Issue I - St. Sebastian's School

2012 Varsity FootballAn undefeated season and aNEPSAC Championship Title

VOLUME VIII, ISSUE I 2012-2013

ST. SEBASTIAN’SM AGA Z I N E

2 | ST. SEBASTIAN’S MAGAZINE Volume V, Issue I

Features22 An Eternal Brotherhood

25 We’re All in this Together

38 Growing Together

39 My Second Family

Departments4 New Faces on Campus

8 Discourse

12 Arrows in the News

18 Science, Math & Library Center

42 Guest Speakers

48 Fine Arts

50 Athletics

58 In Memoriam

CreditsSt. Sebastian’s Magazine publishes 3 times a year. Photos by Peter Breslin ’13, Marshall Goldin, Sean Hennessy, Dan Tobin.

St Sebastian’s School 1191 Greendale Ave Needham, MA 02492

St. Sebastian’s School Mission StatementA Catholic independent school, St. Sebastian’s seeks to engage young men in the pursuit of truth through faith and reason. By embracing Gospel values in an inclusive, nurturing commu-nity and by inspiring intellectual excellence in a structured liberal arts curriculum, St. Sebas-tian’s strives to empower students for success in college and in life. The ideal St. Sebastian’s graduate will be a moral and just person, a gentleman of courage, honor, and wisdom, a life-long learner who continues to grow in his capacity to know, to love, and to serve God and neighbor.

2012-2013 Board of Trustees

Seán Cardinal O’Malley, OFM. Cap.Chairman

James L. Elcock ʼ77, P’08President

William L. Burke III P ʼ95,’97,’00,’04Executive Officer, Headmaster

Douglas A. Kingsley, P’10,’10,’12,’13Secretary

Timothy J. McCarthy, Jr. ʼ81, P’10Treasurer

J. Devin Birmingham ʼ84, P’14 David M. Calabro ʼ78, P’16 Devin C. Condron ʼ92 William T. Connolly, Jr. P’10,’12John DeMatteo II P’11,’13,’16,’18 John P. DiGiovanni ʼ84, P’14 Mark E. Donovan P’07,’09 Kevin F. Driscoll ʼ72, P’05,’09 Sr. Janet Eisner, SND Patrick J. Hegarty ʼ89Jane M. Hoch P’07Edward J. Hoff P’11,’13 Wayne M. Kennard P’08 Rev. Brian R. Kiely John A. Mannix ʼ74Mark L. O’Friel ʼ79 William A. O’Malley P’09,’10,’13 Stuart D. Porter Kristin E. Reed P’15,’17Robert M. Wadsworth P’10,’15 Stephen P. Ward ‘96 Celeste E. Wolfe P’09,’12

Arlene F. Marano P’13President, Guild of St. Irene

Brian S. Strachan P’11,’14President, Men’s Association

John E. McNamara ʼ81, P’14,’18President, Alumni Association

Most Reverend John P. Boles ʼ47 James A. Cotter, Jr. ʼ57 J. Brad Griffith ʼ58 Frank M. Ward P’96Trustee Emeriti

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From the desk of the headmasterWilliam L. Burke III

The Greeks knew to the full how bitter life is as well as how sweet. Joy and sorrow, exultation and tragedy, stand hand in hand in Greek literature, but there is no con-tradiction involved thereby. Those who do not know the one do not really know the

other either. It is the depressed, the gray-minded people, who cannot rejoice just as they can-not agonize. (Edith Hamilton ~ The Greek Way)

I am happy to report that we don’t have “gray-minded” people at St. Sebastian’s. We experience and express the full range of emotions, rejoicing and agonizing and sometimes just sitting together. We work through what must be worked through, and we labor not alone.

In his Corporate Chapel address on January 2, 2013, Tommy McCabe ’13 shared that although he had suffered much through two hip surgeries and seemingly interminable recovery periods during his time here, there was always a fellow Arrow to carry his book bag, to push his wheelchair, or to get him lunch, and he offered these words: If you’re an Arrow, you’ll never have to go through anything alone for the rest of your life. What a perfect expression of theme for this issue of our magazine, which celebrates the unique Arrow brotherhood! With granduncle Gerry Giblin ’51 and uncles, Tom Giblin ’75, Walter “Bud” Giblin ’76, and Jim Giblin ’78 and younger brother Jimmy ’17 experiencing the beautiful truth before him and with him, Tommy knows well of what he speaks.

And what a happy ending! After missing several seasons of sports, Tommy was able to play on our ISL and New England Bowl championship football team this year, and did he ever rejoice with his teammates!

Along with testimony of the integrity, the beauty, and the truth of the St. Sebastian’s brotherhood, you will read of high academic achievement and of great successes in the arts, in athletics, and in a host of extracurricular programs and activities, you will be treated to photos and copy of dedication ceremonies in our phenomenally beautiful new facilities, which continue to exceed our highest expectations, and you will read of engaging guest speakers and of other exciting aspects of life at your School.

Please know how much we appreciate all that our students, their families, our faculty and staff, our trustees and alumni, and our many friends do to advance our most important mission: the pursuit of truth through faith and reason.

May God continue to bless you all.

Sincerely,

William L. Burke IIIHeadmaster

“ Whoever loves God must also lovehis brother.” —1 John 4:21

4 | ST. SEBASTIAN’S MAGAZINE Volume VIII, Issue I

New to the Board and ClassroomSt. Sebastian’s School welcomes the newest members of the Board of Trustees and Faculty.

NEW FACES ON CAMPUS

Trustee

David Calabro ’78, P’16

David was graduated from St. Sebastian’s in 1978 as a three-sport athlete, competing for the varsity

football, hockey, and baseball teams. He went on to play varsity hockey and baseball at Williams College, graduating in 1982 with a B.A. in Economics. In that same year, David began his career in financial

services with Fidelity Investments. He is currently the Managing Director/Portfolio Manager at Putnam Investments, having worked at Fidelity for ten years and MFS Investment Management for ten. David and his wife, Kathy, live in Andover with their four children.

Trustee

Patrick Hegarty ’89

Pat joins the Board after serving for three years as the Alumni Association President. A 1993 graduate

of Harvard University, Pat went on to earn a graduate degree in accounting at Northeastern University. A special agent in the Defense Department, Pat conducts financial fraud investigations for the federal

government. In addition to his duties at the Defense Department, Pat also works as a professor at Stonehill College. He is a frequent speaker at Admissions events for St. Sebastian’s. He and his wife, Melissa, reside in Needham with their three children.

Trustee

Arlene Marano P’13

Arlene serves on the Board as the Guild of St. Irene President. She and her husband, Chris,

live in Canton with their two children. Arlene has co-chaired the silent auction and Grandparents’ Day at St. Sebastian’s. She has also done volunteer work with Newton Country Day School, St. John’s School in

Canton, Hellenic Nursing Home, and Father Peyton Center at Stonehill College. Arlene holds a B.S. from Assumption College and has worked in the banking industry in investment operations.

Trustee

John McNamara ’81, P’14,’18

John serves on the Board as the Alumni Board President. A 1981 graduate of St. Sebastian’s on

Nonantum Hill, John is the VP of Arlington Coal & Lumber Company, a 75 year old family-owned company he joined following his graduation from Worecester Polytechnic Institute in 1985. John and his

wife, Lisa, are the proud parents of twin girls, Meghan and Anne, and two boys, Johnny ’14 and Billy ’18. John enjoys boating, skiing, golf, and spending time at his children’s athletic events all over the state.


NEW FACES ON CAMPUS

Trustee

Mark O’Friel ’79

Mark serves on the Board as a member of the Investment Committee. A graduate of Harvard

College, he is the Managing Partner of MOF Capital. He was with Steel Partners Japan as managing Director from 2008 to 2009. Previously, Mark jointly led Morgan Stanley’s U.S proprietary trading business in North America from 2002

to 2005. He serves on the board of the Kennedy Child Study Center in New York City. A member of the Leadership Council of the Harvard School of Public Health, Mark is active with the Harvard School of Public Health China Initiative, Room to Read, and Math for America. He and his wife, Yoko Murai, live in Scarsdale, NY, with their two sons.

Trustee

Kristin Reed P’15,’17

Kristin joins the Board after having served on the Long Range Planning Committee. She and

her husband, Tyson, both active volunteers, live in Westwood with their three children. An alumna of

Dana Hall School and Villanova University, Kristin also serves on the Board of the Newport County Boys & Girls Clubs.

Faculty

Richard Connolly

Richard teaches sophomore and junior English. A Concord native and a graduate of Davidson

College, Richard spent four years at St. Alban’s School in Washington, D.C. after earning his master’s degree at Teachers College at Columbia. Having returned to his home state of Massachusetts, Richard is delighted to be

working at St. Sebastian’s, a school he has admired since he was a high school student at fellow ISL institution Middlesex. When not running or golfing, Richard enjoys traveling, most recently to the southwest of Ireland. Like any great English teacher, Richard always keeps a book on his nightstand and tries to read as much as possible.

Faculty

Josef Cressotti

Joe teaches philosophy, religion, and Latin. After graduating from Yale with a B.A. in Philosophy,

Joe went on to obtain his MPhil from the University of Glasgow in 2004, and he is currently finishing up his dissertation for a PhD in philosophy from UC-Riverside. When not writing his dissertation, Joe enjoys

running and watching sports—especially football and soccer. He is also a silent film enthusiast who particularly enjoys the work of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.


NEW FACES ON CAMPUS

Faculty

Michael Lawler

Michael teaches two sections of eighth grade English and two sections of tenth grade English in addition

to serving as offensive line coach for the varsity football team. A native of Milton, he attended Roxbury Latin School before matriculating to Harvard College. Michael played four years of football at Harvard, graduating in 2010 with a B.A.

in English. After a semester teaching English in southern France, Michael spent a year as a French teacher in Duxbury. He is excited to be working at a small school that emphasizes a strong moral education as well as an academic one. When he is not teaching or coaching, Michael enjoys running, playing tennis, creative writing, and exploring New England.

Faculty

James O’Brien ’06

James is the School’s new Assistant Director of Communications. He also teaches tenth grade

English and acts as the assistant coach for varsity cross country and varsity basketball. A 2010 graduate of Middlebury College with a B.A. in English, James arrived at St. Sebastian’s after spending the better part

of two years in San Francisco working in both finance and education. When not playing tennis, reading, or working on his novel, James enjoys spending time with his classmates from the St. Sebastian’s graduating class of 2006.

Faculty

Andrew Digan ’04

Andrew, a double major in English and Spanish at the University of Notre Dame, teaches Spanish

and coaches football and lacrosse. He taught for four years in and around Louisville, Kentucky, earning his master’s in teaching at the University of Louisville in the process. A six year survivor at St. Sebastian’s and

a graduate of the Class of 2004, Andrew is overjoyed to have returned to his alma mater. Outside of school, Andrew enjoys exercising, watching sports, and travelling.


NEW FACES ON CAMPUS

Faculty

James Tull

James comes to St. Sebastian’s from Woodbury Forest School in central Virginia, where he taught History

and Religion. He holds a B.A. in History from Brown University, where he was also an All-Ivy offensive tackle for the Bears. At St. Sebastian’s, Tull teaches 8th, 9th, and 10th grade religion, while also assisting on the

coaching staff for varsity football and varsity wrestling. As an alumnus of an all-boys Catholic high school in Cincinnati, Tull is excited to be teaching at a Catholic school.

Faculty

Adam White

Adam teaches Freshman Writing and junior English in addition to coaching hockey and lacrosse. He

holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.F.A. from Columbia University School of the Arts. While at Columbia, he taught an undergraduate course in writing and produced a healthcare documentary, Escape

Fire, which is currently in theaters. Adam is thrilled and honored to be teaching at St. Sebastian’s School.

Faculty

Silas Wong

Silas teaches ninth grade biology and seventh grade science, and he serves as an assistant coach with the

varsity football team. Originally from Needham, Silas came to St. Sebastian’s by way of Middlebury College. A 2012 graduate, he was a three season athlete, playing football and two seasons of track and field for the

Middlebury Panthers. He is thrilled to be working in a community that focuses on character-building as well as intellectual growth. In his free time, Silas enjoys fishing, cooking, and watching sports.


“Earn each grade. Win each mo-ment of truth. Turn to the good. Turn away from every temptation to cheat, to lie, to steal.”

Headmaster William L. Burke III

It’s Right to be Honest and Wrong to be Dishonest

What consonance there is in the wonder-ful messages we just heard from Father John and from Mr. Chambers! Father

John urges us to lift up our hearts and our souls and hopes and sorrows and our dreams to our gracious and loving God, and Mr. Chambers reminds us that the Lord upholds our lives. Our job then is to cooperate with God, to lift ourselves up to Him who upholds us.

We are so very blessed to have our outstanding Board of Trustees President, Mr. Jim Elcock, and our new trustees with us. Many years ago, when I began my career as a teacher and coach, I didn’t really understand the vitally important role that the trustees play in a school. Over time, my responsibilities have changed, and I have been blessed to see up close their function. A board oversees the strategic plan of a school and devotes itself fully to strengthening the institution in every possible way, and our board is truly outstanding.

When an institution has integrity, every person is doing his and her job to near perfection. When I was in college and shortly after, the Red Sox had this terrific left-handed pitcher named Bill Lee. A USC graduate and a very intelligent man, Lee was also a way out there kind of guy, who well earned his nickname: Spaceman. I remember an interview in which Spaceman talked about the thrill he received by playing his role as part of the team. He painted a picture of throwing the ball, with one out and a runner on first, inducing a grounder to the shortstop,

Rick Burleson, who threw to Jerry Remy at second, who threw on to Yaz at first to complete an inning ending double play. Poetry in motion! A glorious symphony! Well, that’s what we have here with the Board leading the way and the faculty and staff and the parents and grandparents and other family members working in sacred partnership, all focused on the same goal: helping each young man become the best he can be in body, mind, and soul, with our alumni and our many friends pitching in to help in any way possible. What a thrill it is for each of us to play our parts!

We know that integrity is all about wholeness and that which is unbroken, and we know that like individuals, teams can have integrity or be broken. What the Patriots and the Red Sox am I talking about?

Last Friday, we discussed the connection Father John made between integrity and Unbroken, the title of our All School Read. Afterward, Mr. Nerbonne pointed to the cross and reminded me that scripture teaches that not a bone was broken. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who loves us first is our true and eternal model of integrity.

Now for the prepared remarks:This is a strange talk to give because I don’t

think that I’m going to tell you a single thing that you don’t already know. Oh, there might be a few images, definitions, and quotations that are new to you, but the essence of this speech about integrity has been known by every one of us for as long as we

DISCOURSE


can remember. So here’s this morning’s and this year’s theme: It’s right to be honest and wrong to be dishonest. There. I’ve said it. I could sit down now and let everyone get an early jump on first period, but I won’t.

As I shared last week in our opening faculty meeting, when I think of integrity, I think of its close association with integration, and with integer, and I think of the number one, no gap between appearance and reality; what you see is what you get; one person – the same in word and in deed.

A fully integrated person is the person of unity and integrity whom the imprisoned St. Paul encourages the people of Ephesus – and, I believe, all of us – to be in Ephesians 4, 1-6:

I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all.

And I love these powerful dictionary definitions of integrity:

Adherence to moral and ethical principles, soundness of moral character, honesty…the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished… a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition… rectitude, probity, virtue… a sense of uncorrupted virtue.

In our catalogue and on our website, you will find these phrases that include the words integrated and integrity:

We seek to inspire the integrated, happy, healthy, holy life that God wants us to live.

AndThe Honor Code, at the core of our academic program, calls each young man to pledge on his sacred honor that the work he turns in is his own. Hence, students are reminded several times a day that they must be young men of

unquestionable integrity who give their best, most honest effort in the classroom and in all areas.

In my annual letter to Arrows beginning their college careers, I include this four word sentence: Hold sacred your integrity.

It is said that there aren’t many guarantees in life, but I have one. I guarantee that there isn’t a student here who wants to overhear any of these things said about him:

He says one thing and does another.

You can never depend on him.

I don’t trust him.

He has no integrity.

How does one gain the trust, respect, admiration, and affection of others? How does one become a man of integrity?

The answer is two four letter words, memorably spoken by Tom Hanks to Matt Damon in the movie: Saving Private Ryan. Hanks, playing the dying Captain Miller, grabs young Private Ryan by his coat, pulls him close, and utters: Earn this!

Of course, Captain Miller was talking about Ryan living a virtuous life to justify all the sacrifices, including Miller’s own

last full measure of devotion. May each of us hear and respond with conviction to this passionate call: Earn this.

Earn each grade. Win each moment of truth. Turn to the good. Turn away from every temptation to cheat, to lie, to steal. Countless times a day important choices must be made. There is a right and there is a wrong. God has blessed us with the freedom of choice, and every choice we make strengthens or weakens our characters.

Take to heart the message expressed by that great headmaster, Dumbledore:

It’s our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

Choose to be an honest man, and you will be one. Choose to be a man of integrity, and you will be so. Earn this – every graced moment of every graced day.

I remember playing golf with my good friend, Norm Walker of blessed memory. Now Norm was the most competitive person I have ever known. It’s

Choose to be an honest man, and you will be one.

Choose to be a man of integrity, and you will be

so. Earn this - every graced moment of every graced

day.


the last hole of a very close match, and Norm has lost his ball in the thick rough to the right of the fairway. After stomping around for a bit, he announces that he has found a ball. He reaches down, picks it up, and raises it for inspection. The two other members of the foursome and I stand nearby awaiting the announcement. And I knew, in every fibre of my being, that only the truth would come out, only the truth could come out: “Nope. It’s not mine.” Had it been his, no inspection by the rest of us would have been called for.

Last spring, when we dedicated the Nerbonne Study, I was privileged to share these words:

Mr. Nerbonne’s supreme devotion to Jesus Christ and to his Roman Catholic Church emanate from the core of his being. He loves God, and he loves God’s people. My hope…is that you will find yourself working with a person for whom you have total respect and admiration and in whom you have consummate faith, someone like Mr. Nerbonne…If Mr. Nerbonne tells you that something happened, then it happened, and everyone knows it.

What do Mr. Norm Walker and Mr. Nerbonne have in common? They are both motivated to do

the right thing from the inside out, not the outside in. It’s not a fear of bad consequences that motivates them, but doing right for its own sake that naturally, powerfully flows from their true heart’s core.

Several years ago, in his Commencement remarks, then Board of Trustees President, Mr. Jack Birmingham, another paragon of unquestionable integrity, turned our attention to a passage in Anthony Trollope’s 19th century novel, The Duke’s Children. It occurs after one character suggests that he allows the law to be his guide. The Duke explodes in these words:

You should live as not to come near the law – or have the law to come near to you. From all evil against which the law bars you, you should be barred, at an infinite distance, by honor, by conscience, and nobility…between you and me there should be no mention of the law as the guide to conduct.

The law, then, is a floor, not a ceiling. The rules in our Student Guidelines are baselines only. It is our great hope and high expectation that each of you 375 gentlemen will be motivated by forces far greater than fear of getting caught.

DISCOURSE

Pictured: Headmaster Burke’s longtime friend Norm Walker, who is mentioned in his address before the School.


Our reading of UNBROKEN underscores the importance of faith, hope, love, and integrity.

I share two brief passages from our heroes’ time on the raft.

Louie’s and Phil’s optimism, and Mac’s hopelessness, were becoming self-fulfilling.

And Mac’s body grew weaker, following his broken spirit…

Mac was never described as having less ability than Louie or Phil, just less hope.

Integrity is all about truth, and truth is all about inside out simplicity and clarity, as celebrated in Mark Twain’s famous piece of advice:

If you tell the truth, you don’t need to remember anything.

What an easy way to live! Tell one lie, and we need to come up with another, and oftentimes we forget the first lie.

A few years ago, the then Dunkin Donuts CEO, Jon Luther, when speaking at Bentley College’s Commencement, shared these helpful words:

Be honest with employees and customers, even when you make a mistake. You can always recover from the truth.

We’re human beings, so we make mistakes all the time. I’m bound to make at least ten mistakes today, but I intend to face each one of them honestly and to strive for atonement.

Many a person over the years has compounded his or her problems by failing to tell the truth right away. We’re all sinners, striving to be saints, and, as Oscar Wilde reminds: Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. The more we turn from error to truth, the more consistently we become people of faith and honor and integrity, the brighter our futures become.

Famous investor, Warren Buffett, says that when hiring, he looks for three things: Intelligence, energy, and integrity, and asserts that if the candidate doesn’t have the third quality, the first two will kill you.

And who will know if we stray from truth? Who will know if we tell a lie or cheat on a quiz or a test? Who will know if we plagiarize? Two audiences always, I submit, and a third one a lot more often than we can imagine. First, God will know. Second, you will know. Third, others are bound to find out, so we do damage to both our character and our reputation. What we are and what others think of us.

And we’re all in this together. I love this dialogue between Sir Thomas More and young Rich in Robert Bolt’s great play A Man For All Seasons. More is very much the wise mentor to Rich, who is uncertain about what career he should pursue.

More says: Why not be a teacher? You’d be a fine teacher. Perhaps even a great one.

Rich replies: And if I was, who would know it?

More answers: You, your pupils, your friends, God. Not a bad public, that.

We’ll hear much more about integrity when we communicate with Mr. Louie Zamperini next week and throughout the year, and we’ll draw one another’s attention to the truth that good buildings such as our new building have integrity, too.

Let’s cooperate with our gracious and loving God, with our parents and our mentors who love us, and with one another to make this the best year of our lives – until next year.

I close with these words from Psalm 25:Let integrity and uprightness preserve me: For I

wait on thee. (Psalm 25:21) n

Editor’s Note - Headmaster Bill Burke offered these remarks on this year’s theme of Integrity during Corporate Chapel on Monday, September 10, 2012.

Integrity is all about truth, and truth is all about simplicity and clarity.


Headmaster Bill Burke, Assistant Headmaster Mike Nerbonne, and National Honor Society moderator Sean Albertson

inducted 40 students into the Sr. Evelyn C. Barrett, O.P. Chapter of the National Honor Society during a ceremony on Thursday morning, October 25, 2012. The National Honor Society aims to

create an enthusiasm for scholarship, stimulate a desire to render service, promote leadership, and develop character. Students with a minimum 85% grade average, who complete an essay application and have the support of their teachers and advisor, are eligible to apply for this honor.

Around CampusA brief look at the people and events that have helped to shape the St. Sebastian’s School Community.

ARROWS IN THE NEWS

Forty Inducted into National Honor Society

Class of 2013 InducteesJoseph Coughlin, Joseph Guarino, Scott Kingsley, Edward McCarthy, James O’Leary, John Real

Class of 2014 InducteesCaleb Aldrich, Richard Arms, John Bartlett, Justin Bellinger, Christopher Callahan, Zachary Chambers, Conor Craven, Desmond DiGiovanni, William DuFour, Henry Finnegan, James Fiore, Nikolas Fischer, Daniel Fulham, Jack Goldman, Paul Griffin, Joseph Kearney, Cameron Kelly, Christian Kelly, Austin Lewis, Theodore Loughborough, Marlon Matthews, Shane McDonald, John McNamara, Luke Murphy, Connor Murray, Justin Nicklas, John O’Leary, Christopher O’Shea, Matthew Ouellette, Alexander Pappas, Patrick Rivard, Morgan Rockett, Connor Strachan, Luke Wasynczuk


ARROWS IN THE NEWS

Headmaster Bill Burke and Assistant Headmaster Mike Nerbonne are proud to announce the names of students and

recent alumni who earned AP Scholar Awards from the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) Program. Roughly 18% of the

1.9 million students worldwide who took AP Exams at the end of the 2011-12 school year performed at a sufficient level to earn this recognition. The following students/alumni earned AP Scholar Awards at the defined level:

School Announces Names of AP Scholars

National Scholar (scoring 4 or higher on at least 8 exams, with an avg. score of at least 4)Kenneth Chen ’13, Peter DeMatteo ’13 (each has scored a 5 on eight exams)

Scholar with Distinction (scoring 3 or higher on at least 5 exams, with an avg. score of at least 3.5)William Barnard ’12, Nikhil Basavappa ’13, Peter Cimini ’12, John Donovan ’12, Sean Frazzette ’12, John Gordon ’12, David Loughborough ’12, Terrence O’Connor ’12, Michael Petro ’13, Ryan Sanderson ’12, Christopher Stadtler ’12, Kevin Wolfe ’12

Scholar with Honor (scoring 3 or higher on at least 4 exams, with an avg. score of at least 3.25)Matthew Angelico ’12, Aidan Balboni ’12, Patrick Ciapciak ’12, Joseph Dudley ’12, Julian Matra ’13, Christopher Nadeau ’12, Edward O’Hara ’13

Scholar (scoring 3 or higher on at least 3 exams)Matthew Abelson ’12, Michael Adams ’13, James Astrue ’12, Stephen Brown ’12, Brendan Burke ’12, Connor Chabot ’13, John Connolly ’12, Mark Cunningham ’12, Matthew Donovan ’13, Matthew Fachetti ’13, Matthew Fechtelkotter ’12, Michael Hoff ’13, Sorin Marinescu ’13, Kevin Martin ’12, Patrick McLaughlin ’12, Alexander Moore ’13, Kevin Patterson ’13, Christopher Riley ’13, Christopher Rodowicz ’13, Ryan Schnoor ’13, Luke Scotten ’13, Benjamin Thai ’12, Thayer Wade ’13, Curtis Yandow ’12

Headmaster Bill Burke and Assistant Headmaster Mike Nerbonne are proud to announce the names of the eleven

students who have been recognized by the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program. Seven students have been named as Commended Students and four have been named Semifinalists.

Only 50,000 out of 1.5 million students from across the country who took the 2011 Preliminary SAT National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test are invited each year to participate in the Program by placing in the top five percent. Of that number, 34,000 are recognized as Commended Students by receiving a national Selection Index score of 201 or higher. In addition, 16,000 are named Semifinalists and are invited to further compete by completing a more in-depth application.

National Merit Scholarship Commended StudentsMichael Adams, Nikhil Basavappa, Kenneth Chen, Michael Haley, Michael Hoff, Christopher Riley, Andrew Sullivan

National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist Students (pictured)Peter DeMatteo, Kevin Patterson, Michael Petro, Thayer Wade

National Merit Scholarship Program Recognizes Eleven Students

Peter DeMatteo Kevin Patterson

Michael Petro Thayer Wade


Noteworthy

Matra ’13 Recognized as Outstanding Participant in National Program

Julian Matra ’13 has been recognized by the 2013 National Achievement

Scholarship Program as an Outstanding Participant. Only 3,100 out of 160,000 Black American students received this honor by scoring in the top 3% on the 2011 Preliminary SAT National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. For reaching this level, Matra received a certificate from the National Achievement Scholarship Program and his name and college major choice have been forwarded on to roughly 1,500 colleges and universities.

Started in 1964, the National Achievement Scholarship Program is specifically designed to honor academically promising Black American high school students. The annual competition is conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which also conducts the National Merit Scholarship Program.

DeMatteo ’13 Recognized by College Board

Peter DeMatteo ’13 has been named a 2012-13 National Hispanic

Recognition Program Scholar by the College Board. He is one of 5,000 Hispanic/Latino students selected to receive this honor out of over 253,000 students who took the 2011 PSAT exam. To be eligible to receive this award, high school students must be at least one-quarter Hispanic/Latino, have achieved the minimum PSAT score for the region, and have maintained a 3.5 or higher GPA.

Macedo ’16 & Olson ’15 Earn Speaking Prizes

St. Sebastian’s hosted 17 schools for the seventh annual Novice Parliamentary

Extemporaneous Debate Tournament on Sunday, October 21, 2012. At the event, Ryan Macedo ’16 won a Speaking Prize for his individual performance in three rounds of debating.

St. Sebastian’s School participated in a Veterans’ Day Debate Tournament at Phillips Andover Academy on Sunday, November 11, 2012. Peter Olson ’15 won a Speaking Prize for his individual performance at the Tournament.

Chen ’13 Earns Place in Two Elite Groups

Kenny Chen ’13 earned a spot in the National Association for Music

Education (NAFME) All Eastern-Honors Ensemble. This is the highest ensemble in which a student can participate. He will perform with students from 13 other states in a concert being held in Connecticut in early April.

Chen was also named one of 1,000 area students to take part in the Eastern District of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Annual District Auditions. This event serves as the precursor to the All-State Auditions. Participating students may audition for Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Band, and Choir. For his performance, Chen earned Third Chair on viola and scored high enough to be invited to participate in the All-States.

Faculty/Staff News

Religion teacher James Keefe ’02 and his wife, Hadley, welcomed their first

child, Margaret Louise, on June 25.Former faculty member Greg Lynch

’00 and his wife, Kim, welcomed their third child, Gregory, on July 30.

Art teacher Barrett Ellis and her husband, Jason, welcomed their first child, Ophelia Madeleine, on October 1.

English teacher Adam White co-produced the documentary, Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare, which was released in theaters in early October. The movie is also available for download on iTunes.

ARROWS IN THE NEWS

Julian Matra

Ryan Macedo

Peter Olson

Kenny Chen


Alumni News

Dana Story ’92 has been named a Partner at Deloitte Tax LLP, a

company at which he has been employed for the past ten years. He noted, “I work with great people in a professional environment that is constantly changing. Being on a team where every day brings a new challenge keeps my enthusiasm for our profession at its highest.”

Peter Catanese ’98 was named to Autonews.com’s 40 Under 40 list for his role in creating JustForJeeps.com, an online auto parts store which ships Mopar parts for Jeeps to locations throughout the world. What started as a one sale per day venture seven years ago has now turned into a lucrative business which generated close to $2 million in sales during 2011 and helped Catanese to earn his spot on the Autonews.com list.

Brendan Ryan ’99, Governor Patrick’s current Communications Director, will assume the role of the Governor’s Chief of Staff in January 2013. Ryan has worked for Patrick in various administrative and political roles over the past six years, and has served as his Communications Director since 2010.

Frank Sally ’93, an award-winning chef who teaches at the San Francisco Baking Institute, is in the process of opening his own bakery in Berkeley, California’s Claremont neighborhood. The bakery, Fournée Bakery, will take over the spot previously occupied by the Bread Garden, which closed its doors after thirty-eight years in business.

Athletic Accomplishments

The Fourth Cross Country team, a squad consisting of 7th, 8th, and 9th

grade runners, finished 1st at the 10th annual Roxbury Latin Junior Jamboree on Friday, November 9, earning the cross country team’s first ever title. The Arrows bested 11 other teams comprised of 97 runners in grades 7-9 to cap off the

best cross country year in St. Sebastian’s history! The 2.2 mile race was very much in doubt early as no St. Sebastian’s runner was among the top 15, but during the second mile, as they have all year, the Arrows rallied with each runner passing 10 or more competitors. By the end, seven Arrows finished in the top 20. Medaling for the St. Sebastian’s harriers were Erik Jones ’16 (2nd), Ryan Colgan ’16 (5th), Paul Keady ’16 (8th), Kevin Moore ’17 (11th), and Jackson Mannix ’16 (13th), followed closely by Cole Aldrich ’16 (16th) and Owen Finnegan ’16 (19th). The top seven runners averaged between 6:11 and 6:32 per mile over the hilly 2.2 mile course. Nicos Topulos ’16, John Nilles ’16, and Ben Fachetti ’16 all finished among the top 50 racers to round out the Arrows team. The Arrows accumulated the fewest points ever in Jamboree history, accumulating a mere 39 points to Fay’s 64 and Belmont Hill’s 78. For their record setting year, the Arrows finished 26-1.

This past summer, Corey Ronan ’14 was selected to play for U.S. Under-18 Select Team at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Ronan, a forward for the Arrows hockey team, was the only player from

New England selected from a pool of 180 elite players. The Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament includes teams from eight different countries, including hockey powerhouses Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, and Russia.

Mike Fischer ’12, a freshman at Boston College, was invited to join the school’s football team as a walk-on long snapper this season. His parents credit St. Sebastian’s for instilling in him the determination and work ethic that has helped him achieve this goal.

Luke Regan ’09 was recently named a captain of the Bowdoin Baseball Team for the 2013 season. During the 2012 season he played in 40 games, recording 32 hits in 127 at bats for a .252 batting average. He had 13 RBIs and 1 home run.

John Wolfe ’09 was elected varsity sprint football captain at Princeton University for the fall 2013 season. Sprint football, which plays by the same rules as regular football and requires that players weigh no more than 172 pounds, has been played at Princeton since 1933. n

ARROWS IN THE NEWS

Above: Members of the Fourth Cross Country Team following their First Place victory at the Roxbury Latin Junior Jamboree.


St. Sebastian’s faculty and trustees gathered for a dinner to honor those who are currently celebrating their twenty-fifth year of

service to the School Community on Thursday, November 8, 2012.Father John Arens opened the evening by offering his remarks and

leading the group in prayer. During his comments, Board of Trustees President Jim Elcock ’77 reminded those gathered that it is not the brick and mortar buildings that define the character of a school. It is, rather, the people – the students, faculty, staff, alumni, and greater community who make an educational institution a special place. Headmaster Bill Burke echoed this sentiment when he spoke of this year’s honorees – Meyer Chambers, Newell Hall, and Penny Reilly. Headmaster Burke praised each of them for their dedication and service over the years and commented on how proud he was to be able to serve with them.

Faculty member Dan Drummond offered an amusing look at The Office of College Counseling and the work done by College Counselor Newell Hall. During their remarks, Hall, Chambers, and Reilly related how blest their lives have been, and how fortunate they are to have been able to serve for so long at St. Sebastian’s School.

“It’s been my good luck to represent St. Sebastian’s while visiting colleges from Miami to Montreal, from Aberdeen to Anaheim,” noted Hall. “The mantra around here is ‘Love God, work hard, and take good care of one another.’ Or, as I like to say when speaking with college representatives, ‘St. Sebastian’s? Great kids, sane parents, and a wonderful boss.’”

Chambers added, “St. Sebastian’s supported me for five summers as I studied liturgical music at Catholic University and Notre Dame. This School has graduated one of my sons and is well on its way to graduating my second. Like many in the community, my family has celebrated life events here… My life as an Arrow by association is very precious to me, and for that I am eternally grateful.” n

Twenty-Five Years and CountingFaculty-Trustee Dinner honors three from the St. Sebastian’s School Family.

ARROWS IN THE NEWS

Pictured -

Top: Meyer and Beth Chambers.

Middle: Chase, Megan, Newell, Jane and Kyle Hall.

Bottom: Penny Reilly and Mike Deschenes.


ARROWS IN THE NEWS

Christmas Auction & DinnerSt. Sebastian’s holds annual event on December 1.

Close to 400 people attended the annual St. Sebastian’s School Christmas Auction & Dinner on Saturday, December 1, 2012.

The Seaport Hotel in Boston provided the perfect setting for this year’s gala event.

The evening featured a silent auction, dinner, and live auction. Hundreds of items meant there was literally something for everyone. Bidding was fast and furious throughout the evening.

St. Sebastian’s School would like to thank all those who contributed of their time, talent, and treasure to make the evening such a huge success. Your support and generosity enabled the School to raise approximately $330,000. A special thank you goes out to this year’s Auction Co-Chairs, Dana Fulham and Aleece Strachan, Guild of St. Irene President Arlene Marano, our Auctioneer Bill Supple, and the entire Guild of St. Irene Auction Committee. n


A Lasting LegacyThree families honored with rooms in new building

McKinlay RoomThe McKinlay and Connolly Families and their friends gathered to dedicate the new McKinlay Room in honor of Barb and Jim McKinlay, the grandparents of Will ’10, Jack ’12, Mike ’17, and Molly Connolly on June 19. This room is located on the second floor of the Science, Math & Library Center and features a large conference table, state-of-the-art audio/visual presentation capabilities, and books and reference materials promoting ethics, morality, and the pursuit of truth through faith and reason.

“Barb and Jim McKinlay exemplify the spirit of St. Sebastian’s at our very best,” stated Headmaster Bill Burke. “Their powerful and heroic love of God, family, friends, and country – so beautifully evident in their children, in-laws, and grandchildren – stirs us all to become ever more fully the wise, just, balanced, and brave people of faith, honor, and integrity that our Lord wants us to be. How fitting, right, and just it is that this magnificent room of gravitas bears their names.”

Lynch HallOn September 30, the Lynch and O’Hurley families came together to honor Christine Lynch P’83, GP’04,’05,’06,’08,’10,’15 with the dedication of Lynch Hall. Located at the far end of the Science, Math & Library Center, this octagonal space serves as the perfect gathering and academic space for students, parents, and alumni.

“Love God. Work hard. Take good care of one another. The order of the day at St. Sebastian’s is the order of the beautiful life of Christine Lynch,” noted Headmaster Bill Burke. “How fitting it is that her family has dedicated this gorgeous new teaching and learning space in her honor and in her name. The crosses that boldly separate the windows, the light that enters from above and is emitted nightly from within recall the warm and loving heart of Christine ever open to the grace of God, ever pulsing light and

SCIENCE, MATH & LIBRARY CENTER

Since the School’s new Science, Math & Library Center opened in May 2012, three naming ceremonies have been held for various

rooms in the facility. The McKinlay Room, Lynch Hall, and the

Gately Reading Room will forever stand as fitting tributes to families whose generosity have made a lasting impact on St. Sebastian’s School.

Above: McKinlay Room Dedication (l-r): Barb McKinlay (seated) and Headmaster Bill Burke (r) with Bill, Jack ’12, Mike ’17, Will ’10, and Barb Connolly. Missing from the photo is Bill & Barb’s daughter, Molly.

Below: Lynch Hall Dedication: Jack Lynch (c) surrounded by his family.

warmth and love to her beloved family and cherished friends. May God bless those who pursue the truth through faith and reason in this great excellence! May God bless Christine and her beautiful family forever!”

Gately Reading RoomThe Gately Reading Room was officially dedicated in honor of Jack and Eleanore O’Neill Gately, the parents of former Board President David Gately ’73, during a ceremony on October 28. This quiet study space is located off the main library and provides a place where students and faculty can read, write, and reflect.

“Long had we held the vision and the hope for a quiet room in our library, a commodious, comfortable, sacrosanct place where students and faculty could retreat into solitary, silent study, where no group work would be permitted, a glassed in place for noiseless, unobtrusive supervision, with doors designed to open and close almost inaudibly, and here we are met in the Gately Family Reading Room, which is being used exactly as intended – much to the sheer delight and great appreciation of our 375 students and 60 teachers and the many who will follow,” commented Headmaster Bill Burke. n



Above: Gately Reading Room Dedication (l-r) Elizabeth, Mark, Andrew, Meg, Peter, and David ’73 Gately.

Below: Nikhil Basavappa ’13 discusses Physics with prospective studentsin one of the School’s new Science Labs/Classrooms

during Curriculum Night in early December.


$44 million $40.9 million

Thanks to the extraordinary generosity and outstanding lead-ership support of 250 donors, the Campaign for St. Sebas-tian’s: Faith & Future has raised an impressive $27,544,164 in gifts and pledges toward the Capital goal of $30 million. From the perspective of our Comprehensive Campaign goal of $44 million (Annual Fund & Capital Campaigns combined), we have raised approximately $40.9 million in gifts and pledges (as of January 8, 2013).

The new Science, Math & Library Center has enabled us to double our teaching and learning space. By maintaining en-rollment, this project has allowed us to essentially achieve the one teacher/one classroom ideal.

All eight academic disciplines have benefited greatly. The Sci-ence and Math Departments now enjoy state-of-the-art facili-ties that enable classes and clubs to tackle projects that were once not possible. The new and renovated library space has been broken into areas that allow for and encourage group in-teraction and ones that are designed for quiet study. Finally, the former science lab spaces have been reconfigured into modern multipurpose classrooms that are being utilized by all of the School’s academic departments.

By the end of 2013, our hope is to have raised the necessary funds to complete the Campaign and be able to celebrate the momentous achievements it has enabled us to achieve for St. Sebastian’s School.

Campaign Co-Chairs

Michael F. Cronin · David F. Gately ‘73Douglas A. Kingsley · William A. O’Malley

Campaign Committee

Devin C. Condron ’92 · William T. Connolly Jr.Sean V. Dillon · James L. Elcock ’77William L. Elcock · Nancy Q. Gibson

Patrick T. Jones · Stuart D. PorterBrian S. Strachan · Mary L. Supple


Capital Campaign: Faith & Future

Friday & Saturday, May 17-18, 2013

Reunion

Where will you be?

BROTHERHOOD

An Eternal BrotherhoodAcademic Rigor | Spiritual Depth… and Brotherhood.

By James O’Brien ’06

As a student at St. Sebastian’s School, I spent an inordinate amount of time with my St. Sebastian’s friends at the Ded-ham Chili’s on Route 1. I made the weekly trek there from

my parents’ house in Medfield only because it was a central loca-tion for my group of St. Sebastian’s friends, boys who lived scat-tered all over suburban Massachusetts. We spent countless hours sitting in our cars or standing outside of them in that parking lot, recounting the school day antics, life lessons, teachers, hopes, and dreams.

The academic merits of St. Sebastian’s have been recounted thousands of times and will be again in the following pages. They are numerous. But the School exists to nourish the whole person. We truly did strive to “love God, work hard, and take good care of one another.” And if one of us was not doing that, you could be sure the rest of us would let him have it.

Joy is paramount at the School. St. Sebastian’s is full of people who always seem on the verge of smiling. Everyone is receptive to a good joke. When I was in sixth grade, I interviewed at two independent schools, one of which was St. Sebastian’s, and by the time I went through the admissions process at both schools, I knew that St. Sebastian’s was the place for me. I remember how accessible and good-natured the people here were—Headmaster Burke’s humor and humility, my stocky tour guide constantly recounting how he was “strongly encouraged” by Mr. Nerbonne to take Latin, a well-spoken student telling me in a Burke-ian voice to “be sure to catch the acorns that fall from the tree of knowledge.” Seeing the humor in life, being able to laugh at yourself—these are qualities that are encouraged at St. Sebastian’s.

Having now returned to St. Sebastian’s as Assistant Director of Communications, English teacher, and coach, I see the same spirit alive at the School today. Wherever you go on campus, smiling faces and happy people are there to greet you.

We have this community feel that most other schools do not, a more warm and inviting environment, a family atmosphere. While our academics take a backseat to none in the ISL, the joy for life exhibited by the faculty and students is what makes the essence of St. Sebastian’s pervade all aspects of our lives. The spirit of the School does not merely capture the spirit of academia, but also the real meaning of a life lived joyfully. As a student, my friends and I wanted to come to school. Unlike many of our public school counterparts, we did not feel like we were in a holding cell, scratching lines on the wall to mark the days until graduation. Here, amidst all of the book learning, was life, the real essence of things. Life can be lived in innumerable ways, but by engaging our will to live fully, St. Sebastian’s prepared us for all of them.

Full living involves embracing all aspects of what this world puts before us—the tragic and sorrowful as well as the light and humorous. Like a liquid changing shape to fit its container, the nature of the St. Sebastian’s brotherhood can shift depending on the situation. During both ordinary and challenging times, we see the deep and meaningful nature of so much time spent together in close quarters with good people.

What follows are the stories of fellow Arrows who cherish their St. Sebastian’s experience just as much as I do. We may be a little biased, but much like little George Washington in the apocryphal cherry tree story, we have too much integrity to lie. St. Sebastian’s


Pictured: Chris Marino ’10 and Ned Kingsley ’10 at the Class of 2010 Yearbook Reception in November 2010.

is a remarkable place, and it is real. We alumni love our School for what it has done for us, and so now we share our stories in the hopes that it will remind us all of the good this School continues to do.

“Arma virumque cano Troiae…”It’s the spring of 2009 and Ned Kingsley ’10 is exhausted. Slumped over his annotated copy of the Aeneid in the library, the adventures of Aeneas, man of pietas, pervade his every thought. After three hours of sitting at the same wooden library table, lines of Latin are starting to blend together. Beside him at the table, nine of his fellow Latin IV AP students struggle along with him to cram the AP-required books of Virgil’s epic into their brains. They have been studying all year for this, 30 lines a night. But now time runs short, the test hours away. These are the moments in which brotherhood is formed.

Looking back to his years at St. Sebastian’s, Kingsley, now a junior at Dartmouth College, sees shared struggle as a major part of what cemented the brotherhood with his classmates that he still cherishes.

“I will never forget Latin IV AP with Mr. Albertson, especially the days leading up to the AP test,” Kingsley said. “One of the memories I have of junior year is sitting in the library with nine guys trying to translate the lines of Virgil’s Aeneid. We had spent all year doing 30 lines a night, we read through it a million times, but we still felt compelled to work hard right up until the time of the test.”

That hard work definitely paid off for Kingsley and his classmates. When the College Board revealed the scores from the Latin IV AP Exam, Kingsley, along with several of his classmates, had earned a 5, the highest score possible.

Now looking forward to graduation from Dartmouth College as a member of the Class of 2014, Kingsley is thankful to Mr. Albertson and all of the other teachers who prepared him for the grueling routine of college.

“St. Sebastian’s prepared me infinitely well for all of the challenges—both academically and socially—that I’ve faced up here,” he said.

Not simply a scholar, Kingsley was also a two sport athlete at St. Sebastian’s, lettering in sailing and football. He also edited the Walrus, argued valiantly on the debate team, and participated in Moot Court, exemplifying the type of well-rounded young man the School is proud to produce. Kingsley’s experience on the St. Sebastian’s athletic field has been etched in his memory indelibly, and he joined the rugby team at Dartmouth in order to continue his passion for athletic competition.

“All of my experiences with athletics were a big show of brotherhood,” noted Kingsley. “Whether it was on the playing field,

just being in the locker room with the guys, or sitting in the stands at a hockey game—it was all an incredible experience. I still think about it. At St. Sebastian’s, wherever we were, we were focused on being good people and being together.”

The camaraderie at St. Sebastian’s between members of different grades and social groups still impresses Kingsley. Coming from a family of four boys—including his twin brother Max ’10, who is now a classmate at Dartmouth—Kingsley understands the bond between brothers, and he maintains that the St. Sebastian’s bond is as strong as advertised.

“It really is like 360 brothers,” he said. “Any time Max and I would have our friends over, they would hang out and joke around with my younger brothers just as much as they did with us.

“All the guys in my class, whether or not we were best friends, we all got along really well.”

Kingsley was eager to hold onto that fraternal bond at Dartmouth College, so he joined the Darmouth rugby team and the fraternity Beta Alpha Omega,

where Will Connolly ’10 is also a brother. “I love having that fraternal bond with a big group of guys who

are together for a singular purpose,” he stated. “That is why I joined the rugby team my freshman year. It’s hard to explain the type of bond that you have when you just get a bunch of guys all together for the same reason. The St. Sebastian’s brotherhood is something that I’ve tried to emulate during my time up here, although it hasn’t come up quite to St. Sebastian’s levels.”

At Dartmouth College, each student stays at the school for a summer term during their sophomore year. For Kingsley’s sophomore summer term, he served as Sophomore President of Beta Alpha Omega.

“I was in charge of all of the fraternity’s communications with the college, making sure the house was running smoothly,” Kingsley said. “I coordinated the outreach chairs, the service chairs. It was a really good experience and it was something that St. Sebastian’s taught me—this natural tendency to try to be a leader in anything you do.”

Although Kingsley worried the distance would put a strain on his relationships with his high school friends, he found that fear to be unwarranted once he returned home for his first extended break from college.

“I knew I would still be close with the Seb’s guys who were at Dartmouth with me, but I was definitely concerned about how I would maintain relationships with other guys who went to school hours and hours away. But I quickly found that when we’re all home for breaks—for Christmas, for the summer—it is crazy how we can just pick back up like no time has passed. I can pick up the phone

One of the things I took from Seb’s...is the power of the friendships I

make. Those are the most important things in life. And I have these

awesome memories with my friends from high school. Nobody can take

that away from me.


BROTHERHOOD

and call any of them when I’m at school and it’s the same way. These relationships supersede any sort of time and space boundaries.”

Kingsley thinks that having two of his St. Sebastian’s brothers at Dartmouth significantly aided his transition.

“My brother Max is a member of the football team, and we came to Dartmouth by two different paths. He had football, and I wanted to come here because my father attended and it has great academics. It’s been awesome going to school with Max and being able to have a couple guys—he and Will both—who understand what St. Sebastian’s is…St. Sebastian’s is a big part of my identity, and it’s nice to have people who understand where you come from.”

Kingsley says that the transition was “very smooth” from the all-boys environment on Greendale Avenue in Needham to the College on the Hill in Hanover, NH.

When asked what he would change about his experience at St. Sebastian’s, he replied, “I wouldn’t have changed my high school experience for anything. One of the things I took from Seb’s, besides being a gentleman, is the power of the friendships I make. Those are the most important things in life. And I have these awesome memories with my friends from high school. Nobody can take that away from me.”

The Whole Friendship Package“I would love just being around St. Sebastian’s. I would sit in the locker room for 45 minutes to an hour, then sit in the parking lot for an hour—just talking. Being around that community, there was no reason to ever leave,” said Jake O’Malley ’10, now a junior at Amherst College and a wide receiver for the school’s football team.

Back when he was a sixth grader considering his future, O’Malley was not necessarily unhappy with his place in the Medfield Public School system. The quality of the Medfield education was high, the classrooms were fairly modern, and he had several good friends. When his older brother, Sean ‘08, left Medfield to attend St. Sebastian’s, O’Malley discovered a sense of brotherhood among Sean’s friends that just felt right. He had not thought that anything in particular was missing from his life, but upon seeing firsthand the special camaraderie between his brother and his new friends from St. Sebastian’s, he made up his mind to become an Arrow.

“Once I met his friends, there wasn’t anywhere else I was going to go,” O’Malley said. “My brother’s group of friends were just awesome to me, a person they didn’t really know.”

Once O’Malley enrolled at the School, he found that St. Sebastian’s School suited him perfectly.

“When I was in Medfield, I did fine but I just coasted along,” he said. “There was no need to get all that involved in class, so I kind of just did my work and got decent grades. I found Seb’s to be a

place where the kids were all there for the same reason, looking to get a little something more out of the experience, and the teachers were always there to help us succeed if we were willing to put in the hard work. This is coming from a town with 30 person classes, a place where the teachers just gave you the homework and if you did it, great, but they weren’t going out of their way to help you. The St. Sebastian’s teachers’ desire to help you succeed was the big difference. There was a community at St. Seb’s I didn’t really feel at the public school.”

Although O’Malley made friends quickly, the transition to 1191 Greendale Avenue was not without bumps.

He noted, “I am a Protestant, so when I first got here, I had no idea what to do. They would be saying prayers, signing the cross, getting communion. I didn’t know how I was supposed to act.”

Luckily for O’Malley, it didn’t take long for the openness of the community to find him.

“I ended up talking to Fr. Arens all of the time. I went into confession just to sit and chat. It’s a Catholic school, but they’re accepting of everyone.”

O’Malley cites English teachers Dan Burke and Ted Weihman and physics teachers John Ryan and Dave Wilbur as influences.

“Every year there was a new teacher with whom I would become pretty close. Dan Burke was huge for me. He is a great guy. As my sophomore English teacher and football coach, he was part parent and part brother. He was always there for advice or just to joke around.”

O’Malley came to see St. Sebastian’s as a second home, a place where he says people will “always be there for you when you need them.”

His most prominent example of the community coming together was when Will Judge ’11 passed away in 2007.

“We were at Will’s funeral and all sang [the school hymn] ‘He Who Would Valiant Be’ as we were walking out,” O’Malley remembered. “I felt like it exemplified the brotherhood.”

The scene at the funeral was moving for Jake and the other attendees, but he said the real work in dealing with the tragedy came afterward. Following the funeral, the St. Sebastian’s community remained with the Judges.

O’Malley recalled, “I would go over to the Judges’ house to visit J.P. [Judge ’09] and the family. Whenever I would go there would be somebody else from Seb’s there. They were never alone. It showed me the tightness of the community and how we will always be there for each other.”

Five years following Will’s passing, O’Malley is still moved by the experience. Will’s life had such a profound impact on those he left behind, strengthening their commitment to their School family and to each other. O’Malley himself remains part of the Arrows


My brothers were and still are my best friends, but now I have these best friends from Seb’s too. We

have the whole friendship package-being able to tell them anything,

being able to trust them, knowing that they’ll always be my friends.

“This brotherhood—it’s more felt than understood, and more understood than expressible in words,” stated Headmaster Bill Burke, acknowledging with a smile that even he, the man who always seems to have the right words on the tip of his tongue, cannot quite explain the bond that exists here at St. Sebas-tian’s School. I have come to the Headmaster’s Office to find the secret behind the St. Sebastian’s brotherhood. Burke is largely credited with singlehandedly creating an attitude of to-getherness when he took over as Headmaster in 1990, though he disputes this history of events.

“When I came here, I found a School that was way better than many thought it was,” Burke said. “I told people how good they were—and certainly they didn’t mind hearing it—but this atti-tude of we’re all in this together was present at St. Sebastian’s long before I got here.”

To prove his point, Bill recounts words that Pat Hegarty ’89, a Harvard alumnus and current St. Sebastian’s board member, used to speak at open houses.

“‘When I was at St. Sebastian’s, everyone wanted me to do well. When I got to Harvard, only the teachers wanted me to do well.’”

He continued, “All we are doing is helping young men become the men they want to be. And as I’ve said often, I think every person born wants to be part of something great and wants

to fall more deeply in love with learning, whether the person knows it or not. In a community where enough people encour-age the pursuit of the good, the true, and the beautiful, it be-comes natural to take care of your brother.

“Patrick Kelly ’08 once told prospective families during an Open House, ‘We’re brothers here for three reasons: One, we’re a very spiritual place and we see God as our father. Two, we have an awesome faculty who are very much like mothers and fathers. And three, because we’re unified—we want the same things, have the same goals, want to go in the same di-rection.’

“We’re all in this together. It’s a bunch of us all working to-gether, all going for the same goal. If someone falls down, we have to pick him up…I believe we’re built that way. We’re built for goodness. God made us for goodness in His image. That doesn’t mean we’re always going to do the right thing. But the beauty is we have forgiveness. We’ll make mistakes, but we will also try to do better. As Miriam Pollard says: ‘There is noth-ing we can do that God is not eager to forgive.’”

On the wall in Headmaster Burke’s office hangs a framed repro-duction Rembrandt’s “Return of the Prodigal Son”—a reminder that we have all been forgiven. Because of this reason, Head-master Burke reminds us, we have every reason to love God, work hard, and take good care of one another. We have every reason to smile.

We’re All in this TogetherBy James O’Brien ’06


BROTHERHOOD

brotherhood, even though he is now a member of the Amherst Lord Jeffs. He still returns to St. Sebastian’s to catch up and watch his brother, Brian ’13, compete for the Arrows.

“I am very close with all of my St. Sebastian’s friends. I talk to them maybe once a week,” he said. “I go back and try to watch Brian play football and lacrosse, talk to Mr. Burke or Mr. Weihman, and next thing you know, twenty minutes are gone without me even noticing. Seeing them is always great.”

So, as the years pass, what is it that makes O’Malley think the bond of St. Sebastian’s brotherhood will remain?

“I was with these kids, these teachers, all day for six years of my life…taking the same classes, sharing all these experiences, playing sports together,” he said. “Every day you were adding new experiences together. And we don’t want to stop adding those experiences just because we’ve graduated from high school.”

Even though three years have passed, O’Malley and his friends have not lost that St. Sebastian’s ability to reminisce that used to keep him from heading home long after school obligations were complete.

“This summer five of my close friends from high school worked pretty much in the same area in Boston and we would go to lunch and just sit there for a half hour talking about Seb’s and the time we had and funny stories and sports games. I remember just sitting there. And we could talk forever. That’s how close I am with these guys.

“My brothers were and still are my best friends,” O’Malley concluded, “but now I have these best friends from Seb’s, too.

We have the whole friendship package—being able to tell them anything, being able to trust them, knowing that they’ll always be my friends.”

United by the Same GoalsReaders may remember Matt Perry ‘06 from his time on the St. Sebastian’s website as a featured student in the first ever set of St. Sebastian’s web videos. A three-sport athlete at St. Sebastian’s, Perry was graduated from The College of the Holy Cross in 2010 and has gone on to play three seasons of professional baseball as a third baseman for the Detroit Tigers organization.

Since his father and grandfather were legendary alumni of Catholic Memorial, one might have expected Perry to follow in their footsteps and become a Knight. His grandfather, Ronald Perry Sr., and his father, Ronald Perry Jr., were known for their prowess on the athletic fields and the basketball court. Catholic Memorial even named their basketball court after his grandfather in 2006. Perry, however, fully planned on attending Lincoln-Sudbury High School with friends from his hometown of Sudbury. In fact, he may never have heard about St. Sebastian’s if it were not for the suggestion of a family.

“One of my father’s friends mentioned St. Sebastian’s,” Perry recalled. “He said it was a great school and it wouldn’t hurt to check it out. So I went and took a tour and I just felt comfortable. There was this ineffable quality about the place where I felt like I belonged. So I said, ‘OK, I guess this is where I’m meant to be.’”

Perry had a tough decision to make. In order to attend, he needed to repeat the eighth grade, a choice which would leave him a


Pictured: Patrick Ciapciak ’12 (#42), Jake O’Malley ’10 (#83), and Dillon Ecclesine ’11 (#9)following a varsity football game in 2009.

grade behind his former peers at Lincoln-Sudbury. After prayer and consultation with his family, he decided to take the leap and become a member of the St. Sebastian’s family. For Perry, the deciding factor was St. Sebastian’s focus on the whole person.

“At St. Sebastian’s, we learned to be men for others. I didn’t think you could really have this type of experience anywhere else. We were united by the same goals. We all wanted the best for each other,” he said. “Once I got to the School, almost immediately I had these friends to whom I could bare my soul. We spent so much time talking about being the best type of people we could be. We saw so much potential in each other and wanted to see that potential realized.”

Perry credits the positive environment at St. Sebastian’s for enabling him to thrive on and off the field. He looks at the many conversations with his classmates over the years as pivotal moments in his life.

“We talked about the people we were and the people we wanted to be. We still talk about that,” he said. “From the top-down, it’s an experience that is rigorous, yet comfortable. It’s not a cutthroat environment, and that allows you to work hard and enjoy it. It’s just the caliber of person the School recruits—people who are willing to poke fun at themselves if the situation warrants, people who don’t hesitate to show a little bit of self-deprecating humor.”

Perry also maintains that the School’s spiritual center is what sets it apart from other high schools.

“The Catholicism is probably the biggest differentiating factor between St. Sebastian’s and other schools. With a spiritual background, you are a little more self-aware. As students, we spent a lot of time focusing inward on who we wanted to be as people and we discussed it with each other. That spiritual aspect has stayed with me through college and my baseball career.

“It’s important to always be trying to better yourself—whether on the athletic field, in the classroom, or with your friends. We learned to focus on being the best people we could be. And that started with our relationship with God.”

After completing his high school career as School Vice President and captain of the varsity baseball and basketball squads, Perry matriculated to The College of the Holy Cross. He hosted his St. Sebastian’s brothers at Holy Cross on numerous occasions, even squeezing five of his friends into the small double he shared with a fellow baseball player during freshman year.

“That was a scene that ultimately played out at about four or five colleges—us cramming ourselves into someone else’s tiny room, sleeping in sleeping bags or just on the floor. I’m not sure I’ve ever had that much fun. Bringing that St. Sebastian’s experience to our collegiate environments was unforgettable.”

The brotherhood continued throughout Perry’s college career and beyond. He played third base for Holy Cross and for the

Chatham A’s of the Cape Cod League in the summer of his junior year, and the St. Sebastian’s alumni and faculty made several trips to Worcester and Chatham to support him.

“That was a benefit of how close we were at St. Seb’s…I wasn’t expecting anyone to come to those games,” Perry recalled. “But we feel a bond to support each other in our endeavors. No matter what you were doing, no matter how far apart we were going to school, we would support each other the same way we did in high school.”

By the time he finished his Holy Cross career, Perry had impressed pro scouts. He hit .423 his junior year, earning Patriot League Player of the year, and he followed that up with a .409 senior season in which he was named to the All-Patriot League First Team and All-New England second team. Following this success as a Crusader, Perry was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 41st round of 2010 Major League Baseball Draft.

“I was assigned to short season ball with the Class A Connecticut Tigers. I’ve played for two other teams since then, and now I’m in high-A ball,” Perry explained.

Perry’s advice for young Arrows looking to play professionally is not to specialize in one sport, but instead to take

up the challenge of playing a sport during every season.“Playing three different sports in high school was really what

allowed baseball to work out for me,” he said. “You’re interacting with so many different people at the School, presenting yourself with different challenges. People who play three sports just have a better feel for things. You’ve been exposed to so many people and challenges that you are able to thrive. When you go through all these struggles on the athletic field, you enjoy a bond with your teammates that you don’t get anywhere else.”

Although his main sports in high school were basketball and baseball, he cites running Varsity Cross Country with Coaches Jim Rest and Steve Thomasy as a major contributing factor to his mental toughness.

“The grit, determination, and mental toughness learned in Cross Country carried over really well into baseball. The physical pain in baseball is nothing compared to running a double Hazel’s Hill.”

Although he has kept in touch with many of his St. Sebastian’s brothers since he was graduated in 2006, Perry feels especially blessed for his relationship with fellow Arrow Matt Duffy ’07, now a member of the Houston Astros organization. Duffy, like Perry, has been very fortunate to play professional baseball, and Perry enjoys the times he has been able to play with and against his former Arrows teammate.

“It was awesome being able to play with him again down in Chatham—my junior year, his sophomore,” commented Perry. “Especially being from the northeast—there were not a lot of us down the Cape—so being able to play and live with my high school teammate was great. Then I got to play against him professionally [in


I had these friends to whom I could bare my soul... We saw so much

potential in each other and wanted to see that potential realized.

BROTHERHOOD

Class A minor league baseball]. It’s been fun to watch him develop, and I’ll be happy to watch him continue in his success. It’s always more fun playing against people you know.”

Perry, now 25, feels fortunate to have spent three years with the Detroit Tigers organization. He is now at a crossroads in his career, weighing the potential merits of continuing with baseball against the prospect of beginning a business career.

“I’ve been invited back to spring training,” he said, “and if it’s the right opportunity, I’d like to keep playing, but, if not, hopefully the internships I’ve done in the off-season have prepared me for the business world.”

He knows that his St. Sebastian’s brothers will stand by him no matter his career path. Thinking back to all of his conversations with Arrows throughout the years, Perry maintains that the spirit of self-reflection and evaluation still burns inside of him, helping to keep him moving forward.

“At the core,” he concluded, “I’ve stayed as true to myself as I could have hoped. St. Sebastian’s was a huge part of that.

Courage, Honor, CommitmentKen Mateo ’05 is a helicopter pilot for the United States Marine Corps at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, CA. He attended the Naval Academy right out of St. Sebastian’s before becoming a Marine. As part of this year’s St. Sebastian’s Alumni

Dinner, an event which honored alumni servicemen, Mateo sent in a Skype video greeting as part of montage that featured several active Arrows in service. He thinks that the St. Sebastian’s education lends itself to service.

“I think the camaraderie and brotherhood aspects of St. Sebastian’s transferred very easily into being able to develop bonds and cohesion with my company mates at the Naval Academy,” Mateo said. “From there I transferred from one unit to another throughout my military experience so far and I’ve been able to use the same core values that St. Sebastian’s instilled in me.”

The core values of the Marine Corps are “courage, honor, and commitment,” which Mateo thinks parallel nicely with St. Sebastian’s motto of “love God, work hard, and take good care of one another.

“The Marine Corps tells you to do what you know is right and do it well. St. Sebastian’s holds those same ideals.”

Mateo, who briefly attended flight school with another of his St. Sebastian’s classmates, Conor O’Neil ’05, now pilots a CH-53E Super Stallion, a three engine helicopter. It’s the largest helicopter in the free world.

“Whenever the Marine Corps require some heavy lifting, The Super Stallion is called into action,” he said. “Providing assault support for combat troops, heavy equipment, or heavy weaponry,


Pictured: Classmates Mike Tierney ’05, Chris Curran ’05, and Ken Mateo ’05 acting in Singin’ in the Rain during their senior year.

moving from point A to point B in any conditions day or night—that’s our mission.

“Right now I’m still working on my initial qualifications. I’ve done all of the basic training. I know how to take-off, land, and fly, but now our training is shifting much more toward a tactical emphasis…flying low, flying fast, and being able to get into and out of landing zones. Also flying at night and flying with external loads attached to the helicopter.”

Mateo speaks fondly of his time at St. Sebastian’s when he was a prominent member of the drama program under Mark Rogers. He performed in shows with close friends and classmates Chris Curran ’05, Mike Tierney ’05, and Andrew Schneider ’05.

“All of my friends and I were involved at one point or another in the drama program with Mr. Rogers, so spending long hours getting ready for the play definitely brought us closer together,” Mateo commented. “There’s definitely a very strong family feel to St. Sebastian’s and the relationships you build with your friends. I had a small core of friends, and they became my brothers.”

Like many St. Sebastian’s alums, Mateo is ultimately thankful for the long hours he spent at the School perfecting his academics and extracurricular activities. Mateo and his friends were also resourceful enough to commandeer their own classroom during their time at the School.

“There’s a tiny room attached to the McCulloch Room—Room 202. Andy, Chris, Mike, and I took that over and that’s where we would spend almost all of our free time… We never really saw anyone in there, so we rolled in, took it over, and kind of kept out of the way. Having that little place to ourselves definitely brought us closer.”

Mateo’s brothers, Wes ’03 and Greg ’08, both graduated from St. Sebastian’s, and Ken speaks fondly of their shared experience at the School.

“I went to St. Seb’s because of my older brother. It was such a great fit for him and we were pretty similar so it was a pretty easy decision for me and my family to make. Showing up with a brother, it made it a little easier than showing up out of the blue with nobody there,” Mateo noted.

“When my little brother showed up, it put me in a responsible position for the first time because I knew I was supposed to be a role model for him. It definitely enhanced the family feel of St. Sebastian’s, having my brothers there.”

Although they were brothers and were similar in many ways, the Mateo boys were also quite different. St. Sebastian’s enabled them to carve out unique niches for themselves. And today, with the three boys living in different areas throughout the country, School events

provide a great way for them to spend time together while staying active with their classmates at the School they all love.

“My older brother was kind of the brainy one, I was more into the drama/arts side, and my little brother focused more on sports,” he stated. “St. Sebastian’s brought us closer together.

“By the time my younger brother was ready to graduate, I was in Maryland and Wes was in California. I managed to make it back from the Naval Academy and Wes was back from Stanford. Our family was getting more spread out at that point, so it was special for us to have a place where we could all get together.”

Something Greater than YourselfMore than anything else Ed Davis ’65 mentioned when I sat down with him recently, he would like you to know that, despite the great strides St. Sebastian’s has taken in recent years, the School has always been a place for excellence.

“I want to make one thing very clear: This school has always been a great School,” Davis stated. “It’s like a family. There are brothers, sure, but there have certainly been sisters too—on the faculty, in the Guild of St. Irene. This School is an incredible place—and we’re achieving new heights—but it always has been great. There’s not a single class where you can’t find several great guys—accomplished and

successful—having the spirit of St. Sebastian’s, understanding that there’s something so much greater than any one of us.”

Davis, the founder of Ed Davis and Co. and now the Director of Alumni Relations at St. Sebastian’s, has a relationship with the School that spans more than fifty years. Not only was he graduated back when the School stood on Nonantum Hill in Newton, but he met his wife and several lifelong friends during his fifty years as a member of the St. Sebastian’s family.

“For the past three years I’ve been given the opportunity to speak to the seniors before graduation,” said Davis, “and one thing I tell them is to look at the kids next to them, because those are the kids who will be their best friends ten, twenty, fifty years from now.”

Davis speaks from experience. A native of Sherborn and the son of a high school coach in the Wellesley School System, he came to Nonantum Hill in 1961. At that time he began lifelong relationships with his fellow students, including his carpool mates from his first year at St. Sebastian’s, Mike Lajoie ’65 and Rick Cranshaw ‘65.

“Rick Cranshaw, Mike Lajoie, and I formed this carpool where our parents would bring us in to Nonantum Hill,” Davis recalled. “Mike was a smart guy, and I always respected smart people, even as a kid. He and I hit it off pretty quickly. The second day I knew him I had a really runny nose walking up the stairs behind him. I asked if I could borrow his handkerchief. I used it, gave it back to him, and we’ve been friends ever since.”


My older brother was kind of the brainy one, I was more into

the drama/arts side, and my little brother focused more on sports. St. Sebastian’s brought us closer

together.

BROTHERHOOD

Years later, once both had been graduated from St. Sebastian’s, Davis found out about an opening in the St. Sebastian’s English Department and encouraged Lajoie to apply. Lajoie followed Davis’ advice and became the Chair of the School’s English Department for many years before going on to Nichols College.

During his time at St. Sebastian’s, Davis did not limit his friendships to his own class. In fact, Davis formed lifelong bonds with his teachers as well, befriending the legendary Henry Lane ’49 after Lane taught him in history class. Despite a twenty-year age gap, Davis and Lane remain friends to this day and often enjoy playing tennis together on the Cape.

While Lane helped Davis grow as a person during his years on campus, Davis found that he also had an influence on Lane, steering the direction of Lane’s life during Davis’ senior year.

“Our senior year we had our Class Picnic in Sherborn and Henry, who I don’t think had ever been out of Newton in his life, came to the picnic and loved it,” stated Davis. “He ended up buying a house there with a beautiful clay tennis court. Not a weekend

went by when that tennis court was not occupied by St. Sebastian’s students and alumni.”

While Davis would continue his relationship with Lane, St. Sebastian’s took a backseat as he started to raise his family with his high school sweetheart, Toni. Davis had been dating Toni since his

junior year. They attended the St. Sebastian’s Prom together in 1965 and have now been married for forty-four years.

Following his graduation, Davis briefly attended college before moving into the business world, eager to support his wife and young family. He used the work ethic honed at St. Sebastian’s to work his way up the ladder of success, toiling at a

series of companies that included Wonder Bread and Hostess Cakes. He began as a route driver, then a supervisor, and finally establishing himself as Vice President of Sales at Table Talk Pies. When he left Table Talk at age 35, Davis started his own business, Ed Davis and Co. Under the direction of his wife, Toni, and his daughter, Lisa, that business is still thriving today.


Every day...I see acts of kindness done by Arrows for another, and

that’s because of the understanding on the part of these Arrows that there is something greater than

them at work.

Pictured: Ed Davis ’65, Bill Murphy ’65, Frank Burke ’65, and Henry Lane ’49 after a friendly game of tennis in Vermont.

In 1983, as his business and family were thriving, Ed and Toni made the decision to send their sons to St. Sebastian’s. The choice was first made about their eldest son, Keith ’88, who was earning high grades in public school without being challenged.

Davis recalled, “Keith was getting A’s. I looked at his work and I saw it wasn’t ‘A’ work. My wife knew it wasn’t. I consulted with Monsignor Keating, and both boys applied and came [to St. Sebastian’s].”

The same year that Keith began at St. Sebastian’s, the School moved from Newton to Needham. Davis used his distribution equipment to play an instrumental part in St. Sebastian’s move.

“The year Keith started in the seventh grade—I was working in the food business and I had plenty of trucks at my disposal,” noted Davis. “So when we moved during the winter vacation of 1982-83—I got the trucks, Jack [Doherty ’62] got his two boys, I got my two boys, and we took every single desk and moved them from Newton over to Needham. By January 1, the kids were in a brand new place.”

While seeing his sons attend St. Sebastian’s, Davis came to understand the bond of the School in an even deeper way.

He added, “As I have become more and more involved over the years, I feel like I’ve progressed in my depth of understanding of the School. It was an incredible place when I was graduated in 1965. And some of the happiest years of my life were when I would come to my sons’ sporting events or witness their academic achievements

while they were students from 1983-90. As a high school student you don’t necessarily look at it as a family, but once my boys became students I realized it really was a family.”

Davis even became a friend and mentor to some of the young men in his sons’ classes, just as Henry Lane had taken Davis under his wing years earlier. Davis sees himself and his friends as living proof that the relationships at St. Sebastian’s span generations.

“Brian Dixon ’90 is one of my best friends and he’s probably more than 20 years younger,” he noted. “I have my network and my sons have theirs, but those networks connect.”

A few years ago Davis received a call and an offer that would change his life and bring him back to his alma mater. With his daughter, Lisa, almost ready to take over his business, he was ready for a new challenge, and this opportunity was too good to be true.

“My daughter was two years into a five year program that was preparing her to take over my business when I received a call from Rich Arms, the Director of Alumni and Development at St. Sebastian’s School,” noted Davis. “I thought he was going to ask me for money and I was prepared to tell him the check was in the mail, when he surprised me by asking, ‘How would you like to come work at your favorite School?’”

Turning his business over to his daughter, Davis accepted the offer and became the School’s Director of Alumni Relations. He


Pictured: Ed Davis ’65 (#33) and Bob Cronin ’65 (#83) clear the way for Dick Grady ’65 (#5) to run the ball.

BROTHERHOOD

considers himself blessed to be spending his “retirement years” at St. Sebastian’s, a position he truly enjoys each and every day.

Over the years Davis has seen the School through the eyes of a student, alumnus, parent, and employee. Every role he has held has helped him to gain a better understanding of the School and its people.

While he believes the single sex environment and small class sizes are a big part of what makes the place so special, he thinks the most important aspect is the School’s spirituality.

“From day one I remember being taught that there was something much bigger than you,” he commented. “Each of us understands God in his own way, but there was this need to find comfort with that concept and you’re pushed to do it. I know the priests when I was here focused on that and I know the faculty that’s here now has continued to push the kids to understand that.”

He concluded, “My family is the most important thing in my life, and St. Sebastian’s is part of my family. Every day in this position, I see acts of kindness done by one Arrow for another, and that’s because of the understanding on the part of these Arrows that there is something greater than them at work.”

An Arrow ForeverHank Barry ’45, a beloved member of St. Sebastian’s twenty-six-member inaugural Class, still remembers just how he came to attend St. Sebastian’s as a high school freshman.

“My father decided I ought to go to a boys school,” stated Barry. “He said, ‘I’ll give you two choices: BC High or this new school, St. Sebastian’s, that’s going to be in Newton that I just saw in The Pilot [the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston].’”

He recalls not thinking too deeply about his high school matriculation. “My thought process was: Newton’s closer than Boston, and I live in Newton, so St. Sebastian’s it is.”

Barry was among the very first students to sign up for St. Sebastian’s first Class. At the time, the tuition was $400.

“I’m not sure whether I was officially the first student or the third,” he said. “There were two other brothers there—George and Bobby Baker—when I went to sign up. But I was certainly among the first three.”

In the early days of St. Sebastian’s, the School lacked the pristine facilities that the Needham campus boasts today.


Pictured: Ed Davis ’65 (standing) with (l-r) Hank Barry ’45 and Shaun Kelly ’45 during Reunion 2010.

“One daily athletic activity was avoiding bricks, rocks, and wood with nails in it,” said Barry. “There were rocks all over the place. You could’ve sprained an ankle.

“It was kind of a little bit dangerous. The land had only been purchased in the summer of ’41 from the old Newton Country Day School and on September 21, 1941, we started school.”

The athletic facilities were also less than desirable.

“We had a gym with a dirt floor where we played our basketball games,” Barry recalled.

The schooling all took place in one room where the boys could smell the food from the refectory.

“Mainly we would wait for lunch all morning,” Barry stated of his early classes. “We could smell all the wonderful food…”

Barry was initially intimidated by the amount of schoolwork the faculty expected him to complete.

“I remember thinking: ‘What do they mean by three hours of studying per night? Is that for real?’”

He also recalls several doses of discipline right off the bat once he arrived at the School.

“My Latin teacher called me an ‘irascible introvert.’ I was a wise guy—so I thanked him for the two new vocabulary words that began with the letter ‘I’.”

But Barry says that one of the best things that happened to him at the School was gaining humility.

“I remember thinking I was hot stuff during my first year. Well, Fr. Meehan had me in his office and said to me, ‘Who the heck do you think you are?’” he noted.

Barry’s father, an Alcoa employee who was entrusted to ship aluminum throughout the New England area, passed away during Barry’s second year at St. Sebastian’s when he was just sixteen.


St. Sebastian’s was one of the best things that ever happened to me...

I’ll always love this School.

Pictured: The 1943-44 basketball team (standing) Harold McKinney ’46, Dan Sullivan ’46, William O’Leary ’47, Hank Barry ’45, Robert Baker ’45, Coach Vin Murphy, (sitting) Edmund Murphy ’45, Msgr. Charles McInnis, Rick Tonner, Fr. Russell Collins, and Edmund Courtney ’45.

BROTHERHOOD

Even in its very first years of existence, St. Sebastian’s showed that it already knew how to take care of its own.

“The faculty was so good to me and I was very fortunate,” he noted. “Do you think I had to pay one cent junior or senior year? No! Monsignor McInnis said I would not have to pay any tuition.”

Barry says his friendships at the School revolved around sports. He remembers playing hockey, basketball, baseball, and football.

He said, “I was good friends with my athletic pals. Jimmy Lydon ’45 is one of my best friends and Ed Courtney ’45 was my best man 60 years ago at Our Lady’s Church in Newton.”

Barry went on to relate how he taught for a brief time at St. Sebastian’s before moving on to the public schools.

“I had the privilege of coming back here to teach. I had been working in the business industry and had been coaching since I was nineteen at Sacred Heart in Newton Center. I was attached to coaching, and the place I wanted to coach more than anything was at St. Sebastian’s. So I talked to Father Flanigan about coaching junior varsity football and running intramurals and teaching mathematics. I was delighted to have the opportunity.

“After two and a half years it was time for a little more income. I asked Father Flanigan, ‘Father, when do I get paid again?’ He said, ‘I don’t have any money. I won’t have any money again until the fall.’”

Barry went on to teach mathematics in the Newton School System for thirty years, as well as at Northeastern University for

thirteen years. Through his entire career, however, he remained close with St. Sebastian’s.

He stated, “There was no one in that building that was bigger than St. Sebastian’s School. It was all about what was best for the group as a whole. St. Sebastian’s was the best thing that ever happened to me. Who would have thought that a guy who didn’t have any luck at math while attending the public schools would grow up to be a math teacher thanks to St. Sebastian’s. For that, I’ll always love this School.”

A Family AffairDuring the last week of August 1967, Anne Mulroy P’73,’74,’76,’78,’82, GP’02,’06,’07,’08,’10,’14 told her young son, Richard Mulroy ’73, that they were venturing to the department store to buy him a tie and a jacket.

“What do I need that for?” Richard asked.Ann replied, “You’re going to go to a new school and you’re

going to have to wear a tie and jacket.”“That’s ridiculous! I don’t want to do that!” Richard moaned.But he did, and now, more than forty years later, he’s thankful

for the opportunity.The oldest of five brothers, Dr. Richard Mulroy, now an

orthopedic surgeon at Mulroy Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, started in the seventh grade in 1967 and was graduated


Pictured: Hank Barry ’45, Frank Dermody, ’45, and Don Gibbons ’45 at Reunion 2005.

in 1973 as a six-year survivor. All four of his brothers attended the School up on Nonantum Hill.

It was fitting, Dr. Mulroy says, that all four of his brothers attended the School.

“I really felt it was a family school,” he said. “The Headmaster was Monsignor Harney, and he used to always talk about the St. Sebastian’s Family. And it really was a family—from your classmates, to the parents, to the teachers. So having my real family in the St. Sebastian’s Family really made sense.”

At that time, The St. Sebastian’s Family was literally comprised of students from large families, making, in many cases, your brothers… your brothers.

“There were several families there with six or seven boys,” he recalled. “I came from a family of six, and I really felt I was average when I was at St. Sebastian’s. We all came from large families, and St. Sebastian’s was just one large extended family. We talked about it, and we lived it…Our connection to each other was one of the things that was impressed upon us, and it was fun to be a part of it.”

He continued, “A lot of relationships overlapped. For example, somebody in my class had a brother in my brother’s class, or I was going out with a girl whose brother was on the hockey team with

me. And a lot of the families were related. A lot of the parents were sisters and uncles and brothers and cousins.”

Dr. Mulroy and his brothers have all gone on to great success following graduation from St. Sebastian’s. Richard is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in total hip and knee replacements. His brother and business partner John ’74 is an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine. Jim ’76 works for Thomson-Reuters as a real estate property consultant, Bill ’78 is an orthopedic surgeon who works in Weston, and Bob ’82 is the CEO of a biotech company in Cambridge called Merrimack Pharmaceuticals.

-- First Impressions --

“When I first arrived on campus, I didn’t know a single soul,” Mulroy remarked. “No one from my family had gone there yet, no one from my neighborhood. I didn’t know anything about the School until the day I started. Back then there was no interview or tour of the school. Basically you took an examination, your parents filled out an application, and you showed up the first day.”

His first impression of the School involved the good-natured humor so many alumni recall about their time as a student.


Pictured: Headmaster Bill Burke with the Mulroy Family Matriarch, Anne, during the Leadership Reception in September 2012.

BROTHERHOOD

“I thought my classmates were the funniest people I had ever met in my life,” he fondly recalled. “And to this day, everywhere I’ve gone—I’ve been to college, medical school, worked in a million hospitals operating rooms—I’ve never met a group of people as funny. I don’t understand why half the people in my Class are not professional comedians. I miss the sense of humor I found at Sebastian’s.”

Dr. Mulroy also has great respect for the priest and lay faculty who gave him a solid educational foundation on which he has built his entire life and career, specifically mentioning the skills he was taught by Fr. Barrett, Morris Kittler, and Henry Lane ’49.

“Fr. Barrett was one of these very rigorous guys where you had to do everything by the book. There were no shortcuts,” Dr. Mulroy said. “You had to do it right and put the time and the effort in. That approach to studying and academics helped me all the way through college and medical school.”

One of the few lay people teaching at St. Sebastian’s during Dr. Mulroy’s time was Morris Kittler, who would eventually become the Dean of Students.

“I had him his first year as a full-time teacher,” recalled Dr. Mulroy. “He gets credit for turning me on to science. I really enjoyed the biology class with Morris, and that’s what I’m doing today as a doctor.”

In addition to being impressed by the faculty, young Richard Mulroy also cherished the role athletics had to play in the life of the School.

“As a seventh grader I remember standing by the side of the rink and I watched the varsity players come out in their black and red uniforms and I just thought, ‘Wow,’” he recalled. “They were shaving; they had beards. I don’t know if I was 5 feet when I got there, weighed about 115 pounds…. I really looked up to the older guys, and I thought they treated us very well.”

Eventually, Mulroy got used to his new school, becoming a three-sport athlete during his tenure at St. Sebastian’s. He lettered for three years in varsity cross country, four years in varsity track, and three years in varsity hockey. He recalls that the hockey team was quite a commitment, as the team not only competed in games and practices, but also functioned as an ersatz maintenance crew for the old outdoor Nonantum Hill rink.

“When we were on the hockey team, we’d get a call from Coach Henry Lane whenever school was cancelled,” Dr. Mulroy noted. “We’d all go to the rink at 10:00 o’clock with our shovels and we would shovel the rink. We’d all be out there—varsity and the JV players shoveling snow for hours.”

According to Dr. Mulroy, it was Coach Lane who understood the significance of getting St. Sebastian’s into the Independent School League.

“We weren’t in the ISL at the time,” Dr. Mulroy said. “Henry could really see that if we got into the ISL, by virtue of being in that

athletic League, everyone would kind of see us as being equal to them. What Mr. Lane realized was that if we played each of these schools on our schedules and they got used to playing us, we would get into the League. As the new Athletic Director during my senior year, Henry said, ‘Next year we’re getting into the ISL, and you’re not going to mess it up.’ We weren’t to get in any fights or arguments with referees or anything. Henry was the one who realized it would be a great thing to be aligned with those schools.”

-- A Good School Keeps Getting Better --

Starting in the late 1990s, Dr. Mulroy was afforded the opportunity to work on the Board of Trustees with his high school classmate, former Board President David Gately ’73.

“Becoming a trustee allowed us to rekindle our relationship over the last 15 years or so,” Dr. Mulroy said. “That was fun. We got to work on projects together, and he did a great job as Board President. It’s great to see someone in your own class step up and do great things and be a leader for the School. I was honored to be a trustee. I think I was a trustee for 10 years and the school has just continued to grow and prosper. It was a good school when I went there—it’s a better school now.”

During his time as trustee, Mulroy is most proud of his work to improve the athletic program. Not content with simply adding the new turf athletic fields, Mulroy also thought it was important to add teams so more students could regularly participate in sports. As a father of two boys, Pat ’06 and Ricky ’10, who have come through St. Sebastian’s, Dr. Mulroy saw room for improvement in the athletic department.

“I remember as a parent, I’d go to the games and my sons would be on some hockey team with almost thirty kids on the bench,” Dr. Mulroy said. “I thought we needed to get more teams, get more kids playing. So we went to work—let’s get some more fields, some more playing space. Get more kids playing. Physical fitness is a big part of the brotherhood at the School.

“An education is about the body, mind, and the soul—not just the mind and the soul. Physical fitness is important. If you don’t care about physical fitness by the time you are graduated when you’re 18 years old, then it’s all downhill from there. But, if you graduate and


I recently played in the Alumni Hockey Game. A friend of mine, Mark Canavan ’73, emailed me

about it. I hadn’t played hockey in a couple years, but an opportunity to play with a friend and classmate of mine, I couldn’t turn it down. I

think we were the oldest guys on the ice, but I managed a goal.

enjoy athletics—whether it’s individual sports like running or team sports like basketball, it’s something you’re going to carry with you throughout your life. So during my time with the trustees I did my best to improve everybody’s physical fitness and make kids enjoy athletics with increased participation.”

-- Lasting Relationships --

In his busy life as an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Mulroy appreciates the advantages modern technology brings to his efforts to stay in touch with his St. Sebastian’s classmates.

“Since I graduated, I probably have seen or been contacted by thirty of my classmates,” he said. “I have five or six classmates that I’m talking to or emailing or doing something with on a regular basis. Technology really helps.”

Despite his packed schedule, Dr. Mulroy still finds time to participate in reunions and other St. Sebastian’s events with his classmates.

“I recently played in the Alumni Hockey Game,” he recalled. “A friend of mine, Mark Canavan ’73, emailed me about it. I hadn’t

played hockey in a couple years, but an opportunity to play hockey with a friend and classmate of mine, I couldn’t turn it down. I think we were the oldest guys on the ice, but I managed a goal.”

Recently, the St. Sebastian’s family has shown Dr. Mulroy and his brothers support after the death of the Mulroy Family matriarch, Anne Mulroy.

He concluded, “I was just overwhelmed by the response from my classmates—people I hadn’t seen in ages came to the wake, wrote to me, emailed me. Those relationships continue—it’s been almost 40 years since I graduated, but they knew it was a tough time for me and reached out to me to show me they cared. It really made me appreciate my classmates even more. I’m impressed they’re still thinking about me and reaching out to me and showing me they are there for me.” n


Pictured: Richard ’73 (l) and Jim ’76 (r) Mulroy with David Gately ’73 (c).

BROTHERHOOD

Growing TogetherKevin Patterson ’13 discusses the bond he and his classmates share.

By James O’Brien ’06

Sitting across from Kevin Patterson ’13 at the Communica-tions Office conference table, I cannot help but wonder if I was this articulate as a high school senior. I have just asked

him what he likes about the School, and the speed and clarity of his response astound me.

“The fact that class sizes are so small really helps foster the community,” he stated. “If classes are large, you don’t really get to hear from each person. With small classes, you’re going to be hearing from everyone a lot more on average. You can build a relationship with kids based on what they say in the classroom and take it outside the classroom.

“The teachers bring something more personal than what I’ve seen at other schools and students can react with their own thoughts. You learn a lot about what everyone else is thinking.”

Patterson gives a great deal of the credit for the attitude at St. Sebastian’s to Headmaster Bill Burke, recalling how excited Mr. and Mrs. Patterson were the first time they heard Burke speak.

“I remember [my parents] came home from an Open House and told me I had to come check out this school because they had just heard the most amazing speaker—and he looked like Albert

Einstein! But when they described what he looked like, I said, ‘Oh no, you mean Mark Twain, not Einstein,’ because I love to correct my parents,” he noted.

“Mr. Burke plays such a huge role here at the School. He tells us how we’re all brothers and how we all interrelate. And we feel a responsibility to keep that up.

“Mr. Burke likes to quote Abe Lincoln, who said, ‘I’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down.’ And I think, in a lot of

ways, Lincoln is the student body at St. Sebastian’s and that friend is Mr. Burke. He’s such a positive role model, and I’ve never seen him disappointed or unhappy in any way. It’s hard to be unhappy when you have people like that around you. He really helps to build the familial aspect of this School.”

Coming from a very rigorous and academically-focused middle school, Patterson was concerned as a matriculating freshman that he might finish the predesigned math curriculum at St. Sebastian’s, but he soon learned that St. Sebastian’s emphasis on the individual meant that one can never outgrow the curriculum.


The sense of brotherhood comes from a great sense of leadership...

It’s a virtuous cycle.

Pictured: Kevin Patterson ’13 as Elisha Whitney and Maggie Fitzgerald as Mrs. Wadsworth Harcourt in the St. Sebastian’s production of Anything Goes this past November.


When asked to describe his St. Sebastian’s career, Ramy Andil ’13 put it this way, “It’s been like a roller coaster—a lot of ups and a lot of downs, but ultimately worth it.”

During December of Ramy’s eighth grade year, his mother passed away from cancer a week before Christmas. Ramy’s personal tragedy was an opportunity for the St. Sebastian’s community to step up and show him he was loved.

“After that experience, I realized this was my second family here,” Ramy said. “All day during school after my mom died, upperclassmen whom I’d never talked to were coming up to me and telling me how sorry they were.”

Ramy was also touched by how many members of the commu-nity came to his mother’s wake.

“There were more Seb’s kids there than there were my fam-ily members,” he stated. “There were so many ties and sport coats filing in and out, and at one point it was all Seb’s people filling the room. It was overwhelming.”

Ramy cannot stress enough how the faculty and the School community helped him through the ordeal, especially one par-ticular faculty member.

“Meyer Chambers has been a really big part of my life,” Ramy noted. “I could talk to him about anything. There were times when I felt like I just couldn’t handle it anymore, and he was always there. I’m thankful there are people like Mr. Chambers in my life.”

My Second FamilyBy James O’Brien ’06

Pictured: Connor Chabot ’13, Andrew Sullivan ’13, Ramy Andil ’13, and Teddy O’Hara ’13at the Junior/Senior Prom in May 2012.

BROTHERHOOD


Patterson explained, “I was in a fairly advanced math class, and I wondered if they could accommodate me. They said, ‘If you finish our curriculum, we’ll hire a teacher just for you’…I was sold.”

With his academic fears assuaged, Patterson took the plunge and enrolled in St. Sebastian’s as an incoming freshman. His only worry now was whether the other students would already have friends, leaving little room in their lives for him. He quickly found this was far from the case.

“The sense of brotherhood at St. Sebastian’s encourages people to reach out and bring others into the fold,” he stated. “At orientation I was sitting in the corner because I didn’t know anyone. Chris Riley ’13 and Matt Donovan ’13 introduced me to all of their friends. At my old school, it wouldn’t have worked that way. Here it’s just such a welcoming environment.

“When there are people like that who are willing to go out of their way with other people, you know you’re in a good environment that fosters such things. It says a lot about the kind of people here. It’s not just about getting good grades. Of course, you would expect a school to want you to get into a good college but here it’s also about making sure you are a good father and a good brother and good son.”

After settling in, Patterson began to understand the tone and tenor of the School, the balance between work and play. He was surprised at how good-natured the faculty and student body were.

“Humor is a huge part of Seb’s. There’s definitely a time—and it’s a lot of the time—for being serious, but much of what you learn about your teachers and classmates comes from humor,” he said. “You learn a lot about personalities through different styles of humor…You can tell you’ve made a good friendship when you can joke about someone and they can joke about you.”

Patterson talks so passionately about St. Sebastian’s because, like many Arrows, he is deeply involved in the extracurricular life of the School, especially with the Drama and Chess Clubs.

“Chess Club in particular has grown into something much larger than when I joined,” he noted. “It’s pretty neat to see that when people get together, it’s not just people trying to beat each other, but we’re trying to learn and get a sense of how to play.”

Patterson says with a smile that the St. Sebastian’s Chess Team has seen unrivaled support during home matches.

“Actually my friends have come out to support the Chess Team on occasion, which is fun because chess isn’t really a spectator sport. They sort of lurk outside the windows, and I think that intimidates the other teams.”

In the classroom, Patterson finds his classmates to be equally supportive.

“The stress of school can sometimes become burdensome, so it’s nice to send someone a text and see how they are doing with their work. They’ll help you look over your papers. Mr. Drummond’s class, for example, was so hard that it was mandatory that you bounce ideas off other people before you’d dare to submit it to him. There’s always going to be a certain amount of stress in the classroom, especially when we’re so academically-minded all the time, but there’s always someone to talk to, always someone quick to reach out.”

He continued, “And outside of school, these guys are my life. Now that I’m at Seb’s, my whole life is built around the School. You share the experience, you know what’s going on with your

classmates, you see them every day. You grow together.”

Although it was not a main concern when he applied here, Kevin has been impressed at how St. Sebastian’s has helped him grow in faith.

“We all have a shared bond in our religion—but even if someone isn’t Catholic, that person can share the practices and beliefs,” he said. “We all understand from where others are coming. The Catholic Church itself does

emphasize a strong dependence on human relationships.”As a senior, Patterson is excited to be a leader within the School

community.“The family feel here has a lot to do with senior classes who

learn to project that attitude to everybody,” he noted. “The sense of brotherhood comes from a great sense of leadership…it’s a virtuous cycle. As a younger student, I saw the sense of community kick in. I would look to the top and see all these teachers and all these seniors…and now that I’m a senior, I see all these students looking at me about how to act. It’s my job to provide the positive influence. Someone must have started this cycle way back and it’s just kept going.”

With the increased stress of the college process well underway, Patterson has the foresight to know that the support he sees from his classmates now will only continue in the future.

He concluded, “It’s really cool to think about how after I’m graduated, the relationships won’t die. It’s a bond we’ll always have in common. It’s more than the St. Sebastian’s brand—it’s that we’ve grown together so much.” n

...outside of school, these guys are my life. Now that I’m at Seb’s, my whole life is built around the

School. You share the experience, you know what’s going on with

your classmates, you see them every day. You grow together.

Pictured next page: Kevin Patterson ’13 practices the piano.



Perseverance Under Pressure

Zamperini Recounts his Remarkable Story of Survival

Louis Zamperini, the subject of this past summer’s All-School Read Unbroken

by Laura Hillenbrand, spoke with the St. Sebastian’s School Community during a video teleconference on Monday, September 17, 2012.

Zamperini, a world-class runner and 1936 Olympic athlete, was attending the University of Southern California when he left to join the United States Air Corps as a bombardier in the South Pacific during World War II. Out on a routine reconnaissance mission, his aircraft crashed, leaving him and a crewmember stranded in a life raft for 47 days, drifting 2,000 miles at sea into Japanese-controlled waters.

“When you reach the end of your rope and there’s nowhere else to turn,” noted Zamperini, “…you’re gonna turn and look

up. So that’s all we did on the raft was pray morning, noon, and night.”

Picked up by the Japanese, Zamperini spent the remainder of the war in prison camps, where he was tortured on a regular basis.

Following his release at the end of the war he returned to California, where he was treated like a hero, married, and partied with celebrities. Outwardly he looked as if he had his life in order. But he was actually spinning out of control, not sure how to deal with the demons he was facing due to his time in captivity. It was during this time he found himself attending a Billy Graham revival, where he quickly remembered his pledge to God while out on the raft in the middle of the ocean – that if God helped him through his ordeal, he would seek and serve Him.

Zamperini noted, “That night I made my decision for Christ.”

The teleconference began with a viewing of a CBS-produced video that originally aired during the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Zamperini, who by that

time had served as a missionary in Japan and had preached a Gospel of forgiveness to the very guards who tortured him, had been invited by the people of Nagano to carry the Olympic Flame as part of the torch relay. The video recounted his story of survival, even interviewing one of the head guards who tortured him regularly during his captivity. Following the video presentation, Headmaster Bill Burke interviewed Zamperini, asking him questions about his faith and the role it has played in his life.

Zamperini concluded, “I’m a great believer, and I believe it with all of my heart that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord and who are called according to His purpose. Christ told us in the Scripture, ‘I am the way, I am the truth and I am the life.’ Christ is the way to God, the way is the truth. People are always seeking truth; the truth is Christ, and He’s the life. But I think our eternal life starts now by faith in Jesus Christ. That is the strength we live by, and death no longer has a sting… not to the Christian.”

SPEAKERS

Students listen as Louis Zamperini discusses his World War II experience via video

teleconference with Headmaster Bill Burke.


SPEAKERS

Peter Kimeu (pictured above), Regional Technical Advisor for Partnership,

Solidarity, and Justice at Catholic Relief Services East Africa based in Kenya, visited with the St. Sebastian’s School

Community on Friday, September 28, 2012.

Although slightly smaller than the size of Texas, Kenya is home to nearly double its population. Recurring droughts

punctuated by periods of heavy flooding, poor roads, and limited access to clean water have threatened Kenya’s economy by limiting its ability to maintain its primary source of income – agricultural exports. Catholic Relief Services has worked hard to address the issues facing Kenya, by offering support that focuses on farming, microfinance, water and sanitation, people living with HIV and AIDS, education, and emergency response.

During his remarks Kimeu spoke of the hardships he and his family faced growing up in Kenya. He related that no matter how hungry he and his siblings might have been as children, his mom would always remind them that “God is good,” a phrase he has always remembered and repeats often. He went on to discuss how Catholic Relief Services has helped to ease the burden on the people of Kenya and thanked the group for their support of the agency and the good work it does.

Carter Snead (pictured with Headmaster Bill Burke), the

William P. and Hazel B. White Director of the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, led an assembly during Corporate Chapel on Monday, October 15, 2012. Snead holds a J.D. from Georgetown and a B.A. from St. John’s College. His principal area of study is public bioethics, the governance of science, medicine, and biotechnology in the name of ethical goods. His scholarly works have explored the issues relating to neuroethics, enhancement, stem cell research, abortion, and end-of-life decision-making.

Snead spoke on assisted suicide and end-of-life decision-making. More specifically, he addressed the ballot initiative before the people of Massachusetts that

would, if it had passed in November, allow doctors to prescribe a lethal drug that

patients deemed terminally ill with less than six months of life remaining could use to end their own lives.

Catholic Relief Services

Kimeu Discusses Life in Kenya

Ballot Question 2

Carter Snead Addresses Assisted Suicide

Close to 150 people attended the St. Sebastian’s School Alumni

Dinner on Thursday, October 25, 2012. This year, the School’s Alumni Association honored Arrows in the Armed Forces – Past and Present.

A brief cocktail reception preceded an emotional evening which featured music, videos, and special guest speakers.

The formal program started when John McNamara ’81, President of the School’s Alumni Association, welcomed the group and explained the significance of the event prior to Fr. John Arens, a United States Marine Corps veteran, offering the opening prayer. The College of the Holy Cross Honor Guard then presented the Colors before the St. Sebastian’s Schola, under the direction of Meyer Chambers, led the group in the singing of our National Anthem.

Following dinner, Schola sang the four Armed Forces themes and a video

presentation honoring Arrows in the Armed Forces - Past and Present was shown. The video paid special tribute to Sgt. William Cloney ’64, who was killed in action six weeks into his tour of duty in Vietnam in September 1968. Captain Ed O’Connor ’88 and Headmaster Bill Burke then presented Mia (Cloney) Benjes with a plaque honoring her brother’s service to our Country.

The evening’s keynote address was given by Colonel Bob Loynd ’82 (pictured above center with his father Richard and brother Andy ’98). Colonel Loynd, using a video and PowerPoint presentation to emphasize his point, spoke on how global interdependency has changed and evolved our world over the years and how these changes have affected national security and the United States’ involvement in world issues. He urged everyone to keep the members of our Armed Forces in their thoughts and prayers.

Honoring Those Who Serve

Colonel Loynd ’82 Headlines Alumni DinnerIntroduction of Colonel Bob Loynd ’82By Headmaster Bill Burke

It is my great pleasure and distinct honor to introduce this evening’s speaker, distinguished St. Sebastian’s alumnus, Colonel Bob Loynd USMC from the Class of 1982.

For six years, Bob commuted from Con-cord to our former campus in Newton. While at St. Sebastian’s, Bob played football, hockey, and baseball, served on the Yearbook staff, and did an out-standing job as Editor-in-Chief of the Walrus and as Chairman of the Blood Drive. This citation appears on Bob’s yearbook page: His leadership, reli-ability and dedication were evident in everything he did whether in the class-room or on the playing field.

After earning a B.A. at Colby College, where he majored in American Stud-ies, Bob joined the Marine Corps and learned to fly jets. During Operation Desert Storm, Bob flew 35 combat sorties in the pilot’s seat of an EA6B Prowler set up to jam enemy electron-ics. He has been deployed in Russia and Central Asia, and in Japan, Korea, and the Philippines. He spent a year at The Fletcher School of Law and Di-plomacy at Tufts University, where he earned a master’s degree in interna-tional affairs.

Colonel Loynd served as Senior Watch Officer in the 3rd MAW Tactical Air Com-mand Center during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

After three years as the senior-ranking Marine Corps Officer on Guam and the Mariana Islands, Colonel Loynd is now serving in the Marine Corps’s Plans, Policies, and Operations Department in the Pentagon...

Please help me welcome Colonel Bob Loynd.


SPEAKERS

St. Sebastian’s School celebrated Unity Day on Friday, November

2, 2012. This year’s event centered around the documentary Third and Long: The History of African Americans in Pro Football. Documentary Executive Producer and Director Theresa Moore (pictured with Headmaster Bill Burke and Dean of Students Brendan Sullivan) served as the keynote speaker for the event.

Third and Long is a unique and ground-breaking project that examines the history, racial struggles, sacrifices, and triumphs of African Americans in professional football from 1946, with the re-integration of the sport after a 13-year exclusion of Black players, through 1989, when Art Shell was named the first Black head coach of the NFL’s modern era. The documentary explores the history of racial integration in this country and the sport via the impact of

societal events such as World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, Brown vs. Board of Education, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, and the Vietnam War.

The event started with a general assembly in the church, where the School Community had the opportunity to hear Moore discuss her life and what led her to create the documentary. The students were then split into groups that rotated through different sessions throughout the morning. Each session featured a clip from the documentary and a discussion period. The event concluded back in Ward Hall with Meyer Chambers discussing the history of the club Men with Positive Attitudes (MPA), Moore leading a question and answer session, and Headmaster Bill Burke offering his remarks on the themes discussed throughout the day.

Third and Long Drives Unity Day Discussion

Theresa Moore Provides Keynote AddressIntroduction of Theresa MooreBy Headmaster Bill Burke

To heighten our awareness, to strengthen our bonds, to reveal the hidden wholeness, and to increase our readiness, Theresa Moore is with us today, and we are so very blessed that it is so.

A standout track and field athlete in high school in Providence, Rhode Is-land, Theresa won 10 individual state championships. While at Harvard, she was the Ivy League 100 meter cham-pion. After graduating Cum Laude with a degree in history, Ms. Moore earned an MBA at Emory University in Atlanta. While working for Coca-Cola and ESPN, she was able to re-connect with sports, engaging with the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup, NASCAR, Major League Baseball, Wimbledon, and the NCAA.

After leaving ESPN, Ms. Moore launched her own company: T-Time Productions. She now has executive producer, director, and co-writer titles to her credit for two documentaries, both of which discuss and transcend the world of sports: License to Thrive: Title IX at 35 and the film with which we’ll engage this morning: Third and Long: The History of African-Americans in Pro Football 1946-1989.

Please help me welcome our tremen-dously accomplished and most distin-guished guest, Theresa Moore.

SPEAKERS



Boston Business Breakfast

Connolly Provides Keynote at Annual Event

Roughly 100 parents, past parents, alumni, and friends attended the

annual Boston Business Breakfast, which was held at the Boston College Club on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. Bill Connolly, CFA, Head of Global Distribution at Putnam Investments, was this year’s keynote speaker. During his remarks, Connolly compared the success of Putnam to that of St. Sebastian’s. He praised the School, and the leadership of Headmaster Bill Burke, for remaining true to its mission and providing an educational experience that is second to no one.

SPEAKERS

Pictured Below: Headmaster Bill Burke (c) with (l-r) Bill, Will ’11, Jack ’12, and Barb Connolly.


SPEAKERS

Integrity and Honor

G. Gilmer Minor Discusses Values

G. Gilmer Minor III, Chairman of Owens & Minor, Inc., a Fortune

200 national distributor of medical and surgical supplies as well as a healthcare supply chain management company, spoke to the St. Sebastian’s School Community during an assembly on Tuesday, December 4, 2012. Minor, a graduate and former Board member of St. Christopher’s School in Virginia who holds a BA in History from the Virginia Military Institute and an MBA from the Colgate Darden School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, reflected on the pillars of integrity and honor during his presentation.

“Every phase of your life builds upon what you have learned in the past,” noted Minor. “You are young. You are at a crucial phase where you can define your beliefs and values.”

Minor reminded those gathered that the two foundations of life are integrity and honor. And, if you always uphold both, you will be able to weather life’s failures as you enjoy its successes. To be men of integrity and honor will enable you to hold your head high, no matter the circumstance.

He also urged the group to “keep an open mind to change.” He stated that in order to succeed, you must have a plan, but you must also be open to changing that plan. And, he noted, “Before you can become a successful leader, you must first be a follower.”

Above all else, he commented, “Be yourself and have fun.” n

Pictured Above l-r: St. Christopher’s School graduate and former Board member Renard Charity, Dean of Students Brendan Sullivan, Headmaster Bill Burke, G. Gilmer Minor, and Owens & Minor executive Todd Healy P’13.


Students from St. Sebastian’s School and Montrose School came together

for the Fine Arts Department production of the Cole Porter Classic Anything Goes on Friday and Saturday, November 9-10, 2012.

Anything Goes features the music of Cole Porter and follows the antics of Billy Crocker, a stowaway aboard the S.S. American bound for London, as he attempts to win the heart of passenger and heiress Hope Harcourt. With the help of his friend, nightclub singer and evangelist Reno Sweeney, and a common criminal, Public Enemy #13 Moonface Martin, Crocker sets out to win Hope’s love through a series of elaborate schemes. n

The S.S. American Sets Sail in Ward Hall

Fine Arts Department presents its Fall Production in early November.

FINE ARTS

Above: Will Supple as Billy Crocker and Eilis Quinn as Hope Harcourt.

Right: Julian Matra as Public Enemy #13 Moonface Martin and Mike Petro as Sir Evelyn Oakleigh.

FINE ARTS

Anyth ingGoes


Coach Dan Burke

Varsity Football

The 2012 Arrows football season began with high hopes and expectations.

Coming off of a 6-2 2011 campaign and returning several experienced and talented players, the Arrows felt that this was their year to earn St. Sebastian’s a seventh ISL football championship. Long before this season began, hard work, inspiration, and unity of purpose laid the groundwork for what turned into Coach Souza’s best record in his 35 years of coaching. Last year after a tough loss that left the Arrows with a 2-2 record, instead of dwelling on the misfortune, team captain Jack Connolly ’12 sent out a message to the team that they needed to focus on not losing another game from that point until the end of the 2012 season. While only intending to motivate, Jack also prognosticated the results of the second half of last season and the entirety of this season. The focus and motivation that last year’s senior class

helped to provide carried through the end of the 2011 season, and from that point on the 2012 senior class took over. From captain organized workout sessions to 7 on 7 leagues over the summer to intensely determined preparation during preseason, the 2012 Arrows football team put themselves in a position to record the program’s first undefeated regular season since 1994. The road to the perfect record was by no means an easy one, but the composure and will of the entire team, especially the senior class, gave the Arrows an edge in every game as they never panicked when faced with adversity. They knew that this was their season, and they were not going to let any team or play stop them from achieving their goal.

After a successful preseason, the Arrows were eager to put all of their hard work and preparation to the test when they began the regular season with a game against Nobles. On their first drive of the game after a 40 yard run by running back Brendan Daly ’13 put the Arrows on the Nobles five yard line, captain Patrick Healy

’13 finished off the drive with a one yard plunge across the end zone. The Arrows’ defense set the tone well for the season in their first series of the regular season when they forced Nobles into a three and out, giving the Arrows great field position for their second offensive possession. Running back Conor Hilton ’13 scored on a nine yard touchdown run to finish this drive, and the Arrows took a 14-0 lead into the second quarter. While certainly a team built for long offensive drives, the Arrows showed how explosive they could be on their next three possessions when receiver Brian O’Malley ’13 tipped a pass to himself from Patrick Healy and ran 47 yards for a touchdown, running back Connor Strachan ’14 broke out for a 39 yard touchdown run, and Brendan Daly burst through multiple defenders on his way to a 25 yard scamper into the end zone. The Arrows’ defense yielded one score to Nobles in the first half, but the offense responded well when Conor Hilton turned a catch on a five yard out into a highlight reel, zigzagging 46 yard touchdown, leaving the Arrows with a

Arrows in ActionA complete review of the 2012 varsity football, soccer, and cross country seasons.

ATHLETICS FALL SPORTS


commanding 41-8 lead heading into halftime. The lead allowed for second half playing time for many of the Arrows’ backups, including running back Edosa Onaiwu ’15, who added one more score for the Arrows on a 72 yard run. Finishing with a 48-21 victory, the Arrows then geared up for a tough homecoming matchup versus the BB&N Knights.

Having lost to the Knights by three points last year and with a record of 0-3 against them over the past three seasons, the Arrows were looking to overcome past struggles in front of a large, raucous crowd of red and black clad supporters. Pumped up by the enthusiastic fan support, the Arrows scored the first points of the game when Brendan Daly (22 rushes for 134 yards) finished off an eight play 83 yard drive with a five yard touchdown run up the middle. When Daly crossed the plane, the student section of over 100 fans in the end zone erupted and could barely restrain themselves from entering the field of play to celebrate with their team. The Knights responded, though, with a long drive of their own culminating in a 10 yard touchdown run. After their point after attempt failed and neither team managed another score, the Arrows took a narrow 7-6 lead into halftime. The Arrows remained positive and driven during the intermission and came out in the second half the way they would all year against their top opponents. Because of the outstanding, experienced, massive offensive line, defenses wore down over time against the Arrows’ run game. Similarly, the physical, aggressive Arrows’ defense figured out what their opponents wanted to do against them and dominated the final two quarters of most games. Against BB&N, interceptions at crucial times by linebackers Henry Finnegan ’14 and James Fiore ’14 thwarted any BB&N momentum, and two diving catches in the end zone by Brian O’Malley completed the 19-6 homecoming victory. After one of the O’Malley touchdowns, the ebullient crowd could not contain themselves as they had earlier in the game, resulting in a 15 yard penalty against the fan section. While the St. Sebastian’s coaches were not happy to be penalized, they certainly appreciated the fanaticism of the home crowd, and were more than happy to see them storm the field once again when the final seconds ticked off the clock.

Thrilled by the exciting victory at homecoming, the Arrows were also cautious not to dwell on it once the next week started, knowing that they would face another tough opponent in Milton Academy in St. Sebastian’s first ever home game under the lights that Saturday night. Again, the Arrows were supported well that night by tremendous fan support from students, alumni, parents, and friends. As the Arrows marched on to the field with their all black uniforms matching the night sky, excitement and expectations were high. Milton Academy would have the first opportunity to score, however, when their second possession of the game took them deep into Arrows’ territory. Bowed but unbroken, the Arrows defense conceded nothing when Milton Academy stood on the doorstep at first and goal from the nine yard line. After their first three plays put them on the half yard line, Milton Academy opted to go for the touchdown on fourth down with a quarterback sneak play. An incredible surge of black clad defenders led by defensive tackles Brian


Fall Athletic Awards

The following athletic awards were presented to stu-dents during an Athletic Awards Assembly held on Tues-day, November 27.

All-League ISL (Independent School League)Football - Brendan Daly, Patrick Healy, Chris Marano, Brian Mullin, Brian O’Malley, Connor Strachan, Brian WolpeSoccer - George Price

Honorable Mention All-LeagueFootball - Dan Fulham, Conor Hilton, Joseph Kearney, Scott Kingsley, Ryan SchnoorSoccer - John RealCross Country - Mike Haley

Darren D. Gallup MVP AwardPresented by the ISL to a football player.-- Brian O’Malley

Big Hit AwardPresented to the football player who leaves a ‘lasting impression’ on his opponents.-- Brendan Daly

Ennis AwardPresented to the player who best exemplifies the quali-ties of commitment, teamwork, and outstanding attitude to the football program.-- Conor Thomson

Peter Kerr AwardPresented for sportsmanship, dedication to the team, and commitment to the soccer program.-- Benjamin Piersiak, George Price


Mullin ’13 and Chris Marano ’13 put an end to Milton’s hopes, as the quarterback was dropped for a loss. On the ensuing possession for the Arrows, the offense built off of this momentum swing. First, a 45 yard reception by receiver Brandon Sweeney ’14 on third and seven from their own three yard line gave the Arrows some breathing room. From there Brendan Daly, the undisputed star of the game, took over and began the scoring for the Arrows when he broke off a 37 yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. The Mustangs were quick to respond with a long touchdown drive of their own and almost added another score before the half, but the Arrows’ special teams came through with a block of a field goal attempt from a talented Mustangs kicker who had booted four field goals through in their previous game. Again the Arrows found themselves

in a tight game at half, trailing 7-6, and again they came out in the second half ready to dominate. Brendan Daly scored again for the Arrows in the third quarter on a 30 yard run and also ran in the two point conversion to give the Arrows a 14-7 advantage. Milton Academy responded again, though, with a touchdown and conversion of their own to take a 15-14 lead. While the game remained tight at this point, the fourth quarter proved to be all St. Sebastian’s as Daly added two more touchdown runs and also blocked another Milton Academy field goal attempt, and the St. Sebastian’s defense stifled all other Mustangs possessions. The Arrows finished off the 29-15 victory, celebrated again by fans rushing the field, and took a 3-0 record into battle the following week versus rival Belmont Hill.

The Belmont Hill game proved to be a defensive battle, but it was Belmont Hill that struck first as they methodically drove the ball down the field on their first possession, chewing up most of the first quarter and eventually scoring on a one yard run despite a valiant effort by the Arrows goal line defense. The Arrows responded in the second quarter with a Patrick Healy to Brian O’Malley connection from 22 yards out, but after a missed point after attempt, the Arrows trailed Belmont Hill 7-6 at halftime. Having found themselves in this position the week before, the Arrows did not panic, but they knew that this game would continue to be a tough battle to the end as it often is against Belmont Hill. The third quarter consisted of strong defense by both sides, and it was not until the fourth quarter that either team scored when another Healy to



O’Malley pass resulted in a 12-7 lead for the Arrows. Knowing how tight the game was, the Arrows opted to go for two, and senior captain quarterback Patrick Healy wanted the ball in his hands. Running a quarterback sweep, Healy was met at the two yard line by two Belmont Hill defenders, but he refused to be denied, fighting through would-be tacklers and earning the Arrows two crucial points. Since the Arrows defense had been stuffing Belmont Hill ever since the first series of the game, they were hoping to shut them down one more time when they pinned them deep in their territory on the ensuing kickoff with just over three minutes to play in the game. Belmont Hill, however, refused to submit and put together an impressive drive that resulted in a touchdown with only 18 seconds to play in the game. With the extra point added, Belmont Hill knotted the game at 14-14, sending the game into overtime. The Arrows lost the coin toss and had to start on offense, but they wasted no time putting the pressure back on their opponents when Healy threw for his third touchdown of the game, this time to Connor Strachan, on the first play of overtime. Healy again took the ball in his own hands on the conversion attempt, and though it looked like he clearly crossed the goal line with the ball, he was called short, and the Arrows defense took the field up by six points. A huge stop for no gain on Belmont’s first play limited their options, and they took to the air to try to score. On second down the quarterback rolled to his right and threw to the corner of the end zone but senior cornerback Conor Hilton was there in coverage and the pass sailed out of bounds. The third down play had the same result but on the left side, so it came down to a fourth down play. Again the quarterback tried Hilton’s side, and again he was up to the challenge as the pass fell incomplete. For the third game in a row, the fan section stormed the field and celebrated the hard-fought victory for the Arrows, now 4-0.

Having made their way through the toughest three game stretch of the schedule, the Arrows were in the driver’s seat but not looking past their next opponent,

the Middlesex Zebras. The scoring got off to a quick start when on the Arrows’ first play from scrimmage, Brendan Daly burst through a hole opened up by the right side of the line and ran over two defenders into open field on his way to a 67 yard touchdown run. Middlesex, with their strong passing game, moved the ball well on their first drive, but safety Brian O’Malley batted away a fourth down pass attempt to give the Arrows the ball on their own 23 yard line. Three plays later, another explosive play resulted in a 77 yard touchdown run by fullback Connor Strachan. Middlesex did not back down in the face of the 14-0 first quarter deficit, as they scored on their next possession on a 37 yard pass play. From that point on, however, the Arrows controlled the game as Brendan Daly helped drive the ball down the field with his 254 rushing yards, and Connor Strachan finished off the drives with four touchdown runs on only seven carries. Running back James Fiore ’14 also added a touchdown run, and one more score from Middlesex in the fourth quarter resulted in a 42-14 final score.

The Arrows’ next two games also had lopsided results, as they beat St. George’s 47-12 and Groton 35-0. Versus St. George’s Brian O’Malley caught two more touchdown passes and Brendan Daly rushed for three touchdowns to lead the Arrows, and Joe Kearney ’14 and James Fiore finished off the scoring with an 80 yard kickoff return and a 3 yard touchdown respectively. Against Groton, the Arrows jumped out to a lead early again on a Brendan Daly touchdown run, but the rest of the game was a mix of high and low for the star running back. After rushing for 164 yards, which put him over the 1,000 yard mark for the season, Daly pulled a hamstring, ending his regular season. Despite the major blow to the team, the Arrows remained focused, and the defense shut down the Groton attack all game to earn the shutout victory. The Arrows were now 7-0 heading into the final game of the season against a talented Thayer Academy team, who had only lost by six points earlier in the season to the other undefeated team in the ISL, Governor’s Academy.

Having only beaten Thayer by one point last year and knowing that they were returning all of their top players, the Arrows knew the challenge they faced trying to finish off the undefeated regular season against them despite Thayer’s 3-4 record coming into the game. Missing Daly, the Arrows knew that other seniors would need to step up in his absence. The first two to respond were Patrick Healy and Brian O’Malley when Healy threw a deep pass to O’Malley to get the Arrows to the Thayer 20 yard line on their first series. A few plays later they connected again when Healy threw a fourth down pass from two yards out to a diving O’Malley in the end zone. O’Malley’s kick gave the Arrows an early 7-0 lead. The Arrows defense looked to be dominant again early, forcing Thayer to go three and out on their first two possessions. Unfortunately, a smart play call by Thayer and a breakdown in coverage by the Arrows led to a deep touchdown pass early in the second quarter to Thayer’s top receiver. Fortunately for the Arrows Thayer missed the point after attempt, so the Arrows held on to a 7-6 lead. Thayer struck again on a big play on their next possession when their running back found a gap on the left side and arced out to the sideline for a 57 yard touchdown run. After their point after, Thayer went into halftime with a 13-7 lead. The Arrows had found themselves in this position before, trailing by a score in a game against a tough opponent, and they knew how to respond. Most impressive in the second half was the defensive effort. The Arrows never gave Thayer a hope of scoring again, swarming to the ball and dropping the Thayer running backs and quarterback for several lost yards. Early on in the third quarter, the Arrows offense struck again on another fourth down connection from Patrick Healy to Brian O’Malley. Standing at fourth and eleven from the 36 yard line, Healy dropped back and heaved the ball up the left sideline to O’Malley who had beaten his defender to the outside. O’Malley finished off the touchdown run and tacked on the extra point as the Arrows took back the lead 14-13. For the remainder of the game, the Arrows defense shut down



Thayer’s offense, and the Arrows’ offense came up with several key conversions to keep possessions alive and chew up minutes of the clock. Most notably, the Arrows were pinned back on their own two yard line with just under six minutes left to play. A momentum swinging pass play to receiver Brandon Sweeney ’14 for 37 yards gave the Arrows breathing room, and on the ensuing series of downs, Patrick Healy ran around the right side on third and seven for another crucial first down that allowed the Arrows to take a knee to finish the game and the perfect 8-0 regular season. For the fourth time in the season, the exuberant fan section stormed the field to share in the excitement.

Wrapping up the ISL title was the foremost goal from the start of the season, and having achieved that goal, Coach Souza was choked up as he spoke to the team after the Thayer game telling them how proud he was of all of them, particularly the senior class who refused to quit or let their teammates quit at any point over the past three years. Souza said, “This is a special group,” and their combined effort and focus were the keys to the undefeated regular season. This “special group” still had unfinished business, though, as they earned a berth into a NEPSAC championship game with a chance to bring home the School’s first ever New England Championship in football. A day after the Thayer game, the Arrows found out that the NEPSAC committee had pitted them against the King School from Stamford, Connecticut in the Arthur Valicenti Bowl to be played at Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Connecticut.

After a short week of preparation to face a team they knew little about, the Arrows boarded the buses early Saturday morning for the two hour ride to Avon. On a crisp November morning the 2012 Arrows took the field for the last time together with a chance to make history in front of hundreds of loyal fans who made the trek with them. Low on nerves and high on confidence, focus, and excitement, the Arrows came out flying at the start of the game. After taking the opening kickoff to their own 30 yard line, the Arrows led

off with their bruising run game. On the second play of the game, Conor Hilton took a handoff up the middle and found open field for a 46 yard gain. Two plays later Hilton found space again, this time on his way to a four yard touchdown run. It was then time for the Arrows defense to see how they would fare against the King School’s strong run game. On their second play King’s quarterback fumbled the snap and St. Sebastian’s defensive end Dan Fulham ’14 pounced on the loose ball giving the Arrows possession deep in King territory. Patrick Healy finished this drive shortly thereafter with an 11 yard touchdown run, giving the Arrows an early 13-0 lead. King responded well though, scoring on a one yard run late in the second quarter to bring the score to 13-7. The Arrows did not want to let their opponent back into the game, so their two minute offense tried to get more points on the board before halftime. Conor Hilton and Patrick Healy went to work on the ground, and with 12 seconds left in the half, Conor Hilton scored from three yards out. Healy then ran in a two point conversion to send the Arrows into the intermission with a 21-7 lead. At halftime the talk was about not letting up until the Arrows were NEPSAC champions, and the team responded as they had all year by dominating the second half. The Arrows defense stonewalled every attempt by the King School to get a drive going, and Patrick Healy scored another touchdown for the Arrows on an eight yard run. When the ensuing kickoff landed in a vacant spot between King returners, linebacker Billy Behman ’13 scooped up the ball and gave the Arrows another possession and another quick opportunity to put the game out of reach. Receiver Brandon Sweeney ’14 helped to do just that when, after returning to the game after breaking his finger earlier, he fought for position against his defender and caught a 17 yard touchdown pass from Healy. With the score 33-7 at the end of the third quarter, the Arrows felt confident that victory was at hand, and when Patrick Healy ran for his third touchdown of the game, the Arrows took a 40-7 lead late into the fourth quarter. King’s last

attempt to score was fittingly taken away by another big play by a St. Sebastian’s senior. Linebacker Henry Kennedy ’13 dropped into coverage and intercepted the ball to finish the game. The fifth fan field storming of the season followed shortly thereafter as the Arrows celebrated their program’s first ever NEPSAC championship. While most football seasons end in tear filled hugs and goodbyes, the Arrows had no tears that day, only beaming smiles and full hearts from accomplishing every goal they set for themselves that year.

After 35 years at the helm of the storied St. Sebastian’s football program, Coach Souza led the 2012 team to a perfect 9-0 season, the best record in the program’s history and the best record possible for future Arrows teams. Throughout the season Coach Souza referenced the past undefeated Arrows teams to help the 2012 Arrows understand what it would take to reach that mark, and he also shared correspondences he received from several alumni including those from the 1977 and 1994 teams wishing the 2012 Arrows luck. Souza predecessors Tom Green and Ed Sweeney also shared their support through word and attendance at games, further showing how important this season was to the entire program past and present. The Arrows felt the support and love of all of the alumni, fans, trustees, faculty, and families, and happily share the excitement of their ISL and NEPSAC champions with all who came before them and were with them throughout the season. The 2012 Arrows will live on in the School’s record books, and the seniors on that team will always be remembered and appreciated for their leadership, outstanding play, and unity. The senior-led defense finished with the fewest points allowed in the ISL, limiting opponents to 12.1 points per game, and the offensive powerhouses were all from the class of 2012 as well. The Arrows will miss the entire senior class and congratulate Brian O’Malley who was named one of the two MVP’s of the ISL and Brendan Daly who rushed for 1,092 yards in only four and a half quarters of playing



time – two outstanding achievements among many from the unshakable, undefeated, unbelievable 2012 Arrows.

Coach Richard Connolly

Varsity Soccer

If a soccer season could be evaluated like a short story, as the varsity team’s two

English teaching coaches would enjoy, the Arrows’ 2012 effort would have read like something from the desk of Raymond Carver or Ernest Hemingway: gritty, fearless, and often poetic. Of course, The Beautiful Game remains judged by the frequently Kafkaesque scoreboard, and our warrior-poets must live with a record largely unbefitting of their play: with three wins against nine losses and three ties in Independent School League play, St. Sebastian’s finished with twelve points and in a tie for twelfth place.

Nevertheless, at St. Sebastian’s we celebrate the student-athlete, and we similarly appreciate the inherent narrative of an athletic season: the multitude of

players who drive the plot forward; the memories baptized in blood, sweat and tears; and the emotional highs and lows that define what it means to put on your school’s uniform and compete every day. With fifteen ISL games, the 2012 season divides itself nicely into three, five-game chapters, so we now present to you the most complicated genre in the world of the writing, the review.

This year’s tale begins with a short prologue involving non-league powerhouse Worcester Academy, whose combination of eleven seniors and post-graduates, complemented by skillful underclassmen, led the Hilltoppers to a 3-0 win over the much younger, but equally hungry, Arrows team.

We next meet our heroes not in a dog fight, but in a battle with Bulldogs, down 2-0 on the road with fifteen minutes remaining against backyard rival and defending ISL champion Nobles. Showcasing characteristic resiliency, the Arrows strike twice within two minutes on goals from junior sweeper John O’Leary ’14 and senior captain John Real ’13 to earn an auspicious

tie in the League opener. A disappointing loss at eventual New England Class B co-champs Rivers is followed by a dramatic homecoming match with BB&N, as junior Austin Lewis ’14 scores in the 86th minute off a feed from senior captain George Price ’13 for another well-fought draw. Senior captain and goalkeeper Ben Piersiak ’13 orchestrates his first shutout of the season against Governor’s in a 3-0 win, punctuated by freshman Alejandro Soto’s ’16 first career strike. As the opening chapter comes to a close, the team is riding something of a hot streak after battling Milton to a scoreless tie, improving to 1-1-3.

A brief footnote follows in the form of a 2-1 victory over Tabor, a non-league foe that has quietly become a fierce rival in recent years.

The second chapter might best be likened to a Russian tragedy, with St. Sebastian’s losing five games in a row, often in heartbreaking fashion. At Belmont Hill, an unlucky handball in the box results in a penalty kick and 1-0 defeat. A mid-October driving-rain storm follows the Arrows



to North Andover, where despite what some consider the team’s best effort of the season, the Arrows lose 2-0 after a pair of late goals by League co-champs Brooks. Days later, Lawrence’s powerful attack propels the Spartans to a 4-1 victory, and St. Sebastian’s then reaches a depth Dante may have drafted in a 3-1 loss on an eerily warm day at Middlesex. The Arrows are cruelly pierced by misfortune at St Mark’s, losing 2-1 while surrendering an own-goal and another penalty kick, but decidedly outplaying the host, offering a glimmer of hope as we turn the page for the final chapter.

Against St. George’s, St. Sebastian’s is sparked by goals from sophomores Kenny Vallace ’15 and Matt Guarino ’15 in a 3-1 slaying of the Dragons, which is followed by a Halloween treat in New Hampshire: a 1-0 victory over St. Paul’s with a late goal from Real off a magical back-heel flick by Lewis. In early November, Groton comes to Needham with a six-game winning streak, and while the Arrows create fine scoring chances, the Zebras prevail 1-0 largely because of several excellent stops by their keeper. In a scene worthy of a Robert Frost poem, over an inch of snow blankets the field while senior manager Mickey Adams ’13 shovels clear the sidelines when Roxbury Latin visits Greendale Avenue. Hitching their sleigh to two of the Leagues’ top-three scorers, the 2012 New England Class B co-champs prove capable of strong play in all weather, returning home 4-1 victors, with senior Joe Coughlin’s ’13 first career goal providing the lone highlight for St. Sebastian’s. On the final day of the season, traditional rival Thayer hosts the Arrows, and the Tigers claw their way to a 1-0 win off another late penalty kick in a game so well-fought by both sides that Thayer’s 25-year coach decides he can now happily retire.

This year’s epilogue celebrates the achievements of both Price, who earned First-Team All-League recognition and a spot in the senior all-star game on championship weekend, and Real, who garnered Second-Team All-ISL accolades. Four-year letter-winners Price and Piersiak are named recipients of the Peter Kerr

Award for “sportsmanship, dedication to the team, and commitment to the soccer program.” And offering a preview of what to expect in the 2013 edition, the team elects rising-seniors Austin Lewis and John O’Leary as co-captains.

All St. Sebastian’s students know a simple summary never does justice to great literature, and this review fails to paint a picture reflective of the hard-work and brotherhood that defined the 2012 varsity soccer season. In a results-driven world, many athletes throw in the proverbial towel when times are tough and then get tougher, but any member of the St Sebastian’s Community would be proud of the way these 19 young men maintained composure, remained positive, kept improving, and embodied all that it means to play sports with your friends and for your School.

Along with the three captains, seniors Joe Coughlin ’13, Alex Moore ’13, Teddy O’Hara ’13, and Andrew Sullivan ’13 will all be missed not just for their contributions during games but also for their passion, loyalty, and friendship in practices, on bus rides, and in the hallways.

O’Leary and Lewis are joined by Niko Fischer ’14 as a talented and eager trio of seniors who will lead the team next fall. Two-year letter-winner Doyle Silvia ’15 will be joined by Matt Bell ’15, Charlie Gordon ’15, Matt Guarino ’15, Billy McCarthy ’15, Paige Sanderson ’15, James Sylvia ’15, and Kenny Vallace ’15 as the game-tested and motivated returners from the Class of 2015, and rising-sophomore Alejandro Soto will certainly help next year’s underclassmen adjust to the speed and physicality of soccer at the varsity level.

The best stories are the ones that leave us pleased with what we just experienced and curious for what’s to come, and the 2012 varsity soccer team should be proud of the tale it told and the legacy it leaves. With such an experienced group returning in 2013, and a strong feeder system in the JV and third teams, next year’s narrative is highly anticipated, and one cannot help but hope our heroes have their efforts more overtly rewarded by the great reviewer of them all, the scoreboard.

John Ryan ’15

Varsity Cross Country

Runners set…GO!!! With these words every cross country race

starts. Whether the “Go” is marked by a voice, an air-horn, or a gun can differ, but with these signals, the runners are off. From there, pain sets in and will set in indefinitely. During a cross country race, there is no time to rest. For the next 17-23 minutes of the runner’s life, all he will know is pain. Yet, the cross country runner guts it out and still lines up to repeat the process the next time, enduring the same amount of pain in the next race. No other sport will ensure this much pain on the athlete, which is why cross country runners should be recognized for their bravery and courage, putting their bodies on the line during every single race.

This year, the cross country team was led by their multitude of seniors on the team, including captain Mike Haley ’13, Peter Breslin ’13, Matt Fachetti ’13, Peter DeMatteo ’13, Luke Scotten ’13, Anthony McIntyre ’13, Matt McGuire ’13, and Eddie McCarthy ’13. The rest of the team was filled by five juniors and sophomores, Cam Kelly ’14, John Bartlett ’14, John Flatley ’15, Peter Olson ’15, and John Ryan ’15. With last year’s head coach, Mr. Jenkins, off to attend Yale Divinity School, the cross country team was led by Mr. Ryan, aided by a new assistant coach, Mr. O’Brien.

After the fabled Homecoming race in which Mike Haley sprinted past a Nobles runner on the last turn, Mike continued his dominance, winning the Governor’s race and finishing in the top-10 in every race after, consistently running with fast times of low 18s to mid 17s. When asked to comment on his performance, Haley said, “I’m just glad that my hard work has helped. And I received help from the workouts in practice and fellow runners. As a senior I realized I didn’t have many races left, so I tried to make the most of it.” Going down a score sheet, you would find Cam Kelly and John Ryan behind Haley, almost always finishing within 20 seconds of one another, flip-flopping the positions of second or third on the team.



Close behind them was a new runner, Peter Breslin, who arrived to the team this year after several years of playing soccer. After recovering from a knee injury, Breslin ran extremely well, finishing fourth on the team with impressive times. In his first race, Breslin ran an impressive 19:41 on an extremely hard course at St. George’s. After Breslin, the typical order was Fachetti, DeMatteo, and Flatley, all close to one another. They were followed by the hardworking Luke Scotten, who improved his running and ran a new personal record almost every time he crossed the finish line. Following Scotten were John Bartlett, Peter Olson, Matt McGuire, and Eddie McCarthy, rounding out the squad.

On Friday, October 5, the Arrows traveled to St. Mark’s for a quad race against St. Mark’s, Belmont Hill, and Groton. While the runners had good races, all three of the other teams defeated us; a bright spot, however, was that Haley finished with a time of 17:59, while Cam Kelly ran a time of 18:56. Then, on the Saturday of the following week, the team drove to St. George’s for a race, sadly missing the Seb’s-Belmont Hill football game. Expecting another rain-swept day like last year, the Arrows were surprised

to find a sunny day in Newport. Once again, the Arrows ran well, posting good enough times to beat Portsmouth Abbey, yet not good enough to beat Tabor and St. George’s. Peter Breslin, in his first race, ran extremely well—possibly due to his honey consumption right before the race. On the next Friday, the Arrows went to Roxbury Latin to run on their new course, one which was a bit longer than their previous track. On a wet day, the Arrows ran well, with Mike Haley running a great race once again, finishing in 4th with a time of 18:35. John Ryan, Cam Kelly, and Peter Breslin then took the 10, 11, 12 spots respectively, all finishing within 30 seconds of one another.

Then came the final regular season race at Rivers’ course at Elm Bank. There the team raced Middlesex, BB&N, and Rivers. While the Arrows were shutout by Middlesex and beaten by BB&N, they pulled out a win against Rivers because of impressive runs by Mike Haley (17:08; 6th), Cam Kelly (18:21; 16th), John Ryan (18:28; 19th), Peter Breslin (18:31; 22nd), Peter DeMatteo (19:50; 35th), Matt Fachetti (19:55; 36th), and Luke Scotten (19:56; 37th).

On Friday, November 2, the Arrows traveled to Nobles. The hope was for Mike Haley, the captain, to have a magnificent run, a run which would land him in the top-15, rewarding him with a medal. Unfortunately, Haley had been battling through shin splints for a few weeks. After thoroughly icing his shins, Haley took the line, but after a quick first mile, he began to feel a heightened discomfort in his shins. Haley still valiantly gave it his all, coming in 30th with a time of 18:07. Other notable runners were Cam Kelly (65th) and John Ryan (67th), who were the second and third Arrows’ runners to place. As a team, the Arrows came in 13th in the ISL.

While the year may not have ended as well as the Arrows would have hoped, it was still a great year. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank Coach Ryan and Coach O’Brien, as well as Mr. Fitz and the trainers who kept us healthy, and anyone who helped the team or came out to cheer. We look forward to next year, in which captain-elect Cam Kelly will lead a team full of rising sophomores, taking the spots of the graduating seniors who made this team so much fun. So, finally, thank you seniors for a great year, and I hope to see everyone else out there next year. n


ARROWS IN MEMORIAM


“Happy are those who have died in the Lord!

Happy indeed the Spirit says;

Now they can rest forever after their work,

Since their good deeds go with them.”

Revelation 14:13

In Memoriam We extend our deepest sympathy to the families of the graduates and friends of St. Sebastian’s School.

Jeremiah Sullivan ’56Mr. Sullivan passed away on October 18, 2012. While at St. Sebastian’s he played varsity football, basketball, and baseball (captain of all three teams his senior year). He was also Class President all four high school years, was the Class Salutatorian, and was a member of the Junior and Senior Prom Committees, Dramatic Society, Walrus and Arrow staffs, and the Altar Society. Sullivan was a graduate of Harvard University and the New England Law School. He is survived by his children, Jeremiah and Sarah, and his longtime companion, Lynnda.

Daniel Callahan — September 3, 2012Father of Joseph Callahan ’01 and uncle of Stephen Ward ’96.Henry Doten — December 26, 2012Father of Alex ’05.Margaret Ferguson — September 22, 2012Mother of faculty member James.John Galloway — October 25, 2012Grandfather of Brandon ’13 and Bryce ’15 Jones.Daniel Kelly — October 14, 2012Grandfather of Peter Julien ’18.Alice Kenefick — December 13, 2012Mother of Paul ’87.Maud Kirk — August 28, 2012Sister of Paul ’56 and Ed ’62.Virginia Korzeniowski — September 17, 2012Grandmother of David ’16.Patricia Malagari — October 7, 2012Grandmother of Cam ’14 and Ian ’16 Kelly.Patricia Maney — November 11, 2012Wife of Bill ’81.William O’Hearn — September 24, 2012Father of William ’86.Maureen White — December 12, 2012Grandmother of Martin ’18.

Rest In Peace

Anne Mulroy - Past TrusteeMrs. Mulroy passed away on October 8, 2012. As a former Guild of St. Irene President, she had been a member of the School’s Board of Trustees. Mulroy is survived by her six children, their spouses, and many grandchildren, including fellow Arrows (sons) Richard ’73, John ’74, James ’76, William ’78, and Robert ’82 Mulroy, (son-in-law) John DiGiovanni ’84, (grandchildren) John ’02, Patrick ’06, Brendan ’07, James ’08, and Richard ’10 Mulroy, and Desmond DiGiovanni ’14.

A gift annuity is a simple contract with St. Sebastian’s where, in exchange for a gift of cash, appreciated securities, or other assets, the School agrees to pay an annuity to the beneficiaries (up to two individuals) for life. The payout rates are a function of the age and number of beneficiaries and fol-low the guidelines established by the American Council on Gift Annuities. Rates are highly competitive.

As an ExampleBrian ’50 has been very successful in “laddering” certificates of deposit. Lately he has found the payout rates and terms to be less than he would like. He decides to donate his low-yielding stock for a St. Sebastian’s chari-table gift annuity, which offers a higher yield, increased security, and the opportunity to support St. Sebastian’s.

In making his gift Brian ’50 has locked into a guaranteed lifetime of income, generated a substantial tax deduction, and has avoided the capital gains tax that would have been due had he sold the stock to seek a higher yield investment.

Should I consider a

As his grandson Sam ’12 was preparing to be graduated this past spring, John Hodgson gave a Charitable Gift Annuity to St. Sebastian’s School.

According to John:

“The gift was to thank Seb’s for pro-viding three enjoyable years watching my grandson Sam playing football and lacrosse.”

St. Sebastian’s thanks John Hodgson and all those who have supported the School through Planned Giving.

Thank you, John Hodgson GP’12

To learn more about Charitable Gift Annuities and other Planned Giving options, please contact Linda Panetta in the Alumni Office at 781-247-0187.

CharitableGiftAnnuity?

William L. Burke IIIHeadmaster

Richard F. ArmsDirector of Alumni & Development

Dan TobinDirector of Communications

Phone 781-449-5200 www.stsebastiansschool.org Fax 781-449-5630

1191 Greendale AvenueNeedham, Massachusetts 02492

Nonprofit Org.US Postage

PAIDBoston, MA

Permit No. 19943

Bill, Bill, and Mia Benjes accept a plaque honoring Mia’s brother, the late William Cloney ’64, from Headmaster Bill Burke and Captain Ed O’Connor ’88 during this year’s Alumni Dinner on October 25. See page 44 for more information.

Documents

Issue I - St. Sebastian's School