Alumna of the Year - Monica (Gargano) Hartman '08

Introducing Monica (Gargano) Hartman ’08

2021 Alumna of the Year

Monica was honored on Saturday, March 6th at the 70’s Boogie Night Gala & Auction, as this year’s Alumna of the Year.

Monica joined the Marketing Committee in 2016, to provide insight and support based on her experience in marketing and communications. After serving for two years, she joined the Bishop Verot School Board, as the youngest alumni representative. Soon after, she partnered up with her friend and fellow Student Government officer, Skyler Bauer, to revive the Bishop Verot Alumni Association. As local young professionals, they realized many of their classmates were also local and rarely had the opportunity to connect. Offering an opportunity for alumni to reconnect with old classmates and network with fellow Vikings became the goal with the many Alumni Association events now held several times a year. They also wanted to encourage alumni to reconnect with the school community beyond their four years as a student. Monica was committed to service at Verot as an active member of Campus Ministry and Mission Club. Following Hurricane Katrina, she traveled to New Orleans on two mission trips with the Mission Club. The first trip was fairly soon after the hurricane hit and was focused on clean up from the massive storm. The second was later in the recovery and focused on rebuilding homes for those who lost theirs in the storm.As President of SGA, she was a member of the team who began the FISH Camp for incoming freshmen. Monica also served as a Freshman Retreat and Live Jesus Retreat leader. Monica’s commitment to service and the Verot community runs in the family. Her father, Tony, also served on the School Board for many years. Many of her siblings -Meagan ’04, Anthony ’06, John ’13, Thomas ’15, James, Vinny ’20, and Nick ’22 – have also served in leadership capacities while at Verot and can often be seen at the many Alumni events. When asked what she thought makes Verot so special, Monica shared, “The faculty and staff is what makes Verot such a special place.

Coach Gill presents Monica with award

Monica with Skyler Bauer '08

You’ve got people like Miss Barbato to set you up for success beyond Verot. Athletic coaches to teach you the importance of hard work and preparation (for me that was Fr. Beattie with XC and Coach Rick Hendrix for Softball). Great religion teachers and retreats like Live Jesus to teach you the importance of your faith. Amazing teachers like Ms. Elmeer to challenge you to think outside the box. People like Coach Herting to teach you about eating healthy, but mostly to make sure you can take a joke and not take yourself too seriously. Each of them are teaching you their subject matter, but more importantly they’re teaching you the skills you need to succeed beyond high school. I still see the faculty and staff of today show that same level of genuine care I saw and felt 12 years ago when I was a student here. That is what I love most about Verot.” Monica is the Senior Director of Operations and Communications for Gartner’s Global Midsize Enterprise Sales Channel. She resides in Fort Myers with her husband Greg Hartman and their one-anda-half-year-old son, Benjamin. They are excited to welcome their baby girl to the family in a few months. BV