Winter Magazine 2021-22 FY by Lancaster Catholic High School

Catholic H igh Magazine

Table of Contents

The Catholic High Magazine is published by the Lancaster Catholic Advancement Office.

Page Title 4 LCHS Celebrates Historic Milestone, Exceeds $11.9M Total 6 Leadership Roles Key To Success 8 Science Classes Transformed In STEM Innovation Center 10 Artists Thrive In National Contests 11 Art Room To Move From Longtime Home 12 Campus Ministry Creates Internship Position 14 Fall Sports Find Individual, Team Success 16 Give Back: Sembradores de Semillas 18 Varsity Club Continues To Focus on Service 19 Esports Club Creates Community Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, and that it was created with the school’s Mission Statement in mind. A digital version of this magazine is available on our website under the Advancement tab.

Lancaster Catholic Mission Statement

Centered on Jesus Christ, in the Roman Catholic tradition, our mission is to form students who are intellectually astute, passionately faithful and socially responsible.

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Tim Hamer, President Joe Sahd ‘01, Director of Advancement Angela Baumler ‘97, Director of Enrollment Kevin Carver, Director of Strategic Marketing & Communication Betty Isaacson, Advancement Services Coordinator Emily Svetecz ‘13, Assistant Director of Enrollment & Marketing Lori Wagner ‘83, Special Events Coordinator Hannah Woodward, Annual Fund & General Phase Coordinator Special thanks to all of the contributors to this publication, including: Editor-in-Chief: Kevin Carver Associate Editor: Emily Svetecz ‘13 Special Contributors: Art Bamert Angela Baumler ‘97 Anne Bleistine Noelle Cybulski ‘14 Chris Hagerty Tim Hamer Joe Sahd ‘01 Copy Editor: Sue Martin ‘72 Printing: Prestige Color, Inc. Cover Design by Kevin Carver. Photo Credits: LCHS Advancement Office, Eric Forberger, Chris Knight & LifeTouch.

From the President’s Desk: Parading through the pandemic seems like the best way to describe life at Lancaster Catholic High School over the last several months. We opened the school year safely to in-person learning for all students when—for the second year—many schools around us did not, following the universal guidance that it would be best for our students to do so. We overcame the tremendous COVID-imposed challenges on the worldwide supply chain to complete the STEM Innovation Center—the first campus renovations since 1964—in time for the first day of school. Our students and graduates made their marks in all fields of endeavor and lived our Mission by contributing thousands of hours of service to communities of need from Water Street Mission to Camden, N.J. Last but by no means least, we exceeded the $11.9 million goal of the Cherish, Love and Honor capital campaign by raising over $13 million and counting!!! None of these achievements would have been remotely possible without the extraordinary support of our benefactors, unstinting devotion of our faculty and staff and dogged determination of our students and their families to rise to meet the myriad challenges brought on by the pandemic. For all of us, those challenges continue. And so we thank our loving God for the many blessings He has bestowed on the Lancaster Catholic Community and ask our Blessed Mother to continue to envelope us all under Her mantle of protection as we look ahead to whatever 2022 has in store. I hope you enjoy the details of these many accomplishments on the following pages. Live Jesus,

LCHS Celebrates Historic Milestone, Exceeds $11.9M Total CHERISH LOVE HONOR CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

CLH timeline

he Lancaster Catholic High School community has reason to celebrate. With the help of many generous donors, the school announced that it has exceeded its ambitious $11.9 Million goal for the Cherish · Love · Honor Capital Campaign! The drive kicked off in the summer of 2019 to begin the process of renovating the 94-year old school on Juliette Avenue, the top priority of the school’s just completed strategic plan. The LCHS Advancement Office had just launched the quiet phase of the campaign as the coronavirus hit, but, despite the many challenges that arose, the school raised July 2019 $13.04 Million for the project in gifts and pledges. The overall price tag and timing of CLH Quiet Phase Begins the project has changed (see purple inset on page 5), however, the school continues to move forward with Phase 1B, with construction projected to begin in May of this year. “Reaching the goal has been inspiring and exciting,” CLH Co-Chair John Jacunski explained. “The school has never had a capital campaign of this size and the response has just been phenomenal. It shows what a strong commitment there is in the school community to advance the mission of Lancaster Catholic and that is inspiring. I’m also very excited about the path the school is on and now it has the resources to make the vision of improving the school a reality.” LCHS President Tim Hamer’s vision started with a strategic plan process shortly after he stepped foot on campus in 2016. The plan identified creating and funding a campus master facilities renovation plan as priority one. While there’s still work to be done to finish the overall project, Catholic High successfully opened the brand-new STEM Innovation Center entirely paid for with campaign funds in time for the first class of the Fall 2021 semester. Partners in Mission Senior Partner Chris Hagerty worked with Lancaster Catholic throughout the campaign and, along with Hamer and Director of Advancement Joe Sahd ‘01, was integral in securing eight seven-figure gifts for the campaign. “Our early gifts truly set the pace for the whole campaign,” Hamer said. “It has been a personal and professional privilege to represent Partners in Mission and serve as counsel for the most successful campaign in the history of Catholic High,” Hagerty said. “Never before have I been a part of any campaign that realized eight million-dollar donors, which is simply a philanthropic way of saying ‘We love this school!’ “Congratulations and thank you to Tim, Joe, the volunteers, the donors, and the entire LCHS community for your inspirational and difference making generosity.”

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COVID Confounds Construction Calendar

he COVID Pandemic continues to force changes in the pricing and timetable of the Phasing Plan to implement the remainder of Phase 1 of our Campus Master Plan. The original, pre-Pandemic Phasing Plan called for construction to begin this summer on the Catholic Student Life Center, which includes a new cafeteria and student commons, with completion expected during the spring of 2023. Massive pandemic-driven supply chain delays—including a 12-month lead time on all of the roof materials—now make that impossible. Construction will still begin this summer but now completion of the facility is slated to occur sometime in 2023. This will delay the possible start date for construction of the Auditorium—the final component of Phase 1—until at least the summer of 2024. In addition to the COVID-imposed lengthy delays and great uncertainty in the supply chain, despite exceeding the $11.9 million Cherish, Love and Honor Capital Campaign goal by 10%, the pandemic has caused price increases of at least $2.3 million over the pre-COVID Phase 1 project cost projections. Undeterred by these enormous challenges, President Tim Hamer stated that “though conditions have changed, we will continue to do as much as we can as soon as we can within the constraints of the COVID conditions until we complete all of Phase 1.”

Nov. 12, 2020 CLH Phase I Announced

Dec. 9, 2021 8th Million-Dollar Gift Secured

Sept. 7, 2021 STEM Innovation Center Opens For Classes May 2021 Construction Begins on STEM Innovation Center

Sept. 18, 2021 CLH Public Launch / STEM Center Grand Opening

Summer of 2024 Projected Start of Auditorium Construction May 2022 Projected Start of Construction Catholic Student Life Center

Cutting the ribbon on the new STEM Innovation Center are LCHS Board Chair Sean Killen ‘96, CLH Co-Chair Suzanne Ganse ‘67, CLH Committee Leader Steve Smith ‘64 and CLH Co-Chair Gerry Ganse ‘67.

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Leadership Roles Key To Success

resident Tim Hamer credited the success of the Cherish · Love · Honor Capital Campaign to those individuals who love Lancaster Catholic High School and set the pace as leaders for the campaign. “Capital Campaigns are like people sitting around the edge of the pool on a chilly day,” Hamer explained. “Everyone looks to see who’s going to jump in first.” Hamer chose John Jacunski, a parent of three LCHS alumni, as well as Gerry & Suzanne Ganse ‘67 to be Co-Chairs of the CLH Leadership Committee early on in the process. Plenty of others joined along the way, but this trio served as a backbone for an ambitious project. Ganse, after serving a term as Chairman of the school’s Board of Directors, stepped right in to this role of campaign leadership. “LCHS has tried multiple times over the years to elicit support of a capital campaign for building renovations without success,” he detailed. “So, what made this campaign different? We were able to communicate to our stakeholders/benefactors the confidence that their investment would be well used under the direction of Mr. Hamer and Mr. (Terry) Klugh. Any plan or goal is only as good as the leaders who execute the plan or goal, and our leadership team did an excellent job at guiding us to reach our goal. That tells us that the mission of Lancaster Catholic High School is alive and well!” The need for leadership continues as Lancaster Catholic will need to meet the massive project price increases with even greater support from its many benefactors.

“While the donated funds will be used for bricks and mortar, the spirit of past and future Crusaders are and will continue to be the real building blocks at Lancaster Catholic.”

///////// ~ Gerry Ganse ‘67

Cherish · Love · Honor Capital Campaign Stats as of 01/24/22

$13.04 M

1890

Total Dollars Raised in Gifts & Pledges

Total Gifts

Million-Dollar Gifts

Graduating Classes Represented in the Donors

Classrooms & Labs in the New STEM Innovation Center

New Classes Created for the New STEM Innovation Center

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Cherish · Love · Honor Capital Campaign Committee Joe Legenstein ‘87 Walt Legenstein ‘65 Dr. Edward Maley ‘59 Dr. Robert Roschel ‘50 Joe Sahd ‘01 Robert Schober ‘76 Catherine Schreder ‘50 Stephen Smith ‘64 Chip Snyder ‘70 Clark Tomlinson ‘71 Betsy Wendel ‘77 Kim Wenger ‘80 Hannah Woodward

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Gerry & Suzanne Ganse ‘67 John Jacunski Nick Boyer ‘98 Dr. James & Jane Boyle III Tony Brill ‘80 Judy Cook Doug Dvorchak Greg Ganse ‘97 Chris Hagerty Fr. Peter Hahn ‘74 Tim Hamer Sean Killen ‘96 Fr. Edward Lavelle

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Science Classes Transformed I

he entire Science Department is so very grateful for the many benefactors who have made contributions to our brand new state-of-the-art STEM Innovation Center. Together you have made the third floor of Reilly Hall into a science teacher’s dream. It could not have been done without the monetary donors, those who donated in kind materials and the ones who donated time moving furniture and supplies, as well as prayers and good will. We are filled with gratitude and awed at what has been accomplished, especially during a pandemic. The teachers have thrived in our first semester of being all together. The teamwork and collaboration between the science teachers has renewed our love for teaching and for science. Mr. Jim Rothwell expressed his joy with the following statement: “I am grateful for a classroom/lab that functions well as both: students are all close to and facing the SMART board and white boards, but the lab tables are movable to different configurations as needed for different labs; ceiling-mounted power cable reels easily get electrical energy anywhere in the room; and there is plenty of storage for easy access to lab equipment and demonstrations. And it is bright and welcoming with a glorious view of the southern sky!” The students want to be in the new bright and open space. They love being able to work in lab groups and they are pleased with the expanded opportunities for hands-on learning. Anthony Leone ‘25 summed it up best when he stated “The air-conditioned STEM rooms are great for hands-on projects and lab experiments.” The science teachers are looking forward to promoting science literacy and inspiring students to consider scientific careers in our new, beautiful, functional space. With Gratitude, Mrs. Anne Bleistine Science Department Chair

thank you

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In STEM Innovation Center

Colby Starr Class of 2025

“The main thing that I enjoy is that it is not notes and tests, but it’s activities, labs and problem-solving. I enjoy how we use critical thinking to solve real world problems”

Charlotte Kowitz Class of 2025

“Something I like about our PLTW Honors Biology class is how interactive and engaging it is. I used to hate science class, but Mrs. Mason makes it super fun.”

Abigail Klein Class of 2025

“I enjoy all of the experimenting and interactive aspects of the lessons. It makes the class a lot more fun and it helps us to learn more about the process of each test we perform and the topic of our lesson.” -9-

Artists Thrive In National Contests

hree art students earned local and national recognition for their work in the Fall. Their hard work and dedication continues to show the return of investment into the Fine & Perfoming Arts Department programs. Chris Cavender ‘23 is a top twenty finalist in the “Herschel Workshop Challenge”, a competition for National Art Honor Society students throughout the US and Canada. This program offers twenty National Art Honor Society (NAHS) semi-finalist students a career-focused online design education in backpack design, working with PENSOLE instructors and Herschel Supply design mentors. Chris’s innovative backpack drawing won him a fiveweek mentorship with professional product designers and a $200 gift card. Out of the twenty finalists, only two will be chosen to receive a $10,000 scholarship, an actual prototype manufactured from their design and a trip to Herschel Supply Company HQ in Vancouver, British Columbia. “I am really excited about being a finalist,” said Cavender. “Going into any contest, I was hopeful, but I was blown away about being selected. I have designed clothing for friends in the past but this was my first backpack product design.” Chris just completed a five-week virtual mentorship program where he met weekly for three hours throughout the month of January. “Honestly, the class was an amazing opportunity in an area that I am passionate about. It provided me with hands-on experience in product design with other very qualified students across the country and Canada. The instructor was able to provide valuable input and critiques to my designs.” The digital artwork, “Lost in Space”, created by Isabella Gordon ‘24 placed in the top 25% in “Celebrating Art”, a nationwide student contest sponsored by Blick Art Materials. Her work was created on the school’s Wacom Cintiq computers as part of her Art I class with teachers Susan Ulrich and Bot Roda ‘70. Besides winning an art supplies gift card, her drawing was accepted to be published in a national anthology of student work. The book will be printed and available in March. Gloria Sebastian ‘23 won the Christmas card contest held by the Lancaster Museum of Art and the DeMuth Foundation. Her card was picked from among nine area high school district entries. This card (pictured above) was professionally printed and distributed alongside Christmas dinners for Meals on Wheels recipients, as well as to clients at the Lancaster County Community Transitional Center.

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Art Room To Move From Longtime Home

s part of the on-going renovations of Lancaster Catholic, a historic staple of LCHS will be relocating. Moving the art room is part of the Fine & Performing Arts portion of Phase I. While the movement is just across the hall, the idea behind it is much more intentional. “This move is really moving us into the future,” Art Teacher Susan Ulrich explained. “We are transitioning into an industrial design background, and I’m excited about the possibilities of the new classroom.” With brand-new counter-top height tables as work stations, Ulrich believes that the students will have more adaptability with their projects, whether they are using the easels, working with clay or creating anything in the new ‘maker’s space’. The new room design will allow for a more flexible learning environment, where classes can shift from one layout to another very easily. “The space will be more functional for our students,” Ulrich continued. “We will be able to make it our own. When we have a model that everyone needs to see, we can move the tables around and spot the model. It will make it more of a collaborative space and it will allow for more critiques and discussions. The design also calls for electricity to be in the ceiling, allowing the use of glue guns and other electronic devices at a more accessible location for the artists.

The Digital Art classes are also moving into the same hallway to be closer to all the Fine & Performing Arts Department, but also connected with all of the Art classes, since moving forward, every class is going to have a digital component to it. “Bot Roda’s digital classes will now have a smart board that is more accessible to the artists,” Ulrich added. He’ll be able to show them as he’s teaching and they will be able to see what he is teaching. The way it is set up currently is not ideal for instructional purposes. The students’ backs are to him while they are working on their projects.”

“The new space will be more functional for our students. We will be able to make it our own .” The Art Room will now be where the old Chemistry Lab was, in Room 12. The Digital Art Room will shift its six Wacom Cintiq computers and printers to Room 14, right next to the Band Room while the new Chorus Room will be sandwiched between the two in Room 13, creating an entire Fine & Performing Arts wing. If you would like to help with a donation to the Art Room Relocation, please contact the Advancement Office at 717-509-0313 or advancement@lchsyes.org.

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Campus Ministry Creates Internship Position

ophia Williams is not your average transfer student. The senior has only walked the halls of Catholic High for two years, after transferring when Lebanon Catholic had to close its doors. However, the impact that she has made can be felt throughout the entire school. Williams is a member of both the soccer and track and field teams and is heavily involved in academic clubs on campus, but this year, she was selected as the school’s first Campus Ministry intern. What is a CampMin intern? Why did Art Bamert, Director of Campus Ministry, and Noelle Cybulski ‘14, Assistant Director of Campus Ministry, create the position? “The Campus Ministry Internship Program was born from a desire to give a student an opportunity to understand and learn about the experiences of running retreats and the day-to-day operations of campus ministry” Bamert detailed. “Presumably, that student would be someone who would either be working in primary education or fields that call to work with young people in ministry.”

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SOPHIA WILLIAMS

Bamert also explained that in his 15 years in the department at Catholic High, a number of students, including Cybulski, were involved in Campus Ministry who went on to do ministry with young people in Catholic institutions after high school. This program will continue to foster students’ desires for vocations and working towards helping them in the Catholic faith. Williams has truly grabbed this opportunity by the horns and is thriving in the new role. Some of her duties include: • running our Student Bible Study • helping to set up for Mass • assisting in retreat organization • preparing the chapel for daily Mass • serving as a Student Director for a Kairos “It has been great,” Williams admitted. “I went into this opportunity not knowing what to expect, but I have since learned so much about the behind the scenes aspects of the department, as well as Mass in general.” She plans to focus on secondary education next year at college with an emphasis on mathematics, and she’s hoping this position in Campus Ministry will teach her the skills needed to continue practicing her faith in college as well as the skills need to be a disciple leader.

Cybulski is the perfect mentor for this position, partially because, she would have benefitted from this opportunity had it been available to her during her time at Catholic High. She’s entering her fourth year on the staff at LCHS after spending time in in the Campus Ministry Office while she was a student at DeSales University. “This is such a beneficial addition to our school because it gives students hands-on experience in a possible career” Cybulski explained. “When I was a student, I was very involved with Campus Ministry with running retreats, participating in Bible Study, and participating in school Masses. My best friend, Emma Reynolds ‘14, also was involved in our Campus Ministry program, and she became a youth minister at a local parish. “I believe our time being involved with Campus Ministry allowed us to more clearly see God’s path for our lives to do ministry in the future. If we were offered something like this internship, it would’ve allowed us to be more prepared for our future by showing us the minute details of the career.” Cybulski sees a little bit of herself in Williams, and that’s one of the reasons she and Bamert decided to create the program. It’s one of main reasons that Campus Ministry exists in our school.

“My favorite part about the program is the work we do to prepare for Bible Study and Fiat (a girl’s group),” Williams added. “I work very closely with Miss Cybulski to organize those weekly meetings and it’s rewarding to walk with my classmates on this faith journey during that time.” Bible Study meets weekly during a Crusader Period. With the help of Cybulski and school chaplain Fr. Steven Arena, Williams chooses a bible verse and preps the discussion points for about 20 other students who volunteer their time to advance their faith. “Sophia has been such a blessing to our team,” Cybulski admitted. “There has been such an easy shift to our dynamic by adding her to our group.” Williams went on Kairos 43 as a regular student in November and was selected as a student leader for Kairos 44 in February. In March, she’ll assist Cybulski as the first Student Director as part of her new duties as the intern. “I’m excited to get to see it from the director’s standpoint. I know what it’s like to be there as a retreatant and I have a good idea of what it will be like to be there as a student leader, but I am excited to go through what will be my third Kairos with a focus on the entire retreat.”

“I hope (Sophia) learns how to bring Christ into the lives of others no matter what she does,” Cybulski added. If she does it in a direct way of being a Campus Minister or working for the Church or an indirect way as a school teacher, lawyer, or doctor, she’ll be amazing at it.” After seeing the early returns of success on the program,the plan is that this becomes a yearly internship. “At the moment we are only offering it to seniors, but as we continue to expand this program, we are open to having students of different grades and possibly more than one intern at a time, too.”

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athletic Fall Sports Find Individual, Team Success

ccolades for the Lancaster Catholic Crusaders were aplenty during the 2021 Fall Sports Season. Individuals found triumph in league, district and even state tournaments and a few teams reached new heights in postseason play. Anna Millen ‘23 (right) led the girls tennis team to a Section Title while also tasting success on an individual level. The junior Crusader was crowned District 3 AA Singles Champion, LL League AA Singles Champion, Section 3 Player of the Year and reached the PIAA AA Singles Quarterfinals. Overall the team went 9-6 and claimed its eighth Section Championship, and fifth in the last six years. On the links, a trio of golfers played in the PIAA State Tournament at Heritage Hills Golf Club in York, highlighted by Jack Novis ‘22 and his stellar senior season. Novis became just the second District Champion golfer at LCHS, winning the District 3 AA Title in October. He was joined at the PIAA Tourney by sophomores Savannah Miller (5th) and Gavin Badger (8th) after their district finishes. On the cross country team, senior Annalise Kauffman had her best season, but she looked back on her entire athletic career after her final race. “I really enjoyed being a part of athletics (at Catholic High),” she revealed. “Being on smaller teams, I felt like I was able to get really close to everyone on my team and create unique bonds.

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“I was able to grew especially close with the other two senior runners, and that didn’t just stay on the team. We’re really close friends in school, too.” Kauffman earned a First-Team LL League AllStar nod for her section, along with Mason Moore. Senior Jack Engle and Ethan Paulukow claimed First-Team LL League praise for the boys soccer squad that won 11 games. The Crusaders reached the quarterfinals of both the league and the district. The Field Hockey Team went 9-8 as Seniors Isabelle Titzer and Ella Wolfe both earned First-Team LL League Honors. Ella Deck became the first student-athlete at LCHS to record 1,000 career assists for the volleyball team this season. The senior finished with 1,272 assists and was joined on the LL League FirstTeam with junior Marina Brazzo. On the gridiron, Catholic High reached the District 3 AAA Quarterfinal Round. Daniel Mueller earned PIAA All-Star Selection as a specialist. The kicker is headed to Villanova next year to play for the Wildcats. Six players earned First-Team LL League Section All-Star nods: Mueller at punter, Isaiah Caine at defensive tackle, Tony Cruz at running back, Eddie Dresch at defensive end, JJ Keck at linebacker and Mason McClair at wide receiver. Six players earned second-team honors, two more on the honorable mention team and 10 were named to All-Academic Team. Senior Alyssa Korenkiewicz and sophomore Leah Laubach claimed First-Team LL League for the girls soccer team. Overall, 2021 was a very successful season for the Crusaders, who were able to maneuver around what no one would call a routine season of action. But, excellence remained the constant.

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“Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.” Luke 6:20

Nestled between the wilderness of the desert and the ruggedness of the Andes lies Sabandia, a city in Arequipa, Peru. Poverty is a global reality and in Peru’s secondmost populous city, the divide between the welloff and the poor continues to exist, even when the country is thriving. On the outskirts of the city, shanty towns can be seen and it is here where the truly impoverished live in homes made of stacked-up blocks. Three years ago, Lancaster Catholic High School history teacher, Tom Blaszczyk and is wife, Maria Del Carpio, began Sembradores de Semillas or Sower of Seeds Mission to help improve the lives of the marginalized people of Sabandia. Maria was born and raised in Sabandia and still has close ties to the city. As a young child, she began a life of service guided by her mother to help improve the lives of those less fortunate. This trait of aiding others has stayed with her over the years and run through her career in politics and social work. Creating a mission to help those experiencing

GIVE GIV

extreme poverty was not a difficult decision for Tom and Maria. “It’s our purpose in life,” said Maria. “We have struggles in life, as does everybody, but it’s a privilege that God put this in our way. We knew God was calling us to do this and we just responded, yes I am here.” After going back and forth with what the mission would try to accomplish, Maria and Tom ultimately felt the calling to improve the living conditions of the poorest members of the Sabandia community. With guidance and support from the Parroquia Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Sabandia-Arequipa Catholic Church, the Bishop was able to select those from the parish who were in desperate need, the poorest of the poor. The families that were selected to receive the new block homes lack the ability to break free from the chains of poverty.

With no government assistance, individuals in poverty rely heavily on the Catholic Church and private volunteer organizations for assistance. The harsh reality is that there is no future besides poverty for these families. “We can say that everyone can work,” said Maria. “But these families can’t.” Examples of the families that have been selected to receive the new housing include: a mother suffering from mental illness with seven children and a father who is permanently disabled after losing his legs in an accident. This June and July, twenty-three Lancaster Catholic Crusaders will travel with the Sembradores de Semillas Mission to Peru for twelve days to volunteer. This will be Lancaster Catholic’s first international mission trip in nearly twenty years.

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The student volunteers have been challenged by the mission with fundraising to support their mission trip. At this point, the mission has raised enough money to construct six new homes. These living units will provide shelter to families. Not only a roof over their heads, but two separate rooms, and include the luxury of an indoor kitchen. “Currently, they are cooking outdoors,” said Tom. “And being up in the mountains, the wind makes it difficult to maintain a fire in order to cook. Now they will not have to deal with that anymore.” When the students arrive, they will have the hands-on opportunity to move the blocks and materials that will be needed to form the homes. Once the blocks are laid, they will paint the interior and exterior of the buildings.

BACK In addition to constructing the living units, the students will go on excursions exploring Peru, its people, and the culture. “The kids are working hard to fundraise and have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those who are less fortunate,” said Maria. “I feel like, as an instrument, the mission is something that they can focus their energy into. Something positive and spiritual - a legacy for them.”

What a truely great legacy our Crusaders will leave with the people of Sabandia. For more information about Sembradores de Semillas, please visit www.sembradoressemillas.org.

Sembradores de Semillas ¡Perú, el verano de 2022 será el primero de muchos viajes misioneros para los estudiantes de LCHS! ¡Estoy tan emocionada de servir en este viaje! Mi primer viaje misionero fue a México cuando era adolescente, lo que me inspiró una gran pasión por la cultura y el idioma de América Latina. También fue la primera vez que vi mucha pobreza extrema; tales como, muchas casas sin agua corriente y viviendas improvisadas. Esto creó un sentido renovado de aprecio por la vida en los Estados Unidos y un deseo de servir a los demás. Ir a un viaje misionero es una experiencia que cambia la vida con recuerdos inolvidables. Es una oportunidad increíble para aprender y probar cosas nuevas, reflexionar, desconectar, ayudar a los demás y crecer espiritualmente. Como dijo mi santo favorito (San Augustin): “El mundo es un libro y los que no viajan leen sólo una página”. ~ Señora Kathryn Gomez

Peru, Summer 2022 will be the first of many mission trips for the students of LCHS! I am so excited to serve on this trip! My first mission trip was to Mexico as a teengager, which inspired in me a great passion for the culture and language of Latin America. It was also the first time I saw extreme, widespread poverty; such as, many homes without running water and makeshift housing. This created a renewed sense of appreciation for life in the United States and a desire to serve others. Going on a mission trip is a life-changing experience with unforgettable memories. It is an amazing opportunity to learn and try new things, reflect, unplug, help others and grow spiritually. As my favorite saint St. Augustine said, “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

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~ Señora Kathryn Gomez

Varsity Club Continues To Focus on Service by Emily Svetecz ‘13

The long tradition of Varsity Club at Lancaster Catholic High School dates back to 1959. Since its creation, the club has had different priorities for the Varsity Crusader athletes, however, over the last 20 or so years, the Varsity Club has transformed itself into one of Lancaster Catholic’s most active service clubs. With its new mission “To serve others”, Varsity Club has adopted a variety of service projects that support local families, especially veterans, a cause near and dear to the hearts of its moderators, English teacher Jackie Cicchetti and staff member Rhonda Byers. “At the time, one of the club member’s brothers was in the service,” said Byers. “We started with letters and then care packages. After 9-11 happened, we started being more active and supporting our veterans.” The aftermath of the terror attacks pivoted the club’s service work to support those fighting for our country and freedom. The Varsity Club has close ties with Veterans Victory House, which is now part of the Tenfold organization to provide housing to veterans and their families who are facing hardships. “At the Veterans Victory House, the veterans are happy to have a place to live. They get driven to job interviews, medical appointments and treatments for drug and alcohol abuse,” said Cicchetti. “Veterans Victory house takes care of them and most of the veterans are able to leave and make a new start.” To continue helping these veterans, LCHS students annually collect household items to be given to those moving out of Veterans Victory House.

Each year since the early 2000s, Varsity Club has also joined forces with the United States Marines to collect toys for the Toys for Tots program. Thousands of toys have been donated from students to this organization to provide a little bit of Christmas cheer to children in need. This year alone, Catholic High donated 538 toys to Toys for Tots. While Toys for Tots impacts children across the country, Varsity Club was inspired to look close to home to provide Lancaster County families with all that they need to celebrate Christmas. “One of the first years that we helped local families, there were two families where the only thing the children wanted for Christmas was a Christmas tree,” Byers said. “Varsity Club students went around the lunchroom and ended up collecting over $600 to get the families a Christmas tree with all of the lights and decorations.” While Christmas is a busy season for Varsity Club, they tend to stay active all year long. Each fall, Varsity Club hosts a Veteran’s Appreciation Night at the home Crusader football game. “We want the kids to know that there is a bigger world out there,” Cicchetti explained. More information about the 2022 Veteran’s Appreciation Night will be available in the fall. To learn about how you can help the Varsity Club in future service projects, please reach out to the school.

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Esports Club Creates Community by Joe Sahd ‘01

urrently embarking on its fourth year as a club offering, the LCHS Esports Team serves twenty Crusaders of all grades. Thanks to the foundational investment and ongoing support of Joe ’75 and Martha Besecker and The Emerald Foundation, this unique program continues to provide a leading-edge, STEM-centered, student-facilitated educational experience while also creating a new community of learning. The Esports Team invests numerous hours three times a week during Crusader Periods, as well as after school and over weekends during competitions. The students have created and continue to maintain Catholic High’s Esports social media accounts so that anyone can stay current with their learning objectives and accomplishments. Terri Swisher, Lancaster Catholic’s Director of Computer Technology serves as the school’s Esports Club faculty moderator. She helps students collaborate and strategize during the in-person sessions.

grown. In addition to Overwatch, our students compete against local schools in new online games, such as Valorant and Rocket League, which is a vehicular soccer game developed and published by Psyonix. The number of STEM-opportunities has greatly increased for these students. The Emerald Foundation recently created its own Ladder Program, which allows the Crusader Esports Team and all the other local high schools’ Esports teams to scrimmage each other as they practice and sharpen their team skills in between tournaments.

RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS • AVERY ENGLISH CREATED AN OVERWATCH WINTER TOURNAMENT THAT 13 PENNSYLVANIA TEAMS PARTICIPATED IN. THE FINALS WERE THE WEEK OF JANUARY 24TH. • THE ROCKET LEAGUE TEAM MADE IT INTO THE FALL PIEA PLAYOFFS TWO YEARS IN A ROW. THEY ALSO WON A TOURNAMENT LAST YEAR WINNING A $750 GIFT WHICH THE THREE MEMBERS SPLIT. • TWO OVERWATCH TEAMS MADE IT INTO THE FALL 2021 PIEA PLAYOFFS. • THE OVERWATCH A TEAM RANKED 7TH OVERALL IN THE SPRING PIEA TOURNAMENT.

Lancaster Catholic joined the PA Interscholastic Esports Association (PIEA) last year. In the fall, Catholic’s two Overwatch teams and Rocket league team made it into the finals for the hosted tournament. Over the past summer, the Crusaders Esports Program offered a Summer Camp at the high school, with plans to continue that in the future. Swisher has big plans for helping to advance Lancaster Catholic’s Esports Program and make it more accessible and transformational for our students. “Our immediate need is replacing four outdated computers,” Swisher explained. “We remain optimistic that donors will generously invest the necessary funds to make this possible for our students. “I look forward to working closely with the Emerald Foundation and their supportive team as well as our school’s administration to infuse our Esports Program into Lancaster Catholic’s robust STEM Program. This would allow our interested students to dive more deeply into obtaining the requisite knowledge and experience for pursuing Esports in college and/or as a career.”

The program got its start with the help and support of Terry (Boyle) Kraft ’87, Chief Emerald Esports Strategist. Emerald Foundation donated the first six gaming computers and peripheral devices for the computers. Kraft has worked on grants to help support the program throughout Lancaster County. The number of online games in which Catholic High’s Esports Program/Club competes has also

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