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During the pandemic, James Iavarone, the middle-school religion teacher at Mater Christi School in Albany, knew the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet were pretty isolated at the Provincial House in Latham. So he came up with the idea to have his students write letters to the sisters.

One of the students was named Henry.

“Henry became pen pals with (Sister Maria Norton, CSJ) during the pandemic when he was in fifth grade. He graduated from Mater Christi School in 2024 and now attends Albany High School as a ninth grader,” said Katie Stalker, principal at Mater Christi, in an email to The Evangelist. “For over four years, Henry continued to write to his ‘pen pal.’ During the isolation of the pandemic, he would drop off treats to her at the Provincial House but never got to meet her due to safety protocol at the time.”

This year, Henry remembered Sister Maria Norton’s birthday was coming up from a previous letter. And on Jan. 26, Henry finally got to meet his pen pal and brought her a birthday cake! 

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