St. Teresa from Avila raised $ 25 million for a new school – Nevada Appeal

Many generations of students have visited St. Teresa from the Avila Catholic School, which raises funds for a new facility adjacent to its church property. Efforts are not lost by current students.

“This is the school where my mother and all her siblings went as children, and my Jujitsu coach and many family, but I think a new school will be better for many reasons,” said eighth Matthew Johnson. “It will be out of the highway, we will have more accessibility for a broader range, and we will have better sports opportunities, as they said.”

St. Theresa, one of the four Catholic elementary schools in the Diocese of Renault, was established in 1957 and is one of the few parishes to have its school separately from its church.

Commission members have announced a $ 25 million capital campaign to build a new facility in a very close to the church. The new building will give students the opportunity to participate in a weekly table and activities, according to supporters.

Jim Cavilia of Alison Mackenzie, who is participating in the Financial Committee, which raises funds for the project, said the existing school continues to act but began to show its age.

“It takes considerable and expensive attention to continue,” Cavilia said. “Our choice was, we are building a new school or building a new building to continue.”

St. Teresa is the only Catholic school south of Renault and serves approximately 280 students with 30 employees.

The Chief Peggy Burger, who has been staff at the school for about 13 years, said leaving the older building would be very “bitter”. But with its age comes a deterioration of equipment and structural components. She said at night that she often feels “inhabited by spirits.”

“This is just one of those old -fashioned buildings that has memories along the hall,” she said. “Literally so many things go wrong. We had the original boilers and looked at things to replace the heat. The walls of the cement blocks were disintegrated. “

The new location will bring the school at a walking distance to the church property, St. Teresa from the Catholic community of Avila, to 3000 N. Lompa Lane. The current church of St. Theresa was built more than 20 years ago after moving from its original home to 449 W. King Street, and the parish acquired the adjacent property with the intention of setting up a school there. Cavilia called it ahead and thought that reduces any legal entanglement.

The goal is to unite with the church, start fresh and expand programs.

Vincent Roth, who has been in eighth grade and has been in St. Theresa for six years, said he enjoyed his academics, but hopes that the greater facility will include more access to sports.

“The school is quite good as it is, but with the greater school I have the feeling that there will be many more things we can do and we should not travel to a particular area to train for our athletics,” Roth Roth He said.

The campaign became public this month during all St. Teresa tables.

“From the point of view of faith and much of the school is the component of faith, it is certainly easier or better to promote this component of faith and this Catholic identity when you are in the neighborhood with the clergy there and have access to The church and the sacraments and the things that go with it, “Cavilia said.

Jan Sullivan, co -chairman of the campaign, launched his pre -school program in 2009, for which he will have his own wing in the new building. About 60 children will be accommodated in the new facility. Sullivan said the current pre -school facility once served as a monastery for the nuns of the daughters of charity, who sponsor St. Theresa.

“Our bishop is our honorary chairman and he talks to all the tables,” Sullivan said. “So now we have trained all our volunteers who have made personal contacts with the people we have asked for promises. But the answer was excellent. We had people from the whole community who are not necessarily Catholic, but they say, “We would like to help that too.”

“We have about half the money promised or engaged,” Cavilia said. “We had a few very large lead donors who want to remain anonymous. This gave us a very big beginning. “

Burger said there were opportunities to attract participation and donations.

Carson City Mayor Lori Baguel was enthusiastic about the project partly because of his own experience at the school.

“Efforts to raise funds to build a new St. Theresa School are a testament to the power of this community,” Bagwell said. “As someone who attends St. Theresa as a young girl, it is heartbreaking to see the same spirit of generosity and support that shaped my own education continues to inspire those who guarantee that future generations will have the same opportunity to grow In faith and knowledge. “

For information, go to sts.org.