Jake Rouch is a part of the Cathedral Prep alumni as a member of the class of 1984. He’s very successful and a strong embodiment of Cathedral Prep’s virtues. Jake is currently the Vice President of Economic Development at the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership. He’s built up a known reputation around Erie that helps people understand the good-hearted people who come out of Prep. It’s clear what Rouch means to Prep through all of his accomplishments, but what does Prep mean to him?
His decision to go to Prep was practically indisputable since four of his five older brothers attended Prep. Rouch was able to get firsthand experiences of what the school was like because people like his brothers would tell him countless stories. However, he didn’t just go there for his brothers. Rouch was also an athlete and loved the Prep sports environment. There wasn’t any persuasion or debate in his decision. In his words, it was just “unspoken of.”
“The classroom environment seems like it hasn’t changed,” Rouch said. “It was always fun, serious, and intellectually stimulating.”
In fact, one of his favorite classes he took was during sophomore year Honors Geometry.
“We were all lost and confused, but we helped each other, failed together, and laughed,” he said. “But we always got it done together.”
While Rouch was embracing the Prep lifestyle/environment, he also started his reputation there. During his time at Prep he played golf all four years and was a cheerleader. While off the course and in school, he was the secretary of his class for two years and was a member of the Teenage Action Club.
Along with everyone else, Rouch also had his fair share of teachers but, one that really stuck out to him was Ms. Joann Maxwell (later known as Mrs. Mullen), who unfortunately passed around a decade ago. He mentioned that she was hard but showed how much she cared about all of them. She remembered them and affirmed that they mattered. In Rouch’s words, she was “tough but fair.”
While wrapping up his four years, Jake recalled some of his favorite memories which included the Prep rallies, his senior year basketball, all the road-trips especially to Hershey, and many more. But the one thing he cherishes beyond the rest are the friends he made. They’re the friends he still talks to every day from nearly 40 years ago. Rouch claimed that he undoubtedly met some of his closest lifelong friends during his four years at Prep.
He wasn’t completely done with Prep though, as now his son Jack Rouch, a current senior in the class of ’22, followed in his footsteps. Rouch never pressured his son to go there but wanted him to make his own decision.
“My dad wanted me to choose the path I wanted,” Jack Rouch (’22) said. “But after hearing all of his stories and adventures at Prep, I ended up choosing the same path he did and wouldn’t change it for anything.”
The elder Rouch believes Prep was the perfect fit for his son and was happy with his choice. He was overall happy with his own decision to go to Prep as well, as it set him up for his life afterwards.
“I was ready to compete, and I was ready to communicate – question, debate, write, speak,” he said. “It set me up for success the rest of my life.”
Rouch (’84) was a special product of Cathedral Prep and is ultimately a special person. He lives a successful life and is still able to have the Prep spirit in his bloodline. The school means a lot to him through everything they’ve done.
“I laughed out loud every day I went to Prep,” he said. “That is a pretty good high school experience for anyone.”
