Cathedral Preparatory School

Mr. McCall and 15 MedPath students traveled to Pittsburgh to the University of Pittsburgh’s campus yesterday. While there, they learned about plasmids, transformation and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). They were able to extract the DNA of some foods and test it for the CMV 35S promoter region to identify key proteins present in genetically modified foods. They then explored downtown Oakland, grabbed lunch and concluded with a seminar from one of the lead researchers at Pitt, whose research focuses on neural tissue development. #Prep #MedPath 🧪

We are excited to share with you a unique opportunity in which you can choose how your tax dollars are used and are able to help make a Cathedral Prep education affordable for all families! Pennsylvania allows this opportunity to be available for individuals and businesses. Through the program, 100% of your contribution goes directly towards our students and families for tuition assistance. For more information, please contact Jimmy Smith, AVP of Development & Strategic Initiatives, at jimmy.smith@cathedralprep.com or (814) 453-7737, Ext. 2294. #EITC

Cathedral Prep Athletics Roundup for Wednesday, March 1: • Girls basketball kicked off the playoffs with an 80-17 victory over DuBois in the AAAAA sub-regional. Lena Walz led the way with 23 points. Jayden McBride had 19, while Addie Biel finished with 17. The girls are back in action in the sub-regional this Saturday against Obama Academy. Tip-off is 12:00 p.m. at the Hagerty Family Events Center. 🏀

Mrs. Howell’s Geometry classes recently completed an activity where they were tasked with calculating the height of objects in the auditorium. They did this by using similar triangles and mirrors! #Prep #Geometry 📐

Cathedral Prep Athletics Roundup for Tuesday, February 28: • Varsity hockey closed out the regular season with a 4-3 win over Upper Saint Clair. Brayden Sprickman, Liam Nickerson, Alex Brown and Mathius Sprickman lit the lamp. Tanner Ball made 26 saves in net. 🏒 • TONIGHT: Girls basketball is back in action tonight. They begin the playoffs with a matchup against DuBois in the AAAA sub-regional. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at the Hagerty Family Events Center. Tickets are only available online at https://piaadistrict10.hometownticketing.com/embed/all. 🏀

It is with deep sadness that we inform the Cathedral Prep & Villa Maria Academy community of the passing of Sr. James Francis Mulligan, SSJ, affectionately known as “Sr. Jim.” Sr. Jim taught at Prep for over 30 years and was a fixture at sporting events, especially hockey, for many more. She is also a member of the Cathedral Prep President’s Hall of Fame for her dedication and lasting impact on our school community. Sr. Jim helped educate thousands of students throughout the Erie Diocese. She also taught at St. Peter Cathedral, Holy Rosary, St. Andrew, and Villa Maria Elementary schools, St. Mark Seminary and Villa Maria Academy. For full obituary, please visit this link: https://ssjerie.org/2023/02/28/we-remember-james-francis-mulligan-ssj/. “Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen." Mary, Queen of Prep, pray for her. #Prep ✝🧡

What are you waiting for? Join us on March 18 for our annual Legacy Gala as we join “Together Toward Tomorrow” in support of our students. We have some amazing items up for auction like driving lessons from Transportation Solutions, a coveted parking spot in the faculty lot for the ’23-’24 school year, and so much more! Get your tickets today at www.cathedralprep.com/legacygala. Thank you to our platinum level sponsors: Carrara Steel, Dash-Wealth, LECOM, and the Loyal and True Foundation. We’d like to also give a special shout out to Welders Supply for sponsoring the cocktails for the evening! #LG2023 🌟

Our PB&J sandwich drive for the Emmaus Soup Kitchen has continued the past two weeks. Last week’s drive was sponsored by Deb Tackett, and this week's was sponsored by the cross country/track & field teams! We can’t thank them enough for the support! If any clubs, athletic team or organizations would like to help sponsor a week of sandwiches, please contact Campus Minister Emily Grenci at Emily.Grenci@cathedralprep.com. #Prep #Service #Community 🥪

All theology students received a throat blessing yesterday following the feast of Saint Blaise that occurred earlier this month. Saint Blaise is the patron saint of diseases of the throat and sickness, so we pray for health amongst our student body! #Prep #Faith ✝

Abby Rush ’23 participated in the PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educator Association) Region 2 Choir Festival hosted by Meadville Area High School this past week. The festival began with auditions going head-to-head with 150 top singers from 48 school districts from 13 counties in Region 2, with Abby placing 11th. The festival continued with two days of rehearsals and concluded with a stellar performance that highlighted their talents and sophisticated skill in performing. Congratulations to Abby and Mr. Andrew Alesso, Prep music director! #Prep #Choir 🎶

Mrs. Drabant’s English II Honors classes recently finished reading George Orwell’s Animal Farm. They worked in small groups to analyze the different themes, preparing quick posters and presenting their thoughts. Classes are also working on a literary analysis essay. They chose from a list of questions and prompts, then used Infobases’ Bloom’s Literature database to locate an article for further evidence to support their analysis. Last Friday, they worked through self-evaluation stations, checking their intext citations and works cited list against examples, reading their work backward and aloud to check for errors, and then ran their work through Grammarly and Microsoft Editor. They were also challenged to think critically about their diction and syntax. #Prep #English 📃

Cathedral Prep Weekend Athletics Roundup: • Indoor track took part in the PTFCA Indoor State Championships in State College. The 4x800 team of Sarah Clark, Lauren Raimy, Fina Bannister and Anne-Catherine Brown placed sixth. Clark took fifth in the 3000m with a school record of 10:06. DaMario Crawford took fifth in the long jump. Luke Brown finished ninth in the mile with a new school record of 4:19.20. 👟 • Wrestling took part in the Northwest AAA Regional at Altoona. Sam Staab (127) finished second and is headed to Hershey. Keagan Oler (121) is also headed to Hershey after his third-place finish. The Ramblers finished 9th as a team. 🤼‍♂️ • Ted Terrizzi finished third in the AA District 10 Diving Championship, which earned him a trip to the PIAA State Championship at Bucknell University. Angeline Terrizzi finished in 13th place. 💦

Mr. Ng’s second semester Robotics classes worked on finishing their first “Little Robot” project this week. Students were tasked with constructing robots, connect them to a Hummingbird Robotics Kit and programming connected devices (tri-color LED lights, servos and motors). #Prep #Robotics 🤖

Yesterday, nearly 120 Ramblers stayed after school to take part in the first Junior Achievement meeting of the year. The course is being taught by Michael Parsons ‘08 of LPL Financial. The theme this year is “Career Success,” and it is designed to teach students all the skills they need to be highly successful in the 21st century job market. #Prep #JuniorAchievement

Cathedral Prep Athletics Roundup for Thursday, February 23: • Congratulations to the Boys Basketball team! They captured the District 10 AAAAA championship with a 58-32 win over Meadville. The victory gave the Ramblers their 24th D-10 crown. Semontae Lofton led the way with 19 points. Amaree Pickens had 15, while Jake Sambuchino chipped in 10. Congratulations to Coach Piotrowicz and the team! 🏀🏆 • Varsity hockey picked up a 7-2 victory over Bethel Park. Alex Brown and Brayden Sprickman each had a pair of goals. Connor Eubank, Joey Walter and Liam Nickerson also found the net. Tanner Ball made 37 saves in goal. 🏒 (Photo courtesy of Tom Reisenweber-Erie Times News)

Boys basketball looks to win a D-10 crown and extend their season with a victory over Meadville tonight in the 5A Championship game. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. at Mercyhurst University. Tickets can only be purchased online at http://www.piaadistrict10.org/d10-tickets. You can also tune in to the game on FM 107.1/AM 1450 or https://wpse.bd.psu.edu/listen-live. #RollRamblers 🏀

Mr. Bhatti’s Drones class is conceptualizing drones from an artistic perspective. Students built sculptural representations of a DJI Phantom Standard Drone. Sketches and drawings are part of the sculptural design process, along with the drone sculpture itself. Their next phase will be incorporating other tools in our STEAM Lab, namely our laser engravers and decal machines, in their projects. #Prep #Drones

Today begins the Holy Season of Lent! It is a time to focus on our relationship with the Lord through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Although these 40 days are leading up to the great celebration of Easter, this is a time that we make a change in our lives that lasts well beyond these said days. Ash Wednesday reminds us of this reality through the imposition of ashes on the forehead to remind us of our mortality and redemption. This is a great time for all of us to remember the second reading from Mass from the second letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians that “now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” #Prep #Lent ✝

Attorney Matthew Lasher ’12, Associate Attorney at Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett, P.C., stopped by campus today to speak to Mrs. Oligeri’s Business Law & Ethics class. He spoke to the class on employment law, business ethics and the different types of rules/regulations businesses need to follow. #Prep #Business ⚖

Cathedral Prep Holiday Weekend Athletics Roundup: • Girls swimming and diving took down Warren, 128-58. Haley Palmer won four events. Triple winners included Kyan Snider-Mills, Ellie Natemeier and Maria Costa. Jillian Heinrich, Ellie Brugger and Chloe Borrero all won twice. 🏊‍♀️ • Boys swimming and diving closed out their regular season with a 113-49 win over Warren. Matt Hinman and Aidan Levis took three events. Double winners included Evan Calvert, Owen Carson and Jack Raimy. Ted Terrizzi won the diving competition. 🏊‍♂️ • The District 10 AAA Individual Tournament took place over the weekend. The Ramblers took the title by one point over McDowell, sending 11 wrestlers to Regionals. Keagan Oler (121), Sam Staab (127) and Owen Shetler (172) all took first, while Amir Johnson (114), Bradon Byrd (139), Jaden Crockett (160) and Isaiah Harrick (189) all took second to advance. Aiden Carter (107), Xavier Domkowski (145), Bo Martucci (152) and Max Spaulding also advanced with their third place finishes. 🤼‍♂️ • Boys basketball was swept by McDowell as they closed out the regular season. Varsity fell to the Trojans, 43-37. Jake Sambuchino led the Ramblers with 12. JV lost 38-36. Varsity will play for the AAAAA championship THIS Thursday, February 23, at 6:00 p.m. at Mercyhurst University versus Meadville. Tickets are only available online at: piaadistrict10.org/d10-tickets. 🏀 • Indoor Track competed in the NEOITC All-Star Championships at SPIRE. DaMario Crawford placed second in the 200m and third in the long jump. Luke Brown took first in the 1600, lowering his school record time to 4:17.99. In the 1600m, Anne-Catherine Brown finished in fourth, while Allison Bender placed sixth. In the 800m, Lauren Raimy took fourth. In the 3200m, Sarah Clark lowered her school record to 10:55.60 for second place. The 4x400 team of Kayla Bogdanski, Clark, Raimy & Fina Bannister finished seventh. 👟