Raise the Roof
For our Auction Paddle Raise, some years there are immediate needs, and some years we have the opportunity to expand and make additions to our school, such as the playfield a couple of years ago. This year, the need is clear and present. We need to repair the school roof. When your roof is leaking, which ours is in multiple places every time it rains, there is no greater need.
While deciding how to communicate this need, I found myself thinking about the rich history that has taken place beneath this roof. Our roof stood over the building when the main floor was still a church and the basement and attic were homes for nuns and priests. Over the past century it has protected students as they embarked on their learning journey, developed their faith, made friends, and learned a thing or two about themselves and life. Most of all, it stood for decades, mostly unnoticed, and protected our school so that these experiences could happen and memories could be made.
Our roof has withstood the harsh seasons of the Inland Northwest, the increasingly more frequent windstorms, and the test of time. It has been over 100 years since Kirtland Cutter sketched the plans for this building as he was designing other historic buildings, such as the Davenport and Patsy Clark’s. I believe he would be proud of the fortitude and resilience of his building. Yet, every structure has a lifespan, and the material underneath the ornate clay tile roof of Cataldo has reached its end. Now it is up to us to repair the wear and ensure that our grand building remains standing for the next century.
This project will be about preserving history and ensuring the future of our school for current students and those who will learn under our roof in the many, many years to come. It’s also about celebrating Cataldo as our home away from home, and our home needs a new roof. We are humbly asking for your support to help make this happen.
Zack Cunningham, Principal
Fund for Cataldo
The Fund for Cataldo is the cornerstone of fundraising efforts here at Cataldo.
Cataldo’s mission is to ensure that a quality Catholic education is available to anyone who seeks it. In order for this to be possible, we must maintain an affordable tuition, provide a robust fairshare tuition program, and manage our budget with care and intention.
The Fund for Cataldo aims at securing unrestricted gifts that go towards the operating budget of the school, allowing us to fulfill our mission and that of our three parishes. Gifts are gratefully received throughout the fiscal year (July 1 through June 30), and we encourage all to give what they can when they can.
Gifts may be made online here, through your FACTS tuition account, or by sending them to the school at 455 West 18th Avenue Spokane, WA 99203.