Merry Christmas from Bishop Watterson!

It's finals week at Bishop Watterson but our students have found many ways to celebrate this holy season!

Fr. Paul Noble, our chaplain, is celebrating Mass each morning before exams begin for students who want to arrive a bit early.

Choir students (right) provided the musical entertainment at the Clintonville Tree Lighting.

Our chemistry teachers have brought the Christmas spirit with Dr. Nic's ChemisTree and Mr. Schmidt's classes practicing their recrystallization skills by making ornaments.

Student Council organized a Gingerbread House Competition this year!

Student Council members shopped for toys for the St. Lawrence Haven toy drive with the $4,580 donated by students in November.

Football Team Finished Season as DIII State Runner-Up

Congratulations to the football team on finishing the season as the state runner-up! The Eagles took on Toledo Central Catholic, the 2022 Division II state champion, in the championship gameon December 1 in Canton and suffered a 27-7 loss. It was the first time since 2010 for BWHS to make it to the state championship game.

Kennedy Dispatch Coach of the Year

Coach Brian Kennedy '92 was named the Dispatch's All-Metro Football Coach of the Year.

Kennedy led the Eagles to the state championship game and a 14-2 season this year.

Purcell Sets State Record, DIII Player of Year

Senior linebacker Dominic Purcell set an OHSAA record for tackles in a state championship game, with 21. He was the only defensive player to be a finalist for the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association's Mr. Football Award, presented annually to Ohio's top player and was named DIII Defensive Player of the Year.

Senior Assists Blind Students

Senior Ryland Arnold volunteers to assist the marching band for The Ohio State School for the Blind. The band marched at the Circleville Pumpkin Festival this Fall and Ryland guided his band buddy, Chris, around the festival prior to the festival’s parade.

“I enjoy helping the blind because you get a new perspective of your community,” Ryland said. “It’s heartwarming because it feels good knowing you’re giving this person an opportunity to do something they want to do but can’t on their own. It’s joyful.”

Ryland’s buddy used to have vision but is now blind.

“It’s interesting to be asked how many people are there and other things. What we can see is a huge thought for them.”

Ice Hockey Team Receives Blue Jackets Grant

Thank you to the McConnell Education Foundation for supporting Columbus-area high school hockey teams.

Our captains received the grant distribution on behalf of our team before a recent Blue Jackets game.

Shining a Spotlight on our Teachers

Math teacher Paul Petrella has been a regular Kairos Retreat staffer at Bishop Watterson and in September he took a leap into a prison Kairos ministry. He spent four days at the North Central Correctional Complex in Marion, one of 42 volunteers on a Kairos retreat for 42 inmates. As it was his first prison Kairos, he was assigned as a table servant for a group of six men.

“The first guy I met was in there for murder,” Mr. Petrella said. “The first night every volunteer gets connected with an inmate to welcome them. It was like God sent this guy to me. He was about 6’4” and like 260 pounds, and I said to him that he had to have played football and that generated the conversation because he had played in college. He was the nicest guy I ever met. I could tell he already knew Christ, I could tell he was a believer. Just knowing that it’s so hopeless in there, I could see that he really relied on his faith.”

Mr. Petrella said they’ve had two reunions already and the former football player is the first person he goes to see and not just to talk football …“He’s a Bengals fan and I’m a Browns fan.”

“The coolest thing is to go back and see these guys again. All of them said they felt like the people who came in from the outside showed them real love,” he said. “Many of them grew up without parents or a parent who was terrible to them. We didn’t want anything from them, just to show them God’s love.

“I’ve always enjoyed Kairos here at Watterson because they’re powerful. We tell kids we can’t tell you about Kairos, you just have to experience it. The prison Kairos was the same in that respect but even more powerful.”

Fall Drama: Alice in Wonderland

With the Little Theatre in the midst of a $475,000 remodeling project thanks to lead donor Kim Knoppe and numerous others, the annual fall drama was held at Ohio Dominican University earlier this month.

He’s the embodiment of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol character Mr. Fezziwig … jovial, intelligent and a good dancer. That’s our Mr. Schmidt, who joined the faculty this year to teach chemistry and physics.

Mr. Schmidt came to BWHS from Columbus City Schools, where he taught chemistry and physics for 18 years. Prior to that he was a chemical engineer for B.P. Oil and Battelle’s Chemical Engineering Group. In fact, from his time at Battelle, he is named on several patents involving novel microchannel chemical reactor technology. He also helped create a start-up company while at Battelle.

So how does a guy who in high school ran cross-country and track, and who was a national merit semifinalist, first chair trombone, band field commander and national merit semifinalist get into dancing?

“I had no previous dance experience of any kind and first ballroom danced during my freshman year at Ohio State,” said Mr. Schmidt. “I joined the social dance club just for fun and to unwind after all of my math and science classes. But I liked it a lot and eventually joined the competition team, learned more dances and continued to dance all five undergraduate years at Ohio State.”

He also served as president of OSU’s Ballroom Dance Association during that time.

Which leads us to this past weekend when Mr. Schmidt and his wife, Amy, played the roles of Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig for the Xclaim Dance Company presentation of The Carol.

“The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.”

– Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol