Strong Mind.

Strong Body.

Strong Soul.

A long ago billboard in Philadelphia, Noelle Hildreth’s hometown, touted the benefits of Catholic schools. Her husband, John, experienced more of the same growing up in the Archdiocese of Washington. Raising a family in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, they found a surfeit of similarly strong Catholic educational options.

Their four daughters all went to Maryvale Preparatory School in Lutherville. James, their youngest, will follow his two brothers to Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington. He is in the class of 2019 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Ellicott City, which educated all six of his siblings.

“I just told Noelle, I don’t know what it’s going to be like here without a Hildreth,” said Florence Hahner, academic dean at the pre-K-8.

Hahner got there in 1995, the same year Christopher and Chelsea, the oldest, entered the fourth and second grades at OLPH School, respectively. She taught math to all seven, finally getting James this year.

What does a Hildreth bring to the classroom?

“You get a child who’s determined,” Hahner said. “They give great effort in everything they do. They also have an incredible sense of right and wrong. Family and faith are two huge pieces in every single one of them.”

The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., played a part in bringing the Hildreths together. John was in the class of 1983, when the student body included Noelle’s sister, Grace Ann Coleman.

In order, Noelle attended the parish school at St. Matthias in Merion, Pa.; Archbishop John Carroll High in Radnor; and then St. Joseph University in Philadelphia, before finishing her undergraduate work at the University of Maryland.

Before he studied engineering, John went to Good Counsel High School when it was in Wheaton. It’s run by the Xaverian Brothers, the same order that sponsors Mount St. Joseph. At the parish school at St. Joseph in Beltsville, he was taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur – the same order that founded Maryvale.

Like the other four Catholic schools in Howard County, OLPH has been recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.

“We were surrounded by good options, but from the minute we got there, we knew it was the right school,” John said.

James is an altar server at OLPH, where his parents enjoy the seamlessness between the parish led by Father Erik Arnold, their pastor, and the school, where Victor Pellechia is the principal.

“The faith formation is everywhere,” Noelle said. “Mr. Pellechia has done a fantastic job of integrating faith formation into the curriculum. … Reading, arts, PE, all of it, are integrated into the whole person.”

Father Arnold noted the family’s commitment to the OLPH community.

“They are dedicated to the life of the school,” he said. “In this day and age, people tend to be transitory, especially in (an area) like ours, with so many government and military workers. We’re blessed to have them.”

Athletics are a big part of the Hildreth family.

One daughter or another played field hockey, soccer, basketball, softball or ran for Maryvale.

“We call it the Maryvale way,” John said of its ethos. “The girls are equals on the field, and in the classroom, and treat one another that way in life.”

Sean played football for Mount St. Joseph. James hopes to play baseball for the Gaels. Christopher, an All-Metro infielder in 2004, began exploring the school when it included Mark Teixeira, who won five Gold Gloves during a 14-year major league career.

The son of a D.C. policeman who was originally from New York, John’s affinity for the Yankees goes beyond sharing a collegiate alma mater in CUA with Brian Cashman, their general manager. He vividly recalls a World Series pitting New York’s teams reverberating on the OLPH campus.

“Miss Hahner is an avid Mets fan,” John said. “During the 2000 World Series, we didn’t speak for three weeks.”

Long line

James Hildreth is the seventh sibling to attend Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Ellicott City. An eighth-grader, he’ll follow his brothers to Mount St. Joseph High School. His sisters all went to Maryvale Preparatory School. His siblings are listed below, with the year they graduated from OLPH and colleges where they did undergraduate work.

Christopher, 2000 – St. Joseph’s University

Chelsea, 2002 – Boston University

Carolyn, 2004 – Catholic University

Meghan, 2008 – Tulane University

Sean, 2011 – University of Alabama

Shana, 2013 – St. Joseph’s University

One of the most important lessons of Christianity that Becky Egan Hogg tries to convey to her religion students at Mercy High School in Baltimore is God’s unconditional love.

“No matter who you are, where you’ve been, what you’ve done, come as you are,” explained the 47-year old director of mission and ministry who teaches sophomore and senior religion classes.

Hogg believes that message resonates with students.

“I think they see that I’m as open-minded as I can be,” said Hogg, a parishioner of St. Matthew in Northwood. “I’m doing my best to not have any preconceived notions.”

Hogg, who attended the former parish school of St. Mary of the Assumption in Govans, graduated from Mercy in 1989. She then earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from Fairfield University and a master’s degree in religion from Yale Divinity School. She has been on the staff at the Baltimore all-girls school for 21 years and says being Catholic as “almost part of my DNA.”

“We need to be supportive of one another,” Hogg said, noting that a “ministry of presence” is crucial to her role. “I see that here at Mercy, definitely with the students, with the faculty. We have a very tight-knit community.”

Hogg began teaching at her alma mater in 1995, serving as a religion instructor until 2000 before leaving for three years. She served as campus minister at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2000 to 2002 and as director of sacramental preparation for the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Towson and Church of the Nativity in Timonium from 2002 to 2003. She returned to Mercy in 2003.

Hogg works to show students her best intentions.

At the start of each school year, before wading into coursework, Hogg explains to her students that what separates them is only this: she has been on life’s journey longer.

“It makes them far more receptive,” Hogg said. “We’re on this journey together. I don’t have some special connection to God.”

Hogg’s experience has been that most students are open to the message of the Catholic Church.

“You get kids coming from so many different backgrounds,” she said. “I try to do as much as I can about Christianity.”

This includes talking about Pope Francis as a world leader, rather than solely as the head of the Catholic Church.

“We have more in common than people like to think,” Hogg said.

Hogg sees that in her own experiences at St. Matthew Parish, where she worships with husband, Trey, and daughters, Emily, 6, and Margot, 9. Hogg is a member of St. Matthew’s pastoral counsel.

At Mass, one of Hogg’s daughters insists the family sits in a pew in the rear of the church.

“I can see the congregation,” Hogg said. “It’s a mix of people from all over the world.”

What unites the parish is the “common love of Christ and unity in the Catholic Church,” Hogg said. “It’s very much relational.”

When Hogg isn’t with Mercy’s girls, the former competitive dancer teaches youths at Egan School of Irish Dance. The school, which she founded in 2003, uses space at St. Pius X in Rodgers Forge.

“I don’t want to let go of Irish dancing,” said Hogg, the school’s sole teacher.

Egan School of Irish Dance, which currently has approximately 30 students in elementary and middle school, recruits dancers strictly through word of mouth. Students perform at venues including Stella Maris, St. Matthew and the St. Patrick’s Parade in Baltimore. The school also offers a summer dance camp.

Back at Mercy, Mary Beth Lennon, its president and a 1985 graduate of the school, said “it’s clear to everyone who knows Becky that she lives her Catholic faith and is imbued with the charism of the Sisters of Mercy.

“She works extraordinarily hard to bring students closer to God,” Lennon said. “She works creatively to meet the needs of our students from all faith backgrounds.”

Lennon described Hogg as “a perfect example of faith-filled lay leadership in the church.”

“Becky is a real Mercy girl who grew into a woman of Mercy,” Lennon said. “Her influence is felt throughout the archdiocese.”

Read more Faces of Faith profiles here.

BEL AIR – The John Carroll School baseball team started yelling and cheering on the back edge of the infield after recording the final out of a 9-3 victory over Mount St. Michael Academy (N.Y.) April 25. Then they all turned and ran toward the fence in right field, moving almost as one.

The Patriots ran and touched the sign with “25” on it and then stopped there for a moment. This is what they do after every home game. It’s a simple gesture really, but it keeps alive the memory of Josh Hamer, a teammate killed in a March 2017 car accident.

“He’s the 10th player on the field at all times,” John Carroll coach Darrion Siler said. “This is all player-driven. (It’s) totally them, finding ways they want to keep remembering.”

The John Carroll baseball program has kept his memory alive in other ways, one of which is coming up May 5, when the Patriots play St. Paul’s in the third annual Josh Hamer Memorial Scholarship Game at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen.

Proceeds from the 4 p.m. game go to a scholarship fund in Josh’s memory. Siler said that fund already has helped five baseball players come to John Carroll.

Siler said there are other things the Patriots do to honor the pitcher, who would have a member of the school’s class of 2019.

In addition to his number 25 in decals on helmets, jersey patches and the fence in right field, many players have it on the barrel of their bat. A flag with the number flies behind the backstop, basically looking out over the field.

Running out to the “25” sign after the game has become a tradition for the Patriots, win or lose. They are simply reaching out to their friend.

“It’s like something physical to know that he’s there with us,” said catcher Stelio Stakias. “So, we go say a little prayer out there, touch the sign after every game, win or loss, just to (know) that he’s here with us. That sign’s not going anywhere.”

The players who competed with him truly feel that Hamer is still with them. Pitcher Brandon Crews did not know Hamer until his freshman year but also draws strength from that right-field sign.

“I always want to be sure that I know he’s behind me,” Crews said. “I know he’s behind me. (My) confidence goes up a lot, with him being with me and the John Carroll community behind everybody. It makes a huge difference.”

Crews said he wants to make sure that all of the incoming freshmen coming in know about Hamer, that the legacy remains alive.

Siler, Crews and Stakias all praised Hamer’s baseball talents. Despite being only a sophomore in 2017, he could throw a fastball at least in the mid-80 mph range, which is impressive for a high-schooler. Stakias said Hamer’s pitching repertoire also included a curve and change-up, and that he was working on a slider.

“He could have changed our team significantly,” Crews said.

Siler loved Hamer’s personality. He remembers him as the kind of high-schooler who would seek out someone at lunch who was sitting alone at a table, and join him or her.

“Awesome player, but most important, he was a good kid,” Siler said. “High-character kid; great smile and contagious laughter.”

All of that is why the Patriots are working to ensure the memory of Hamer lives on. It’s a big reason they’re playing in Sunday’s game. Last year’s game helped the scholarship fund, and Stakias and others helped with fundraising events last fall to bring in even more money.

Dwight D. Eisenhower resided in the White House, Archbishop Francis P. Keough was the archbishop of Baltimore and the Baltimore Colts were two-time champions of the National Football League.

That was the scene Nov. 10, 1960, when Augie Miceli began teaching math at Calvert Hall College High School’s brand-new campus in Towson. In his 60th school year on the job, he is retiring. His final day in the classroom will be May 30.

Miceli, 86, first came to the school in 1958 as an assistant football coach. His varsity teams included his son, Augie Jr., class of 1982. His more than 6,000 students have included a grandson, Augie, ’20 – and several faculty and staff members, four of whom shared their sentiments about Miceli with the Review.

Engaged

Calvert Hall’s retirees this year include Frank Passaro, ’71, a social studies teacher who first encountered Miceli in the summer of 1967, when Passaro was getting up to speed for Algebra I.

“He made it (summer school) interesting and engaging, and helped you develop good study habits,” said Passaro, in the middle of a three-generation Calvert Hall family. “You wanted to do well. My Dad (Frank Sr., ’42) was a carpenter, a math guy. He would go over my stuff the same way Augie went over things with me.”

Passaro served as a public school administrator and in other Catholic schools before joining the Calvert Hall faculty in 2003.

“I remember coming back for a football (Turkey Bowl) alumni event,” Passaro said. “I saw Augie, still having fun. He seemed to like what he was doing.”

Opportunistic

Religion teacher Walter Dobryzki, ’78, had Miceli for trigonometry as a senior.

“He was always available if you needed help,” Dorryzki said. “I still see that today. Whether it’s before school or after school, every time I walk past his class, he’s there, working with a student.”

In addition to those “opportunity” periods, another Miceli constant is partnering with parents. Miceli knew their influence first-hand, as his own father would not let him play football at Baltimore City College, even after he made the team.

“He taught me that parents are a great resource,” Dobryzki said. “He told me, ‘you will be surprised how fast a student turns around when he gets home and hears that his parents got a call.’ I’ll email the parents, but he’s old-school. He still calls.”

Disciplined

Doug Heidrick, ’89, knew what to expect from his freshman algebra teacher. His father, Lou, had taught and coached alongside Miceli. His family worshipped at St. Ursula in Parkville, the longtime parish of Miceli and his wife, Angela.

Miceli went to the The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, S.C., and served two years in the U.S. Army.

“You could see that background in his teaching,” Heidrick said. “There was regimentation, and a strategy for how we could best achieve our goals. We were going to get the most out of every one of his classes.”

An advancement associate at his alma mater, Heidrick said, “When alumni come back, he’s the guy they want to see.”

Fatherly

Donald Davis, ’96, a physical education teacher and football coach, can attest to Miceli involving parents. A drop in his geometry grade as a sophomore coincided with his new driver’s license, which was soon restricted after a Miceli phone call home.

Miceli, who went 9-5 as a head coach in the Turkey Bowl against Loyola Blakefield, was in his mid-70s when Davis asked him to return to the Calvert Hall program as an assistant coach.

“I add guys to the staff to coach me, as much as the kids,” said Davis.

That mentoring included summer nights in Ocean City at the Miceli property on 57th Street.

“We would sit on the porch and talk football, he would show me to how to install X, Y or Z in two weeks,” Davis said. “With any coach, any age, it comes down to two questions: Does the guy care about kids, and does the guy know his stuff? That certainly resonates with Mr. Miceli.”

This installment of Names & Numbers features Catholic schools.

$10,000

First-place prize awarded to Resurrection-St. Paul School in Ellicott City in the BGE Natural Gas Safety Contest. Its fourth- grade class took the top prize, the Captain’s Choice and BGE Hero Awards. Among the schools which won $5,000 prizes (one winner is chosen from each grade level) were the first grade at St. Michael-St. Clement School in Overlea and the second grade from St. Joseph School in Cockeysville.

Schools enter illustrations portraying Captain Mercaptan (named for mercaptan, an additive which many utilities companies use to give natural gas a rotten egg odor, making it easier to detect), whose character teaches children how to recognize a natural gas leak, and steps to take to stay safe.

1,000+

Personal care and hygiene items collected by students and families of Mother Seton School in Emmitsburg for SHIP – the Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership – of Frederick County’s Homeless for the Holidays program, which met the needs of the more than 600 students in Frederick County Public Schools experiencing homelessness.

For the 2018-19 school year, Mother Seton School has initiated monthly service projects. The SHIP collection was December’s project.

730

Spaghetti dinners served, a record, at the annual fundraiser sponsored by Our Lady of Hope-St. Luke School in Dundalk. Current students and alumni, pictured, volunteered as servers for the event at the pre-K-8 school. (See photo at top of page)

23

Members of the fourth grade at St. Agnes School in Catonsville who visited the Oblate Sisters of Providence at their Mother House Valentine’s Day. The day included Mass celebrated by Monsignor Richard Bozzelli and lessons in both Black History Month and kindness, appropriate as the St. Agnes student body aimed for 28,000 acts of kindness during the month of February. Students sang for the Oblate Sisters, and learned about their foundress, Mother Mary Lange.

“I couldn’t decide who had the biggest smile on their faces, the Oblates or my students,” principal Rob Costante said. “As we left the Motherhouse, our students excitedly asked when they could return for another visit.”

17

The third-quarter point deficit overcome by the boys’ basketball team from Cristo Rey Jesuit High School when it rallied to beat The Key School in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association C Conference championship game Feb. 24. It was the first MIAA varsity title for CRJ in any sport. Coach Derrick Lifsey’s Hornets, who practice in a space that also serves as the school’s auditorium and cafeteria, went unbeaten in conference play, and finished 19-10 overall. CRJ relied all season on seniors Terry Curry and Tyshaun Smith, and sophomores Jamal Lee and Alex Ferrer.

13

Years Alicia Amaral Freeman, principal of Archbishop Borders School in Baltimore, has been in education. She was honored as the Educator of the Year by the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at its annual gala Jan. 24.

Freeman is in her fourth year as the principal of Archbishop Borders. She previously served as the school’s admissions director and as an ESOL teacher at Hampstead Hill Academy and Dallas F. Nicholas Sr. Elementary School, both in Baltimore. She earned her Master of Arts in Teaching ESOL from Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore.

10

Students at Our Lady of Victory School inducted into the National Junior Honor Society Feb. 27, including, below from right, Kyla Stack, Chelsee Scott, Cameren Parson and Nathan Ofstead. Also inducted were Julian-Amir Blanco, Taylor Blue, Nyla Harris, Holly Novak, Clifton Sterling III and Khouri Wells. The students heard from Chris Webbert, CEO of Advantage Book Binding, who excelled as a student and athlete at Loyola Blakefield and Loyola University Maryland.

2

Seniors from The John Carroll School in Bel Air who coordinated two free performances of “Fame Jr.” in January at the school. Rachel Miller and Joshua Robinson recruited fellow members of the John Carroll theater department for their senior project, as well as members of the Children’s Playhouse of Maryland. The cast included students from Archbishop Curley High School and Calvert Hall High School.

Paul McMullen and Emily Rosenthal contributed to this article.

SEVERN – With Steven Shin, Jenna Snead and Kellen Zemanski, Archbishop Spalding High School was a fitting host April 9 for the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s annual Distinctive Scholars Convocation.

The event honors the top three students from 19 Catholic high schools.

Steven Shin is captain of the Spalding track and field team, a One Love student moderator and a tutor. A resident of Severna Park, he is president of the National Art Honor Society, and plans to study either biology or pre-medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., or Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.

In a school with multiple academic tracks, Shin said, it was nice to have Catholicism as a central thread. He especially enjoyed religion classes, as there was always a good mix of students coming together.

Kellen Zemanski came to Spalding from St. John the Evangelist School in Severna Park. A member of the soccer and track teams, National Honor Society and Sustainability Club, Zemanski is another One Love moderator, as well as senior mentor for freshmen, a tutor and a math competition participant.

“I feel like the school’s been really supportive of helping people to get where they want,” said Zemanski, an Annapolis resident. “It’s given me a lot of opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

Next year, he plans to attend either Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, the University of Pittsburgh, or Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, to study neuroscience, biology or philosophy.

Class president Jenna Snead, from Pasadena, plans to study engineering at either the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Rice University in Houston, or the University of Virginia in Charlottesville next year.

She plays soccer and track, is in Hiking Club, mock trial and the Haiti Club, which assists Spalding’s sister school, Good Samaritans, in St. Marc. It coordinates homerooms sponsorships of Haitian students, and recruits volunteers for its mission trips. While some recent trips were cancelled due to unrest, Snead volunteered in St. Marci in the summer of 2017.

She enjoyed working on large service projects and coming together as a school community.

“I think it’s amazing how we contribute to the community by all giving a little bit,” Snead said, adding that the school went beyond instilling in its students Catholic teachings. “They also encourage you to live as a Catholic and be a part of the Catholic community.”

Snead provided the call to worship at the April 9 event.

“Our gifts, as well as the gifts of all, come from God,” Snead said to the crowd, adding that they need to remember to put them to good use.

A vesper service was led by Auxiliary Bishop Mark E. Brennan. In his reflection, Bishop Brennan noted the program, which included a brief biography of each student and a quote on their experience attending a Catholic school. Many referenced dedicated teachers.

“It’s good that you understand that you have been blessed with a supportive environment in which you excel in your studies, and hone your other skills,” he said. “You seem to recognize that you could not have done what you have done without the help that others have given you.”

“Let God teach you how to use your spiritual gifts that you may live with integrity and witness to his goodness in the world.”

Dr. Donna Hargens,  archdiocesan superintendent of Catholic schools, congratulated the distinctive scholars.

“You truly stand out from the crowd because you are in the process of becoming who Christ intends for you to be. You are joyfully putting your faith into action,” she said. “We challenge you to continue to use your God-given talents to make this world a better place.

“The world needs you – trust in the plan that God has for you.”

2019 Distinctive Scholars of the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Archbishop Curley High School, Baltimore: Anthony Dragisics, Kyrian Elekwachi, Tobi Majekodunmi

Archbishop Spalding High School, Severn: Steven Shin, Jenna Snead, Kellen Zemanski

Bishop Walsh School, Cumberland: Bella Biancone, Rose Duncan, Timothy Nield

Calvert Hall College High School, Towson: Rishibrata Biswas, Grant Duemmel, Andrew Sontag

The Catholic High School of Baltimore: Christina Giska, Bayley Lindsay, Brooke Mosca

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Baltimore: Imani Kirk, Xarien Lyday, Brayan Perez

St. Frances Academy, Baltimore: Jo-Nai Duncan, Savawn Hughes, Jake Larson

Institute of Notre Dame, Baltimore: Emma Kalinski, Maura McCarthy, Alexis Poindexter

The John Carroll School, Bel Air: Pierce Berger, Caroline Smith, Bryan Stancliff

St. John’s Catholic Prep, Buckeystown: Julie Brisbane, Victoria Geitner, Emily German

Loyola Blakefield: Luke Briggs, Graham Lindner, Luke Staczek

St. Maria Goretti High School, Hagerstown: Jacob Kornilow, Elizabeth Patterson, Fizah Yousuf

St. Mary’s High School, Annapolis: Mary Byrne, Aidan Doud, Rylei Smih

Maryvale Preparatory School, Lutherville: Theresia Keppel, Isabel Pineo, Kaelyn Richardson

Mercy High School, Baltimore: Sarah Coffman, Kayleigh Maimone, Esther Shin

Mount de Sales Academy, Catonsville: Theresa Balick, Sophie Palmer, Colleen Roche

Mount St. Joseph High School, Baltimore: Martin Blurton-Jones, Michael Garvin, Pierson Polcaro

Notre Dame Preparatory School, Towson: Katherine Norden, Grace Oakley, Alyssa Ritchie

Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, Essex: Ashley Conway, Austin Heid, Katherine Kovalick

When St. Clement I Parish in Lansdowne holds a basketball reunion April 7, it’s appropriate that former players and coaches will gather a half-mile to the west, at the Leadership Through Athletics gym.

The private LTA facility is a good work of the Grace family. The Grace brothers all played Catholic Youth Organization basketball for St. Clement in the 1960s and ’70s, and thus experienced the positive influence of the man who got hundreds of youths involved in the game.

In addition to serving the Knights of Columbus, Holy Name Society, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Mount St. Joseph High School, his prep alma mater, the late Deacon John “Jack” McKenna began an intramural basketball program at St. Clement, which developed into a large CYO footprint for the parish.

“Every year we induct people into our (LTA) Hall of Fame, and he was one of the first to get in,” said Dr. Tom Grace, who was in the class of 1969 at the former St. Clement School. “Mr. Jack was the real deal, he provided direction for so many people, not with what he said, but with what he did. If he wasn’t coaching or keeping the scorebook, he was volunteering at the concession stand.

“He first put a basketball in my hand when I was in the sixth grade. Our father was self-employed, and told us, ‘St. Clement is starting a basketball program, and you’re going to play,’ to keep us busy.”

It helped that it was a family affair.

Grace’s father and Madalen Grace McKenna, Deacon Jack’s wife, were first cousins. When the McKenna’s daughter, Madalen Kight, coached a CYO championship team in 1973, her players included Kelly Kreiner Grace, who is married to the third of the Grace brothers, Pat.

Back then, Madalen Kight was a sophomore at the former Archbishop Keough High School. Her three brothers followed their father to Mount St. Joseph, where he was active in alumni affairs.

As his daughter Madalen tells it, Deacon McKenna lacked direction after the death of his father until, as a teen, he encountered Father Canice Gardiner, then a Passionist seminarian in Irvington, who introduced him to the game of basketball.

His daughter, Madalen, noted that “Basketball is a team sport and it took a team of dedicated volunteers helping my father to run the program,” she said. Those volunteers included her mother, who ran the concession stand.

A U.S. Air Force veteran and civil servant with multiple degrees from what was then Loyola College, Deacon McKenna led his parish’s participation in SHARE, the former food co-op that was organized by Catholic Charities of Baltimore. Ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1987, he died in 2016.

By then the St. Clement basketball program had closed along with its school, which now houses Sisters Academy of Baltimore, an independent school for girls in grades 5-8.

Neighborhood youths, as well as an attorneys’ league, wheelchair players, and, on a recent Saturday, the Filipino community, find a haven at the LTA gym, which the Grace family opened in 2004.

Tom Grace, a plastic surgeon, and his three brothers went to the former Cardinal Gibbons High School after St. Clement. Tom, Michael and Patrick all serve on the board of LTA, which, according to its mission statement, provides “programs and opportunities that encourage leadership and values development, enhance educational experiences, and promote health and fitness.”

It’s appropriate that the St. Clement reunion at LTA will be held in the middle of the Final Four, college basketball’s biggest weekend, as Tom and his wife, Terri, the parents of six children, have two sons who were walk-on players at three-time NCAA champion Villanova University.

Tom was a senior in 2005, when the Wildcats lost by one point to eventual champion North Carolina in the Sweet 16. Denny was a practice player in 2016, when Villanova won it all, and suited up for the 2018 NCAA champions.

For more information about the reunion, email Madalen@leadershipthroughathletics.org or call 410-242-0039.

Email Paul McMullen at pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org

HAGERSTOWN – St. Maria Goretti High School President Chris Cosentino announced to the school community at a meeting March 21 that the school will move in fall 2019 to a new campus, due to the current academic building sitting in a flood plain.

The new campus, which currently houses Purdue University Global, is 1.3 miles from the current school site. The academic and administration functions of the school will move, while athletic activities will stay at the current site. The school’s gym is not affected by the flood plain.

Students and parents are familiar with the parking lot flooding after heavy rains and standing water on various parts of the campus. Unseen to most is the water that comes up through the floor of the boiler room.

Jim Sellinger, chancellor of education for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said it was appropriate that it was “raining like a banshee” on the night he and Cosentino addressed the community.

“The sump pumps in the academic building are probably running full blast and the boiler room is probably flooded,” he said.

A steady rain dropped more than 2 inches in Hagerstown that day.

Cosentino told the Catholic Review that the decision to move was made after civil engineers and waterproofing experts studied the facilities. The civil engineers had been recommended as “guys who can fix anything,” he said. After they examined it, they said, “‘Yeah, we can’t fix this.’ We actually had a plumber who came out and said, ‘You’re like a ship taking on water.’”

Sellinger told the more than 100 parents and students gathered that the engineers’ and experts’ recommendation was to abandon the current boiler room. Drilling holes in the boiler room slab floor to reduce water pressure, additional sump pumps around the building and sandbags mitigate the problem for a while but cannot fix it.

“That building is not sustainable,” Cosentino said.

As Sellinger and Cosentino made a presentation, students and parents alike burst into applause when they saw air conditioning listed as one of the benefits of the new campus.

The school president said the move will be positive from several standpoints, in addition to being drier. The current building, built in 1954, has no air conditioning and the classrooms are fairly small. At the beginning of the current school year, classes were twice dismissed early because of extreme heat.

The new academic building that will be leased is fully air conditioned, and average classroom size is about 700 square feet, compared to the current 300 to 400 square feet. Even though the new building is only about 1,000 square feet larger overall, there will actually be more, larger classrooms due to the inefficient usage of space at the current site.

The new building will also have three up-to-date science labs, which will be especially useful as the school launches Project Lead the Way, a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) curriculum. Though PLTW has several different components available, some of which are used by other schools in the archdiocese, Goretti will use its engineering program.

“We’re going to attract certain students to this program,” Cosentino told the Review. “It just opens up all kinds of opportunities for our students beyond high school. And having these science labs and this program just makes it that much better.”

Sellinger said the school put in a four-year lease on the new site, which was put up for sale at about the time the school was looking for options. Goretti could purchase the whole 7-acre site – which includes two additional buildings – when the lease is up, or could opt to build a new school at the existing Goretti campus, out of the flood plain.

The plan at this point is to operate Goretti on two campuses, he told those gathered. “This is going to be a phenomenal site and we’re going to get you in there this September.”

A tour of the new building will be held for parents and students May 19. Sellinger cautioned that “it looks great now,” but will be even better after renovations are made over the summer.

He told the community, “If this all works out, we’re going to tear down the academic building and put in a brand-new soccer and lacrosse field. We won’t have any problem with irrigation,” he said to laughter and applause. Funds would need to be raised for such a project.

In an interview, Cosentino said he is “hopeful, positive and excited” about the prospect for the move, though he acknowledges that any kind of change is hard.

He is especially mindful about the impact on this year’s juniors, who will spend next year on a new campus. “Pretty big change for them coming into their senior year. … One good thing is that we’re still Maria Goretti (and the new campus is) a mile away. We’ll still have our graduation and baccalaureate at St. Ann’s and that’ll continue even moving forward.”

Cosentino is more acutely aware of the concerns about a move because he was principal of St. John’s Catholic Prep when it moved from its Prospect Hall campus in Frederick to Buckeystown.

St. Maria Goretti’s move will take place over the summer. The school wants to modify part of the leased space, including converting some office space into classrooms and converting the existing student lounge into art and music space. A chapel will be added.

Adding a chapel “was important to me,” Cosentino said. “We are privileged and it’s really been great to have been on the campus with St. Ann. And so, we’re conscious that we want to make sure everybody knows we’re staying St. Maria Goretti High School, we’re still a Catholic high school.”

Therefore, he wants to ensure that there’s a designated space for the Blessed Sacrament at the new campus, “a chapel for students and teachers to support.” (The current campus includes a perpetual adoration chapel).

The school will also move the statue of St. Maria Goretti from the current school to the new location.

While the gym remains at the original campus, the school will continue to use its two small buses and a school van to transport students for athletics. The school’s lacrosse, tennis and swim teams already use off-site facilities.

However, the consolidation of academics in one building will ensure that students won’t have to run between buildings in adverse weather.

The school plans a “grand re-opening” before classes start in the fall, with families and dignitaries in attendance. Archbishop William E. Lori is scheduled to bless the building at that time.

Cosentino said the school’s Catholic identity is vital to its mission, and he expressed gratitude to Archbishop Lori and representatives from the archdiocesan schools and facilities offices for their assistance in evaluating options for the campus.

“When Archbishop Lori talks about his commitment to Catholic education, he means it,” Cosentino said. “I think this is a great sign of how committed he is to Catholic education here in Washington County.”

Parents and students noted that something to address the school conditions was long overdue.

Chris Mutchler, whose son is a junior and whose daughter graduated from Goretti last year, said the air conditioning is a primary benefit. “You come in here in August and it’s brutal,” he said. Since his wife, Terri, is the school’s soccer coach, he’s also excited about the possibility of having a new athletic field.

Both of junior Madison Carbaugh’s parents graduated from Goretti. “I’m glad to see we are keeping the traditions and making it better.” She looks forward to a larger cafeteria, which can also be used for assemblies and school Masses, as well as larger classrooms. The small classrooms at the current site were cramped.

Sophomore Olivia Craver also noted how cramped the current school is. Like so many others, she is grateful there will be air conditioning. Her classmate and fellow volleyball player MacKenzie Kotch is excited about the athletic field and, of course, the air conditioning.

Tracie Cook, parent of a sophomore and an incoming freshman, said, “My number one issue is safety and they addressed that.” Cosentino and Sellinger both emphasized that the new site will have security cameras and should be safer in many ways than the current building.

Cook said she also hopes tuition doesn’t increase too much as a result of the plans. Cosentino noted that tuition for next year has already been announced and that will not change.

Jen and Roger Boothe, who have a senior and a freshman at Goretti, were just short of ecstatic. Between them, they had discussed several possible scenarios when they were invited to the meeting. “This is better than anything we predicted,” Jen said. Roger noted that the conditions of the current facility have caused his children to experience day-to-day problems in learning.

The new site and the possibility for a new field will “have a big impact down the road on athletics. That’s a big part of who Goretti is,” he said.

“It’s a win-win all around,” Roger said.

An error-plagued Friar defense and timely Gael hitting broke open a scoreless game in the top of the fifth, as visiting Mount St. Joseph High School defeated the 2018 MIAA-A Conference Champion Archbishop Curley High School 5-0 March 20. Curley came into the game ranked sixth in the Baltimore Sun Top 15 poll.

Originally scheduled as a home contest for the Gaels, the first-day-of-spring match-up turned into the second of a three-game home stand for the Friars when the game was moved to the Sinclair Lane campus. The Friars were coming off a 10-0 shutout against St. Mary’s High School of Annapolis days before.

Mount St. Joe’s senior starter John Torroella turned in a gritty 11-strikeout complete-game effort, which included stranding six Curley runners during bases-loaded second and third innings.

Curley’s Colton Knoble started off the home half of the second with a ground ball and a Mount St. Joe throwing error putting him on second. A hit batter and a single with no outs loaded the bases. Torroella struck out two of the next three batters ending the scoring threat.

In the bottom of the third, Curley once again loaded the bases with a leadoff walk, single to center, and a throwing error by Mount St. Joe shortstop Dylan Wyandt. Torroella dug in by striking out the side leaving the Friars stranded for a second time in his shutout performance.

Curley sophomore starter Jake Michel tossed nine strikeouts, keeping the Friars and Gaels deadlocked early on. Friar throwing errors and missed ground balls let the game slip away in the fifth.

Mount St. Joe’s Michael Rosen and Matthew McManus reached base on two throwing errors that put men on first and second when a bunt forced a third Curley throwing error that gave the Gaels a 1-0 lead. The inning ended with Mount St. Joe scoring four of their five runs.

Mount St. Joe’s Dylan Wyandt drove in two RBIs, and Michael Morrison and Josh Lantz each had one.

Curley reliever Tim Fair started the sixth pitching to one batter, then Will Riley came in for a lefty-to-lefty matchup. Dorian Allen made an outstanding catch in foul territory down the first base line from his second-base position. A Friar double play ended the Mount St. Joe sixth.

The Gael’s seventh inning saw a second scoring threat, as Curley first baseman Colton Knobble snagged a diving liner saving extra bases for the first out if the inning.

Alvin Carela, Curley’s fourth pitcher of the game, hit Torrella at the plate. Torrella advanced to second on a passed ball. Josh Lantz drilled a double to deep center allowing the fifth run to score cementing the 5-0 Mount St. Joe’s win.

Curley’s Trent Williams singled in the bottom of the seventh giving life to the Friars. But again, Mount St. Joe’s Torroella retired the next three batters giving the Gaels their first MIAA-A Conference victory of the season and extending their record to 4-1 overall.

Curley head coach Brooks Norris noted after the game that the Friars graduated six seniors from their 2018 championship team, and there will be a learning curve going forward.

The conference victory was a first for new Gaels skipper and 2004 alum Phillip Kraska, who was a member of Mount St. Joseph’s 2004 MIAA Championship team.

To see more photos and order prints, visit our Smugmug page here. 

When School Sister of Notre Dame Patricia McCarron was a student of East Baltimore’s Institute of Notre Dame in the late 1970s, Sister Hilda “Hildie” Sutherland was the school representative who had an uncanny knack for being ever-present.

As students stepped off the bus in the morning, it was Sister Hildie who wished them each a good day, Sister Patricia remembered.

When they were leaving after basketball practice or a club activity, it was the same diminutive School Sister of Notre Dame who offered them a friendly smile and a word of encouragement on their way home.

And when visitors approached the historic building, Sister Patricia said, Sister Hildie warmly welcomed them at the school’s entrance.

“She really set the tone for the whole day – whether washing pots and pans with parents at a Communion breakfast, cheering at a basketball game, checking the halls or running the bookstore,” remembered Sister Patricia, headmistress of Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson and a 1980 graduate of IND. “She did the simple things in an extraordinary way.”

After giving more than six decades of her life to service at IND, Sister Hildie died March 14. The Baltimore native had fallen ill three days earlier at IND and was rushed to the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

Just 10 days shy of her 87^th birthday, Sister Hildie had still been an active volunteer at IND even though she officially retired in 2016.

Few figures have been as intertwined with an institution as Sister Hildie.

Born Marjorie Helen Sutherland in 1932, Sister Hildie was one of nine children. Her mother died while giving birth when Marjorie was in first grade, according to information provided by the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

“All of us being still very young,” Sister Hildie wrote in an autobiography provided by the School Sisters, “we were then raised under the careful guidance of the good Sisters of Charity (Daughters of Charity) at St. Mary’s Villa in Baltimore.”

According to the School Sisters, Sister Hildie was inspired to become a School Sister after running errands for the teaching order and getting to know them while visiting School Sisters at St. Thomas Aquinas School in Hampden.

Sister Hildie, who attended public school, entered the religious community Aug. 28, 1949, taking the name of Sister Hilda Marie, the headmistress at St. Mary’s who cultivated her religious vocation.

During her candidacy, Sister Hildie lived at IND, which then housed the religious community’s motherhouse. After professing her first vows in 1953, she ministered in Pennsylvania and New Jersey before returning to IND in 1954, according to the School Sisters.

Sister Hildie initially provided upkeep of the convent and worked as an aide at Ss. James and John School in Baltimore. Over the next several decades, she became a fixture at IND – cleaning, cooking, managing the bookstore, serving as director of housekeeping, director of hospitality and director of plant operations and more.

“She knew every nook and cranny of IND,” Sister Patricia said. “She had a window into the heart of every single IND girl. She was the spirit of IND.”

Sister Patricia said students of all generations loved Sister Hildie, often referring to her simply as “Hildie.” Using an old Baltimore term of endearment, Sister Hildie would refer to each student as “hon.”

“The halls echoed – echoed – throughout the day with, ‘Hi Hildie!’” Sister Patricia said. “In my day, she sold pretzels at lunchtime. Everyone wanted to get a pretzel because you loved to get to talk to her.”

Kathy Hobart, who taught at IND for 14 years and coached badminton and junior varsity basketball while assisting with varsity basketball, said Sister Hildie had a deep sense of compassion.

“She helped so many thousands of young women,” Hobart said. “She would sometimes give them money when they needed bus fare or food or extra uniforms. She was a giving and caring person.”

Hobart noted that Sister Hildie had a good sense of humor, recalling how students loved to record video interviews with her. One of those interviews shows students teasingly asking Sister Hildie if she ever had a boyfriend.

“Sister Hildie responded by saying she had very many,” Hobart recalled with a laugh. “Then she started naming them: ‘Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.’”

Hobart was part of a team of IND supporters called “Hildie’s Elves.” Every Thanksgiving break, the volunteers helped Sister Hildie put up Christmas trees and hang Christmas decorations throughout the massive IND campus.

“Hildie’s Helpers,” an IND outreach during Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter that provides tons of food, clothing and other items to those in need in the communities surrounding IND, was begun by Sister Hildie in 1959 – the same year she professed her final vows as a School Sister.  It had its roots in service to the poor that Sister Hildie provided in 1949 as a 17-year-old aspiring nun who was charged with reaching out to those in need surrounding her motherhouse.

In a 2014 interview with the Catholic Review, Sister Hildie noted that 40 percent of the IND student body are involved in the outreach named in her honor.

“It makes me relax, rejoice and thank God that we helped somebody else put food on the table,” she said.

Michael Reeb, an English teacher at IND, knew Sister Hildie for nine years after transferring to the school following the closure of Cardinal Gibbons School in Baltimore. He noted that the nun was beloved not only by the school community, but by many in the surrounding neighborhoods.

During the Baltimore Riots of 1968 following the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a neighbor put a black band around IND’s front door emblazoned with “Sister Soul,” he said.

The school was spared harm.

“She was their neighbor and they treated each other as such,” he said.

Reeb noted that in the wake of Sister Hildie’s death, students are praying the Hail Mary in a special way. The traditional Catholic prayer was Sister Hildie’s favorite, he said.

Abbey Neuberger, a 2012 graduate of IND who teaches kindergarten at St. Joseph School in Cockeysville, said Sister Hildie loved to “show IND off.”

“She used to take us up to the fourth-floor balcony and you could see the whole city,” Neuberger said. “It was so pretty.”

Neuberger recalled how she especially loved eating Sister Hildie’s tuna sandwiches.

“I always asked for it with pickles,” she said, “and she would make it special for me with pickles because she knew I liked it so much. She was a beautiful soul.”

Sister Patricia said her friend did everything for love of the students and love of the Lord.

“IND was holy ground for Hildie,” Sister Patricia said, “and she helped all who walked those halls understand that it was holy ground.”

Funeral arrangements 

Wake Service – March 21, 7 p.m. at Villa Assumpta, Baltimore 
Viewing/Visitation- March 22, 2-7 p.m., Institute of Notre Dame
Funeral Mass – March 23, 11:30 a.m., Cathedral of Mary our Queen, Homeland

Memorial contributions in memory of Sister Hilda Marie Sutherland, SSND may be directed to the Institute of Notre Dame (indofmd.org).

Emily Rosenthal contributed to this story. 

Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org.

Baltimore City was marking the bicentennial of its 1729 founding. Babe Ruth, a favorite son, was in the midst of a six-year run as the American League home run champ. The worst stock market crash in United States history was six months off.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore celebrated the 25th anniversary of Archbishop Michael Curley’s ordination to the priesthood with a fete at the Fifth Regiment Armory, where, according to the Catholic Review, congratulations were extended by Gov. Albert C. Ritchie and Mayor William F. Broening. Father Godfrey Holbein, a Baltimore native, was among three Passionist missionaries “slain by Chinese bandits on the road near Chenki, China April 24, 1929.”

That was the scene in Baltimore April 28, 1929, when the students of Notre Dame Preparatory School held their first “Gym Meet,” what has grown into a much-anticipated tradition at the all-girls school.

The spirited competition began when the school shared a Charles Street campus with what was then The College of Notre Dame of Maryland. Its participants included School Sister of Notre Dame Kathleen Feeley, class of 1946, who remained on campus to attend what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University, which she served as president, 1971-92.

In an email exchange with the Review, Sister Kathleen recalled a “gymnastics exhibition in which certain selected students did solo exercises: parallel bars; the horse; swinging from rings that fell down on ropes from the ceiling. … They achieved certain points for each one, and this all added to the cumulative score for the class.”

She also recounted “the chorus of our Gym Meet song as seniors,” a portion of which follows.

The seniors are moving in –

The seniors are moving up –

The seniors are moving on

To win that cup!

The 2011 book “50 Years on Hampton Lane” that chronicled NDP’s move to Towson referenced the evolution of the Gym Meet.

“Before the Hampton Lane doors opened in 1960, Gym Meet was a calisthenics competition that, at one time, included gymnastics. During the five decades on the Towson campus, the event has evolved into an exercise in leadership and teamwork in which the girls put to the test their skills and talents in march, dance, song, and aerobics.”

NDP’s four upper classes begin preparing for Gym Meet the previous fall, when they select themes and captains. All aspects are directed and produced by students, who practice routines and activities after school and on weekends.

According to the school, the week leading up to Gym Meet includes the Sports and Fitness Center being “transformed with posters, decorations and signs provided by each class.” The formal competition is preceded by a special liturgy for students and faculty; seniors attend Mass the Saturday night of Gym Meet.

Gym Meet traditions include Mary Bartel, chairwoman of the Physical Education/Health Department, serving as faculty moderator for nearly 30 years. Last year the junior class won the coveted Silver Cup for the first time since 1985. It will defend that honor March 8-9.

WESTMINSTER – In the wake of the shooting at a Florida high school Feb. 14, 2018, schools around the country staged walkouts; in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Catholic schools instead held prayer services to honor the 17 people killed.

The shooting, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland killed 17 on what was not only Valentine’s Day, but also Ash Wednesday that year.

As last year’s prayer service commenced at St. John Catholic School in Westminster, art and STEM teacher Clare Hoerl’s mind was active.

“It was during that prayer service that we had these programs, which we never have,” Hoerl said, referring to the paper worship guides distributed to those in attendance. “I thought, ‘Maybe we can do something with that.’”

Earlier in the 2017-18 school year, Hoerl was asked by Mary Destino, archdiocesan director of school excellence, to coordinate a collaborative art project between St. John and another Catholic school. She had an ‘epiphany’ to center the art project on the theme of peace.

“We needed to bring some good out of this for the students,” Hoerl said. “I thought maybe through art we could do that.”

Not wanting to limit it to just one other school, Hoerl reached out to fellow Catholic elementary schools in the archdiocese. In the end, 30 participated in the project.

The result was displayed in St. John’s narthex March 6, Ash Wednesday 2019.

“It just all came together perfectly,” Hoerl said. “It’s been a very rewarding process and I think the end result is very powerful, very meaningful.”

Each school created its visual representation on a 10-by-10 inch panel with recycled materials, using a color palette of only shades of blue – the color of peace, and of the Blessed Mother. Hoerl requested the pieces be made by older students, if possible.

At St. John, the eighth-grade class took the lead. Eighth-grader Leslie Velazquez, 13, came up with the idea for St. John’s panel – two hands holding another, representing God’s hands holding that of his faithful.

Velazquez identified John 14:27 as the perfect Bible verse to adorn the creation: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”

“I think Jesus gives us peace if you let him guide us,” she said.

Luke Chesebrough, 14, contributed his hand to the project as the model for the papier-mâché technique. The programs used during the 2018 prayer service became the strips of paper used to form the hands.

“We ripped them up and put them in papier-mâché and put them on (Chesebrough’s) hand,” said classmate Anna Tippett, 14.

Chesebrough added with a smile that he spent an entire class period with the concoction on his hand.

All three students, who said they love art, would recommend the project to other schools.

“Everyone has their different ways of expressing themselves,” Velazquez said.

“It sends a message by letting everyone know that we should be happy and have peace,” Tippett said.

Chesebrough saw it for the first time during the 9:30 a.m. Ash Wednesday school Mass.

“I think it looked pretty cool,” he said.

Hoerl has high hopes for the future of the “Peace of Art” project.

“I think it’s going to become one of those projects that’s evolving,” said Hoerl, who has taught at St. John for seven years. “Art at its core is able to communicate with everybody.”

Everyone will take his or her own interpretation from art, and Hoerl hopes that people will be able to see Catholic school values in the “Peace of Art.” The display will travel to every school that contributed to the project for the remainder of the school year.

St. John Parish hosted Masses throughout the day to distribute ashes. After the 9:30 a.m. school Mass for grades K-8, principal JoMarie Tolj and pastor Father Mark Bialek visited the pre-kindergarten students in their classrooms to distribute ashes to the littlest members of the community.

Email Emily Rosenthal at erosenthal@CatholicReview.org