February 2019
Catholic
HIGHLIGHTS
YOUR LOOK INSIDE LANCASTER CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
All Smiles for Drama
IN THIS Issue
3 MONTHLY CLASS NOTES 4 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT:
The Love of Science and Wine
6 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT:
An New Rivalry With A Catholic Twist
8 A LOOK INSIDE IN THE NEWS:
11 2019 Scholastic Writing Award Winners 12 2019 Alumni Citation Honorees 15 Three Inducted Into Hall of Honor 16 Quiz Bowl Team Qualifies For Finals 17 Families Turn Out For Activities Fair 17 ESPORTS Club Comes To LCHS
MONTHLY Emily LeBreton ‘14 received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Marketing and a minor in Biostatistics from Duquesne University. Charles Scarff ‘14, tight end at University of Delaware, was named to the STATS FCS AllAmerican Third Team. He led the Blue Hens in receptions (43) and also tied the Delaware single-season TD mark for tight ends with 7.
Class Notes Dillon Marsh ‘18, earned two starts on the mound in his first two weeks as a freshman pitcher for Kentucky. Marsh had a tremendous fall with the Wildcats and won the trust of the coaching staff to earn early starts in the SEC. He is also boasting a 4.0 GPA. Lauren Mills ‘18 was named the PSAC Eastern Division Women’s Basketball Freshman of the Week in January after posting double figures in a pair of Raider victories.
Save The Date:
for our first annual May Day Because tuition alone doesn’t cover the cost of a Catholic High Education. One this day, we will raise funds to help current and future Crusaders. There will be Incentives, Competitions, Matching Dollars & Prizes.
May 1, 2019
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ALUMNI
SPOTLIGHT
The Love of Science and Wine
Matt Howe is a 2013 graduate of Lancaster Catholic High School and a 2017 graduate of University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Chemistry. Upon graduation, Matt took a leap of faith and moved across the country to the heart of Napa Valley, California to pursue a career in the wine industry. • How did you find your love of wine? My dad has always had an interest in wine and it was something I was eager to learn more about. In the summer before my senior year of college, I had an Internship for Tillamook, a dairy manufacture, in Oregon. That summer, I had the opportunity to visit 25 different wineries and was able to learn more about the wine-making process. 4 | Catholic Highlights
• What does your day look like as a Lab Assistant for Alpha Omega Winery? My daily tasks include organizing, coordinating, and completing day-to-day goals assigned to me by the Lab Manager. This can include organizing lab analysis data into our winemaking tracking software, reviewing data, delegating which wine samples need to be collected for analysis to interns, both operating and supervising the operation of lab instruments, and overall serving as a lab lead. My day is drastically different depending on whether it is harvest time or not. If we are in harvest, we can expect to receive anywhere from 10-50 individual bags of grapes from different vineyards we source fruit from across Napa Valley and run test on those grapes.
ALUMNI
SPOTLIGHT
As you delve deeper into the science behind winemaking, you start to learn that making wine is much more complicated than just crushing grapes. When you start tracking different vineyards/fermentation processes and start comparing that information to the wine’s lab analysis when the fruit is picked, at fermentation, and when the wine has aged for some time, you begin to see the amount of science that is behind winemaking, and how that can be used to predict different flavor profiles and aromatics, and improve wine quality. It is quite a rigorous process but is aimed to see which lots have the ability to produce the darkest wines and how extractable those compounds are and the current point during the berry ripping. • How did you come up with the idea of creating your own brand of wine? I was approached by my lab manager during my first harvest and was given the opportunity to make my own wine using leftover grape samples we pulled for lab analysis that weren’t going to be used. It was quite an experience not only making wine but using some of the highest quality grapes grown in Napa to make my wine. I enjoyed the process so much that for this recent harvest in 2018, I was given several rows of vines that I could pick from. This way, I was also incorporating the vineyard side of things into my decisions as a winemaker. It is a learning tool but also it’s a lot of fun, crushing the grapes by hand, pressing out the juice and tasting the finished product every week to see how the wine involves with age is fascinating. It might seem pretty simple to have a few bottles of wine, but only a few understand the amount of time that goes into making it.
• How has Catholic High prepared you for life as a professional/college? Catholic High provided me with inspirational teachers that pushed me to study what interested me, chemistry, which led me down this road to where I am today. Catholic High also gave me lifelong friendships that have supported me and encouraged me to chase what I am passionate about.
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ALUMNI
SPOTLIGHT
An New Rivalry With A Catholic Twist
From the welcoming atmosphere to the academic rigor, everything about Lancaster Catholic High School prepared a pair of recent graduates for their new lives at military academies. Noah Bamert ’17, who’s in his second year in the Army, and Hannah Citsay ’18, in her first year in the Navy, reflected on their time at Catholic High and the most recent Army/Navy game they attended in December. “Lancaster Catholic set me up so well academically,” Hannah explained. “I was actually able to test out of a few classes this year, which will set up opportunities for me later at Navy.” Hannah’s day begins at 0530 for morning workouts before chow calls and breakfast. Her academic schedule consists of six 6 | Catholic Highlights
classes, falling between 0800 and 1200 and 1300 and 1500, with lunch sandwiched in between. She joined the sailing team, so that practice lasts until 1830, and she finishes her night with homework before lights out at 2300. “You’re responsible for managing your own time, as I’m sure it is at any college,” she detailed. “You really have to stay organized to get stuff done, and there’s more stuff than you can imagine.” She was able to meet up for a brief moment with her old Crusader pal Noah in Philadelphia at the Army/Navy Game. Army won its third in a row in front of both academies after losing 14 in a row from 2002-15. It is required at all cadets and midshipmen to attend the game, and the pageantry of the event is unrivaled.
ALUMNI
“The Army/Navy Game was a unique experience that has no equal in my life. The positive energy from two teams that are heated rivals was overshadowed by an obvious mutual respect for each other,” Art Bamert, Interim Director of Campus Ministry, said. “They walked off at the end of the game, sang the two alma maters and left as one team united in their willingness to serve this country and protect our freedoms.” Art’s son, Noah, is in his second year at West Point, and he also credits Catholic High for helping mold him into the cadet that he is today. “Each class is challenging (at Army), and the academic rigor that we had at Catholic really prepared me,” Noah admitted. “The amount of work that we have now is at times overwhelming, but I fall back on what I learned in high school so much.” Both students worked with the counseling department throughout their individual application processes for the military academies. And while they went to different academies, they both used the same word
SPOTLIGHT
when describing the lengthy procedure that includes multiple interviews and applications; and that was “genuine”. “You have to be genuine during the interview process,” Noah said. “They can see right through you if you aren’t.” They also both realize that they are a part of a bigger organization, and realizing their role in that is special. “You’re only going to go as far as your ability to help the people to the right and left of you,” Hannah detailed. “I definitely learned about how to be a leader at Catholic High, but when you’re all put together in the high-pressure situations, it’s about getting through it all together, as opposed to how well you can do. So you really learn to figure out how people work and how you can all accomplish something together.”
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IN THE
NEWS A Look Inside Bishop Ronald Gainer visited Catholic High on February 5th to speak to the Crusaders about humility.
Cameron Barto was among 14 student-athletes to sign their National Letters of Intent to continue their academic and athletic careers at four-year schools. Barto will attend Pitt to play baseball.
Veronica Ringlein ‘19, Lizbeth Stephan ‘21 & Joel Olmsted ‘22 were honored at the District Band competition in January.
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IN THE
NEWS
A Look Inside Members of the Future Medical Leaders of America club received Stop the Bleed training from LGH nurses during a recent Crusader Period.
Recent LCHS alumni came back over the holidays to talk to members of NHS about their first-semester college experiences.
A student holds a baby snake during a recent STEM Sisters presentation by the North Museum.
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IN THE
NEWS
Campus Ministry’s New Look One of the integral parts of our school is undergoing a few changes for the upcoming year. Catholic High will have a new school chaplain and the Campus Ministry Office has a new Director for the 2018-19 academic year. Fr. Allan Wolfe, who served as the school chaplain for the past 21 years stepped down from his position, allowing him to focus on his two parishes. Fr. Wolfe has been a staple of Lancaster Catholic High School, presiding over countless school Masses, commencements and other school functions. His smiling face will be missed in the hallways on an almost daily occurrence, but we know he will not be a stranger to Catholic High. The Diocese of Harrisburg and Lancaster Catholic are pleased to announce Fr. Steven Arena as the new school chaplain. Fr. Arena is the assistant pastor at St. John Neumann. Deb Waters, who served as Director of Campus Ministry for the past 10 years, resigned to become principal at Lebanon Catholic, her alma mater. She helped transform the department into the spiritual hub of the school, enhancing the retreat options and increasing the amount to over 20. Art Bamert will serve as Interim Director of Campus Ministry for the 2018-19 school year. Bamert has been working in youth ministry since 1997, including the past 12 years as Associate Director of Campus Ministry at Catholic High. At LCHS, he helped with the redesign and creation of numerous retreats, including Kairos, BRAVE, Journey and the I AM Rally. Catholic High also announced the hire of Noelle Cybulski ‘14 as the Assistant Director of Campus Ministry. Cybulski is a recent graduate of DeSales University, where she holds a bachelor’s degree in theology. As a student at Catholic High, she was heavily involved in Campus Ministry.
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IN THE
NEWS
2019 Scholastic Writing Award Winners
Lancaster Catholic is proud to announce that there were 46 winning submissions for the Scholastic Writing Competition. In total there were 5 Gold Keys, 12 Silver Keys and 29 Honorable Mentions. The winners are: Honorable Mention: Gold Keys: Katherine Hollister Brooke Bechtold (2) Genna Diller Natalie Knox Jacob Fertal James Mikulski Bryanna Hicks Angeline Rann Rachel Houser Ian Witkowski Johann Imperial Ethan Jones Silver Keys: Jaden Jones Daniel Biondolillo Matthew Keebler Ella Cassidy Sydney Kirchner Catherine Citsay Alex Lopez Autumn Cybulski Catherine Lopez Bedei Gbala Andrew Makrides Xavier LeFevre Cody McSherry Catherine Lopez Isabel Midcap Andrew Makrides Victoria Morrall James Mikulski Lexi Pelletier Raina McAnally Angeline Rann Annie Morris Sommer Reeser Daniel Mueller Erin Regan McKenzi Ryner Hannah Schmidt Erica Scott Riley Smith Tyla Smith Halle Snopek Jisela Teron Calan Titus
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IN THE
NEWS
2019 Alumni Citation Honorees
The Alumni Citation Award was created to recognize exceptional alumni and is the most prestigious honor to be bestowed upon a Lancaster Catholic graduate. The Alumni Citation Committee is pleased to announce the 2019 Honorees: Outstanding Professional Achievement Joseph E. Besecker ‘75 Beth Ellen DiPaolo ‘83 Lisa Senkowski Murphy ‘78 Service to Humanity Shannon Hickey Lapp ‘08 Service to Humanity and Service to Lancaster Catholic High School Dr. J. Albert Schulz ‘56 Service to Catholic Education Mary F. Schreiner ‘59 Join us on Saturday, April 13, 2019 starting at 11:00 a.m. for brunch at the Hamilton Club, to celebrate this year’s honorees. If you are interested in purchasing tickets for $30.00 per person, please contact Lori Wagner, Special Events Coordinator, lwagner@lchsyes.org or call the Advancement Office at (717) 509-0313 by April 3, 2019.
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IN THE
NEWS
Coming Soon! Gala Raffle Baskets
All Proceeds Benefit Lancaster Catholic High School Students! Stay Tuned to lchsyes.org Beginning March 1st
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IN THE
NEWS
14 | Catholic Highlights
IN THE
NEWS
Three Inducted Into Hall of Honor
Lancaster Catholic High School inducted three new members into the Athletic Hall of Honor on Friday, January 18. Jack Booth, Angela (Haas) DeMarco and Steve Senkowski are the newest members of the Hall of Honor. Jack Booth (1965-69) served as equipment manager and student trainer for all sports from his sophomore year until his senior year at Catholic High. Since graduating in 1969, Boothy has served as football equipment manager for portions of five decades for a total of 25 years as a volunteer. He has been on the sidelines of many Crusader football games from 1969-71, 1994-01 and from 2007-present. Jack Booth is truly a “Friend of LCHS Athletics.” Angela (Haas) DeMarco (1988-92) was a star basketball player for the Crusaders, starting for three seasons while helping LCHS claim three PIAA District Titles, two LL League Championships and a pair of LL Section Titles. As a senior, she averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds per game while compiling 1,272 career points. After high school, she attended Elizabethtown College for two years and West Chester University for her final two seasons, amassing more than 1,500 career points. As a freshman, she nabbed MAC Rookie of the Year honors at ETown and led the Rams in scoring as a senior at WCU. Steve Senkowski (1965-69) starred on the football field and track for Catholic High in
the late-60s. He was a defensive back as a sophomore before going under center as the team’s quarterback during his junior and senior seasons, leading the team to a 6-22 record while earning First-Team All-Star QB as a senior. On the high school track, Senkowski was a four-year letter-winner while competing in the mile and two-mile relay, the 440-yard run and both hurdles. He helped lead LCHS to four consecutive PA Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association State Championships. The purpose of the Lancaster Catholic High School Athletic Hall of Honor is to recognize and celebrate those individuals who, through their participation, guidance and support have made outstanding contributions to Lancaster Catholic athletics.
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IN THE
NEWS
Quiz Bowl Team Qualifies For Finals
The Lancaster Catholic Quiz Bowl team joined a new contest in Sayre, PA, this year called Scholarship Challenge. The competition pits 24 high school teams made up of juniors and seniors with four teams qualifying for The Finals. The Crusaders made the four-hour trip north for the first time ever on February 2 and won all three of their matches, defeating Elk Lake (180-20), Owego Free Academy (160-70) and Wyalusing (150-110) to earn a trip back in March for a chance at $3,000 and the trophy, named after a local family, the Kwasnoski Cup. Pictured above (from left to right) are captain Ben Ryan ‘19, Johann Imperial ‘19, Sebastian Klemmer ‘19 & Oliver Klemmer ‘20. The alternate of the team (not pictured) is Matt Keebler ‘20. The show will broadcast live on Choice 102’s radio station on Saturday, March 9 at noon, and can be heard by clicking here.
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IN THE
NEWS
Families Turn Out For Activities Fair
In what has become a new tradition at Lancaster Catholic, the Activities Fair had another amazing turn out with almost 100 students and their families walking around Berger Gym to experience what Catholic High is all about. Over 50 clubs and activities, along with departments and sports teams were represented for incoming students. One family even won tuition for the 2019-20 school year!
ESPORTS Club Comes To LCHS
Lancaster Catholic would like to thank the Emerald Foundation (“The E�) for donating six e-sports gaming computers and a monetary gift of $3,000 to get the new ESPORTS Club at Catholic High started. The new club has five active members who compete in computer games with other local teams and up to 80 schools east of the Mississippi River. It is one of the fastest growing clubs among high schools!
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Now Offering Transfer Tuition Grants of $3,000 for the upcoming school year! Come Share in the Tradition that Transforms
Contact Kyla today at 717-509-0313
Lancaster Catholic High School www.lchsyes.org