PRESIDENT’S BLOG: BRINGING OUR ALUMNI HOME

  • Steve Schmutz

“But why had he always felt so strongly the magnetic pull of home, why had he thought so much about it and remembered it with such blazing accuracy, if it did not matter, and if this little town, and the immortal hills around it, was not the only home he had on earth? He did not know. All that he knew was that the years flow by like water, and that one day (we) come home again.”

― Thomas Wolfe, You Can’t Go Home Again

The first alumni of Holy Cross High School graduated in 1991—one year after I graduated from Gonzaga Prep High School in Spokane. Nine students were in that inaugural class and were among the first students who attended Holy Cross in 1988 as freshmen and sophomores. The initial ten years of Holy Cross saw relatively small classes with committed students, faculty, and staff who forged the path for what eventually became Archbishop Murphy High School when it moved to our current campus in 1999. Holy Cross students won the first state titles for the school, designed the school crest, and helped develop the reputation for Holy Cross and AMHS as faith-filled Catholic schools with exceptional academic and co-curricular programs.

I thought about those early alumni as I prepared for my 30-year high school reunion this summer in Spokane. In recent years I’ve attended several unofficial reunions organized by players and coaches from the GPrep football program. As you can imagine there were dozens upon dozens of story-telling moments, some factual, most of them fictional. Last fall we held the most recent of these gatherings which provided many of us the opportunity to acknowledge and visit with our legendary head coach, Don Anderson. I am so happy I was able to attend and visit with Coach Anderson who was also my 9th-grade social studies teacher. When Coach Anderson passed away in December it reminded us how fleeting life is.

Now that I’ve firmly established myself as a west-sider I don’t make the trip to Spokane very often. These short visits don’t afford me the time to see everyone and do everything while I’m in town but they offer me a walk down memory lane each and every time I “go home.” The recent reunions have led to a group of us planning organized adventures and activities that include concert trips, a SWAT training session, and corn hole tournaments. As we share stories about our adult lives we invariably relive those grade school and high school moments where we carpooled to school, played sports against and with one another, and experienced lifelong memories such as our school Search retreats.

I’m so proud of the career paths my friends have taken and how actively involved they are in their community, especially at GPrep. Several have been selected to serve on the GPrep board or on a board committee. They are also involved in youth and community programs in and around the neighborhoods we grew up in on the South Hill. There are a large number of alumni teaching at GPrep which I also had the pleasure of doing from 2000-2004. As it has been many years since I visited the campus, I looked forward to our reunion and the other classes celebrating 10 year through 60 year reunions. As my reunion has been postponed, so too have the AMHS class reunions for 2000 and 2010 that were planned for this summer and fall. I’ve reassured our alums planning the 2000 (Jen Richardson Bowman) and 2010 (Meg Carlson and Sammi Pettinger) reunions that we will celebrate their reunions in 2021 in conjunction with the classes of 2001 and 2011. 

Last October we held our AMHS Homecoming football game and hosted an all-class reunion along with reunions from the classes of 1999 and 2009. Alumni came with their spouses, children, and their alumni parents. In 2009 I served as the Dean of Students and the ASB moderator and ASB officers Rachel Shober, Sarah McDade, Caitlin Perez, Marchie Newkirk, and Kelsey Stoeser were all present and helped organize the weekend events. During a tour of the St. Thomas Chapel and a stroll around campus, I caught up with my former students who are now young adults and working professionals. Many have left the area to pursue careers, start families, or further their education. Having them back on campus—some for the first time since graduating—was very special. 

Last school year we launched a new alumni group—the Alumni Committee of the board of trustees. Co-chaired by Holy Cross alum Talia (Poitevin) Mahnke ’96 and Holy Cross/AMHS alum Jen (Richardson) Bowman ’00, the committee includes AMHS alums Jana Zitnik ‘05, Jacob Alberts ‘11, Alex Zitnik ‘07, and alumni parent/current parent Mindy Humphrey. Our goal is to keep all of our Holy Cross and AMHS alums connected with our school and invite them back to campus for alumni events or to school events such as the spring musical at the PUD Theatre or our career fair. As we launch our business pathway and internship program this year we hope to connect our current students with our alumni in the area who are interested in mentoring our students in a variety of career opportunities.

We are extremely proud of our alumni and all they have accomplished and given back to others in their respective communities. Our alums have embarked in careers in health care, business, education, law, technology, entertainment, and the priesthood. We were thrilled to honor Fr. Justin Ryan ‘06 as our alumni of the year at our May virtual STAR event. 

As Talia and Jen have both served on our board and on the Alumni committee, we look forward to other alumni who will choose to come back to serve as board members or as members of our faculty and staff—we currently have twelve alumni working at AMHS. We also want to invite all of our alumni and parents to participate in our November DREAM Auction and the Alumni Challenge Cup–I’ve included information about this challenge and the registration link to the auction here. 

For many of our students and alums, AMHS is their home. We can’t wait to welcome them home once again.

Peace,

Steve Schmutz

President, AMHS

Alumni DREAM Auction Challenge

We are excited to announce the first Alumni DREAM Auction Challenge! We are calling on all alumni parents and students to support our November DREAM Auction. We will track the levels of support for all alumni and their parents throughout the week of the auction.

AMHS needs your support now more than ever before. In these uncertain and challenging times, we are working hard to ensure we provide an exceptional Wildcat Experience. Thank you in advance for your generous support!

How does my class win the Alumni Auction Challenge?

The class who has the highest number of participants who make contributions during the auction will be awarded the Alumni Challenge Cup and will enjoy a hosted social event at our 2021 Homecoming weekend. Guests at your virtual table can also contribute to your class year on the Greater Giving auction site.

How can you support the auction?

  • Register for the auction on the Greater Giving platform through the following link:
    Once registered you will be eligible to win a special drawing for a beautiful piece of jewelry from Wagner’s Jewelers. Thank you to Jeff Wagner, Peg O’Meara and their alumni students (Alexandra ’04, Austin ’08, and Casey ’10).For all alumni from the classes of 2010-2020 who register on the Greater Giving site, you will be entered into a drawing for $250 in cash.
  • Purchase raffle tickets for our three raffle drawings. Raffle tickets may be purchased from our current families or from the development office at AMHS–tickets must be purchased in person. Please indicate your class year on the space provided on the raffle ticket.
  • Bid on amazing items throughout the six-day auction. Items include An electric guitar autographed by all of the members of the Rolling Stones, An Abbey Road photo autographed by members of the Beatles, A Chicago Bulls jersey autographed by Michael Jordan, An autographed poster of the 2019 Women’s World Cup Soccer Team–this item is sponsored by the Wildcat Alumni Association. Trips to local destinations, exciting home entertainment packages, and countless other items.
  • Host an auction virtual table gathering with members of your class, family, and friends.
  • Donate directly to support AMHS on the Greater Giving site.
  • Support the auction Fund a Need which this year will fund technology for our students and teachers. We will share the powerful story of Sam Myers ’16 who was diagnosed with leukemia during the fall of his junior year and became our first virtual learner due in large part to his classmates and teachers.