St. Francis News
Seniors who rank in the top 10% of the class after seven semesters will receive The Collegium Honorum Blazer.
Excellence in Academics is Recognized by Collegium Honorum
Mr. James Faught, a 1967 graduate of St. Francis de Sales, was invited to speak to the recently inducted members of Collegium Honorum.
While at St. Francis Mr. Faught played varsity basketball, was a three-time All-City selection on the three-time City Championship tennis team, and served as president of the junior class. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame before attending the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Mr. Faught is now an Associate Dean at his alma mater. Mr. Faught spoke to the students about the value of their St. Francis de Sales education and the expectations that come with having received that education.
He had several reminders for the young men, including first of all, “You didn’t get here by yourself.” He continued with a few more reminders; “Work hard, follow directions, and be kind.” He encouraged the young men to use their gifts well, that the world needs them to use their gifts bravely, wisely and compassionately and “with faith that you will make a difference. Use your gifts with conviction, Sauviter and Fortiter.”
He concluded by encouraging the young men to leave their mark on a world that is hurting, confused and deeply divided by remembering what they have learned here at St. Francis about sharing their gifts with others and living a life of goodness and virtue.
Collegium Honorum is an honors designation given annually to students who excel in the distinctive academic curriculum at St. Francis de Sales by achieving a cumulative grade point average of 4.0 or better. Membership in Collegium Honorum is determined each year at the end of the first semester.
The following students were named as new inductees into Collegium Honorum. *Seniors in the top 10% of the class were presented with the traditional Collegium Honorum blazer.
Collegium Honorum Inductees
Class of 2018
Michael Lance Allen, Majd Bassam Awad, Bernard Gabriel Barrow III, Joseph David Belinske, Joseph Michael Benore, Tyler James Blesing, Joseph William Boersma, Michael Julian Boutros, Ryan Frank Cendol, Matthew Alan Dills Jr., Sangeen Durrani, Colin Robert Flanagan, Ezekial Matthew Fravor, Josh Harder, Jacob John Henry, Ethan Joseph Hertzfeld, Derek James Howard, Brandon, Michael Hsia, Chadwick William Huss, Zachary Michael Lenz, Gregory Joseph Leroux ,Griffith Robert Littlehale, Cameron Ramon Long, Jacob Matthew Oberski, Jay Forest Ostrander, Logan Michael Pawlecki, Matthew Vaughn Petee, Zachary Robert Pylypuik, John Paul Regan, Justin Michael Schnebelen, Nathaniel J Sifuentes, Carter Ryan Smith, Andrew James Stammen, Maurice Dean Sturdivant II, Drew Conner Swerlein, Christopher Bobby Syeh, Thomas Michael Szenderski, Thomas Grant Trax, Scott Robertson Upton, Nathan James Vigneau, Jacob Daniel Vonderembse, Benjamin Bradley Waugh, Matthew Terry Wielgopolski
Class of 2017
Jonathan Demetrio Angel, Stephen Thomas Antonini, Alex Charles Ash, Eric Alexis Aubry, Jadd E Awad, Nicholas John Best, Joshua Paul Carlson, Liam Quan Champion, Nicholas James Cook, Garrett Martin Culkowski, Shane A Curtis-McCormack, Jack Thomas Gardner, Jacob Thomas Glancey, Matthew Douglas Gospodarek, James Edwin Granata, Trenton Michael Haynes, Alec Kasza, Jacob Francis Kowalski, Nicholas Zigmond Kozma, Dylan Michael Kwapich, Marcus Lang ,Nicholas Jeffrey Langenderfer, Jacob Matthew Lathers, Nicholas Andrew Lehmkuhl, Ethan Tyler Mahaffey, Hector Miguel Marquez, Daniel James Martin, Thomas William Michel, Henry Thomas Miller, Paul C Mossing, Nicholas M Nassar, Samuel Edward Nessif, Douglas Frederick Newhouse, Blake Thomas Noonan, Samuel John Pfeiffer, Matthew T Prater, Nicholas Joseph Provenza, Connor James Rajski, Stephen William Schumacher, Nicholas Damacio Sifuentes, Nick Anthony Singlar, Jacob H Stiger, Blake Storer, Joseph L Swanson, Joshua Allen Szymanski, Brady Shane Tighe, Jarett Trendel, Alberto Jose Wawrzyniak
Class of 2016
Luke Allan Bockbrader, Nicholas Oren Cross, Gregory Louis Fretti, Evan James Fritts, Michael Stephen Gillen, Brandon Michael Henry, Jack Thomas Hubay, James Tyler Karban, Sung Dae (Daniel) Kim, Alex Michael Kneller, Forest David Ledrick, Hunter Robert Mortemore, Joseph Allen Parker, Jake Christian Reece, Vincente' James Riccobene, Matthew Michael Rode, Logan James Schofield, Easton Patrick Skinner, Jeffrey M VanDenk Jr., Alexander Jean Vigneau, Brandon L Walker, Michael William White, Kegan Thomas Winkler, Jordan Alexander Zitzman
Class of 2015
Brayden Jameel Ansara, Jacob Joseph Baugh, Noah Riley Best, Ethan Franklin Bevington*, Matthew J Cark, Zachary Brendan Churilla, James David Coyle, Nicholas Thomas Drees, Jeremy Johnny Eid, William Michael Feltman, Ketan Earl Fernandes, Trenton Scott Geordt*, William Albert Gibbons III, Christopher Michael Gill, Javier Ramon Gomez, Benjamin Eli Gordon, Blake Lucius Griffey, Casey Joseph Johnson*, Jacob James Lang*, Nicholas Reid Lankard, John Lawhead, Warren Wenyun Lee*, Bailey Gary Lee Leggett, Adam Stewart Link, Justin Donald Lobb, Thomas Patrick Manahan*, Logan Savage McNamara, Matthew Ryan McNeeley, Jacob Andrew Micham*, Dustin Lloyd Miller, Michael Joseph Moeltner, Patrick John Monaghan, Collin Joseph O'Brien, Alexander Olisemeka Okonta, Andrew Isaac Okuley, Daniel Patrick O'Shea, Trenton Jon Pawlecki, Andrew Francis Quattromani*, Matthew Joseph Radwanski, Jack Romanoff IV, Christopher Joseph Sheehan*, Nicholas Joseph Siebenaller*, Benjamin J Smigielski*, Christian Joseph Sobczak, David Allan St. John*, John William Toth, Christopher Ryan Toy, William Hodge Vandini*, Nicholas Edward Vogl*, Evan Thayer Williams*, Paul James Zavell, Jason Zhang
Evan Williams, has been named a National Merit Finalist in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Corporation Program placing him in the top one percent of more than 1.4 million students taking the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying Test(PSAT/NMSQT®). Evan will continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million to be offered this spring. Evan is the son of Wayne Williams and Carol Sargent, and a graduate of Ottawa Hills Elementary and Junior High Schools. Evan has been a member of the water polo and varsity swim teams all four years while attending St. Francis. He was a member of the winning 2014 State Swimming Championship 200 Medley Relay. He is a member of the National Honor Society, Interact Club, and also serves on the core team of Campus Ministry. He is considering studying business or engineering in college.
The Feast Day of St. Francis de Sales was celebrated Friday, Jan 23rd. To start the day's celebrations seniors Jacob Baugh, Kurt Elfering, Nathan Johnson, Jacob Lang, Collin O'Brien, Andrew Okuley, Andrew Quattromani, Nick Vogl, and Evan Williams were recognized as Knights of Honor.
St. Francis Football Coach
In a search that saw applicants from all over the country, St. Francis de Sales High School has announced Scott Knisely as the next head football coach of the Knights.
On being named, Knisely said, “It's a great honor to be selected as the next head football coach here at St. Francis de Sales. When I left high school football for a family commitment, I hoped that I would be able to return someday. I am excited to return to a school committed to success both on and off the field. The strong tradition of this football program and the people involved with this school made my family’s decision very easy when this job was offered to me. I'm a big believer in tradition, and want to continue to build on the strong tradition of St. Francis de Sales."
“When we began our search,” noted Carl Janke, St. Francis Athletic Director, “we felt that prior head coaching experience and success were critical. Scott has achieved that in our area and in a Catholic school. We’re happy that he was looking to return to high school football at the same time we were looking for our next coach.”
Coach Knisely has spent the past two years as a college assistant coach with Hiram College and Lake Erie College. Prior to his move to the Cleveland area, he spent six years at his alma mater, St. Joseph Central Catholic High School in Fremont, 2007—2009 as assistant head coach and 2010 – 2012 as head coach. He led his teams to the state playoffs in 2010 and 2012 and was named Midland Athletic League Football Coach of the Year in 2012. Additionally, he was the head tennis coach at St. Joseph from 2005 – 2011.
After graduation from St. Joseph, Knisely went on to play football and tennis at Heidelberg College. He earned a B.A. in History and is in his sixth year as a Catholic school educator, having spent five years teaching in Fremont and most recently in Akron.
Eric Smola, St. Francis principal, commented, “Scott’s passion for teaching both in the classroom and on the field will make him a great fit for our school and football program. His experience and success as a coach and his strong commitment to Catholic education have us excited about the direction of our football program.”
Knisely and his wife Melissa have a daughter Jillian who is 19 months old.
12/16/14
This year’s inductees into the National Honor Society include: (sitting) Hunter Mortemore, Jake Reece, Matthew Rode, Alex Kneller, Vincente’ Riccobene, James Karban, and Daniel Kim. Row 2: Alexander Vigneau, Luke Bockbrader, Easton Skinner, Brandon Henry, Jordan Zitzman, and Michael Gillen. Row 3: Trenton Pawlecki, Adam Link, Matthew McNeeley, and Theodore Gardner. Row 4: Matthew Cark, Andrew Stark, Justin Lobb, and Jeremy Eid.
National Honor Society Induction
Twenty-three juniors and seniors were inducted into the school’s chapter of the prestigious National Honor Society on October 21, 2014. Mr. Jeffry Schaaf ’94, Brand Manager for Toledo Region Brand Initiative, was the guest speaker at the induction ceremony held in the chapel.
Schaff’s remarks were directed to the students and he praised them for excelling in the four standards that are the basis of the National Honor Society. Regarding the academic pillar, he told them the hard work may not seem worth it at the time but it will be very useful in the real world. He acknowledged that leadership, the second pillar, is a difficult skill to develop, some people are just born natural leaders and while it cannot be faked it can be learned. He encouraged the young men to find a good leader to emulate and develop a relationship with that person. He admired the students for their service to their community, the third pillar, and incorporating it into who they will be on their lifelong journey. Fourth and finally he commented on the importance of personal character and integrity and reminded the students that they are developing their character with every choice they make each day. “When I think of a Knight, I think of someone who is honorable, brave, scholarly, and generous. The value of these personal qualities is immense.”
Students were nominated by faculty members on the basis of their high standards of Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Character. In addition to being a junior or senior, the St. Francis de Sales minimum qualifications include having a cumulative GPA of at least 4.00.
Each NHS member volunteers 20 hours of his time for peer tutoring each year of membership to fulfill the special service requirement. Peer tutoring is overseen by the Guidance Department. Sister Joanne Boellner is the moderator of NHS.
As a part of the induction ceremony, each inductee receives a certificate and the official NHS pin, and signs the induction book. Together the new inductees recite the NHS pledge, agreeing to “…uphold the high purposes of the National Honor Society, be loyal to their school and maintain and encourage high standards of scholarship, service, leadership, and character.”
The 2014 inductees include:
Seniors: Matthew Cark, Jeremy Eid, Theodore Gardner, Adam Link, Justin Lobb, Matthew McNeeley, Michael Moeltner, Trenton Pawlecki, Andrew Stark, Si yaun (Jason) Zhang.
Juniors: Luke Bockbrader, Michael Gillen, Brandon Henry, James Karban,, Sung Dae (Dan) Kim, Alex Kneller, Hunter Mortemore, Jake Reece, Vincente’ Riccobene, Matthew Rode, Easton Skinner, Alexander Vigneau, Jordan Zitzman.
Hunter Mortemore, Gregory Antonini, and Max Minor with their individual and team trophies.
STUDENTS FINISH AT THE TOP OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND INNOVATION IS CASE COMPETITION
Recently, Gregory Antonini, junior, Max Minor, sophomore, and Hunter Mortemore, junior, of St. Francis de Sales, participated in the University of Toledo Department of Business and Innovation IS Case Competition. The students were challenged to perform a complete analysis of a fictitious company by looking at the company's products, sales personnel, customers, timeliness of shipping, and profitability and then report the findings in a concise, graphical, and easily understood format to a panel of judges comprised of company executives from the Toledo area.
The students learned about data manipulation and visualization tools such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, and Crystal Reports and used these tools to organize, interpret, analyze and visualize company information. For their work, the students were awarded first place for their presentation, and second place for their business solution.
Gregory Antonini, of Sylvania, participates in cross country, track and field, the men’s chorus, stage crew for the musical, and the Knight Sports Network. He is the son of Michael and Marilyn Antonini of Sylvania. Max Minor is involved with tennis, the school musical and the Knight Sports Network. He is the son of Jim and Paula Minor of Toledo. Hunter Mortemore, of Perrysburg, is a member of the National Honor Society and has been involved with cross country and mock trial. He has been a member of the Boy Scouts for eight years and is Junior Class Vice-President. He is the son of Scott and Denise Mortemore of Perrysburg.
Congratulations Knights!
David Koenig of FifthThird Bank, presents the check to the KSN crew comprised of Lance Antoine, Matthew Cark, Zachary Pylypuik, Drew Staczek, Ezekial Fravor, Greg Antonini, Keegan Shannon, with KSN moderator John Orozco.
BSCN & FIFTHTHIRD BANK “GIVE BACK” AWARD
BCSN & FifthThird Bank recently announced their new joint “BCSN & FifthThird Bank Give Back” program. The program offers organizations within Elementary, Junior High, and High Schools (Kindergarten through 12th grade) in the Buckeye CableSystem Toledo service area a chance to win a monthly cash award donated by FifthThird Bank. The award will help with a worthwhile improvement for the school, school organization, or school sports team. These improvements can include items such as new uniforms, field trips, musical equipment, and computers.
Members of Knight Sports Network(KSN), an SFS student-operated sports broadcasting network that covers multiple sporting events throughout the fall, winter, and spring sports seasons, applied for and won the award. In their contest essay the students stated that “this program provides students from St. Francis de Sales High School with real world broadcasting experience.” Recent graduates have even taken up careers locally in broadcasting with Annunciation Radio and a radio show at Bowling Green State University.
The KSN members pursued the award believing that KSN deserves the “Give Back” award because much of its equipment is outdated and needs to be replaced in order to provide quality broadcasts for its viewers. The current computer can only stream live audio because the processor is not powerful enough to stream video. The $500 award will be applied to the purchase of a new computer and camera for higher quality live broadcasts.
“This award means a lot to all the members of the Knight Sports Network,” said Greg Antonini. “It demonstrates the strong support that the students and supporters of St. Francis show for KSN. Knight Sports Network is proud to give current and future students the broadcasting experience that sets them up for future careers in broadcasting. Because of this award, we look forward to providing our viewers with high quality live broadcasts of sporting events throughout the school year.”
Coach Mark Walton, Adam Link, Kyle Kokotaylo, Griffin Richardson, Christian Pina, Dan O'Shea, Matt Cark, David Shelton, and Ben Smigielski.
On Saturday, November 22nd, 25 members of the St. Francis de Sales High School Chess Team traveled to Cincinnati to compete in the 2014 Ohio Grade Level Chess Championships. In this tournament, freshmen play freshmen, sophomores play sophomores, juniors play juniors, and seniors play seniors. The senior team of Danny O'Shea, Griffin Richardson, Christian Pina, Ben Smigielski, Adam Link, David Shelton, Kyle Kokotaylo, and Matt Cark won the 1st Place State Title.
Dan O'Shea was the 4th place individual winner overall. It is worth noting that the senior team had also won the 1st place title their sophomore and junior years. We salute them for their ability to "3-peat", not just repeat, the state title.
The junior team of Rodney Blackman, Michael Gillen, Joe Kanous, and Jonah Roszczipka won the 3rd place trophy. The sophomore team of Jim Granata, Jarett Trendel, Jacob Tokar, Connor Rajski, Brandon Byington, Doug Newhouse, Quentin Francis-Emonds, and Sean Gerken also won the 3rd place trophy. The freshman team of Michael Allen, Colin Flanagan, Michael Boutros, and RJ Zitzman also won the 3rd place trophy.
The ChessKnights will compete in the Robert Beach Memorial Tournament in January, and the United States Chess Federation National Championships in April. The team has been coached by the Honors Biology/Advanced Placement Biology teacher, Mark Walton, for the last 29 years.
ST. FRANCIS DE SALES STUDENTS NAMED NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARS
Evan Williams, has been named a National Merit Semifinalist in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Corporation Program placing him in the top one percent of more than 1.4 million students taking the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying Test(PSAT/NMSQT®). Evan will continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered next spring. Evan is the son of Wayne Williams and Carol Sargent of Ottawa Hills, and a graduate of Ottawa Hills Elementary and Junior High Schools.
Evan has been a member of the water polo and varsity swim teams all four years while attending St. Francis. He was a member of the winning 2014 State Swimming Championship 200 Medley Relay. He is a member of the National Honor Society, Interact Club, and also serves on the core team of Campus Ministry. He is considering studying business or engineering in college.
In addition, the following students have been named Commended Students in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program by placing in the top 5% of more than 1.5 million students who entered the competition by taking the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
Ethan Bevington is the son of Jennifer and Mark Bevington of Ottawa Hills, a member of Gesu Church and a graduate of St. John’s Jesuit Academy. Ethan is a member of National Honor Society, the Quiz Bowl team and a core team member of Campus Ministry. He has achieved the ranking of Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts of America, is President of Junior State of America and the Teen Institute Club. Ethan has been a member of the cross country and tennis teams at St. Francis. He plans to study economics at Harvard, Yale, or the University of Pennsylvania.
David St. John is the son of Margaret and Quinton St. John of Perrysburg, a member of St. Rose Parish and a graduate of St. Rose Grade School. David is a member of National Honor Society, Teen Institute, and the Asian Culture Club. He has been a four year member of the varsity cross country and track teams. He has participated for four years in the Math Club competition. David is undecided where he will attend college but plans to study computer science or engineering.
Christopher Toy is the son of Beverly and Daniel Toy of Sylvania, a member of Christ the King Parish and a graduate of Christ the King Grade School. Christopher is a member of the National Honor Society. He has participated in the school musical and the men’s chorus for three years and has been a Toledo Zoo teen volunteer for five years. He plans to study biology in college with a strong interest in the humanities as well. He plans to attend either the University of Michigan or the University of Pennsylvania.
Knights in the News