Fall 2005 - St. Charles Preparatory School

Student News
St. Charles Students
Respond to Victims of Katrina
Richard Stedman ’54
I
n the immediate wake of Hurricane
Katrina, students, staff and families of
St. Charles Preparatory School asked
how they could help survivors of one of the
worst natural disasters to strike the
United States in the last century. The
administration reached out to offer
displaced Louisiana students a place to go
to school and the Student Council organized
weekly monetary collections throughout the
month of September.
No displaced students accepted the
invitation to come, but the school-wide
effort raised $5,000 for the disaster relief
effort. There was much thought and
discussion about what specific cause or
group would receive the funds. Rather than
just donating money to the American Red
Cross or other relief group, the St. Charles
administration and its students sought a
true link or relationship between the school
and those the money helped.
Just such a worthy cause and connection
were brought to the attention of faculty
member and Student Council moderator,
John O’Neil, by Richard “Dick” Stedman, a
long-time St. Charles Advisory Board
member (now an emeritus) and a 1954
graduate.
Stedman has two sons who live in New
Orleans: Patrick, Class of 1997, is a
student at Loyola University in New
Orleans, and Richard, Class of 1989, works
and lives in the city. Both were in the area
at the onset of Hurricane Katrina and were
very fortunate in that their home and
apartment were only slightly damaged by
the hurricane and its aftermath.
Through the Stedman family, St.
Charles was told of the plight of New
Orleans Jesuit High School, an all-boys
preparatory school in
New Orleans that
suffered extensive
flood damage. St.
Charles, under the
leadership of the
student council and
moderator O’Neil,
began taking up a
weekly homeroom
collection throughout
the month of September
with those
contributions going
towards the hurricane
relief effort. Principal Dominic Cavello
discussed with O’Neil, students, and
faculty members the best destination for
the student collections.
It was the Stedman brothers’ father,
Dick, who came up with the idea to help a
“local” institution. Jesuit High in New
Orleans appeared to be a good fit. Dick and
his sons all agreed that Jesuit was an
obvious choice because of its similarities to
St. Charles. Richard contacted the school’s
president, Fr. Anthony McGinn, through a
website set up to help the scattered Jesuit
students and faculty communicate with
each other. O’Neil then followed up with
phone call to Fr. McGinn.
Fr. McGinn said the school’s entire
first floor was a total loss, including its
auditorium, cafeteria, student commons,
ROTC armory, bookstore, 11 classrooms,
switchboard, some offices and meeting
rooms, and the maintenance department.
Jesuit lost most of its athletic equipment
and its physical education building sustained
heavy damage, especially to the roof
and hardwood floor. Some of the school’s
heating and air-conditioning equipment
also was damaged. Jesuit’s principal, as
well as several priests and a maintenance
man, had stayed at the school throughout
the storm and were stranded there for a
few days after the hurricane when they
were rescued by boat!
Fr. McGinn said that the school’s flood
insurance will cover only a fraction of the
damages, and any public assistance grants
to help in its rebuilding efforts
won’t be enough to cover the costs to
rebuild Jesuit. “Eventually, we will turn to
our loyal and faithful alumni and many
friends whose generosity has helped Jesuit
through the many good years,” he reported
on the school’s website.
Because the students have been scattered,
Jesuit is running a night shift at two
other locations. About 300 of its middle
school and high school students were
transferred to Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
School in Houston where split
sessions were arranged. There students
receive instruction under 20 of their own
faculty, with Strake, allowing the New
Orleans students to begin their instructional
days at 3 p.m. Back in New Orleans,
400 students attend St. Martin’s Episcopal
School in nearby Metairie and endure the
Help for “brother” school in New Orleans
Student Council president Kurt Meadows hands Council
moderator and faculty member John O’Neil a $5,000
check and a copy of the St. Charles 75-year history book
that were forwarded to Jesuit High School, an all-boys
preparatory school in New Orleans. The check
represents St. Charles student donations for Hurricane
Katrina relief.
same inconvenience: their “school day”
runs from about 4 to 10 p.m. each weekday.
Another 740 of Jesuit’s students
remain scattered throughout the United
States.
In a phone conversation with O’Neil,
Fr. McGinn spoke with conviction about
the commitment of the students and the
staff in the face of adversity. He expressed
concern about the 20% of his students
whose families had lost their homes. Fr.
McGinn spoke with patience of the plans to
rebuild Jesuit, indicating that much would
depend on the availability of work crews,
many of whom had been relocated elsewhere
in response to the widespread
destruction of the Category-4 hurricane.
Jesuit High’s plan is to begin reconstruction
around Thanksgiving after initial
cleanup and decontamination are completed.
“We will be able to return to the
building on Monday, November 28. We will
use the second, third, and fourth floors.
The entire first floor is gone. Everything in
the auditorium, cafeteria, and gym has
been lost,” Fr. McGinn said.
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St. Charles Preparatory School