Family attendance at JFK Catholic School spans 48 consecutive years
Courtesy Barbara Moyer
For 48 consecutive years, Frank and Barbara Moyer, center, have had a child or grandchild attend John F. Kennedy Catholic School. Here they are pictured with all 10 of their grandchildren in June 2020. Eight of the 10 attended JFK at some point. In front are Elizabeth Blystone, Isabella Moyer, Jack Pettit, Angelina Schuster, Barb Moyer, Gabby McKenzie, and Lily Pettit. Back row are Jonathan Moyer, Dominic McDade, Frank Moyer, Matthew Schuster, and Tyler Schuster.
Courtesy Barbara Moyer
Frank Moyer with granddaughters Jennifer Pettit, front, and Maria Moyer in 1998. Moyer coached his daughters and granddaughters in volleyball at JFK.
Courtesy of Cherie Moyer
Siblings Elizabeth Blystone and Jonathan Moyer on their first day of school in 2010. Elizabeth was in eighth grade and Jonathan was a fourth grader.
Courtesy Barbara Moyer
Frank Moyer with granddaughters Isabella Moyer, left, and Gabby McKenzie, at Isabella’s eighth grade volleyball recognition in 2020.
Courtesy of Cherie Moyer
JFK teacher Rebecca Papson, back row, middle, with all five Moyer siblings, who she taught, along with Jonathan Moyer’s daughter, Eliabeth, third from left in the front row.
In 1974, Barbara and Frank Moyer’s oldest son, Mark, started kindergarten at John F. Kennedy Catholic School in Washington.
For the next 48 years, one of the couple’s children or grandchildren have been enrolled at the school.
Until now. That nearly half-century-long attendance streak came to an end when the Moyers’ granddaughter, Gabriella McKenzie, graduated from the eighth grade on June 2.
“It’s kind of amazing when you think about it,” said Moyer, of Washington. “Every experience we’ve had at JFK has been a positive one. Through the years, it’s been like a big family. All of the teachers, from preschool through eighth grade, have been terrific. And I like that religious education was a part of my kids’ school life.”
Moyer said she had planned to enroll her children in public schools but her next-door neighbors “kept talking about how great JFK was.”
Mark, 54, was followed by sisters Amy Moyer, 50, Deborah Moyer, 41, Maria Moyer, 39, and Jennifer Pettit, who at age 35 is 19 years younger than her brother.
Meanwhile, when Jennifer was an eighth-grader at JFK, Mark enrolled his daughter, Elizabeth, who was 3 years old, in JFK’s pre-school.
She was followed by her siblings, Jonathan and Isabella Moyer, and cousins Matthew, Tyler, and Angelina Schuster, Dominic McDade (who attended for two years), and, finally, Gabby McKenzie.
They Moyer children shared some of the same teachers over the years, including middle school science teacher Rebecca Papson, who taught all five of them – along with some of the Moyer grandchildren. Papson retired last year after teaching at JFK for 41 years.
Mark and Cherie Moyer enrolled their three children, Elizabeth Blystone, 25, a 2019 graduate of Robert Morris University, Jonathan, 20, a rising junior at Bucknell University, and Isabella, 15, a rising sophomore at Canevin High School in Pittsburgh.
“It really comes down to the teachers. They’re like family,” said Cherie Moyer. “They’ve loved, educated, and, at times, disciplined our children. They are amazing.”
Barbara Moyer said JFK has stayed true to its mission of collaborating with families to educate and nurture their children, but one thing has changed: nuns no longer teach at JFK.
“When our kids went there, our first two especially, there were nuns teaching, and now there are no nuns teaching,” she said. “At the time they started, the principal was a nun.”
The Moyers’ daughter, Amy, was a member of the last graduating class at Immaculate Conception High School, which closed in 1989.
For six decades, the Moyers have attended school and extracurricular activities and sports events. Frank Moyer coached his daughters’ volleyball teams, and as recently as last school year, helped coach Gabby’s volleyball team.
JFK principal Kimberly Stevenson said it was a significant milestone for the Moyer family to have a legacy of nearly 50 years of attendance.
“I think it reflects the importance of tradition and a strong Catholic upbringing for generation after generation of them to follow in the footsteps of attending JFK,” said Stevenson. “It must have been meaningful to the children, for them to have their own children attend, too.”
Maria Moyer said one of the things she is most grateful for is how JFK teachers, administrators and students looked out for Gabby, who was diagnosed in infancy with Type 1 diabetes.
Maria is glad she and her daughter got to share the same educational experience.
“It means so much that Gabby was able to go there. It was such a wonderful experience for me, and for her to have that opportunity to gain the same advantages as I did, a solid, faith-based education, meant a lot,” said Maria Moyer. “It was very much like a family, and the sense of community, in my experience, is unmatched. And for Gabby to have had at least half a dozen teachers that I had was a neat experience.”
Frank and Barbara Moyer might not be spending as much time at JFK, but they’ll still be busy. They will cheer on Isabella, who plays volleyball at Canevin High School, and Angelina, a member of the West Mifflin High School volleyball team. They also travel to Ohio to root for their grandchildren, Lily and Jackson Pettit, who play softball and baseball.
And, there is hope that a new attendance streak can begin at JFK.
The Moyers have a three-month-old granddaughter, Eliana Blystone.
“We don’t know if she’ll go (to JFK), it’s a bit early to think about,” said Barbara Moyer, laughing. “Right now, all my granddaughter Elizabeth is trying to do is get enough sleep to get by.”