St. Mary’s hosted a very special event – Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito Returns Home – The Chopped Edition! It was a wonderful night filled with St. Mary’s alumni, friends, and supporters, including Mary Ann and her husband, Dr. Guy Esposito from the Class of 1960 and our celebrity sous chefs who faced off in the ultimate battle royale, Fr. Joe Rogliano ’75 and Msgr. David LiPuma ’78. Fr. Joe paired up with Chef Chris Daigler, owner and Executive Chef of Oscar’s, and Msgr. David teamed up with Chef Shea Zappia, Culinary Specialist at Sysco. After the panel of celebrity guest judges, including Joanna Pasceri, Mary Beth Billitier, and Fr. Peter Karalus ’87, tasted each team’s dish, and our auditors from the Business, Finance, and Entrepreneurship Academy tallied the results, it was decided that Team Zappia and LiPuma took home the crown!

Thank you to everyone who came out to see the competition and enjoyed the delicious meal to follow!

Stay tuned for more coverage from the night and some special donations that were made!

Thank you to our sponsors who made the night possible:

Dick ’64 and Karen ’65 Penfold, Au Naturel Boutique, Lacatalis, Chef’s Restaurant of Buffalo NY, Russell’s Steaks, Niagara University, OLV Charities, Pacific Underground Catering, Personal Touch Food Service, Inc. Inc., Chrusciki Bakery, Inc., SUNY Erie Community College, Sysco, Premium Mortgage Corporation, and The Galasso Foundation.

ACADEMIES SPOTLIGHT: The Journalism and Marketing Academy welcomes St. Mary’s alumna Katie Kawa ’06 back to speak about her job in the world of publishing at Rosen Publishing. A Canisius College graduate with degrees in English and Communications, Katie realized through an internship opportunity that journalism was not the path for her and found a way to pursue her love of writing and editing in the world of book publishing – right here in Buffalo, NY. This journey mirrors what The Academies at St. Mary’s High School are all about – try as many different things as you can now before you get to college and have to lock yourself into a major.

Students in the Academy were very engaged throughout the discussion, asking questions about the process of book creation – from the initial idea pitch to going to press. Katie has written over 250 books throughout her 12 years with Rosen Publishing and has edited hundreds more.

ACADEMIES SPOTLIGHT: The Law & Criminal Justice Academy recently welcomed CDR Shareef Calfee, a US Navy veteran, to speak with students about his role in the military, his work with Mercy Flight, and training his canines. As you can see, he brought along some special helpers, his bomb dog, Athos and his PTSDOGS, Canela and M’lady.

CDFR Shareef is the founder of Musketeer Canine LLC and PTSDogs 4 VETs, where he specializes in training service dogs for assistance with PTSD.

Thank you for your service, Commander!

The Walk-A-Thon has been a staple of St. Mary’s Homecoming Week for generations. We are so blessed to be located in such a wonderful community. Students took a five-mike stroll through Lancaster after taking pledges and raising money for student activities and programs that will be held throughout the year.

The Village of Lancaster is experiencing quite the revitalization, and we are so excited to be a part of it.

This past week, the administrative team at St. Mary’s High School honored the faculty and staff during our second annual Appreciation Day down in Ellicottville. After a quick breakfast meeting, everyone explored the shops in town before heading to The Ratchet Hatchet for some axe throwing or to Holiday Valley for a round of golf. Our Lancers then partook in a little wine tasting at the Winery of Ellicottville or beer tasting at Ellicottville Brewing Company before heading to a family style dinner at Villaggio.

It was a great day for the whole St. Mary’s team to spend some good, quality time together before the start of the school year.

We are so blessed to have the best of the best teach and guide our students. These remarkable men and women put in so much time and effort to plan the perfect lessons, grade papers and tests, moderate clubs, coach teams, and so much more. They do so much more than teach, especially given the demands of their own lives. They are mentors and role models, and deserve to be celebrated.

Thank you for all you do.

Freshmen Orientation took place on Monday and Tuesday, July 11th and 12th right at St. Mary’s. Orientation marks the first time the Class of 2026 was together in the same room! Our newest Lancers heard from our administrative team, walked through their schedules, met some teachers, and played some icebreakers to get to know one another.

Here’s to the next four years… what a time it will be!