Fathers' Club

Welcome to the Saint Thomas Academy Fathers’ Club

We’re excited you’ve joined us for the upcoming school year. The Fathers’ Club is an organization that includes all dads and male guardians of Saint Thomas Academy Cadets. By the nature of your son attending Saint Thomas Academy, you are a member of the Fathers' Club!

You’re invited to join us for our Annual Meeting and Kickoff, typically held in September. Our Executive Team also meets twice a month to organize our activities for the year, connect with other STA constituents and collaborate with school leadership. If you’re interested in becoming a part of our efforts, drop us a note at fathersclub@cadets.com.

The Fathers’ Club engages in a wide range of activities throughout the year designed to support the school, provide additional experiences for our sons, and have a little fun ourselves! Some of our most notable activities include:

❖ First Friday Mass - 7:15 AM in the Saint Thomas Academy Chapel
o Join us in the school cafeteria for coffee and conversation after a short Mass.
Every first Friday of the month!

❖ The FC Burger Stand at Home Football Games
o Meet other dads and help with our fundraising as we provide our Signature Burger
Baskets at all home football games. Be on the lookout for our volunteer sign-up list.

❖ Fathers’ Club Spotlight Events
o Join us in celebrating our teams, clubs, and activities all year with food and fun!

❖ Fall and Winter Socials
o Connect with other dads and alumni for fun and relaxation!

❖ Trivia Night 2024
o Gather your team and play to win! This annual extravaganza is a great opportunity to
kick the winter blues and enjoy a great night fellowship and competition.

❖ The Mother - Son Dance
o The Fathers’ Club proudly hosts this annual spring event for our upper school sons and
the most special lady in their life!

❖ The Father - Son Banquet
o All Cadets and their fathers or male guardians are invited to join us in the spring of 2024
for our annual banquet, awards, and keynote speaker.

❖ The Fathers’ Club BBQ and Smoker at the Military Ball
o We provide valet parking at the spring Military Ball, then gather afterward to celebrate!

Join us for one or all our events and activities. We hope you will make the most of your time at Saint Thomas Academy by participating in the many activities at the school throughout the year. Reach out to me or to any of the fathers on the team to ask about how you can get involved. We look forward to getting to know you and your son!

Jason Kelecic
2023-2024 Saint Thomas Academy Fathers' Club President
fathersclub@cadets.com

“FOR OUR SONS”

Calendar

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Apr 21 2024

Father Son Banquet Subscribe to Alerts

4:00 PM

MISSION AND TRADITION:

The overall mission of the Fathers' Club has always been threefold:

To support the goals and mission of the school;
To support our sons in an effort to enhance their overall experience while at Saint Thomas Academy; and
To provide a positive leadership role model for our sons.

The Fathers' Club continues that mission and the tradition of providing interactive events that enhance the Saint Thomas Academy experience for the fathers and boys of our community, as well as for Saint Thomas Academy families and the greater Saint Thomas Academy community. All Fathers' Club activities are intended to be consistent with and support each of the school's goals and to provide positive role modeling as we develop our sons to be young men of dignity, integrity and respect.

Events are usually dads-only or joint events with the Saint Thomas Academy Mothers' Club, providing an opportunity to get to know each other and to better understand and appreciate the greater Saint Thomas Academy community. Our membership meetings throughout the school year provide an opportunity to hear about Saint Thomas Academy policy, programming, and academics from the administration and academic staff, as well as a chance to discuss issues of concern to help direct Fathers' Club initiatives and activities.

The Shield - Symbolizes our duty to protect and keep our kids free from harm.

The Square - We must take an active, measured, and deliberate role in building our sons into fine young men. We recognize and call upon St. Joseph the Carpenter as our role model.

The Cannon - A depiction of the Father’s Club mascot, ‘Cadet Thunder’. Built and donated to the STA Ranger Team in 2016 to create excitement, rally enthusiasm, and honor our heritage at STA games and events.

The Two Crosses - Pulled the official Crest to demonstrate our commitment and acknowledge our foundation in the traditions of Saint Thomas Academy.

Events

Trivia Night - February 3

Spring Trivia Night – Hosted by the FatherS' Club

Join the fun and help build our STA community!
Saturday, February 3, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.

Time to dust off our trivia acumen! Trivia Night returns this spring! This is a great opportunity to connect with old and new friends in the Saint Thomas Academy community with a chance to win cash and prizes!

Find More Details Here

First Friday Masses

Saint Thomas Academy Chapel

A long standing STA Fathers’ Club tradition is the First Friday Mass. This 20-25 minute mass followed by coffee & pastries is a great way to start the day and a great faith example to our sons. Fr. Pavlak’s homilies are always thought provoking and memorable. It is an especially great way for dads’ and sons to start their day together at Mass.

Fathers' Club Meeting

The Fathers’ Club meets regularly to plan events throughout the year, to engage with the school and to build community amongst the dads and guardians of Cadets. We hold quarterly General Assembly meetings where we welcome all fathers to attend to get updates about STA and to hear from speakers both inside and outside the Academy halls.

We also hold monthly planning meetings. Whether you want to get more engaged with the Fathers’ Club or just hear about what is being planned for the year, please consider joining us for these meetings and get to know the guys.

Meeting dates will be updated regularly on the calendar on the Fathers’ Club page, and reminders will be sent in the weekly newsletter from the school.

Military Ball Valet and Smoker

Fathers' Club valet parking is a long-standing tradition and one of our most volunteered-for events each year. Arriving early for camaraderie and some helpful instructions, we then greet the Cadets and their dates at Flynn Hall entrance before parking their cars. Available roles include: Traffic Directors, Valets, Golf Cart Drivers, and Key Masters. Once the cars are parked, the fathers head down to the FC garage for a well-deserved barbeque cooked up by our famed Grill Masters!

Spotlight Events

One highly visible role of the Fathers’ Club is the “Spotlight Event”. The Fathers’ Club is now in our tenth year of attempting to master the perfect hamburger on our rolling grill – the Holy Smoker. We cook burgers for families, fans and participants of home games and big events throughout the school year.

Any sport or activity can request a "Spotlight” and with the help of volunteer fathers we will show up with a grill crew to support the Cadets. The goal is to encourage families to come early, eat dinner with friends, and show community spirit!

Mother/Son Dance - March 23, 2024

There are few relationships in young man’s life more sacred than that with his mother. At St Thomas Academy, we recognize the importance of this bond, and while we value parental influence year-round, we emphasize and celebrate one night in particular for mom. The Mother Son Dinner Dance is the Father’s Club highlight event of the year, where mothers and sons dress to the 9’s and enjoy an evening of good food, dancing music and most of all, quality time with each other.

March 23, 2024

Omni Vikings Lake Hotel
2611 Nordic Way, Eagan

Register Here

Father/Son Banquet - April 21, 2024

This annual event brings Fathers and Sons together for an evening filled with inspirational speakers, annual awards honoring achievements by Cadets and fathers and a momentary pause in life to bond. It’s a great event that has been part of the Cadet community for decades and is common to have nearly all father/ sons attend.

When: Sunday, April 21

More Information Here

Fathers and Sons and Virtues

Fathers and Sons and Virtues
The Aquinas Experience

Fathers, want to spend an hour with your son talking about the great things of life (Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, Justice. Fortitude and Temperance)?

The Saint Thomas Academy Fathers Club is sponsoring The Aquinas Experience, a chance for fathers to think about the men they are, walking together with their sons, thinking about the men they want to be.

Using our patron Saint Thomas Aquinas as a guide, fathers and sons will spend an hour every other week for seven weeks, discussing the great things, contemplating, and acting on the most important ideas of life. There will be discussion, speakers and service activities. And of course, pop and pizza.

We'll meet at the STA Dining Hall (and possible other locations). Our first date is January 21 and following proposed dates are February 4, March 3, April 7 and 14 and May 5 and 19.

Our Chaplain, Father Combs will be our guide. We are seeking Theology class extra credit and you can earn needed service hours.

If you are interested, please sign up here. We will be using as a guide, Jason M. Craig's new book, The Tradition of Virtues According to St. Thomas Aquinas, A Study for Men. You can purchase the book on Amazon. Also, the Fathers Club will have copies you can borrow; just let us know at signup.

If you have any questions or would like to be involved in planning, please contact Stephen Kelly at scpkelly@gmail.com.

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Saint Thomas Aquinas, OP (1225 AD– 1274 AD) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, an influential philosopher and theologian, and a jurist in the tradition of scholasticism from the county of Aquino in the Kingdom of Sicily. He is a Doctor of the Church, and known in Catholic theology as Doctor Angelicus ("Angelic Doctor"), Doctor Communis ("Universal Doctor") and Doctor Humanitatis ("Doctor of Humanity/Humaneness").1

Archbishop John Ireland chose to name our institution Saint Thomas to give direction to the school based on his work, notably his belief in the unity of faith and reason and his commitment to “inquiry into the reasons and principles of things.”2

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas
2 https://www.stthomas.edu/mission/index.html

Annual Fathers' Club Awards:

The Archbishop John R. Roach Volunteer Award:

This award was established soon after the passing of the Archbishop in honor of his memory and his many lasting contributions to the school. Archbishop Roach was a professor, dean of students, and founder and headmaster of the Academy in Mendota Heights.

Each year the Fathers’ Club honors an individual volunteer who has demonstrated uncommon leadership and effort in the betterment of the school.

Previous Archbishop John R. Roach Volunteer Award Recipients:

1996 – Bob Lannan
1997 – John O’Keefe
1998 – Pat McCarthy
1999 – Ken Petschel
2000 – Tom Raih
2001 – John Greving
2002 – Jim Mulrooney ’61
2003 – Bill Makens
2004 – Frank Lang and Gene Nelson
2005 – Tim Marrinan ’63
2006 – Rosemary Mossberg
2007 – Suzy Urick
2008 – Joe Jansen '83
2009 – Bill Sullivan '69
2010 – John McDonald, Jr. '73 (posthumously)
2011 – Mary Pat FitzPatrick
2012 – Joe Nuñez '77
2013 – Mike Peterson
2014 – Jim Weichert
2015 – Sharon D'Agostino
2016 – Thor & Paula Raarup
2017 – Monica Strout (posthumously)
2018 – Ken Weisenburger
2019 - Kelly Rowe
2020 - Paul Schmidt
2021 - Scott Applebaum
2022 - Tania & Jack Koegel
2023 - Jill & Peter Treacy

The Michael Rongitsch Faculty Award:

This award was established after the untimely passing of Mike Rongitsch, beloved STA mathematics teacher and coach, to honor an STA faculty or staff member who best exemplifies the spirit of the Academy and honors the memory of Mike.

Previous Michael Rongitsch Faculty Award Recipients:
2005 – Dave Bassett ’62
2006 – Bill Culbertson
2007 – Dave Ziebarth
2008 – CW4 Paul Preblich
2009 – Caroline Little
2010 – Josh Kaeppe
2011 – Mike Byrne '63
2012 – Wendy Fox
2013 – Julius Tangwe
2014 – LTC Mike DePuglio
2015 – Tom Klein '89
2016 – Tom Weber
2017 – Jean Williams
2018 – Doug Hoverson
2019 - Erick Westerback
2020 - SFC Douglas Hurd
2021 - STA Faculty and Staff
2022 - Father Mark Pavlak
2023 - Luke Marks '11

The Nicholas Masciopinto '03 Leadership Award:

This award memorializes the life of Nicholas Masciopinto ’03, who taught us how to live, laugh and learn fully, without judgment or prejudice and with hope, faith and perseverance.

This award is given to a junior student, who, through dedicated and disciplined commitment, has exercised his talents to the betterment of the Academy and the community at large.

Previous Nicholas Masciopinto '03 Leadership Award Recipients:
2007 – Matthew Miley ’08
2008 – Ryan Robinson '09
2009 – Conor McFadden '10
2010 – Patrick Griffin '11
2011 – Matthew Goldammer '12
2012 – Nicholas Waldvogel '13
2013 – Brock Carlson '14
2014 – Connor Knapp '15
2015 – Nate Chaffee '16
2016 – Jakob Michel '17
2017 – Cam Cashin '18
2018 - Thomas Thurlow '19
2019 - Nicholas Tucci '20
2020 - Jack Sexton '21
2021 - Robert Cunningham '22
2022 - Emmett Wolf '23
2023 - Patrick Koegel '24

Meet our Advisory Board Members & Class Reps!

We welcome all fathers and male guardians who would like to participate in the Fathers’ Club planning team. We have a number of events that are chaired by dads that could use a co-chair to help out and to learn the role. We also encourage team Captain's Parents and Class Reps to connect with the Fathers' Club any time we have a chance to work together. Think about joining the team!

2023 - 2024 Members:

President – Jason Kelecic
Vice President – OPEN
Secretary and Communications Chair – Tom Horton
Treasurer – Paul Culligan
Consigliere – Jack Koegel
Past President Advisor – Robert Wollan
Mother/Son Dance Chair – John Gainor
Mother/Son Dance Co-Chair – OPEN
Father/Son Banquet Chair – Lester Bagley
Father/Son Banquet Co-Chair – Sean Harlin
First Friday Mass/Hospitality Chair – Peter Nguyen
Trivia Night Chair – Mark Korf
Trivia Night Co-Chair – OPEN
Spotlight Chairs – Tom Audette and Jack Koegel
Spotlight Grill Masters – Ken Audette and Peter Nguyen
Special Event Chairs and Advisors – Wade Tobias, Chad Anderson, Dave Stavseth, Jim Zavoral, Shawn Meyer

Current Families

Prospective Families

Community