Fall 2010 - Central Catholic High School :: K-Space Web Page

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16 Feature Story | Fall 2010and enthusiasm, the traditions of CentralCatholic flourished.Father Michael Billian saw the schoolprogress in a number of areas. The Christthe King Chapel was renovated in 1987,national recognition for Drug EducationAwareness camein 1989, and theprestigious “Schoolof Excellence”Award from theU.S. Departmentof Education wasreceived in 1991.Central Catholicremains the onlyCatholic school inOhio to receive bothawards. Jack Altenburger was appointed thesecond lay principal in 1993.The “Shaping the Future ThroughLeadership in Education” movement beganin 1992 with three main goals: campusdevelopment, academic enhancement, andconstruction of an activity and convocationcenter. Ten acquired acres doubled the sizeof the campus, a new 350-car lighted lotprovided needed parking space, a drop-offloop in front of the school streamlinedtraffic flow, and Shillelagh Field behind theschool began to see softball action. TheHonors and Advanced Placement Programsexpanded, three new computer labs addedmore computers, and the “Project 100”program for academically challengedstudents was created.Thanks to many generous donors, groundwas broken for the Sullivan Activity andConvocation Center on May 11, 1996. Theclass of 1998 was the first to graduate inthe Sullivan Center. In the fall of 1998, theGallagher Athletic Complex opened.The New MilleniumFather Gregory Hite came to CentralCatholic in 1999, succeeding Father Billianas pastor and president. During his yearsthe Central Catholic atmosphere grew in the“Irish Spirit” as the school movedforward into the new millennium.Fr. Hite put a lot of his time andenergy into the development ofthe Millennium Fund, a campaignto grow the endowment fundsin support of student tuitionassistance and faculty and staffsupport. Fr. Hite also emphasizedthe spiritual side of the school,working hard to teach the messageof Christ and instill in the studentsand staff an appreciation of the mission ofthe Catholic Church.Computers in 1998 Computers in 2010Fr. Billian addressing thestudent body.Fr. Hite said that during his tenure hismajor challenge was to find ways to makea quality Catholic education affordable, aswell as to maintainstaff compensationat a competitive level.“Central Catholic hasserved generationsof students in thesehalls and classrooms,”he said. “We wishto faithfully servegenerations to come.”When current CentralCatholic presidentFr. Dennis Hartigan arrived in 2004, hesaid, “Central Catholic to me has alwaysbeen considered the flagship of the ToledoDiocesan schools, so in my mind it wasalways a school that had a great reputation.It has to be, without a doubt, the bestCatholic school in Toledo. My hope is tocontinue on with the proud tradition that’shere.”During Fr. Hartigan’stenure the FightingIrish football teamwon the 2005Division II StateChampionship.Fr. Hartigan wasinstrumental insecuring a donationfrom CharlesGallagher ‘56 andDiane (Bertling)Gallagher ‘58 towardcompletion of the Gallagher AthleticComplex. The stadium was dedicatedprior to the homecoming football game onSeptember 28, 2007 and has since been thesite of many victories and spirited tailgatingcelebrations.In 2005, the first all-school Mass of theyear began to be held outside on theCCHS front lawn. The fall of 2007 saw theintroduction ofOne ConnectedCommunity,a programdesigned toprovide eachincomingfreshman studentwith a laptopcomputer. Thegoal of theprogram is to help teachers and studentsmaximize and enhance their educationalexperience and ensure that all students areprepared for the digital world of today andtomorrow. The girls’ varsity volleyball teamwon the Division II State Championship.In December 2007, Gene Kranz ’51presented his NASA Ambassador ofExploration award to Central Catholic,and it is housed in the Kranz SPACE Roomof the school library. The award includesa lunar sample brought back to Earthfrom the Moon by the crew of Apollo 17.Kranz felt that CCHS was the best locationto display the award to inspire futuregenerations of explorers.In early 2009, Central Catholic became thefirst high school in Northwest Ohio and thefirst Catholic high school in the entire stateto be named an International BaccalaureateWorld School.Last fall, a new media production facilitydebuted at CCHS, allowing live broadcastsof daily announcements live on our website via the Irish News Network (INN). Thenew technology also allows Central CatholicMass on the Front Lawnwww.centralcatholic.org
to broadcast live events - such as footballand basketball games, school assemblies,and the graduation ceremony - over theInternet. The newly remodeled classroomalso features an instructional area for classeson computer applications and design anda professionally designed full multi-trackrecording studio.The CCHS Reads program continues topromote lifelong reading as it provides allstudents and faculty with a book to readand discuss as it is integrated into classroomlessons. The author of the book is theninvited to speak to the student body atan all-school assembly. This past spring,CCHS welcomed Tony Dungy, author andformer professional football player andNFL coach, after the entire school readhis book Uncommon, Finding Your Path toSignificance.Go Irish!Just as so many Central Catholic alumnipoint to that special Irish spirit as the“thing” that sets us apart from other schools,our current students feel the same. In fact,a group of senior student governmentmembers have created a club called SidelineSpirit with the goal of uniting students,faculty, alumni, parents, and fans togetherto form an “Irish Nation.” The group hopesto get more people to attend more FightingIrish athletic events, not just football andbasketball games, and they have createdgame themes and colors for everyone tofollow.“I went with agroup of friendsto a tennismatch, and werealized thatthere were veryfew studentswho actuallywent,” saidsenior MattKolena, thegroup’s founder.“We have someMatt Kolena ‘11of the besttalent in the cityon our tennisteam and to have only a few kids see themplay was just kind of wrong, so we decidedto do something about it. We brought morepeople into it and made it an official club.”The club also wants to maximizeexcitement at the sporting events that arealready well attended, and the membershave put together a schedule of eventsinvolving themes and colors for eachgame throughout the fall season. Thesegames include football, tennis, volleyball,and soccer. In addition, Sideline Spirit isplanning some contests, such as the MostSpirited Fan and Minute to Win It, tohelp energize the students. “The spirit issomething that sets Central Catholic apartfrom other schools,” said Matt. “We arelooking at how we can push our spirit to thenext level.”To learn more about Sideline Spirit andto become a member of the Irish Nation,please visit their web site atwww.sidelinespirit.wordpress.com.Looking Towardthe FutureCentral Catholic High School is committedto being a leader in education and thecommunity for many, many years to come.With the introduction of the InternationalBaccalaureate Programme, Central Catholicwill continue to stress the importance of aglobal education, and we believe the numberof international students and teachers willincrease. We currently have a teacher fromChina, two students from Thailand, andstudents from France, Spain, Italy, China,and Iran, and we expect to see students frommany other countries in the future.Central Catholic will continue to stress theacademic achievements of our studentsand the importance of 21 st century learningskills. Plans are being made to implementa learning program at CCHS that involvescritical thinking and problem solving,communication, collaboration, creativityand innovation, media and technologyskills, and life and career skills.As CentralCatholiccontinuesto grow andchange tomeet theneeds of ourstudentsand ourcommunity,developmentof ourphysicalcampus willbe necessary.We willlook forgreener solutions for our energy needs andconcentrate on energy efficiency. In thefuture, we hope to build a new performingand fine arts center, a new varsity baseballstadium, and a new science and technologycenter. Students at Central Catholic willcontinue to have the most up to datetechnology at their disposal, and somedayvideoconferencing, distance learning classes,and virtual field trips will be the norm.As we look to the future of Central CatholicHigh School, we know that the Irish spiritand tradition that has become legendaryover the first 90 years of this outstandinginstitution will never change. As alumniand friends of CCHS, it is our duty andprivilege to pass on the honor of a CentralCatholic education to future generationsand leaders of tomorrow.Central Catholic’sLeadersReverend Francis J. Macelwane: 1920-1921Reverend A.J. Sawkins: 1921-1925Reverend Raymond G. Kirsch: 1925-1941Monsignor John L. Harrington: 1941-1968Reverend James Steinle: 1968-1973Reverend John A. Thomas: 1973-1976Reverend Martin Donnelly: 1976-1987Reverend Michael Billian: 1987-1999Reverend Gregory Hite: 1999-2004Reverend Dennis Hartigan: 2004 to PresentMusical HistoryAs Central Catholic celebrates 90 yearsof educational excellence and legendaryspirit, it is important to remember that theperforming arts have been a major part ofthe tradition over the years. For most of our90 years, the CCHS music department haspresented a musical, with 2010’s productionof The Sound of Musicmarking 81 yearsof show-stoppingperformances.For the first 25years, the musicalproductions werecalled operettas andwere often worksof Gilbert andSullivan. In 1930,Central Catholicpresented its very firstoperetta, Peggy FromParis. By 1955, theannual productionbecame known asOne Faith. One Community. One Mission.
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