Best of the Summer

This week's "Best of the Summer" feature kicks off the 2018-2019 school year highlighting how St. Edward High School's Faculty and Staff Members spent their summer.

Mr. Nicholas Kuhar, Director of Innovation, shot two videos this August. The first featured the St. Ed's Trash Talkers, made in association with their official sponsors, Dumpsters.com and the St. Edward Film Department. The other featured a custom Rube Goldberg machine, representing the many branches of innovation at St. Edward High School, and was filmed for the Grand Opening of the Lowe Center for Innovation.

Mr. Michael Perrins, Director of International Programs, led a group of Edsmen to Auckland, New Zealand where they were hosted by families at St. Peter's College for three weeks. The group enjoyed a bonanza excursion to Australia, went snorkeling and scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, went on a Segway Tour around Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the red center of Australia and climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

In June, Latin teacher Mr. Daniel Cavoli and Campus Minister Ms. Cari White led a group of Edsmen on a mission trip to Italy and Greece. Ms. White also teamed up with English Department Chair Mr. Andrew Allen and Theology teacher Mr. Owen Williams '13 to accompany Edsmen on another mission trip to Buffalo, New York through the Young Neighbors in Action program in July, where they provided their services both at the Our Lady of Hope Vacation Bible School and at

The Foundry.

In addition to working at Get the Edge, the St. Edward Summer Enrichment Camp, Associate Director of Admission and Associate IB Coordinator Mr. Joseph Kasl '99 traveled to Japan as part of the MFA in Writing program through Spalding University. He also went on family trips to Chicago; Mammoth Cave National Park (Kentucky); Glacier National Park (Montana); Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, pictured); Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming); and Sewanee, Tennessee (for his 15th college reunion).

Mrs. Lisa Hardin, Department of Language Acquisition Chair, and

Mr. Nathan Hardin, Custodial Services & Event Setup Supervisor, accompanied four Edsmen on a mission trip to Honduras where they worked with local families and communities in conjunction with Catholic Charities. They taught English to local students, visited ancient Central American sites and participated in the traditions of the Mayan people.

Mr. Greg Stemm, Latin teacher, Mr. Cavoli and sixteen students from St. Ed's Knights of the Tiber participated in the 2018 annual convention of the National Junior Classical League at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in July. This was the largest turnout of Edsmen ever for this yearly celebration of Latin & the Classics.

Mr. Richard Kubrak '07, Director of Service and Outreach, and Wrestling Coach Greg Urbas accompanied the freshman football team on their service project on Tuesday, July 31, where they helped set up for The Fest at the Center for Pastoral Leadership. 60 freshmen football players participated, helping build the event's main stage and making care bags for women and mothers.

Mr. Matthew Stepnowsky, Director of International Baccalaureate Programmes, traveled to Massachusetts with his family for a week and hung out at the beach. "We had an awesome time reading, playing, body surfing, and just relaxing on the sand and in the waves," says Mr. Stepnowsky.

Mr. Angelo Kortyka '98, Director of Instrumental Music, spent the summer planning the St. Ed's Marching Band's competition show, "inCOMPLETE"; took three Edsmen to the Music for All Summer Symposium presented by Yamaha at Ball State University in Munice, Indiana; accompanied the Marching Band as they performed in the Lakewood 4th of July Parade and held St. Ed's annual Band Camp at Eastern Ohio Sports complex after only rehearsing two times a week all summer.

Ms. Emily McGee, Advancement Associate, traveled to Northern Ontario this summer with her family for their annual family fishing trip. "This is my boys and I leaving the cottage on our last morning after four great days of sun, swimming, fishing, and relaxing," says McGee.

While obtaining his Master of Science in Optics and Material Physics at Cleveland State University over the summer, science teacher Mr. Kevin Gardella continues to work on a project with Dr. Bickel and Dr. Wirth at CSU's Wirth Lab. The goal of their project is to create a template to organize large areas of nano-scale particles with the long-term goal of constructing organic matter semiconductors/ electronics. This was achieved using a blade coater to deposit 500 nanometer or 1000 nanometer silica particles onto a silicon substrate to create a crystalline monolayer. After irradiation, the template was washed of any remaining particles and then the Langmuir-Blodgett technique was used to construct a monolayer out of 120-nanometer polystyrene. The results (pictured) showed promising data which will advance this research to its next stage.

Mrs. Desiree Gould, Assistant Director of College Counseling, had a wonderful summer with her family, full of many adventures including Tribe games, fishing, and a trip to Surfside, South Carolina for their family vacation. "Each day was full of 'toddler energy.' It was truly a summer full of fun, blessings and love," says Mrs. Gould.

This summer, English teacher

Mr. Elliot Zetzer spent seven weeks pursuing his M.A. in English at Middlebury's Bread Loaf School in Vermont. Mr. Zetzer took courses in Critical Writing (with Dr. John Fyler, English Department chair at Tufts University) and Disability and Deformity in British Literature (with Dr. Brenda Brueggamann, the Aetna Chair of Writing at the University of Connecticut). Both courses will influence Mr. Zetzer's curriculum and pedagogy this year at St. Ed's. He will return to Vermont over the next two summers in pursuit of a second Master's degree.

Spanish teacher Mrs. Mariana Martinez went out of her comfort zone this summer and learned to paddle board at the Saugutuck Dunes State Park in Michigan. "I had tried it once before in a smaller lake, but this time it was much harder but more fun and I'm happy I took the challenge," says Mrs. Martinez.