The History of
Pacelli High School:
A Pictorial Timeline

1955

A fund drive to build Pacelli nets over $462,000 in contributions and pledges and ground is broken for Pacelli High School. While construction is taking place, about 100 students in 9th and 10th grade are temporarily quartered in the basement of St. Stanislaus School.

1956

Bishop John P. Treacy blesses the completed building, and lays the cornerstone at Maria High School.

1957

Mr. Nubbs Miller becomes the first full time lay teacher, staying until 1993 when he retires.

1958

First Annual Commencement is held at Pacelli High School, the Most Rev. John P. Treacy presiding. Salutatorian: Robert Trebatoski, Valedictorian: John Sheehan. Thirty five men graduate, of which twenty-two are college bound.

1959

First Homecoming: Pacelli Cardinal's vs. Mauston Madonna Cowboys.

1960

Largest graduation class thus far with 83 seniors.

1961

Brother Cyril Litecky becomes Pacelli's principal and serves until 1965.

1962

Bishop Treacy donates the statue of Pope Pius XII for the school lobby.

1963

Largest enrollment at Maria & Pacelli -- 960 students.

1965

* Brother Jerome Leo Kraft becomes Pacelli's principal and serves until 1967.
* Mr. David Charles joins the Pacelli staff and teaches for 32 years until retiring in 1997.
* Pacelli Fighting Cardinal is named "YA TA HEY" by the student body by a vote of 165. This name came from a cheer which the student body had added to the end of some of the cheers used at basketball games.

1966

* Brother Jerome Steven Wallgren becomes Pacelli's principal and serves until 1969.
* Mr. Donald Slusarski joins the Pacelli staff and teaches Math for 31 years until retiring in 1997. He returns to Pacelli to teach in 2005-06.
* Mr. Robert Raczek joins the staff & continues to serve the school. In 2005-06, as head coach he led the Pacelli Football team to a State Championship victory as well as earning his 300th win in his football coaching career. He is only the third coach in the state of Wisconsin to reach this milestone.

1967

The Stevens Point Area Catholic Board of Education is formed, the first of its kind in the state, to oversee and manage the schools.

1968

Sister Carlene Blavat, SSJ, becomes the first woman teacher at Pacelli, teaching Bookeeping & Accounting, as well as teaching English & Business subjects at Maria.

1969

* Brother Nicholas Geimer becomes Pacelli's principal and serves until 1973.
* Catholic Education Board sets a minimal salary for lay elementary school teachers with degrees at $6,000. The nuns receive $1,500 for their teaching duties.
* Though both Maria & Pacelli are still separate schools, modular scheduling is introduced between schools. Students travel back and forth between the 5 blocks of Maria & Pacelli buildings for classes. Girls attend Psychology & 4th year math at Pacelli. Boys attend Art and French at Maria.

1970

First Coed Class at Pacelli. Maria closes, but Pacelli uses both buildings on Division Street and Maria Drive. Enrollment is 709 students.

1972

* Pacelli moves to Maria building, enrollment is 555 students.
* The YMCA purchases the Pacelli building.
* The Diocese purchases the Maria building from the Sisters of St. Joseph, Third Order of St. Francis.

1973

* Brother Dominic Kennedy becomes Pacelli's principal and serves until 1978.
* Mary Glenzinski (also known as Mary Glen) becomes the first lay woman to teach full time at Pacelli.

1975

* Pacelli Education Foundation is formed with the goal of $1 million by 1980 to support Pacelli's operating costs as well as maintain subsidies and tuition at reasonable levels.
* The First Panacea is planned, with the goal of raising $25,000. The tradition continues each year in September.

1978

* Brother Dominic Ehrmantraut becomes Pacelli's principal and serves until 1983.
* Closed campus with a structured eight class period day is implemented. Modular scheduling will accomodate the enrollment of 550 students currently housed in a school built for 500.

1979

The School Sisters of Notre Dame began working at Pacelli.

1981

Pacelli's first musical is performed under the direction of Brother Thomas Houde. The cast and crew of "Finian's Rainbow" involves 74 students.

1982

Christian Brother James Miller, a former Pacelli student, is brutally shot to death by masked gunmen in Huehuetenango, Guatemala as he is repairing a wall at the DeLaSalle Indian School on February 13, 1982. An annual "Brother James Miller Day" is established in his honor, and Pacelli's chapel is dedicated to him in 1990.

1983

* Paul Barsi becomes principal, the first lay person to hold the job, and serves until 1986.
* Six Christian Brothers remain on staff.

1985

Joanne Lodzinski becomes the area adminstrator for the Stevens Point Area Catholic Schools. She retires in 1999.

1986

Brother James Roszak becomes Pacelli's principal and serves until 1988.

1987

Pacelli merges with the Stevens Point Area Catholic Schools (SPACS) and operates as a pre-school through 12th grade system. St. Stanislaus, St. Stephen and St. Joseph's become elementary schools and St. Peter's becomes the middle school. Enrollment at Pacelli is 329 students.

1988

Brother Patrick Conway becomes Pacelli's principal and serves until 1991.

1991

Brother John Vietoris becomes Pacelli's principal and serves until 1997.

1994

* A two million dollar project results in the addition of a Student Activities Center built on to Pacelli building which seats 1,200 in the gym. The fine arts department is also renovated. After completion, Bishop Burke dedicates the Center in September, 1995. Enrollment is 306 students.
* The Christian Brother's residence on Briggs Street is sold by SPACS. This is the last part of the original Pacelli complex to be sold. The Salvation Army purchases the property for their "Hope Center" for the homeless. Funds from the sale are used for operating expenses of the schools.

1996

Graduation is held for the first time in the new gym at Pacelli.

1997

* First woman principal is Becca Lindahl, who serves until 2000.
* Br. John Vietoris, Pacelli principal for six years and Br. Gary Smith, assistant principal/teacher for thirteen years, leave Pacelli at the end of the academic year. This ends the 42 years of Christian Brother's service at Pacelli.

2000

* Thomas Clark becomes Pacelli's principal and serves until 2002.
* Gregg Hansel becomes administrator of Stevens Point Area Catholic Schools and serves until 2006.

2001

Renewing the Commitment Capital Campaign established, with a generous response enabling capital projects to be completed at Pacelli and an Endowment Fund created to provide a more just compensation to the staff.

2002

Bob Lecheler becomes Pacelli's principal and serves until 2004.

2003

The Edward J. Okray Faith, Arts & Community Center is dedicated at Pacelli High School.

2004

* Gregg Hansel becomes Pacelli's principal and serves until 2006.
* Stevens Point Area Catholic Schools Long-Range Strategic Plan is established by Catholic School Management, along with Pastors, administrators, teachers, alumni, parents and community members. The five year Strategic Plan will help guide the future of SPACS in eleven specific areas.

2006

* Br. Roger Betzold, a member of the Christian Brothers, becomes the first Christian Brother as Pacelli principal since Brother John Vietoris served in 1991-1997. Br. Betzold serves until 2009.
* Jim Dyer becomes the President and Development Director of the Stevens Point Area Catholic Schools.

2008

The Pacelli football field is formally dedicated to Coach Bob Raczek, complete with a new scoreboard, fencing and other improvements to the field. The Bob Raczek Football Field was named in honor of Coach Raczek to recognize his countless contributions to young people for over forty years. Also established was the Bob Raczek Endowment Fund. Donations from this endowment fund will be used to provide tuition assistance to deserving SPACS families.

2009

* Sentry Insurance Foundation Technology Initiative provides a $1.3M, five-year grant to create state-of-the-art instructional technology which includes 20 smart classrooms and laptops for all teachers and high school students, as well as updating the infrastructure with new servers and wireless Internet access. The initiative is designed to improve the technology skills of SPACS graduates entering the work force.

* Mr. Jeffrey Brengman is appointed as principal of Pacelli High School.