04 & ASHLEY Lomaglio
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TOLLETHE MAGAZINE OF ST. RITA OF LEGE CASCIA HIGH SCHOOL COUPLE OF THE YEAR NICK ‘04 & ASHLEY LoMAGLIO ADMINISTRATION Chairman of the Board Ernest J. Mrozek, ‘71 Interim CEO, Vice President of Academics Wes Benak, ‘81 Vice President of Student Life CONTENT Josh Blaszak ‘02 Vice President of Finance Eileen Spulak SCHOOL NEWS OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT page 1 | A Message from Mr. Wes Benak ‘81 Director of Institutional Advancement page 2 | The Class of 2019 Jim Juchcinski ‘97 page 3 | Minimester Director of Annual Appeal and Major Gifts John Schmitt ‘84 page 4 | Admissions Update Associate Director of Advancement & page 5 | Students Director of Advancement Communications Laura Fleck page 6 | Spring Sports Wrap Up Database Manager & Director of Special Events page 8 | Faculty Spotlight: John Nee ‘93 Mary Gal Carroll page 9 | Welcome New Faculty & Staff Director of Alumni & Donor Relations Rob Gallik ‘10 ALUMNI NEWS BOARD OF DIRECTORS page 10 | 83rd Annual Alumni Banquet Ernest Mrozek ‘71 (Chairman) Victoria Barrios page 11 | 2019 Man of the Year James Brasher ‘71 Bernard DelGiorno HON page 12 | 2019 Hall of Fame Lawrence Doyle ‘68 James Gagnard ‘64 page 14 | A Message from Jim Juchcinksi ‘97 Thomas Healy ‘83 page 15 | 44th Annual Scholarship Golf Outing Catharine Hennessy David Howicz ‘84 Nicholas LoMaglio ‘04 page 16 | Keeping Track Donald Mrozek ‘65 Clare Napleton ADVANCEMENT NEWS Charles Nash ‘71 John O’Neill ‘79 page 18 | 30th Annual Valentine Dinner Dance Fr. Anthony Pizzo, O.S.A. Timothy Ray ‘87 page 19 | 2019 Couple of the Year Stephen Schaller ‘83 Fr. Bernard Scianna, O.S.A. ‘83 page 20 | Leave a Legacy Dina Scianna Ronald Skwarek ‘70 page 21 | In Memoriam Renee Sykes Charles Volpentesta ‘92 page 22 | Fall Sports Schedules Andrew Youpel EMERITI BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ronald Abramowicz ‘60 Anthony Colosimo ‘63 Dr. John Donahue Michael J. McArdle ‘54 September 2019 Fr. Thomas McCarthy, O.S.A. ‘83 Donald A. Petkus ‘58 Arthur Velasquez ‘56 A Message from the Interim CEO and Vice President of Academics Mr. Wes Benak '81 Dear Members of the St. Rita Family, As we enter into the 116th year of providing a Catholic education to the young men in and around the south side of Chicago we are stronger than ever and our mission couldn’t be more clear. Our Mission Statement reads in part that our goal is to “provide our young men with the necessary skills to succeed in college and in life, leading to life-long learning and personal awareness.” We have an awesome faculty and staff that has become skilled themselves in the education of boys and in this area we are second to none. I want to thank my colleagues for their tremendous and tireless dedication to our students and our school - it’s in their classrooms, and their offices, in the hallways, and on the playing fields where the magic happens - they have a never ending desire to forge ahead and to make progress. And at the end of every year we see the fruit of their labor: another amazing group of St. Rita graduates going out into the world, using the gifts and talents that they have developed, making the world a better place for all of us. Even in this time of leadership transition, St. Rita remains a very special place. At the time of this writing we are in the midst of our President search and within a relatively short amount of time we plan on having a new President, not just installed, but one working hard at furthering our great mission. I look forward to the good work that lies ahead because I have been a witness to the past and know full well that our possibilities are endless. I am grateful to all of you also for your continued support of our mission.We’ve had a very good thing going on here for a very long time and we are positioned well as we begin yet another year of magic at St. Rita High School. We could not have done what we have done without your support and we look forward to the same in the future. Please know that our benefactors are remembered in our daily prayer. Gratefully, 1 t school news The Class of 2019 Ten Ritamen from the St. Rita Class of 2019 have chosen to make a Jalen Greer ‘19 signs his contract with the Oak- strong commitment to our great nation by enlisting in the military land A’s immediately after the Mustangs took third or joining ROTC programs in college. place in the state. VERITAS AWARD CARITAS AWARD UNITAS AWARD MR. MUSTANG MR. MUSTANG Kevin O’Hara Myles Montaque Stedmon Ihejirika Kyle Gustafson Michael Henze 2 school news Minimester 2019 Again this year, St. Rita students traveled the city, state, country and world during minimester. Students had the opportu- nity to participate in an iditarod in Alaska, white water rafting in New Mexico, Culinary Arts in Chicago, a Holocaust study in Krakow, Berlin and Prague, touring the landmarks in D.C. and checking out colleges of the midwest among others! 3 school news school news Welcome Class of 2023 Admissions As has become tradition, the Freshman Augustinian Experience begins with an upper-classmen AndrewSmialek Awards welcome, followed by the class orientation day and freshman overnight. The official kick-off to the 2019-20 school year took place at the Academic Convocation, when freshmen were presented with their ties by upperclassmen and they also signed the Book of Brotherhood. The Andrew Smialek Award is presented to 8th grade students for outstanding academic acheivement and extra-curricular and community involvement. FieldDay The Admissions team welcomed 6th and 7th graders from Most Holy Redeemer, St. John Fisher, St. Barnabas and Queen of Martyrs to the Inaugural Field Day Event! ST. RITA OF CASCIA HIGH SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27 12pm - 2pm (All are welcome to our Family Mass at 11:30am) ~AND~ SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10 10am - 12pm (All are welcome to our Family Mass at 9:30am) 4 Students school news To cap off their year in Honors Physics Class, students held a Regatta in the school’s pool! The students constructed their own boats and were only allowed to use cardboard and tape to build them. Students in Ms. Smialek’s class spent more than three weeks planning for the event. They began by learning about Archimedes’ Principle and how an objects density, weight, and how much fluid it displaces all relate to whether an object sinks or floats. Summer 2019 Ritamen stay busy over the summer, whether it’s a summer job, sports and tournaments, or various other learning activities. Sean and Patrick Nellis ‘22 and Julian Leanos ‘22 attended summer camp at Purdue University Northwest, where they learned about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Student Government Officer and Live Like John Foundation Teen Board Member Nick Adent ‘20 along with Mr. Josh Blaszak ‘02, Vice President of Student Life, presented a check in the amount of $1,887.55 to Mrs. Amy McNicholas and the Live Like John Foundation on behalf of St. Rita High School. Students held a Spirit Day for LLJ and presented the check before the LLJ Annual Softball Tournament which is held each year at St. Rita. Brian Deenihan ‘21 and Reggie Sykes ‘21 attended Summer STEM at the United States Naval Academy. For over 30 years, before STEM was being promoted, the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) has been advancing events and activities and offering scholarships designed to excite students to become engineers. SAME, in collaboration with the military services, offers a series of week long, STEM Engineering & Construction Camps designed for High School students who excel in math, science and technology courses and are interested in pursuing engineering, architecture, or related fields in college. Each of the camps has a unique curriculum, with the common thread being: challenging environment, hands-on activities, mentors who are young engineers, and long term resources for camp alumni. 5 school news SPRING SPORTS Wrap Up It was a banner spring sports season for the Mustangs as 4A state finals. In the semi-final against St. Charles, St. they collected two Catholic League Blue championships Rita jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, but their dream of and three state finals appearances amongst the baseball, the school’s first ever baseball state championship ended volleyball, track, lacrosse, water polo and rugby teams. with a tough 6-4 loss. The Mustangs would go on to defeat Hampshire in the 3rd place game as the Mustangs collected their fourth ever state trophy. Baseball The varsity baseball team won their first Catholic League Blue title since 2014 finishing (10-2) in league play. Four members of the team Volleyball The varsity volleyball earned 1st-team all-conference recognition, including also won the CCL Blue title with a perfect (6-0) record, seniors Jalen Greer and Matt Callahan and juniors Luke and they advanced to the state finals in Hoffman Estates Napleton and Chris McDevitt. for the second consecutive season before losing a hard- fought, 3-set match to New Trier in the quarterfinals. The Mustangs also finished (35-7) on the season as they spent most of the second half of the season ranked #1 On the season they finished (28-12) overall as they were in the state. They won their 11th consecutive regional led by All-Catholic Blue selections senior middle blocker championship beating Riverside-Brookfield 10-0. In the Cam Bartman, senior outside-hitter Quinn Coughlan, sectional they defeated Mt. Carmel for the fourth time junior outside-hitter Colin Dahill, senior setter Joe Horn, without a loss on the year by the score of 3-2 before and freshman libero James Sanders.