It takes money to build a school, a lot of money. But that doesn't scare the parishoners of St. Peter's. Several members of the church met to discuss plans for a fundraiser being held on April eleventh at the Radisson Hotel in Rockford. They have already raised almost four million dollars. They need a total of eight million to complete the school which, when finished, will contain ten classrooms, a science room and a gymnasium. I asked Father Jerome why Roscoe needs another school.

"Because of the centrality of Roscoe/Rockton to northern Winnebago County, that's where all the kids are, that's where the expansion of all the schools is going on. It makes perfect sense to get our school in there and provide an alternative to public schools but also to help provide a strong religious center for the whole Roscoe/Rockton area."

The construction of the school is only phase one. Eventually, they hope to build a new chapel on the same site as the school. This will, of course, take some time, but Father Jerome says he plans to be here for the next twenty years. The fundraiser contains both a dinner and an auction followed by guest speaker Chet Epperson. Tickets are one-hundred dollars and can be obtained from the St. Peter Parish Center.