1964 - 2024

60 Years of Catholic, College Prep Education,

Serving the Families of Hudson County

Many fine things continue to occur

at the corner of Mercer and Bergen

Where dreams begin!

What Makes Hudson Catholic Better?

With just over 500 Hawks in the student body, we are small as far as high schools go. That’s a good thing -- it means classes are more personally engaging and teachers are always available to help.

But in terms of opportunity, Hudson Catholic is as big as it gets. Its location in McGinley Square avails our students to the milieu of Jersey City arts and higher educational institutions, and access to the history, culture and business that await on the east bank of the Hudson River, in New York City. It doesn’t get more dynamic than that.

Students who welcome the challenge of the highest academic order may qualify to seek the opportunity to earn college credits through Hudson Catholic’s Dual Enrollment Program with St. Peter’s University (up to and including an Associates Degree at 63 credits), just one block away, or at New Jersey City University, for a Certificate in Media Arts (18 credits); participate in Stevens Institute of Technology’s ACES Program; and, a fourth college - St. John’s University, for credits in the Actuarial Sciences in its Hank R. Greenburg School of Risk Management.

The HC/SPU Dual Enrollment Program has managed to save 51 families over $5.5 million in college tuition over the first three years of the DEP since its inception!

Obviously, Hudson Catholic offers an intentional education, preparing its students for a career -- and a life -- that they will love. Hawks become equipped with knowledge and skills that will enable them to excel at the university level and beyond. Want proof? Year in and year out, 100% of our graduating seniors are accepted to colleges of their choice, up to and including schools in the Ivy League and other top schools across the country.

Hudson Catholic: An Intentional Education

"Catholic Schools:

United in Faith and Community"

This year's theme for National Catholic Schools Week (January 29 - February 2) built on the central goal of Catholic schools to teach and embrace the whole person, body, mind and spirit. That members of a Catholic school community share the Christian vision of faith, that Christ is the foundation of Catholic education, is what unites the school as a faith-filled community and plays an irreplaceable role in supporting the Church's mission.

or visit www.hudsoncatholic.org/1964

Message From The Prez

Last week Hudson Catholic celebrated Catholic Schools Week. The students started the week with a prayer service that was created and implemented by our Peer Ministers. The next 4 days saw different dress themes that livened up the hallways. At the foundation of it all, however, was, as always, the idea of service to others. The students raised $1200 for Read Across America, an initiative on reading created by the National Education Association. The event is designed to encourage reading among elementary-aged children and is fostered through the schools. 

This past Tuesday, we held our first No Technology Tuesday of the year. Students and staff were not allowed to use their phones or computer devices from 8:15am-2:16pm. The goal was to, in a small way, get the students to socialize at their lunch tables instead of sitting together and staring at phones and laptops. Yes, they were forced to make eye contact and have actual conversations! Studies are showing the negative impact of continuous screen time on developing brains, as well as isolation and mental health. We wanted to show them the benefits of breaking free from 24/7 internet addiction. The responses were surprisingly positive! An additional purpose was to help staff and students figure ways to pivot on days that the internet might go down here on campus. 

Life at 790 Bergen Ave is always innovative and exciting! 

Thursday, February 15, 10am

McDonald's Comes to the Hawks Nest

to honor Tahaad Pettiford

at a School Assembly

Friday, March 8

https://hudsoncatholic.org/bingo for tickets

Saturday, April 2

Watch our All American, Tahaad Pettiford,

playing for the East Squad

in the McDonalds All American Game

on ESPN at 7pm

To watch Hawk basketball or other events, go to

https://www.youtube.com/@hcyoutube8233

Saturday, April 27

12 - 3 PM

Signature small plates from

Alumni Chefs, Local Restaurants TBA

in the Hudson Catholic Auditorium

Proceeds to benefit HC academics & tuition assistance

Contact jcypher@hudsoncatholic.org for

Sponsorship Details

Friday, May 17th

Induction Event

at Hudson Catholic

Honoring the Greatest Student- Athletes

in Hudson Catholic History

Honorees To Be Announced

www.hudsoncatholic.org/WOH

Reunion Reminders

1974 Planning Well Underway

Contact David Carbone '74 at

dcarbonephd@msn.com

1999 / 2014

(and any other classes)

Start planning now!

Contact Jill Cypher at jcypher@hudsoncatholic.org

to express interest in having / helping with your class reunion

Class leaders, contact advancement@hudsoncatholic.org

to be put in touch with the '73 Reunion Committee

for their experience in hosting their event at the school

1974, 1980 Just Added to

The Digital Yearbook Library

https://www.hawkalumni.org/hawk-alumni-scanned-yearbooks/

Hawk Happenings

Our Lasallian Hawks

Servant Leadership from the Student/Partner Alliance

Summing Up Our State-Ranked

Boys Basketball Team

The Hawks have had an excellent campaign as of this writing, sitting at 17-7, with a #^ State Ranking and some of those losses coming in close games to nationally and state-ranked teams that were purposefully scheduled to pose great challenge to our talented squad. 'Brutal' might be a word used to describe the competitive nature of our season schedule. Win or lose, Coach Nick Mariniello's team has been well-prepared for the upcoming gruel of the County and State Playoffs, having undeniably given their absolute all, game in and game out. This has been noted in press accounts too, as evidenced by the reporting on our recent victory over Immaculate Conception. "This game from the start was a physical, high-energy affair with numerous foul calls and an almost constant display of flying bodies to the floor out of either hard contact or sheer hustle." The writer's attempt to add further color about the caliber of hustle exerted by the players yielded this amusing comment: "The towel-and-mop guys probably worked as hard as any player or coach."

Alumni Spotlight

Leadership, Service, Achievements

(and occasional whimsy)

Career Men. This photo from Career Day 2018, taken of ten Hudson Hawks who shared about their careers with our upperclass men and women of the day. They are: Bill McGrath '79, Anthony Marmora '08 (on faculty at the time), Eduardo Pena '90, Larry Basinski '70, Thomas Western '74, Jim Doherty ’70, David Lyons '70, Rob Astudillo '06 (then Dean of Students), and Curt Zegler '89. In the audience participation portion of this issue, please identify the Mystery Hawk standing on the far right. Responses to advancement@hudsoncatholic.org

Holy Smokes! Anthony Berrios ’93 has left his role as Senior IT Account Director for Supply Chain Technology at Saint Michelle Wine Estates in Woodinville, Washington and taken a new role clear across the country in Richmond, Virginia, as Senior Manager of Enterprise Technology for Altria.

Class Guy. Dr. Luigi 'Louis' Barbato '81, is Global Medical Lead in Neuroscience at Jazz Pharmaceuticals in Navarre, FL. He has also served as a Global Medical Lead at Abbvie, Biogen, and Novartis in his career. Lou felt 'challenged' by last issue's report about where class level of giving stood against the prior year. As a result, he has donated $1,700 to bring '81 even with its full year '22-'23 giving total, so all gifts from his classmates through June 30th will be eligible to receive the Challenge Match. Thanks, Lou. '81 Hawks, LET'S GO!

STEMmer. Michael Browne ’80 is a 14-year veteran with BD, one of the world’s largest global medical technology and equipment manufacturing companies. He presently serves in the role of Distribution Manager and Supply Chain Project Manager. After Hudson, Mike obtained a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and, following that, a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science from New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Science! Bill McGrath '79 recently had an unplanned reunion with his favorite Science Teacher, Former Faculty Mr. Neil Gargiulo, a Marist man and brother of Carl Gargiulo '73, recently at the Heroes of Hudosn Event.



Eminently. Tom Western '74. In response to last issue's inquiry about Emmy Award winners, we were reminded of Tom's capture of an Emmy in 2005. Having earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Arts from then-Jersey City State College. (Note that today's Hawks can earn a Media Arts certificate while co-attending Hudson and present-day New Jersey City University!) Tom's started a career in Television at WNET Channel 13 as a studio volunteer for live auction broadcasts. His first paying job came at WOR-TV Channel 9 as a Film Librarian, before becoming a Broadcast Operations Supervisor. He then moved to Cable Health Network, today known as Lifetime Television, as a Network Operations Coordinator. In 1987, Tom found his professional home for 30 years with Madison Square Garden Network as an Associate Director, became a member of the Director's Guild of America, directed master control operations, served as Stage Manager for the Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, Red Bulls, WWE, and live events, was a Commercial Coordinator, a Tape Assistant Director, directed the Boomer & Carton Show simulcast from WFAN Radio, and produced and directed Knicks and Rangers IN-60 Highlight Shows that aired immediately after live broadcasts. In 2004, Tom freelanced (on his MSG vacation time!) for NBCTV at the Athens Summer Olympic Games, working in the broadcast center 32 straight days -- for which he was nominated for and won an Emmy Award in the category of "Outstanding Technical Team - Studio." As you could guess, Tom refers to this experience and achievement as the highlight of his career, and who wouldn't?

A few post-scripts:

Tom lived two houses away from the Curry residence, which accounts for an impressive Hague Street Emmy Award concentration in the JC Heights!

Tom is also 'A Lasallian Man for Others', raising substantial funds annually to benefit St. Jude's Children's Hospital by organizing an annual Run/Walk event in Paramus. His team, The Western Warriors, is the highest donating team in New Jersey this year.

Tom may also be the only Hawk who 'participated' in the Olympic Games, unless you count Mike Finley '73 and Gary Ferrari '73 who showed up in Lake Placid for the 1980 Gold Medal Hockey Game! (shown here following the Medal Ceremony)

Building our Followers

on Social Media

Help us get to

600 Followers on Linkedin

1,500 on the Facebook HC ‘Friends’ site

At present, we have 490 Followers on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/school/27080137/admin/feed/posts/

and

1,400 Followers on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/groups/478047822393031

To our younger classes,

you can help Hudson Catholic

with 'likes' and 'shares' of our posts to your networks

If you have a newsworthy item or something from the present or past to share with the Hawk community, drop a note to advancement@hudsoncatholic.org

'Big Ideas' for 2024

As Reported in Linkedin News

(What Say You?)

With so much talk and press about Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology already in use and more to come, many professionals are contemplating what is possible via AI now, and in the near future. Sal Khan, Founder of Khan Academy, an American nonprofit educational organization whose goal is to create a set of online tools that help educate students, sees AI tools "cutting 90% of teachers' administrative tasks, thereby creating more time for student interaction. Students will have an AI tutor sparking an active learning journey, aiding in brainstorming and drafting feedback, making them better writers and learners. This all would have been science fiction a year ago, and its literally happening now or in the coming months."

Erika James, Dean of the Wharton School (U. Penn) is fascinated by how the rise of AI will impact workplace dynamics, saying "No tool can replace what comes from human interpersonal contact and interaction. My forecast for this coming year and beyond is that the elements of leadership that only humans can provide -- emotional intelligence, relationship building, social skills, judgment -- will become increasingly important to, and valued by, organizations."

An article by Linkedin News is predicting that a wave of classes on the creator economy will debut across campuses to teach students about the business side of the Influencer space and help them hone the necessary creativity and style for those who wish to be in front of the camera. Additionally, Academia's adoption of that creator economy will help move the industry to full-on expansion, beyond its reputation as a mere byproduct of social media's growth, to a legitimate career path having a variety of options. That 54% of Gen Z have expressed interest in becoming a content creator aligns with their desire for career autonomy.

Lia Haberman, who teaches courses in influencer marketing and social media at UCLA, expects there to be an increase in courses around influencer marketing and the creator economy, particularly as they relate to business and marketing. Although these courses may not equip students with the "innate talent and charisma" that help creators skyrocket in popularity, Haberman says universities can provide formal training on essential skills, including creating a personal brand, building a media kit, and partnering with sponsors, that creators have typically needed to learn on their own.

If this seems like a bold new world, well, ---- it is! And its horizon is coming up fast!

Somewhere Outside Fairbanks, Alaska

Readers Respond

Early Faculty member Mr. Neil Maresca wrote to add to our feature on him, saying “I believe I began at HC in 1968 and left in 1971. On a personal note, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at HC and made many friends there whom I still hold dear. I can be found at www.neilmaresca.com

Another early Faculty great, Mr. Henry Pawlak, added “I met Neil in graduate school, where he told me about an English opening at HC. I applied and worked there for 13 years. Thanks, Neil.”

Korrections Korner

You thought, maybe, this column had gone away? Every once in a while, one slips past the goalie, so here it is again. We endeavor to print a truly professional product, so must offer a sincere apology to the writer's English Faculty of his day because, while Foorball will not return next season, FOOTBALL certainly will! As Maxwell Smart used to say, "missed it by thatmuch!" Fat-fingering the email heading is about the worst spot to pull that, but we did, and some fresh sets of eyes were quick to notice, so thank you, my Hawk eye editors!

Turn Your Brothers and Sisters In!

(We Need Their Email Addresses)

We lose touch with some of our graduates who move around, go off to college, start careers, get married, etc. Help us find them again and make it harder for us to lose touch. Many on this list have siblings who are Hawk alumni, so turn them in at advancement@hudsoncatholic.org or send them to hudsoncatholic.org/stay-connected to update their contact info.

FYI

Note:

If any link in this issue is not clickable,

please copy and paste the 'link' into your browser's address window

advancement@hudsoncatholic.org to:

Advertise your business card here for $25 per issue

Plan a visit back to the Hawks Nest

Obtain or donate a yearbook through The Yearbook Exchange

Convey an obituary notice

Purchase Hawk gear online at:

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/newjersey/jerseycity/hudson-catholic-high-school

For Hawk Chatter on Social Media:

Facebook: Hudson Catholic Regional High School Friends, a private group with 1,400 members and climbing.

Linkedin: Hudson Catholic Regional High School page, with nearly 500 followers at https://www.linkedin.com/school/27080137/admin/feed/posts/

For Viewing

Digital Hawk Yearbooks

https://www.hawkalumni.org/hawk-alumni-scanned-yearbooks/

Hudson Catholic Events and Athletic Contests

https://www.youtube.com/@hcyoutube8233

If you receive our email at your workplace, we may not be getting through to you if our email is being intercepted by your spam filter. Only you can correct that by placing us on your safe list, which would allow communications from our Constant Contact email platform to reach you.

“Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”

-- Mother Teresa

Requiescant in Pace

Vita Mutatur Non Tollitur

(Life is changed, not ended)

____________________________________________

Grace Dacchille, mother of Joseph '73 and Rocco '77

____________________________________________

Will be remembered in our annual

Alumni Mass of Remembrance

on November 3rd, 2024

The Office of Advancement ~ Gary, Jill & Jenine

201-332-5970 x118

Advancement@hudsoncatholic.org ~ OR ~ gferrari@hudsoncatholic.org