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| Volume #4 Issue #3 Date: March 2018
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| Judge Tom Durkin '71 to Address Classes Today
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Alumnus and Federal Judge Hon. Thomas Durkin '71 will visit three Fenwick Social Studies classes today, March 5th, at 11:25 a.m. (Periods 6/7), 1:35 p.m. (Per. 10) and 2:25 p.m. (Per. 11) in the Library's new Digital Collaboration Room. Students studying Advanced Placement (AP) Government, History, Civics and Mock Trial during these periods will hear from Mr. Durkin, an attorney sworn in January 2013 for judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Classmates and other alumni in the Oak Park area today are welcome to drop in!
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| Alumni Spotlight: Kevin Jakubowski '97
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In late December we caught up with Friar and TV writer Jakubowski, a film-school reject who now is 'running the show.' | |
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Jakubowski quoted "The Blues Brothers" in his 1997 Blackfriars Yearbook. |
| A few months ago, on the shortest day of winter’s solstice, alumnus Kevin Jakubowski '97 brightened up Mr. John Paulett’s 2nd-period History & Theory of Film class. “I am amazed that there is a film class here at Fenwick,” Mr. Jakubowski, a screenwriter, told the six boys and two girls (seniors and juniors) enrolled in the course. The California transplant wished Fenwick had a course like this when he went here 20-plus years ago.
“I’ve always been interested in film,” Jakubowski shared, since the age of about six. The alumnus made his own way 25 years ago, employing such creative outlets as local-access cable programming. Together with four friends he has known since kindergarten in far west-suburban Batavia, he conceptualized a show called “A Bit Carried Away.” “My Batavia friends and I were like real-life ‘Wayne’s World,’” he says of the “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) sketch that comedic actors Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey made famous. “The funny thing is that ‘Wayne’s World’ was set fictitiously in Aurora, IL, which is just up the road from the town where I grew up.” He admits to watching as much "SNL" at the age of 12 as his parents would let him.
“But no one from Fenwick even knew that I was doing that cable TV stuff” because Jakubowski kept his two lives separate. There was his home life in the Fox River Valley and his school/sports life in Oak Park, 35 miles east. He played soccer for four years, and “had played hockey my whole life. I was a goalie,” he humbly informs. He must have been a pretty good one because he made Fenwick’s varsity club team on the ice as a freshman and went on to play collegiately at Villanova. (More on his school choice in a moment.)
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| Register Now for Blackfriars Gala to Save!
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Registration is now open for the 66th Annual Blackfriars Gala! Sign up by March 16th and save $50 per ticket. Reduced priced tickets will be available for graduates of the classes of 2005-2017. Stay tuned for a brand new raffle with a huge cash prize and live auction previews. Also new this year, you may pre-purchase upgraded wine for your table; please see your RSVP card or Fenwick’s website for details. - Please consider becoming a sponsor of the Blackfriars Gala. Most level include tickets to the event. Full benefits can be found here.
- Ad space is available in our Program Book. These full-color ads can be used to recognize the accomplishments of a student, teacher or coach, congratulate a team or club, or advertise your business. You may also use this opportunity to congratulate this year’s honorees.
The event will be held on Friday, April 20th, at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace. This year, we will induct V. James Marino ’68 and Kenneth Nelson, M.D. ’75 into the Fenwick Hall of Fame, and present Monsignor Michael Boland with the Lumen Tranquillum Award. For more information, or to register or become a sponsor, please visit the Fenwick website.
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| The 28-3 Friars Were Elite-Eight Great in '98!
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One of Fenwick’s most magical boys’ basketball teams, featuring Maggette, Williams & Co., lit up the old Lawless Gym 20 years ago.This basketball season marks the 20th anniversary of arguably the best and deepest high school basketball “class” that our state has ever produced. Thanks in large part to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls, who were on the verge of their second three-peat NBA championship, basketball fever was running hot in Illinois. In 1998 players from our state comprised more than 10% of the top 100 high-school recruits in the United States, and more than 40 seniors went on to compete at the Division I collegiate level.
The #2-ranked Friars’ Corey Maggette ’98, a three-time All-Stater and Gatorade National Player of the Year as a senior, was one of those basketball supernovas. In his remarkable high-school career Maggette amassed 2,450 points and more than 1,000 rebounds as a four-year varsity starter for Fenwick. “That was a great year for Illinois basketball,” says John Quinn ’76, Fenwick’s head coach at the time, and it was a super-special season for the Friars. It had been 30 years since Fenwick had beaten Crane for the ’68 city title, back when the Catholic League and Public League champs still met for bragging rights. (Nineteen years later, the 2016-17 season would be another one of historic proportions for Fenwick’s “Men of Steel.”)
Many faithful fans remember Maggette throwing down dunks in 1994 as a skinny, 15-year-old freshman. His frame grew by two more inches and some 20 more pounds during the next three years, Coach Quinn notes. “He was 6’4” as a freshman and lean,” remembers Quinn, who also stands 6’4” and no longer coaches but is a Golden Apple history teacher at Fenwick. As a student-athlete himself, Quinn never made a Fenwick basketball team. The irony isn’t lost on the longtime coach, who had a nose for local talent. Read more.
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| Faculty Focus – Patrick Mulcahy
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|  | Mr. Mulcahy has been teaching and coaching (and driving a bus!) at Fenwick for the past 22 school years. |
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What is your educational background?
PM: BA in Philosophy from Catholic University of America (Washington DC), 1986; MEd in Curriculum and Instruction, Loyola University (Chicago), 1996; Type 75 Administrative Certification, Loyola University.
What did you do prior to teaching at Fenwick?
PM: I taught for 10 years at three different schools. For six years prior to coming to Fenwick (1990-1996), I taught Math and Theology at Archbishop Quigley Prep in downtown Chicago. I also held several administrative positions, including Theology Chair, Athletic Director, and Admissions Director at the school.
What are you currently reading?
PM: I am slowly working my way through two books: The Art of Living, by Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, and The Doomsday Machine (Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner), by Daniel Ellsberg.
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| Collegiate Friars: Greigory Dimailig '16
and Marisa Morella '17
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Greigory (with his Mom, Ana) and Marisa on the WashU and NU campuses. | |
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Greigory Dimailig
Fenwick Graduation: 2016
Hometown: La Grange, IL
Grade School: St. Francis Xavier School
Current School: Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri
Current Major: Economics, with Biology minor (Pre-Med)
Career Aspirations: Go to medical school and become a neurosurgeon
What you’re involved in on campus: Varsity Track and Field Team, Vice President of MedEd (a club that teaches health education to grade school children), Bears Running Club (a club that coaches children on the autism spectrum), Association of Latin American Students (ALAS)
Read more. Marisa Morella Fenwick Graduation: 2017
Hometown: Melrose Park, IL
Grade School: Grace Lutheran School
Current School: Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois)
Current Major: Chemical Engineering, with a minor in English Literature
What you’re involved in on campus: I am a member of the Society of Women Engineers and the Alpha Phi Fraternity. I have helped raise money for the annual Northwestern University Dance Marathon, which this year supports Cradles to Crayons, an organization that provides children in homeless or low-income situations with the vital items needed to succeed in both school and outside life.
Career Aspirations: I am currently unsure of my large-scale plan, although I would consider both law school and medical school as possible future paths.
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| Guest Blog: 'My Fenwick Experience'
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February was Black History Month. In his guest blog post for Fenwick, Dr. Marlon Hall writes: "My journey to Fenwick High School began as a student in 1972. I was one of 11 African-American males that year who entered as freshmen. At the time, there were only two African-American males in the entire school. The most memorable episode of African-American student integration of schools in the history of our nation occurred 15 years earlier when nine students entered Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. They were called the 'Little Rock Nine.' I am calling us, 'The Fenwick 11.'"
Who is Hall, and why does he wish he would have never left Fenwick in 1973 after his freshman year?
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Super sophomore wrestler Jacob Kaminski '20 brought home a 2A state title on February 17th in the 195-lb. weight class. Jake, who hails from Riverside and also plays football (defensive end), has been named IHSA All-State each of his first two years as a Friars' wrestler. Read more about Fenwick's wrestling program.
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| Thank You for Raising the $hield!
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Airborne Social Studies Teacher and Assistant Football Coach Alex Holmberg '05 belly-flopped into the pool, fully clothed, as part of a student participation challenge. |
| On February 22nd, Fenwick's second annual Day of Giving, our "Raise the Shield" campaign raised $269,415!! Some 1,150 alumni, past and present parents, friends, and faculty/staff generously contributed to make this single day of fundraising a smashing success!
A crowd showed up in the Aquatics Center after school to see Social Studies Teacher and Assistant Football Coach Mr. Alex Holmberg '05 jump in the pool -- with his clothes on (pictured above) -- as part of a participation incentive in which at least 1,100 students were encouraged to donate $1.00 to Fenwick. Also featured was Math Teacher, Cross Country Coach and alumnus Mr. Kevin Roche '05, an avid runner and carbohydrate-phobe, who agreed to (God forbid!) eat a donut and wash it down with Gatorade. The kids were delighted, as were we all! Top 5 Alumni Participation Classes: - 2017 – 40 participants
- 2016 – 34 participants
- 1989 – 20 participants
- 2008 – 16 participants
- TIE for 5th place (14 participants each): 1968, 1974 and 2012
Top 5 Alumni Donations by Class Year
- 1983 - $4,625.00
- 1977 - $4,525.00
- 1988 - $4,170.00
- 1981 - $3,800.00
- 1976 - $3,605.00
RAFFLE WINNERS: The winner of two tickets to the 66th Annual Blackfriars Gala on Friday, April 20th, is: current parent Michael O’Donoghue '89. Hourly T-shirt raffle winners: Noel Keen '16; Kevin Caron, Current Parent; Kevin Regan '17; Bridget Hurley '07; Jim Sperandio '85; Garett Auriemma ’85, Current Parent; Bob Eder '71; Miguel Camara, Current Parent; Mark Sandor '18; Debra Seligmann, Current Parent; David Lilek, Past Parent; Lia Colbert-Adam, Current Parent; Ann Mullen '14; Carrie Wright, Current Parent; Debbie Klesken, Past Parent; Chrissy Turso Hollmann '98; Bill Ritchie '79, Current Parent; Andy Natanek '77; Jennifer McFadden, Current Parent; Quinn Reilly '16; Shawn & Gabrielle Wood, Current Parents; and Jody Krug Schulte, Past Parent. Fenwick will be in touch with our winners shortly.
Thanks for your support, everyone!
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| Smedinghoff Memorial Lecture Mid-April
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Robert J. Callahan '67 keynotes the 5th annual Anne Smedinghoff Memorial Lecture on Government Service at Fenwick on Monday, April 16th, at 7 p.m. in the John Gearen Library. Bob was a Foreign Service officer for 32 years, ending his career as ambassador to Nicaragua from 2008-2011. In addition to other assignments in Latin America (Costa Rica, Honduras, and Bolivia) and Europe (London, Athens, and Rome), he served in Baghdad as the press attaché and embassy spokesman from 2004-05. He also taught national security policy for two years at the National War College and spent three years as a diplomatic fellow at George Washington University, where he taught courses and lectured on foreign policy, public diplomacy, and international relations. He speaks Spanish, Italian and Greek.
Since his retirement from the Foreign Service, Bob has written articles on topics as varied as foreign affairs and education reform for the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Miami Herald and Cape Cod Times, among others. He has also led training classes for American diplomats and other Federal government employees assigned abroad and addressed the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the U.S. government’s policy toward Nicaragua.
Bob, who was born in Chicago, has a B.A. in modern European history from Loyola University Chicago and an M.A. in American history from DePaul University. Before joining the State Department, he was an editor at Loyola University Press. Bob is married to the former Deborah Brown of Worcester, Massachusetts, and they have two adult sons. Bob and his wife currently reside on Cape Cod.
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| Remembering Superstar Athlete Ed Norris '35
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Norris (center) is congratulated by legendary Fenwick coaches Tony Lawless (left) and Dan O'Brien during the 1973 Chicago Catholic League Hall of Fame induction ceremony. | |
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Ed "Moose" Norris ’35 was captain of the first Fenwick basketball team to win a State championship, and he was the first Fenwick student to be All-State in football and basketball and All-American in basketball. A multi-talented individual, Norris also served as senior class secretary."He was a member of the contingent of recruited athletes nationally to compete with great teams of national reputation for public-relations purposes," recalled Dan O’Brien '34, who was a year ahead of Norris at FHS. “Ed was the only athlete to be consensus regular in football, basketball and baseball.”
Moose's stellar sports career continued at DePaul University -- he's in their Hall of Fame. During World War II, Norris was a recruit at Great Lakes Naval Station. Later in life, he coached and scouted for the Friars. This past January, Coach Norris earned posthumous induction into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
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| Florida/Orlando Area Alumni & Friends Gathering
Monday, April 2 Anne Smedinghoff Memorial Lecture: Robert Callahan '67
Monday, April 16
New York City Alumni & Friends Gathering
Thursday, April 26
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Spring is almost here and so is Easter! By making a gift to Fenwick High School, you are helping to ensure that every class of graduates is as prepared for their college years as you were.
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Have something to share with your fellow alumni? Please send all of your alumni news and happenings to Director of Alumni Relations Cameron Watkins at cwatkins@fenwickfriars.com.
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