EVERETT — Years ago while sitting around a kitchen table, John Heath and others shared a dream of a Catholic high school in Snohomish County.
On Friday, that bold vision continued to be realized as Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy High School opened its newest building, Heath Hall.
Heath died in 2005 after a long illness, but his friends and family were able to be part of Friday’s dedication.
“Today, we come together to bless a new building, and to welcome a new president,” said Archbishop Alex Brunett of the Seattle Archdiocese. “A Catholic education is an important thing. We must learn in an environment of faith.”
Originally founded in 1988 as Holy Cross High School with only 23 students, AMHS has grown to more than 500 students with award-winning educational and sports programs, making it the fastest growing school in the Seattle Archdiocese. Enrollment growth has demanded additions, such as Heath Hall.
Ask school president, Deacon Patrick Moynihan, and he’ll say the school’s success is directly related to the marriage of two communities: education and faith.
“We are building ahead of the community, to the growing needs of the deaconry and the greater Everett community,” Moynihan said. “This building represents a commitment to our students, to our faith, and to our future.”
And that future is represented in Heath Hall, from every brick and desk to the students who gathered outside as Brunett blessed the $3.9 million building and each individual classroom. The students waited anxiously in the morning sun, eager and curious to explore the new three-story building.
Keola Wilkins, a 14-year-old freshman, was one of those students.
“My brother graduated from here, and now I’m the third kid from my family that has come here,” Wilkins said. “This building is important to me and my family, but (also to) everyone else’s family that will come here after I’ve graduated.”
For senior Tyler Allen, 17, the new building represents not only physical growth for the high school, but also a developing sense of inclusion between all students regardless of background.
“This is a place we can all go to; it brings people together,” said Allen. “For us seniors who have watched it being built, we’ve learned about what it takes to grow and how to improve.”
As Brunett moved from floor to floor, blessing each room, the scent of fresh paint and new carpet lingered heavily in the air, an inviting smell that seems to lend an atmosphere of a fresh and invigorating era of academia for the school. With six new science labs, 11 general purpose classrooms, a band room, a drama room, an art room and a multipurpose room with a 100-seat capacity, Heath Hall has been designed to accommodate the educational and spiritual needs for the next 100 years of students.
Heath had an enduring dream for the school, friends and family said.
“It was something he had a passion for, he put all of his energy into this,” said Rick Heath, son of John Heath. “In the end, this is what he wanted.”
For the new school president, the new building will be a permanent reminder of his duty to the institution and what it has come to represent.
“It’s humbling. We have an exceptional faculty, a very successful football program with coach (Terry) Ennis, great students and a generous school board,” said Moynihan with a satisfied smile. “We’re expecting the president of Notre Dame to call and ask us for help any day now.”
Reporter Justin Arnold: 425-339-3432 or jarnold@heraldnet.com.
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