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M I L I TA RY S C H O O L
The Banner
Leaders are Made.
I Am One.
For nearly a year, prospective students have been encouraged to “BE ONE.” Of course, this related to “THE
400” marketing campaign that was rolled out last September. On August 7th, over eighty incoming fresh-
men participated in the Freshmen Orientation program and received t-shirts that stated “I AM ONE.” The
program was designed to help the students get acquainted with their new surroundings, as well as their new
classmates. After lunch, the freshmen were taught the BC Fight Song, with the help of senior leaders Matt
Shay, Jason Zettler, Nick Wright, Josh Whelan and Joey Friess. The freshmen were then divided into their
homerooms and given valuable information to make their transition to BC a smooth one. The highlight of
the program was the War Ball tournament amongst the four freshmen homerooms. Led by Coach Helton,
Homeroom C-2 claimed the championship trophy. It was a fun day, however not all freshmen were able to
participate. Due to the opportunity to enroll more students under the Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program,
BC will be adding more students to the freshmen class just in time for the start of school. The Class of 2013
is expected to have over ninety Cadets once school starts!
August 2009
Letter from the Principal...
Dear Benedictine Family, Board of Directors
It seems like yesterday I was wishing you all a wonderful
summer, and here we are at the beginning of a new academics Officers
year! My thanks to our staff who worked through the sum-
mer bringing closure to some tasks, continuing others, and Chairman:
preparing for this new year.
Mr. William E. Schmitt
The faculty returned for our first day of Pre-Planning activities on August 6th. It was Vice Chairman:
nice to see everyone greeting one another, sharing summer stories, “talking shop” Mr. J. Marc Friday ‘78
and doing all that is necessary to be ready for the return of our students on August
13th. There is truly so much more to being a teacher than most folks know. As a Secretary/Treasurer:
young teacher many, many (many, many!) years ago, it used to bother me when folks Mr. Jeffrey A. Iannone ‘87
in other professions would say things like, “Teachers have it so easy. You’re off all
summer and you get all those vacations.” Not that these aren’t facts, but in my mind
I always said, “You think it’s so easy to have 100 kids in front of you all day, standing Board of Directors
all alone in front of them while they wait (or not!) for you to teach them something,
Mr. Odilo Blanco ‘55
with all their different personalities and characters, ability levels and….”. I could go
on and on. I do know there is no more noble and rewarding vocation than that of being Rev. Robert E. Chaney ‘78
a teacher. Those of us who, as eighteen-year-olds, head off to college with the intent
Mr. Joseph M. Gannam ‘77
of being a teacher know what I mean. When you choose education as your major,
you have made a decision that will impact thousands of young lives in their course Dr. Joseph K. Hogan ‘82
of your career.
John E. Jaugstetter, Ph.D ‘55
I would like to publicly thank our faculty for all they are and all they do. I have never Rev. Philip Kanfush, O.S.B.
worked with a finer, more dedicated group of professionals. We welcome three new
faculty members to our family this year. Jacob Horne will be in our Social Studies Rev. Michael J. Kavanaugh ‘76
Department, Ana Gerry joins our Mathematics Department, and Shelly Roberts, in Sister Johanna Maguire, R.S.M.
January, will be teaching Latin in our Foreign Language Department. Each is most
qualified to be with and will do a wonderful job with our Cadets. When you meet Mr. Thomas J. Mahoney III ‘81
them, you’ll agree. I am also pleased and proud to introduce you to our two new ad- Dr. James W. Miller
ministrators. Mark Stroud has been appointed Assistant Principal for Student Affairs
and Instruction and Fr. Anthony Wesolowski will be our Assistant to the Principal for Hon. Mary Kathryn H. Moss
Instructional Technology and Academic Research. I look forward to an exemplary Mr. Walter B. Murphy III ‘71
administrative team serving our faculty and students.
Mr. William E. Schmitt
As important as all of the above is, nothing is more notable that our Cadets coming to Mr. William W. Shearouse, Jr. ‘66
Registration on Friday, August 7th. The seniors had their Senior Breakfast while the
Juniors registered, followed by the registration of seniors, then the sophomores and, Sister Lourdes Sheehan, R.S.M.
finally, the freshmen. You’d have chuckled as we did to see some of the boys shav- Mrs. Kathy H. Siler
ing and trimming one another’s hair in the parking lot. They know what to do! Our
freshmen had their Orientation that afternoon, getting to know one another, learning Rt. Rev. Placid D. Solari, O.S.B.
and having fun at the same time. Mr. Donald M. Thompson ‘65
Our first day of school is Thursday, August 13th and thus begins “The Year of BC Mr. O.C. Welch III ‘73
Family”. May this be the best year yet for us all. Dr. Edward J. Whelan III ‘71
Warm regards,
The same was true for our Auction. Under the leadership of Maria Oxnard and Dianne Plunk the Auction
raised over $80,000 for the school; again, a new fund raising height was reached. In both cases, these
impressive results were all the more appreciated when seen in the light of the economic times. I cannot
thank you enough.
I just heard that the Vic Mell/Jim Walsh Golf Tournament had a capacity number of teams register for the
event. My thanks to go out to Gene Hahne, Harry South, Jimmy Rourke, and John Mell for their great
efforts in organizing this event which so greatly supports our students.
As most of you have long known, we will begin our school year without one of our Icons, Coach Harry
Deal. It won’t be the same not having Coach inviting himself into offices, calling sponsors for the football
program, or waiting on the sidelines for the game to begin, Coach was a fixture here and he will be greatly
missed. He helped to make BC what it is. May he rest in peace.
As we usher in the new school year I am enormously grateful to the many who in their own way made BC
possible for another generation of students. Thank you for all that you have done.
Sincerely,
August Faculty and Staff Birthdays
It is a race between the three companies for the Honor Company Award. In order to complete the Blue Heron
Challenge, each company takes the knowledge and skill they have learned from the past week and uses it in
the competition. The Blue Heron Challenge consists of various tasks that have to be successfully completed
by your team’s effort and determination relative to the obstacle ahead. These tasks include: Rope Bridge,
High Copes, Low Copes, Drown Proofing and Land Navigation Construction. First Aid, Liter Carry, and the
Road March are the most physically demanding, and require the most teamwork for the cadre to observe. This
military camp taught cadets how to use learned skills, teamwork and develop strategic operational relation-
ships with cadets from surrounding area schools. The cadre members that represented Benedictine were: LTC
Owens, CW4 Schaefer, CW3 Carl, and MSG Osorio. There were three returning cadets that helped assist
MSG Osorio in the First Aid and Liter Carry: Jason Zettler, Tucker Stewart and Asa Anderson. Benedictine’s
Conrad Tebyanian-Haro got the distinguished honorary cadet award for his company.
-- Written by Asa Anderson, Senior
The BC Cheerleaders not only held camp this year, but attended a Universal Cheerleading Association camp as
well. The Cheerleaders spent a jam packed two days learning new cheers, chants and dances and came away from
camp being named a Superior Squad for the second year in a row!
The Banner • Benedictine Military School • August 2009
2009 Football Outlook Written by : Mark Stroud ‘85
The 2009 Cadet Football Team has been hard at work during the summer
off season lifting weights and participating in throwing drills with local high
schools. The coaching staff, while looking much the same has a new leader
in Mark Stroud ’85. Formerly the Defensive Coordinator, Coach Stroud steps
up to the Head Coach position this year and is eager to make his mark. The
offense this season will be different than teams in the past as the Cadets will
open up the offense by getting their playmakers the ball more while relying on
the Super 11 pick John Williams to bolster the run game. Alex Hunt is back to
lead the wide open offense at QB while having playmakers in Michael Sum-
mers, Howie Pavlo and Joey Friess.
The defense will rely on the experience of Matthew Shay (28 starts) to lead
them throughout the year. The defense will be multiple to counter the differ-
ent sets they will see throughout the season. The strength of the defense will
be the front seven, and look for the strength of the senior returners: Andrew Johnson, Colin Oxnard, Ira Jones and
Taylor Robinson to add considerably.
The kicking game will also be strong as Luke Boyd and James Deal will share the field goals and kickoff duties,
while Alex Hunt will return as the punter.
GO CADETS!
The PTO is here to make the “connection”! Please join us in any capacity this year.
If you missed our table at registration don’t worry, you can contact us or any of the officers and we would
be glad to discuss volunteer opportunities!
Please call Betty Shay (691-5729) or Paula Summerlin (352-4543) for additional infor-
mation.
The trip began with 2 nights spent in Quito, Ecuador which included a
trip to the Cotopaxi National Park to see the world’s tallest active volca-
no. After the visit to Quito, the excursion group flew 600 miles west to
the Galapagos Islands where they boarded an 85ft. yacht which consist-
ed of 3 decks and a crew of 5. The group, made up of college professors
Mr. Lemieux and his traveling companions tried on
from Georgia College and current Masters Program students traveled to empty tortoise shells to see what life is like for the
eleven islands studying biological elements and animals, participated Galapagos tortoise.
in snorkeling adventures, and
visited, among many places, Pinnacle Rock. Pinnacle Rock is home to
aquatic life such as sea lions and penguins…yes, penguins. The Gala-
pagos penguins were brought to the Galapagos Islands via the Humbodlt
Current which brings cold waters and nutrients north from Antarctica.
Through the vast experiences provided to Mr. Lemieux through this trip,
he says that his favorite part was “getting to experience the biological
diversity found only on the Galapagos Island archipelago. This diversity
is unlike that you can ex-
Mr. Lemiuex pictured with a group of Galapagos
perience anywhere else in
sea lions found on Sante Fe Island. the world.” Mr. Lemieux
looks forward to bring-
ing the experiences and
knowledge that he gathered while on his trip back to his students in
the form of his Biology classes this school year.
Three individuals from the Class of 2009 have qualified for the display. They are
(in alpha order): Pearson Beasley, Brian Haggerty, and Kevin Lewis.
To date, six individuals have qualified from the Class of 2010. They are (again,
in alpha order): Phillip Conlee, Joseph Friess, Ryan Salmon, Will Summerlin, An-
drew Whelan, and Josh Whelan.
GO CADETS!!!
“We are honored to receive such a generous donation and are actively seeking
students who meet the eligibility criteria so that they can attend our school beginning this school year,”
Pam Veiock, BC’s Director of Marketing & Public Relations said. “This extremely generous donation
will provide many benefits to prospective students, the school and the community. The 15 students that
meet the program’s eligibility criteria will also benefit from help with school tuition and fees. And, in
conjunction with the GOAL program, additional aid may be available from the Benedictine Financial Aid
Department.”
“This is a win-win-win for scholarship recipients, private schools such as BC and Georgia taxpayers,”
Veiock added. “Our BC parents, alumni and corporate supporters love the idea of being able to re-direct
some of their Georgia income taxes to such a worthwhile scholarship program.”
Students eligible for GOAL must currently be enrolled in Georgia public schools. It is recommended that
their parents’ combined income not exceed $88,000 annually in order to receive funding (no more than
85%) towards private school tuition and fees. A student cannot enroll in a private school until they have
received GOAL approval.
The GOAL program is funded by Georgia individual and corporate taxpayer contributions to qualified
student scholarship organizations (SSO). BC recently became involved with the GOAL program and the
$600,000 marks its first major GOAL donation. A 2008 Georgia law now allows Georgia taxpayers to
receive Georgia tax credits for their contributions to SSOs. Individual taxpayers can receive a Georgia
income tax credit for contributions of up to $1,000; married couples can contribute up to $2,500 and re-
ceive a corresponding tax credit. “C” corporations may contribute up to 75% of their Georgia income tax
liability and receive a corresponding Georgia income tax credit. In all cases, a Federal charitable income
tax deduction is available.
Benedictine is especially excited about participation in the GOAL Scholarship Program because since
there are now funds that can be specifically allocated to public school students through the GOAL pro-
gram, it allows for funds that would be used from the Benedictine Financial Aid account to be available
for Catholic school students. In a sense, all Benedictine students benefit from the GOAL Scholarship
program!
To learn more about BC’s GOAL program or to make a donation please visit www.thebc400.com or read
additional information about GOAL at www.goalscholarship.org.
“NOT A WEED”
Recently, Dr. Antosca has chosen as the theme for this com-
ing school year, “The Year of the BC Family”. I would like
to take a moment and reflect upon the meaning of family, at
least as I understand it from my upbringing. My mother and
father were married for some 48 years. They brought into this
world four children, my two brothers, my sister, and myself.
We lived in a small cottage in a place called Latonia, Ken-
tucky. My father worked at a number of jobs throughout the
years as we grew up, as did my mother. My brothers and my
sister and I attended 9th District School in Latonia, which went to the 6th grade (later to the 7th or 8th
grade I believe). After the sixth grade we ‘boys’ went to Holmes High School in Covington, Ky. which
had classes from the 7th grade to the 12th inclusive. I graduated from that school in 1961, so by now, if
you don’t know already, I am an “old coot”. My sister was sent to our parish high school, Holy Cross
High School, and graduated from there. We grew up in a family where there were arguments between my
father and mother, between the kids and our parents, and between the children themselves. Arguing among
ourselves was not a problem, we did it, it passed away, and we went on. It wasn’t a problem because our
family was rooted in care and concern for one another, we loved each other. We didn’t have everything
that we wanted, but we had everything that we needed. We criticized each other if we felt that one or the
other was doing something wrong. We were taught to be honest, not to lie, and to help one another. We
worked and played with one another and our neighbors and relatives. In short, we had a good life. It was
only many years later after I grew up that I learned, as I have related to some, that we were “poor”. I was
surprised to hear that, it never crossed my mind. We had a wonderful life, loving and supporting one an-
other. Yes we had our faults as all families do, but we saw that as just a part of the package that we call life.
You go through things, you take your knocks, but you never let it get you down, you maintain a positive
attitude, because the world is good. God himself, attested to this fact at the end of His creation when He
looked around at all that He had made and saw that it was “very good.”
BC is a family. It contains many of the elements that are found in my own family. It has father figures,
mother figures, and the young men who attend it form a band of brothers, who always get along with
each other perfectly well. (Sure.) In my own family we studied, we learned, and we grew into adults who
were able to make our way in the world. It is the same with the BC family. There are ups and downs, but
the overall thrust is to become more, to grow and to develop into a wholesome and balanced person. And
this does not go just for the students but for everyone involved, faculty, staff, parents. When your family
joins our BC family it will experience ‘growing pains’. That is because when a person is growing they are
shedding the old self and becoming something new, and that shedding is painful at times. What is stripped
away is the old selfish, self-centered self, the loss of which hurts, but at the same time they are acquiring
a sense of community with its attendant demands upon the person for service to it.
And the interesting thing about a family, if it is a true family in the best sense of the word, is that there
is “not a weed” in it, only flowers in various stages of blooming. None of us is a weed, none of us is un-
wanted, all are people of value and importance. It couldn’t be otherwise, since God made all of us, and
The Banner • Benedictine Military School • August 2009
Campus Ministry
found us ‘very good’. Sometimes people don’t recognize the worth of others
and they go around uprooting or mowing down those that they perceive as ‘unde-
sirable’. This idea was brought home to me this summer when I went to our Benedictine motherhouse, St. Vincent
Archabbey in Latrobe, Pa. In addition to the paid grounds keepers, various monks tend to areas of the landscape.
Fr. Fred, our Vocation Director, looks after flowers that grow between our basilica and the St. Gregory Chapel.
Near a side entrance to the church I noticed a plant that was newly imbedded. It had a sign alongside it that simply
said, “Not a Weed”. One day Fred was out working in his ‘garden’ and I commented upon the sign. He said that
he had to put up that sign because others, unaware of its preciousness would come along and pull it up or cut it
down,not recognizing it for what it truly was, a flower.
There are no weeds at BC, only flowers that at times are disguised as weeds. If we rush through life and fail to
‘stop and smell the roses’ we might eradicate all that we feel is in our way that we find inconvenient and is keeping
us from wherever it is that we think we are going. One of the great assets of the BC family, being a true family, is
that like a true family it is patient with those who belong to it, allowing them to make mistakes and to grow. When
mistakes are made, the children are not uprooted and thrown away, but are tended to and nurtured so that expe-
riencing loving care they may eventually blossom and bear fruit. This attitude reflects a teaching of Fr. Andrew
Cusack that it would do well for all of us to learn, (and it may take some time),he says, “No one is a problem to
solve, everyone is a person to love.” Here at BC we are about the commandment that Jesus gave to His disciples,
“Love one another, as I have loved you.” It is only in the light of love that we can truly grow and become our true
self, the self that God intended us to be. This is what we desire for all in our BC family, but most of all for our
young men. When I see where they start as freshmen at BC and where they end up as seniors, I am reminded of a
beautiful verse that the Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis put into the mouth of a poet in one of his novels. It was
the dead of winter and everything was bleak and bare on the landscape. The poet encountered an almond tree and
addressing it said, “Sister, speak to me of God, and the almond tree blossomed.” May we all emulate that almond
tree and grow in grace and favor in the sight of God, thus bringing glory to Him who so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son to save all of us. Amen.