Broadcast journalist Pat Ciarrocchi, a Padua Academy alumna, reads the first reading during a Mass to celebrate Padua Academy's 70th anniversary, Sept. 8, 2024. Photo/Don Blake
WILMINGTON — Padua Academy continued its 70th anniversary celebration the weekend of Sept. 6 with a few events on and off campus for a Welcome Back Weekend. The all-girls school on North Broom Street has had activities throughout 2024.
The weekend included a volleyball match against St. Elizabeth, field hockey vs. Newark Charter at Abessinio Stadium, a 5k, Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Church, and a spaghetti dinner in the school cafetorium.
The dinner included raffles for various gift baskets. Pat Ciarrochi, a Padua alumna who enjoyed a long career in broadcast journalism in Philadelphia, delivered brief remarks. She recounted how she had not been accepted at her first choice for high school and was distraught. That changed when the late Oblate Father Roberto Balducelli found out about her predicament.
“The pastor of my parish called Father Robert, and he said, ‘I have a good student here. She’s crying. She wants to go to a good Catholic school,’” Ciarrochi recalled. “Father Robert said, ‘You tell her, ‘Do not cry anymore. She can come to my Padua.’”
She became interested in journalism at the school and was editor of The Antonian, the school paper.
“Because of that, I was able to have the career that I have had. Proudly because of what Padua made me. Padua gave me an opportunity and inspired me,” she said.
Padua students fill out tickets for a raffle drawing at a spaghetti dinner at the school on Sept. 8. Dialog photo/Mike Lang
Padua’s field hockey team took on Newark Charter in prime time at Abessinio Stadium on Sept. 7 as part of the school’s 70th anniversary kickoff. Dialog photo/Mike Lang
A family poses with the Padua panda at a spaghetti dinner at the school on Sept. 8. Dialog photo/Mike Lang
Broadcast journalist Pat Ciarrocchi, a Padua Academy alumna, reads the first reading during a Mass to celebrate Padua Academy’s 70th anniversary, Sept. 8, 2024. Photo/Don Blake
The story of the construction of Padua Academy is told on story boards in a hallway at the school. Dialog photo/Mike Lang
The Padua Academy Dance Team performs at Abessinio Stadium on Sept. 7 during halftime of the field hockey game against Newark Charter. Dialog photo/Mike Lang
Padua Academy alumna Pat Ciarrochi, a longtime Philadelphia television personality, poses with the Padua panda on Sept. 8. Dialog photo/Mike Lang
Diners watch a video about the founding of Padua Academy at a spaghetti dinner to mark the beginning of the school’s 70th anniversary on Sept. 8. Dialog photo/Mike Lang
Padua alumnae gathered at Kelly’s Logan House in Wilmington for a happy hour as part of a
Padua’s Welcome Back Weekend included a 5k. Submitted photo
