Notre Dame and its legacy schools have been forming and transforming the lives of its students for over 120 years.  Now, with the creation of the Triton Academic and Athletic Hall of Fame, NDA will recognize the accomplishments of its alumni in several special ways.

“The idea of creating the Triton Academic and Athletic Hall of Fame was generated by several passionate alumni and staff of Notre Dame Academy​ and its legacy schools, Abbot Pennings High School, St. Norbert High School, St. Joseph Academy, Our Lady of Premontre High School and Central Catholic High School,” said Notre Dame president Mr. Kevin Shaw.

The Notre Dame Executive Leadership team, consisting of Shaw, Mr. Patrick Browne, principal; Mr. Greg Masarik, associate principal; Mr. Ken Flaten, vice president for business administration; Mrs. Sara Van Grunsven, admissions director; and Ms. Michele Mahlock, registrar, decided to make the idea a reality.

“We agreed to create the Hall of Fame to recognize those individuals and teams who have brought honor and distinction to our schools through their achievement, commitment and leadership in academics, athletics and professional endeavors.  Through the Hall of Fame, we are honoring the past and celebrating the future of NDA and its legacy schools,” said the president.

The Hall of Fame will have two main sections: academics and athletics. Starting soon, anyone can nominate alumni or friends of NDA and legacy schools whom they think deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

A banquet on August 18 at Saint Norbert College will celebrate the inauguration of the Hall of Fame and commemorate the initial inductees.

Seven academic inductees will be chosen from the following fields: arts, science, education, humanitarianism, business, ministry and military service. The nominees for academics will be judged based on a combination of high school academic performance and post-high school achievement.

There will also be nine athletic inductees: two coaches, five players and two teams. The athletic inductees will be selected based on achievement, character and leadership while in high school sports.

The two coaches and the two teams have already been chosen. The coaches are Coach Don LaViolette of Abbot Pennings and Coach Ron Miller of Premontre.

“Both of these legendary coaches led their respective football teams to WISAA state football titles in the early 1970s. These men and their teams are pioneers in the history of Green Bay high school athletics,” said Shaw.

Additionally, the teams these two legendary coaches led to state, Premontre’s 1970 football team and Abbot Pennings’ 1971 football team, will also be inducted. Both teams were Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association Division 1 state champions.

“Connecting with our alumni and supporters is of utmost importance. Recognizing the accomplishments of our past students and friends helps to reinforce the value of the excellent Catholic education and traditions of NDA and our legacy schools,” said Shaw.

Inductees will be presented with a Hall of Fame memento at the ceremony as well as have their names listed in the Hall of Fame section of the Notre Dame website. Plans for a perpetual Hall of Fame wall outside the Triton Center are underway.

The Hall of Fame nomination form can be found on the NDA website under the alumni and Hall of Fame tabs. The nomination deadline is March 31. The selection committee will make its decisions in April and have the final review of the inductees on May 1. The inductees will then be notified in May.

Current and future inductees will all come from the six Catholic high schools that have operated in Green Bay and De Pere since the nineteenth century–the five legacy schools and the current Notre Dame Academy.

The induction ceremony will be held August 18 at the Michels Commons Ballroom at Saint Norbert College as part of Notre Dame’s alumni weekend. The night before, August 17, inductees will be introduced at half time of the NDA home football game.