Trenton Catholic Academy honored four individuals with Iron Mike Awards at a gala at the Stone Terrace in Hamilton April 6.
Iron Mike refers to Monsignor Michael McCorristin who built St. Anthony High School/McCorristin Catholic High School, now known as TCA, in 1962.
Alumna Ann Marie Williams-Gray received the Iron Mike Professional Achievement Award. Williams-Gray is an acclaimed television producer who has won two Emmys for the Live With Kelly & Regis and Live With Kelly & Michael shows.
She now consults on myriad projects in the television and entertainment field. For the last two years, Williams-Gray has serves as a mentor to TCA students in the school’s video club.
Referring to several former teachers in attendance at the gala, Williams-Gray was quick to provide credit. “The teachers I had were deeply committed to seeing their students succeed and to instilling Catholic values,” she said. “The foundation they provided has lasted my lifetime and will always be with me.”
The Iron Mike PTA Award was given to Kay Chiarello of Chiarello’s Deli and Catering, whose four children attended St. Anthony/McCorristin High Schools.
As PTA president, Chiarello helped create a vibrant, thriving organization that was always willing to get involved in the school. She created “Kay’s Follies,” a talented group of performers in the early 1970s, who sang and danced their way into the hearts of local parishioners and other worthy causes.
In her remarks, Kay Chiarello reflected on meeting Monsignor McCorristin for the first time in her new capacity as PTA president. “He told me that we will never turn a child away from Catholic education because of financial reasons,” said Chiarello. “Monsignor stressed the importance of the PTA in supporting his mission.”
Alumnus John Gres (Class of 1979) was honored with the Iron Mike Business Man of the Year Award.
He owns Gres Paving, founded in 1951 by his father. The company employs more than 40 people, and revenues of nearly $4 million. Gres Paving handles residential, commercial and governmental projects.
TCA honored Lower School director Anne Reap, who has spent nearly 30 years in the Mercer County area as a teacher and administrator, mostly within Catholic education.
More information is online at trentoncatholic.org.
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