Evelyn Guerrero Family Foundation

The Guerrero FamilyA Bishop Dunne Legacy

The Guerrero family epitomizes the meaning of a Bishop Dunne Falcon. They count among their family members alums, parents, donors, faculty, Bishop Dunne committee member and current student. Each family member praises the Bishop Dunne community for enriching their lives in countless ways and expresses boundless gratitude for their Bishop Dunne experience.

Their love of Bishop Dunne Catholic School has led the family to establish the

Evelyn Guerrero Family Foundation,

supporting tuition assistance needs. A family-led foundation, the fund will provide tuition support to a Bishop Dunne eighth-grade student to continue on with his or her education in ninth grade.

Two generations of descendants of Evelyn and Bert Guerrero are thankful for the sacrifices they made to give their children and grandchildren a Catholic education. Roxane Guerrero, daughter, feels blessed to be able to help families send their children to Bishop Dunne saying, “When you are able to attend Bishop Dunne, you can become as great as God wants you to be.”

Members of the Guerrero family have walked down the halls of Bishop Dunne in many roles. Assistant Principal Steve Guerrero has worked at Bishop Dunne for over twenty years. His numerous roles include health teacher, cross-country coach, wrestling coach, assistant track coach, transportation director and athletic director and most importantly, as parent to Stephen Jr. ’22 and graduate Georgine ’18. Steve’s wife, Melissa, currently teaches kindergarten at St. Thomas Catholic School and previously at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School.

Roxane has served on several Bishop Dunne committees through the years and is parent to Bishop Dunne graduates, daughters Micaela Guerrero Hamilton ’07 and Ariana Guerrero Hamilton ’09. Also heard cheering loudly from the stands at the many Bishop Dunne soccer and basketball games he attended, is Roxane’s husband, Larry Rolle.

Roxane describes the education her daughters received at Bishop Dunne, with firm belief that it provided a nurturing and challenging environment. Giving to the school, both financially and with her time, has been a way to ensure other families have an opportunity to give their children the highly regarded college preparatory education Bishop Dunne offers.

Steve’s perspective on what makes Bishop Dunne great is multi-faceted. From an academic view Steve said, “The teachers of Bishop Dunne bring their ‘A’ game every day. Their commitment and dedication to meeting individual student’s needs while maintaining flexibility is one of the main reasons our students succeed-especially during the COVID-19 pandemic shelter-in-place environment.” Stephen Jr. ’22 expressed, while he misses seeing his school friends on a daily basis, he enjoys his online classes, and his teachers make sure the students have everything they need to succeed in an online environment.

The success of Bishop Dunne does not only rest within the four walls of a classroom, but within the rich school family bonds created by the closeness of parents and students. Melissa felt an immediate connection to the parents within the diverse and welcoming community and loved the unique and small class sizes. Georgine ’18 felt the retreats helped bond the students and loved getting to know her classmates outside of the classroom setting. Georgine said, “Dunne feels like family.”

Faculty work hard to ensure the students succeed in high school and are prepared to tackle the challenges of college. Ariana ’09 believes Bishop Dunne more than prepared her academically for the rigors of college and law school. Allowing students to openly discuss and question beliefs and practices in a safe environment helped to develop her into a well-rounded person.

Micaela ’07 feels she was well prepared for the challenges she experienced while obtaining her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Per Micaela, Bishop Dunne offered the best combination possible, “An academically challenging environment allowing us to hone our critical thinking skills while at the same time providing numerous extracurricular activities.” Says Micaela, “I am thankful my parents and grandparents felt strongly about us receiving a Catholic education. I would not be where I am today without my Bishop Dunne education.”

We proudly spotlight the Guerrero family for their many contributions to our school community. Bishop Dunne Catholic School is extremely grateful for the support of the Evelyn Guerrero Family Foundation and thanks the Guerrero family for its continuing efforts that are making a tremendous difference in lives of our students. Together we are Falcon Strong!

The Arts

Choir

Band

Orchestra and Strings

The Sounds of Bishop Dunne welcomes students from all grades. It was founded by Dean Walter Johnson and five middle school students who had a passion to deliver the gospel of Christ through inspirational singing while serving the school and community. As its name suggests, all voices and sounds are represented in the choir. The choir’s repertoire includes pop, country and western, show, rhythm and blues, spirituals and gospel. Annually, the choir hosts a concert showcasing its talents.

The band is celebrating 50 years of music this year, engaging about 15 percent of the student body with one of six levels of ensembles.

Under the direction of Daniel Harrelson, with assistance by Stephen Netsch, band students explore their musical talents in the Bishop Dunne Marching Band, drumline, wind ensemble or the award-winning jazz band.

Since Mr. Harrelson’s arrival in 2014, and Mr. Netsch’s in 2017, the bands have earned superior ratings at regional, state and southern states area events. After graduating, students have continued playing with ensembles at many colleges and universities including the University of Notre Dame, University of North Texas and Southern Methodist University.

Led by Sandra Rodriguez, the orchestra and strings mission is to provide exemplary musical and spiritual experiences that enable orchestra players and audience members to be engaged, actively and reflectively. Through the finest examples of symphonic orchestra literature arrangements, Ms. Rodriguez brings students the experience of orchestra playing. Students perform assigned repertoire and participate with other students to demonstrate an evolving understanding and mastery of his/her string instrument. They also acquire knowledge of music history, terminology and theory.

Drama

The show goes on with the Bishop Dunne Drama Club. This year the Drama Club has established a partnership with Shakespeare Dallas to work with area teaching artists to enhance the drama club programming. This fall they had an outstanding Bishop Dunne Revue led by local actor and Shakespeare Dallas teaching artist, Gloria Benavides. Gloria is a certified theater teacher with over seven years of experience. As a professional artist she has performed at the Dallas Theater Center, Theater Three and Shakespeare Dallas to name a few. Most recently she performed in American Mariachi at the Dallas Theater Center. This year the Revue featured the usual collection of amazing musical numbers by talented students, starting with their version of Hello! and ending with a traditional rendition of So Long, Farewell. Students also performed originally written monologues and scenes in addition to some moving performances of poetry and prose.

Art, Ceramics

Bishop Dunne Visual Arts offers 15 different art classes. Together, Allie Ramirez and Hannah McKee ’10 run a lean and mean art department covering a variety of media. Ceramics, a high school favorite, teaches students sustainability and working with their hands along with the basic elements and principles of 3D design. Within this messy media, students always seem to find the beauty in art!

The Arts

Student Honors

National Honor Society

Student Council

Latinos Unidos

Student Ambassadors

Led by Miranda Gillam, National Honor Society members are not only scholars, they are giving as well. Collectively, the thirty-eight members are on a mission to change their school and home communities. This year, under the guidance of five student-elected officers, NHS contributed over $2,400 to local and state charities, rounding out the year by collecting hygiene items to donate to a local homeless shelter. Through these experiences, NHS members develop a key principle – changing the world is possible if one is willing to give selflessly of their time and talent, to work with a genuine heart and to be kind.

With Mark Clifford’s leadership, Bishop Dunne Student Council gives students an opportunity to create an everlasting high school experience they can reflect upon for years to come. Students learn leadership skills and may run for class officer positions, and brainstorm and implement ideas and activities for the student body. Activities sponsored by Student Council include spirit week, homecoming, Homeless for a Night, Christmas toy drive, canned food drives, Sadie Hawkins Dance, talent show and the beloved faculty versus student Family Feud.

Under the direction of Dr. Diana Torres, Latinos Unidos works to unify and strengthen the Latino culture at Bishop Dunne Catholic School. Through its teaching, members develop and foster community by offering time and skills as volunteers and by promoting and advancing understanding of Hispanic heritage and culture. Middle and high school students of all ethnicities are welcome.

Led by Patty Salazar-Martel and Devin Nguyen, Bishop Dunne Student Ambassadors represent the school through various volunteer opportunities and events, including Open House, the Bishop Dunne 100 Dinner, GeoTech, the Literary Festival, donor luncheons and school tours for prospective families.

This year’s Student Ambassadors was comprised of 36 member and included seniors, juniors and sophomores. Student Ambassadors maintain a high level of professionalism and maturity, provide guidance to their peersm and advance the mission of Bishop Dunne in many positive ways.