Seton Spotlight - Winter 2017

Alumnae Spotlight Newsletter Winter 2017

Alumnae Corinne Ragusa Wnek and Catherine Sulenski Reilly Faculty Member Christine Danelson Students The MSR Student Body School News Upcoming Events

Alumnae Spotlight: Corinne Ragusa Wnek ‘68 and Catherine Sulenski Reilly ‘68 An Intimate Class Reunion We have all attended gatherings with our Mother Seton classmates in various locations. The laughter and connections can occur in any environment.

But nothing can top the mini Class of ’68 reunion that happens daily in our Guidance Department. Here, Corinne Ragusa Wnek and Cathy Sulenski Reilly meet daily and marvel at how their lives have come full circle back to these halls of truth and knowledge.

Both ladies studied Spanish while at Mother Seton and were in the same homeroom and classes although not really friends. They went on their separate paths after graduation. Corinne attended Trinity College in Vermont and Seton Hall University for graduate school. She became a college advisor at Union County College and later the first staff member hired for the new Magnet High School in Scotch Plains. Upon retiring from the Guidance and Counseling Department of Summit High School, Corinne was hired to help out with guidance responsibilities here at Mother Seton High School.

Meanwhile, Cathy attended Berkeley Business College and went on to an illustrious career that included being successful in the corporate world as Assistant to the Vice President of a large well known company. Her position required domestic travel as part of her responsibilities. When the company was sold, she moved on to be Assistant to the President of another large corporation for 23 years. Cathy even owned a bar in Atlantic City with her husband using her business acumen in yet another venue.

The plot thickens to include another class of ’68 connection. Kathleen McAleavey Flanagan, who volunteers her time and talents here at Mother Seton, was aware the Guidance Department was looking for a new secretary. She notified her close friend Cathy Reilly. The rest, as they say, is history.

Corinne and Cathy share many things in common. Sensibilities that may have taken root in their homeroom. Both are devoted to their religion and families, both share the same work ethic, and both adore their dogs. These connections cannot help but spill over to the entire guidance wing and the students who enter their offices.

Faculty Spotlight: Christine Danelson ‘05 A Renaissance Woman for the 21st Century Unlike the destructive tornado in the 2016 production of The Wizard of Oz Ms. Danelson directed here, her tornado of talents is a most welcome storm.

A 2005 Mother Seton graduate, Christine’s college experience began on line as she was a member of the first National Broadway Touring Company of Hairspray in ’05 and ’06. As an Equity member of the cast, Christine appeared in more than one hundred performances as the lead, Tracy Turnblad, while traveling across America. She then attended Kean University and achieved her BA in 2010 and continued her studies to receive her MSW in 2015. All of this led to Ms. Danelson’s positions at our school for the past three years as part time music teacher and the social worker in the guidance department.

Motivated by a sincere desire to help people and the metaphysical search of spreading her wings beyond her beautiful voice, Christine continues to explore the purpose of life and its implications to impact her world. Her music courses include Freshman and Sophomore classes that encompass music appreciation applying music theory. Upper classwomen delve further into music theory and there is an elective in musical theater. Christine also directs the Seton Ensemble and moderates the Forensics Team. Godspell, The Sound of Music, Annie, Hairspray, and The Wizard of Oz were all directed by Ms. Danelson for Mother Seton’s annual musical.

Leaving her stage presence, Christine enters the world of social worker as she assists students in the guidance office. Her door is open to our young women for emotional support either self-seeking or through teacher referrals. Christine is the understanding professional shoulder adolescent girls often need to sort out educational, emotional, physical, and learning issues.

Add to all that, Christine’s personal performances in community theater and solo concerts, and being the cantor at Saint Brendon’s Roman Catholic Church in Clifton, NJ. But her talents continue in true autodidactic spirit, Christine also designed the school’s web site update and helps maintain the Power School program used by the faculty.

Luckily for Mother Seton, Christine Danelson believes, like Dorothy, “There is no place like home.” and brought all her talents back to our school.

Student Spotlight: Mother Seton Student Body Charity Abounds The season of Christmas engenders a spirit of generosity as well as compassion for the women, men and children who are experiencing economic hardships at this time. It is because of this that the administration, faculty, staff and students of Mother Seton Regional High School in Clark have responded in a variety of ways.

An annual Coat Drive was sponsored during the week after Thanksgiving. In addition to one hundred fifteen coats collected, there were numerous sweaters, scarves, mittens and gloves donated to Saint Joseph’s Social Center in Elizabeth. Mrs. Carol Henderson, an instructor of Family and Consumer Science, assisted by seniors - Amadi Chisom, Stephanie Daniels and Sarah Gonzalik - organized the collection and checked the items before getting them ready for distribution.

The students in the Campus Ministry Loaves and Fishes Club participated in several service projects during November and December. Some members worked in gathering toiletries, clothing and blankets in Operation Warmheart with the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless. For over ten years, students, under the direction of Sister Mary Anne Katlack, S.C., Director of Campus Ministry, have participated in this project. Other club members prepared folders with stamped envelopes, writing paper, pens, pencils and greeting cards for the people who are in Detention Centers in Union, Essex, Hudson and Bergen counties. A third project is one that was organized by a former student and is still carried on for over fourteen years. Students wrote Christmas cards to the veterans who are residents at the Menlo Park Veterans Home. These girls also provided gifts of board games, cards and videos for the veterans.

For the first two weeks in December students donated nearly 50 toys to children in the Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick, over 100 gifts for families at St. Joseph’s Social Service Center in Elizabeth and over 50 sweatpants, sweatshirts and jackets for homeless patients at Rahway Hospital.

This spirit of giving is not just for the Christmas season. All during the school year, the Mother Seton community responds to those who are in need by collections of food (at Thanksgiving more than 40 baskets and turkeys were donated to local families), clothing and money assisting to alleviate poverty, always recognizing that what we receive is more than what we give.

School News: A French Connection Recently, Ms. Buontempo’s (’92) Advanced French class welcomed Madame Annie Pitoiset, from Pontoise, France.

Madame was visiting her Alumna friend (Jo-Ann Dorio-Fyne ’68) and a stop at Mother Seton was high on their activity list.

Madame retired as both a French and English teacher in France’s equivalent of our middle school.

The MSHS students carried on conversations in French with their visitor and shared stories of travels to Paris. Annie was very impressed with the students’ skill and with our school in general. She commented how polite all the girls were as they passed in the hall, each greeting her with a pleasant hello. To quote Madame, “This school is a fabulous place.”

Therapy Dog Brings Smiles to Students Taking Midterm Exams During the hustle and bustle of midterm exam week, the students of Mother Seton got a surprise visit from two interesting volunteers. Therapy dog, Calli and her owner, Sharon Flammia, were kind enough to bring their calm vibes to the Drama Studio between the morning and afternoon exams on Wednesday, January 18th, to help alleviate the students’ nerves. Studies have shown that four-legged companions bring moments of comfort and stress relief to students as they navigate exam week. Calli’s magic did the trick!

School News: Mother Seton Faculty Members Become Seton Associates Three Mother Seton faculty members became Seton Associates of the Sisters of Charity at a liturgy honoring Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton at Convent Station on Saturday, January 7. Seton Associates are women and men who, following their own particular vocation in life, seek to deepen their relationship with God and share in the mission and ministry of the sisters. They live out the charism of Charity by praying for the mission, being active in ministry, especially toward the poor, and sharing in Congregational celebrations, liturgies, and retreats. John Uriarte, Religious Studies Chairperson at Mother Seton and fellow Seton Associate, gave the homily at this Mass.

Sister Jacquelyn Balasia, Principal, sponsored these wonderfully talented women: “They will each add so much to this program and in turn will benefit so much from this program bringing this richness back to the MSR school community.“ All three are also alumnae of MSR, along with Sr. Jacquelyn.

Christine Danelson is music teacher, annual musical director, Seton Ensemble Director, Forensics Coach and School Social Worker. Christine has been in Broadway plays, TV shows and in the movies. She is especially remembered for her role as Tracy in the Paper Mill Playhouse production of “Hairspray!” She is an excellent role model for the students. Miss Danelson is always available to not only help them, but to give help to any member of our MSR community. She uses her creativity managing the school website and monitoring its social media.

Laura Flammia is Director of Development and Alumnae Relations. She is very welcoming to all and she is always willing to help anyone in need. She often gives of her time to help others. She is very persistent and works tirelessly to secure financial aid, donations and assistance for a variety of projects for Mother Seton. She also finds time to make Mother Seton students feel wonderful about themselves.

Corinne Wnek is Director of Guidance. After working in the public sector, she returned to MSR to help fill a much needed replacement position. At this time, she was the only person in the Guidance Department and she managed to take care of every single student, continuing to say that she could do it all – and she did! Now with the addition of Christine Danelson, she continues to guide the students, especially the seniors, to maintain their average college scholarship money of over $280,000 per student (over 81% receive college scholarships!) and 100% college placement!

Mr. John Uriarte, Sr. Jacquelyn Balasia, Mrs. Corinne Wnek, Mrs. Laura Flammia, Ms. Christine Danelson

Together these women work to make the mission of MSR a reality, challenging, empowering and inspiring young women as they take on this new role as Seton Associates.

Upcoming Events at our Alma Mater: Gala 2017 - Save the date!

Plans have already begun for the third Annual Gala to be held again at the Westwood on Friday, September 22, 2017. We hope that by moving this event to a Friday evening, more of our Seton family will be able to attend. The event promises to be filled with friendship and Seton Spirit enhanced by a silent auction, 50/50 raffle, music, cocktails, dinner, and the awards ceremony.

Please consider getting involved in this worthy project by being on a planning committee or at least marking your calendars to attend this very special Mother Seton event.

National Catholic Schools Week - January 29 through February 4 Mother Seton will celebrate the start of Catholic Schools Week with a Liturgy on Monday, January 30th at 9:30. We invite our Alumnae to join us as we celebrate this very special liturgy.

National Catholic Schools Week, established in 1974, is the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. The theme this year is “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.” This celebration week will focus on the value Catholic education provides to young people and its contributions to our church, our communities, and our nation.

Alumnae Pizza Party - February 10 @ 7pm Join us for an evening of fun, games and PIZZA. Last year’s Pizza Party highlighted karaoke talents we never knew we had! Come and join in the fun. The party starts at 7:00 in the Gym. Tickets are $20 and the event is BYOB. Be prepared for a night of FUN, GAMES, FRIENDSHIP and LAUGHTER. Click this link to register.

‘Tea Time’ Gift Auction - March 3 The Mother Seton Parent’s Guild will be hosting their annual gift auction on Friday, March 3rd. Doors open at 5:30pm with the ‘first call’ happening at 7:30pm.

Admission is $20 per ticket. Reserve a table of 8 by emailing us at giftauction@motherseton.org.

Seton Super Sweepstakes Raffle - Drawing Date: March 3 WANT TO WIN up to $25,000 and help our school to raise $25,000 in the process?

Here's your chance - buy a SUPER 50/50 Raffle Ticket. Tickets are $50. Two ways to play: Click this link and choose the 'Seton SUPER Sweepstakes' option, a $2.00 processing fee will be added to your ticket purchase.

Upcoming Events at our Alma Mater: Alumnae Meeting - March 7 @ 7pm Come and share your ideas. Help to plan our future events. The meeting will be held in the Mother Seton Conference Room. We’d love to have you join us!

Easter Egg Hunt - April 2 from 1pm to 3pm What a great way to celebrate Easter and the arrival of spring! Meet the Easter Bunny and join in the fun at our first annual Easter Egg Hunt. This event is open to all Mother Seton families. Children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, ages 1-10 will enjoy hunting for eggs while their families enjoy the afternoon together. The Mother Seton Alumnae Association is happy to sponsor this event, any donations are appreciated.

Alumnae Induction Ceremony - May 25 @ 7pm You are invited to join our Candlelight Ceremony as the Class of 2017 enters our Alumnae Association. A prayer service, special alumnae speakers, readings, and the singing of our Alma Mater will all enhance this meaningful ceremony. The following reception will give you the opportunity to meet and connect with our newest members and welcome them into our alumnae sisterhood.

Invitation to Worship Please join us at our future school liturgies: January 30 @ 9:30 - Catholic Schools Week Mass March 1 @ 9:30 - Ash Wednesday (Mass & Distribution of Ashes) April 10 @ 9:30 - Stations of the Cross May 1 @ 9:30 - School Liturgy

Career Day at MSR - September 2017 Calling all Alumnae. Mother Seton will be hosting a Career Day in September 2017. We are seeking Alumnae to represent their profession at this event.

Please consider sharing your ‘journey to success’ story with our aspiring professionals. If you are able to participate, please send an email to Alumnae@motherseton.org with your name, profession and contact information.

Attention Class of 1967 - 50th Class Reunion Follow up celebrating at the Gala with our 50th class reunion on Saturday, September 23, 2017 from 12pm to 4pm at Echo Lake Country Club. For information please contact Janis Bowne Senese at jansenese@yahoo.com or Marylee Gatesy Massenzio at maryleemass@hotmail.com.