Rene Hayes was a part of the 1964 graduating class of Prep. Even though Rene Hayes went to prep 50 years ago, he still has some of the same memories as the younger generation of Prep students.

Rene Hayes is currently a retired teacher and a house painter. He attended Prep in 1964, and the reason he wanted to go to Prep was because his brothers went there. Some people have to get persuaded to go to Prep. Others don’t really have a choice.

“All my brothers went there, and it was the thing to do to go from a Catholic middle school to high school,” Hayes said. “I was the fifth of a family of five boys that went there,”

Hayes really didn’t have much of a choice on where he was going to high school. Hayes also spoke about what the atmosphere of Prep was like when he attended.

“It was pretty strict, but then again, it depended on the teacher,” Hayes said. “Some were laid back and loose but others weren’t.”

Also everybody has a favorite class and favorite teacher when the went to high school.

“I had a couple favorites,” Hayes said. “Some of them were Mr. Cyterski, Father Walsh (oblate priest not diocesan), and Sister Jean Baptiste. My favorite class I would say was probably tenth grade biology because of the teacher, Fr. Walsh.”

Attending Cathedral Prep is bigger than just getting an education. When people come to Prep they meet lifelong friends and form a unique brotherhood.

“The pep rallies were really important,” Hayes said. “We had one before every football game. My favorite thing was just the closeness of everyone in the school.”

Hayes even talked about lifelong friends he made from Prep and how Prep prepared him for the future.

“One of [his friends] was two years ahead of me, and one of them was two years behind me,” Hayes said. “Prep helped prepare me, but the main people that prepared me were my mother and father. I think they gave me the good foundation which was built upon by Prep.”

Hayes looks back fondly on his high school experience.

“I was definitely happy with my decision to attend Cathedral Prep for high school,” he said. “I enjoyed the four years at Prep. I enjoyed the whole experience and am thankful for it. When I went there, the Catholic schools paid for your tuition.”

Hayes graduated from Cathedral Prep 58 years ago. Even though he graduated from Prep that long ago, some of the traditions and lessons are the same to this day. Rene Hayes also gained more than an education from Prep, he gained life long friends and another family.