HUNTERSVILLE — The marching band played and loud cheers erupted as Christ the King High School stakeholders shoveled fertile, black soil on a plot of grass surrounding the statue of the school’s namesake, beginning a $12 million expansion project that is projected to be completed in 14 months.
The addition includes two classrooms, a band room, a shop and a cafeteria. Additionally, spaces in existing buildings such as the cafeteria, kitchen and shop will be transformed into classrooms.
As Principal Mark Tolcher explained, “This new extension will provide more space for teachers to help transform the lives of students and help these young people grow into the sons and daughters they were created to be.”
The addition will also feature a fitness training area, administrative offices, a larger entry point to the gym and a north lobby equipped with concession stands, ticket booths and a Crusaders Spirit Store.
The additional 17,000 square feet will allow the school to accommodate up to 650 students instead of its current capacity of 450.
“We are really excited about the beauty of the building, the size of the building, and the grandeur of the building,” Chist the King President Carl Semmler told the crowd of teachers, clergy, students and community members.
Semmler quoted Psalm 127, "But, ‘the Lord does not build the house in vain that the builders labor.’ What this building is really all about is the smaller Church…the children that form the Body of Christ. They are the future of the church. They’re the real edifice… this building is going to create the Church of the future.”
The Oct. 2 groundbreaking was also attended by Bishop Michael Martin who celebrated an All School Mass prior to the event.
Bishop Martin emphasized that point in his earlier homily, which focused on the Feast of Guardian Angels.
He asked, “Don’t you feel like I would probably have a better homily if I had a student up here assisting me?” and the congregation adamantly agreed.
Sophomore Noah was called upon but did not know the answer to Bishop Martin’s question: What the word sophomore meant. He was able to phone a friend, ironically on this Feast day a freshman named Raphael, who responded with the correct oxymoron, “wise fool.”
The bishop used the exchange to illustrate his point that God wants us to guard one another.
“God does not want us to go through this life alone; instead, he gives us people to go through this life with,” the bishop said. “God is trying to teach us, the wise fools that we are, this very simple message…that God doesn’t leave us alone.”
God gives us guardian angels who remain with us all the time, he said, as well us people who sometimes take on their qualities in our lives – spouses, children and best friends.
“Am I my brothers’ keeper?” He asked and then responded. “Yes!”
“We are going to break ground for a new building today. The school’s growing; it is really great,” the bishop remarked. But he cautioned that he “wouldn’t give you a dime for it, not a dime, if I didn’t think what we were building here was students who were more concerned with building up the good in their classmates. That’s the school I want to build.”
He instructed the students to look out for one another, and to imagine what the school would look like if everyone became a guardian.
“Imagine a CTK where everyone has someone, where everyone is reaching out amid the difference to hold someone else accountable,” the bishop noted.
“That is what Christ the King came to establish on this Earth: a place where everyone, everyone, didn’t follow Him like a mascot but rather worshiped Him as Lord and accepted the responsibility of caring for those around us with a greater love…that’s the school we want to build.”
Principal Julie Thornley of St. Mark in Huntersville, a feeder school to CTK, with 98% of their students becoming future Crusaders, called the groundbreaking a blessing.
St. Mark Dean of Students and mother of two Crusaders herself, Hillary Shores, agreed with the bishop. “There is so much goodness in this school, and such a platform for building up the faith, I am just proud of it.”
— Lisa M Geraci. Photos by Troy C. Hull
St. Matthew School’s new mural design incorporates elements of its vision and mission statements and depicts worship, service and academics. St. Matthew School replaced all of its chairs over the summer, worked with artist Dean Kiradjieff to refresh its walls, and updated its library to accommodate new technology. CHARLOTTE — A new mural in the cafeteria at St. Matthew School offers a bright, beautiful reminder of the role faith plays in the life of the school community.
Artist Dean Kiradjieff, a parishioner at St. Matthew Church, put in 65 hours of work over the summer to create the mural that greeted students when they returned to class in August.
The mural is part of other recent updates to the school. Thanks to funds raised by the PTO and support from St. Matthew Parish, the school library received a complete overhaul including removal of the circulation desk, all new furniture, technology updates and a fresh coat of paint.
New chairs were purchased for every classroom in the school, offering a new look as well as improved seating for students. The chairs were selected for their ergonomic shape and other features to “help maintain correct back posture while encouraging natural body movement – improving alertness, concentration and well being,” said Principal Kevin O’Herron.
The school PTO approached Kiradjieff to paint the mural after O’Herron asked if it would be possible to brighten up a plain white wall in the cafeteria.
Kiradjieff is no stranger to painting murals for his parish. Several years ago, he painted a Noah’s Ark theme in the church’s nursery.
The vision for this mural came from elements of the school’s mission and vision statements, which were revised by the long-range planning committee of the School Leadership Council during the 2024-2025 school year.
“The goal was to bring the mission and vision to life in a very Catholic way that kids would relate to,” Kiradjieff said. “I wanted to make it colorful and fun, and to also create something beautiful.”
The artist sat down with his wife Diane Kiradjieff, director of religious education for St. Matthew Parish, and sketched the mural, which incorporates images of the church and school with portrayals of Catholic worship, service, academics and fun daily activities familiar to every child. He showed it to PTO Presidents Kristina Villella and Cameron Jung.
“I was speechless when I saw the sketch, and I immediately thought this is going to be a teaching tool for everyone who sees it,” Villella said. “I knew the Holy Spirit was involved with this because we had just completed the (school’s) mission and vision statements.”
Kiradjieff started work on the mural June 28 and finished Aug. 14.
At the center of the mural is an image of the school topped with a large, radiant monstrance, representing Christ’s true presence in the Eucharist and His role as the center of both the Catholic faith and everything that goes on at St. Matthew.
“I wanted it to be front and center, the first thing that catches your eye,” Kiradjieff said.
Written out are the seven virtues, which students focus on throughout the school year.
To the left of the school is St. Matthew Church and to the right is a house, symbolizing the two other places that have the most influence in the lives of students.
Service plays a big role at St. Matthew School, and the mural depicts annual projects to help needy families at Christmas and feed the hungry.
The mural is encircled by images of the globe and words from Matthew 28:19-20, which begins: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” reminding students to take what they learn at St. Matthew and share it with others.
Scattered throughout the mural are 20 hidden crosses painted onto the figures, a fun element that young children especially enjoy finding.
The mural is in a section of the cafeteria where parents sit when they come to eat lunch with their kids.
“If parents eat with their children, they sit surrounded by the mural, and it’s a great reminder of why they send their kids here,” Jung said.
The PTO prepared a description of the mural that hangs next to it so people who view it in the future will understand the symbolism, Vilella said.
“It’s really such a joy to have this mural here,” she said. “It feels like something that should have always been here, because it really describes what this school is all about.”
— Christina Lee Knauss. Photos by Troy C. Hull
