1 50 Y E A R A N N I V 1 E 50 R S A R Y TRADITION • 1 • 869 - 2019 A magazine for the alumni, families and friends of Joliet Catholic Academy Winter 2019 WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS Hilltoppers capture IHSA-record 14th state football championship Fall Sports Roundup - Pages 11-13 ANNUAL REPORT EDITION LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT/PRINCIPAL OUR TRADITION Published by the Joliet Catholic Academy I hope that your Christmas season was filled with Communications Office blessings and family warmth. We are very excited Administration to see all our students back on campus along with President/Principal our faculty and staff. We feel that sense of Family Dr. Jeffrey Budz that we are truly blessed with at JCA. We’ve had a Vice Principal, Faculty and Operations William Pender very eventful first semester with a football state Vice Principal, Curriculum and Technology championship, a third-place state finish for our girls Laura Pahl volleyball team, our boys cross-country team going Business Manager Edward Mayer to state for the first time in school history, and Mia Bertino making it to state for tennis. Along with a Admissions Office very entertaining Fall Play, enriching music concerts, Director of Admissions and Communications Ryan Quigley, 2003 our 22 Illinois State Scholars, and strong numbers for Assistant Director of Admissions the Class of 2023 placement exam, we have much to Mary Russell Ragusa, 1993 be proud of! Assistant Director of Admissions Joe Gura As we begin the second semester, we are very excited to continue with our Strategic Plan/ Alumni Relations Office Capital Initiative – Onward Together involving the Chapel and Innovation Research Center. Director of Alumni Relations Sue Ruettiger Bebar, 1990 This initiative is half over, with the completion of the Mary, Our Sister Chapel, but we must push forward and raise the funds that will complete our state of the art, university-like, library for Development Office our students. We are over the $150,000 mark for raised funds and are hoping to secure the funds Director of Development John Horn, 1991 necessary to start the project by the end of the school year. We still have a ways to go though, Development Coordinator with a $1.3-million price tag for the new IRC. We know that you sacrifice much to support JCA and Sue Hansen our students, but we ask that you consider giving to this project to enable our students with an Special Events even better education. Director of Special Events Christine Voss As we look forward, we continue with our 150-year celebration at events like our Hall of Alumni Association Executive Board Champions for Business and Industry, our Academic Honors Society ceremonies, and our major President fundraiser, Jubilate, where we are proud to honor Gloria and Ed Dollinger with the President’s Matt Schimanski, 1998 Award for their dedication and years of service to Joliet Catholic Academy. Vice President Moira Dunn, 1995 Treasurer We hope that you join us as we look forward to exciting programs and events at JCA in this John Quinn, 1986 second semester. We are all in this together, and with that sense of Family, we will make our Secretary Matt Adler, 2008 school community that much stronger. Blessings for the New Year! Joliet Catholic Academy 1200 N. Larkin Avenue Joliet, IL 60435 Jeffrey R. Budz 815.741.0500 www.jca-online.org Dr. Jeffrey Budz JCA President/Principal 2 | Tradition | Winter 2019 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Dunn named new chief of staff of Will County Board JCA graduate Moira Dunn ’95, who currently commitment to community service that will serve serves as the vice president of the JCA Alumni the County Board and the residents of Will County Board, was recently tapped as the new chief of well in the years ahead.” staff for the Will County Board by newly elected Dunn was an assistant state’s attorney in the board Speaker Denise Winfrey, D-Joliet. Dunn, felony division, where she handled an average of is the daughter of the Hon. Thomas Dunn ’60, a 80 cases at a time and prosecuted more than 25 retired state senator and associate judge. The chief jury trials, the release said. She has also worked of staff oversees legislation, regulatory issues and with Huron Consulting Group and area law firms. the budget. In addition to serving on the JCA Alumni Board, Dunn has nearly a decade of experience in Will Dunn also serves on the Spanish Community County government, according to a news release. Center Board, and is a member of the Will County “I am pleased to have a person like Moira as our Bar Association and Illinois State Prosecutor’s Bar new chief of staff,” Winfrey said in the release. “She Association. is extremely well qualified with deep experience Dunn is a lifelong Will County resident and lives Moira Dunn in county government and a demonstrated in Shorewood. Lausch, Rompa brothers recognized at West Suburban Chiefs of Police Association Banquet Three Joliet Catholic Academy ‘88. Ed Rompa ’87 was elected as alumni were a part of the West the new president of the association. Suburban Chiefs of Police Association Lausch served as the keynote speaker, banquet hosted on Sept. 5, 2018 in La while Rompa’s brother Mike ’91, Grange, Illinois. current Bolingbrook deputy chief The association was established of police, also spoke. During the in 1960 and is a group which shares presentations, all three mentioned the information on crime fighting impact Joliet Catholic High School had strategies and also lobbies state on their leadership skills and how the legislators to enhance crime most successful football program in prevention laws in Illinois. Illinois history has had such a positive A new board was sworn-in by influence on their careers. United States Attorney John Lausch Mike Rompa, Bolingbrook Deputy Chief of Police ’91, John Lausch, United States Attorney ’88 and Ed Rompa, La Grange Park Chief of Police ’87. Winter 2019 | Tradition | 3 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT continued Cornelius wins Will County circuit court judge race Lauren Staley-Ferry John Connor Vincent F. Cornelius JCA would also like to congratulate alums Lauren Staley-Ferry ‘96 and John Connor ‘88. Staley-Ferry won the office of Will County Courtesy of John Ferak, Joliet Patch clerk. Connor (‘88), who will serve out the term until early 2019, was published Nov. 7, 2018 appointed in 2017 to the Illinois House of Representatives. Democratic Joliet attorney Vincent F. Cornelius ’82 told Joliet Patch that he was thankful to the voters of Will County for electing him to the bench as a new circuit court judge. Cornelius defeated Associate Judge Victoria McKay Kennison, a Republican, in the November 2018 general election by around 10,000 votes, according to unofficial vote totals. “You never know how these things go with elections, but we’ve been working really, really hard, a lot of people have been working really hard for us all over the county,” Cornelius told Joliet Patch during the victory night celebration. “I hope to bring trial experience ... and to be a problem-solver that people need when they walk up those courthouse steps. I’m looking forward to getting my sleeves rolled up in the city of Joliet and getting to work.” Cornelius, a lawyer in private practice in Joliet, is a 2017 recipient of the Joliet Catholic Academy Alumni Association’s Career Achievement Award. He was also the keynote speaker at JCA’s all-school assembly honoring Black History Month in February 2018. He attended elementary school and junior high school in Joliet Public School District 86, where his mother taught and served for 34 years. “I have tried hundreds of cases in my 28-year legal career, and I have had the honor of serving the legal profession and the community at large in many significant areas. The combination of courtroom experience and leadership ser- vice have prepared me well to serve Will County as its next circuit court judge,” Cornelius stated His campaign literature noted that Cornelius is recognized in America’s Best Lawyers (2018), Leading Lawyers (2018) and Super Lawyers (2015-present), and he has a superb 10.0 AVVO rating. Cornelius previously served as the first person from Will County and first African-American to be named president of the Illinois Bar Association. 4 | Tradition | Winter 2019 NEWS FROM AROUND CAMPUS JCA announces Commended Students in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program Dr. Jeffrey Budz, president/principal of Joliet Catholic Academy, has announced that Kylie Weis and Jack Smith have been named Commended Students in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program. A letter of commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, will be presented by the principal to these scholastically talented seniors. About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2019 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.6 million students who entered the 2019 competition by taking the 2017 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). “The young men and women being named Commended Students have academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” a spokesperson for in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational NMSC said. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their success.” Joliet Catholic Academy Athletic Department announces exclusive partnership with Adidas and Lansing Sports The Joliet Catholic Academy Athletic Department has agreed to enter a long- sports.