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PRIDE MAGAZINE

Black History Month Spring SnapshotsSaying Thank You - Ann O’Connor, 1978and more!

In this issue:

Spring 2021

Table of Contents

PRIDEis published by Roncalli Catholic High School, Omaha, NE. ©2021.

All rights reserved. Materials in PRIDE may be reproduced provided prior permission obtained from the editor and credit is given.

RONCALLI CATHOLIC PRESIDENT:Ann O’Connor, 1978 Alumna

RONCALLI CATHOLIC VICE PRESIDENT:Troy Wharton

RONCALLI CATHOLIC PRESIDENT EMERITUS:Rev. Lloyd A. Gnirk

RONCALLI CATHOLIC PRINCIPAL:T.J. Orr, 1996 Alumnus

RONCALLI CATHOLIC EVENTS AND ALUMNI COORDINATOR:Melissa Baumann

RONCALLI CATHOLIC COMMUNICATION COORDINATOR:Dafnis Delgado

For more information contact Dafnis Delgado at ddelgado@roncallicatholic.org or 402-571-7670 x. 112

A Message from the President ................................3Save the Dates .........................................................5Black History Month ................................................6 Thank you, Ann O’Connor, Class of 1978 ..............7RCHS Spring Snapshots .........................................9Festa del Leone 2021 Update ...............................11

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Dear Roncalli Catholic family,

This month marks the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic and directly impacting the life of the young men and women of Roncalli Catholic.

It’s been a tough year, full of surprises and opportuni-ties for growth. I once again commend all the students, faculty, and staff for their constant determination and innovation. None of this would be possible without the valuable advocacy you provide us. Your support is in-valuable to all of us.

Even so with these diffi culties, we have experienced the innovation and innovation of many within our building. Senior Syionna Conner-Wilder, spearheaded a month-long effort to bring Black History Month closer to all the students. This month-long event concluded with a school-wide lunch provided by the ProStart Culinary team and Big Mama’s Kitchen. Read more about it on page 6.

This also marks the last spring as the President of Roncalli Catholic. I have enjoyed my tenure here, and I appreciate having had the opportunity to work with you. Thank you for the support, guidance, and encouragement you have provided to me during my time at RCHS. Even though I will miss the Crimson Pride, I will continue to keep you all in my prayers. To read the Board of Director’s letter regarding my departure see pages 7 - 8.

Finally, we less than one month away from our 32nd Annual Festa del Leone! Though this year might still look different, your donations continue to help us raise the money necessary to support our tuition assistance program and enrich operations around the school. This year we honor Patrick Kerrigan, Class of 1970, with the Pope St. John XXIII Award. Patrick graduated in Archbishop Rummel High School. His passion for the mis-sion of Roncalli Catholic is evident in his participation in events, his charitable contribu-tions to capital and facility improvements, and his willingness to volunteer. You can fi nd ways to get involved and more on page 11.

As always, thank you so much for your continued support of Roncalli Catholic. Our suc-cesses are your successes as we could not do any of it without the strong support of our entire community.

Sincerely,

Ann O’ConnorPresident

Sincerely,

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

� sdomWe will confi dently approach life’s challenges using experience, knowledge and right judgment blazing new trails to fi nd success in everything we do.

roncallicatholic.org/giving/giving-opportunities

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Festa del Leone - April 10th

Joy of Giving - May 19th

Swing with Pride - August 2nd

Save the Date

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BLACK HISTORY MONTH Roncalli Catholic High School Senior, Syionna Conner-Wilder, spearheaded a month long effort to bring Black History Month closer to all the students.

“Last year at Roncalli Catholic, Black History Month was recognized but I wanted to do more to shed light on the impact that African American’s had and continue to have in our country.” says Conner-Wilder. “This is my last year and I wanted to start something more and hope that it lasts once I am gone. We have more Black students here, especially the Freshman class. My goal is to get them involved and have this celebration become part of Roncalli Catholic on a yearly basis.”

Every morning in February, Syionna Conner-Wilder (2021), Moriah Dixson (2022) and Dhiadra Nelson (2024) planned to speak about infl uential African-American fi gures who contributed to America’s history. The end of their efforts resulted in a school-wide Kahoot game on Wednesday, February 24th, where winners of each home-room received a certifi cate to the Pride Café.

“The teachers loved it. Some of the seniors mentioned to me ‘I like what you read about today’ or ‘I didn’t know that about that person’, which is cool, because I don’t really talk to many people here.” Syionna says, “I think we as Black people need to step up, be open to teaching other people. We should be celebrating our own cul-

ture and inviting others into it as well.”

To close Black History Month, Roncalli Catholic ProStart Culanary Arts Team coached by Mr. Jared Jones partnered with Big Mama’s Kitchen and Catering to provide a soul food lunch on Thurs-day, February 25th, free of charge to all students, faculty and staff.

RONCALLI CATHOLICAnn O’Connor, Class of 1978

President 2015-2021

Roncalli Catholic High School’s Board of Directors wants to take this opportunity, on behalf of the entire Roncalli Catholic com-munity, to express our deepest thanks to our President, Ann O’Connor, for her 6 years of outstanding leadership of our school com-munity.

During her tenure as our President, Ann has led major improvements to the school bud-get, facilities, and student programs. She strengthened the Catholic identity of our school by building the faith traditions at each grade level, and deepened the commitment to the diversity of our student body and fami-lies. She has strengthened the fi nancial posi-tion of RCHS, allowing for additional fi nancial aid to families, new academic programs, ad-ditional support for teacher salaries, and up-grades to the facility. Her success at resource

development is evident as the school reports a good cash reserve.

Ms. O’Connor began her association with Roncalli Catholic High School as a freshman, following in the footsteps of her three older brothers who attended Rummel High School. She was actively involved in several extracur-ricular activities during high school. Following high school, Ms. O’Connor received her B.A. in Psychology and her Masters in Public Ad-ministration degrees from UNO. Ms. O’Connor received the University of Nebraska at Oma-ha College of Public Affairs and Community Service Alumni Award and the Notre Dame Sister’s Mother Qualberta Service Award. Ms. O’Connor remained involved with Roncalli Catholic and even had her wedding recep-tion at the school. Ms. O’Connor also served for fi ve years on the Roncalli Catholic Board of Education, working on the Worth Fighting For campaign for the school.

Prior to her position as President, Ms. O’Con-nor worked 11 years at a nonprofi t agency and 8 years as the Chief Deputy (Warden) in charge of Douglas County Corrections. Ms. O’Connor began serving as President in July 2015.

Upon taking over the reins, she had to deal with a debt of nearly one million dollars and a lack of development and business

Ms. Ann O’Connor and her son Patrick at Trivia Night 2018

staff. Thanks to her leadership and the assis-tance of many supportive benefactors there is no current debt, a strong fi nancial position with cash on hand, and an endowment of over $1,400,000. Noteworthy highlights in-clude the development of a President’s Giv-ing Circle, a robust Annual Fund program, enhanced alumni relations, and fundraising events.

Mrs. Vickie Kauffold, Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Omaha, states “I am grateful for Ms. O’Connor’s dedication and commitment to the Roncalli Catholic High School Community.“

Additionally, while maintaining a robust college-prep curriculum, Ms. O’Connor has started three programs to more fully serve the students of the school. Those programs include the Benilde Program, a nationally recognized program for students with learn-ing differences, the Career Academy with Metro Community College and the Health Sciences Career Academy in partnership with CHI Immanuel. Roncalli Catholic is the fi rst Catholic high school in the area to pro-vide these programs to students. Ms. O’Con-nor stated that “every decision made was based on what would serve the students the best.”

“Words can’t describe the impact Ms. Ann O’Connor had on Roncalli Catholic,” says TJ Orr, Principal and graduate of RCHS. “She has fi xed the foundation of this school and put us in a position where we know we will be educating students twenty years from

now. This school would not be where it is at without her leadership skills.”

Ms. O’Connor has also completed several large capital projects, such as a new boiler system, new chiller, new air handling units, driveway, fl ooring, increased security camer-as, new doors, new carpets, new lockers and a new elevator. There are plans to renovate the science labs next summer. She has been able to secure numerous grants for the next 3-5 years to support ongoing projects. She also oversaw a brand refresh for the school as well as a new website and enhanced social media strategies.

Ms. O’Connor would be the fi rst to say that none of these accomplishments are her doing alone, and many of you reading this have played parts in these achievements, and so the Board of Directors thanks you as well, but no accomplishments are achieved without leadership, and that has been Ann’s greatest gift to our school. Ann O’Connor has done what excellent leaders do – she has put the school in a stronger position leaving than when she assumed the helm. She has done so with grace under pressure, self-deprecat-ing good humor, and a deep and abiding life of faith. We have been blessed by Ann’s six years as President, and wish her many bless-ings as she leaves her leadership position.

Mr. James Andrews, Chair of the Board of Directors, states that, “Roncalli Catholic High School is deeply indebted to Ms. O’Connor for her strong, focused, disciplined and visionary leadership. To call her a God-send is not too strong a statement to make.”

Ms. O’Connor intends to continue her in-volvement in the community by serving on the boards of seven community and govern-ment organizations. She will continue to be a part of the Roncalli Community in the future.

Live Jesus in our (and Ann’s) Heart - Forever!

Ms. Ann O’Connor Welcoming students for the 2019 Fall Semester

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RCHS SPRING SNAPSHOTS

Tyler wajda, Ken Kabore, Ike Conway-O’Dowd and Tanna Bazer during jersey day of spirit week

Thomas Maxwell, Breyauna rodgers, Jacob Laville, Sam Wiese, and andrew Pellerito as space cowboys

Nolan Gorczyca during the February 25th Blood Drive Peer ministry blessing February 18th, 2021

SAVE THE DAY:MAY 19, 2021

As guides, we will help students face real-world challenges so they can persevere – with mental and moral strength – setting them on the right path to learn, grow and thrive in a diverse world.

roncallicatholic.org/giving/giving-opportunities/

Courage

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ployer. Still, we are hopeful for your continued support again with either a sponsorship, pur-chasing lottery tickets, or bidding on items.

Please know that any gift is welcome. Your donations continue to help us raise the money necessary to support our tuition assistance pro-gram and enrich operations, and it will be 100% tax-deductible.

The amazing outcome of going virtual is ex-panding our community reaches all across the United States. Last year, our content reached anywhere from 1.2k-3.9k views. So don’t worry if you’re not near Omaha, your prayers and gifts will help us continue our timeless mission of transforming lives.

We started this school year with 97% of students receiving some sort of fi nancial aid or scholar-ship to attend Roncalli Catholic. We expect the need for tuition assistance to rise as more fam-ilies face fi nancial diffi culties as a result of this pandemic. This institution has been committed to providing a quality Catholic education that is accessible to all students, regardless of a family’s fi nancial situation, for over fi fty years. We will continue to make this commitment to our fami-lies and prayerfully ask for your support.

Gifs of all sizes truly make a difference. A gift of $100 could be the difference in the possibility of a student attending Roncalli Catholic. Your generosity translates into the real life-changing opportunities for our students. Please consider making a donation to help the young men and women of Roncalli Catholic through one.bidpal.net/2021festa.

FESTA DEL LEONE 2021:THE IMPACT YOUR

GIFTS MAKE

We are so excited to be hosting the 32nd Annual Festa del Leone! Due to COVID-19 the fundraiser was moved entirely online once again!

Patrick Kerrigan will be honored at the 32nd an-nual Festa del Leone with the Pope St. John XXIII Award. Patrick graduated in the Archbishop Rummel High School, class of 1970. His passion for the mission of Roncalli Catholic is evident in his participation in events, his charitable con-tributions to capital and facility improvements, and his willingness to volunteer. From compet-ing in the annual Swing with Pride tournament, to serving as the Chair of the Volunteer Com-mittee, Patrick is an integral part of the Roncalli Catholic fabric. He has twice addressed the full Roncalli Catholic student body, and he always looks for exciting ways to engage students in learning opportunities outside of the classroom, like sending students to Duncan Aviation in Lin-coln, and sharing his personal and professional experiences at school assemblies.

We are asking our community to come together virtually to support the young men and wom-en of Roncalli Catholic during this challenging time. We understand things may look different for you, your family, your business, or your em-

We will put Christ at the forefront of all we do with trust, confi dence and conviction. We will live in communion with one another and serve our global community with love and compassion.

roncallicatholic.org/giving/giving-opportunities/

Faith