As a four-year (1967-1971) Chaminade student Oscar J. Braynon, was a basketball letterman, member of the Homecoming Committee, Student Council, trombonist in the Chaminade Band and a  freshman/JV football team member.  

Following graduation, Oscar enrolled at the historic Tuskegee (nee Institute) University in Alabama, where he majored in Political Science and was active in student life, including Pre-law, The Campus Digest newspaper, Pan Hellenic Council as well as Senior Class President.

Upon graduation from Tuskegee with a Bachelor of Science, Oscar J. Braynon entered Naval Aviation Officer Training, where he was commissioned as an Officer and earned his gold Navy Wings in 1977. 

As a Naval Officer and Pilot, Braynon’s professional career was established by a ten-year stint as an active duty Naval Aviator where he obtained the rank of Lieutenant Commander. During which time he amassed in excess of 3,000 flight hours in various naval aircraft in anti-submarine warfare and logistical support while serving in the European and Pacific theaters of operation. He additionally served as a Naval Reservist and was stationed in the Caribbean and attained the rank of Commander. His reservist career was highlighted by two tours as Commanding Officer: the first at the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Puerto Rico and the final as Commanding Officer of the Naval Station Roosevelt Roads Reserves. 

As a civilian Commander Braynon was pilot and flight Engineer at the former Eastern Airlines based in Miami. Mr. Braynon was the owner and Chief Pilot of International Aviation Consortium, an FAA certified air charter operation specializing in personal air services to the Bahamas and the Caribbean.  He additionally, served as a pilot for Presidential Candidate the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Mr. Braynon re-entered public service as the Chief of Staff for a Miami-Dade County Commissioner; he also served as Director of Intra-Governmental Affairs and Protocol in the Office of the Commission Chair. Braynon was responsible for all transportation and infrastructure policy issues. He also functioned as a negotiator and arbitrator for the re-establishment of the major regional cultural event within the Caribbean community.

Oscar J. Braynon currently serves as the Chairman of Miami-Dade County’s Citizen Independent Transportation Trust which oversees and monitors the expenditures from the county’s half cent sales tax.  He is the President of the South Florida Tuskegee Alumni Club, which includes Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. He presently provides consulting services in the areas of aviation, transportation, general government, community outreach and civic engagement, since retiring from Miami International Airport (MIA) in 2014.

Mr. Braynon presently resides in Miami Gardens and is a native of South Florida, with family roots in Miami which exceed 120 years. Oscar is married to the former Patricia Jennings of Miami (a graduate of the Academy of the Assumption), for 46 years and they are the parents to two adult children; son Oscar II, a former State Senator who is married to Melissa Fung of Miami and their daughter, Jina Marie, an international business analyst. Oscar and Pat as she is known, share grandsons Oscar James III and Brandon Glen. As an Episcopalian by faith is an ordained lay minister and served as the Parish Senior Warden.

His life is still guided by the Chaminade motto: Ad Mundum Meliorem, meaning  “Toward a Better World”

James Cannella graduated from CMCP in 2002. During his tenure here, James participated in wrestling and was a four-year varsity letterman. He was a State Champion Qualifier in 2000; a three-time District Champion in 2000, 2001, and 2002; a two-time Regional Champion in 2001 and 2002. He won fourth place in the State Championship Tournament in 2001 and second place in 2002. In 2002, his senior year, James was named First Team All Broward County. 

Paul Cannella graduated from CMCP in 2004. As a student, Paul was a four-year Varsity Letterman in Wrestling. He was a State Qualifier in 2002 and 2003. He was a two-time District Champion in 2003 and 2004. In his senior year, Paul was a Regional Champion, named to the 1st Team All-County, and a State Champion. Paul was a member of the FSU Wrestling Club and was the Founder and President of the Wrestling Club at Nova Southeastern University during law school. 

Nicole Lauchaire is Varsity Brands’ Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications, where she is responsible not only for the strategy and implementation of key communications across the Company, but also for reinforcing Varsity Brands’ purpose and mission within the Company’s three businesses: BSN SPORTS, Varsity Spirit and Herff Jones. She also leads Digital, Media & Marketing for Varsity Spirit.

 

Over her 20-year tenure with the Company that began at Varsity Spirit, Nicole has been instrumental in a number of key marketing and communications initiatives including Varsity Spirit’s re-branding in 2007, the creation of Varsity TV, Varsity Brands’ partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the social media and public relations activations for the brand. Since 2010, Lauchaire has co-hosted the Varsity Spirit Cheerleading Championships on ESPN and CBS Sports Network.

 

Nicole was first introduced to Varsity Spirit in the 9th grade while cheering at CMCP, during which time she also attended the cheer camps with the Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA), a division of Varsity Spirit. She later went on to cheer at Florida State University, and served as an instructor for UCA beginning in 1996 before making Memphis her home.

 

While at CMCP, I was on the Varsity Cheerleading Squad all four years and received a Varsity letter. Academically, I’m proud to say that I also finished 3rd in my class. We earned numerous awards at UCA Cheer Camp as a team, and I was named an All-American, as well as received an invitation to try out to be on the UCA Staff. After graduating from Florida State University, I taught 11th and 12th grade English at CMCP (’00-’01), coached the cheerleading squad and took the team to the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships. The next year I moved to Memphis and my summer job became an incredible career. I celebrated my 20-year anniversary with the company in September of 2021.

During her time at CMCP Gissell was an active member of the basketball team and the track and field team for three years but focused most of her time on track and field. She competed in the 400m, 200m, 4x4m relays, and the triple jump. She is a two-time 2A state champion in the girls’ triple jump (2008 and 2009), and was honored in 2008 with the Girls’ Second Team All-County Track and Field, in the triple jump. Her high school PR- 40’10 in the triple jump.

 

Ms. Warner accepted an NCAA scholarship to the University of Florida and was a part of UF’s Track and Field program (2010-2015). During her time at UF, she managed to maintain and balance a student-athlete workload of schoolwork, classes, practice, traveling, and competing. Ms. Warner was a SEC Academic Honor Roll member. She also competed in and was a part of the Women’s SEC Indoor Championships Team in 2012. She is a 2015 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Second-Team All-American. Her indoor collegiate PR was 42’-6.75, and her outdoor PR was 42’-2. She currently holds the 10th indoor mark in the triple jump for the Women’s All-Time top ten at UF. She graduated from The University of Florida in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. 

 

Ms. Warner went back to school and graduated from the University of Florida again in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Nursing. She works at Tampa General Hospital as a registered nurse in the NICU.

Mr. Michael Eaton has been a dedicated employee of CMCP for seven years. He started as the Technology Director and then taught social studies for two years and eventually became the assistant principal. Under Dr. Mucheck’s leadership, Mr. Eaton took on his current position, the Dean of Students.

 

As the Dean of Students, Mr. Eaton deals with a little bit of everything. From parking issues to perimeter checks to meeting with students, Mr. Eaton is everywhere.

 

He proudly served in the Marine Corps for 8 years. After the Marine Corps, he went back to school to finish his degree in political science. He has since received multiple master’s degrees. 

 

Mr. Eaton is also a dedicated family man. He has been married for 32 years, is the father of both a son and a daughter, and was a dedicated “sports dad.” He coached his son in football and he drove his daughter to her dance competitions. He was so dedicated, he opened up a Sports and Dance shop in Hialeah in 2008 because “there were so many dance things that we couldn’t get, as the internet hadn’t quite taken off as it has now, so stores were still huge!” The store took off. Eventually, he closed the store, but at one point Mr. Eaton was a business owner/manager, football coach, teacher, student, husband, and father all at the same time. 

 

Now, at CMCP, Mr. Eaton keeps coming back for the people. “The people that work here are so awesome. I know it sounds like a cliche when you say we’re like a family, but we really are. This is my second family away from my own. This is what makes CMCP what it is. The connections I make here, the opportunity to help students, this is why I love what I do.”