A special night at Bonner-Prendie

I am just about a week away from celebrating three decades and one year at the Daily Times.

I have never had happen to me what occurred on Monday night.

Let me try to explain.

Last Friday I received a phone call from Jim Catrambone, the director of Institutional Advancement at Monsignor Bonner-Archbishop Prendergast High School in Drexel Hill. He asked me if I was available  on Monday night. When he told me that the newspaper was going to be mentioned during their Senior Awards Night, I quickly said it would be my pleasure.

 

I had no idea.

The Class of 2013 marks the first graduating class since the merger of the two schools. It was just a little more than a year ago that many wondered if there would be a Class of 2013, or if there would be a Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast at all.

In a stunning move, a blue ribbon panel put together by the archdiocese had recommended that both traditional single-sex high schools here in Delaware County be closed. Most were expecting the single-sex tradition to give way to a merger of the two schools. No one ever believed both would be shuttered forever.

They were wrong.

What happened next can only be described in the fashion we used over and over again in covering this story: The Miracle of Drexel Hill.

Not only did the supporters or Bonner and Prendie save their schools, they saved all five on the hit list. The money raised by the Drexel Hill faithful sparked similar belief in others and played a big role in the movement that would eventually be known as the Faith in the Future Foundation.

They had done what many believed was impossible. It was the Miracle of Drexel Hill.

Monday night, the fruit of all that work, the Class of 2013, was honored for their academic achievements. So was the Daily Times.

When Catambrone called me up to receive the award, I was greeted by School President Father  James Olson, and Principal Bill Brannick, both of whom we worked closely with during the months surrounding the massive effort to save Bonner and Prendie.

I heard the applause behind me as I shook their hands. I wasn't quite prepared for what I saw when I turned around. The entire room was on their feet, a standing ovation for the role they believed this newspaper played in saving their beloved schools.

It's one of the nicest things that's ever happened to me in this crazy racket.

I only wish my entire staff, in particular staff writers Jeff Wolfe and Patti Mengers, along with graphic designer Mark Locher, had been there with me. It was in large part their reporting that was the backbone of this story. It was Locher's front  page designs that are to this day captured in one of the showcase windows in the school's lobby.

At the end of the night, as I was getting ready to leave, a woman approached me and extended her hand.

"You don't know me, but I know you," she said. She was the mother of a student at St. Cyril's of Alexandria School. A few years earlier, the newspaper had chronicled the efforts of Tommy Geromichalos to save his school. Ironically, Tommy went on to Monsignor Bonner, and found that tradition threatened as well.

It also was not lost on me that on the day the newspaper was honored, we were detailing on our front page the agonizing news of more parish consolidations in the archdiocese. Among those affected is St. Cyril's. That's where Father Olson hangs his hat when he's not acting as president of Bonner and Prendie.

I don't know if there are any more miracles out there. The one I witnessed Monday night might have to suffice.

My humble thanks to the Bonner-Prendie community. The truth is you are the real reason behind this miracle. Your family, your community, your faith would not accept the decision to shut down your beloved schools.

It was our honor to cover the story.