SJCC VOICES
PAGE 2 From the Principal
Greetings, We welcome 253 students into the halls of SJCC for the 2007-08 school year. This includes a freshman class of 75. We re off to a great start and we re looking forward to a great year. We are also very fortunate to welcome back Lilly Walters and Nancy Risner to our faculty. In addition we welcome Angie (O Neal) Ritzman 93 as our new Development Director and Sue Berryman, who has been recently promoted to Co-Director. In this issue of The Voice, we are acknowledging all those who contributed to last year s annual fund. This annual appeal was created to help offset the actual cost of educating our students and the tuition we receive from our families. I would like to thank
St. Joseph Central Catholic High School 702 Croghan St. Fremont, Ohio 43420 (419) 332-9947 (419) 332-4945 fax www.fremontstjoe.org Development Office (419) 332-5124 Mike Gabel, Principal Angie Ritzman, Director of Development Sue Berryman, Editor Copy Editors: Ellen Leite, Sally Daubel, Ryan Good Contributors: SJCC students SJCC faculty: Liz Pietrykowski and Greg Kohler To be inducted into either the Sports Hall of Fame or the Alumni and Friends Heritage Award a person must be nominated. Call the school for a nomination form or send in the name of the person you would like to nominate with the following information: Hall of Fame: -Sports involved in and years -Any awards and/or school records either previously or currently held -Current involvement in sports/community Heritage Award: -Involvement in the community in which they live -Any awards received -Volunteering Please help SJCC honor those who deserve recognition. For more information contact Gary Geller, ggeller@fremontstjoe.org or Sue Berryman, 419-332-5124 sberryman@fremontstjoe.org
all of you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity and hope that you will support us once again this year. On the front cover of this issue, you can read about the success of our students taking the Ohio Graduation Test, otherwise known as the OGT. Hats off to our students, parents and especially our teachers in our Catholic elementary schools and here at SJCC. In closing, I once again want to thank all of you for your support. Your prayers,
financial gifts, volunteer hours and suggestions are so very much appreciated. We will continue to pray for each and every one of you. God Bless. GO STREAKS! Here at SJCC we are very proud of our faculty and staff. They go above and beyond their jobs to support and care for your children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. Without them SJCC wouldn t be the great institution it is today. We salute these fine men and women in this special feature because we would like to introduce them to you and acknowledge their dedication to SJCC. Mike Gabel, Principal
The Voice Salutes... Rick Wonderly
This summer, senior Eric Barbour sat down with Rick Wonderly, this was their conversation. When did you start teaching? I started in Upper Sandusky as an 8th grade Science teacher and a 7th and 8th grade football coach. I then taught for two years at Ottawa-Glandorf as a high school Chemistry teacher. After that is when I came to St. Joe in 1974 as a Science teacher and football coach. I coached from 74 -80 and then from 95 -05 What has made you stay at St. Joe for 33 years? There were two things that stood out at St. Joe that I noticed the first year that I taught here and still stand true today. First the teachers they care about what they are doing and want to have a good time. In the other school, there were good teachers, but others were just riding it out, but not here. Second the students the first year that I taught at St. Joe, we had a guest magician who was awful. I was expecting the kids to make rude comments and laugh at him. When I saw them all sitting in the stands they were all so respectful. They had an overall positive attitude for it and they still do today. What is your philosophy on life? I always told my football players that you can makes excuses or you can make due. Life just comes at you and what you do with it makes you a success or not. You can only control your attitude. The choice is up to you. You can choose to be happy or choose not to. Life is a journey, not a destination. We spend too much time looking ahead instead of just looking down at where we are today.
What do you try and teach your students that will help them outside of school? We can t teach you enough to become a chemist or a physicist. We can be a vehicle to teach you how to think and to solve problems and to overcome obstacles and find your interest in a certain area. Science is a challenge. These challenges cause adversity and we grow from them and become a more whole person. You can t judge a person by how they react to an easy situation; you can judge a person in a crisis. That s when you see who they really are. E v e n though many are intimidated by you, they also know that you are a family man. Where did that come from? I was born in a big family. I am the fourth of twelve brothers and sisters. Ever since I was born, my family and life has been built around a strong, family social structure. On weekends, we would go visit my grandparents and other family members. When a new cousin was born, it was exciting because we d get to go to their house and see the family. We were always taught that children were gifts, and we should cherish them. I still spend 95% of my free social time with family. I rely on them and they rely on me. We all count on each other and that s how it s always been. I m very grateful that I was able to raise my family on a farm because I got to spend so much time with my kids. I m also grateful that my grandkids live within 30 minutes from my house so I can visit them whenever I want to. My life just revolves around family. That s how it s always been and always will be.