Track Team’s Big Win When it Matters Most
Saturday's heroes: Elias Merola, Tobias Volpe, Charlie Quinn, Andrew Hughes, Alex Sideris, Owen Watters, Sarah Roberts, Charlotte Pellathy, Nora Raybould, and Claire Pellathy. Not pictured: Daniel Illingworth, Lucia Volpe, Sam Perez, Nora Rojas, and Tobias Petruzzi. You all won gold medals for character.
Really, we try not to send too many emails. But sometimes there's too much news. When our students carry the Light, it would be wrong to hide it under a bushel. Here's the latest story:
On Saturday, the Martin Saints track team had their first meet of the spring season in Wilmington. Over 900 athletes from 24 schools. This morning, the director of the meet - Mr. Antwain Flowers, a Wilmington youth director who has been coaching for twenty years - sent this unforgettable email about our team:
Dear Martin Saints Classical High School Administration,
I am writing to share my sincere appreciation and commendation for your Track & Field coaches and student-athletes following their participation in the Diamond State Invitational.
I have been coaching since 2005 and hosting meets since 2016 at multiple levels. Throughout that time, I have traveled across the country and worked within both school and community-based programs. I have encountered many outstanding teams, but I can genuinely say I have never experienced an entire program—coaches and athletes alike—that demonstrated the level of compassion, decorum, and community that your team displayed.
The Diamond State Invitational is a significant meet, as it marks the start of the season for many programs. It is extremely important to me that the event runs smoothly from planning through completion. Due to the cold weather, several members of my cleanup crew were unable to stay, and I anticipated remaining at the stadium for hours afterward to ensure everything was properly taken care of.
Without being asked, your coaches and student-athletes stayed behind and helped clean the entire stadium. That level of initiative and selflessness was remarkable. What stood out even more was that after assisting, they took the time to thank me for hosting the meet and even located and returned a lost phone from the field.
Considering the distance your team traveled, their actions were especially meaningful and spoke volumes about the culture and leadership within your program. Their behavior reflected positively not only on your athletic department but on your entire school community.
It is important to me that you know how exceptionally well your team represents Martin Saints Classical High School. The experience left a lasting impression on me—so much so that I found myself wishing my own grandson could grow up in an environment surrounded by such positivity, respect, and character.
Thank you for fostering a program that clearly prioritizes integrity, community, and excellence both on and off the track. My most memorable moment from the day was not a performance result or the smooth execution of the meet, but the character displayed by your team.
With sincere appreciation,
Mr. Antwain Flowers
Director of Youth Development
West End Neighborhood House
Wilmington, DE
To our student-athletes and coaches, THANK YOU.
Many times in life, sacrificial virtue and service goes unnoticed. The secret to growing good character is to live virtuously and kindly, even when (perhaps especially when) nobody is looking and noticing.
However, every once in a while, somebody does notice. As educators, we want our students to know when they are appreciated. We want to teach our students that their kindness makes an impact. What they did on Saturday is the kind of thing builds up a community and resists the forces of chaos, laziness, and indifference. What happened Saturday...and what happened on Friday when their parents volunteered to run the fish fry...are the kinds of things that slowly but truly renew our society and our Church. Thank you, students and parents, and thank you Coaches Kelly Pellathy, Bridget Burke, and David Merola.
Sometimes prospective families will consider applying to Martin Saints, but then shy away because we're a small school, a new school. They sometimes tell us that they prefer something bigger and more established. But to people harboring those kinds of doubts, I want to say: no, on the contrary, being part of a new school is a gift. Small is beautiful. Being a pioneer and helping to start an authentically Catholic school in our day and age takes courage. We no longer live in a majority Christian and reliably wholesome culture. When our students participate in founding and growing our school, they learn what it takes to be a faithful witness in this day and age. There are many small examples - like on Saturday, cleaning up a stadium, which is maybe not so small - which show that they're learning the lesson.
It's Holy Week. Our own virtue does not save us. Only the passion, death, and resurrection of Our Lord truly has the power to save. We need to immerse ourselves in this week's liturgies and hold fast to that. But when we do hold fast to the saving mysteries, everything about our lives changes. When we are living a faithful life, we do not escape suffering and the pain of sin. If we follow our Lord's path, we will have to sacrifice too. But at the same time, the gifts and fruits of the Spirit are real, and you can see them in the community's life.
