Alumnae Spotlight - Spring 2017

Alumnae Spotlight Newsletter Spring 2017

Alumnae News Amanda McKnight Alumnae Easter Egg Hunt Alumnae Volunteers Faculty Member Natalie Rotolo Students Ashley Ann Thomas Long Qi Sun School News Sports Update Upcoming Events

Alumnae Spotlight: Amanda McKnight University of New Haven, Class of 2017 B.S. Chemical Engineering, B.S. Chemistry Society of Women Engineers - President Charger Ambassador Amanda entered the University of New Haven as a Chemical Engineering major, but missing some Chemistry courses, added that on as a double major.

She joined the Society of Women Engineers as a Freshman, knowing engineering was a male-dominated field, Amanda was a little nervous, especially coming from an all-girls high school. But nerves didn’t stop her progress as she was elected to be the Secretary (sophomore year), Vice President (junior year) and President (currently) of the organization. As a member, she was given the opportunity to travel to Boston, Philadelphia and Nashville for national conferences. More recently, Amanda traveled to local conferences in Pittsburgh and at UConn, where she was awarded first place in the collegiate research poster competition (twice). Being a part of this wonderful organization gave her more than just the professional support group she was expecting but also important friendships.

Amanda has been working on research in the Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels with her advisor for the past year. Some other involvements on campus include: member of American Institute of Chemical Engineers, member of American Society of Civil Engineers, Charger Ambassador for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, and DREAM Team Mentor for the Accessibility Resources Center. She also serves as a Teaching Assistant for General Chemistry, Chemistry with Applications to Biosystems and Introduction to Engineering. Due to all of Amanda’s involvement on campus and within the Tagliatela College of Engineering, she was awarded the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Service Award.

Amanda credits her college experiences and opportunities to the strong, empowering foundation she received at Mother Seton. She feels the constant support and encouragement she received at our school definitely led her to be the goal-oriented woman she is today.

Amanda’s mother, Karen Caffrey McKnight, is also an alumna, Class of 1974. This is clearly a family who embodies the Mother Seton tradition of excellence.

Alumnae Easter Egg Hunt The Easter Bunny Attends MSR!

A new, successful tradition began at Mother Seton on April 2. The Alumnae Association hosted an Easter Egg Hunt for MSR family children ages 1-10. There were 150 people in our gym on this beautiful Spring Sunday. The hunt area was covered in bales of hay, donated by Schieferstein's Farm, to hide eggs scattered by skilled, student volunteers.

Candy-filled Easter eggs were hunted by four age groups. Children scrambled to fill their bags or baskets with pastel holiday treats. A Golden Egg was hidden for each hunt and the child who found that treasure was rewarded with a Thomas Sweet’s chocolate Easter Bunny.

The special guest was the Easter Bunny herself! Katherine Blum, a junior, was honored to don the costume and entertain the kids. Miss Bunny posed for professional free photos with families. There were smiles and, yes, some tears for young children who weren’t quite sure what to make of the huge, white creature in the big purple hat! A variety of activities included a candy bowl buffet where scoops of various sugary treats filled carrot-shaped cellophane bags. Surprisingly, there was some candy left!

The children had a chance to play Pin-The-Tail on the Bunny and Bunny Ear Ring Toss while refreshments of bagels, cookies, juice boxes and water were served throughout the day. The Bunny assistants from the student body guided all these activities with patience and joy while wearing bunny sunglasses of their own.

Judging by the candy smeared smiles and cheery giggles, a hippity hoppity time was had by all! Be sure to keep your bunny ears tuned in for next year’s Easter Egg Hunt.

Alumnae Volunteers Ms. Laura Olden Flammia, Class ’91, heads the Office of Development here at Mother Seton.

Through her spirited and open attitude toward all things possible for our alma mater Laura has welcomed an energetic and involved group of alumnae who share her devotion to our school. On any given day, these ladies from various graduating classes, volunteer their time to do whatever task needs to be addressed. They bring skills ranging from business, technology, law, and education.

Whether writing the alumnae newsletter, stuffing envelopes, organizing events, refreshing dĂŠcor, locating missing alumnae, or an endless array of tasks, these women feel like they are home. The Seton spirit encompasses all they do and the rewarding feelings they experience being back in these halls of truth and knowledge.

Faculty Spotlight: Natalie Rotolo A Story of Her Own Mrs. Rotolo, is one of the stars of Mother Seton’s English Department since the 2012-2013 academic year and advisor to the Storied Lives activity at our school. It comes as no surprise that Mrs. Rotolo’s life also has an interesting story worth telling.

Although born in the United States, Natalie’s first language was Polish. When her mother came to America from Poland as a young bride of 24, she was not English proficient and therefore her baby girl learned to speak Polish. Eventually her mom learned English from friends, neighbors, and soap operas on television. But in grammar school kids always made fun of Natalie’s accent. Rather than allow that to limit her, Mrs. Rotolo chose to become an English teacher, letting those taunts motivate her life story.

Mrs. Rotolo received her BA in Journalism/Mass Media and English Literature from Rutgers University in 1995 and her Master’s Degree in teaching from Saint Peter’s University in 2008.

After beginning her professional career at an investment firm in New York City, Mrs. Rotolo completed her graduate degree and followed her heart to the world of education and literature.

Here are two interesting chapters in her story; Natalie used her bilingual skills to teach English in Gdansk, Poland, after her college graduation and then, got her Masters while she was nine months pregnant. Those are amazing details!

Mrs. Rotolo lives with her husband, Steven Rotolo, Sr. who is an attorney at Aegis Insurance and her two sons, Steven, Jr, age 12 and Christopher, age 8. Both boys attend Saint James the Apostle School, in Springfield, New Jersey. This family is sure to create more interesting stories of their own.

Student Spotlight: Ashley Ann Thomas A League of Her Own Senior Ashley Ann Thomas is hitting an academic grand slam in her college acceptance letters. A bright and engaging young woman interested in a career in Chemical or Bio-Nuclear engineering has been accepted to 13 top tier universities: Carnegie Mellon, Boston University, Villanova, University of Rochester, Cornell University, University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign, University of Minnesota, MIT, Johns Hopkins University, Vanderbilt University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Georgia Tech, and Washington University in Saint Louis.

Ashley selected her school choices with the sense of community and goal orientation she found as she visited the campuses. She wants to be near a major city and finds the Boston area quite an interesting option with its well-rounded array of schools and student oriented neighborhoods. After her experiences at Mother Seton, she wants to duplicate the family environment and drama free learning atmosphere she found here.

The Academic Challenge Team boosted Ashley’s learning experience for her AP classes with their rigorous demands. She found the team, along with the Math and Science Leagues, afforded her additional activities for independent thought and Increased insight. Ashley credits her teachers here for their constant support, consideration, and nurturing methods that enhance this motivated student’s learning abilities.

Whichever of the 13 schools Ashely chooses, they will be getting a stellar young woman who is not only smart but cultured and caring.

Long Qi Sun Meet an International Student Moving here from Shanghai, China, to better her educational opportunities, Long Qi is a happy and talented sophomore here at Mother Seton. Living with her hosts, the Chi family, Long Qi finds American education very different from home.

Here learning is more social and less strict which allows for more self-expression and immersion into all subjects. Interested in math, physics, science and engineering Long Qi participates in the math league.

Add to these abilities the fact that Long Long has studied piano for thirteen years and recently won a competition that will allow her to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City! She was also in the school’s talent show and enjoys tennis.

On a recent visit, Long’s parents presented the school with a Chinese plate and stand that depicts a scene from a famous 18 th century novel of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Lou Meng. The plate is perfect for our school because it shows the empowered women from the Red Chamber who were famous for their intelligence and beauty, a path Long Qi finds enhanced for modern young women here at Mother Seton.

School News: Storied Lives – “A connection to the elderly through the art of writing.”

Since 2014, Mother Seton Regional High School students have been participating in Storied Lives, a program which enables imaginative and service-minded high school students to pay tribute to the elderly by writing stories about their lives. The program was originally founded by a father and daughter, Tariq and Zeenie Sharif, in 2012 in Morristown, NJ. The Sharifs’ goal was to create a unique program which would enable generations to connect through the process of interviewing and writing about the lives of senior citizens.

The program consists of an Opening Ceremony, where the girls are introduced to, and interview, a senior from their community. They then arrange future dates to meet again for further discussions. Through these meetings, the students get to know the interviewees and hopefully discover interesting facts and derive inspiration from their life stories. Once the students obtain enough information, they then write a story, poem or essay honoring that individual’s life. The emotional part comes next… the story, poem or essay is presented to the senior by the student during the Closing Ceremony! It is a truly moving experience to witness the pride and happiness on the senior’s face as his or her life story is read aloud. The seniors are usually joined by their families, and the experience unquestionably enriches the lives of all who bear witness to this poignant Closing Ceremony.

In 2014, then Mother Seton junior Alyssa Ziobro was interested in forming a Storied Lives program at the school. She approached Mrs. Natalie Rotolo, one of the school’s English teachers, who willingly volunteered to become its Program Supervisor. Under the guidance of Tariq and Zeenie, Alyssa and Mrs. Rotolo partnered with Sunrise of Westfield, a senior living facility located in Westfield, NJ. In addition to helping launch the program, Alyssa served as that year’s Program Leader and created and developed the Storied Lives website. Every year, a new program leader is chosen and serves as the liaison between the students participating in the program and Sunrise. The program leader is responsible for ensuring that the girls’ stories are submitted on time and the interviews run smoothly.

The program has been a resounding success due to the support of Miss Joan Barron, Principal at Mother Seton, and Alyssa’s mother, Kristina Ziobro. Mrs. Ziobro has not only been part of the program since its inception, but also established the relationship between Mother Seton and Sunrise.

Although Alyssa has graduated and is currently attending the Maryland Institute of Art, both she and her mother have continued to be extremely supportive of the program and still make every effort to attend the Opening and Closing ceremonies. The Mother Seton community will forever be indebted to them for introducing such a wonderful and rewarding program to the school. It bridges the gap between the young and the old, and allows the girls to learn about history from a person who lived it.

Andy Rooney summed it up best when he wrote that “the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.”

To learn more about the Storied Lives program, please use the following link: http://storiedlivesprogram.org/index.html

Mother Seton High School Engineering Project Selected as Top Prototype A real-life disaster solution devised by Mother Seton Regional High School engineering design students will be displayed at the National Catholic Educational Association Convention.

Students were charged with designing and prototyping disaster-resistant sustainable housing. Six groups of four students brainstormed various designs, built a prototype of the chosen design, and tested each house to see if it could withstand a specific natural disaster.

“Each group chose a country and researched the type of natural disaster prevalent in the country as well as the natural resources available,” Katherine Sullivan, the Engineering Design Process Class teacher, and an engineer herself, said. “The groups also researched the customs of the people in order to design comfortable homes that fit their lifestyles.”

The six houses were built for the countries of Bangladesh, China, Ecuador, Fiji, Japan and Thailand. They were designed to withstand earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and strong winds. The unique characteristics of the homes and the cost of the homes and materials used were presented in marketing posters as a culmination of each engineering project.

To emulate a real-life engineering project environment, each member within a group was given a specific job title as project manager, structural engineer, design engineer (architect) or marketing manager. Each student explored her job and listed associated responsibilities.

The award-winning Bangladesh prototype included a turbine that would raise the home up one story in the event of a disaster while releasing two fully stocked life boats that could

Sports Spotlight: Mother Seton Athletes During the fall season, several athletes were named to the GMC All-Division teams. For their outstanding achievements in their sports, seniors Bianca Ortega and Catie Koenig were acknowledged for soccer and seniors Sarah Gonczlik and Sofia Coelho, as well as sophomore, Cararose Coppola, were recognized for Volleyball.

The JV and Varsity volleyball teams both went undefeated in the Blue Division with 8-0 records. The Varsity team was Blue Division Volleyball Champion.

Sarah Gonczlik, who won a spot on the GMC All-Conference Team, also received the Seton Hall Outstanding Woman in Sports Award in February.

The winter season saw our bowling, basketball and swimming teams show off their athleticism. During this season, Junior Alexandra Anton made the GMC All-Division Bowling Team.

The basketball team welcomed back Joanne Zwiebel (class of ’79) as head basketball coach.

Under coach’s guidance, the team is looking forward to a bright future with the many talented Freshmen who will continue to play.

Our swimming team also welcomed a new coach this year, Mrs. Katelyn Dauphinee. Our swimmers had a good season as they worked with Mrs. Dauphinee.

Sports Extra - This Just In! The athletes of Mother Seton have been awarded the Blue Division Sportsmanship Award for the Greater Middlesex Conference for 2016-17. A banner will be awarded to our school’s athletes during the Annual May Sportsmanship Banquet at the Pines Manor.

Each year four schools receive this honor for exhibiting good sportsmanship toward all their opponents. We are very proud of our MSR athletes and coaches.

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.

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.

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.