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By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer
CUMMING—Donning a hard hat, Archbishop John F. Donoghue waved
from atop construction equipment as he rode into a crowd of Pinecrest Academy
students, parents and faculty to break ground for the school’s gymnasium
and middle school classroom buildings.
The students and teachers, chanting “you are the best of all
the rest,” cheered the archbishop as he pulled the levers of the loader to
drop soil that school representatives would later turn over with shovels.
Those in attendance at the hot June 2 ceremony wore colorful
sunglasses commemorating the occasion, as the dreams of many joined to become a
reality.
“This is the culmination of many weeks, days, months of
prayer and hard work,” said Father John Hopkins, LC, chairman of
Pinecrest’s board of directors. “We are launching a phase in the
history of Pinecrest Academy. It’s wonderful to see the whole community
coming together to make something so important happen for God’s
people.”
The groundbreaking ceremony was dedicated to John and Arlene
Gannon, who founded the school in 1993.
“They have given their hearts, their minds, their work,”
Father Hopkins said. “This is a work of love and it has caught on with so
many of us that we just want to thank them.”
After introducing members of the board and the capital campaign
steering committee, more cheers ensued as Father Hopkins introduced Archbishop
Donoghue, who he said “is Pinecrest Academy.”
Archbishop Donoghue recalled the first groundbreaking at the
Cumming site in 1997, when he praised Pinecrest for its faith-drenched
curriculum.
“Today, I have no reason to change the sentiments I expressed
then, other than to say that since that time, my hopes, your hopes, the hopes
of our entire Church have been splendidly fulfilled in the work that is carried
out daily here at Pinecrest Academy,” he said. “It is no wonder then,
that the time has come for us to build again—to enlarge the stage on which
the Holy Spirit is doing so much good work—and to prepare to witness our
physical growth, and our spiritual prosperity both to our Church, and to the
society which surrounds us.”
“Therefore on behalf of the entire Catholic community in
North Georgia, I am pleased and blessed, to be here again, and to take part
once more, in this expansion of the Lord’s work, as it is being carried
out here at Pinecrest Academy,” the archbishop continued. “We thank
those who have made it possible-and we ask the Holy Spirit for His guidance,
and His protection as we embark on this gymnasium and classroom building
project.”
Although guest speaker and benefactor Douglas Tollett and his
wife, Brenda, do not have children at the school, he believes strongly in the
benefits of Catholic education. As a child, he and nine siblings attended
Catholic school, and Tollett feels blessed by his parents, who sacrificed to
send their children to parochial school.
“By sending your children to Pinecrest, you are making
similar sacrifices,” he told the parents. “If for no other reason,
the love of your children will be reward enough. Pinecrest teaches your
children to love God and family in addition to providing a good education. This
will help them through the good and bad times in life.”
He left the parents with a final thought.
“It is not what you tell your children,” he said.
“The example you set will be what they remember. So continue to support
this school not only for your children, but for the many children who will have
the opportunity to attend a school that teaches them to love God and
family.”
Members of the Pinecrest board, the “Build the Vision”
capital campaign steering committee and Archbishop Donoghue then symbolically
broke ground for the new buildings. A time capsule, which is scheduled to be
opened by Pinecrest alumni in the year 2020, was blessed and buried, and the
students presented the archbishop with a gift of song, singing “Let Your
Light Shine.” They also made a student-initiated request to the archbishop
to bring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to the chapel at Atlanta Hartsfield
Airport.
Father Hopkins thanked the other priests in attendance, who
included Msgr. R. Donald Kiernan, vicar general for pastoral ministries; Father
William Hickey, pastor of St. Brendan’s Church in Cumming; Father Hugh
Marren, pastor of the Church of St. Benedict, Duluth; Father Joseph Mullakkara,
MSFS, parochial vicar at St. Patrick’s Church, Norcross; and Father John
Curran, LC, Pinecrest chaplain.
“God has given us so much, but there is so much more to
do,” Father Hopkins said. “I really believe that this is only the
beginning of a really exciting future that’s getting brighter and
brighter. We need to continue to believe in the future and in our children
because they are the future. They are the reasons that we do what we do.”
The archbishop closed the ceremony with a prayer for the
benefactors and those in attendance gathered in the school courtyard for a
reception, where a champagne toast was made to the new venture and to
Archbishop Donoghue in honor of the 45th anniversary of his ordination.
The groundbreaking ceremony was the segue into a $7.5 million
project. The buildings will complement the facilities already in existence at
the school’s 53-acre campus. Construction, which is expected to be
complete for the 2001-2002 school year, will allow the school, which serves
pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students, to increase total student
enrollment to over 650.
Atlanta architects Collins Cooper Carusi, Inc. designed the new
buildings, which will feature a 22,500 square-foot, two-story gymnasium with
over 600 bleacher seats and a full-court regulation basketball court.
The three-story classroom building will house 16 classrooms, a
media center, computer lab, science lab and chapel. Atlanta-based Aviation
Constructors, Inc. will serve as the project’s contractor. Future plans
include Pinecrest High School, scheduled to open in 2003.
Brian Tierney, Ph.D., headmaster, expressed his excitement in
beginning construction.
“This day is the culmination of seven years of tireless work
by the founding families, board of directors, faculty, staff and friends of
Pinecrest Academy,” he said.
The private Catholic school, under the direction of the
Legionaries of Christ, opened in 1993 with 29 students, holding classes in a
former Fulton County elementary school in Crabapple. The school then relocated
to All Saints Church in Dunwoody, where, by the beginning of its fourth year,
enrollment had increased to the facility’s maximum capacity of 153
students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. In August 1998, the school
began its sixth year and its first on the Cumming campus in a six-building,
16-classroom facility.
Arlene Gannon, the dean of students, said that everything is
moving along because “God wants it.”
“Because of the fruit of the school, so many people’s
families have come back to the faith,” she said. “God is working
through these kids to bring their families back to the faith.”
Gannon said that that is the benefit of a parochial education.
“That’s why Catholic schools are so awesome,” she
said. “I jump out of bed every morning because I am so excited to come to
work.”
John Gannon said that the groundbreaking was a day many had worked
toward.
“This is the fulfillment of God’s will,” he said.
“It is truly God’s work, and not one particular person. This is a
group of people who are cooperating with his will.” |
