Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Everest opens doors to boys' and girls' high schools
Everest opens doors to boys' and girls' high schools
by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published September 12, 2008
|
Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic
Cardinal Adam Maida, joined by (from left) Fr. Lorenzo Gomez, LC, and students Alexandra Lis-Planells and Allison Albright, cuts the ribbon for the new Everest Catholic Girls' High School in Clarkston. |
Clarkston — It's one thing to have top-notch programs to prepare a high school student for the rigorous academic requirements she'll meet in college.
But, in addition to those programs, what does it mean to have a high school that will foster a student's relationship with Christ through the sacraments, theology classes and spiritual direction?
"That," says Dr. Miguel Lis-Planells, "is a scholarship that won't only take her through college, but will be with her through the rest of her life."
Lis-Planells, whose daughter Alexandra is one of the first high school students at Everest Catholic Girls High School, seemed to echo the sentiments of the community at Everest on Sept. 5. The day marked the ribbon cutting of two long-planned-for high schools — one for girls, one for boys — on the campus of Everest Academy.
Run by the Legionaries of Christ religious order, Everest Academy was founded in 1991. The two Everest high schools will open one grade at a time, starting this year with their first freshman classes, until they are fully established in 2011.
|
Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic
Ninth-graders from Everest Catholic Boys' High School look on during the ribbon-cuttingceremony. |
"We are blessed to have the opportunity to open a new Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Detroit," said Fr. Daniel Pajerski, LC, director of formation at the Everest schools. "At Everest, we will focus on the development of confident, Christ-centered leaders who will leave here with the ability to go into the world and change it for the better."
Cardinal Adam Maida and several parish priests of the Archdiocese of Detroit were on hand Sept. 5 for the opening Mass of the two high schools. The liturgy took place in the Everest Academy girls school's cafeteria, which was converted into a large chapel for the event. The 11 ninth-grade students from the girls' school and 10 ninth-grade students from the boys' school were in attendance, as well as many parents, and teachers and students from Everest Academy.
|
Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic
During his homily, Cardinal Adam Maida told students of the new Everest Catholic High Schools to "gaze upon the saints," and try to be saints themselves. |
"Your parents sent you here not just to give you a good education, to read better and to do math," said Cardinal Adam Maida to students during his homily. "One of the purposes of this school is to inform you so that you can be a saint."
Through his homily, Cardinal Maida encouraged the students to "gaze upon the saints" and follow their example, with the help of their parents, educators and friends.
"Every day, ask 'What does God want me to do?'" Cardinal Maida said. "And let me live it out, so we can follow the Lord that way."
The two Everest high schools will use a curriculum already used within the United States by other Legionaries of Christ high schools. The religious order runs Gateway Academy in Chesterfield, Mo., Pinecrest Academy in Cummins, Ga., and Highlands School in Irving, Tex. All three schools have received national recognition for their curriculum, which was developed by the Legionaries and its associated apostolic movement Regnum Christi.
Aided by priests from the Legionaries and consecrated religious women from Regnum Christi, Everest Academy, like the high schools, employs gender-specific education.
Though the idea of a high school had been around since the opening of the academy, the Everest community last school year received enough interest and enough money to get it off the ground.
Tuition for the high schools is $9,800 per year. Both high schools operate in buildings that already existed on the campus. The girls' high school is in the upper level of the current girls' grade school building. The boys' high school is in a building also used for Everest Academy boarding students.
High school freshmen at Everest Catholic Boys' High School, who had first started classes early last week, voiced their excitement at the Mass and ceremonial ribbon cutting.
"It's like a historic event, and I'm just happy to be here because all this is happening for my class," said Patrick Nalepa, who had attended Everest since the second grade.
Patrick added that having the sacraments available to them on campus gives the students "an opportunity to grow closer to Christ, and what we need to survive and defend our faith in the world."
His classmate, Pablo Calzada, who also had been a student at Everest Academy, agreed.
"The fundamentals of Everest is Christ," Pablo said. "So in every way, they'll lead us to whatever Christ has planned for us."
The young men also said they looked forward to being leaders in the new school and establishing new traditions.
Students at Everest Catholic Girls were just as enthusiastic about all the firsts that lay before them.
"It's amazing," said Tiffany McGrath. "When I first came to Everest, I heard that tons of people have been waiting for years for the high school to open, and I'm really proud to be a part of it." An alumna of Everest Academy, Tiffany said she feels at home on the Everest campus, and was glad she could stay for high school.
"You feel like you really belong here," she said. "It's really nice."
Annie Toohey, another ninth-grader at Everest Catholic Girls, said she knows what it's like for students to have waited for the high schools to open — her three older brothers and an older sister were all Everest Academy grads. Now, Annie and her younger sister, Monica, will be able to attend.
"I feel excited that I get to be part of the first class," Annie said. "My parents have been sending my whole family here since the beginning, when the school started. We're all excited. I'm looking forward to getting to know all the new girls in our class."
She added that it's nice to have the priests and religious to approach with problems, as well as having the opportunity to attend Mass and receive communion each day.
As for the administration, Fr. Lorenzo Gomez, LC, a chaplain at Everest who has been in Clarkston since the founding of the school spoke at the ribbon cutting. He referenced Christ's parable about the talents, saying that it was up to the educators and community at Everest to multiply the Lord's blessings through the new high schools.
"This is not just a day of celebration of what we have done," Fr. Gomez said, "but a day when Christ gave to us a high school."
|
