CM Students Strengthen Brotherhood at Olympic Day

West Roxbury, Mass.— Brotherhood met athletics during Catholic Memorial School’s annual Olympic Day celebration on Friday morning.

Leaving behind their titles as upperclassmen, underclassmen, and middle schoolers at the Ronald S. Perry Gymnasium door, over 600 CM students united into five competing teams to honor the school’s athletic spirit and the camaraderie between the school’s six grade levels. The competition began when homerooms raised over $1,000 for the American Cancer Society before shuffling students of each grade into teams named after the countries Botswana, Brazil, China, Ireland, and the USA.

“We do this every year because we’re building great bonds of brotherhood that are going to last through your lifetime,” said CM President Dr. Peter Folan when addressing the student body.

“Remember, today, that this is a different school. This is a different place. We take pride in our name and we take pride in what we do. Remember, that in our school, we love our God, we love our country, we love our family, we love our school, and we love winning championships.”

Olympic Day represents one of four “Knight Days” scheduled for CM’s academic year. CM dedicates each day to one of four themes. The four themes—athletics, academics, campus ministry, and the arts — give students a chance to share their different talents amongst the CM community.


This year’s Olympic Day began with a procession of all five teams through the school’s main lobby. Everyone from seventh graders to seniors, all spread evenly across the five teams, gathered under their nations’ flags before storming onto the Ronald S. Perry Gymnasium floor. Students dressed in their nations’ colors, created elaborate chants, and selected representatives to compete against faculty members.

Pie-eating, push-up, and dribbling contests broke out within the hour. Between each event, peer ministers Matthew Freitas and Thomas Dunn addressed the crowded gymnasium. Matthew applauded his classmates’ donations to the American Cancer Society. He encouraged his classmates to continue stepping up and making donations in the final days leading up to the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk on September 30^th.

Thomas advocated for a new cause. He addressed the homes destroyed in the Merrimack Valley gas explosions, announcing an initiative to serve those families in need. In the same fashion as Matthew, he called on his classmates to stand in solidarity and donate any amount possible.

“For us at CM this is a really special day,” said Nathan Fitzgerald, a senior Peer Minister who assisted in coordinating the event.

“The entire community gets to come together right after the start of school. It’s one of the most important days of the year in my opinion.”

By midday, students moved outside to the athletic fields. There, each grade competed in their own 100-meter dash before breaking into small-sided flag football, soccer, handball, and basketball games. Teams earned points for their performances in each event. Vice Principal Andrew O’Brien announced USA and Brazil as the first and second place teams respectively during the event’s closing ceremony.

Before ending the day for good, students and faculty squared off in one final competitive game of volleyball. High school and middle school students stood alongside one another and watched the back-and-forth match in its entirety.

When the seniors, dressed in face-paint and costumes, earned the final match point to defeat the faculty, the crowd erupted in unison—the perfect scene for a day built on teamwork and camaraderie.