Joseph Parish and as a church lawyer for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He expects to return to the Philippines in two years.
Greg Poetzel is branch manager for the Baltimore area for Dennis Uniform, which has been supplying uniforms to St. Joseph School since 2005, said it is not unusual for a school to change its logo but when it does, naturally enough, "parents want to buy items with the new logo."
That left Dennis Uniform with about 225 items in various sizes with the former logo, "leftover inventory" that couldn't be sold. "The school asked us if we were interested in donating the items with the old logo, which we were happy to do," said Poetzel. "They're going to a good cause."
"When a school changes logos or makes a change in the uniform, in the color or design, we do our best to accommodate," said Poetzel, who estimated the worth of the items at $4,000.
Gail Boren, of Gail Boren Design in Timonium, was commissioned by the St. Joseph School's board to design the new logo.
"The old logo was looking dated. It wasn't memorable and it was hard to read. The school wanted to update the design to something more visually appealing. They wanted something that said Catholic and academic," she said.
On a visit to the school, Boren spotted a sculpture on an exterior wall that served as the inspiration for the new logo.
The logo is designed in the shape of a shield and includes a cross, books to represent education, a grouping of three people that could represent either a family or community, and a pick and shovel, hearkening to the founding of the church on land settled by workers in the nearby quarries.
"They all translated nicely into a symbol for the school," said Boren.