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This page is reserved for our thoughts about our years at St. Brendan's. Please consider telling us about your memories. Just type it up and e-mail it to me. I would like to hear about what you've been doing since graduation. Then maybe reflect on how then and now are related. Is there a thought, a memory from SBHS that stuck with you all this time that might have influenced your life's direction? Last updated: 08/29/2007
'81 Miriam Josephina Machado-Cooper (Machado-Luces)
As an adult; a lot of my morals, my respect for different cultures, my appreciation for the world was developed within the halls of St. Brendan. Mr. Piscatelli opened my eyes to the wonderful world of politics and so I came to Washington, DC because of him. My literature teacher introduced my to the works of Richard Wright and Alex Haley as well as several other writers, I know I am an Emmy Award winning writer today because of that education I received at St. Brendan. So thanks. My memories are great and my life is the best it could be. Primarily because of God secondly because of my parents and lastly because of my primary Catholic education.
Tina Marie Harris-Gordillo, ‘88 (Jul 2006) My years at St. B were some of the most memorable in my life--I couldn't have asked for a better high school experience!
Susana Giron-Reyes, ’86 (Aug 2006) Time
Nancy Estatella-Pillot, ’98 (Aug 2006) I miss High School so much!
Lourdes Leonor Elias Mattar, ’95 (Sep 2006) It's been a year since I moved to North Carolina w/ my family, and it's been great so far. Miss Miami but this was the best thing to do for my family.
Elizabeth Marie Caram, ’00 (Sep 2006) I am the person I am today because of my family and friends, and because of the faith and principles I learned at my wonderful high school. I am so proud to call myself a Sabre. My younger cousins, Melanie & Janelle Juan, will graduate from St. Brendan in a few years and I am thrilled that their parents chose a Catholic education from "little" St. Brendan and then "big" St. Brendan, as we all fondly call the schools. I always say that I have never worked as hard in my academic career than I did in my AP / Honors classes at St. Brendan. Definitely not at UF or FIU! From World History Honors to AP English to AP Spanish Literature... I have never again studied as hard. I was so blessed that my best friends (Monica Rizo, Natalie Granda and Caryn
Nunez) went to St. Brendan and we enriched our friendship there through
encounters, retreats and academic endeavors. We all continued our education at
the University of Florida, but I transferred to FIU after two semesters for
personal reasons. I will always love St. Brendan High!
'80 Robert Becerra I remember little rituals I had. In 1980, I was Captain of the Track and Field Team. I threw the shotput and the discus. Everyday, I would park my car, a 1976 Pontiac Grand Prix, under a tree by the Gym. I would park in the same spot every day. After school would let out, but before track practice, I would go to my car, sit in the driver's seat, open the windows and.....nap for about an hour and a half with a cool breeze blowing through the car. People would come by, wake me up, chat while I sat in the car, and then I'd go back to my nap... till it was time to suit up for practice. This was my after school routine every day. Conn O'Connell, class of '81 and Frank White, class of '80, Jorge Valdes, class of '80 and Bill Delahanty, class of '80 (I think?) among others were teammates that year in Field Events. Good Times.
'94 Jessica Legra Celorio: I remember so much, like it was only yesterday that we were running around for Cheerleading, telling Mrs. Morris we had already warmed up when in fact we had just started...Ana, Terry & Jenny eating my fresh hot "cookie" at lunch because I wasn't paying attention to my food...the fact that we stayed friends all through college & now with our families (thanks to the bonds we formed at St. B)...the fact that I KNOW my future children will be at St. B making memories of their own...The things I have learned - that it's NOT the end of the world, how we held such importance to things that I find to be so trivial looking back...& all the teachers we've had - Mr. Valle, Mrs. Morales & her "Z", Mrs. Krouch (that poor woman, I think our English class was the reason she was fired, she never stood a chance), Mr. Lund, Mr. Martinez-Ramos, Mrs. Adams (my favorite Anatomy teacher), Mrs. Berrish, Mrs. Barry, Mrs. De la Cova - the best CALCULUS teacher EVER, Mrs. Baldor, Mrs. Faz, Mrs. Valdes, Mr.Croke (how could I forget!), & Mrs. Morris...it's also good to see some teachers are still there, as well as some teachers now that were my classmates (Annette, Barbie, Vicky, & I almost forgot Patty!)...& ENCOUNTERS, who can forget those wonderful 3 days at encounter, running around for Peer Ministry to get "last minute items" for every day & Palanca runs!...Let's not forget STUDENT COUNCIL!!...It's funny how I was class treasurer during High School & I found myself planning & collecting all the money for the reunion 10 years later with the school secretary, Leslie Silverio Mendoza!...even funnier, I am keeping the account open for the 20 year reunion!!...St. B memories will be with me forever!
'95 Lourdes Leonor Elias Mattar: I remember being in school and how fun it was to be young and innocent. I can't believe it's been 10 years already time flies by so fast.
'95 Viviana Patricia Amaro-Goss: Life after St B was a little intimidating b/c you were out of your
88 Darcy Lynne Difede Velazquez (Sunday, January 15, 2006): My life has been very blessed since St. B's. Having my children has Been the most rewarding accomplishment in my life. As parents we are now Preparing our son for his last year of middle school prior to high School. St B's seems as if it was just yesterday with Dean Acosta ripping out the hem of my skirt and borrowing a stapler from coach to hem it Back up. Make the most of your high school years, live you life to the Fullest and maintain a high moral standard to guide you through life.
'88 Tracy Gundersen Hesla (Friday, June 10, 2005): I attended st. Brendan's my freshman and sophomore years ('94-'96). I Often think about the friends i made while i attended school there. I Have many wonderful memories from that time.
'99 Lourdes Suarez Sanchez (Thursday, October 13, 2005): My spirituality remains strong within my household thanks to things I learned
in high school
'86 Sandra Sanchez Perez (Saturday, October 15, 2005): Had lots of fun.. I'll never forget it!
Name: Lourdes Elias Year: 1995 Submitted Dec 21, 2005 WOW... IT'S BEEN 10 YEARS ALREADY..... WHAT CAN I SAY.. BUT THAT MY HIGH SCHOOL YEARS WERE THE BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE. THE GOOD OLD DAYS. FRIENDS.... I REMEMBER FR. JIM.. AND MY FAVORITE TEACHER... MR. G (GONZALEZ) HE WOULD CALL ME "LULU".. SOFTBALL.. THAT WAS MY LIFE HAD GOOD TIMES ON THE TEAM WITH THE GIRLS. NOW TIME HAS COME AND GONE BUT MY HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIES WILL BE WITH ME FOREVER.....
Barbara Manito Contreras Year: 1980 Submitted Nov. 29, 2005 It's been 25 years since I graduated and 20 since I've lived in the States. I go back to Miami every 3 yrs. or so and on every trip I go by school either to remind my daughters or myself where I grew up. Definitely, lots of memories!!! Some sad like Chichi´s death in 1978. Others still make me laugh!!!(to many to begin to tell) Others with regret!!!(I should have studied more in French). You may think it's all behind you. And yet, I was walking in a mall not having seen anyone in at least 15 years and someone yells my name. Just my first name, just once but it reached my heart in a beat. An old classmate!!! Voices, memories, times you will never forget. Thank you all for being a part of who I am today.
Melissa Southard Year: 1980 Submitted 06/28/05 Ray, how nice to hear from an OLD timer.. ha I remember the yearbook room, a cramped room at the end of B building. Many fun afternoons spent with Nancy, Lynn, Rosemary, Bob, Mr. P, Russell, Eddie...more, just can't recall. We had an 8 track player and only 3 tapes. ELO, Fleetwood Mack and I think.. Kansas.I can still sing them in my sleep. Sr. year we had an option of only taking 4 classes if your grades were good enough, so of course that's what we did. We would go to the Yearbook room, do our layouts and then race to Crandon beach. I had the best tan of my life that year! Melissa
John Flynn Year: 1995 Submitted 04/16/05 Hello Folks, John Flynn, class of 1995 here... Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was probably the first person to ever connect a school computer to the Internet. Sometime in my senior year, I was in the media center and inquired as to whether there was a phone line that could be used to connect the old Packard Bell 486 that was there to the 'net, to do research on colleges and universities. I remember we pulled a phone line from the apartment in the back of the media center and briefly connected it to the computer, and dialed out to my ISP at the time. The modem, however, was too slow (2400 baud) to be really useful, and the idea was scrapped. However, this was probably the first time a school computer was connected to the Internet, albeit unofficially and for only a few minutes! I was close to graduation at the time, so I never got to continue my quest to connect the school to the Internet, but it was fun to try. I remember spending quite a few lunch periods fiddling with that machine, and even writing a typing tutor program! Ahh, the memories... -John Flynn Class of 1995 official computer geek ;)
Pilar Vazquez Year: 2004 Submitted 4/15/05 WOW!! so many memories! My life has basically been started here. I can still remember the smell of the first day of my freshmen year. Being almost 5 years ago, still comes clean to my mind. I remember people I had in my classes throughout the years, as well as my teachers. I also remember all the topics we'd talk about and discussions we had. The parties, homecomings, formals, proms, shows, pep rallies and all that goes in that category. It's just something that will never leave you and will always be there as memories. All the people who went out and broke up and their reasons for it, everyone always knew within a minute. The class trips were always the funnest. Games! Games! Games! the rivals - Lourdes, Belen, Columbus, La Salle.. But St. Brendan always stood out over the rest. I will never forget all the memories, and all the lessons I've learned there. My time there was spent extraordinaire and will NEVER EVER be forgotten. If I had the chance to do it all over again I would. St.Brendan holds the best years of my life! GOOOO SABRES!!
Beatriz Marrero Dodd Year: 1987. Submitted 03/25/05 I have nothing but fond memories of my years at St B. I was fortunate enough to have Fr. Dennehey as a principal and friend. He and Fr. Jim were a duo to be respected. Mine were the years when the girls would all dodge Mrs. Acosta because our skirts were too short or we weren't wearing proper uniform shoes. I remember testing to get into St B and not really realizing what an
adventure I was about to embark upon. Everyday, as soon as that last bell rang
all the boys from Columbus next door would come flying over the fence to visit
the St B girls. We had some awesome parties in the cafeteria with
"Eruption" playing 80's songs covers. I had such a crush on the lead
singer, Rene. I remember looking forward to the pep rallies in the gym and the school spirit that resounded at each one. The freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors all sat together and chanted back and forth across the gym, Juniors!!! Seniors!!! I couldn't wait until I could sit on that side where the seniors sat and chant...seniors!! seniors!!!. On the last day of school every year we'd walk up to Burger King on 87th and Coral Way and have shaving cream fights. We had so much fun! Looking back, Fr. Dennehy and Fr. Jim took the time to know each and every one of us. They knew us all by name and knew enough about each one of us to make us feel that they really took an interest in our development. I'll never forget the nice things they did and the wonderful 4 years I spent at St. B. Unfortunately, no matter how much we said we'd never lose touch, after graduation everyone went their own way. I hope all my classmates are well and I wish you all the best always. Titi
Steve Aguerrebere, Class of 1988. Submitted 11/17/04 The year of 1988, was when the entire senior class came together as a family. It started with the nights of toliet paper wrapping and scavanger hunters, the open house parties and the getting into club with fake IDs. And then ended with the Senior Retreat, when we all connected as one family through the spiritual experiences that we shared.
Ray Vaughan, Class of 1978. Submitted 8/19/2004 Okay… a funny memory. As a member of the first full class of SBHS, we didn't have upper classmen to make our lives miserable. But that meant we had to start the traditions. Fr. Dennehy was, well, cheap when it came to air conditioning. Only the hottest of days got the A/C turned on. So ways to cool down were popular. I was very lucky to get to keep a stash of Pepsi in the faculty lounge refrigerator in the B building. Every day, during last period (which we had off) the hottest part of the day, Greg Olson and I would grab a drink from the fridge. But the torture came in the timing. We opened our cans in the hall outside a new classroom that just had some partitions to the hallway. So the entire class of freshmen would hear the sound of a soda can opening. The looks we got from the class were our reward. Keep in mind that ANY soda in the school was rare. This was years before vending machines appeared on campus. Greg and I did this for weeks, every time getting the same look from a bored hot and tired class. But one day the teacher had had enough. As we did it, she jumped into the hallway and gave us an earful about distracting her class. Mind you, we weren't talking… it was just the sound of a can opening. Lots of happy freshmen seeing the seniors getting chewed out. But you just don't embarrass a senior and get away with it. We went into planning mode. Checked with Jerry, the chef in the cafeteria, we got a six pack of diet 7-UP. That went in the fridge with our Pepsi. We hang out waiting, timing will be critical. Right on queue, Fr. Dennehy parks his golf cart outside the B building. Greg and I say hi, and as we're stepping in to get the Pepsi, "Father, would you like a diet 7-Up?" Yes, I knew his favorite drink. He agrees, and I hand him the can just as we walk down the hall. Just as expected, in just the right place, he opens his can. The class, waiting for us to make our mistake and get yelled at again sees that this time the situation is different. Unfortunately, the teacher doesn't see what they can see. She jumps into the hall about is about to yell when she sees it's Father. She chokes on her words and jumps back into the room. Her class loses it and starts laughing like crazy. Of course, Father can't accept an out of control class so he stops and asks if she's having trouble controlling her class. Revenge is sweet. The rest of the year, Greg and I kept out tradition with one modification… I would carry our two cans, both in the six pack holder. It was subtle, but you could hear the cans clang together. Same effect… but a compromise. We never got more than a dirty look from the teacher.
This is the end of the Reflections Section. But why? Because you haven't submitted something you remember. Turn off the TV, sit down at the keyboard and let the memories flow. Serious or funny, significant or trivial. Just write it up and send it to us.
08/29/2007 |
