Celebrating the grand opening of the new Saint Mary’s High School Virginia G. Piper Education Center are, from left: Fr. Fred Adamson, Vicar General; Anthony Ehmman, Capital Campaign chairman; Bishop Thomas Olmsted; MaryBeth Mueller, superintendent of Catholic Schools; Mark Mauro, principal of Saint Mary’s High School; Dan Withers, general contractor; and Pat Farrell, Capital Campaign director (submitted photo).

    The building provides the space to enhance the fine arts curriculum at Saint Mary’s High School.

    Mark Mauro, principal of Saint Mary’s stated, “The new building bridges the tradition of Saint Mary’s past and provides invaluable educational opportunities for the future students of Saint Mary’s. We are extremely grateful to the benefactors who helped to make this day possible.”

    It was a good month for the school, which also was the recipient of a refurbished football field on Dec. 4. Kurt Warner, quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, along with associates from The Home Depot, organizers from the nonprofit organization KaBOOM!, volunteers from the city of Phoenix Parks & Recreation Department, Saint Mary’s High School and members of the Phoenix community joined forces to completely refurbish the football field at Monterey Park (home field for the Saint Mary’s Knights), in just one day.

    The refurbishment of the field, located at 3rd and Oak streets, was part of The Home Depot NFL Neighborhood MVP program. The football field refurbishment project will impact the more than 114,000 students and adults who use the Monterey Park field. The renovation will provide a great place to play for the nearby public and private schools and community programs.