A woman looks over auction items at St. Anthony School’s 70th anniversary gala April 22 at the Koolau Ballrooms. (Amanda Therese Photography)
St. Anthony School in Kailua marked its 70th year with an evening event at the Koolau Ballrooms in Kaneohe on April 22.
The “Under the Stars Platinum Gala” included dinner, a silent and live auction, music, and emceeing by local entertainer Sweetie Pacarro. Principal Bridget Olsen and the Diocese of Honolulu’s vicar general and St. Anthony alumnus, Msgr. Gary Secor, shared memories from over the years. A slideshow of submitted photos from alumni, parents, faculty and staff was a crowd favorite.
(Photo courtesy Amanda Therese Photography)
The Parent-Student-Teacher Guild has been fundraising for new early learning center and primary school playgrounds over the last two years. Money raised from the gala will go toward that goal. Between ticket sales, auction items, and a star donation tree, the event raised $53,551.
With that amount, the PTSG has collected an estimated $130,000 toward the approximately $175,000 needed to build a new early learning center playground. The primary school playground also needs to be redone.
(Photo courtesy Amanda Therese Photography)
At the end of the night, St. Anthony’s pastor, Father William Kunisch, also announced a new capital campaign to refurbish the school.
New windows throughout the school, air conditioning the middle school classrooms, renovating the parish hall, redoing the school basketball court, updating classrooms, and enhancing campus safety and security are among those items to be upgraded.
Founded in 1952, St. Anthony’s was the first private school in Kailua, starting with kindergarten through third-grade classes and gradually expanding through eighth grade. The school added an early learning center in 1991. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet made up most of the faculty and staff when the school first opened. Over the years, more and more lay employees came aboard until the last sister left in 2015.
