BOE Dedicates Cathyann Roding Auditorium

Amid a chorus of her beloved students, Cathyann Roding was honored for her dedication to Branford High and her musical profession at the Board of Education meeting Wednesday night.

Then the Branford High School Auditorium was officially renamed as the Cathyann Roding Auditorium. Roding retired this year are more than 30 years of directing choral groups and producing musicals at the high school.

Board of Education member John Prins led a small committee that hands-down suggested the renaming, which was subsequently approved by the board. ​“The name was no contest,” he said. ​“Word of Branford High School’s musicals has traveled across the state.”

Schools Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez kicked off the dedication, citing her devotion and passion. ​“Cathyann’s impact on Branford public schools has been profound,” he said.

Branford High School principal Lee Panagoulias said that Roding’s greatest impact was in day-to-day contact with the students, the classroom, the preparation, the lesson planning. ​“So many people in our community, when they think of Branford High School and our music program, they think of musicals,” he said, adding, ​“You’re such a great presence… You can see your impact in the way the students carry themselves when you’re not around, and that’s the greatest impact….” 

Panagoulias continued, ​“Now, our next generation of the music program can build on the foundation that you… have built for us and made this program such as success.”

Toni Cartisano, Roding’s co-director in many productions, talked about the magic she worked in the high school. Cartisano said Roding reminded her that when Roding first came to the high school, there was no music room, just the auditorium. ​“The auditorium showcased not the best singers but all singers, not just her best groups, but all groups,” she said. She added that she’s never seen the auditorium as filled with the Branford community. ​“All performances became an event.”

She continued, ​“With all that Cathyann gave to her students and the community, it’s only most fitting that it be named the Cathyanne Roding Auditorium.”

A standing ovation followed.

From Sports to the Stage

Board chairman Michael Krause said that Roding’s musicals help shift his interests from sports to musical productions. ​“You’ve done a wonderful job with all your students and you’ve made them all mature as young adults to move on.”

The new sign was then unveiled by Cartisano and Roding’s daughter, Ashley. See top photo.

Then it was Roding’s turn to speak.

“I’m completely humbled and overwhelmed. I’m more nervous tonight than anything I’ve done,” said Roding. ​“Cathyann Roding is a name for all of us, kind of a brand.”

She showed the jewelry she’s received as gifts from her students as well as a small teddy bear she was given from her first winter concert in 1985. She said, ​“These things represent all the kids who believe in me.” She mentioned all the adults as well, who ​“took a chance and chaperoned the trips,” including Cartisano.

“If I could do one thing, I’d scratch ​‘and friends’ into the sign,” she said. She extended thanks all around.

The audience was then treated to two musical numbers – ​“Don’t You Forget” and ​“What God Has Done” – by various students under the direction of the new director, Mike Martone, Jr., who said, ​“Everyone who enters this space, whoever sang here or performed here thinks of it as home.”

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