National Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration of our Catholic Schools.  We take this time to recognize the many aspects that make our Catholic schools so special.  Today, at our School Mass, we are taking time to honor a distinguished graduate of our school.  

This year’s Distinguished Graduate attended St. Eugene Catholic School from 1986-1994 in grades 1 - 8.  He has always been a member of St. Eugene parish except for the brief time he lived out of state.

After graduating from St. Eugene School, he went on to attend Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School where he played baseball and football and graduated with honors. He was named a national Merit Scholar.  He attended Oklahoma State University, and was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He was named the Phillips CEAT Engineering Scholar at OSU. He graduated with honors with a degree in Chemical Engineering.

Following graduation from OSU, he worked as a chemical engineer for Celanese and later Lyondell Basel. He married his wife, Mary, and started a family.  They decided to move to back home to Oklahoma City where he worked at Chesapeake and then Continental Resources, his current employer.

As a graduate of St. Eugene and an active parishioner, he is a model in our community. He serves as a Confirmation Leader for religious education classes.  He was recently selected to serve on the “One Church, Growing Together” Committee. He is also a member of the Assembly of Catholic Professionals and the Knights of Columbus.  He participates in Dads Club and takes time to coach his girls’ athletic teams at our school. He also serves on the School Advisory Council to which he has been a tremendous support to me [Molly Goldsworthy] personally in my incoming leadership as the school principal. He is quick-witted, humble, and always willing to help.

His parents who are wonderful long time parishioners as well stated in his nomination: “When many young people begin to lose their faith in high school and college, he continued to practice his faith, as he does today, attending Mass regularly, and making certain his daughters, Janet and Matilda, attend and practice their faith as well.  He is a good Catholic man and is an example to his children, family, and friends.”

Please join me in congratulating, Zac Chastain, our 2018-2019 CSSE Distinguished Graduate Award!