Photo courtesy of St. Anthony High School

Bishop Larry Silva speaks at the Jan. 21 campaign kick-off dinner.

St. Anthony High in Wailuku kicks off $10M capital campaign

St. Anthony Junior-Senior High School in Wailuku on Jan. 21 launched the public phase of a $10 million capital campaign that will help build a tuition-assistance endowment, increase teachers’ wages and bring improvements to the campus and curriculum.

Bishop Larry Silva spoke of the need to support Maui’s only Catholic high school at a kick-off dinner attended by more than 120.

“The Catholic values of faith formation, leadership skills, and service and justice are all taught here every day,” he said. “This school is a gem that we need to work together to polish and restore to its luster.”

The campaign has already raised more than $2.2 million from 70 donors, including donations of $1 million and $500,000 from anonymous contributors.

The principal of St. Anthony High School, Father Jim Orsini, said the infusion of funds will “allow the school to retain and reward talented teachers while enabling us to provide more assistance to students.”

According to a news release, more than 44 percent of St. Anthony students receive tuition aide, putting a strain on the school’s annual operational budget. As successful campaign will free up as much as $180,000 of the budget, which could be used for immediate needs.

One of the campaign’s goals is to increase faculty salaries by 24 percent over six years. St. Anthony teachers now make about $6,000 a year less than their public school counterparts.

The campaign will also designate $500,000 for building maintenance, green initiatives, athletic program improvement, and new technology.

The campaign’s honorary chairman is David “Buddy” Nobriga, a 1951 alumnus.

For more information, or to donate to the campaign, contact St. Anthony’s development director Kathleen DeLima at (808) 244-4190, extension 268, or kdelima@sasmaui.org, or visit the school’s website www.sasmaui.org.