BY KATHI STEARNS

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--For Wright Vermilya, a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and a calculus teacher at St. Pius X High School, life, in a sense, has always revolved around numbers.

Vermilya, who graduated from St. Joseph High School in 1972, continues to search for a mathematical solution that will help track down the alumni of his alma mater which closed in 1976. Currently Vermilya has found 1,000 of the 1,300 graduates and has begun an alumni association which he formed in 1996.

"A couple of people in my class had been bugging me to have a reunion," Vermilya said. "The year I graduated there were perhaps 88 people. Even if I were able to track everyone in my class, probably only about half of the people would show up for the reunion. It seemed like an awful lot of work to do just for one class. I thought it might be more time and cost effective if we tried to track down everyone who had graduated from the school so several classes could get together and have reunions."

Vermilya said he was very envious of the alumni association at St. Pius since a number of their classes celebrate reunions yearly. "We have the ideal set-up here," Vermilya said. "There is such a sense of being a part of the school even years after you've graduated."

Vermilya said one of the reasons he embarked upon this project was because of the fond memories he has of St. Joseph.

"I had a great time in high school," Vermilya said. "It was a wonderful experience, not only socially but also academically. I truly believe that one of the reasons I became a high school teacher was because of the positive experience I had at St. Joseph. When I drive by Sacred Heart I see the parking lot where our school used to be. All we have left of our school is memories. There aren't any football or basketball games at which we can gather to relive our high school experiences. The alumni association is the only way we can keep these memories of St. Joseph alive."

Vermilya sends out quarterly newsletters to all alumni. The newsletter entitled "The Hawk" contains updates on graduates, profiles of former faculty members and announcements of births, marriages and deaths. He has also compiled a directory which contains the names, addresses and phone numbers of St. Joseph graduates.

Vermilya says that the formation of the alumni association has enabled individual classes to organize reunions. Vermilya's class is in the process of organizing their 25th .

"The list of alumni has made it easier for specific classes to organize and plan a reunion," he said. "Chances are if one person had to track down everyone in his class to hold a reunion he simply wouldn't do it because of the amount of work involved."

The first St. Joseph's reunion was held Oct. 12, 1996 at St. Pius. The festivities included an informal barbecue and wine and cheese party attended by approximately 450 graduates.

Vermilya said that St. Pius has been instrumental in helping this new alumni association get off the ground and flourish. St. Pius has provided Vermilya with use of their facilities for reunions and allowed him to collate and copy his newsletters free of charge. His only expense is postage.

According to Phil McGonegal, director of operations at St. Pius, starting and maintaining an alumni association for former archdiocesan Catholic schools is imperative.

"It is critical that people who have graduated from archdiocesan Catholic schools have a place where they can go and relive those memories," he said. "Many of the Catholic schools in this archdiocese are built upon generations. Graduates of St. Pius frequently enroll their children in their alma mater. There is no greater compliment parents can give us than to place their children in the very school environment in which they were educated. If their alma mater no longer exists, we hope that their ties to the Catholic schools in this archdiocese are strong enough so that they will consider Catholic schools for their children."

McGonegal credits Msgr. Terry Young, former principal of both St. Joseph and St. Pius, with ensuring that archdiocesan schools and their students are remembered with individual plaques which rest on each classroom door of senior hall at St. Pius.

"He knew firsthand that some of these school closings were very painful for everyone involved," McGonegal said. "He wanted these graduates to know that even if their school no longer exists that they and their contributions to the archdiocese will never be forgotten."

Vermilya also credits Tony Stephens, director of the St. Pius alumni association, with helping him track down St. Joseph alumni and sharing creative ideas of how to keep alumni involved. "Some St. Pius parents graduated from St. Joseph," Vermilya said. "Every now and then Tony will stumble across such a name and he makes sure that it ends up in my hands."

Despite the fact that Vermilya has found all but 300 of the alumni in the past year and a half, he is determined to find his missing fellow graduates.

"We've come a long way," he said. "But in a sense we still have a long way to go. As long as those missing classmates are out there we'll keep searching."

St. Joseph's alumni are encouraged to contact Wright Vermilya, 1408 Briarcliff Drive, Woodstock, Ga. 30189. For information call (770) 928-4279.