February 2019

Greetings from Broad & Vine!

Purple Reign!

Congratulations to our basketball team on winning the Philadelphia Catholic League Championship on Monday night by defeating LaSalle 64-50 in front of a sold-out crowd in the Palestra! This marks back-to-back PCL Titles for the Cahillites and overall is the 32nd PCL Championship for the program.

Congratulations to our bowling team who also won the PCL Championship over the weekend! This is the second PCL Championship for the bowling team in past three years. It has been a great week for Catholic High! Hurrah!

Meet Our New Executive Director of Institutional Advancement: Nicholas Pytel '97

Roman Catholic High School is excited to announce the hiring of Nicholas Pytel, Class of 1997, as the new Executive Director of Institutional Adanvement. Please read the following message from Nick:

I am excited to be back at Roman! Sharing a comprehensive academic curriculum within a disciplined Catholic environment was a founding principal of Roman Catholic High School when the school was founded by Thomas E. Cahill in 1890. Today, Roman Catholic High School continues these traditions of excellence by connecting a disciplined Catholic community enriched by an array of cultural, racial and religious diversity.

I grew up in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia and attended Roman Catholic and graduated in 1997. As a kid, I would have never had thought that I would have become so dedicated to a building located at Broad and Vine; however, as I have grown intellectually over the years, I have realized Roman Catholic High is not just a building constructed of brick and mortar, but the building has created a story about the young men who have walked these halls, climbed these stairs, ran that field, devoted their time and knowledge to acquire a specific knowledge and most importantly, it has created a bond with one another that will last a lifetime.

Following my graduation in 2001 from Temple University, I began my career as a teacher at Roman Catholic High School teaching Accounting & Finance under the leadership of Mr. Pat Shanahan, a former teacher of mine while I was a student at Roman. It goes without saying that the lessons I learned as a student and what it means to be an honorable man specifically from Mr. Shanahan and Mr. Pensabene have remained fresh in my mind throughout the years. After leaving Roman in 2002, I worked in New York City, Rome, Italy, Zermatt, Switzerland and moved back to the States after an extended amount of time and since 2010, I was the Associate Director of Business Development of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society raising money for an array of programs that connect people with horticulture and create beautiful, healthy and sustainable communities.

My commitment to Roman's culture and to the student body remains in line with the staff and administration that I have seen grow over time since the years I have been away from this fine institution. I believe that now, more than ever, our dedication to the young men who are students at Roman Catholic should be a priority before they walk down the aisle at graduation, diploma in hand.

Roman Catholic High School is a huge family of dedicated staff, administrators, supporters, board members, Alumni supporters, and volunteers who contribute their time, knowledge, passion, and financial resources to help deliver the Mission of Catholic High. The breadth and diversity of this family is what makes Roman Catholic High School such a beloved institution and such an important part of the lives that it touches. To walk with faith and trust is what we are called to do at special times in our lives and perhaps this is one of those special times for me and for Roman. I would be more that pleased to hear from you about topics that interest you and suggestions. I look forward to meeting many of you in the months ahead and encourage you to share your ideas about ways we can all grow. In the meantime, please send your thoughts to npytel@romancatholichs.com.

The Empire

Our most recent edition of "The Empire" magazine is now available for you to read online. This edition is our 2017-2018 Annual Report.
Click the image of the front cover above and enjoy!

EITC/OSTC Lunch & Learn

The Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs allow Pennsylvania tax payers to become members of an LLC that is established by a scholarship organization. A two year commitment yields a 90% PA tax credit of the donation amount. In effect if you make a $1,000 commitment you get a $900 state tax credit, so your net out of pocket is only $100. This is a powerful way to leverage a contribution to Roman. Through this program you redirect your PA tax dollars to help students attend Roman rather than the government. It is truly a win-win!

Interested in participating? Roman is partnering with the Foundation for Catholic Education (a scholarship organizations that facilitates the program) to host a Lunch & Learn on the EITC/OSTC on Friday, March 29, 2019 in the brand new Howard Center for the Arts from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM. If you would like to attend or want more information please e-mail Adam Gault '08, Director of Development, AGault@RomanCatholicHS.com .

A New Year Brings New Reunions!

If you are a member of a class whose year ends in a 9 or a 4, this year is your reunion year! The classes of 1979, 2009, and 2014 are already planning. If you want to plan a reunion for your class, please call Anne Hummel at 215-627-5487, ext 315 or email her at ahummel@romancatholichs.com. She will walk you through the process and get you on your way to a great event.

Class of 2014--5th Reunion - Details to come. Contact Andrew DiCicco at adiccicco11196@gmail.com or George Zindel at george.zindel@gmail.com.

Class of 2009 – 10^th Reunion - March 30, 2019 from 7-10 PM at Moriarty's, 1116 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. $65 per person. https://www.romancatholichs.com/alumni-advancement/alumni-news-events/2009reunion

Class of 1999 - 20th Reunion - Details to come. Contact Jim McPhilemy at Jim.McPhilemy@stantec.com.

Class of 1979 – 40^th Reunion - Fall of 2019. Contact: Christopher Gibbons at gibbonscg@aol.com

George Boyle '49 Scholarship Fundraiser

From: Joe Boyle '84 (Jboyle708@aol.com):
On Saturday, March 9^th we are having another mini-fundraiser at the Temple University vs. Central Florida University Men’s basketball game. This will be Coach Fran Dunphy’s last home game at the Liacouras Center and my daughters, Allison and Jessica, will be singing the National Anthem. Central Florida is coached by former Duke and Sixers star Johnny Dawkins. The game starts at 4PM and tickets are $20 each. We may be having a pre-game for some appetizers/cheer at the Draught Horse Pub. If you cannot make the game, please consider making a donation to the fund.

If interested, please make check payable to “Geo Boyle Sch Fund” and mail in the enclosed envelope as soon as possible. Thanks again for all your support of the George Boyle ’49 Scholarship Fund at Roman!

With all of this cold, it is hard to believe that spring is right around the corner. Soon it will be time to dust off your golf clubs and head to the links!

Mark you calendars for the Henry W. Zakrzewski Memorial Golf Outing which will be held May 28th at the Talamore Country Club in Ambler, PA. This is a new location for this event, so come out and enjoy this new course!

For more information, please contact Paul Zakrzewski '87 at Pzakrzewski@verizon.net

With the opening of the Howard Center for Arts phase 1 of the "Vision of Promise" Campaign is now complete!

Building on that momentum, we are now focused on Phase 2--A new Science, Technology ,Engineering and Math (STEM) Center. To be built next to the 1890 building, The STEM Center, will provide an expanded cafeteria along with new classrooms for the advanced sciences equipped with the latest technology.

To kick-start this drive, two members of our Board of Directors have generously pledged $500,000 as a challenge grant. Every dollar raised in the next 6 months will be matched up to 1 million! We need your help to meet this challenge. We don't want to leave any money on the table! Every donation, big & small is welcomed as we meet this challenge & begin this new phase. To contribute to this challenge grant, contact Nick Pytel '97, Executive Director of Institutional Advancement, 215-627-5487 ext. 312

Give to the Roman Fund today to support our students.
Click the image above and make your positive impact for the Cahillites!

Please connect with us on Social Media for up to the minute news and information!

Forward

Roman Catholic High School
301 North Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107