NEW COURSE FOCUSES ON DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP SKILLS

This fall, the DSHA Specialized Studies Department has added a new course entitled Character-Driven Leadership. This one semester elective class for sophomores through seniors focuses on developing leadership skills. As students learn how to lead, they are prepared to step forward into the future with vitality, hope, and courage. Character-Driven Leadership, taught by Social Studies and Specialized Studies Faculty Tom Montgomery , is deliberately and intentionally focused on helping each student grow and develop into an articulate, confident, and capable leader. Based on the most current and relevant learnings on leadership, the course allows students to graduate with the confidence to lead themselves and others, and is purposefully designed to develop the “Leader” Quality of a DSHA Graduate.

During the fall semester, Dashers explored four principal areas of leadership: leading yourself, identifying your leadership mindset, allowing yourself to be led, and leading by example. Several guest speakers visited the class throughout the fall to share their career and leadership paths, including Megan Troy, DSHA ’01 , who serves as Counsel at Mayer Brown LLP.

Karinna Trotter, DSHA ’25 , shares of Troy’s visit and the class, “I found her braveness, independence, and determination to be most inspiring. She seemed to never be afraid of a dispute or challenge, no matter how hard she would have to work. She always found ways to collaborate and build success for others. She mentioned how to goal set and how to accomplish those goals multiple times, which I am hoping to input into my own life.”

DSHA added two additional new classes this semester including Earth Science along with EDU 405: Exceptional Learners, a course in which students earn three transferable college credits through Mount Mary University. Students in this course serve as a Marian Scholar Peer Mentor, along with engaging in an additional day of education at MMU in Art Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and/or the Education Department to develop strategies for supporting exceptional learners.

Letter from the President & Principal Special Events | Highlights

Dasher Life | Highlights

Fall Athletics | Highlights

Fall State Championships

Fine Arts | Highlights

Sister Act Musical | Award Nominations

Heart + Intellect Feature | STEM Scholars Fosters Confidence

Intellect + Faith | Goodness & Kindness

Civil Discourse

Faith + Heart Feature | Choosing Faith through Campus Ministry Offerings

Faculty + Staff Focus | Director of Student Services

Maria Schram and DEI Director Cynthia Blaze

Giving Tuesday

Alumnae Weekend 2022 Recap

Young Alumna of the Year | Lissa deGuzman, DSHA ’12

Alumna of the Year | Judie Dalum Taylor, DSHA ’87

Jubilarian of the Year | Sue Behling Schmitt, HA ’67

Alumnae

The Word Magazine is published for and about the students, alumnae, parents, faculty, staff, administrators, and friends of Divine Savior Holy Angels High School. Your feedback is always welcome; contact VP of Marketing & Communications Molly Shea at SheaM@dsha.info.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Molly Shea, VP of Marketing & Communications

CREATIVE DIRECTOR:

Alex Mora, Director of Graphic Design & Marketing Projects

STAFF WRITER: Erin McCarville, Marketing & Development Writer

ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTORS:

President Katie Konieczny, DSHA ’92; Alumnae Director Danielle Jerominski Rabe, DSHA ’08; Principal Dan Quesnell; Senior Director of Development Matt Johnson

During the fall semester, three members of the DSHA TSC (standing for total school community, meaning all faculty and staff) received significant recognition at the national level for accomplishments in their respective areas of expertise. Please join us in congratulating these outstanding members of the DSHA faculty and staff for their dedication, life-changing work, and influence in their fields.

This fall, Applied Wellness Program Director Joanna McQuide, DSHA ’93, became a nationally board-certified health and wellness coach. She is formally equipped to support others in activating internal strengths and external resources to make sustainable and healthy lifestyle behavior changes. DSHA is now one of the only high schools in the country with a nationally board-certified health and wellness coach directing a student wellness program. The Applied Wellness Program at DSHA mimics how individuals achieve whole-person wellness beyond high school: through reflection, contemplation, planning, and action. McQuide provides students with the framework and a variety of opportunities to practice and internalize this process so that wellness becomes more than a requirement—it becomes a way of life.

In October, Science Department Chair Stacey Strandberg was published in the Volume 84, No. 8 October 2022 edition of The American Biology Teacher Journal. Her article entitled Autopolyploidy & Allopolyploidy Card Sort: Investigating Chromosomal Errors That Lead to Sympatric Speciation helps students in AP Biology learn how new species evolve in the same area. After over a year and a half of research, Strandberg created a card game that allows students to understand speciation on a wider level. She has received numerous emails from professors and teachers nation-wide who applaud her for her insight and method of teaching speciation.

Scan to read Stranberg’s full article from The American Biology Teacher Journal

In December, DSHA Athletic Director Peggy Seegers-Braun was awarded the National Federation of State High School Associations (NHFS) Citation Award by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAA) in Nashville, TN. This prestigious career-highlight award is presented to athletic administrators from across the country for their long-time contributions to interscholastic athletics at the state, local, and/or national level. She is now only the 11th person and 2nd woman from the state of Wisconsin to receive this national citation award since its inception in 1971. This award comes just two years after receiving national recognition from the NIAA in the Bruce D. Whitehead Distinguished Service Award.

Scan to learn more about the 35 years of accomplishments of Seegers-Braun, and watch her accept her award (29:49 – 33:58 in the video).

On December 8, students, faculty, and staff gathered as a school community to celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Most Reverend Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki presided over the Mass with Master of Ceremonies Fr. Jim Lobacz. The DSHA Divine Strings, handbells, and the liturgical music team provided the music. At the beginning of the Mass, the Archbishop shared, “I want you to realize how much you represent the Catholic identity in our community.” He called attention to how DSHA lives out his three priorities of shepherding the Church: Catholic identity, evangelization, and stewardship. During the homily, the Archbishop discussed the idea of decision making, advising students to look to Mary as an example. He urged students, when making a difficult decision, to ask themselves, "am I following God's will?" He went on to emphasize that the basis of one’s Catholic faith is "listening to God and His will,” just as Mary did when she became the Mother of God—when she was around the same age as DSHA students. DSHA extends a most sincere thank you to Archbishop Listecki and Fr. Lobacz for helping the school community celebrate this Holy Day of Obligation.

As you, know the Sisters of the Divine Savior (SDS) are our sponsoring order. We are so blessed to share a physical building with them and get to see them in some capacity nearly every week. We look to their leadership, and are inspired by their charism to be “deeply rooted in Jesus, our Savior”. In a practical sense, we are driven by their core values on a daily basis as we lead our school community in the hours, days, weeks, and months that make up a school year.

This fall, we have placed a particular emphasis on unity as a school community, rooted in the SDS core value of collaboration. Our scriptural theme for the year is from Psalm 133:1: How good and kind it is when God’s people live together in unity!

In this issue you will see several ways our emphasis on unity has played out with students: from girls growing in their faith through expanding and thriving Campus Ministry offerings; teams coming together to break records and win state championships; our Sister Act musical receiving 13 Jerry Award Nominations; and new programs like STEM Scholars allowing our girls to grow in confidence because they are working alongside of, and inspired by, one another and their teachers.

We are so proud of what our students have accomplished this semester together—in unity—deeply rooted in Jesus, our Savior. In addition to our students, our unified community includes faculty and staff, alumnae, and our future Dashers. In addition to what you will read in this issue, here are some of our favorite moments of unity that show how our student experience encompasses the collaboration of our wider community.

Parents at Freshmen Retreat & Service Day | For years, retreats have been a significant part of the DSHA faith formation experience for our students. Older students and alumnae often point back to the Take Flight freshman retreat as a significant time in their faith journey as a young adult, and where they started to feel the goodness and kindness of the DSHA community. This year, parents were invited to join two different points in the retreat: evening Mass on Sunday, October 16 with Fr. John Burns, and their daughter’s Freshman Service Day reflection the following day. Parents, you are the most important people in your daughter’s faith journeys. It was a true blessing to invite you inside the DSHA faith formation experience at the start of her freshmen year. Her experience is your experience, too. And we are so grateful to partner with you on her faith journey.

Faculty Release Days | This fall, each of our academic departments experienced an Academic Release Day. For example, on the Social Studies Department’s release day, each faculty member in that department had the opportunity to shadow a student schedule for the full day. Teachers observed the following in different departments than that which they normally teach: student engagement and relationships, work load, teaching practices, uses of technology and other resources, and more. Perhaps most importantly, faculty were able to experience the day in the life of a student, celebrate the work of their colleagues, seek opportunities for further inter-departmental collaboration, and reflect on how they might implement some of the learnings into their own classrooms.

Welcoming Future Dashers | One of the very last things we did fall semester was to send acceptance letters to our incoming class of 2027. What a joy it is to welcome this new group of young women to our community! This year, some of our future Dashers were surprised at their homes by our three senior Penny’s: Eva-Marie Moss, DSHA ’23 ; Julia Rentmeester, DSHA ’23 ; and Sophia Simon, DSHA ’23 . Our newest class of Dashers received their acceptance certificates and balloons from the Penny’s, along with our admissions staff, Admissions & Marketing Coordinator Meaghan Lagore, DSHA ’15 , and Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Ann Duffy, DSHA ’10

If you have not yet seen the video of this special day, we encourage you to watch and celebrate our newest class! A special thanks to Natalie Sanchez, DSHA ’18 , for capturing the excitement on film!

As we are now into our second semester of the year, we continue our emphasis on unity and the collaborative core value of the Sisters of the Divine Savior, and look forward to sharing more with you on how we are living this out as a school community in the coming months. Thank you for being a part of our supportive, good, and kind community. We are better together.