CHARLOTTE — The Diocesan School Board has vacancies beginning with the 2017-’18 school year. Knowing that this board is advisory/consultative to the superintendent and the bishop on matters relating to all diocesan schools, the board members put aside individual school or parish needs to work in the framework of the entire diocese.
To be eligible to serve, a board member must be a practicing Catholic, be a participating member of a diocesan parish, be at least 25 years old, be able to work effectively with others in achieving consensus, be willing to make necessary and substantial time commitments to attend meetings and related board activities including active participation on board committees, and have a genuine interest in and commitment to the diocesan school system.
The term of office is three years. Board members may serve two full or partial consecutive terms.
For details and an application, email Theresa Ramirez in the Catholic Schools Office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Applications and a pastor’s letter of verification/recommendation are due by Feb. 17.
Interviews will be conducted with selected applicants. Appointments are made by the bishop.
FLETCHER — Canongate High School, an independent high school in the Catholic tradition, is celebrating after bringing home first-place honors from the 2016 North Carolina Theatre Conference High School Play Festival, recently held at Gardner Webb University.
The school’s theatre program, led by director Jennifer Murrey, presented “The Crane Wife,” a traditional Japanese folk tale. Not only did the young school win a superior rating and the Judges Choice Award for Distinguished Play, Murrey won an Excellence in Directing award and senior Quinn Kelsch was honored for excellence in acting. Additionally, the school won a Festival Spirit Award and Excellence in Set and Properties honors. As a result of winning the Judges Choice Award, they were invited to perform at the North Carolina state conference in Greensboro.
Before going to the state conference, the Canongate troupe traveled to Asheville Catholic and Immaculata School to preview the play before local audiences. The week before the state conference, Canongate students joined with Hendersonville High School actors to perform their plays, raising funds to offset both schools’ travel expenses and bringing awareness of Canongate to the Asheville area.
Canongate went on to present “The Crane Wife” at the state competition at Greensboro College Nov. 17-18. There they competed against 17 other high schools, and returned to Fletcher with both a superior rating and the Excellence in Puppetry Award.
The NCTC High School Play Festival is the largest high school theatre event in the Southeast. This year, 3,000 stu-dents from 90 schools performed 126 plays. The NCTC High School Play Festival is made possible with support from the N.C. Arts Council, The Beattie Foundation, Lincoln Financial Group, the Moore County Unrestricted Endowment Fund, and Barbizon Lighting Co.
— Karen Kater, Special to the Catholic News Herald