Closing of West Catholic feels like a death in the family

AS I PULLED into the West Philadelphia Catholic High School parking lot, at 45th and Chestnut Street, I feared for the worst. I experienced many feelings: happiness to be back on the grounds of my beloved alma mater and excitement to see the staff that helped mold me into the young woman I am today. However, I also felt the sorrow of what was on the horizon - that the high school I graduated from two years ago would learn that its days were numbered.

West Catholic was an experience for me, as it was for the thousands of alumni who have walked the halls of both the current building, on 45th Street, and the old West Catholic Boys' school, formerly on 49th Street. Just like any other high school, West had its ups and downs. By no means were we perfect - but what family is?

The teachers expected more of us than we sometimes expected of ourselves. It was that drive that pushed and transformed either too cocky or too reserved freshmen into respectful, humble, confident graduates who always made sure to come back and say "Thank you." The faculty gelled nicely and it showed in how well they attended to, instructed and influenced the students. West Catholic made it a mission to teach its students to care for one another and to be accepting and willing to help others. West also deliberately made family our most prevalent ideal, as represented by the countless hoodies, shirts, jerseys and other memorabilia on which the word FAMILY is inscribed.

My memories are quite plentiful: My first day as a freshman; my first article for the school newspaper; my bus trip to Hershey to see the football team lift up the sweet trophy; the night I wrote and launched West Catholic's first Wikipedia page; our upset of Little Flower on their home court on the last day of the regular season as a varsity basketball player; my prom; my valedictory speech at graduation; my first visit back as an alum. And, finally, this day - the day my alma mater learned its fate.

As the impact of the Archdiocese's closing list is being felt in homes all over the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley area, there are many feelings being posted on social-media sites. I came across one that read: "If my high school closed down, I probably wouldn't care." And for this person, I wholeheartedly feel sorry. I fret that they did not get the daily opportunity to walk into a warm building (in both temperature and personality) and be greeted by a staff that cared about each and every student. I feel apologetic that they did not go to a school with immense pride at being "the little guy" - we have our small building on a corner in West Philadelphia with no football field to call our own, a fairly outdated weight room and a track program whose practices literally consist of running through the hallways. And yet, our status as an athletic powerhouse has not wavered. (In fact, we have a few recent Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association State Championships in football and track to prove it.)

All in all, the fact that they have no attachment to a place in which they spent four years growing and learning just makes me love my alma mater more.

So, West Catholic will close its doors for the last time in June, and it will be a sad day for all those who had the honor of calling themselves a "Burr," but the memories made, relationships formed, and lessons learned will alleviate some of that pain.

And while the current West Catholic underclassmen will not be able to come back and visit the building on 45th Street, and will eventually find a new home, let them never forget where they met their second family - always and forever, West Catholic.

Liana J. Taylor

Class of 2010