The Boss Award, given to adults who spend their time with the youth in the community, is named after the 1952 recipient of the service award, George Boss. As president, Boss was influential in starting the Bantam Football League and gave the Touchdown club its motto, “If you can’t be in a sport – be one.”

Kurtz, the youngest of six children to attend Hoban, is the youngest recipient of this award. He was recognized for his coaching with CYO and his coaching and interaction with ATC and Special Olympics.

Every weekend, he drives down from Lake Erie College to Hoban to help train the young Olympians to make sure they are fit to compete. He always arrives early to help setup and stays after to clean. Through this he is living out the Moreau teachings that are taught to all Hoban students.

“Michael has an abundance of love and loyalty to his family and the program which makes him a unique and special person who lives up to his grandfathers expression ‘It is just what you do,’” Lancianese (Cathy) said.

“I think this is a great chance to be immersed in science for four days,” trip chaperone and science teacher Judy Mohan said. “On field trips we don’t get to visit all of the cool places we could. We will get to see everything from physical to life science in a community that values it.”

The excited students will embark on their science tour on Tuesday, Apr. 6, and, after the seven-hour bus ride, tour Fermilab where energy, intensity and cosmic physics are studied. Experiments such as colliding particles in particle accelerators that are miles in diameter and exploring matter in space occur at the lab.

The following day, the young scientists will visit Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy lab that investigates alternative and nuclear energy, energy storage, ecological systems and national security technology.

“I am most looking forward to seeing the Argonne lab,” junior Ian Drake said. “They have a particle accelerator there!”

At the Shedd Aquarium, the group will explore its collection of undersea wildlife including octopi, whales, eels and sharks from locations such as the Caribbean reef, the Amazon, the Pacific Northwest and the Indo-Pacific reef.

“The part to which I am looking forward the most is the trip to the Shedd Aquarium, which I very vaguely remember visiting once before when I was either 4 or 5 years old,” senior David Breen said.

After exploring the depths of the ocean below, the students will tour the expanse of the sky above at the Adler Planetarium. Later, they will discover natural history at the Field Museum which features exhibits about evolution, fossils, ecosystems and even Sue, the 13-foot tall dinosaur that is the largest, most complete, best preserved T. Rex fossil.

“I am really excited about going to the Field Museum because it concentrates on living things,” Mohan said. “I am looking forward to seeing the insect zoo there.”

On the last day, Friday, Apr. 9, the group will view the city from atop the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, before heading to the Museum of Science and Industry which boasts Chicago’s greenest home, an Omnimax theater and exhibits covering everything from transportation to genetics.

Of course, the group will take time to relax as well by shopping at Chicago Premium Outlets and on Michigan Avenue, watching movies and enjoying deep-dish pizza.
The trip is the fifth time science teacher Matt Bryant has brought a group to Fermilab, the last trip being two summers ago. New additions to trip include excursions to the Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Field Museum and Sears Tower.

“I hope when the kids go to the labs they will learn about science and see how much work it takes to do interesting science,” Bryant said. “I hope they are inspired and it peaks their interest to investigate something.”

Barry Gymnasium is a commonplace term used at Hoban, but who is behind its legacy? Father Joseph Barry, who was the school chaplain, performed all-school Masses and was the football team’s number one fan. He was an influential man in the Hoban community and was the head of 35 Brothers of Holy Cross who lived in the Hoban community on campus in the current science wing.

“Father Barry was a very kind man and he was always there when you needed someone to talk to… his door was always open,” 1980 Hoban graduate Dan Lancianese said.

The cafeteria, named for Brother Richard Foley, also has its own storied past. Foley ran the school’s print shop and bookstore which is now transformed into the attendance office. Foley was hard of hearing, but that never stopped him from doing his multiple jobs in the community.
“Brother Foley was a joy to be around and he loved camping and being in nature,” Brother Joseph Lebon said.

Foley was the swimming team coach for multiple years and was a big volunteer and supporter of the Red Cross. Foley Commons is named after this intelligent man who worked just a few steps from its entrance.

Blood, sweat, and tears were shed, history was made, and games were sold out on Dowed Field: a place named after one man who was far from boring- Monsignor Richard A. Dowed. Dowed was active in the community. Not only was he a priest for Annunciation Parish, but he also worked for Springfield Lake Sanitarium and Infirmary, known as Edwin Shaw Hospital. Dowed was in charge of buying the land for Holy Cross Cemetery in 1915 which still stands today and is the burial spot for many in the Hoban community. Dowed, a local priest, thought there was a need for a Catholic high school in the area and was able to convince Archbishop Edward Hoban to bring a Holy Cross school to Akron. Some said that the school should be named after him, but he was so modest that he would not let them do so. Dowed actually purchased the land Hoban stands on today.

Even though all of these men touched our school at different times in different ways, they always and forever live on through the landmarks named in their honor.

Q: How is your wrestling season going so far?
A: Good. Sectionals are coming up and I’m just trying to keep improving.
Q: How did you damage your vision?
A: I tore my optic nerve in my left eye and now I have spots of vision.
Q: Does this change your style of wrestling?
A: Yea, it’s made me work harder and I had to get quicker. I have to practice to protect my left side.
Q: Do you see any advantages?
A: Besides saving money on a contact, it makes me focus more on the mats.
Q: Has this injury changed your lifestyle?
A: No not really. I’m still able to drive and I have not really been affected.
Q: If you could say one thing to a person who is going through the same thing that you are what would it be?
A: I would say keep trucking because you still got one eye.
Q: Who are some of your idols?
A: My grandfather and Brother Ed because when I got my injury he never treated me different and he has a killer mustache.
Q: What song do you listen to before you get on the mat?
A: Usually Phil Collins or Till I Collapse by Eminem.
Q: If you could be any animal in the world what animal would you be?
A: An eagle so people could call me eagle eye.

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Each school has a unique style of polo, with a wide array of colors. The girls at the Elms are only able to choose from four colors. St. V-M follows with a mere five colors and Walsh with a generous eight. Hoban leads with over 13 color platforms that nearly cover the spectrum. Long sleeve polos have recently surfaced as another option for Hoban, St. V-M and Walsh.

When it comes to pants, Walsh and Hoban allow any color, whereas St. V-M tolerates only khaki, brown or black dress pants. The Elms girls must where a plaid skirt and knee socks or tights at all times. No jeans are acceptable for any school.

Students at each school have found alternative ways to let their style shine through the rigid dress code. For example, Walsh is permitted to wear a dress shirt and tie as a substitution for a polo. Hoban students, unlike the other three, are allowed to wear any style or color of shoe. Students under the golden dome take pride in this and actively use their feet as portraits of their personality.

All the dress codes enforced by a discipline code.

“Kids are always getting caught for having their shirts untucked,” Walsh junior Bryan Kirkpatrick said.

The Elms girls especially have to dress themselves carefully.

“Any violation of dress code will result in a detention,” Elms junior Leah Oldfield said.

More and more, teenagers’ interests in social progression are eclipsing the educational vitality of high school. If students could have absolute freedom on their daily attire, it would be simply another distraction from learning. Also, the simplicity of a uniform cuts dressing time in half.

“It takes me longer to eat my Apple Jacks than it does to find an outfit and get dressed,” freshmen Tim Delaney said.

The Catholic schools in the Akron area have become competitive on categories such as sports, academics, cheers, spirit days and now– uniforms. Subsequently, after every stitch is counted, Hoban’s uniform policy prevails with flying colors.

In Hoban’s early years as an all boys school, the dress code was significantly more formal than now.

“When it [Hoban] was all boys, the dress code consisted basically of casual pants or dockers with a dress shirt, tie and suit jacket,” Chemistry teacher Brother Edward Libbers said.

History teacher and 1966 Hoban graduate Robert Yanko agrees.

“All of us (all boys) wore sport coats and ties,” Yanko said.

With the introduction of girls that ensued in 1974, the rules began to give a little slack. Boys were still expected to wear docker style pants, but rather than the formerly mandatory dress shirts, ties and jackets, they were permitted to wear any kind of Hoban t-shirts (any day) and any shirt with a collar.

“We wore a dress top and dress pants. No jeans or tennis shoes,” 1978 Hoban graduate Colette Libertin said. “My brothers, who went to Hoban from 1970-1974, had to wear suit coats.”

The 80′s were different.

“I wore a dress shirt or golf shirt and dress pants,” 1986 Hoban graduate Tom Bauer said.

The transition to the Hoban polos, which rule the hallways today, came about as a result of immodesty.

“Modesty was a very big problem with the girls,” Libbers said. “Sometimes it was just plain embarrassing the things they would wear to school.”

“I never remember challenging it like sometimes my kids do today. The dress was not as provocative as it is now. For instance, no low rise pants anywhere. It was strict business attire,” Libertin said.

Mary Bulgrin, a 1983 graduate of Hoban and current Hoban religion teacher, agrees.

“I think they [the changes] are a sign of the times,” Bulgrin said. “If you walk around on a college campus today, you will see that young people do not think it is necessary to wear much clothing.”

The Hoban dress code has also changed in the way of how strictly enforced it is.

“The dress code was way more strictly enforced in the 60’s,” Yanko said.

Another difference between the Hoban dress code of today and years past is the absence of dress down days.

“Dress down days? No… never,” Yanko said. “But some days, when I felt rebellious, I didn’t wear undergarments.”

However, in the 80’s the dress code was altered once again with the inclusion of dress down days.

“We had dress down days, so we could wear jeans every once in a while,” Bauer said.

Bauer also recalls a different tradition in dress for football players on the day of a game.

“We wore our football jerseys to school on Friday before a game.”
This is opposed to the dress shirt and tie worn by football players today.

When asked if they would rather wear the Hoban polos of today or the old Hoban uniform, all alumni would rather wear the polos.

“The polos make it easier. It keeps everyone in the same and uniform,” Libertin said.

“The collared shirts take all the competing for who dresses nicer out of the equation,” Bauer said.

“Well, I guess the polos would be better, because girls wouldn’t look very good in gross sport coats that hadn’t been washed in four years, with four years of lunch food stains on their ties,” Yanko said.

7 inch frozen pizza disk

Olive oil, Garlic powder

Cheese and pepperoni (pepperoni is optional)

Directions:

1. Spread pizza disk with oil and garlic powder

2. Let dough rise

3. Fill stromboli with cheese and optional pepperoni

4. Bake stromboli

2 oz of chocolate chip cookie dough

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to about 315º F to 325º F

2. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray

3. Place 2 oz of cookie down on cookie sheet and bake for 7-9 minutes (or until the cookie is half baked)