Open gym will last one and a half hours.

Please call 770-0305 if you can help.

Mr. George Hooker, BS, Castleton State College, taught Biology and AP Biology at Rutland High School for over 30 years. Mr. Hooker is teaching AP Biology at MSJ.

Ms. Constance Whalen, M.Ed., CAS, SUNY — Plattsburgh, is MSJ’s Director of Guidance. Ms. Whalen brings her commitment to students and her innovative ideas about the college process to MSJ.

Mrs. Sarah DeCandio, BA, Austin College, joins MSJ as the new Spanish instructor. She brings to MSJ not only her passion for Spanish and Latin culture, but her experience in coaching field hockey.

Ms. Anne Dickinson, BA, UMassachusetts — Amherst, is teaching 9th Grade English. Ms. Dickinson is committed to student writing and a critical reading of texts.

Welcome to MSJ!

Cassandra Hotaling / Rutland Herald

By Chuck Clarino
Staff Writer, Rutland Herald – Published: August 24, 2010

When Torrey Allard was asked why he wanted the Mount St. Joseph Academy head football coaching job, his response was simple and clear: “Why not?”

Allard, 35, was named the 14th head football coach in the 80-year history of the sport at MSJ on Monday.

This no-nonsense, straight-talking man picks up the reins of the state’s most storied football program from interim coach Conrad Looney, who stepped up to fill the void when Chip Forte abruptly resigned the position Friday, Aug. 13 — three days before the start of fall football practice.

“I appreciate the opportunity and the honor of coaching here,” said Allard, while standing in the equipment room just before meeting his new team. “I want to get this thing going. I’m very excited and thrilled to be a part of the rich history and tradition of this program.”

Allard faces a tough challenge at MSJ. The numbers on the football team are down to fewer than 20 players, many of whom are young and inexperienced. There are no seniors on and few veterans from a team that failed to win a game last fall.

MSJ players also have endured significant turmoil due to the uncertainty caused by Forte’s resignation and dropping down from playing a Division I schedule to playing in the Division III ranks.

And the Mounties are slated to play their first game at Rice Memorial a week from Saturday.

“Hey, I’m ready to go; ready to go to work,” said Allard, wearing a green MSJ T-shirt and visor, while posing in front of the new MSJ uniforms. “I am not one bit hesitant. I’ve got kids who want to play football and I’m ready to coach them.”

MSJ Athletic Director Marty McDonough and MSJAA President Dick Densmore introduced Allard to the Mountie team and later to the media.

Densmore was impressed with Allard’s interview and his knowledge of the game.

“His was one of the best interviews we ever had,” Densmore said. “He’s a real student of the game.”

“We are very excited to have him on our staff,” McDonugh said.

Allard is an alumnus of Burlington High School class of 1993, where he played football for Jim Billings. He got into coaching right after high school, working in the youth football program in Burlington. Allard has also served as an assistant at Burlington, CVU and Colchester before moving to Otter Valley, where he spent the last four years as an assistant to Dennis Perry.

“I owe everything to Dennis Perry,” Allard. said “He’s one of the best Xs and Os man out there He’s a motivator and a great game coach,. He brought me to a different level.”

Allard had a 15-minute meeting with Looney before closing the doors to the locker room to spend about 20 minutes with his new team.

When asked his philosophy about football, Allard got right to the point.

“We want to have fun,” he said. “I want players to be in good shape, be a disciplined group and have some fun.”

When asked what he planned to run for offense and defense, Allard was purposefully vague and would not commit to any specific system.

“We have a good mixture of both running the ball and passing,” he said. “We’ve got to spread the ball around and get the ball into the hands of our athletic kids.”

Allard, who owns a landscaping business in Chittenden County, plans to get right to work at St. Peter’s Field this morning.

chuck.clarino@rutlandherald.com

Play will begin at 1:00 pm with a Shotgun Start (5-man scramble format), and the tournament will be followed by an awards presentation and a BBQ buffet.

The Golf Outing provides the opportunity for Friends and Alumni of MSJ to enjoy a day of golf while raising money for the Academy’s Student Scholarship Fund. The signup deadline is September 6, 2010. For more information contact the MSJ Development Office 802-775-0151 ext. 112, or email development@msjvermont.org.

Green Wave Player Sign Up Sheet

Cassandra Hotaling / Rutland Herald

By Cristina Kumka/Rutland Herald

STAFF WRITER – Published: July 31, 2010

A formal fundraiser turned pep rally for the Rutland Catholic schools community Thursday night drew more than a hundred of the same faces that have been involved with Mount St. Joseph Academy and Christ the King for the last three decades.

The event was a reunion of Catholic school graduates from the 1930s and up and an organized effort to raise more funds for future students.

An abundance of local alumni is an attribute that sustains Rutland Catholic schools and it’s something other Catholic communities around the country don’t have, said MSJ Principal Paolo Zancanaro.

Zancanaro and his predecessor Sister Shirley Davis, both said the parochial school district’s saving grace is its reliance on former students to always step up to the plate.

In the last year, about 30 new Catholic schools have opened in other parts of the country where young families are migrating while others have closed their doors or consolidated, Zancanaro said.

Rutland schools have avoided closure mainly due to the city’s commitment, exemplified at Thursday’s “Honor Our Past” event, he said.

“It can’t be stressed enough the love this community has for these two schools,” he said.

Davis said, “It’s events like this that pay witness to the spirit of the alumni.”

Davis, a teacher for 36 years at the school, said that financial aid is always needed and attributed the continuous flow of alumni support to the school to the newly-created Development Committee of the Rutland Catholic Schools Board.

Davis said anything she asked of the alumni when she led the school, she always received.

But in the last few years, the alumni’s generosity has been harnessed by the Rutland Catholic Schools Board, that formed committees to better develop fundraising, marketing and property maintenance, according to Development Committee member Tom Valente.

Last year, the school district raised $28,000 for student scholarships.

Early estimates put Thursday night’s total at about $20,000.

In the 2009/2010 school year, 54 percent of MSJ students were on some kind of financial aid and for 2011, the number is about the same, Zancanaro said.

“We advertise that if you want a Catholic education, we will make it possible,” he said. “We don’t turn children away.”

Tuition was dropped at both schools last year and all incoming freshmen were offered personal computers – both efforts aimed at attracting more students.

The Class of 2010 received an average $85,000 each in college scholarships and on average, the cost of a four-year college education for a graduating MSJ student is $19,000, according to Peter Giancola, the head of the Rutland Catholic Schools Board.

But aside from money, one parent, Kathi Scaralia, said she doesn’t know why anyone wouldn’t want to send their child to MSJ.

Scaralia’s son Josh suffered a near-death experience earlier this year and the school raised money for her family and prayed every day until her son walked back into the school’s doors.

“The prayers and support we received during Josh’s ordeal is typical of the close-knit community that has been the hallmark of the MSJ community,” she said.

“We’re just so grateful.”

B.J. Costello, head of the Development Committee, said, “This is what we are all about,” regarding the school’s unity during Josh Scaralia’s recovery.

“Faith-based, smart kids that deserve to be able to have this education … We have turned these schools around and we’re on a roll,” Costello said.

cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com