New Turf Field Awaits Cardinals - St. Charles Preparatory School

Chess Club gift provides needed
game boards
The St. Charles Chess Club was the beneficiary
of a special gift from St. Charles
parent Dr. James Aman who donated 15
new chess sets and roll-up boards to the
school last fall.
The father of sophomore AliReza
Shirvani-Aman, Dr. Aman is department
chair of computer science at Xavier University
in Chicago. Describing himself as
an “old chess nut,” he holds a tournament
director certification from the U.S. Chess
Federation. He works chess tournaments
handling pairing and floor monitor duties.
He said he was prompted to offer the
gift when his son Ali told him the club
was going to have to limit the number of
members because they didn’t have enough
sets and boards for everyone to play and
practice.
“A simple thing like this inexpensive
equipment should not stand between
these men and competing as represen-
Grotto Devotion
St. Charles secretary Laurie Berndt (left, at the microphone)
follows a group of students in offering a petition
during the school’s annual Marian Devotion at the
campus’ Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto.
Trash and treasure
Members of the St. Charles Student Council and
Environmental Service Club in March
participated in a clean-up project in with the Friends of
Alum Creek Tributaries. The groups, led by St. Charles
faculty members Linda Haas and Aaaron Schrein,
cleared away trash and debris from sensitive areas
along Alum Creek, the greenway trail, and roadside
creekbank running between Wolfe Park and Main
Street. The student volunteers collected 40 bags of
trash, not including 12 bags of recyclables (glass,
aluminum, etc.). They also pulled from Alum Creek 32
individual items too large to fit in trash bags. Among
other things, those included a car grill, bumper, and
drive train. Recycling of some metal items produced
about $50 that will help support activities of the new
environmental club being formed at St. Charles
The Distinctive Leader in Catholic Education
tatives of St. Charles,” Dr. Aman said.
“There is a tremendous amount of raw
ability in the St. Charles student body,
and I don’t see any good reason why the
school cannot dominate the local chess
scene and compete aggressively at the
state and national levels,” he added.
Ali’s mother, Shieda Shirvani-Aman,
was also very involved with the club. She
often provided transportation for the boys
to and from the matches, which were held
once a week at Fort Hayes.
The Chess Club, which senior guidance
counselor Ted Hummer has moderated
since the mid-1980s, has been in the
Columbus Area School Chess League for
about 15 years. The league season runs
from January through February. This
year’s team president was senior Vikas
Choudhary.
“St. Charles this season fielded two
teams but usually only one team competed
each week,” Hummer said. Other
members of the league include Columbus
Alternative, Briggs, Brookhaven, Centennial,
Eastmoor, Linden-McKinley, Marion
Franklin, Mifflin, Northland, West, Whetstone,
Upper Arlington, Bexley, Columbus
Academy, Delaware Hayes, Grandview,
Hilliard Davidson, Bishop Hartley, Dublin
Jerome, New Albany, and The Graham
School.
First Jazz Ensemble CD produced
in new SC studio
The St. Charles band program has truly
fallen in love with its new home, the Monsignor
F. Thomas Gallen ’40 Music Room
on the third floor of the Student Services
& Fine Arts Center. During the previous
two years, musicians were forced to practice
in the cramped “Tower Room.”
Mr. Rick Brunetto said the new surroundings
help bring about significant
improvement to the band program. There
is a large space for the full ensemble and
the office space serves as a control room.
As a surprise bonus, Brunetto found the
acoustics in the new music room are ideal
for recording. As a result, the St. Charles
band program now has a recording studio
Here’s the jacket for the St. Charles jazz band’s first CD
entitled Take ONE.
Music compilation
Band director Rick Brunetto and several St. Charles
students practice use of a mixing board and digital recording
computer software in the Monsignor F. Thomas
Gallen Music Room faculty office. From left are junior
Andrew Latimer, sophomore Zach Ireson, freshman
Sam Binnig (seated), Brunetto, and senior Alan Tyson.
with newly-purchased recording equipment
and many new instruments. These
were funded by proceeds from the sale
of Bobble Heads, the annual jazz band
dinner dance, and generous contributions
from the band boosters organization.
Brunetto describes the studio as state
of the art. It features a digital computerbased
recording system with mixer,
speakers, and microphones. He says there
has been much student interest in the
studio, and he’s now offering a weekly
class in audio engineering.
Sessions are held on Tuesdays after
school. Students learn the theory of the
analog and digital recording process,
acoustics of sound, console and microphone
technology, and the mixdown
process of mastering a CD.
Using the new equipment, the students
of the new music technology class engineered
and produced Take ONE, the St.
Charles Jazz Ensemble’s first CD recording.
The ensemble spent many hours over
the past semester working in the studio.
The CD was released at the band’s annual
dinner dance May 5 at the 94th Aero
Squadron Restaurant.
“This new facility is a joy to teach in
and I can see a difference in the quality of
our music making and the response of our
students,” Brunetto said. “It will surely
help us attract talented music students to
St. Charles in the future,” he predicted.
The new CD includes many swing
classics and favorites that the band has
performed during the past several years.
Copies of the CD are available for $10 by
contacting Rick Brunetto at rickbrunetto@
mac.com or calling 614-419-5076.