Power of Potential

New to St. Rose High School but well known and respected in the world of Jersey Shore Athletics, Louis “Del” Dal Pra has joined our team as our Supervisor of Athletics.Del Dal Pra has spent most of his life on the Jersey Shore. He grew up in Rumson and was an All-Shore football and baseball player at RFH in 1984 and was inducted into the Bulldog Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005. He then continued playing Baseball and Football at Glassboro State College and graduated in 1991 with a teaching degree in Health and Physical Education. After graduation he returned to RFH were he taught H/PE and was an assistant football coach from 1992-1999. He also coached baseball at RFH from 1991 to 1994. As a baseball coach, Dal Pra first standout season came in 1996 when he guided Henry Hudson to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 1 sectional championship game and was named Asbury Park Press Baseball coach of the year. In 1998 he was the head coach at OCC and in 2000 was named the head baseball coach at Ocean. Dal Pra led the Spartans to four Shore Conference division titles, two Monmouth County Tournament titles, one Shore Conference Tournament championship and two NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 3 sectional titles. Dal Pra was also an assistant football coach when Ocean won the Central Jersey Group 3 crown in 2000 and 2005 and was named baseball coach of the year in 2006 by the Asbury Park Press. While teaching and coaching at Ocean Coach Del earned his Masters degree from Kean University with a degree in School Administration. In 2008, Dal Pra was then hired as Red Bank's athletic director and tasked with resuscitating a struggling athletic department. That fall season, the football team was 0-10 and the boys and girls soccer, girls tennis and field hockey teams combined for just nine wins. "Those times were horrible for me," he said. "We had teams playing on fields and courts that had no upgrades in almost 40 years. Outdated uniforms and equipment had to be replaced with one of the smallest budgets in the Shore Conference. I knew I had to think outside the box because it was not safe for our student-athletes and they deserved better."With the help of some very dedicated parents, Dal Pra founded the Buc Backer Booster Club in 2009. He fostered the buy-in from the entire coaching staff and they helped him build a winning culture in Little Silver that was missing for a long time. From 2010-2020 he was also able to start and finish such projects as lights for the stadium field, new home and away stands, a new wood gym floor, new gym lights, new gym bleachers and new scoreboards in the fieldhouse. His most proud moment was the opening of a new state of the art weight room. Coach Del was named Athletic Director of the year in 2016 and 2020 and retired from RBR in July 2020. Before retiring all of the RBR teams were running successful programs and playing on top notch facilities.In 2021 the NJSIAA enshrined Coach Del in the New Jersey State Coaches Hall of Fame in Robbinsville. Last school year 2021-2022 Dal Pra worked at Matawan High School in the Security Department. Currently he works for the Philadelphia Phillies as an assistant groundskeeper for the Jersey Shore BlueClaws. “I love working for the BlueClaws and enjoy every minute I am at the ballpark,” Dal Pra said. “However, I am even more excited to get back to working as a high school Athletic Director, especially at St. Rose. I've had a lot of great offers this past summer but when the opportunity to work at a school that appreciates its coaches and athletes like St. Rose does came along- I jumped at the chance.""St. Rose's win of the Shop-Rite Cup in 2021-2022 for Private Group 1 schools demonstrates its commitment to athletics with programs and coaches on the top of their game. I am excited to work with the coaches and athletes to take the program to the next level."Help us

Meet the cast and director of St. Rose High School's 2022 Fall Drama, "Puffs!"

Two weeks of AP Testing just wrapped and we would like to thank our Guidance Counselors for all their hard work and dedication to our students. Watch/Listen to the latest episode of the "Power of Potential" Podcast to learn more about Mrs. Fallon, Ms. Wight, and Ms. Durham. Together these three have helped the Class of 2022 earn over twenty million dollars in scholarships for college with a 100% acceptance rate. Learn why they got involved in school counseling and what drives them every day. You can watch on our website or listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode of the Power of Potential is about the spring musical this year, Seussical!! The cast of our exciting musical stopped by and we talked about the exciting things that happen during a musical, their individual feelings about the show and the characters, and we even got a sneak peek of one of the biggest songs in the show! The episode is full of funny jokes and interesting takes from our actors and our director, Mr. Henderson. The Sour Kangaroo(Shannon White), The Cat in the Hat(Izzy Stevens), Jojo(Chloe Benson), and Horton the Elephant(Dan Martin), and two of the Bird Girls and your resident hosts(Arianna Simon and Sami Golding) all came to our podcast for a loud show full of colorful characters. Seussical is opening this Friday(4/29) at 7:30. There is a show Saturday(4/30) at 7:30 and the closing show is Sunday(5/1). Please come out to the Spring Lake Theater to come see our wonderful show!!Click here to buy your tickets.

This episode of the Power of Potential focuses on the origins of the St. Rose Bagpipe Band and how they have evolved over the past year. Hosts Samantha Golding and Arianna Simon are joined by Miss Weingarten (founder, Pipe Major), Mr. Petrillo (Campus Minister, Base Drum), and Shannon White '24. They talk all about how the band was formed last fall by our innovative and dedicated music teacher Miss Weingarten and about how the band is made up of both students and teachers who have a passion for playing music together. This year, the Pipe Band has played at St Rose Open Houses, the Belmar St Patrick's Day Parade, both the Christmas and Spring Concerts, local elementary schools, and has even made an appearance on News 12 NJ! This summer they are heading to Scotland to be immersed in the culture, life, and food of that Bag Pipe-loving country.

On this episode, we meet two of St. Rose High School's Track and Field Coaches: Alumni and Head Coach Kaitlyn Lavender and Assistant Coach, Pete Casagrande who along with Cross Country's All-County Player Brian Theobald '23, share their experiences that led them to three championship titles:Non-Public "B" Girls Relay State ChampionsNon-Public "B" BOYS Relay State ChampionsNon-Public "B" BOYS State Group ChampionsThis is the first time in program history that we've won both the state relays and the state individual team title. For the Purple Roses, the Boys State Group Championship victory came after they won the NJSIAA Non-Public B Relay Championships in January. This was the first time in program history that St. Rose won both in the same year.“The boys were counting how many days until the state title,” St. Rose head coach Kaitlyn Lavender said. “They really wanted to win this. We had many log personal bests and just shined tonight. The team shows up. They all want to be there and we're really well-rounded. These kids really put in a lot of effort.”Brian Theobald won three events (800, 1600 and 3200) as St. Rose scored 67 points to capture the state Non-Public B boys indoor track and field championships.St. Rose HS left the meet with full grins as the boys and girls swept the team championships collecting multiple gold medals throughout the evening. Many athletes stepping up to compete in multiple events, Brian Theobald and Tilly O'Connor playing big roles in anchor spots. It was no secret that St. Rose's Tilly O'Connor was the favorite in the 3200 meter run. The real question was how much would she win the event by? The answer turned out to be quite a large margin. O'Connor set a meet record with a time of 11:01.97, nearly 40 seconds better than the second-place finisher.“It means a lot because I love racing,” O'Connor said. “Having this opportunity was special.” Leading from the opening gun, O'Connor found herself lapping other runners early in the race. When she crossed the finish line, she was all alone and pushed herself without anyone on her heels to motivate her.“I thought they would try to stay with me a little longer, I was a little surprised when I took the lead right away,” O'Connor said. “It's tough. I always remember that I can always do my best even if there's no one there. I can always keep pushing myself.”The wins were complemented by a second-place finish in the shot courtesy of Joshua Huisman, 45-10, and William Nate Dempsey, 25-2.5, as well as a sixth-place run in the 4x200m.Congratulations to the St. Rose High School Track/Field and Cross Country teams on an outstanding year.

4 Years of St. Rose Got TalentArianna Simon and Samantha Golding interview the 4th Annual St. Rose Got Talent's student producers, Ellen Gallagher '22 and Chelsea LaGotta '22 (also last year's 2nd place winner) to learn more about this year's show, how we connected with our celebrity judges, and what's in store for us this year. They both share the history of the St. Rose Got Talent Show and tell us how much work is involved in putting together this annual event.Click here to buy tickets for St. Rose Got Talent on 3/10/22Click here to donate and support, "Hope for Haiti."

Meet Jerry Joyce, a fixture at St. Rose High School and for 40+ years the advisor of the Senior trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. In this episode, he passes the pixie dust to Heather Carlotz to take the senior trip into St. Rose's second century. We will learn the evolution of the senior trip, understanding what is the same and what is different. We are also joined by a few students from the Class of 2022 to share their experiences from their trip.

Catholic Schools Week | Dr. Vincent de Paul Schmidt | Superintendent of Catholic Schools

The St. Rose High School Theater Company is proud to present, “39 Steps” a hilarious whodunit that tells the story of a man trapped in a boring life who encounters a woman claiming to be a spy and soon finds himself entangled in a nationwide manhunt. In our first episode of season 2, student co-hosts and cast members of the play interview the show's director, Mr. Reid Henderson, and a few of their castmates. There are 3 performances. Friday, November 12th at 730pm and two on Saturday the 13th at 2 pm and 7:30 pm. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students. Purchase tickets online at www.srhs.booktix.com. All shows will be at the Spring Lake Community House.

In this episode, we chat with two Sisters of St. Joseph who have given decades of their lives to St. Rose High School. Sister Kathleen Boyle, SSJ, and Sister Marie O'Hagan share their stories of getting the call to a life of vocation, how they chose the Sisters of St. Joseph, and the next chapter in both of their lives. We will also find out how two seniors, Trevor Donnelly '21 and Christian Chinery '21 left Sister Marie speechless by giving her the greatest gift from one of her heroes. We also learn a little bit of history on how the Sisters of St. Joseph who founded St. Rose High School in 1923 got their start.The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia trace their origins and spirit to six women who came together in 1650 in war-ravaged LePuy, France, with great desires for union with God, among themselves and with their neighbors. Encouraged and aided by Jesuit Jean Pierre Medaille, they were among the first to create religious life for women outside cloister.The Congregation flourished until the end of the eighteenth century when the French Revolution dispersed or imprisoned our sisters. Five sisters were guillotined, but on the eve of her execution, Mother St. John Fontbonne was spared. In 1807, she began the work of refounding the Congregation in Lyon. In 1836, in response to the needs of the Church in the Missouri mission, she sent six sisters to St. Louis. From this foundation, sisters like Julie Fournier spread all over the United States and Canada. With three sisters, Mother Saint John Fournier left St. Louis in 1847 to administer Saint John's Orphanage for Boys in Philadelphia. Their generosity in responding to each new call for assistance prompted Bishop Kenrick to describe them as sisters “ready for any good work.” In that spirit, we continue to respond to the sufferings and injustices of each particular time and place.With the advice and support of Bishop John Neumann, the sisters acquired their first novitiate and academy in McSherrystown, PA, in 1854. In 1858, they purchased the Middleton family home, our current Motherhouse and administrative center in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and the first site of Mount Saint Joseph Academy.Today, our Congregation numbers more than 800 women serving largely in the Middle Atlantic states and in many other areas from Alaska to Peru.The Sisters whole-hearted response to the educational needs of new immigrants, in both urban and rural settings, focused energy in schools of every kind and at every level. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the sisters' responses included the care of orphans, children with special needs, widows, formation of catechists, nursing during the Civil War, and the influenza epidemic of 1918. Our historical response to peoples' needs has evolved into a variety of current ministries.The Sisters of St. Joseph carry a special concern for those who are poor and work with others to provide for their needs and to change structures that cause poverty and oppression. Although the sisters cannot respond to every need, every good work is a possibility where God's great love heals divisions and brings people to unity.These efforts have led us, our associates, and our lay partners to deepen our commitment to our common mission:We live and work so that all people may be united with God and with one another.

MaryJean Martz started teaching at SRHS nearly 35 years ago & remains a beloved teacher of religion. Whether you bonded during Kairos or for her love of dogs, diet coke, or her daughter Serena, everyone agrees it is Mrs. Martz's compassion that made her a true gift to our school community. In episode 8 of the Power of Potential podcast, Mrs. Martz shares her journey at St. Rose High School and how she lived her full potential by helping other students reach theirs. With a few surprises along the way, this episode will make you laugh and cry at the same time. Congratulations to MaryJean Martz and thank you for your 35 years of service to the community of St. Rose High School. You will be truly missed.Watch the full episode here.Watch the video tribute to Mrs. Martz here.

Director of Advancement, Nancy McGaughan and Alumni Coordinator, Erin O'Brien sit down with Arianna and Michael to showcase their annual College Collage Project. Started in 2015, the Advancement Department wanted to highlight all of the wonderful colleges and universities are students who achieved 100% acceptance were heading to in the fall. Working with their favorite photographer, Peter Chollick of Chollick Photography http://www.chollickphoto.com/, the College Collage was born. Each May at the Senior Breakfast, students adorned with their college apparel step in front of the camera for Peter to work his magic. During the few minutes Peter has with each senior he works quickly to capture the personality of each student. Then back in his studio the photos are edited and added to a collage which is unveiled at the Baccalaureate Mass and Senior Award night. In episode 7 of the "Power of Potential" podcast, Nancy and Erin share the story of how the College Collage started, why students look forward to it, and how the Advancement Department nurtures relationships with alumni after graduation.To support the St. Rose High School Annual Fund, please visit: https://www.srhsnj.com/support-usIn a future episode, Nancy and Erin will be back to celebrate a huge milestone for their department this year.Check out the show notes to see the College Collage and much more including the podcast in video form.

AP World Language students share the discoveries they made during an Immigration project for Spanish class.

On episode 5 of the "Power of Potential" podcast, we welcome teacher of Art, Mrs. Christina Sikorski, and her senior AP Artist, Susanna Testa. Mrs. Sikorski teaches AP Advanced 2D Design and Drawing. The class integrates both digital and hand-drawn art. We explore Susanna's progression as an artist through her portfolio. The most difficult part for students is coming up with the conceptual ideas behind their artwork. For Susanna, her concept was portraying life through hands, which after reflecting back happened to be a concept that Susanna actually started as a Junior. Susanna exemplifies pushing an idea. Everyone can produce the first six pieces of art for their portfolio, what's difficult is those last pieces. Susanna has embraced this concept and pushed herself by expressing her own research, use of materials, use of technique, and truly pushed the boundaries of all these ideas. From her first piece illustrating a baby's tiny hands holding its mother's fingers to a father handing keys to the car over to his teenage daughter, Susanna's ability to show the progression of age in her portfolio is outstanding. Take a look at the pieces highlighted in the podcast and a few more of Susanna's favorites below.https://www.srhsnj.com/news-events/news/pop/~board/pop/post/s01e05-ap-art-work-of-susanna-testaMr. Falgares also gets a lesson from Mrs. Sikorski too. It's not about how much time an artist has taken to produce a piece of art. Time is not truly a factor when it comes to quality. It's the idea and how the artist represents their work that matters.Mrs. Sikorski also made a point to mention that while Susanna's work was highlighted in this episode, she has many other very talented students in her classes and is extremely proud of their work this year.

What would you do if you were given $100,000? Would you spend it all at once? Would you think about putting some of it in the bank? We'd like to teach you how to invest it, so you might grow it. Through The Stock Market Game, you will gain a fundamental understanding of investing and how you might get your money to work for you.On today's episode, we welcome St. Rose's Finance and Business Teacher, Mr. Anthony Attardo, and a few of his students involved in the Stock Market Game. Value traps, P/E ratios and growth potential are often challenging concepts to learn on your own.For students at St. Rose High School, they have the benefit of having a teacher with 30-plus years of experience on Wall Street to help them navigate the market and teach them the basics of what it means to be an investor.Those lessons are put into practice throughout the year, as students in Anthony Attardo's classes are pitting against other students throughout New Jersey in the Stock Market Game [SMG], a weekly student exercise created by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association to teach students the fundamentals of the market.Students in Mr. Attardo's accounting, economics and personal finance classes are broken into groups and assigned to manage a portfolio worth $100,000 as part of the game. One group of students, called Lululemon after the company of the same name, earned enough with their hypothetical investments, more than $110,000, to finish the week ending April 16 in sixth place among 750 such groups in the state, and fourth in the region.“From the SMG game, I learned about the importance of stocks and how important it is to have a diverse portfolio that provides well-rounded returns,” Tom Lafferty, a student in the group, said. “What's cool about it is that it provides you the money and you have to be the voice of reason and create an effective portfolio.”The group, made up of Tom Lafferty, Max MacEachern, Victoria Wilson, Chris Huisman and Michael Fluhr, used its hypothetical $100,000 to buy into bluechip companies like Disney, Exxon Mobil, General Motors and Microsoft.“There are a lot of factors that went into choosing stocks,” Michael said. “Our group researched the products, future plans, growth potential and P/E [price/earnings] ratios of many companies. It was important for us to evaluate how a specific company will continue to make money in the future. Another factor in our decision process was diversity. We wanted to make sure we chose successful companies from different sectors like entertainment, technology, and automotive.”When looking at which companies to invest in, the students would have to make the case to their teacher before finalizing the transaction.“When our team was picking and deciding which stock to include in our portfolio, we referred to our own practical anticipations of whether or not said companies stock would be profitable due to the company increasing in size, gaining popularity, and even if that company is recovering and making a comeback from the pandemic,” Chris said.The group also took a chance by putting money into Roku, a video media streaming service that went public in 2017.“When we added Roku to our portfolio we noticed that Roku TVs are very present in our lives,” Michael added. “This led us to research the high growth potential of Roku since they are such a relevant company during this pandemic.”To their teacher, Mr. Attardo, the game works into the overall message of the class and the main lesson he wants students to take away at the end of the year.“It's extremely important, not just for students to know to invest money, but what I try to teach the students here is how to manage their money,” Mr. Attardo said, adding that the Stock Market Game precedes his own time as a teacher at the school. “What I hope the students take from our curriculum is to have adequate...

Congratulations to Michael Fluhr and Nick Xanthacos who have been awarded Evans Scholarships.The Evans Scholarship is a full tuition and housing college scholarship for high-achieving caddies. To qualify, caddies must meet the requirements of having a strong caddie record, excellent academics, demonstrated financial need and outstanding character.Scholarship applications are accepted at the beginning of an applicant's senior year of high school. In 1930, the Western Golf Association and celebrated amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans Jr. established the Evans Scholars Foundation. The Foundation's mission was to provide full tuition and college scholarships to caddies with limited financial means.The first two Evans Scholars enrolled at Northwestern University in 1930, and since then, 11,323 outstanding young men and women have graduated as Evans Scholars. This year, there are 1,045 Evans Scholars enrolled at 19 leading universities nationwide.This year St. Rose High School is proud to announce that Michael Fluhr '21 and Nick Xanthacos '21 were named as Evans Scholars. Both young men will be attending Ohio State University. Nick and Michael follow other St. Rose High School Evans Scholars: Nolan Boehmcke '20, Sean Donohue '20 and Samantha Boehmcke '17.St. Rose High School is proud of the hard work and outstanding character shown by these young people.

Congratulations to Lindsey Byer for qualifying for the US High Development Team! She is one of only 30 skaters across the nation who qualified for this opportunity! Congratulations to her coaches as well. In January of 2020, U.S. Figure Skating launched the National Development Team Camp, a brand new initiative to enhance the skills of their developmental athletes (juvenile through novice).Participating skaters were given the opportunity to observe the U.S. Championships with officials and other experts. The officials broke down the event's various routines and techniques with the athletes in hopes of motivating them to one day compete at such a level.Want to see Lindsey's submission video? Click here.

To some it may just look like a patch of grass or a pile of dirt. But to our next guest, Mr. Mark Fletcher, it's the backdrop to the story we are writing here at St. Rose. Please welcome from the Class of 1990, teacher of social studies and Director of our Athletic Fields, Mr. Mark Fletcher.Mr. Fletcher is our unsung hero, the undefeated MVP, day and night, with the lights low, the fields emptied, he keeps working to make sure our fields are ready and always looking their best. And that's why they have been recognized, 7 years in a row and awarded the Fields of Excellence award.The land at 5114 West Hurley Pond Road in Wall Township was donated by Edward Brown in 1990 after Mr. Brown spoke at the commencement ceremony where Mr. Fletcher was a senior. A decade later, Mr. Fletcher and his green thumb returned to St. Rose and he has worked to elevate the fields and make it what they are today.These award winning fields are widely considered the nicest natural grass fields in the area. The Edward I. Brown Complex is a large facility that has two soccer fields, a field hockey field and cross country course in the fall, and three lacrosse fields, a baseball and softball field in the spring.