HGP Magazine Spring 2022

Holy Ghost Prep MAGAZINE

WHERE are they

NOW?

HGP alumni succeed in many different professions. In this first-ever “Where Are They Now” issue, we caught up with 15 of our alums — including Dan Polsenberg ’75 (pictured), a law firm partner in Las Vegas — to see where their HGP degrees took them.

ISSUE NO. 8

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SPRING 2022

Inside this issue Features 2

Where Are They Now?

By Michael Bradley and Bill Doherty

Holy Ghost Prep alumni become scholars, writers, attorneys, entrepreneurs, business leaders, scientists, activists, tech giants, artists, and conservationists. In this firstever “Where Are They Now?” issue, we caught up with 15 of our alums to see where their HGP degrees took them.

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One of a Kind

By Michael Bradley

Kathy Posey, a truly creative English teacher, molded countless Holy Ghost Prep alums into more efficient and effective writers during her 21 years at Ghost.

Departments 26 Campus News 33 Alumni News 38

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Maguire Scholar Feature: James Corbett ’22 Onward and Upward

By Bill Doherty

Holy Ghost Prep senior James Corbett, the 2022 PIAA District One individual cross-country champion and one of the top students in HGP’s Class of 2022, is

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pondering a future that will see him continuing to look forward as a collegiate runner

Class Notes

while also gazing upward, as his intended field of study is aerospace engineering.

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Issue 8, SPRING 2022

EDITOR

Bill Doherty CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Michael Bradley Bill Doherty Matthew Jordan PROOFREADER

David Caruso CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Catalano Studio Douglas Benedict, Academic Image Jacob Kepler/Boston College Law School Magazine Greg McDermott ’23P Holy Ghost Prep’s Executive Team PRESIDENT

Gregory J. Geruson ’79 PRINCIPAL

Kevin Burke EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

Matt Dwyer Cover photo: Jacob Kepler/Boston College Law School Magazine

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Tim Woods

DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS

Ryan Abramson ’94 DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Bill Doherty DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Michael Jacobs ’01 DESIGN

Karp Graphic Design HOLY GHOST PREPARATORY SCHOOL

2429 Bristol Pike Bensalem, PA 19020 215.639.2102 t

PHOTO CREDIT: DOUGLAS BENEDICT, ACADEMIC IMAGE

Athletic News

AT HOLY GHOST PREP, LEARNING unfolds in settings that reach beyond textbooks, note-taking, and tests. Students are empowered to process content across disciplines by way of a hands-on approach. There’s an emphasis on learning by doing. Classroom time is devoted to labs, simulations, peer presentations, and meaningful collaboration.

Within every discipline, HGP students are continually emboldened to think for themselves, write persuasively, and speak articulately.

As a result, HGP graduates succeed in a wide range of professions, a fact that fills me with a tremendous sense of pride. In this first-ever “Where Are They Now?” issue, we caught up with 15 of our alums—five from the 1960s, five from the 1970s, and five from the 1980s—to see where their HGP degree took them.

They are but a microcosm of our dynamic alumni, but they showcase the Spiritan values and ambition that live in all of our alums. They are proof that an HGP degree will literally take you places.

In addition to the “Where Are They Now?” features, this issue also includes a profile of Holy Ghost Prep icon Kathy Posey, who set many Ghost grads on the road to success during her 21 years as a teacher, advisor, and mentor at HGP. And as always, the issue includes campus, athletics, and alumni news as well as feature stories on current students who are excelling in the aforementioned learn-by-doing environment at Holy Ghost Prep.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

PHOTO CREDIT: DOUGLAS BENEDICT, ACADEMIC IMAGE

From the Desk of the President

“

HGP graduates

succeed in a wide

range of professions, a fact that fills me

with a tremendous

”

sense of pride.

In One Heart and One Mind,

Gregory J. Geruson ’79, President @presgjg

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JIM MCTAGUE ’67 CHRIS SERVHEEN ’68 JOE RYAN ’68 JOHN PEIRCE ’68 DANIEL MURPHY ’69 PETER BOGUCKI ’71 DAN POLSENBERG ’75 JOHN HOFFMAN ’76 GARY FOSTER ’77 FRANK RAUCH ’79 DERRICK WILLIAMS ’8 GEORGE GRAFFY ’82 SAM HELLINGS ’83 DENNIS O’BRIEN ’85 RICH BLACK ’88

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WHERE are they NOW? Holy Ghost Prep is an all-boys high school and also an idea—that if you give smart, kind, young people access to a Spiritan high school education, they will use that education and their well-developed moral compass to do good things in the world.

It’s an approach that works. Our alumni are scholars, writers, attorneys, entrepreneurs, business leaders, scientists, tech giants, artists, and conservationists.

In this first-ever “Where Are They Now?” issue, we caught up with 15 of our alums— five from the 1960s, five from the 1970s, and five from the 1980s—to see where their HGP degrees took them.

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AN IDEA BROKER

BY MICHAEL BRADLEY

IF SOMEONE W E R E TO look at the varied and successful career of Joe Ryan ’68 in the business and academic worlds and sum it up in one word, it wouldn’t be hard to do—so long as they knew a little bit of French and maybe had an affinity for the 1980s TV series MacGyver.

The word is “bricolage,” and it describes the skill of being able to work comfortably within an uncertain set of circumstances and to craft art, solve problems, and construct protocols with whatever is available in that moment. Throughout his career, Ryan has excelled at entering unstable situations and bringing order to them.

“I like to think that I am intellectually street smart,” says Ryan. “I can work with what I have in front of me.

I’m very comfortable with learning in real time.”

Now a faculty director at Vanderbilt University’s Executive Education, Ryan has also taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Georgia Tech, as well as in Paris, Bangkok, Beijing, and many other locations around the world. His consulting firm, True North Advisory Group, has helped executives develop successful strategies at times when it seemed chaos was primed to overwhelm their companies.

“I’m an idea broker of sorts,” he says.

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After graduating from Holy Ghost Prep, Ryan earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from La Salle University and a Ph.D. in sociology and anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. Some might wonder how the path he took helped him become such a resource within the corporate world, but his ability to think, understand people and organizations, and research cultures has provided a perfect background for that kind of work.

When he was a freshman at La Salle, Ryan took a cross-discipline seminar that sparked an interest in the convergence of ideas. That, along with the sense of self-sufficiency he honed at Ghost, helped him develop a comfort level for non-traditional problems.

In 1999, he formed True North Advisory Group, which he directed while continuing to instruct at several different institutions. From 2013-15, he led the EMBA Global Strategy Project work at Georgia Tech, and he joined the faculty at Vanderbilt in 2015.

No matter what he is doing, Ryan focuses on interaction. He prefers the Socratic method in the classroom—“In some cases, there is no clear solution,” he says—and has always looked at his role with clients as that of a collaborator. While some consultants like clearly defined challenges, Ryan has preferred “messy situations” that require real-time strategies and a level of uncertainty. “I was a thinking partner with executives,” he says. “I was learning with and thinking with them.”

In addition to his teaching and work with businesses, Ryan has written a book about his father, John, titled

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Taking You to Places You Would Rather Not Go, which is based on the journals his father kept during the last nine months of his life. He calls it an “ethnography of the last part of his life,” and he has started a website with information for caregivers of loved ones.

For all of the accomplishments that dot Ryan’s resume, it is this book, together with his relationships with his wife, Mary Ann, his children, and two grandchildren that “give my life coherence.” For someone who has embraced the uncertain, that consistency may be his most successful bricolage project.

>> JOSEPH RYAN ’68 Where is he now? Faculty director at Vanderbilt University’s Executive Education. Lives in Franklin, Tenn.

Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “Holy Ghost Prep was a small school where everybody could be a big fish. It was like a boutique. I was active in student government and played baseball. I was able to do independent study in economics my senior year. A lot of what we did was free-form and multidisciplinary. It opened me up intellectually and gave me enormous self-confidence.”

A LIFE OF SERVICE

BY MICHAEL BRADLEY

T H IS PA ST AUGUST, when Daniel Murphy ’69 was watching U.S. forces evacuating people from Afghanistan as the 20-year war there came to a close, things looked pretty familiar.

While serving with U.S. Marine forces at the end of the war in Vietnam, Murphy was on board the U.S.S. Duluth, which supported Operation Frequent Wind, mounted to remove Americans and other personnel from Saigon.

The ship was anchored about 45 minutes off shore, and it received a stream of helicopters filled with U.S. personnel and South Vietnamese citizens. He and his fellow Marines processed those delivered and housed and fed them before bringing them to a naval base in the Philippines. It was a hectic time, and the events of last summer reminded him of his service.

“Looking back, it was just like it was in Afghanistan,” Murphy says. “The picture looked the same. It was probably similar to what we had in Vietnam. Some people left with the clothes on their backs and maybe a gym bag.”

Murphy graduated from Holy Ghost Prep in 1969, and after earning his degree in law enforcement and corrections (now known as criminal justice) from Penn State, embarked on a career of service that included a SPRING 2022

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stint in the Marines, 26 years as a special agent for the FBI, and six years with the South Carolina Department of Corrections. It wasn’t at all surprising that Murphy signed on for military service—he was in the ROTC program at Penn State—considering that his father and just about all his uncles served during World War II. One great-uncle was in WWI. “It was on both sides of my family,” he says.

That made sense. As for law enforcement? Well, had he been a bit more proficient in French, things might have gone differently. He went to Penn State to study liberal arts, but because French at the time was spoken and not written at Ghost, Murphy struggled.

So he shifted majors and joined the FBI when he was discharged from the Marines in 1979.

He didn’t have too much time to ease into his FBI work. Murphy began working in a Philadelphiabased anti-corruption unit and assisted in the ABSCAM investigation, which led to the arrests of seven congressmen, among others. In 1984, he was transferred to the bank robbery fugitive squad, where he worked until 1997, when he was transferred to South Carolina. Murphy retired from the Bureau in 2005.

Murphy then spent six years as the inspector general for the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

“That was interesting,” he says. “As an FBI agent, I saw defendants in court, and I had been to a couple federal penitentiaries to interview people. I never saw the dayto-day workings of a prison. It was an eye-opener.

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“We don’t know what it takes to do all the things for prisoners. Some people think they get locked up, and you throw away the key. You can’t do that. You have to provide for them.”

After retiring in 2011, Murphy and his wife, Kathleen, who also served in the FBI, stayed in the Columbia, S.C. area, where Dan spends a lot of time “fooling around” with old cars. Murphy has three vintage cars and a 1950 Ford truck that he refers to as “a work in progress.” He also keeps up with a stamp collection that he began in 1962, when he was sick as a fifth-grader, and an aunt suggested he pick up the hobby. It all may not have the excitement of the fall of Saigon or a federal investigation, but Murphy is happy where he is.

“I’m not shoveling snow; that’s for sure,” he says.

>> DANIEL MURPHY ’69 Where is he now? Retired and living in Chapin, S.C. Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “My father passed away when I was 11, so I know my mother struggled to send me there. I enjoyed both the instructors and classmates there.”

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His son Patrick is deceased, as is his first wife, Sandy, mother of the children.

Current writing project: “I am currently trying to become a starving novelist, a so-called authorpreneur, and am succeeding beyond expectations. I have self-published two murder mysteries featuring a journalist named Martin Boundary, and I am finishing a third book in the series. I have made every possible mistake that a self-published author can make and, consequently, I am a far better novelist today than I was before.”

Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “I have a zillion fond memories of HGP. My fondest is of my controversial, short-lived role as editor of the school newspaper, a superb fiasco. I did leave office with a budget surplus, a record most of today’s big city editors would envy. I loved most of my teachers. That they put up with a dumb brat like me is testament to their strong Catholic values.”

Crowning achievement of your work career: “My ‘crowing’ career achievement was writing a superb ‘DC Current’ column for Barron’s for 20 years that

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elevated the profile of the magazine in the capital and, at times, globally. I was well known by the political crowd and frequently appeared on television.”

What brings you the most joy in life today?

“Producing an occasional well-turned phrase and landing an occasional trout on a fly provide me with adequate joy.”—By Bill Doherty

>> JOHN PEIRCE ’68 Where is he now? Founder and principal of Peirce Engineering, Inc. in Phoenixville, Pa. Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “My senior class (Senior 2) won the intramural football championship.

We did not have the most athletic team, but we were smart enough to figure out how to beat the more athletic teams. Also memorable was having Father Henry Brown officiate my wedding 50 years ago this coming June.”

Crowning achievement of your work career: “I was named the 2002 Civil Engineer of the Year by the Philadelphia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. In 2019, I was named the Delaware Valley Engineer of the Year by the Engineers Club of Philadelphia during National Engineers Week.”

What brings you the most joy in life today?

“Spending time with my wife, Beth, my children, and my grandchildren (at their many sports events) and sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.”—By Bill Doherty

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>> CHRISTOPHER SERVHEEN, PH.D. ’68

exterminated from more than 100 years ago.”

Where is he now? Dr. Servheen is a professional

What brings you the most joy in life today?

wildlife biologist who served for 35 years as the

bears now are reoccupying habitats that they were

“Backpacking in remote wilderness areas away from

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s national grizzly bear

everyone else with my friends and family and seeing

recovery coordinator. He retired from the Fish and

grizzly bears in the wild, fly fishing in cold clear

Wildlife Service in 2016. He is presently vice president

streams in the middle of nowhere, traveling to Paris

of the Montana Wildlife Federation and co-chair of

and exploring France with my wife, and building fine

the North American Bears Expert Team for the

furniture in my wood shop.”—By Bill Doherty

International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He lives in Missoula, Mont. with his wife, Kristy, a cardiac care nurse, and has two kids—one of whom is a computer specialist and the other is at Montana State University studying industrial engineering.

How do strangers generally react when you tell them what you do for a living? “Most people always want to ask questions about bears and have a bear story to relate. Bears are a big deal in the northern Rockies, so everyone wants to talk about bears. They either love bears or are terrified of them.”

Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “My theatrical debut in a leading role in the play Charlie’s Aunt put on at Holy Ghost. It was a lot of fun.”

Crowning achievement of your work career: “To have led the grizzly bear recovery program for 35 years to see grizzly bears recovered in most areas. There are now five times more bears than when we started in 1981 and they occupy three times the area. Grizzly 8

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“Holy Ghost Prep alumni are scholars, writers, attorneys, entrepreneurs, business leaders, scientists, tech giants, artists, and conservationists.”

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NOW?

AN Y BODY W HO SAW Dan Polsenberg ’75 standing on a chair as a four-year-old, using a vacuum cleaner as a “microphone” to deliver a mayoral campaign speech to his grandmother, would have been convinced he was headed for a life in politics.

Polsenberg used to make the announcements of the day when he was at St. Christopher’s Elementary School. He was a stalwart in the forensics program at Holy Ghost Prep. And he worked in the Pennsylvania Senate while at La Salle University.

So, naturally, he became a lawyer.

“I thought law school was a natural way toward [politics], but once I went to law school [at Boston College], I realized the law was an incredible thing unto itself.

“The law is not a mystery or a bag of tricks. It is a very beautiful thing.”

The Ghost grad has settled in Las Vegas and is a partner in Lewis Roca’s appellate practice group. He went to Nevada to work during the summer while he was at Boston College, went back after graduating to take a job in the Vegas DA’s office, and hasn’t left.

“I went to visit and ended up staying,” he says.

Polsenberg has handled more than 275 appeals in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Nevada and the state’s Supreme Court. The training he received in law

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BY MICHAEL BRADLEY

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school—and in his grandmother’s living room—could have prepared him for a career as a trial attorney. But Polsenberg prefers the appellate life, which entails a lot of “public policy work” and allows him to have an ongoing relationship with justices who know him.

“The magic of being a trial lawyer is arguing a case in front of eight to 12 people you’ve never met before,” he says. “When I argue in front of the Nevada Supreme Court, it’s the same seven judges.”

He considers much of his work “a conversation,” rather than the performances many equate with traditional courtrooms. He enjoys the intellectual challenge of trying to convince the “people who make the rules” and regards his appearances before appellate judges as “conversations.”

Polsenberg understands that there is a bit of drama to what he does, but often he is just correcting an error made in a previous trial. Plus, if he gets too emphatic, he might lose the room.

“As one of the Supreme Court justices used to say, ‘I don’t want to be yelled at, but I don’t want to be bored, either,’” Polsenberg says.

Polsenberg’s office sits near the Vegas strip, but he doesn’t spend much time in the casinos. “I represent casinos, but I don’t have much to do with them other than that,” he says. Instead of seeking the action at the tables or slots, he paints, usually in acrylics—“It’s easier to clean the brushes,” he says—and hikes near his house. He enjoys spending time with his two daughters and two grandchildren, although he hasn’t asked either of the youngsters to make a campaign speech.

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Association event that recognizes people who have been active attorneys for 40 years. He tells the same jokes every year, but that’s not a problem.

“The new folks haven’t heard them, and the older attorneys can’t remember them,” he says.

That’s pretty good. Sounds like Polsenberg might have a future in politics—just like his grandmother thought he did.

>> DAN POLSENBERG ’75 Where is he now? Partner in the appellate practice group at Lewis Roca in Las Vegas.

Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “I remember the times with the speech team, when we were traveling around and doing tournaments. I also remember all those late afternoons sitting around working on our speeches and critiquing each other. A lot of times, my law practice reminds me of that time.”

SCALED SCIENCE

BY MICHAEL BRADLEY

GARY FOSTER’S E N T I R E career has been built on science and its application. In his role at WW (formerly Weight Watchers), he doesn’t allow any program that hasn’t been tested and reviewed at the university level

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to reach the general public. Yet when he talks about the difficulties people have when they try to lose weight, he sounds much more like a coach. He speaks of the power of self-compassion, about how damaging it can be to people working to cut calories when they say nasty things about themselves when they falter.

Shedding pounds is tough, and it’s almost impossible to do on one’s own.

“People deserve to ask for help,” he says.

As WW’s chief science officer, Foster looks at weight loss from a variety of different angles. But beyond the more complex concepts of why people succeed or fail is a true desire to think about others that he developed while at Holy Ghost Prep. The 1977 graduate, who joined the HGP Board of Trustees in 2021, built a strong sense of empathy while at Ghost and applies that to his work in the field of weight loss.

“When we would go down to St. John’s Hospice [as Ghost students] and encounter underserved communities, that would heighten our senses about the different situations others are in,” Foster says.

“That’s a big deal.”

Foster’s journey to WW, which he joined in 2013, was strictly an academic one. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Duquesne University, a master’s from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. from Temple. He directed the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders at Penn and founded and led the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple. When he was approached about moving from academia to the consumer sector, he had one consideration: touching as many people as possible.

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R “By comparison, I couldn’t have as much impact as I could at WW,” he says. “When we come up with a new food plan, millions and millions of people benefit. It was a chance to scale science.

“There aren’t too many jobs like WW. It’s a global brand, a science brand. We got a team of people together that values science. It’s a different way of using science.”

Foster is also an author. His most recent book, The Shift: 7 Powerful Mindset Changes for Lasting Weight Loss, which came out in October 2021, spent some time on national bestseller lists. In it, he presents strategies for behavioral changes that can impact a variety of areas of people’s lives.

“It was written with weight loss in mind, which is my area of expertise, but it’s generally about how we think of ourselves as parents, in relationships, as workers, and other parts of life,” he says.

Like everything Foster does at WW, The Shift is “science-based and science-tested.” And its robust early sales have helped his impact stretch beyond just WW clients. And though his passion for his work is clear, he is even more devoted to his wife, Kathleen, and three children, whom the couple spends considerable time visiting around the country. He’s also a big Sixers fan and a huge music aficionado dating back to his time at Ghost, where he was thrilled to have the Spinners play his senior prom. “That’s memorable,” he says.

And it clearly had an impact, just like Foster does today.

>> GARY FOSTER ’77 Where is he now? Chief Science Officer at WW (formerly Weight Watchers). Lives in Newtown Square, Pa. Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “I think two things stuck out to me. Holy Ghost taught me how to think critically. And it helped develop a sense of integrity and a moral compass. Not that my parents hadn’t done that, but the culture at Ghost provided a practical axis for how to live with integrity in the real world. It was integrity in action, not in theory.”

>> PETER BOGUCKI ’71 Where is he now? Peter Bogucki ’71 is the associate dean for undergraduate affairs for the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University. He has executive oversight of advising and degree progress for over 1,300 students who are candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree. Bogucki, who received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his Ph.D. from Harvard University, maintains an active scholarly practice as an archaeologist, specializing in the prehistory of Europe.

Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “My HGP memories are less about events and more about people. Father Brown provided strong moral direction. Father Falvey and Ted Grabowski taught me about science and

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Crowning achievement of your work career: “Since I have two careers, as a dean and an archaeologist, I 12

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How does an archaeologist become a dean in Princeton’s engineering school? “I am often asked this question. Here is the short answer: After finishing my Ph.D., there were relatively few jobs for archaeologists.

My wife and I wanted to be near our families in Philadelphia and Boston. In 1983, I was called to Princeton to be the founding director of studies of Princeton Inn College, which then became Forbes College. While serving in this capacity, I acquired an executive understanding of the Princeton engineering curriculum. This does not require me to know how to solve a differential equation, only to understand how a course in differential equations fits into the program of study. Since both archaeology and engineering deal with the physical consequences of human decisions and choices, the two disciplines are not very far apart intellectually. The School of Engineering and Applied Science has a history of appointing non-engineers to this position. My predecessor was a Classics scholar.

Princeton has kindly encouraged my active scholarly practice, so it’s very rewarding.”

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math, while John Buettler instilled an appreciation for literature and the arts. The lifelong friendships I formed are priceless. I won’t list them for fear of leaving someone out, but let me just mention the late Jim Garrity ’71, who was later my roommate at Penn.

Being part of the HGP family connected me later with Tom Kardish ’79, whose senior thesis I advised at Harvard, and Tom Brennan ’03, one of our Princeton chemical engineering alums.”

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have some accomplishments in each. Early in my time at Princeton, I helped establish the residential colleges that are the focus of undergraduate life. Later I helped provide leadership for the undergraduate program of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, working with distinguished faculty colleagues. In archaeology, I played a role in discovering the earliest evidence for cheese-making (even though I don’t like cheese!), and one of my books, The Barbarians, has received several awards.”

What brings you the most joy in life today? “Although I continue to serve Princeton and stay active in archaeological scholarship, my greatest joy comes from my wife, Ginny, who I met in Poland nearly 50 years ago, my daughters Caroline (and her husband CJ) and Marianna, who are both very successful, and my incredibly intelligent grandchildren Cary and Virginia.”

—By Bill Doherty

>> JOHN HOFFMAN ’76 Where is he now? For the past 22 years, John Hoffman ’76 has effectively led Johnson & Johnson’s Health Policy & Advocacy function to shape policies to ensure that patients and providers have optimal access to therapies that they need, with a particular focus on health disparities. Hoffman lives in Philadelphia. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, as are all three of his sons: 2003 HGP graduate Patrick and 2006 Ghost grads Mike and Bryan Hoffman. He is the proud grandfather of three wonderful grandchildren.

Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “The playoff run

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that culminated in the state basketball championship in 1974.”

Rumor has it that you’re the only Holy Ghost Prep grad to routinely catch passes from Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. How did that happen? “I was a manager for the Notre Dame football team, so I used to warm him up before practices/games.”

Crowning achievement of your work career: “Most recently, I had the privilege/opportunity to be involved in the development (focusing on policy/vaccine hesitancy) of our COVID-19 vaccine.”

What brings you the most joy in life today? “My family/grandchildren. I also love to travel and am an avid Notre Dame sports fan!”—By Bill Doherty

>> FRANK RAUCH ’79 Where is he now? Frank Rauch ’79 is the head of Worldwide Channels for Check Point Software Technologies in Tel Aviv, Israel. He’s married and lives in Buckingham, Pa. Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “Many great memories at Holy Ghost. Making friends for life, receiving the best education to get accepted to nine great universities. Traveling to watch the basketball state championships as a freshman. Learning life lessons from the great Father Henry Brown and other faculty members. Plus, of course all the shenanigans that I will keep to myself.”

You have a track record of building successful teams.

What’s your secret? “I have had great teams at IBM,

HP, VMware, and now Check Point. The common traits were exceptional people, clarity and alignment of vision, doing everything with purpose, respect and lack of egos, and having a little fun on the journey.”

You serve on HGP’s development committee and on the board of advisors at Drexel University’s School of Entrepreneurship. Why is it important to you to give back to your alma maters? “I have always believed in a strong legacy of giving back. My dad instilled this in my brother Al (HGP Class of 1982) and I when we were growing up by offering service to the church and as an active North Catholic High School alum. There is no better gift than to share your resources, time, and experience with young people who are receptive to learning.”

You’ve been a sponsor of Amigos De Jesus, a Honduran orphanage, for close to 20 years. How did that come about? “I had the life-changing experience of meeting Father Dennis O’Donnell at St. Josephs in the Hills, while on retreat. We became lifelong friends and I played a small part in helping with an orphanage for children who had experienced the worst of what life has to offer in one of the most dangerous parts of the world.”

What brings you the most joy in life today? “My two sons, Kevin and Dan. Both are successful in their own careers. Dan wanted to follow my path and works for VMware. Kevin owns John and Peter’s in New Hope.

To take this full circle, he is getting married in May by Father O’Donnell.”—By Bill Doherty

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improve their skills and also maximize their potential in other areas.

“We don’t just want them to be good basketball players,” Williams says. “We want to parlay that into raising young men who become good husbands, fathers,

BY MICHAEL BRADLEY and men of character.”

IN 1980, WHEN Derrick Williams was heading into his Williams graduated from Stetson in 1985 with a senior year at Holy Ghost Prep, he wasn’t happy with his degree in management, although he had gone to the status within the basketball program and had decided north central Florida school expecting to become a to transfer. There was just one problem. lawyer. He stayed in the Sunshine State after graduation “My father told me I wasn’t going anywhere,” Williams to work for AT&T, but when his parents moved back to says. “He said I wasn’t going to Holy Ghost to play the Philadelphia area—they had headed south while basketball. I was going to get an education.”

Williams was at Ghost, and he stayed behind to live Williams grudgingly stayed, and after the Firebirds with his grandmother—Williams came with them. He started the 1980-81 season with a 1-6 record, coach Tony worked and coached, including a couple of years at Chapman inserted Williams into the starting lineup— Holy Ghost Prep. Though he was making progress in his and everybody got happy. Ghost finished the season on business career, his passion was basketball, so in 1996 a 19-6 tear, with Williams spearheading the defense. he went into coaching full-time. After a two-year stint “Coach Chapman still says I was one of his best at Wesleyan in Connecticut, Williams was offered an defenders ever,” Williams says. assistant position at Division I Campbell College. Tired Although Williams’ playing career ended at HGP—he of the grind of recruiting, he turned the job down and tried unsuccessfully to walk on to the team at Stetson took a position with Chase’s student loan arm.

University—he has spent considerable time over the In 2004, Williams moved to Indiana to take a position ensuing decades coaching and working with young with Citizens Bank, and he has been with the company people. His aim is to help them improve on the court, ever since. Today, he’s a vice president and dealer but his biggest goal is helping them develop as human relationship manager for Citizens’ automotive finance beings. group. Williams doesn’t consider himself a traditional Williams’ resume may highlight his successful banker, but he does enjoy helping people solve their banking career, but his true passion remains roundball. financial problems.

He just finished his second season as head freshman And he still really loves basketball. He has been part coach and assistant varsity coach at Fishers High School, of a resurgence at Fishers, which has become one of the which is just north of Indianapolis. And his “Men of the top programs in the state. And he has helped several Family” grassroots program is designed to help players members of the “Men of the Family” program earn 14

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college scholarships. Williams was once told by Virginia coach Tony Bennett that a coach’s job is “to take a player to a place he can’t otherwise see himself getting to.”

“That’s what I want to do with ‘Men of the Family,’” he says.

Williams has one son, Derrick II, who lives in Delaware with his mother. He is engaged to Katie Taylor, a teacher and RN candidate (she graduates with her B.S. in nursing in May). He likes to play golf, hike, and ride bikes.

“Katie’s like me, competitive,” Williams says.

And no doubt a basketball fan.

HITTING ALL THE RIGHT NOTES

BY MICHAEL BRADLEY

SAM H E LLINGS ’8 3 is proud—rightly so—of his impressive career in research, particularly his work at Bristol-Myers Squibb developing drugs for cardiovascular patients. He has accomplished a >> DERRICK WILLIAMS ’81 significant amount, helped countless people overcome Where is he now? Vice president and dealer illness, and brings great enthusiasm to his work. relationship manager with Citizens One Auto Finance in But when it comes to music, Hellings has an even Fishers, Ind. higher level of interest and passion. Since his days at Holy Ghost Prep, he has loved studying, playing, and Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “Holy Ghost Prep listening to a variety of styles and genres. He considers was such an impactful part of my life. I use the lessons music “an essential part of life.” That has been true for a I learned there today. I told a friend of mine how my time there puts everything in perspective and shows long time. me what gifts my parents gave me by sending me there.

“I remember in my physics class senior year, we had I was born in 1963, and my parents lived through the to do an independent study project,” Hellings says. “So I civil rights movement. My dad was shot in the back did mine on the physics of the violin.” in Louisiana for drinking out of a ‘whites only’ water Hellings didn’t come to Holy Ghost Prep until his fountain, and my mother had to give up her seat on a sophomore year. He had been in the Neshaminy public train to a white woman when she was going to visit my schools from kindergarten through ninth grade and dad. My parents’ way of helping me navigate this was to wanted something more. He asked his parents to switch, send me to an all-white school. When I first started at and they chose Ghost. By entering a bit later, Hellings Holy Ghost, I was the only black student. By the time I “missed out on Latin,” but he gained much more. graduated, we had four [black] students, and I was the “At the time, the Three Mile Island disaster was senior leader for them, paving the way for them. I look happening 90 miles away from us, and I was playing at the friendships I made there, and I still communicate with some of those guys.”

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stupid war games at school,” Hellings says. “I thought that was crazy.”

Hellings was a strong student from the start at Ghost— you don’t get into Princeton University without good grades—but it wasn’t until senior year, when Father David Cottingham came to HGP, that he was able to truly immerse himself in music. A flautist, Father Cottingham organized the school’s musicians and helped stage the school’s first-ever musical, Godspell.

“It was wonderful,” Hellings says.

Not only did Godspell allow Hellings to display his talents as a violinist and organ player, the musical production also “built a bridge between the Ghost boys and the Nazareth [Academy] girls.” While at Ghost, Hellings was part of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, the Bucks County Orchestra, and the Mercer County Orchestra. Those activities, along with his good grades and SAT scores, helped him land a spot at Princeton, where he earned a degree in biology, played music at Masses sponsored by the school’s Aquinas Society, and met his future wife, Terri.

Hellings earned his master’s in marine biology and biochemistry from the University of Delaware and spent a couple of years at Vanderbilt as a researcher while Terri completed medical school there. After spending eight years doing agricultural research at American Cyanamid, Hellings moved to Bristol-Myers Squibb, as a principal scientist, in 1999. Although much of his work now is project management, he derives considerable satisfaction from it.

“Knowing that the fruits of my labor will help somebody some day is big,” he says.

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Sam and Terri have three children, the youngest of whom, Stephen, is a seventh grader. When the pandemic was in full swing, Hellings rented a mobile home, and he and Stephen journeyed down the East Coast, camping (a preferred family activity) and handling school and work responsibilities remotely. It was a great escape and a chance to bond by engaging in a favorite pursuit.

As Hellings continues his work and focuses on his family—Elizabeth, who is a veterinary student at Texas A&M, and Samuel, a senior chemical engineering student at Delaware, are his other children—he remains committed to music. He still plays at his church (Queen of the Universe in Levittown) and is always expanding his interests. Though he prefers classical and jazz, Hellings is now exploring the country and bluegrass genres.

“I just got a banjo,” he says.

It’s hard not to like the sound of that.

>> SAM HELLINGS ’83 Where is he now? Principal scientist at Bristol-Myers Squibb, living in Levittown.

Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “Father [Henry] Brown used to make Communion available every day at lunch time. Two or three of us took advantage of that. I can’t imagine anywhere else you could do that. That’s the most powerful, lasting memory from Holy Ghost Prep.”

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85 N’ >> DENNIS “DIGGER” O’BRIEN ’85 >> RICH BLACK ’88 Where is he now? A five-time Emmy Award–winning television producer, Digger O’Brien is director of alumni marketing & communications for the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association. He and his wife, Bernadette, and their family live in South Bend, Ind. In addition to his work with the NBA, NFL Films, and the NFL league office, O’Brien published Pointing Is Rude, a memoir that chronicled his oldest son, Frederick’s, autism and the adoption of his second son, Julian, from Ethiopia.

Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “Every religion class taught by Mr. Kane and any moment with the late, great Fr. Brown. Also, I’m pretty sure we swept Field Day every year, from freshman to senior.”

Crowning moment of your work career thus far: “It was definitely writing my book, a few pages early in the morning a few days a week and maybe a half hour at a coffee shop on the weekends. It took a while. And I wrote it without an agent or publisher, then got an agent and publisher, and now sometimes I just type my name into Amazon for funsies.”

What effect has your memoir had on others? “I’ve had a lot of nice reactions from people, especially dads, who often tell me, ‘I didn’t know I was allowed to feel this way.’”

What brings you the most joy in life today? “Parenting.

But also I’m very excited about this new chapter at my alma mater, Notre Dame, a university that was founded on being ‘a force for good in the world.’ I’m looking forward to telling those stories.”

—By Bill Doherty

Where is he now? Rich Black ’88 is a complex employment litigator at the international law firm of Littler Mendelson and serves as the co-chair of the firm’s class action practice group. After leaving HGP, he briefly attended Temple University before transferring to the University of Iowa, where he earned both his undergraduate and law degrees. Black lives on a farm outside Atlanta, Ga. with his wife, Melina, their daughter, Emma, a horse, and six dogs. Rich and Melina, who met while they were students at Temple, recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, and Emma is finishing her sophomore year in the Honors College at Clemson University.

Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memory: “I have so many fond memories of my time at HGP, but the best of those are from the many forensics tournaments I attended across the country with my teammates and our legendary coaches, Tony Figliola and John Buettler. I owe much of my career to the work ethic and oratory skills that those two men instilled in me, and I appreciate both of them greatly.”

Crowning achievement of your work career: “That’s a tough question. I am fortunate to have been recognized as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and named multiple times to the list of the “Best Lawyers in America.” But the greatest honor of my career was when I was asked to lead the Class Action Practice Group at Littler, where some of the very best class action employment lawyers in the country practice.”

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What do you do in your spare time? “Between work, family time, and our dogs, spare time is admittedly in short supply these days. But, when I do get some time to relax, I enjoy catching as many Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, and Iowa basketball and football games as I can, and I am an avid supporter of Arsenal Football Club.”

—By Bill Doherty

>> GEORGE GRAFFY ’82 Where is he now? George Graffy ’82 has been the president of Smart Circle, LLC since 2003. Smart Circle has over 8,000 full-time sales reps who are deployed in major retailers throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, BJ’s, and Target. These reps engage in new customer acquisition and product sales on behalf of national clients like AT&T, DIRECTV, Verizon, Nestle, Direct Energy, NRG Reliant, and many others. Graffy holds a bachelor of science in economics from the Wharton

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You show your dogs at national dog shows. How did that come about and what successes have you had at dog shows? “Dogs have been a huge part of my life since childhood. I started showing dogs (dobermans) when I was about 10 years old. I didn’t show very much during high school and college, but got back into dogs after law school. Since 1998, my family and I have bred, trained, and showed vizslas (Hungarian pointers) and we have been humbled to have seen our dogs recognized with ribbons at the Westminster Kennel Club show, the American Kennel Club National Championship, and our breed’s National Specialty show.”

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School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1986. He earned his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where he graduated with highest distinction in 1989. Prior to joining Smart Circle, he held executive marketing positions with Yum! Brands, PepsiCo, and the Clorox Company. He is also a certified public accountant and worked early in his career at Deloitte. Throughout his career, Graffy has been the creative marketing and sales guy who is really good at math, too.”

Graffy currently serves as a member of the Holy Ghost Prep Board of Trustees and is the founding chairman of the new HGP President’s Leadership Council.

He has also been an active member on boards for the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern’s Kellogg Alumni Council, the Annenberg Performing Arts Center, USA Lacrosse, Business Executives for National Security (BENS), Academy of Magical Arts, and the Dallas Gun Club. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Graffy has resided in Dallas, Texas since 1995 and is a lifelong fan of America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys; he has been a season ticket holder for both the Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks since 2000. He has three adult children (Eric, Andrew, and Kristina) who still laugh at slightly over 50% of his jokes.

Fondest Holy Ghost Prep memories: “As a young boy, my family had six children and we couldn’t afford to travel and stay in hotels—we spent our vacations camping in tents or cabins. So my first experiences ever staying in ‘nice’ hotels were my weekend forensics trips with all of my friends from HGP and other

Philadelphia schools. I loved these weekend trips and I looked forward to the 15 times a year that we would travel to New York City, Scranton, Detroit, Pittsburgh, or just Center City Philadelphia. We’d compete all day and then get into trouble at the hotels every night. (My apologies to Messrs. Figliola and Colapinto).”

Crowning achievement of your work career: “I don’t have one crowning achievement, as my life has been more about enjoying the journey, not just searching for an obvious destination. Instead, I take the greatest pride in the hundreds of friendships and personal relationships that I have developed and nurtured over the past 40 years. I understood and believed that I was often in a position to make a positive, lasting impact upon the lives of many people throughout my career. I took this responsibility very seriously and didn’t often squander the chance to help someone. It’s the whole of these relationships and the cumulative impact of these positive interactions that have made me proudest of my career, and the way that I have comported myself and tried to be available for others.”

Best business advice you’ve ever received: “If someone is willing to spend the time teaching you something new, you might as well spend the time listening to them.”

“Once you understand that this is all really just Animal Kingdom with clothes, it’s a lot easier to anticipate how most people will react when they’re tired, hungry, and stressed.”

a difference on the boards on which I have chosen to serve—it’s not so much about ‘giving back’ as it is ‘moving things forward’ and ‘adding value today.’ I seem to have a knack for interjecting provocative thoughts and discussion-generating ideas that can stimulate conversation and constructive debate and impact group dynamics. And I hope that I am able to disarm people with good humor and (appropriate) laughter to always keep things entertaining and energized. If I ever feel that I can no longer add value, then it’s time for me to move on and invest my time and energy elsewhere.”

What brings you the most joy in life today? “I used to be able to come up with a lot of answers to this question, but the answers seemed to keep changing, so I knew they weren’t ‘my true essence.’ But now, I am a simpler person than I used to be and I can find joy in the simplest of ways. I can say that what brings me the most joy now is realizing each morning when I get up that I am ‘all square’ with the world and that I have nothing that I truly need to prove. This permits me to appreciate the simple joys that I overlooked during my ‘busy years’: spending time with my loved ones, friends, business partners, trusted clients, and new acquaintances while enjoying new shared experiences (work or leisure or blended), engaging in thoughtful conversation, and exploring interesting new ideas. For me, it is and always has been about people, relationships, and shared experiences.”

—By Bill Doherty

You serve on boards at HGP, Penn, and Northwestern.

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KATHY POSEY

PHOTO CREDIT: CATALANO STUDIO

One of a Kind IT WAS A huge honor. Really, it was. The president of Tengeru Boys School in Arusha, Tanzania was proud to show Kathy Posey just how much of an impact she and students from Holy Ghost Prep had made on their institution.

He walked her across the campus to a barn that housed the two cows the school had purchased with funds it had raised. There was the sign above the entrance.

The president pointed it out with excitement. And Posey was honored, sort of.

“The Posey Cow Project.”

The principal beamed. He reported further that one of the two bovine specimens was even named Posey. The other was Patty.

“Everybody started laughing,” Posey says. “He asked why we were laughing. I told him that in America, connecting a woman to a cow isn’t a compliment.”

That’s true, but there was no denying the tremendous gratitude the president felt for Posey’s efforts, even if the school’s way of showing it wasn’t quite in line with U.S. customs. “We thought it was funny,” says Dennis Mshomba ’13.

Fortunately for all involved, Posey wasn’t offended. Spend enough time around a bunch of boys, and it’s impossible not to develop some

toughness—and a pretty good sense of humor.

Posey already had one. And during her 21 years as a teacher, advisor, mentor, and friend to countless Ghost students, she demonstrated it, along with a tremendous affection for those she taught and a desire to help them in their journeys to manhood. The trips she led to Tanzania—and France, Spain, Italy, and Ireland—exposed students to the world and brought assistance to those in need. Her decision to turn Ghost’s National Honor Society chapter into a service organization helped show young men the value of helping others. And the lessons she taught about life and its challenges remain with many today.

Mshomba met Posey in 2009, just before he started at Holy Ghost, when he was on a trip to Tanzania with his parents to visit his father’s family. It was the beginning of a relationship that continues today.

Mshomba calls Posey “an aunt figure,” and he marvels at her ability to connect with people not just at Ghost but just about anywhere else she went, including Tanzania.

“Here she is, from the U.S., teaching at a school that skews toward upper-middle class kids, and she seemed at ease in Tanzania,” Mshomba says. “She met with totally

BY MICHAEL BRADLEY

different groups and was always at ease, even though there sometimes was a communication barrier and different customs. She could always rise to the occasion.”

Although Posey’s path to Holy Ghost was somewhat circuitous and included stops at several different academic institutions, she found a home in Bensalem, and her impact continues to be felt, even six years after her retirement. Posey taught a variety of English classes and did so with a joy that she transferred to everyone else in the classroom. Try to come up with someone else who began class by having everybody clap. Or who kept everybody laughing as she drove home the principles of writing concise, direct sentences.

You won’t.

“She was one of a kind as a teacher,” says Mike Hoffman ’06, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame. “The thing I learned the most from her was clarity. I didn’t have full appreciation of that before having her as a teacher.

The most important thing about writing is getting your ideas across.

I thought writing was about being flowery or dramatic.

“She was also an entertainer. That’s something I have tried desperately to emulate in my teaching.”

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PHOTO CREDIT: CATALANO STUDIO

“She was just a warm, happy, glowing, caring person. You felt that through her teaching.”

—Larry Scheetz ’98

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Patrick Hoelzle ’01 still remembers the assignment. He and his senior-year honors World Literature class were reading Macbeth, and Posey wanted the students to recreate a scene from the play in a modern way, on video.

So Hoelzle and his group donned suits, updated the dialogue (talk about poetic license), and produced the tape.

“It sticks with me,” says Hoelzle, now Holy Ghost Prep’s dean of academics. “I got to do it with my friends, and she was excited about it. No teenage boy cared that much about Macbeth, but she did. When I had my first teaching job [in New Jersey], I was a 22-year-old college grad wondering how to make kids care about Shakespeare. So, I asked myself, ‘What would Mrs. Posey do?’”

Before Posey got to Holy Ghost, she did a lot. After earning her degree in English, with a minor in psychology, from George Mason in 1974 (she began her college career at Old Dominion), the Arlington, Va. native took a job as a writer/ editor for the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington.

“They handed me a pile of legal pads and told me to go into a closet where there was a desk and write a bunch of letters to judges who had submitted travel vouchers that were messed up,” she says. “I didn’t have a lot of direction. Within two hours, I knew this was the wrong job for me.”

Within six months, she was working at her alma mater, Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, and spent four years teaching there.

During that time, she married David, whom she met while at Old Dominion, and when he took a new

job in Virginia Beach, Posey went with him and began her master’s degree work in English at Old Dominion. The couple’s odyssey over the next several years included stops in Fairfax, Va.; Cincinnati; Rockville, Md.; and eventually Yardley, in 1986.

Three children—Benjamin and twins Michael and Claire Marie—arrived during those two decades, and Posey taught at North Virginia Community College, Xavier University, and Trenton State (now the College of New Jersey, where she worked when she and David first moved to the area). While at Xavier and significantly pregnant with the twins, Posey actually taught a linguistics class in her dining room while holding Benjamin.

“The good news was that David kept getting promoted,” Posey says.

“The bad news was that we had to keep moving.”

In 1994, Posey learned that Holy Ghost had a position open. She was ready to leave Trenton State, because while there was a full-time spot available, she learned that the person with whom she shared an office and who had a Ph.D. and 13 publication credits was making just $30,000. “I said, ‘Never mind.’”

Posey interviewed at Lawrenceville Prep and Holy Ghost.

Father James McCloskey, then the president at Ghost, was impressed with her, particularly with a course she had designed and taught at TSU, “Readings on Diversity.” A strong connection developed quickly, and Posey began teaching at Ghost in 1994.

“Once I got to know the mission of the school, I knew it would be home,” Posey says.

Posey had found her home, and she helped make it more welcoming for students. She taught several different classes during her time at Ghost, but her honors World Literature class for seniors and AP English course taken mostly by juniors were among her most noteworthy.

Larry Scheetz ’98 came to Ghost the same year as Posey and was in her freshman literature class. He remembers how she and the new students grew together during those early years. But though Posey was unfamiliar with the school, she was accessible and willing to assist the boys in their development.

“She was just a warm, happy, glowing, caring person,” says Scheetz, who is on the HGP Board of Trustees and head of the Development Committee. “You felt that through her teaching. She acknowledged that she was new, and she made the freshmen feel at home, comfortable, and confident. She was learning about Holy Ghost, too, and that made us feel more welcome.”

As Posey’s tenure continued, she became involved with the National Honor Society, built a peer tutoring group, advised the Ghost literary magazine, raised money for scholarships, and of course, spearheaded the “Ghost Around the World” program. The tangible results of those efforts were evident, but Posey’s role as a “proxy mom,” as she puts it, helped her build closer bonds with her students. That’s why many of them continue to stay in contact with her today, whether through social media, lunch meetings, or in other ways.

“They opened up to me,” she says.

Mike Hoffman and his twin

brother, Bryan, knew Posey since they were children, because she was a parishioner at St. John the Evangelist in Yardley, where their family worshipped. Both Hoffmans marvel at her ability to demand high performance in the classroom while still being accessible to the students.

“She was a rare breed of teacher,” Bryan says. “Not being a teacher myself, I would imagine it is easy to be well-liked, if you are willing to sacrifice your teaching quality. It’s a lot harder if you insist on being tough in the educational process.

She was able to thread that needle like nobody else I have ever seen.”

Posey and her husband spend part of the year in Venice, Fla.—“We’re snowbirds,” she says—and the rest of the time in their Yardley condo. She keeps busy by reading “a ton” and reports that she is in six book clubs.

Every Sunday, her children come over for dinner. And, of course, she stays connected to her former students.

It’s a situation Posey couldn’t have imagined when she was at George Mason, and her advisor told her she should have taken the Survey of Literature course. “You’re going to end up teaching.” Posey didn’t want to hear that. “No,” she said, “I’m going to end up writing.”

Fortunately for hundreds of Holy Ghost students, the advisor was right.

“I came to understand the unique charism of every student,” Posey says. “I tried to find out what was unique about every child and to help him develop the best he could. If God is love, then our job is to find what is lovable about everybody.

“I really believe that.”

Nobody who ever encountered

Kathy Posey could doubt that statement.

A frequent contributor to Holy Ghost Prep Magazine, Michael Bradley is a writer, broadcaster, and professor in suburban Philadelphia. He is the author of 33 books and is a professor in the communication department at Villanova University.

NEXT UP:

Rev. Francis X. Hanley, C.S.Sp. This Kathy Posey feature is the latest in a series of pieces on HGP icons. In the next issue of Holy Ghost Prep Magazine, we will profile the late Father Hanley, who became a Holy Ghost Prep faculty member in 1961 and was elevated to the school’s headmaster in 1968, a capacity he served in until 1977.

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Maguire Scholar:

James Corbett ’22

ONWARD AND UPWARD

BY BILL DOHERTY

HOLY GHOST PREP SENIOR James Corbett, a young man who grew up in HGP’s backyard, has ironically logged tons of miles on his journey to becoming one of the area’s top high school distance runners.

Like any top-shelf runner, Corbett keeps his eyes, body, and focus moving forward. He’s always putting one foot in front of the other—thinking about the next mile, the next workout, the next race. The irony? After four years at Ghost, Corbett is pondering a future that will see him continuing to look forward as a collegiate runner while also gazing upward, as his intended field of study is aerospace engineering.

In his first three years at Ghost, Corbett ran crosscountry and also played outside back on the soccer team in the fall—all while taking an AP-rich course load.

But Corbett had an epiphany after finishing fifth at the 2020 PIAA District One cross-country championship.

“That was the day I decided I was a runner playing soccer, not a soccer player running cross-country,” said Corbett, a Maguire Foundation Scholar from Bensalem who is one of the top students in HGP’s Class of 2022.

“I set my goal to be district cross-country champion as a senior.”

PHOTO CREDIT: CATALANO STUDIO

Corbett, a member of HGP’s student government and a team-first guy, quit the soccer team to completely focus on running and set another ambitious goal, too.

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“James began the cross-country season this year with both the individual and the team goal to win the district title,” says Holy Ghost Prep cross-country coach Mike Meistering. “To that end, he encouraged and recruited anyone who would run with him over the summer because he knew that although he could win individually, the team as a whole needed to do more

and he was determined to help them do that with his personal interest and sacrifice toward a shared team goal.”

Corbett recruited a couple guys from other sports to run cross-country and then stayed on top of everyone this past summer about keeping their fitness up—just like former HGP upperclassmen had done for him when he was younger.

“What makes HGP cross-country such a good program is its entire culture. We are blessed with a coaching staff that truly wants you to develop as a person first, and an athlete second,” says Corbett. “I joined indoor track freshman year and I was welcomed by the upperclassmen immediately. Jarett Zelinsky and Tony Carbino (both HGP Class of 2019 graduates) pushed me in workouts, joked with me, and became my friends.

This motivated me more than anything else. I tried my best to welcome the underclassmen into cross-country, so they had a similar experience.

“And of course during training is when we really help each other. The entire cross-country season I worked out with (HGP senior) Joe Smith and (HGP junior) Ciaran Chambers. Both of them expected my best each day—not only my best physically, but mentally.

They made sure I was in the right mindset to really push myself. Having coaches and athletes who are enthusiastic about training each day makes it such a great experience.”

Powered by a remarkable four top-10 finishers, the Holy Ghost Prep cross-country team reached its team goal, edging Lower Moreland to capture the 2021 PIAA District One Class AA title on October 29 at Lehigh University. Corbett and Chambers finished first and second, respectively; HGP’s Daniel Perez and Papakojo Danquah finished sixth and ninth, respectively.

One week later, Corbett earned a state medal by finishing 18th at the PIAA state cross-country championships in Hershey. And the Firebirds finished 10th overall as a team, something that thrilled Corbett.

“I think everyone did tremendously well because we made it a team sport,” says Corbett. “We did it for ourselves and for each other. I am extremely happy for our younger guys. Having a win like this gives them way more confidence in their abilities heading into the indoor track season.”

Corbett continued to run impressive times during the 2022 indoor track season. His indoor mile times (4:22) were among the fastest in the state and were the swiftest recorded mile times at HGP since Nick Costantino back in the mid-1980s.

Because Corbett posts numbers in the classroom that are every bit as impressive as those on the track, some of the nation’s top academic schools have taken notice of him.

“His meteoric rise into a top area runner over the past year yielded much interest from college coaches who know his story. James continues to receive interest for his track and field potential, while also generating much interest for his huge improvements in this past crosscountry season with a sub-16-minute 5K performance and a few individual race wins.”

Corbett continues to set lofty goals for himself. He’ll attend Washington University in Saint Louis to continue his academic and athletic careers.

“I want to study aerospace engineering. I’ve always been interested in math, science, and astronomy,” says Corbett. “At Ghost, I’ve taken very intriguing courses like calculus, physics, computer science, and astronomy, which have all furthered my interest in aerospace engineering.”

Corbett’s college sport and his intended major will both focus on speed and mileage. Meistering is confident that Corbett will continue to succeed in St. Louis.

“James is a coach’s dream mix of intellect, talent, desire, and dedication to becoming the best athlete he can be,” says Meistering.

A Helping Hand

Thanks to the generosity of the Maguire

Foundation, these 12 outstanding Maguire Scholars are attending Holy Ghost Prep during the 2021-22 school year:

Class of 2022: James Corbett, Corey Hecdivert, Conner Gallagher, Mike Georges Class of 2023: Joseph Connor, Mel Lindsey, Damien Moore, Emiliano Salazar Class of 2024: Brandon Beatrice, Sean Boyle, Tim Devine, Logan Peterson

PHOTO CREDIT: DOUGLAS BENEDICT, ACADEMIC IMAGE

Campus news

Leaving a Legacy Holy Ghost Prep science teacher Amanda Coopersmith will retire at the end of the 2021-22 academic year.

Since arriving at Holy Ghost Prep in the fall of 2014, Coopersmith has inspired her students through her obvious passion for teaching chemistry, honors chemistry, and AP chemistry during her entire tenure and physics and honors physics over the past three years. Prior to Holy Ghost Prep, Coopersmith taught at Villa Joseph Marie for seven years. Before beginning to teach, she ran a small private lab in Florida for five years—doing work for the FDA, USDA, and EPA. “The students at Ghost are amazing. They come from all different experiences and with a wide variety of talents, but in the end, they share one common goal: the desire to learn,” says Coopersmith. “Chemistry is a tough subject, but the students have brought joy into my classroom every day with their willingness to engage in the material and their insightful questions.

“It is true: Do what you love and you never work a day. My time here has never felt like a job. Every day is an opportunity for me to learn as much from my students as I hope they learn from me.”

Coopersmith’s background as a scientist and her innate ability to connect with her students—combined with the fact that she’s 26

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a fixture at HGP sporting events and school shows—has made her a beloved and award-winning teacher at Ghost. Many of her students lovingly refer to her as “Coop.” She won the 2019 American Chemical Society’s Philadelphia Section Award for Excellence in Pre-College Teaching.

“During her time at Holy Ghost Prep, Amanda has ignited a passion for science in her students,” says Holy Ghost Prep president Gregory J. Geruson ’79. “Amanda always goes the extra mile for her students—creating unique and fun lab experiments that tie directly into real-world applications and often taking time out of her after-school life to attend Holy Ghost Prep sporting events, which means the world to our students.”

Coopersmith will finish the 2021-22 academic year and then looks forward to spending quality time with her husband, Brad, as well as reading, doing volunteer work at area schools and libraries, and perhaps going back to school to pursue her Ph.D. “Mrs. Coopersmith brought her science professional experience to HGP and mixed that with a love for her students and teaching. That recipe made her a wonderful educator,” says Holy Ghost Prep principal Kevin Burke. “We have been blessed to have her as a teacher in our science department.”

HGP Begins Dual Credit Course Partnership with Duquesne

Holy Ghost Prep has entered into a partnership with Duquesne University that will enable HGP upperclassmen to take dual credit courses beginning in the summer of 2022. Through this partnership, Holy Ghost Prep students will have the opportunity to complete undergraduate and professional studies courses at Duquesne.

Students can earn up to 30 college credits through this program. HGP students taking part in the dual enrollment program will also have full virtual access to Duquesne’s Gumberg Library.

After reviewing Holy Ghost Prep’s curriculum, the university determined which courses in their catalog would enhance and supplement what HGP students are currently studying.

According to Holy Ghost Prep principal Kevin Burke, taking Duquesne courses—virtually this summer and fall, but perhaps on the Duquesne campus itself in the summer of 2023—allows students to become accustomed to the college environment now, not down the line.

“We couldn’t be happier to further extend our partnership with Duquesne University,” Burke said. “We are always looking to expand our course offerings, and recent successful additions and improvements to the HGP curriculum have emboldened us to go further for our young men. Holy Ghost Prep is taking this significant step to ensure we’re doing all we can, and offering all we can, to prepare our students to tackle college from day one.”

Holy Ghost Prep students will have to apply for the dual enrollment program. The application process will run directly through Duquesne. Any rising HGP senior or junior with a 3.0 cumulative GPA can apply.

HGP students who complete a Duquesne course will receive

a grade and both HGP and college credit. Additionally, students will also receive a transcript from Duquesne that can be included in their college applications to Duquesne as well other four-year colleges and universities. Credits earned through this program may be applied toward a Duquesne University degree or transferred to many public and private colleges and universities.

Although not the first high school to partner with a university, Holy Ghost Prep is the first to partner with Duquesne in this fashion. “This isn’t a program open to a select few—we want as many of our students as possible to be afforded this opportunity,” says Patrick Hoelzle ’01, HGP’s dean of academics.

“We believe that this additional opportunity will help prepare students for their next steps, both at college and in life. Partnering with Duquesne, my alma mater, for a dual enrollment program has been a goal of mine for several years. I’m excited to see it become a reality.”

The decision to offer dual credit courses is the latest in a long line of partnerships between the two Spiritan institutions.

All Holy Ghost Prep graduates are eligible to attend Duquesne University at a reduced price. And earlier this school year, Duquesne generously decided to share access to most of its library materials with Holy Ghost Prep students.

HGP’s Talent Was on Display Seven Holy Ghost Prep student artists had their work displayed at the 15th annual Archdiocese of Philadelphia Student Art Exhibition in the La Salle University Art Museum.

The seven HGP students whose work was part of the Archdiocesan exhibition were Dominic Rivera, Max Rittenmeyer, Andrew Jones, Stanley Gondek, Gavin Boyle, Christopher Conboy, and AJ Olczak (not pictured above).

The exhibition, which features works by nearly 200 students from 19 high schools, opened on March 24 and ran through mid-April.

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Creating Campus Harmony To Syed Naqvi ’21, the key to success in life, not to mention his success during his time as a Holy Ghost student, is being prepared for the unexpected.

“You have to be ready and you have to be present,” says Naqvi. “There are people you are going to meet and conversations you’re going to have that will challenge you as a person sometimes, and you need to have those kinds of experiences if you want to grow as a person.”

Naqvi’s current set of challenges and experiences are at Drexel University, where he is studying immunology and neuroscience, with an eye toward realizing his dream of becoming a doctor.

Should he reach that destination, Naqvi believes that Holy Ghost Prep played a significant role in the journey. Naqvi credits his role as an Unum retreat leader and a Cor mentor with allowing him to get involved and make a difference. “I wanted to do something to strengthen the sense of community at Holy Ghost Prep,” Naqvi says. “It was more than just an activity to add to a list.”

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Part of that community building included having some difficult conversations about race and diversity, both inside and outside of the classroom. A Muslim of Pakistani descent, Naqvi acknowledged the complexity of being a racial and religious minority at a private school. “I do tend to think more about what I say before I say it. The challenge is to be respectful,” he says. “Fortunately, I was always welcomed and respected at Holy Ghost.”

As a member of Holy Ghost’s DICE (Diversity, Inclusion, Community, and Equity) club, Naqvi believes a measured approach worked best when having hard conversations about diversity and race. “To some, it may seem like you’re avoiding or working around bigotry or ignorance in other people when you approach them in a way that isn’t as confrontational,” he says. “But by listening, while also being insightful about my side of the story, I felt like I could accomplish what so many people can’t when they talk about race: Create harmony between different groups of people.”

Naqvi’s search for that sort of harmony involved bridging divides not only of race but of religious faith. A recipient of a religion certificate at HGP’s 2021 graduation ceremony, he has always been intrigued by the similarities and contrasts between Islam and Christianity. He cited two of Tom Croskey’s classes, “Morality” and “The Authentic Self,” as being especially useful in helping him to compare and understand them.

“His readings and his classes sometimes made me question my own beliefs,” says Naqvi. “But that was a good thing, because what I learned in his classes helped strengthen my own spirituality as a Muslim.”

Croskey also remembers their conversations after class, where he and Naqvi would discuss the tenets of each faith. “He really just had a thirst for knowledge and understanding,” says Croskey. “He stood out in the way he wanted to expand his knowledge to better understand the world around him.”

That search for understanding seems critical now, given what’s at stake for the increasingly diverse nation that America has become. “We can’t afford to be intolerant,” says Naqvi.

—By Matt Jordan

Finding Its Niche For a fourth straight year, Holy Ghost Prep was named one of the premier Catholic high schools in Pennsylvania and received an overall grade of A+ from Niche, an organization that reviews and ranks schools nationwide.

Holy Ghost Prep was rated no. 4 in the “Best Catholic High Schools in Pennsylvania” category out of 70 schools in Niche’s 2022 rankings. HGP received A+ grades in academics, clubs and activities, and sports. Niche also awarded Holy Ghost Prep with A grades in both teachers and college prep.

PHOTO CREDIT: DOUGLAS BENEDICT, ACADEMIC IMAGE

Trish O’Connor Wins Outstanding Educator Award

Trish O’Connor, Ph.D. was selected by the University of Chicago to receive an Outstanding Educator Award back in October.

The distinguished award has existed for more than three decades. Students accepted into the University of Chicago’s Class of 2025 were asked to nominate an educator whose guidance has helped them along the path toward intellectual growth.

O’Connor was nominated by Tomas Vallejo, a 2021 HGP graduate who is a freshman majoring in political science at the University of Chicago. Vallejo is attending the University of Chicago on a full four-year QuestBridge scholarship.

“I don’t think that any teacher teaches for recognition, but I am honored to be nominated for this distinction by Tomas,” says O’Connor. “He is an inspiration to me, and the idea that I played any small part in his journey to excellence is so very gratifying to me. The real joy and reward of teaching over these many years has been the relationships I’ve built with students and colleagues who have enriched my life beyond measure. I am blessed.”

O’Connor is certainly a deserving recipient of the award. She was recognized by the University of Chicago during a virtual event on October 25, 2021.

“Dr. O’Connor is a passionate educator. She wears her ‘teaching heart’ on her sleeve,” says Holy Ghost Prep principal Kevin

Burke. “She always works hard at her craft so that the students benefit. She is deserving of this recognition, and we are so happy for this acknowledgement by the University of Chicago.”

Outstanding Educator Award recipients shape young minds in meaningful ways—thoughtfully approaching instruction, sharing an infectious love for learning, and caring for students both inside and outside of the classroom. Each year, newly admitted University of Chicago students have the opportunity to reflect on their time in school and nominate an educator who played a significant role in their education, made a positive impact in their life, and whose influence has brought them to where they are today.

All Outstanding Educator Award winners, including Dr. O’Connor, receive a commemorative award, certificate, and letter that includes details from the student who nominated them.

“Dr. O’Connor is a well-deserving recipient of such a distinguished award,” says Justin Goulet ’99, the chair of HGP’s English department. “She sets an amazing example for all of us to follow and she builds genuine relationships with her students that go well beyond their high school years. She is one of the most selfless people I know, and she always puts the needs of her students and her colleagues ahead of her own.”

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Built for Success

Ghost Goes Global In addition to a fertile mind, an appetite to learn, and a wellcharged laptop, current and future Holy Ghost Prep students will be encouraged to arrive on campus with an updated passport.

As part of the school’s new and innovative Spiritan Immersion program, each HGP student learns a subject area through intensive, experiential on- and off-campus study. This may include day trips, guest speakers, hands-on work, and international travel for HGP juniors and some select sophomores.

“The benefits from a program like this are numerous. Most importantly, our students get an experiential real-world opportunity to learn about the Core Components of a Spiritan School in action,” says Holy Ghost Prep principal Kevin Burke.

“Additionally, our teachers collaboratively create, plan, and implement the experiences for our students. Through all of this, our community learns about and lives out our Spiritan identity.”

This innovative Spiritan Immersion program launched during the second semester of the 2021-22 school year, and most of the travel in the inaugural year has been to domestic locations (i.e., Harlem, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia)—the lone exception being the recent Blackrock College trip to Dublin, Ireland that Holy Ghost Prep students took.

The program will have a much more global feel moving forward. The destinations for some of the upcoming Spiritan Immersion Global Ghost trips include Spain in June 2022, a return trip to Ireland in January 2023, Peru in June 2023, and Portugal in August 2023.

“An important part of our responsibility as educators here at Holy Ghost Prep is to produce responsible global citizens,” says Burke. “We believe the exciting travel opportunities that will be offered to HGP students over the next couple years will allow our students to gain a deeper appreciation of our human diversity and perspectives by engaging with peers and institutions around the world.”

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In just five short years, Holy Ghost Prep computer science and engineering department chair Brandon Petcaugh and his students have built a VEX robotics program that is accomplished enough to consistently compete on the world stage.

Further evidence of the program’s strength came when the Firebirds recently qualified a team for the VEX World Championships for the third time in the five-year history of Holy Ghost Prep robotics.

HGP’s top senior team of Jeeth Vijay, Luke Vogt, Jomal Mathew, and Aaron Haq has qualified to compete in the largest robotics competition in the world, the 2022 VEX World Championships, in Dallas, Texas in early May. The Holy Ghost Prep team competed against high school robotics teams from over 30 different nations and teams from all 50 states.

In addition to the trip to worlds, Holy Ghost Prep had a freshman robotics team qualify for the U.S. Open Robotics National Tournament for the first time ever. The freshman team of Liam Power, Isaac Newell, Jake Schutsky, and Jacob Hackman—ranked sixth in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania—would have traveled to Council Bluffs, Iowa in April to compete against the country’s best teams.

“Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the tournament was greatly reduced in size, and they won’t actually be participating because of that, but we still want to honor their accomplishment of qualifying,” says Petcaugh.

Each year, the VEX robotics competition poses an engineering challenge in the form of a game. The students must build a robot that scores the most points possible in the game. The teams face off in qualification matches, elimination matches, and skills challenges at the worldwide competition.

“We are so proud of our VEX robotics program,” says Holy Ghost Prep principal Kevin Burke. “While the accolades are nice, what I love most about our robotics program are the skills that these young men are developing. They are honing their technical expertise, learning to work successfully in teams, and how to compete hard while maintaining a true sense of sportsmanship.

These skills will serve them well for the rest of their lives.”

Hitting All the Right Notes Ten Holy Ghost Prep students recently earned 2021 All-Catholic music honors in the following categories: Concert Band: Joshua Manangan (alto saxophone), Daniel Perez (alto saxophone), and Thomas Palermo (tuba) Orchestra: Francis Oniate (violin) Chorus: Daniel Swider, Dominic DiFrancesco, Owen Smith, and Corey Hecdivert Jazz Band: Matthew Rockwell (trumpet) and Matthew Gleason (drums) “We are so proud that these young men earned All-Catholic music honors,” says Holy Ghost Prep music director Chuck Hallahan. “They have worked extremely hard, and I am thrilled that all of their hard work has paid off.”

Invest in the Future.

Invest in Ghost.

Annual giving is the lifeblood of Holy Ghost Prep, providing tangible, bottom-line support to the school’s key priority areas. But the act of giving to our annual fund, no matter the size of your gift, is what matters.

Annual fund participation is a vote of confidence in Holy Ghost Prep’s leadership and its current direction, and sets an example to others.

An unrestricted gift to the Holy Ghost Fund allows us to: • Direct funds to the area(s) of greatest need • Invest in the professional development of our faculty/ staff • Continue to provide cutting-edge programming To preserve our place as one of the premier independent

Pomp and Circumstance Holy Ghost Prep will hold its annual commencement exercises on Saturday, June 4 at 11 a.m. on the campus lawn behind Cornwells Hall. During the ceremony, students will be recognized for their accomplishments and will be reminded that they are always brothers, not only with fellow members of the Class of 2022 but with all Holy Ghost Prep graduates.

Catholic schools in the state, Holy Ghost Prep needs the generous financial support of its alumni, parents, and friends on an annual basis.

Simply use the giving envelope in this issue of the magazine or visit www.holyghostprep.org/onlinegiving to make an annual fund gift today.

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HGP Class of 2021: Where They Headed After Ghost Holy Ghost Prep’s Class of 2021 was a group of unique and talented individuals who excelled in the classroom, on the stage, in laboratories, in community service efforts, and on the playing fields.

They also displayed tremendous grit and togetherness when the COVID-19 pandemic altered both the course of their HGP careers and their college searches.

The Class of 2021’s collective talents didn’t go unnoticed, as they submitted 908 college applications and received a school-record $27,460,086 in scholarships.

HGP’s Class of 2021 was an accomplished group of 125 students who are continuing their academic careers at 59 different schools in 18 different states.

“The wonderful array of college admissions offers that Holy Ghost’s Class of 2021 received is a reflection of the students’ many talents in and out of the classroom,” says AnnMarie Dougherty, Holy Ghost Prep’s director of college guidance. “As the world of college admissions becomes more competitive every year, it is a source of pride that colleges recognize Holy Ghost’s excellent academic preparation and the significant contributions that our graduates are poised to make to their college communities.”

Gregory J. Geruson ’79, president of Holy Ghost Prep, says: “The Class of 2021 left an indelible mark on Holy Ghost Prep. It’s a credit to them, their parents, our teachers, and our College Guidance Office that they are attending such an impressive list of colleges and universities—ranging from Villanova to Vanderbilt, Notre Dame to NYU, Princeton to Penn State, Rowan to Rochester Institute of Technology, Saint Joseph’s to Syracuse. They are undoubtedly prepared to make a difference within their college communities, just as they have done in ours.”

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PHOTO CREDITS: CATALANO STUDIO

Rowan University Rutgers University Saint Andrews (N.C.) University Saint Francis University Saint Joseph’s Amherst College University Bloomsburg University Syracuse University Bucks County Temple University Community College The College of New Clemson University Jersey Community College Thomas Jefferson of Philadelphia University DeSales University University of Alabama Drexel University University of Chicago Duquesne University University of Dayton Elon University University of Delaware Embry-Riddle University of Denver Aeronautical University University of Florida Gwynedd Mercy University of Illinois University University of Hood (Md.) College Notre Dame Immaculata University University of Kutztown University Pittsburgh La Salle University University of Scranton Lehigh University University of South Carolina Marywood University University of Tampa Moravian College University of the New York University Sciences Northeastern University of Vermont University University of Virginia Ohio State University Ursinus College Pace University Vanderbilt University Pennsylvania State University Villanova University Princeton University Virginia Tech Purdue University Wesleyan University Rensselaer Polytechnic West Chester Institute University Rider University Widener University Rochester Institute of Technology The students in Holy Ghost Prep’s Class of 2021 headed to the following schools after Ghost (listed alphabetically):

Alumni news

HGP Alumni Association Board Adds Five New Members The Holy Ghost Prep Alumni Association Board has added five new members and has appointed its first-ever Alumni Association Board chaplain.

Holy Ghost Prep’s Alumni Association Board’s five new members are Greg Winther ’02, Mike Ivcic ’03, Andrew Neville ’05, Ryan Raiker ’12, and Patrick Taylor ’17. Rev. Chris McDermott, C.S.Sp. has also joined the group as the first-ever chaplain of the Alumni Association Board.

The new members of the Alumni Association Board work in the following fields—finance, communications, law, business, and marketing.

The 15-member Holy Ghost Prep Alumni Association seeks to foster pride, loyalty, and a lifelong connection to Holy Ghost by: • Coordinating programs and events for alumni, students, parents, and friends of Holy Ghost Prep; • Encouraging alumni to contribute their time, talent, and financial support; • Communicating the needs, news, and accomplishments of Holy Ghost Prep and its alumni; and • Providing opportunities for volunteerism, professional association, career development, and fellowship among alumni.

The Alumni Association is looking forward to giving back to HGP as well as reconnecting with former classmates. The Alumni Association Board also has a new president, Kenneth Lorence ’05 (pictured), and two new vice presidents in Jim Esposito ’97 and Dave Pascone ’03. A special thank-you to our past president Ryan Becker ’98 for all of his guidance over the past several years as Holy Ghost Prep redeveloped its Alumni Association Board and improved its overall alumni engagement.

Teeing Off for HGP Athletics Back on September 27 at the Union League Golf Club at Torresdale, nearly 100 golfers participated in the 2021 HGP Golf Classic. Thanks to the generosity of the golfers and the event’s sponsors, the annual tournament raised $43,525 in proceeds for HGP athletics.

Mark your calendars: The 2022 HGP Classic will be held on September 26, 2022 at the Union League Golf Club at Torresdale.

SAVE THE DATE

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Alumni profile: MICHAEL GUBIO ’21

PHOTO CREDIT: DOUGLAS BENEDICT, ACADEMIC IMAGE

Building on his HGP Success

BY MATT JORDAN

FROM THE TIME he was little, Michael Gublo ’21 has been blessed with a fertile, inquisitive mind. It was not enough for him to know what happened, but why and how.

“I am interested in designing real-world things,” says Gublo. “I have always been interested in how stuff works. For as long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed building things and coming up with new ideas.

As a four-year member of the robotics team, Gublo built quite a few things during his time at HGP. He and his mechanically-minded peers could often be found working on various projects in the Brennan Family Innovation Center, the collaborative “maker space” that opened in Cornwells Hall in 2017. The anchor of the school’s new STEM Tower, the Innovation Center has been home to a surge of students who plan to pursue careers in mathematics and engineering.

That included Gublo, who is attending 34

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Rochester Institute of Technology. One of the top engineering programs in the country, RIT accepted Gublo into its dual degree program to pursue a bachelor’s and a master’s in mechanical engineering.

They have gotten one of HGP’s best builders and designers. The recipient of the Computer Science Award at last year’s graduation, Gublo was a member of the National Honor Society in both math and science. He was also a key contributor to the robotics team, a program that has made an impressive debut in the past six years, thanks to the guidance of teachers like Brandon Petcaugh and Kevin Bushek.

Petcaugh, Gublo’s former computer science teacher and robotics coach, credits students like Gublo for the team’s rapid ascent: “He spent countless hours in the lab, often late at night, helping to design complicated algorithms to make sure that everything was working perfectly.” Gublo’s efforts clearly

helped in the team’s competitions. For the second time in its brief history, the robotics team reached the 2021 state finals, earning along the way an Amaze Award for outstanding robot, as well as the Sportsmanship Award, which the team earned at every competition they attended last year. Best of all, their performance qualified them for a spot at the Vex World Championship in Salt Lake City, a high-water mark for the burgeoning program.

Gublo also made his influence felt in the classroom, says Petcaugh. “He literally helped me to grow and expand the computer science program throughout his time here. His excitement for exploring emerging technologies, and for pushing the boundaries for what we can do in a high school classroom, helped me to feel comfortable creating more intricate and worthwhile computer science projects for the classes to complete.”

Gublo reciprocated Petcaugh’s

Holy Ghost Prep Turns 125 in 2022-23 influence on him as a teacher. “His computer science classes were always fun. They taught me a lot about the online world we’re all connected to. In fact, I really enjoyed all of my teachers at Ghost.

Each one was different in his or her own way,” he says, citing Jerry Colapinto’s AP

Founded in 1897, Holy Ghost Prep will celebrate its 125th year in grand fashion during the upcoming 2022-23 school year.

The yearlong celebration will kick off with the Mass of the Holy Spirit on September 11, 2022. There will be a series of celebrations throughout the school year (i.e. celebrations of the school’s founders, Claude Poulart des Places and Francis Libermann). The year will culminate with a 125th gala celebration on April 21, 2023 at Belle Voir Manor in Bensalem.

“He spent countless hours in the lab, often late at night, helping to design complicated algorithms to make sure that everything was working perfectly.”

—Brandon Petcaugh calculus and Steve Tomshaw’s physics classes as especially challenging and useful. “They all helped me grow both academically and personally.”

Gublo is excelling in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering—earning a 3.77 GPA and a spot on the dean’s list during the first semester. Gublo is also a member of the RIT SAE clean snowmobile team and traveled to Eagle River, Wisconsin with the team in early March for the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge, where the team placed second.

Never one to stand still, Gublo is also preparing for sailing this summer, both as an instructor at the Jersey Shore and also sailing a J70 in an offshore racing series.

Food for Thought For a third straight year, Holy Ghost Prep alums-turned-HGP-employees Justin Goulet ’99 and Mike Jacobs ’01 and a group of students delivered nonperishable food items to Preston & Steve’s 24th annual “Campout for Hunger,” benefiting Philabundance.

Goulet and Jacobs are competitive and good-hearted guys by nature— always wanting to top the total amount of food donated from the previous year in order to help as many Philadelphia area families as possible.

So after delivering 3,272 pounds of food this school year, the bar has been set even higher as the Holy Ghost Prep team—which is led by Goulet and Jacobs, along with HGP juniors Andrew Gyuraki and Michael McKenna and freshman Rocky Ball—is hoping to collect and deliver 4,000 pounds of nonperishable food to Preston & Steve’s “Campout for Hunger” in November of 2022.

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PHOTO CREDIT: CATALANO STUDIO

Rev. Jeffrey T. Duaime, C.S.Sp. ’76 Receives Prestigious Award

As part of the Mass of the Holy Spirit celebration back in September, Father Jeffrey Duaime, C.S.Sp. ’76 became just the sixth person to receive Holy Ghost Prep’s Anima Una Award. Established more than a decade ago, the award honors that person who has made a significant contribution to the realization of the school’s mission, with a particular focus on the Seven Core Components of a Spiritan School.

Ironically, Father Duaime discerned his calling to the priesthood as a student at Holy Ghost Prep inspired to follow in the footsteps of the Spiritans who taught him there. His assignments took him to the Bahamas, Haiti, Pittsburgh, Arlington, Va.—but the biggest piece of his heart has always remained at Holy Ghost Prep.

Father Duaime served as Holy Ghost Prep’s president from 2002 to 2013. In addition, he was a member of the HGP Board of Trustees from 2002 until 2021 and was the provincial for 14 of the past 16 years (2004-09 – U.S. East Province and 2012-2021 – U.S. Province).

As provincial and president, Father Jeff completed the renovation of the Firebird Fieldhouse in 2004, launched the Schreyer Challenge to raise $5,000,000 for the endowment in 2006, and raised $2,000,000 for the restoration of the chapel in 2010. In recent years, Father Jeff played a leadership role in helping to establish the priorities of the school’s recently completed “Vision 2020” strategic plan, an ambitious campaign that 36

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resulted in the construction of the STEM Tower, the building of the Holt Center, a significant increase in the amount of merit and need-based scholarship money, the establishment of the forensics endowment, and much more.

“For his continued and unwavering support and commitment to HGP, for his leadership and guidance, and for his steady and calming advice that have shaped HGP’s past, present, and future, it gives me great pleasure to present the Anima Una Award to Father Jeffrey Duaime,” said Greg Wozniak, an alumni parent of three HGP graduates and the chairman of HGP’s Board of Trustees, as he handed the award to Father Duaime.

One month after he received the award, the Spiritans named Father Duaime one of two new general assistants (the other is Rev. Tony Neves, C.S.Sp. from Portugal) to Rev. Alain Mayama, C.S.Sp., the new superior general of the congregation.

Father Duaime has moved to Rome for an eight-year term and is working alongside Father Mayama and Father Neves to make a real difference in the world by inspiring more than 2,500 Spiritan missionaries working in more than 60 countries on five continents. For this important global role, Father Duaime is learning three new languages (French, Portuguese, and Italian).

Gregory Nowak ’77 Posthumously Honored with the McCloskey Award During the 2021 commencement exercises, Gregory Nowak ’77, a member of Holy Ghost Prep’s Board of Trustees who passed away suddenly in April 2021 at the age of 61, was honored posthumously with the Reverend James P. McCloskey, C.S.Sp. ’70 Award. The award is given annually to “the alumnus whose profound generosity, commitment, and support demonstrates a unique understanding of the mission of Holy Ghost Prep.”

To give the audience a better sense of Nowak, Holy Ghost Prep’s first-ever national champion in extemporaneous speaking, a recorded message from iconic Holy Ghost Prep teacher and forensics coach John Buettler ’64 was played at graduation.

Buettler would have loved nothing more than to be here in person to honor Nowak, but Buettler’s youngest son, John, a 2002 HGP grad, got married on June 5, the same day as HGP’s graduation.

Nowak’s wife, Denise, and family members accepted the McCloskey Award in his honor.

Nowak was certainly a deserving McCloskey Award recipient.

He was a 1981 maxima cum laude graduate in economics from La Salle University before receiving his law degree from Cornell University and his masters of law in taxation from the New York University School of Law. Nowak went on to become a partner in the Philadelphia law office of Troutman Pepper LLP and an adjunct professor at Cornell University.

Nowak returned to campus to give the commencement address to HGP’s Class of 2019—imploring the graduates to

always bring their “A” game in everything they do, to understand what it means to be a discerning adult, and to understand the importance of mentoring and mentorship.

A vocal supporter of advancing HGP’s mission through programs and capital projects, Nowak was a lead “Vision 2020” donor, making a major gift to the forensics endowment.

In addition to his wife, Denise, Nowak is survived by his mother, Mary, his four adult children (Elise, Greg, Matt, and Maddie) and his sister, Victoria.

He joins an illustrious group of past McCloskey Award winners: 2002 Fr. James McCloskey ’70 2003 Leonard Moss ’50 2004 John Buettler ’64 2005 Joseph Blaston ’75 2006 Joseph Quinlan ’71 2007 Frank Guarrieri ’70 2008 Anthony Geonnotti ’76 2009 John Mundy ’65 2010 Anthony Naccarato ’84 2011 Thomas Holt ’81 2013 Fr. Jeffrey Duaime ’76 2016 John Di Paolo ’87 2017 Bob Watters ’81 2018 Tony Chapman ’71 2019 Vincent Profy ’65

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Athletic news

A True Scholar-Athlete Scholar-athlete is a term held in high regard by anyone familiar with high school and college sports. It refers to a special sort of individual—someone who not only can handle the challenges and expectations of a full-time commitment to both academics and athletics, but meet and exceed them.

It’s a tough standard for any student-athlete to meet. But Holy Ghost Prep has been privileged to have had many such students, and it was privileged to have had another in the Class of 2021: varsity baseball and basketball captain and summa cum laude graduate Jack McDermott. The 2021 recipient of the Ted Grabowski Scholar-Athlete Award at last spring’s graduation, McDermott lived up to the best qualities of the award. In terms of character, he’s congenial, responsible, and humble. But those lowkey qualities never hindered McDermott’s ability to shine—whether he was in the classroom, on the court, or on the baseball field at Ghost.

McDermott is now excelling at Amherst College, a liberal arts college in the middle of Massachusetts. Founded in 1821, Amherst is one of the oldest and most highly regarded liberal arts schools in the country. McDermott was drawn to the school because of its small size, he says, something that he also found appealing about Holy Ghost. Currently undecided about his professional plans, he’s competitive varsity team’s season. thinking about focusing on statistics or economics.

McDermott, whose younger brother Noah is a junior at Ghost, Another important factor in McDermott’s decision to choose credits both coaches for pushing him to become more of a leader.

Amherst was the opportunity to play baseball for the oldest “They placed their trust in me [to lead],” he says, “whether it was collegiate athletic program in the nation. (Amherst and Williams by encouraging my teammates more, or making the occasional College played the first college baseball game in America in 1859.) ‘get-your-head-in-the-game’ type of comment. My self-confidence In terms of skill, Amherst will be getting a talented player. “He wound up growing a lot because of that.” was a sure glove in the field and our best offensive player,” says That self-confidence should help one of Holy Ghost’s top Greg Olenski ’10, McDermott’s varsity baseball coach, about the scholar-athletes become an even stronger leader at Amherst. shortstop who hit over .450 this season and was named first team “I hope Jack considers a political career,” says Tom Eckerle, all-area by the Bucks County Courier Times. “Performance-wise, I McDermott’s AP U.S. history teacher. “This country needs future could not have asked for a more complete player to lead our team leaders with his character, work ethic, and moral compass.” to another district championship.”

A true student-athlete, McDermott has excelled at both The personal quality that McDermott’s coaches and hitting the books and opponents’ hanging curveballs during teachers point to immediately is his quiet determination. “He’s a his first year at Amherst. During his first semester, McDermott tremendous competitor,” says Tony Chapman ’71, McDermott’s posted a 3.75 GPA. On the baseball diamond, he was 3 for 4 basketball coach for three years. “He would never let his small in his first college game and went on to start every game this stature work against him, and he actually used it to his advantage season, either in right field or at second base for the Mammoths. in game situations.”

“Jack has made a significant impact on our team right away,” Of course, quiet determination isn’t always enough, especially says Amherst baseball coach J.P. Pyne. “His transition to college if team chemistry and execution are lacking. It was in those has been seamless, which I think speaks volumes about his situations that McDermott’s coaches asked him to push past experience at Holy Ghost Prep. We believe his future is extremely his modest persona and become a more assertive leader. “He’s bright, and I am excited to see him develop over the next four evolving as a person,” says Chapman. “He started out extremely years.” quiet. But he became more vocally involved as a senior, both on Not one to rest on his laurels, McDermott will head to New the court and especially off the court.” McDermott’s high regard Hampshire for the summer, where he will play for the Nashua among his teammates was crucial to the baseball team’s success, SilverKnights, who compete in the Futures Collegiate Baseball Olenski believes, calling McDermott “the glue that held the team League of New England. ­—Matt Jordan together” through the day-to-day challenges that are part of any

“His transition to college has been seamless, which I think speaks volumes about his experience at Holy Ghost Prep.”

— Amherst baseball coach J.P. Pyne

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H O LY G H O S T P R E P M AGA Z I N E

E ACADEMIC IMAG GLAS BENEDICT, DOU PHOTO CREDIT:

Lifelong Memories

Getting Their Hall Pass Six former Holy Ghost Prep student-athletes and one longtime coach were inducted into the HGP Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, January 29 at the Bensalem Country Club.

The six former standouts who comprised the 2022 HGP Athletic Hall of Fame induction class are: SEAN RYAN ’94 / Baseball and basketball JEFF ANGELUCCI ’95 / Soccer JOE FERRARO ’95 / Baseball

This winter, the Holy Ghost Prep basketball and ice hockey teams both played games in extremely cool venues—resulting in memories that will last a lifetime for both teams.

On December 19, the HGP hoops team (13-10 record in 2021-22) played against Strath Haven at Chase Fieldhouse, the home of the Delaware Blue Coats, the Philadelphia 76ers’ G-League team.

Despite losing a close game, it was an experience that the Ghost players will never forget—from dressing in a locker room with nine-foot showers to playing in a first-rate pro facility.

The HGP ice hockey team created lifelong memories too, with the “Red Out” game (the large contingent of HGP fans donned red gear to support the team) at the Wells Fargo Center vs. Malvern Prep and an outdoor Winter Classic–type game in the snow at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh vs. North Allegheny High School.

JIM BRITT ’00 / Ice hockey ROBERT BURNS ’03 / Cross-country, indoor and outdoor track GREG OLENSKI ’10 / Baseball In addition, longtime assistant basketball coach Bruce Simon was also inducted into the HGP Athletic Hall of Fame. Simon has coached varsity basketball with Tony Chapman ’71 from 1980-89 and then again from 2008 to the present, and has played an integral role in Chapman recording 914 career wins at Ghost.

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South Bend Bound

TURN YOUR Pennsylvania

Taxes into Scholarship Assistance The Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program is quickly becoming a popular way for many Holy Ghost Prep families and businesses to contribute scholarship dollars to our school. In the past few years, Holy Ghost Prep has gone from $50,000 in annual EITC support to over $400,000 in the current fiscal year. Individuals have taken advantage of this opportunity by making a direct donation to a Holy Ghost Prep Special Purpose Entity (SPE) created for this program. Donors will receive 90% credit for that donation toward their annual Pa. tax bill. Holy Ghost Prep uses those dollars to provide scholarships to students with financial need and/or students living within the boundaries of an underperforming school district as determined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Don’t let another year go by without directing your tax dollars to Holy Ghost Prep!

Here’s what two of our EITC donors are saying:

“My Pennsylvania tax dollars now go to Holy Ghost to support our students—and the process was extraordinarily simple!”

—BOB WATTERS ’81

“I have been participating in the Pa. tax credit program for the past four years and just renewed my commitment for two more years. I would highly recommend this program to anyone who is thinking about joining.”

—TOM MCMANUS ’86, P’20, P’24

To learn more about using your Pa. tax dollars to help HGP students reach their goals, please contact Matt Dwyer, Executive Director of Development, at mdwyer@ holyghostprep.org or 215-352-6956.

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H O LY G H O S T P R E P M AGA Z I N E

Holy Ghost Prep senior Calen Sanderson will continue his academic and golf career at the University of Notre Dame.

Sanderson enjoyed a truly special golf career at Holy Ghost Prep, a school with a rich history of producing top-notch golfers.

He was the model of consistency the past couple years—finishing second at districts and winning a state title in 2020, then following that up by winning a district title in 2021 and registering a third-place finish at states, just one stroke off the pace.

“Calen is a really talented player who is blessed with a tireless work ethic,” says Holy Ghost Prep golf coach Norm Muller. “He’s able to diagnose what he needs to work on and then will spend hours upon hours making even the tiniest of corrections.

“That desire to always work on his game will serve Calen well at Notre Dame. And I firmly believe that he has the talent and work ethic to play the game of golf beyond college.”

Introduced to golf at the age of 8 by his father, Colin, a former golf pro in South Africa, Sanderson is excited to study finance and join a Notre Dame golf program that attracts a number of Pennsylvania-based golfers (the current roster includes former Keystone State stars Palmer Jackson and Patrick Kelly) and is on the rise nationally.

“Notre Dame had everything I was looking for in a school: first-rate academics, a great business school, a golf program that is clearly on the rise, and a head coach in John Handigran who I am confident will bring out the best in me,” says Sanderson.

Handigran is thrilled that Sanderson chose the Fighting Irish.

“It’s very difficult to qualify for the U.S. Junior or the U.S. Amateur, but to qualify for both in the same year, as Calen did this past summer, is truly exceptional,” says Handigran. “Calen has proven to be a top player in the country, with an intense work ethic supported by strong values. His commitment to performing at a high level is what we look for in a Notre Dame student-athlete.” —By Bill Doherty

Signed on the Dotted Line On March 23 in the Chapman Arena, 11 members of HGP’s Class of 2022 officially signed to continue their academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level.

The soon-to-be HGP alums, in alphabetical order, who signed to become college student-athletes beginning in the fall are: FRANKIE BRITSCH / Moravian University (soccer) RYAN BURGESS / Arcadia University (ice hockey) TONY COLON / Penn State-Abington (soccer) JAMES CORBETT / Washington University in Saint Louis (cross-country, track and

Leave a Lasting Legacy Consider Naming Holy Ghost Prep in Your Estate Plan Make a gift that costs you nothing today by naming HGP

field

in your will or trust. To discuss

ANDREW JONES / Immaculata University (baseball)

estate planning options, please

TYLER McCORD / Amherst College (baseball)

contact Matt Dwyer in the

LIAM PARSONS / Penn State-Abington (baseball)

Office of Development:

JOEY RETENELLER / DeSales University (soccer)

mdwyer@holyghostprep.org or

DILLON ROONEY / Clarkson University (baseball)

215.639.2102, ext. 203.

CALEN SANDERSON / University of Notre Dame (golf) CJ WALKER / York College (lacrosse) These signees will be joined by one more HGP senior student-athlete who will sign later this spring: Joe Smith (cross-country, track and field). This means that 12 members of HGP’s Class of 2022 will play sports in college.

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Class notes Please take a moment to send us information for the next issue of Holy Ghost Prep Magazine. We would love to hear from you, and we are all interested in what you are doing with your life. Please send information (including high-res photos) to either Jackie Gear, director of annual giving and alumni engagement, at jgear@holyghostprep.org or Bill Doherty, director of communications, at wdoherty@holyghostprep.org.

renovations, retrofits, expansions, and restorations of all types and levels of complexity.

1991 Brian Begley, CFA, is a founder and

1946

1976

partner at PhiCap Advisors, a Phila-

Thomas McGarry is

delphia-based busi-

an intervention-

ness and capital

al and clinical

advisory firm. PhiCap

cardiologist at

focuses on sourcing

the Oklahoma

capital for private enterprises through

Heart Hospital.

numerous investment banking–related

In addition, Dr. McGarry is the medical director and board president of the Oklahoma Heart Hospital Research Foundation and is the team cardiologist for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

Rev. Silvio D’Ostillio, C.S.Sp., a beloved

1979

strategic financial support. He resides in Cinnaminson, N.J. with his wife, Lisa, and their two children, Jack and Maya. Begley is also the parish trustee for St. Charles Borromeo (Cinnaminson), where he is a church lector and youth basketball coach.

figure on Holy Ghost Prep’s campus,

George White is the founder and CEO

retired from the priesthood at the end of

of RecruitU, a leading athletic recruiting

2021. The 93-year-old Father D’Ostillio is

technology, product, and content devel-

living in Libermann Hall—named for the

opment company that assists student-ath-

Rev. Francis Libermann, founder of the

letes in identifying and connecting with

Congregation of the Holy Ghost—in Bethel

their ideal matching colleges and coaches.

Park, Pa.

George also recently launched BNOC, a

1971

go-to source for college E-sports news,

1994

recruiting, and training info. (It’s like a John Zomchick, Ph.D.,

Rivals.com for college and high school

serves as the provost at

E-sports.) George has also been active

the University of Ten-

recently in coaching girls and boys bas-

nessee. Prior to that,

ketball at the high school and Nike EYBL

Zomchick was the

Tom Carlin, the head coach of the Villano-

level.

va University men’s soccer team, landed

school’s vice provost

1984

the program’s second-ever NCAA tourney

for faculty affairs, a position he held for more than five years. He has a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State

Tony Naccarato, the president of O’Donnell & Naccarato,

University and a master’s and doctorate

was named one

in English literature from Columbia

of the area’s Most

University.

Admired CEOs of

1974 Joe Sharp was designated as one of the

2021 by the Philadelphia Business Journal.

O’Donnell & Naccarato lever-

Top Medicare Brokers with Independence

ages decades of structural engineering

Blue Cross again in 2021.

experience to design new buildings,

42

services, as well as providing ongoing

H O LY G H O S T P R E P M AGA Z I N E

berth in 2021. The team earned the school’s first-ever NCAA tournament victory, a 1-0 decision at Vermont on Nov. 18.

In 2021, Carlin became the all-time leader in program victories with 116.

1996 Joe Pargola has served as the Grand Knight of the Fr. Joseph D. Gallagher Knights of Columbus Council #3673 at Holy Trinity Parish (Morrisville, PA) since July 2019. Through his work with the

Looking to get more

INVOLVED? Work with the HGP Alumni Association in offering your time and talent to the school Serve as CLASS AGENT to help promote HGP events and giving Volunteer for CAREER DAY or LEAP (HGP’s student externship program) KEN LORENCE ’05/President 64lorence@gmail.com Knights helping to navigate the Council and assist the parish through the pandemic, the Council was featured in the June 2021 edition of the Knights of Columbus Columbia Magazine, with a circulation of

JIM ESPOSITO ’97/Co-Vice President esposit832@hotmail.com DAVE PASCONE ’03/ Co-Vice President dave.pascone@gmail.com

1.5 million Catholic families across the world. The Council’s work with the parish pastor, Monsignor John C. Eckert, included developing a Holy Hour and contactless collection programs when the parish was not permitted to hold in-person Mass.

In addition, they worked to make the church safe for the return of in-person Mass in June 2020 by greeting parishioners, ushering, and sanitizing the church.

1997

for more than 20 years. Over the course

children: Jack (9), Fiona (3), and Patrick

of his career, Major O’Donnell deployed

(1). He is forever thankful for the oppor-

to combat three times, liberated a nation,

tunity to serve our country, and he is opti-

fought to keep our country safe, and

mistic for the future.

traveled the world. He was privileged to work with the best of his generation: Iraqi patriots, experts in technologies, business leaders, and even a rock star. He has seen acts of great courage as well as the evil of which man is capable. He continues to serve his country as an intelligence

2002 Robert Dominick teaches at Lower Moreland High School, where he also coaches JV soccer and baseball and moderates the school newspaper. Last

officer and, most importantly, to serve his

winter, Dominick released his first poetry

Major Timothy O’Donnell (Odie) retired

family as a loving husband and father. He

collection, The Gorgeous Ache of Eternity.

from the United States Army on Decem-

currently resides in Alexandria, Va. with

His second collection, The Pulse of the

ber 1, 2021 after serving our great nation

his wife, Annemarie, and their three

Past, will be released later this year.

SPRING 2022

43

2003

seums, and live sporting events—as well as provide the opportunity to become well-versed in Kansas City barbecue.

2012 Ryan Raiker was recently promoted from digital marketing manager to senior director of product marketing at ABBYY, a digital intelligence software company. It’s been quite a few notable months Salesforce and continues to support the work of their nonprofit clients.

Christopher Vito is the senior director

Anthony Pontarelli was recently named

of strategic communications at La Salle

partner in the advertising and political

University, where he oversees strategic

consulting firm Hallowell, Brooks & Pon-

messaging, content and social media

tarelli. With nearly a decade of experi-

strategy, and crisis communications. He

ence in politics and government, Pontar-

recently earned a master’s degree in

elli brings a results-oriented, data-driven

communication management from Tem-

approach to campaigns. Prior to joining

ple University. He lives in Jenkintown, Pa.,

the Hallowell & Brooks team, he served

with his wife, Meghan, and their two sons,

as executive director of the Bucks County

Tommy and Joey.

Republican Committee.

Michael Savage is a principal on the glob-

2011

al financial services buyout team at the

for Raiker, who was chosen one of the 10 best global digital marketing directors of 2021 by Industry Era Magazine.

2014

Tim Ireland recently recovered from

Carlyle Group, an American multinational private equity, alternative asset manage-

brain surgery; through the care of an

ment, and financial services corporation.

excellent medical team, he is now walking

Savage joined the Carlyle Group in 2010

(and running) without a cane for the first

and has been based in London since 2012.

time since his freshman year at HGP and

2005

is finally free of the neurological issues that have plagued him for 11 years. He

Matt Mullin joined the Philadelphia

currently works as a senior quantitative

Inquirer in early 2022 in the new role of

researcher and investment committee

digital editor, working closely with the

member at Rotella Capital Management,

sports staff on digital strategy. Prior to

a Seattle hedge fund. Ireland is engaged

that, Mullin had worked as the deputy sports editor for Philly Voice and was with

After spending nearly four years as a

as an advisor to Makara and Strix Levia-

that company for seven years.

meteorologist with the National Weather

than, a fintech company and hedge fund,

2007

Service in Marquette, Michigan, Ryan

respectively, in the crypto space. Never

Connelly started a new position in March

one to spend too much time away from

Mike Best and his wife, Kate, welcomed

as a meteorologist for the Aviation

physics, he is also involved in quantum

a baby girl, Charlotte Melissa Carrubba

Weather Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

computing research in coordination

Best, in May. In August, he was promot-

Moving to a much more populated area

with DARPA and multiple large military

ed to director, product management at

will allow him to go to more concerts, mu-

contractors.

44

H O LY G H O S T P R E P M AGA Z I N E

again classmates. Both are pursuing

2015 Matt Kling is continuing to enjoy his

nology journal. He ana-

graduate degrees—Henry is enrolled in

lyzed the association

the Fels Institute of Government for his

of intraluminal

master of public administration (’22),

thrombus presence

while Lutz is enrolled at Penn Law for his

and morphology

juris doctor (’24).

with oxygen trans-

2018

aortic aneurysms and

port in abdominal

Eric D’Angelo graduated early from the

local hypoxia for two years prior to the

University of Pennsylvania in December

publication of that research. A junior at

2021 and is excited to begin his finance

Duquesne University, Carbino will stay

career at Solomon Partners in Manhattan

busy; he has been selected as one of

in the summer of 2022. He is currently

eight undergraduate student researchers

working for D’Angelo and Company, a

to study tissue engineering at Rutgers

Bucks County accounting and tax ser-

University this summer.

vices company.

time working in Las Vegas. In 2021, Kling was promoted to senior news producer for KVVU-TV (Fox affiliate) and received a regional Emmy Award for coverage following the death of Kobe Bryant. In his free time, Kling enjoys checking out the sights and sounds of Vegas, including the city’s newest attractions, Resorts World and Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Connor Fife enjoyed a stellar junior

Randy Kraft is a seminarian for the

soccer season at Gettysburg College this

Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He will be

past fall. Fife led the team in goals (12)

ordained a deacon in May and a priest

and points (26) as Gettysburg finished

next year.

with a 13-6-2 record. He earned a spot on the United Soccer Coaches Division III Region V team and was also chosen firstteam All-Centennial Conference.

Luke Aquaro was named the 2022 New England Hockey Conference Rookie of the Year after leading Hobart College in scoring with

Volunteer to be a class agent. Do you keep in touch with your HGP classmates on a regular basis? If so, we need you.

32 points (16 goals, 16

Please contact Jackie Gear

assists) this season. Aquaro is majoring in

at jgear@holyghostprep.org

economics at Hobart College.

to become a class agent.

2019 John Henry and Julian Lutz, both 2015

In late March, Tony Carbino was pub-

HGP graduates, have reunited at the

lished as the first author in the Frontiers

University of Pennsylvania and are once

in Biomedical Engineering and BiotechSPRING 2022

45

Holy Ghost Prep Magazine Office of Communications 2429 Bristol Pike Bensalem, PA 19020 www.holyghostprep.org

You can still APPLY to Holy Ghost Prep As you’ve read in this magazine, Holy Ghost Prep Firebirds embark on incredible career journeys—often getting the big corner office. Those successes don’t happen by accident.

At Holy Ghost Prep, classes are small, so interaction is a given. With a 9-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio, our unmatched faculty gets to personally know each student, as well as his hopes and dreams.

All of our graduates go to college, so students leave Ghost perfectly equipped to make those dreams come true.

Now is the time to #ThinkGhost. Every spring and summer, families learn about HGP for the first time and complete the application process for ninth grade or as transfer students. So take a tour, schedule a visit, tell a friend about the amazing opportunities that only happen at HGP.

VISIT

ThinkGhost.org or scan the QR code today!