THECONNEC ION - Cathedral

Cathedral High School Goes on the RoadI’ll bet that you thought CathedralHigh School was on Surrey Road inEast Forest Park!But if you were in the right placethis spring you could find CathedralHigh School in Boston, New York andWashington, DC.Yes, groups of alumni have gatheredin each of those cities to celebrateCathedral and to learn what’shappening on Surrey Road these days.John Miller, the school Principal,Terry Cosgriff, Class of 1967, theAlumni Director, and Ned Hogan, theDirector of Advancement, have beenout meeting and speaking to alumnibecause Cathedral wants to continueto be a part of the lives of alumni longafter they graduate.For four years you walked the halls,studied hard and built life-longfriendships. And for those of you whograduated in the 1950’s and 1960’s itwas only many years later that you heardfrom Cathedral High School again. Andit was mostly about the money - howmuch could you give to the school?Let’s face it! Pragmatically, CathedralHigh School must count on the alumnito be a source of financial support.Today tuition covers about 75% of thecost of educating each student, andfor many families in Springfield thetuition has reached the point wherethey are priced out of the marketwithout significant tuition assistance.So the school needs the alumni to begenerous supporters to provide morethan $500,000 in tuition assistance,and to provide much-needed supportto academic and co-curricular programs.But we want you to know that Cathedralalso cares about YOU. We want to meetthe alumni, we want them to connectand network with one another and toremember the good times, whetherin the tight spaces of the Gas Houseand Dog House on Elliott Street or inthe expanses of the “new” Cathedralalong Surrey Road. Therefore, we havelaunched a new outreach effort to “takeCathedral on the road!”The first alumni event outside ofSpringfield was held in Boston inFebruary. Members of the Classesof 1968 - 1972 who live in EasternMassachusetts, southern NewHampshire and Rhode Island wereinvited to Clarke’s Pub at Faneuil Hall. Itcame about because of the work of EdSullivan and Bob Foley, both of the Classof 1970. While the turnout was small, itbegan a new tradition at Cathedral.The next event was on March 28thin Washington, DC, hosted byCongressman Richard Neal at theLongworth House Office Building.In addition to meeting and greetingalumni, we all were graced with thepresence of Congressman Neal whotaught at Cathedral in the late 1970’sand whose children all attended theschool in the 90’s. The event drewapproximately 50 alumni from the areaand was a hit for all who attended.On April 25th Carole O’Malley Gaunt,Class of 1963, opened her home onthe Upper East Side of Manhattan toapproximately 35 alumni from NewYork and Long Island. That evening,like the others before it, was anevening of wine and light refreshmentsand time for Cathedral alumni togather and reconnect with one anotherand with the school.Each of these events was intended asopportunities for Cathedral alumni torenew old friendships, and meet newfolks from a variety of classes. We alsohope that they learned a bit of whatis happening at Cathedral today. It isimportant as the school looks aheadto having to make significant capitalimprovements that we build back therelationship that each alumnus/a oncehad with the school.If you are a graduate who lives outsidethe Springfield area, and would like tohave an alumni-networking event inyour area, please contact Ned Hoganat Cathedral at 413-782-5285 x114or nhogan@cathedralhigh.org. We arealways looking for new alumni toengage in this effort to reach out.Congressman Richie Neal, Pat Farmer ’01, and Alison McQuade ’01Ed Koenig ’73, Karen Balogh, and Walter Dufresne ’75Rachel Barrett, Pat Hayes ’84, John Miller, and Marco Mazzocco ’92Barbara Macken ’75 andJoan Macken Connolly ’75Jeannette Tait ’59 andCarole O’Malley Gaunt ’63Cathedral High School • Alumni News • page