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February 25, 2008
Dear Beloved Alumni,
I hope all of you in the area are surviving the revival of snowy winters. We’ve actually had two snow days this year which I was beginning to think of as things of the past. We’ve also had a recent addition to the staff. Jack Conroy (’03) is now our Director of Admissions. Jack, who recently graduated from U of I with a degree in communication, says that he is “very excited and grateful for this opportunity. I’m looking forward to being a catalyst for the growth of Northridge.” Mark Ostap will move to a new position as Head of the Middle School.
Congratulations to Headmaster Rich and Anne Meyer, who had a baby girl, Emily Jane, on January 26, their 6th child. Mark and Molly Ostap also had the fourth Ostap, Emma Katherine, on Friday, February 15. Congratulations also to Mike Egle, who was named the January 2008 Athlete of the Month by Chicago Athlete. “His goal this year is to beat the indoor 3000-meter world record for his age group. Last year he missed the 4:22 world record by only four seconds.”
College acceptances have been filtering in, but I’ll wait until May to give you the final destinations of the seniors. So far, we’ve had two acceptances at ND, a dozen at U of I, eight at Marquette, seven at Purdue, seven at Loyola, five at NIU, and one at Duke. The new popular college is St. Louis University where seven have been accepted. For various reasons, most of our applications at other “traditional” NRP colleges, such as Notre Dame, Northwestern, and U of C, were for regular deadline this year, and we won’t hear about them until April.
SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Varsity Basketball Knights won their regional by defeating favored Driscoll Catholic on our home court in an exciting, hard-fought contest. Congratulations to Coach Rey, his staff, and the players, a great, hard-working group of guys! They meet Englewood in Sectional play this week. The team finished the regular season with a 10-4 conference record and a second place finish in the Independent School League. They were 16-10 overall. The regular season finished with a 66-47 home win over Christian Liberty before a packed gym. This game was televised by Comcast Public Access Television and CBS MaxPreps, the nation’s #1 high school sports internet site. You can see highlights at www.maxpreps.com.
Northridge will once again offer summer Basketball Camps for boys entering 4th through 9th grades: two skill-builder sessions (June 18-22 and June 25-29) and a shot-builder session (July 23-26). For more information, go the NRP website or contact Coach Will Rey at 847-375-6725.
New high school moderator Robert O’Brien’s young Varsity Chess Knights acquitted themselves well in State play, finishing in the middle of the pack overall and 3rd in Class A. Junior Matt Tolmie stood out with a dominating 5-2 on Board three. Next year promises to be even better, with only two players being lost to graduation. In recent news from Tom Herman’s Debate Knights, sophomores James Petros and Peter Knapp broke to quarterfinals at a public forum tournament at Evanston Township High School. Competing largely against junior and senior competitors, the sophomore team scored an impressive 4-1 record to qualify for the quarterfinals round. The team will be competing at the State Finals in mid-March in Springfield. Joe Lechner and the Drama Club are hard at work preparing the March 13- 15 production, a musical version of Treasure Island. Gil Lee’s Mathlete Knights won six first-place and seven second-place medals at the ICTM Regional Math Contest on February 23 and will compete as a team in the State finals at U of I on April 26.
ALUMNI EVENTS
Two Open Gyms over Christmas break were very well attended, and Steve Samikkannu continues to host a group on the first Thursday of each month. As usual, if you’d like to reserve the gym for alum use, please contact me and we’ll try to arrange a mutually convenient time. We also had a good showing and much fun at the winter Celebration of Creativity. Thanks to Steve Doetsch, Bob Martinez, Tom Mescher, Dan Nuccio, Mark Sherbin, and others for sharing. I also have to thank Andrew Belcastro, Dave Carani, Tom Mescher, Luis Perez, and Mark Sherbin, who served as judges for the two divisions in this year’s renewed Short Story Writing Competition.
The P&B Discussions meet now on the 4th Tuesday of each month in the faculty lounge. We continue our close reading of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Spirited discussion and good spirits are the norm, so don’t hesitate to contact me about future meetings. We are planning on the annual Weekend Day Retreat here at the school later in the spring and will let you know when a date is set. There are still openings for Shellbourne Retreats (www.shellbourne.org) and an economy one for guys 17-25 at Wynncliff Farm (847-235-5095). Alumni also attend monthly Evenings of Recollection at NRP (2nd Tuesday) and Visitation Church in Elmhurst (4th Wednesday). Thanks again to our recent volunteer Career Speakers: Matt Berg, Rafa Carreira, John Klatt, Jason Saldanha, Raul Vasquez, Matt Vitellaro, and Bill Whalen. Contact me if you’d like to share your life and work experience with juniors and seniors. It’s fun and it’s rewarding!
NRP mourns the loss of Mr. James Coyle, father of Pat (‘84), Jim (’86), and Kevin (’87), who passed away on December 22. Jim was among those parents who took a chance on fledgling schools and supported us through the ups-and-downs of early growth. We are forever thankful for his and their loyalty and friendship.
Hope to see many of you at the March 3 Benefit. For those of you with children of the right or nearly the right age, please call the school to sign up for our spring family Open House on March 9. It’s a chance to catch up with what NRP offers and to see old friends. Feel most free to invite newer friends along!
ALUMNI NEWS
Bryan Fox (‘82) officially graduated in December from Texas Tech University with a Masters in Engineering in Systems Engineering. “It was quite the experience going back to school after (gasp!) 20 years but the prayers and support of family and friends encouraged me through.” Bob Martinez (‘83) continues his freelance writing and recently had two features appear in the Cubs Vine Lines (farm report) in which “I had to ‘cater to’ the Cub fan crowd, of which I am one although not a dunderhead.” He continues consulting for the hospitality sector and with non-profits such as ICODA (The International Center on Deafness and the Arts) and the Lutheran Home in Arlington Heights. Tim Dempsey (‘87) finished Northwestern University's School of Police Staff and Command.
Matt and Veronika Berg (‘90) had their third child, Paul Bjorn, on December 17. Liam and Michelle Dempsey (‘90) had their second child, Charles Edward, last July 27. They now live in Horspath, a small village just outside Oxford. “Horses clip-clop past our house several times a day and we have a lovely view of the English countryside.” Michelle has completed her doctorate at Oxford and teaches full-time there. Liam’s design company continues to expand. “I still provide print and web graphic design (with some copywriting and marketing consultancy) to SME's and charitable organizations.” Pat and Erin O’Sullivan (‘91) had twin boys, Edward Joseph and Seamus Kelly, on February 23. Ashok Pinto (‘91) now works for the White House in the Office of Counsel to the President in Washington, DC. Marcelino Soto (’91) married Sandra Orosco on December 22. Marcelino continues to work as a police officer in Cicero.
Noel Antonio (‘92) recently married Blessie Torres. He is now an associate electrical engineer for Sargent and Lundy in Chicago. Jay and Kara Devlin (‘92) had a baby boy, Alexander Hicks, last November 19. “He is healthy and doing great. Mom and Dad, on the other hand, are a little tired.” Carlos Martinez (’92) is in charge of a program of 90 students called Medicina Scholars at UIC. Paul Doetsch (‘93) is engaged to marry Mary Garbe in July of 2008. “After a long bout with dating, I finally succumbed to the pressures placed on the life of a bachelor.” Classmate Kris Kudenholdt has been working on the copy desk at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune for a year and a half.
Rimas and Abby Miknaitis (‘95) moved to Toledo, Ohio, this past summer, where she works as an emergency medicine physician resident at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center level one trauma center, and he works for a small company as a charter pilot/ aircraft mechanic at Toledo Express Airport. Mike and Katie White (’95) had their first child, Tess. John White (‘95) passed the bar exam in July and is currently practicing with a firm in Wheaton, IL, Mulherin, Rehfeldt, & Varchetto, doing civil defense litigation. “Wife Julie (Willows '96) and daughter Clara (Willows '25, Oxford '29, Yale Law School '32, Harvard Medical School '36) are both doing great.”
Chris Davis (‘96) is now the Director of North American Sales for Domestic Transport Solutions Inc. out of Elk Grove. DTS is a national transportation management company covering North America with a small worldwide operation. “I continue to play hockey twice a week and our team won the division last season! Also am excited to report that the 15th annual Davis Turkey Bowl went off without a hitch.” David El Rassi (’96) now goes by the first name of Toufic and has just published Arab in America: A True Story of Growing Up in America. “I am teaching now (I'm an adjunct at Oakton) and working on my books.” Classmate Mark Pasieka is an associate project manager for Underwriters Lab. David Krump (‘97) finished his Masters in Creative Writing at Oxford with an overall distinction. He teaches composition and literature at Viterbo University, acts as arts administrator for the Pump House Regional Arts Center, and works for the Preservation Alliance. Peter White (‘97) has passed the bar and is clerking for Judge John Ward downtown at the Daley Center.
Class of ’98: Kevin Antene is a marketing specialist for CB Richard Ellis on the downtown office leasing team. “My team currently leases about twenty buildings in the downtown office market and I'm active on most of them. I'm making a living helping my team make a living by finding other people space where they can make a living. I got my real estate license over the summer and I'm slowly transitioning into brokerage. I continue to do freelance design and photography.” Josh Cabrera is engaged to marry Amy Swartzell next August. Alphi Elackattu is engaged to marry Anita Pachikara next fall. “She's currently a first year Pediatrics resident at Metro Health-Case Western in Cleveland, Ohio. We met while I was in med school in Ohio.” Mike and Gen Englert are expecting twins in June, their third and fourth. “I've been accepted to the Harvard Business School MBA class of 2010, so are in the process of selling the house here in Mississippi, transitioning out of working for Caterpillar, and relocating to Boston in time for classes in September.” Zahid Khalid and his wife Arjumand Zaidi had their first child and daughter, Amina, on August 7. Tom Lechner is now doing development work in the equities portion of Goldman Sachs in New York. Ryan Lightner works as a broker at Coyote Logistics and bartends in Wrigleyville at Moe's Cantina. Sergio Rabiela is now a software developer for Metromix.com, “your one-stop local entertainment guide.”
Tim Amorella (‘99) is engaged to marry Tatiana Grubisich of Evanston this summer. Eoin Dempsey (’99) now does his legal work at Bell & Anderson, a small firm specializing in estate planning, taxation, and real estate matters for people and families of means. He, wife Liz, and year-old daughter Noirin are all doing well. Ammar Shamaileh (‘00) graduated from Rutgers Law School last year and, as Senior Class President, spoke at the graduation. He hopes to apply for PhD programs in the future. Dan Foot (‘01) is engaged to marry Melissa Motzny next October 24. Colin Coad (‘02) is recently engaged to marry Stephanie Schachtrup. “As she is an architect and I'm a civil engineer, I thought it appropriate to pop the question at the top of the Hancock Center.” Classmate Phil Poole married Mary di Leo at Mary Seat of Wisdom on December 21. Pat Burke was best man and other classmates attended.
Class of ’03: Jack Conroy finished his U of I degree in communications in December. He is now Director of Admissions at NRP. Dave Carani works as an administrative assistant in the purchasing department at Walgreens headquarters. Tim Cassidy completed his Marquette degree and works as an Operations Specialist at EcoSure, a segment of Ecolab, a quality assurance company focused mainly in the foodservice industry. “My team does QA work for a few of our non-food clients, such as Royal Carribean, Wyndham, Coca-Cola, and Staybridge Suites.” Jake Downey graduated from UIUC last May with a degree in political science and currently works for LPL Financial in Chicago. “LPL is the nation's largest independent brokerage firm. I do a lot of operational work and I plan to take the Series 7 test sometime this spring or summer.” Ricky Gardunio graduated in December from the College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Don Knorr has been nominated for U.S. Air Force Airman of the Year. Mark Sherbin recently began interning with SS PR, a public relations firm based out of Glenview. He's also begun doing some side-work as a contract writer and is open to any writing opportunities.
Class of 04: Kieran Dempsey graduated in three years from U of I last May and now works for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Mike Morgan will be traveling to Japan with the University of Chicago baseball team to play against the Waseda University of Tokyo team in a three game series in late March. The two schools will be renewing their baseball rivalry after a 78-year hiatus. Tim Noetzel graduated from Tufts in December with a major in English and a minor in Entrepreneurial Leadership. He is working as Chief Operating Officer of Emergent Energy Group, a wind energy consulting company, and has begun his own online outsourcing business. In July, he will start working as a Business Analyst with Deloitte Consulting.
Nick Bobrinskoy (’06) is in charge of service projects for his Duke fraternity. Jeremy Oh (’06) is now athletic director of his fraternity at Brandeis.
I’d like to recommend Pope Benedict XVI’s recent encyclical on hope, Spe Salvi. Warning: it is not an easy read. The Pope tries to answer many of the theological distortions of and philosophical objections to Christian hope. Most immediately accessible, I think, and obviously beneficial are the closing sections on the “settings” where we learn and practice Christian hope: prayer, suffering, action, and judgment. To give you some idea of the food for thought he presents throughout, allow me to quote from his Ash Wednesday homily where he summarizes some of the encyclical’s teaching on prayer. “Prayer is a crucible in which our expectations and aspirations are exposed to the light of God's Word, immersed in dialogue with the One who is the Truth, and from which they emerge free from hidden lies and compromises with various forms of selfishness (cf. Spe Salvi, n. 33). Without the dimension of prayer, the human "I" ends by withdrawing into himself, and the conscience, which should be an echo of God's voice, risks being reduced to a mirror of the self, so that the inner conversation becomes a monologue, giving rise to self-justifications by the thousands…. [W]ithout prayer there is no hope but only illusion. In fact, it is not God's presence that alienates man but his absence: without the true God, Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, illusory hopes become an invitation to escape from reality. Speaking with God, dwelling in his presence, letting oneself be illuminated and purified by his Word introduces us, instead, into the heart of reality.”
May you all have a blessed and joyful Easter!
Best to all,
Jerry Shepherd
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