Faculty Interview: Meet Brother Paul

Brother Paul in his goalie pads during a hockey game.

Brother Paul Avvento was born and raised in Long Island, New York, and moved to San Francisco after attending Manhattan College.

After seven years in San Francisco, he lived for brief times in Chicago, Washington DC, The Bronx, and Rhode Island before coming to Pittsburgh.

The Brothers decided Central Catholic would be the best fit for Brother Paul due to the traditionally supportive nature of our community and Brother Paul’s desire to be in a traditional high school.

Brother Paul was excited when he was asked to come to Central because of all the good things he heard from his close friend, Brother Steven Barbaro.

Brother Paul was hesitant to join the Brotherhood, despite a clear interest. While living in San Francisco Brother Paul served as a Lasallian volunteer where he volunteered in Lasallian schools and worked with the brothers.

He really enjoyed this experience and was clearly interested in the brothers. While in his 20s everyone would ask him when he was going to join the brotherhood, but he hated hearing that.

However, he said if God calls him to it he will join. Despite waiting for a call from God, he never took the time to find out if God was calling him because he was afraid of the answer. 

A few years later, Brother decided to give the Brotherhood a try and see if it was really for him. He said that he would rather try it now instead of regretting it later. Within a month of giving it a shot, he fell in love.

Brother Paul at the Rangers/Islanders game at Yankee Stadium with his dad and cousins

He always focused on what the brothers could not do, instead of the unique opportunities provided to him by the brotherhood.

Once seeing it was clear that this is what he was called to due he decided to join the Brotherhood.

He claims that this decision was the “Easiest decision I’ve ever made in my life.”

Currently, Brother Paul is teaching Sophomore World History and Junior US History.

His interest in history comes from the enjoyment of discussion: a key element of history classes.

Brother Paul playing golf at Torrey Pines, San Diego, host of the 2021 US Open

Initially, in college, Brother was interested in following in his father’s footsteps and majoring in business.

However, when flipping through the course catalog he found that the classes he wanted to take were education and history classes.

This was a shock because he never saw himself as a teacher and could not wait to leave high school and never come back.

However, he fell in love with teaching.

Brother Paul has always loved ice hockey and baseball. He played baseball through high school and played hockey through high school and on his college’s club team.

He maintains his passion for hockey by remaining a die-hard NY Rangers fan and serving as the Assistant Coach for the Junior-Varsity 2 Ice Hockey team at Central.

Brother Paul is also interested in helping out with the E-Sports team due to his enjoyment of video games.

Brother Paul is excited and happy to be at Central Catholic. Feel free to reach out to him, because he is always looking to help out.