CBA students, alumni celebrate 50-year mark

MIDDLETOWN — Members of ChristianBrothersAcademy's freshman class trotted into McKay Gym last week after completing the Heath Run, the traditional freshman race across campus. The run is named after longtime coach Tom Heath.

Once inside, homerooms competed in the annual tug-of-war tournament as classmates whooped and cheered from the bleachers.

A formula of sports, academics and Catholic tradition has bonded generations of students at CBA, which celebrated its 50th anniversary Sept. 14.

After a celebratory Mass in the morning, about 23 alumni, ranging from members of the first freshman class to a graduate of the class of 2006, spoke with current students about their experiences at the academy. Students also watched a slide show of high school photos of current teachers who attended the school.

The all-boys school has come a long way since its founding. Using $400,000 garnered through fundraising, the De La Salle Christian Brothers purchased a 157-acre horse farm for the school's campus in April 1959.

Five months later, six brothers taught a class of 150 students in an eight-classroom building that had been a former stable. If the students wanted to play organized high school sports, the only options early on were track and wrestling. Before students could become enrolled, parents had to sign a waiver saying they would not sue if their child received corporal punishment.

Since then, the school has undergone radical changes. The student population has ballooned to 950. The school now fields 14 varsity teams and is an annual powerhouse in baseball, basketball and swimming as well as cross country. In the last 35 years, the facilities have grown, too, with a theater, a second gym and a science wing being added.

In the early days, it was common for students to pay their own tuition, said Gary Sagui, a wrestling star from the school's early days.

Sagui, who graduated in 1969, said he would use money he saved from his summer job to pay the $600 tuition. By comparison, annual tuition is now $11,650.

As the number of clergy teaching at the school has dropped, alumni have filled the ranks to continue the LaSallian tradition, said Pat McGann, the alumni coordinator, a history teacher and a member of the class of 1971. He is one of about two dozen alumni now teaching at the school.

"It's a very, very special place," McGann said.While the campus and finances may have had face-lifts, graduates say the sense of school spirit has remained the same.

McGann said CBA consciously tries to impart a sense of pride in the students for successfully handling the rigors of their education.

"Some people think it's arrogance, but I don't think that's the case. It is a taught selfconfidence," he said.

Assistant track coach Christopher Bennett, class of 1994, began to instill that confidence into the freshman class by delivering a motivational speech before the Heath Run.

Coaches and teachers push students to achieve the impossible, he said, because they want their students to reach greater heights.

"Nobody asked me to be great after I left. That stopped," said Bennett, who worked in finance for eight years before returning to the school.

Even as a member of the faculty, Bennett said he's happier in his high school confines.

"I'd say every morning, 'I have to go to work.' I don't think that anymore. I haven't mentioned work since I've been back," he said.