Forever CBA: The Final Stretch Brochure

The Final Stretch

O’Shea - Martin Tennis Pavilion There is no better education than a Lasallian education, and for more than sixty years many wonderful, generous, people have endeavored to provide just such an educational opportunity to young men here at CBA. When a needs assessment took place a few years ago the importance of securing the Lasallian mission on into the future was recognized. Thus began the Forever CBA capital campaign.

I am beginning my work here at CBA at a unique point in the timeline of the campaign. The hard work begun by Brother Frank, the Board of Trustees and the Campaign Cabinet is nearing its fruition and the baton has been passed on to me to join with them and carry it through to the finish line.

New McKenna Hall

Heath Round Barn

As you read through this brochure, and as the Forever CBA vision unfolds for you, I hope you will consider how you can become part of securing the Lasallian mission at CBA for future generations of young men.

Brother Thomas Gerrow, FSC President Cover Photo: CBA’s first athletic director, Brother Basilian O’Connell (1916-2002) with members of CBA’s first class.

New Benilde Hall

Sheehan Track & Field

New Cafeteria

Soccer and Lacrosse

Since 1959, CBA has provided exceptional academic and athletic programs, nurtured a welcoming Lasallian community, and graduated thousands of intellectually mature, morally responsible young men. As always, securing that mission is our highest priority -- and the reason for the Forever CBA campaign.

Forever CBA: Securing Our Mission focuses on three priorities that will be heartily welcomed by today’s students, and which will also strengthen the Academy for the future. Those three priorities are building the school’s endowment, updating campus facilities, and replacing aging athletic facilities.

The Forever CBA campaign was publicly announced in October 2019, following several years of strategic planning and conversations with lead donors, many of whom made substantial gifts to the campaign. More than $8 million was raised before the Forever CBA launch event in October 2019. By the end of the 2020-21 year, the campaign had surpassed its preliminary goal of $12 million, and construction began on several of the planned new facilities.

As CBA enters the Final Stretch of this transformational campaign, the need to raise additional funds has never been greater. In addition to rising construction costs and substantial enhancements to the plans for the proposed Food Court, the decision was made that air conditioning can no longer be seen as a luxury. The Forever CBA campaign will now support extending air conditioning to every classroom and lab at the Academy.

With every confidence in the generosity and continued support of the CBA community, we move forward to the successful completion of the Forever CBA campaign.

Forever CBA’s campaign chair, Don Norkus ’67 talks about his own commitment to the campaign, the progress made so far, and the Final Stretch

Why did you agree to chair the Forever CBA campaign?

It’s actually fairly simple. CBA was an unbelievable game-changer for me.

When I attended CBA, I knew I was fortunate, but there was no way I could fully understand the impact this institution would have on me until much later. Today, as I look back on my life, I know my CBA experience had a profound effect in shaping my life, and a truly positive effect on my success. And that’s not just me.

I’ve talked to so many of my classmates who say the same thing. I hear it every time I talk to alumni parents about their sons who have already graduated from CBA. And every time I meet a current student or recent graduate.

So five years ago, when I was asked to chair the campaign, I gladly accepted.

CBA was a great experience for me, and I want to keep it going. I want to do everything I possibly can to keep it going, for today’s students and for those who’ll come after them.

What’s the goal of Forever CBA? Securing Our Mission says it in a nutshell. The goal of this campaign is to position the school to continue its unique mission well into the future. To that end, we have a dual focus: to increase the CBA endowment, and to fund the capital improvements that the school administration and the Board of Trustees have identified as necessary for the school’s continued success.

The needs assessment done before we began the campaign, identified areas of need in both endowment and capital which would require raising $14.8 million.

Still, we began cautiously, with a goal of $12 million. The generosity of the CBA community has been tremendous, and with a year to go in our five-year campaign, we have already passed the $12 million mark.

Why is endowment such an important part of the campaign?

Donors who make gifts for endowment – whether for the general endowment, endowed scholarship funds, or endowment funds for particular programs – are helping to strengthen the school’s financial position by giving the school a supplementary income stream – investment income – in addition to the annual operating income from tuition and fees. In today’s world, this is crucial for the financial health of schools like CBA. What are the capital projects in the campaign?

The largest capital projects of Forever CBA are for athletics and campus facilities. The last major capital campaign, Project 50th focused on academic facilities, it is time to turn our attention to CBA’s aging athletic and campus facilities. There is more detail on the plans for rebuilding and renovating those facilities elsewhere in this booklet.

So what’s “The Final Stretch”?

We’ve just begun the last year of this five-year campaign, the final stretch of the campaign. We are grateful to all the donors who have brought the campaign this far, and we’re looking to more alumni, parents, grandparents and friends to take it the rest of the way. Every gift, large or small, will make a difference, and with everyone’s help, I’m confident that we will succeed.

Campaign Leadership Donald P. Norkus ’67 Campaign Chair

Jack Kelly P’92, P’96, GP’22, GP’25 Honorary Co-Chair

Carol Stillwell Honorary Co-Chair

Campaign Cabinet and Parent Council Timothy P. Andree Colts Neck, NJ P’06, P’13, P’16 Jennifer W. Borenius Little Silver, NJ P’18, P’21 Matthew G. Brady ’94 Rumson, NJ Walter J. Brasch ’70 Little Silver, NJ P’97, GP’25 Mary C. Buletza and V. Rev. Gary Breton Point Pleasant Beach, NJ P’12 Vito J. Chiaravalloti II ’99 Avon, NJ Mary Ann Christopher Avon, NJ P’03, P’11 William F. Coughlin Rumson, NJ P’22 John F. Croddick ’63 Rumson, NJ P’89 Evelyn Danaher Old Bridge, NJ P’23, P’24

John J. Dibble, Sr. ’71 Tinton Falls, NJ Kiernan K. DiFeo Spring Lake, NJ P’23 William and Kathryn Dodge Pawleys Island, SC P’20 Meghan F. Donnelly Fair Haven, NJ P’23 William N. Dooley Spring Lake, NJ P’08, P’12 Andrew T. Drechsler ’90 Avon, NJ David and Mary Clare Garber Middletown, NJ P’16 R. Scott Garley ’74 Little Silver, NJ P’09 Kevin R. Gibson Middletown, NJ P’21, P’23, P’25 Kimberly Gittines Shrewsbury, NJ P’21

Kevin Golding New Egypt, NJ P’14, P’16 Jeffrey I. Goldstein Colts Neck, NJ P’16 Michael Gualario Colts Neck, NJ P’16 James G. Ham III ’68 Brielle, NJ Joseph P. Hanney ’84 Point Pleasant Beach, NJ P’16, P’18, P’20 Patricia O. Hansen Spring Lake, NJ P’19 Robert R. Hempstead ’86 Colts Neck, NJ P’15 Russell M. Johnston ’84 Fair Haven, NJ P’25 Edward M. Joyce ’79 New York, NY Kevin G. Kelly ’96 Monmouth Beach, NJ Jeffrey H. Knapp ’98 Mahwah, NJ

Robert J. Kortenhaus ’79 Howell, NJ P’03 Cathy A. Kruse Spring Lake, NJ P’22 James Langan Little Silver, NJ P’21, P’25 Robert W. Lutkewitte ’82 Colts Neck, NJ P’16 Maurice J. Maloney ’67 Atlantic Highlands, NJ P’99 Maria C. McCann Spring Lake, NJ P’16, P’21 Lisa and Daniel Murray Leonardo, NJ P’09, P’10, P’14, P’19 Sean F. O’Brien ’79 Red Bank, NJ P’09, P’12 Brendan T. O’Connor ’72 Sea Girt, NJ P’03 John T. Reynolds ’88 Wilton, CT

Mark A. Russo ’97 Middletown, NJ P’25 Elizabeth Schwartz Shrewsbury, NJ P’23 Michael F. Sheehan Red Bank, NJ Timothy E. Sheehan ’65 Brooklyn, NY Carol Stillwell Colts Neck, NJ Mark A. Sullivan ’79 Houston, TX P’15 Jennifer and John Tapinis Colts Neck, NJ P’22, P’24 Raymond M. Tierney III ’77 Harrison, NY Joseph R. Tort ’76 Rumson, NJ P’07, P’14 Joseph D. Whalen ’81 Fair Haven, NJ P’25 Joseph R. Zimmel ’71 Milford, CT

We are grateful to the members of the Forever CBA Campaign Cabinet and Parent Council, for their energy and enthusiasm in reaching out to other members of the Academy community, as well as for their own pace-setting gifts to the campaign.

Endowment

Growing CBA’s endowment is a vital component of the Forever CBA campaign.

With a combined goal of $5,550,000, the campaign’s endowment target represents 40% of the overall campaign effort.

More than $4,800,000 has already been raised for endowed scholarship funds, the general endowment, or faculty and program endowments. We are grateful for the outstanding generosity of the donors who have made these contributions.

Unrestricted Endowment CBA’s general endowment has been built by gifts and bequests from generous donors, bolstered by strategic investments overseen by the Board of Trustees. A strong endowment will ensure, that CBA can continue to meet the needs of a changing world.

Scholarship Endowment A strong scholarship program ensures that a CBA education is accessible to highly qualified students regardless of their families’ financial situation.

With a gift of $25,000 or more – either an outright gift or a pledge to be fulfilled over five years -- a donor may create a named endowment to fund a scholarship in perpetuity.

Faculty Endowment Gifts designated for faculty endowment will help support continuing professional development for CBA’s outstanding faculty.

Program Endowments Donors who wish to provide ongoing support for particular academic or athletic programs may direct their gifts to designated endowments for those programs.

Campus Facilities

McKenna Hall – a modern multi-use academic space for CBA’s developing curriculum McKenna Hall was originally a barn on the farm that became CBA’s campus.

Named in honor of CBA’s first principal, it has served a variety of purposes over the years for CBA’s athletic and extracurricular programs.

Eventually, however, the costs of maintaining the barn became prohibitive and remodeling the original structure proved uneconomic.

The old McKenna Hall has now been demolished, and will

be rebuilt to serve the needs of a 21st century college prep curriculum.

The exterior of the new McKenna Hall will look much like the old one, but its capacious interior will be designed and equipped as a flexible, multi-use academic space that will support a variety of enhancements to CBA’s course offerings and cocurricular programs.

The aim of the Forever CBA campaign is to provide facilities and programs that are commensurate with the exceptional commitment our students make — and that future students and their families will make — to their Academy education.

R. Ross Fales, Principal

Benilde Hall – a new home for CBA’s Admissions Office and Business Office Like McKenna Hall, Benilde is a relic of the campus’ horse farm origins. With a series of reconfigurations, the building has served many different purposes for the Academy in the past 60 years.

Benilde will be rebuilt in the same style as the original farm building, but will now house thoughtfully designed, dedicated suites for the Admissions Office and the Business Office, as well as much-needed space for CBA’s parent organizations.

Benilde Hall is named in honor of Bénilde Romançon, FSC (1805-62) a French Brother and schoolteacher who was declared a saint in 1967, the first Lasallian saint after St. Jean Baptiste de La Salle.

Both Admissions and the Business Office have long outgrown their present office space, and their new quarters in Benilde will put them directly opposite the school’s main entrance, the most convenient location for parents and prospective student families.

New Cafeteria – an expansive, fully renovated space for an essential part of every student’s day The Academy’s cafeteria, little changed since the 1960s, will be expanded and fully remodeled to provide students with both an attractive gathering space and lunchtime options that reflect today’s culinary and dietary preferences.

The cafeteria will be enlarged through new construction and the annexation of existing adjacent space.

Both the food preparation area and the student dining area will be thoroughly renovated to accommodate modified food-court style service, and provide students with a welcoming, comfortable space for meals and socializing.

Athletic Facilities

Sheehan Track and Field The track and field program has been at the heart of CBA athletics from the very beginning. Dr. George Sheehan, the renowned runner and author, led the effort to found CBA in 1959, and the school’s first athletic director, Brother Basilian O’Connell was a veteran of high school track himself.

The thoroughbred stable and breeding farm that became CBA’s campus included several tracks and training buildings which the new school turned into its first sports facilities.

When it was time to choose a name for the school’s sports program, the choice was obvious: CBA athletes are the Colts.

Over the years, CBA runners, jumpers and throwers have practiced and competed in several different parts of the campus, regularly winning invitational, conference and state titles. Now recognized as one of the best high school sports programs in the country, the

Colts track and field program deserves a permanent home which will be commensurate with the program’s stature, and give coaches and athletes the opportunity to develop it even further.

The track and field complex now under construction will feature an eight-lane track incorporating the latest safety and performance materials technology, as well state-ofthe-art regulation-sized areas for javelin, discus, shotput, and jumping competition; an expansive spectator viewing stand, and a dedicated parking area.

The new track and field complex will be named in honor of Dr. George Sheehan (1918-93), one of CBA’s founders and active mentor of its early running programs. Dr. Sheehan’s large family now extends to three generations of sons, grandsons, nephews, grand-nephews, and great-grandsons who have attended CBA from its first years until the present.

“There will never be a day when we won’t need dedication, discipline, energy, and the feeling that we can change things for the better.”

Dr. George Sheehan

More than 80% of CBA students participate in Colts sports, one of the top athletic programs in the New Jersey. To support continued excellence, we plan to renovate and rebuild four athletic facilities.

O’Shea - Martin Tennis Pavilion Colts tennis has a rich heritage.

The first of its many state titles was won by Jerry Brown ’64, state singles champion just a few years after CBA was founded. Hundreds more state titles followed – more than any other high school in New Jersey.

The winning continues today, under Coach Courter Smith, a recent inductee into the NJSIAA Coaches Hall of Fame.

be able accommodate them.

The new Tennis Pavilion will meet that need.

The pavilion will be constructed adjacent to the existing Sullivan Courts, initially funded in the 1960s by Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Sullivan, parents of three CBA tennis players The mid-court spectator platform will offer parents, teammates and friends a unique viewing experience none other in the Shore Conference.

A championship program attracts enthusiastic spectators, and CBA’s tennis facility should

The new tennis pavilion will be named in honor of the legendary coaches who led the program in the 1960s and ’70s -- head coach John O’Shea and assistant coach Brother Patrick Martin.

Coach John O’Shea

Brother Patrick Martin

Athletic Facilities

Soccer and Lacrosse Complex CBA’s new soccer lacrosse complex – featuring the maximum-size playing area for high school soccer -- is currently under construction at the front of the campus along Newman Springs Road. It represents a “coming home moment” for some of CBA’s soccer alumni, as that was the location of CBA’s first soccer fields. More recently, soccer and lacrosse were played on fields along the eastern edge of campus, which will now be dedicated to rugby and practice areas for all field sports.

Wherever their location, CBA’s soccer and lacrosse fields were always beset by drainage problems, which cut into practice time, complicated game schedules, and made it difficult or impossible to plan invitational games.

The new field will change that.

Its state-of-the-art turf surface will permit a reliable pre-season practice schedule for lacrosse, and by making consistent, reliable scheduling possible, will give the Colts a true home-field advantage.

The playing field in the new complex will be named in honor of Dan Keane, one of the top coaches in Shore Conference history. In Keane’s 38 years as varsity soccer coach, he led the program to four state titles, 17 sectional championships, and a record ten Shore Conference Tournament titles.

“I couldn’t be more excited about the new athletics facilities we’re building. And I couldn’t be more excited to build them for young men who give so much to Colts sports programs.”

Michael Mazzaccaro ’11, Director of Athletics

Heath Round Barn CBA runners said good-by to their original indoor training facility on a Sunday afternoon in April 2021, when alumni, students and parents came together for their Last Lap in the Round Barn. A relic of the horse farm that is now CBA’s campus, the old building was demolished in July to make way for the construction of a new Round Barn. The original had become prohibitively expensive to maintain, and its interior, designed to train race horses, left much to be desired as a modern athletic facility.

The new Round Barn will mimic

the original in footprint and exterior design, and will feature a wider interior track with a synthetic floor, energy-efficient lighting, ambient heat and roof ventilation, with a multipurpose practice infield and a Champions Hall for trophy display.

As a facility that Colt athletes can use daily for training and conditioning regardless of the weather, CBA’s Round Barn has long been the envy of other schools. The new Round Barn will further burnish the Academy’s reputation as a standout high school running program.

The new Round Barn will be named for Thomas Heath ’65, who coached CBA cross country from 1970 until he retired in 2019. Over 49 years, Heath guided CBA Cross Country to 26 state championships, 21 Meet of Champions titles, 15 Eastern Regional wins, and a Nike National Championship in 2011. He also presided over “The Streak”: since 1974, CBA XC has remained unbeaten in dual meets. As a math teacher and a coach, Heath taught countless students the importance of hard work and that in the pursuit of excellence, “everything matters.”

We are grateful to Christopher O’Brien and Jack Surgent, both ’76 varsity cross country, for their leadership in spearheading the fundraising campaign for the new Round Barn.

Campus Plan

THANK YOU

T

o those who are new to the campaign, thank you for taking the time to learn about Forever CBA. I hope you have been inspired to lend your support during our “final stretch.”

A special thank you to those who have already joined in the campaign effort. It is your commitment to our mission that has brought us this far.

To all, please know that your generosity will help secure the future of the Lasallian mission here at Christian Brothers Academy.

Sincerely,

Brother Thomas Gerrow, FSC President

http://forevercba.org/

Christian Brothers Academy • 850 Newman Springs Road • Lincroft, NJ 07738