THECONNEC ION - Cathedral

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CHS is “Rising from the Ashes”There are moments in time thathave great importance for a specialgroup of people. One such event forCathedral High School was a fire onDecember 11, 2006.Thankfully, no one was hurt inthe fire, and while the fire damagewas contained to the boys’ lockerroom, much of the first floor of theschool suffered soot and smokedamage. In its story about the fireon December 12 The SpringfieldRepublican estimated the damageto be $250,000. They were wayshort of the reality. The auditoriumwas out of service until March andthe gymnasium won’t be usableuntil the new school year opens inSeptember, and the losses of athleticequipment and other items weresignificant. The insurance claim,including significantly upgraded lifesafetysystems, will total more than$1,500,000.And while no one was lookingfor a tragedy, the fire enabled theadministration to consider some capitalFootball blocking equipment destroyed by fire.improvements that would not havebeen contemplated for several years.In a Letter to the Editor, published inThe Springfield Republican, PrincipalJohn Miller suggested, “Out of a sadmoment in our history, much goodhas come.” He was writing to publiclythank the many people who steppedup to assist Cathedral, including TheElms College, Western New EnglandCollege, American InternationalCollege, Springfield College and theSpringfield Public Schools.Cathedral High School, on SurreyRoad, opened in 1959, and whilethe building has aged well - it stillprovides a great environment for aschool - there are some areas that needsignificant updating. The gymnasiumand athletic facilities are one, theauditorium is a second and the sciencewing and its very outdated science labsis also a priority of the administrationand the Board.The fire precipitated action onsubstantially renovating the lockerrooms and otherareas of thegymnasium wing.In addition, someof the auditoriumupgrades werenecessitated,including newcurtains and a newsound system.There is stillsignificant work to be done, but weare already making progress.In January the school administrationrecognized that there was asubstantial difference in cost betweenthe insurance payoff and the workto be done at Cathedral, and sothe Advancement Office was askedto spearhead a campaign to raise$350,000. Forty-six alumni fromthe classes of 1960 - 1995 agreedto sign letters to their classmates toask for support for the school. TheAdvancement Office generated morethan 16,000 personalized lettersin February and to date the schoolhas received more than $150,000in gifts from more than 900 donorsin response to the Rising from theAshes campaign. But there is stillmore to raise to meet the goal. If youhaven’t made a gift, please considera special gift to help Cathedral moveahead with these renovations.“Cathedral is an outstanding schoolwith a great tradition and verygenerous and concerned alumni,”stated Mr. Miller. “We are verygrateful to the alumni for steppingup and helping us work to rise upfrom this tragic event and moveahead to make Cathedral HighSchool even better and more capableof meeting the educational needs ofthe young people from Springfieldand surrounding towns today andin the future. We will be a betterschool for having come through thisunfortunate event because it has broughtus together in a very special way.”THECONNEC IONSpring 2007The Connection ispublished twotimes per year.The purpose of the publication is toprovide information about our alumniand about the school to alumni,friends, faculty, and current students.PrincipalJohn Millerjmiller@cathedralhigh.orgAssociate PrincipalWilliam McBride, ’65bmcbride@cathedralhigh.orgDean of StudentsChristine Juddcjudd@cathedralhigh.orgAdmissions DirectorAnne Pellan-Sheaapellan-shea@cathedralhigh.orgDirector of AdvancementNed Hogannhogan@cathedralhigh.orgAlumni DirectorTerry Cosgriff, ’67tcosgriff@cathedralhigh.orgAssociate Director of AdvancementEllen Mastroianni Gallivan, ’65egallivan@cathedralhigh.orgAthletic DirectorJames Angelosjangelos@cathedralhigh.orgBusiness AdministratorStephen Presnalspresnal@cathedralhigh.orgDirector of GuidanceKevin McCarthykmccarthy@cathedralhigh.orgDesignerDon Forest, ’86Cathedral High School260 Surrey RoadSpringfield, MA 01118Phone: (413) 782-5285Web address:www.cathedralhigh.orgCathedral High School • Alumni News • page
Carole O’Malley grew up on HungryHill in the 1950’s and early 1960’s.She encountered struggles that attimes overwhelmed her, but in writingHUNGRY HILL; A Memoir she hasfound her voice, both as a teenager andas an adult.Like many Cathedral High Schoolgraduates of the time, she grew up inan Irish-Catholic family in Our Ladyof Hope Parish. But unlike any ofher classmates that she was aware of,Carole and her brothers (Michael ’61,Daniel ’64, Gerald ’67, and Stephen ’70)graduated from Cathedral as orphans.Their mother succumbed to cancer in1959 and their father died in 1962.Carole graduated from Cathedralin June 1963 and went on to theUniversity of Massachusetts, whereshe met David Gaunt from Hadley. AtUMass Carole achieved Cum Laudestatus, just as she had been an achieverat Our Lady of Hope and Cathedral.After graduation she taught for oneyear at Marcus Kiley Junior High inSpringfield and then moved on to abrief career in the insurance industryin Hartford. After David and Carolewere married in 1970 they moved toCharlottesville, VA and eventually toNew York City. Carole and David havethree daughters who have found greatsuccess in school and life - Abby is anattorney who is a clerk for a FederalCourt judge in New Orleans, Susanis a Ph.D. candidate in history at theUniversity of Chicago, and Victoria is asenior at Duke University.In recent years Carole has turned towriting as an avocation, and morerecently as a vocation. She has writtenseveral books (although none of themhas yet been published) and she haspenned several plays, including TheDance of the Seven-Headed Mouse,which has received critical acclaim andwon an award. Now she is preparingfor the publication of her first book,HUNGRY HILL; A Memoir, which is thestory of her living through her parents’Through tradition, Cathedral has faith…in the future.A Writer’s Journey to Happiness -From Hungry Hill to Yorkvilledeaths - years that coincided with herattendance at Cathedral High School.Written from the perspective of a teenagedgirl, HUNGRY HILL is intended asa “way for me to figure out my life” andas a way to encourage others to dealwith the challenges of a parent’s alcoholand drug addiction differently. “I wantto help teenagers know that it is okayto talk about alcoholism and its impacton them, and I hope to encourageadults who are not the addicted adultto reach out to young people to assurethem of their care and their support.”Carole told Connections that as a childshe felt a certain amount of shamebecause she was different from herclassmates - her mother died just aweek before she graduated from OurLady of Hope - and try as she would,Carole could not rescue her muchlovedfather from the rapid progressionof his alcoholism.Today Carole Gaunt speaks of her daysat Cathedral as trying ones, but says itwas the support of her friends and theCathedral High School • Alumni News • page structure at Cathedral that saved her.“My home life was chaotic to say theleast, but at school the sisters providedsome discipline and consistency. Whenyou live with an alcoholic parent youcan never know what will be waitingbehind the door that night, but atCathedral I knew what the rules wereand if I did a certain thing, there wouldbe a certain result. I also rememberSr. Patricia Joseph made it a point toask me how I was doing in the weeksafter my father’s death. At the time, Ifelt excruciatingly uncomfortable but,looking back as an adult, I admire herfor having the courage to confront astudent’s grief.”In June 2007 The University ofMassachusetts Press will publishHUNGRY HILL; A Memoir, andCarole will be in the Springfield areafor a couple of book signings. Shewill be at The Odyssey Bookstore inSouth Hadley on Thursday, June 21at 7:00 PM and at Barnes and Nobleat Ingleside sometime after that date.Please check www.hungryhillthebook.com for information.“As I think about my life’s accomplishments,my greatest sense of achievementis around my family. I have a wonderfulhusband of 37 years and three specialdaughters. It is so different from what Iexperienced, and I think that my years atCathedral taught me to make thoughtfulchoices. Now I want to be able to letothers who have survived difficultchildhoods know that they don’t have tokeep bottled up the pain I buried for fartoo many years,” Mrs. Gaunt reflected.Continuing to give back to Cathedral,Carole opened her Upper East SideManhattan home on April 25th to 35Cathedral alumni, as part of the school’seffort to reach out to alumni who nolonger live in the Springfield area. Itwas an especially wonderful eveningthanks to Carole’s graciousness andhospitality. (Please see the story, onpage 5 about these special events, andhow to have an event in your area!)
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Page 10 and 11: HOLD THAT DATE!2006 CATHEDRAL REUNI
Page 12: Alum Notes continued…1992 Emily E

THECONNEC ION - Cathedral

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