SOS-Save Our School
Saint
Cyril Of Alexandria
Roman Catholic Church
153 Penn Boulevard,
East Lansdowne, PA 19050

Home Page              Fund-raiser Page           SOS Progress Report 
Click here to sign the guestbook
Click here to read the guestbook
To see some of the media coverage click here 

Home SOS-Save Our School Parish Bulletin Parish Staff Religious Education Parish School Parish Organizations Parish History Catholic Links

Click here for our School Web Page and information about our Learning Support Program 

 

Click here for school registration information, and to read Fr. Kearns letter about BLOCS help in formulating a 10 year plan for the school.

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ST. CYRIL SCHOOL

Our school is currently accepting registrations for Kindergarten through 8th grade. Families are invited to "Open House" every Tuesday between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM for a tour of the school and to meet the staff and students. You can also schedule a personal tour by calling the school office at 610-623-1113.
For those families who are new to the school, proof of vaccinations from the child’s doctor, a birth certificate, a baptismal certificate and the appropriate registration fee must accompany the registration form. For more information click here, or please call the school office at 610-623-1113.

 

     

From Fr. Kearn's sermon opening Catholic Schools Week January 27, 2008

Catholic Schools: Light The Way

Today we are grateful to almighty God for His many blessings on our parish. We are blessed with a parish school and a wonderful principal, Sister Barbara Montague. We have this school because of the many generations of people who have gone before us.

It is the parents and grandparents and great-grandparents of today’s students who have made it possible for these fine young men and women to attend this school. This is a school where cultural diversity is lived out in honest interaction. We are a Catholic school but we share respect with families from other faith traditions. It is our racial and cultural diversity which makes us a vital force for good in our neighborhood.

The teachers, administration and the school and rectory staffs work well together to provide an excellent experience for the children. The students here at St. Cyril School learn not only academic subjects. The students are challenged to form moral values and civic attitudes which will prepare them for their future.

Through this moral, spiritual and academic formation our students can recognize that their parents and grandparents have made great sacrifices for them. These sacrifices remind us of the great price which Christ paid so that we might see the light of salvation. That light has been passed on from generation to generation.

It is up to today’s generation of students to experience the Light which is showing them the way to happiness. In the excitement of knowing the love of their ancestors, our students will realize that they can hope for a brighter future. Through the guidance of God who surrounds them, these young people, the hope of the future, will bring good news to those desperately in need of someone to light the way.

Photos from Catholic Schools Week Open House 1-27-2008
Click on the small photo thumbnail to open a larger version.

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From The Delaware County Daily Times 01-25-2008

 

SOS / DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE NEWS

Formerly the "Save St. Cyril School Committee" has a new name but the goal is the same – to keep our parish school open.

Thanks to everyone who have helped us succeed in our efforts to keep St. Cyril School open. June 2008 will see Tommy Geromichalos and his classmates graduate from St. Cyril School. Hopefully, we can keep St. Cyril School open and continue to be an important part of the East Lansdowne and Upper Darby communities. Please look for our committees plans for various fundraisers during the 2007-2008 school year on the St. Cyril website below.

Click here to read Tommy's wish and the news article that helped get things started.
Click here to see the history of the SOS effort with links to news articles.

 

 

MODELL’S & THE PHILLIES TEAMED-UP FOR AN AUCTION TO BENEFIT ST. CYRIL "SAVE OUR SCHOOL" FUNDRAISING EFFORT

Photo from Delaware County Daily Times April 3, 2007

Phillies bullpen coach Ramon Henderson returns the ball to David Wolfson, who threw out the first pitch of the season opener.  David's father, local developer Steve Wolfson submitted the winning bid of $5,000 and threw in an additional $5,000 donation.  They also won 4 seats in the first row behind home plate with Tommy G, along with food and VIP parking.

Click here to read the News of Delaware County coverage.

The eBay auction is over.  The winning bid was $5,000 and an additional $5,000 donation was thrown in, with the proceeds going to St. Cyril Save Our School Fund.  Thank you to Mitchell Modell, Modell's Sporting Goods, Steve Wolfson, and the Phillies for their generous assistance.  

To further support the effort, Modell's sold exclusive "Tommy G, I Believe" t-shirts with 100% of proceeds going towards keeping Saint Cyril of Alexandria school open.

Click here to see related news articles.

 

 

From the Daily Times 03-23-2007

 

 

Tommy Geromichalos received the MICHAEL BRENNAN COURAGE AWARD from the Boomer Esiason Foundation at their 14th Annual awards ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.  The award is for tremendous courage in achieving his goals despite battling CF.  The ceremony was held Saturday, March 10th.
Click here for information on the Boomer Esiason Foundation

 

 

ST. CYRIL SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Formerly the "Save St. Cyril School Committee" has a new name but the goal is the same – to keep our parish school open. 

SOS / DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE NEWS

ST. CYRIL ALL-CLASS REUNION

We would like to thank all who were involved in the planning of the all-class reunion.  The St. Cyril School Development Committee continues to devote so much time and energy to the efforts of helping to keep our parish school running. The contributions made by everyone is so very much appreciated. May God continue to bless all of us with His guidance.

Our Alumni committee held a reunion to benefit the Save our School Fund. The reunion was Saturday, March 31st from 7:00 until 11:00pm. We began the evening with Mass at 5:00pm followed with a school tour.  We had another great turnout, chanced off loads of fabulous prizes, and had the drawing for the Super 50-50.  Congressman Joe Sestak attended and it was covered by news from the local TV stations.

March 07 109.jpg (156294 bytes)  Click here for photos from the Reunion March 07 110.jpg (162638 bytes)

 

 

DANCE-A-THON

The Dance-a-thon was held this year on March 30th in the Social Hall.  This years Dance-A-Thon raised $8,800. Thank you to everyone who generously donated.

 

Saint Cyril's Alumni Committee

Donations are still coming in from our first annual Alumni Fund Raising Drive.  If you are an alumnus of friend of the school and have not received a mailing from the Alumni Committee and would like to be added to our mailing list for notice of future events, please contact Jim Gray at jeg19026@mail.com or send your name, address and year of graduation or other affiliation to:

St. Cyril Alumni Committee
P.O. Box 1094
Lansdowne, PA 19050

Donation can also be sent to this address
Click here to see our progress

The following is a letter from our current principal for the first annual alumni appeal:

Saint Cyril's Alumni Committee

Any Alumni or friend of the Parish who would like to be added to our mailing list for notice of future events please contact Jim Gray at jeg19026@mail.com or send your name, address and year of graduation or other affiliation to:

St. Cyril Alumni Committee
P.O. Box 1094
Lansdowne, PA 19050

 

 

The readers of The Delaware County Daily Times voted the story of Tommy Geromichalos and his efforts to keep our school open as the top story of the year.

 

Gil Spencer wrote a nice end of the year article about Tommy and the Save Our School effort in the Daily Times on December 29, 2006.

 

 

With the coming of the new year, a number of news articles have been published about Tommy and the Save Our School effort including a cover story in Instructor Magazine, a national publication for teachers, and more articles in the Daily Times.
To see some of the media coverage click here or go to:
www.saintcyril.org/fundraisernews.htm 

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Click here to see the Instructor Magazine article and other articles and news about the SOS effort.

Times010707a.jpg (503030 bytes)

 

 

The Delaware County Daily & Sunday Times ran 9 front pages stories between January 22nd and December 31st.

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April 10th 2006: The Editor Of The Daily Times writes about his decision to put Tommy on the front page.
Times041006a.jpg (444380 bytes)Click here to read the article.

 

 

"THE CYRIL CONNECTION"

The 7th & 8th grade students, with the help of 8th grade teacher Jeanne Cashwell, have written their own newsletter for the school.
Click here to read the November 2006 edition of "The Cyril Connection"

Excerpt from "The Cyril Connection":

 

 

Saint Cyril's Alumni Committee

Any Alumni or friend of the Parish who would like to be added to our mailing list for notice of future events please contact Jim Gray at jeg19026@mail.com or send your name, address and year of graduation or other affiliation to:

St. Cyril Alumni Committee
P.O. Box 1094
Lansdowne, PA 19050

An All-Class Reunion to benefit St. Cyril School is being planned for March 2007.  All members on our list will be notified when the date is finalized.
Click here for pictures from our 2003 School Tour and All-Class Reunion.
Click here for pictures from this past year's party to benefit the school.

 

September 6, 2006:  The School officially opened today for the 2006-07 school year.  This past January many of us were worried that the school would not be opening this school year.  Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible.  The news media was out in full force this morning and there was excitement in the air.
Click here for more pictures of the day on our picture of the month page.

Click here to see a CBS3 video from the first day of school.

Times9706.jpg (274207 bytes) Click here to read The Daily Times Article about the first day of school.

 

 

Donation to the SOS Fund will still be gratefully accepted at this time, and can be sent to:

Save Saint Cyril School Fund
P.O. Box 1094
Lansdowne, PA  19050

 

 

tommy1.jpg (335708 bytes) Click here to read Tommy's wish and the news article that helped get things started. DailyTimesFront.jpg (265435 bytes)

Click here to see the history of the SOS effort with links to news articles.

 

Progress as of May 10th

May 10, 2007:  To date we have collected over $400,000 from Donations and Fund Raisers.  We now have enough to keep the school open for the 2007-2008 school year, (Tommy's graduation year).  Now comes the hard part.  We hope to continue this effort  with an ongoing campaign to keep the school open for many years to come.  Hopefully we will see many future generations of Saint Cyril graduates.  Donations are starting to come in from our first annual Alumni Fund Raising Drive.  If you are an alumnus or friend of the school and have not received a mailing from the Alumni Committee and would like to be added to our mailing list for notice of future events please contact Jim Gray at jeg19026@mail.com or send your name, address and year of graduation or other affiliation to:

St. Cyril Alumni Committee
P.O. Box 1094
Lansdowne, PA 19050

Donation can also be sent to this address

Click here to see CBS3 video of Tommy's wish and the fund raising efforts

Save Our School Progress
First Year Goal
$200,000 by March 31, 2006
For The 2006-07 School Year

Second Year Goal
An Additional $200,000 

(Total $400,000)
For The 2007-08 School Year

Click here for totals from our fund-raisers.

Donation to the SOS Fund will still be gratefully accepted at this time, and can be sent to:

Save Saint Cyril School Fund
P.O. Box 1094
Lansdowne, PA  19050

 

 

Wednesday, March 29th:  At the last regular SOS meeting before the March 31st deadline it was announced that we surpassed our goal by over $60,000.  We had a surprise visit by a celebrity boxer, and the press was out in full force.  We thank the press for keeping the story in the public eye and helping us meet our goal.
SOS2 161.jpg (71030 bytes) Click here for more pictures from the night. SOS2 184.jpg (59717 bytes)
Click here to see CBS3 video of Tommy's wish and the fund raising efforts

March 30, 2006: Cardinal Rigali announced today, at a special school assembly, that the School will remain open for 2006-07 school year.
Click here to see CBS3 video of the Cardinal's announcement
Click here for an NBC10 video of the Cardinal's announcement and story about the effort.
Click here to see NBC10 slideshow
Click here to see 6ABC news coverage.
Click here for newspaper articles.
Click here to read the Cardinal's announcement.

1_cardinal officially allows school to remain open web.jpg (131765 bytes) Click here for pictures of the Cardinal's visit. SOS3 037.jpg (58497 bytes)

 

CBS National News featured Tommy's Wish on its Assignment America segment on Friday, April 28, 2006.  You can see the video on the CBS News website. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/28/assignment_america/main1560919.shtml

 

Keeping the school open for many years to come may be more difficult  without the aid of the great media coverage we have received.  We now have a volunteer grant writer, and are also looking into scholarship funding to aid  in the recruitment of new students and help make the school more financially independent.
Saint Cyril School is one of the few Catholic Schools in the area that offers a Learning Support Program without any additional cost over the regular tuition.
Click here for our School Web Page and information about our Learning Support Program 

We are continuing to plan fund raisers and donations can still be sent to:
Save Saint Cyril School Fund
P.O. Box 1094
Lansdowne, PA  19050

Corporations wishing to donate to a scholarship fund may be eligible for a 90% state tax credit. As an example a corporation making a $10,000 donation could be eligible to take $9,000 off of their state taxes if approved.  These donations can be targeted to our school and used as a scholarship fund for our children. We can get information to financial officers and accountants of interested corporations.  Applications for this coming year have to be in by the middle of June to be approved by the state.

Click here for more information on fund-raisers.

Click here for our School Web Page and information about our Learning Support Program 

Click here to see our progress

Please Send Donations to:

Save Saint Cyril School Fund
P.O. Box 1094
Lansdowne, PA  19050

 

 

Click here to sign the guestbook

Click here to read the guestbook

 

 

tommy1.jpg (335708 bytes) Click here to read Tommy's Wish or go to www.saintcyril.org/tommyswish.htm

To read Gil Spencer 01-22-06 article on the Daily Times Web Site click here or go to
 http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15976908&BRD=1675&PAG=461&dept_id=18168&rfi=6

Times012206.jpg (366517 bytes)  To read the article from a scanned copy click picture or click here or go to
www.saintcyril.org/times1.htm

DailyTimesFront.jpg (265435 bytes) To see front page of the Sunday Daily Times click here or go to
www.saintcyril.org/times.htm

 

 

To read the Editorial "Tommy's saintly wish" from January 24, 2006 on the Daily Times Web Site click here or go to
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15986559&BRD=1675&PAG=461&dept_id=18168&rfi=6

Times012406.jpg (253478 bytes)  To read the article from a scanned copy click picture or click here or go to:
www.saintcyril.org/times2.htm

 

 

Any Questions Please Call:
 
Mike Keller: 610-543-5666  Keller1618@aol.com 
Connie Geromichalos:  610 891-1817 opalcon@aol.com 

Jim Gray:  610 284-5984  jeg19026@mail.com 

 

Fund Raising Committee:
Barb Gray  610-284-5984  Babs1231@mail.com 

 

Business & Corporate Fundraising
Marge Rossi  610-622-3643
Val Kubach  610-259-7736  Val2143@comcast.net 

If you need a letter or non-profit documentation from us for a business or corporation, contact Marge or Val at the numbers or e-mail address above.

 

 

We need your help, especially in the form of monetary donations.  Please check with your company to see if they will match your gift.

Please Send Donations to:

Save Saint Cyril School Fund
P.O. Box 1094
Lansdowne, PA  19050

 

 

Many great stories of kindness and generosity have come to light during the effort to save St. Cyril School.  Starting with the wish of Tommy Geromichalos, these good deeds have continued and multiplied.  We want to capture and record as many of these stories as we can.  We hope to use some of these stories in future newsletters and on our web site.  If you have an inspirational story about the effort to save Saint Cyril School that you can share with us, and allow us to share with others, we would love to hear it.  Don't worry about spelling or grammar; we can proof read it before it gets printed.
Click here for more information and to submit your story.

 

 

Save Our School Progress

Save Our School Progress
First Year Goal
$200,000 by March 31, 2006
For The 2006-07 School Year

Second Year Goal
An Additional $200,000 

(Total $400,000)
For The 2007-08 School Year

Click here for totals from our fund-raisers.

Progress as of May 10th:

May 10, 2007:  To date we have collected over $400,000 from Donations and Fund Raisers.  We now have enough to keep the school open for the 2007-2008 school year, (Tommy's graduation year).  Now comes the hard part.  We hope to continue this effort  with an ongoing campaign to keep the school open for many years to come.  Hopefully we will see many future generations of Saint Cyril graduates.  Donations are starting to come in from our first annual Alumni Fund Raising Drive.  If you are an alumnus or friend of the school and have not received a mailing from the Alumni Committee and would like to be added to our mailing list for notice of future events please contact Jim Gray at jeg19026@mail.com or send your name, address and year of graduation or other affiliation to:

St. Cyril Alumni Committee
P.O. Box 1094
Lansdowne, PA 19050

Donation can also be sent to this address

 

On March 30, 2006 Cardinal Rigali announced  at a special school assembly that the School will remain open for 2006-07 school year.  He also encouraged us to keep up our efforts.
Click here to see CBS3 video of the Cardinal's announcement
Click here for an NBC10 video of the Cardinal's announcement and story about the effort.
Click here to see NBC10 slideshow

Click here to see 6ABC news coverage.
Click on the video link on the right side of the page.
Click here to see CBS3 video of Tommy's wish and the fund raising efforts
Click here for newspaper articles.
Click here to read the Cardinal's announcement.

Thank you to everyone who helped us reach our first goal of $200,000 by March 31, 2006.  This has enabled us to remain open for the 2006-2007 school year.  Our new goal is to raise an additional $200,000 (total of $400,000) for the 2007-2008 school year to ensure the school remains open for Tommy and his classmates graduation year.  We intend to have an ongoing campaign to provide for future generations of Saint Cyril Graduates.  We are also looking into scholarship funding to aid  in the recruitment of new students and help make the school more financially independent. 

 

Save Saint Cyril School Fund
P.O. Box 1094
Lansdowne, PA  19050

Check out our past fund-raiser page for more information and links to pictures from the events.
www.saintcyril.org/pastfundraisers.htm

Click here for more information on current fund raisers.

Thank you to all who helped with our fundraisers in any way and all those who have sent in donations. 

 

April 11, 2006

Dear Neighbors and Friends,

The members of the Save Our School Committee of Saint Cyril Parish in East Lansdowne, Delaware County, would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has helped us realize our goal to keep our school open for the 2006-2007 school year.
What started out as a simple wish from a little boy afflicted with cystic fibrosis to keep his school open for two more years so he could graduate with his classmates turned into a labor of love from so many wonderful people who embraced our cause.
Parishioners, former parishioners, alumni, neighbors, friends, family and even complete strangers in the Delaware County community and beyond rose to the occasion to help us reach our goal of raising $200,000 in less than two months. It is a testament to our community that not only did we attain our goal, but in 63 days we exceeded it by $60,100!
As the song says, "We’ve Only Just Begun," and our efforts are now directed to the 2007-2008 school year and beyond! We hope the community will continue to support our mission. Miracles can happen and wishes do come true. We at Saint Cyril’s are living proof of that.
Thank you, everyone, for your belief in Saint Cyril School.

Sincerely,
Save Saint Cyril School Committee

 

Click here for our School Web Page and information about our Learning Support Program 

 

Click here to sign the guestbook

Click here to read the guestbook

 

Click here for home page

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