Convent of the Sacred Heart Horizons Magazine Winter 2012

winter 2011/2012

Teaching

21st-Century Skills

winter 2011–2012

Convent of the Sacred Heart 1177 King Street Greenwich, CT 06831 Tel: (203) 531-6500 www.cshgreenwich.org Head of School Pamela Juan Hayes ’64 Direc tor of Institutional A d va n c e m e n t Joan M. Petersen Editor Kathleen S. Failla, director of public relations and communications Contributors to Horizons and Report on Giving Victoria Taylor Allen, Michael F. Baber, Judith Becker, Jennifer Bensen, Janice Calcagni, Kiki Carozza, Eva Carrasquero, Gail Casey, Irene Colford, Patreece Williams Creegan ’84, Kevin Donnelly, Kathleen S. Failla, Susan Farley, Kathleen A. Feeney ’98, Elizabeth Fernandez, Karl Haeseler, Pamela Juan Hayes ’64, Kimberly J. Huchro, Paul Huchro, Marion Kieltyka, Victoria Landry, Mimi Melkonian, William Mottolese, Mandy Dawson Murphy ’85, Mary Musolino, Bedina O’Neill, Charles Petersen, Joan M. Petersen, Karen Pierce, Len Rubenstein, Justine Ryan, Elyse Schultz, Rosemary Sheehan, RSCJ, Ellyn Stewart, Paula Tennyson, Phil Went, Paula Westcott Designer Good Design LLC Printing Lebon Press, Inc. Mail letters to the editor: Kathleen S. Failla faillak@cshgreenwich.org Send address changes to: Irene Colford colfordi@cshgreenwich.org

B o a r d o f Tr u s t e e s 2 0 1 1 – 2 0 1 2 Paula Tennyson, Chair Imma De Stefanis, RSCJ, Vice Chair Donald E. Foley, Treasurer Joseph N. Walsh III, Secretary Neil A. Augustine Bridget Bearss, RSCJ James T. Bretzke, S.J. Joseph J. Ciancaglini Lenore de Csepel Frances de La Chapelle, RSCJ Patreece Williams Creegan ’84, Alumnae Assn. President Lorena Ferrara Charles A. Fishkin

Pamela Juan Hayes ’64, Head of School Kimberly J. Huchro Kevin A. Knight Robert G. Leary Patricia E. Molloy Deborah Brown Murdock Mandy Dawson Murphy ’85 Bernadette Prato, Parents’ Assn. President Mary Ellen Vouté Sutherland ’85

Mission Statement Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, founded in 1848, is an independent, Catholic, college preparatory school for young women, from preschool through grade 12. True to its international heritage, the School provides students with experiences of diversity and welcomes students of all races, socioeconomic backgrounds and religious beliefs. Convent of the Sacred Heart, steeped in a solid academic tradition, educates women to have independence of judgment, personal freedom and strength of character so that they can become leaders with broad intellectual and spiritual horizons.

Service to others is a compelling commitment of our education, and the entire School community, as a member of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools, is dedicated to the Goals and Criteria.

On the Cover Maya Bond ’13 in science class.

feat u r eS 4 a Historic moment by Kathleen S. Failla 6 teaching 21st-century Skills by Michael F. Baber

6

10 integrating technology in the classroom by Karl Haeseler 12 Senior Seminar: Sharpening critical thinking by William Mottolese 14 Stem: advancing cSH Students in Science, technology, engineering & math

by Victoria Landry, Kiki Carozza, Marion Kieltyka, Charles Petersen

18 Sacred Heart Students work alongside world-class researchers

14

by Mary Musolino

20 world language Study by Kevin Donnelly 22 international exchange Program builds awareness

by Jennifer Bensen and Kathleen S. Failla

24 our 21st-century library: where tradition meets innovation

by Elizabeth Fernandez

22

28 new financial literacy course by Michael F. Baber and Gail Casey 30 through the arts Students find their “voice”

by Eva Carrasquero and Paula Westcott

32 lucy adams ’12: Student filmmaker excels in media world 34 commemorating the 10th anniversary of September 11th

36

36 a Journey in the footsteps of St. madeleine Sophie

by Victoria Taylor Allen

42 Sacred Heart Salutes: Service to the mission at Home & abroad

by Kathleen S. Failla and Karl Haeseler

d e Pa r t m e n t S

42

2 letter from the chair of the board of trustees 3 letter from the Head of School 46 message from the alumnae President 47 alumnae Highlights 49 reunion 2011: Home is where the Heart is

49

turn this issue over for our report on Giving

Letter from the Chair of the Board of Trustees Dear Convent of the Sacred Heart Family, On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to thank you all for your generous support of Convent of the Sacred Heart. Each year, we are inspired by the love and devotion of our community for this remarkable school.

Special thanks go to CSH parent Paul Huchro, who has completed his last year as Annual Fund chair. Thanks in large measure to Paul’s leadership, and to the enthusiastic work of his committee, our 2010–2011 Fund came in at a record of more than $2 million. These resources are critical to us in continuing to provide the highest quality education for our students.

We are delighted that Chris Ryan will be picking up the baton from Paul as the chair of the 2011–2012 Annual Fund.

Additionally, the alumnae once again showed their strong support and devotion to Convent of the Sacred Heart by giving in record numbers. Under the leadership

of 2010–2011 alumnae president, Mandy Murphy ’85, and her board, alumnae participation and contributions reached the highest levels in our history.

2011 was also an auction year. The auction co-chairs, Amy Goodfriend, Teresa Kratzman, Nora Leary and Barbara McLaughlin, raised $525,000 for the endowment and produced an event that captured a wonderful sense of community.

It was an evening full of laughter and joy. I thank the chairs and all their volunteers for a wonderful evening. All proceeds from the auction go to our endowment, so the work our parents do at our auction is critical to our School’s secure financial future.

Thanks to your generosity, we are able to continue to make Convent of the Sacred Heart a truly special place, where in the words of Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ, “All the system converges to this—to give personal worth to each child, worth of character, strength of principles, and anchorage in faith.”

With warmest gratitude,

Paula Tennyson Chair, Board of Trustees

The Benefits of an All-Girl Education

Girls perform between 15 and 22 percentile points higher on standardized tests when they attend all-girls schools.

Girls’ school graduates are three times more likely than their coed peers to consider pursuing a career in engineering.

In science and math, girls’ school alumnae majored at a higher rate than females and males nationally (compared to 2% females and 10% males nationally).

90%

Percentage of girls’ school alumnae who excel in leadership roles after high school.

3x

13%

80%

15–22

40

Students who attended single gender schools earned higher SAT scores, outscoring their coed counterparts by 40 points.

48% Percent of female graduates of independent single-sex schools who rate their math ability “above average.”

Girls are free from sexual harassment that affects almost 90 percent of girls in coed high schools.

1/3

of all female members of Fortune 100 boards graduated from all-women’s colleges.

Source: National Coalition of Girls Schools

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Letter from the Head of School Dear Members of the Sacred Heart Community: This year, we chose the all-school theme of “Strengthening the Mind; Deepening the Spirit” (Goal II) to focus on where our School needs to be as a school of the future.

I know that you, as members of the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich community, are looking for an educational experience whose value is measurable over a long period of time.

Our approach to education produces a way of life which breeds success for the future. Our mission, expressed in the Goals and Criteria: to educate to faith, intellect, social responsibility, building community and making wise choices— is so important for today’s youth.

Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, foundress of the Society, knew over 211 years ago that a successful educational experience involved the development of the total person: mind, body and soul.

That is why, as we continue her vision in these times, a total Sacred Heart educational experience comprises a solid foundation of knowledge, wisdom, character and faith, and is essential in our way of doing things.

What do students need to know?

How should schools teach to ensure that students are prepared for global 21st-century living? In this era of rapid change, schools must learn how to adapt

and evolve, building on their core strengths and embracing new skills and disciplines.

Schools on the leading edge, like Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, have the faculty and staff that emphasize both traditional and innovative instruction that can be differentiated, experiential, immersive and blended, both place-based and delivered digitally and online.

At the end of the process, if not before, students should demonstrate essential skills, attitudes and values that we believe are essential for success in the 21st century.

These skills can be summarized as they have been by Paul Miller, director of Global Initiatives at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), as the five “Cs”: character, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication. Patrick Bassett, NAIS president, adds a sixth skill which he calls “cosmopolitanism” because it is critical to global engagement.

A Sacred Heart educational experience goes above and beyond those essential abilities with our own Goals and Criteria, which add to the list the cornerstone of faith in God and service to the betterment of society.

Surely, Sacred Heart ranks at the top of all those essential markers for a “school of the future.”

A strong sense of community as an experience of family allows our students and adults to be fully engaged and more successful in life.

Goals and Criteria

This past fall, after years of anticipation and planning, we have completed a transaction with the Society of the Sacred Heart which transferred title to 118.4 acres of land, within which our 50-acre campus is located, from the Society to our School. What better way to ensure the future of this great institution for generations to come!

Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, and its faculty and staff will always educate to the total individual—to support, guide and encourage our students on to success, whatever it takes, and however long it takes. When we are most successful, we create a community of lifelong learners able to adapt to their circumstances and time.

We thank you for your generosity and support of our students and their future. How fortunate we are to have a framework that strengthens the mind as it deepens the spirit.

With confidence,

As a member of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools, the entire School community is dedicated to the following Goals and Criteria: Goal One: A personal and active faith in God Goal Two: A deep respect for intellectual values

Pamela Juan Hayes ’64 Head of School

Goal Three: A social awareness which impels to action Goal Four: The building of community as a Christian value Goal Five: Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom.

Convent of the Sacred Heart 3

A Historic Moment

for Convent of the Sacred Heart

By Kathleen S. Failla, director of public relations and communications

A

fter years of anticipation and planning, Convent of the Sacred Heart completed a transaction with the Society of the Sacred Heart that transfers title to the entire 118.4 acres of land, within which its 50-acre campus is located, from the Society to our School. The announcement was made on November 1.

“Holding the deed to this land allows us to better control our destiny, while providing the Society with important financial resources,” said Head of School Pamela Juan Hayes ’64.

In 1942, the Society of the Sacred Heart purchased the land and the beautiful mansion that serves as our central academic and administration building from the family of publishing magnate Paul Block. The Society made this 4 H o r i Z o n S winter 2011/12

prescient investment with the dual intention of developing a school in Greenwich and securing an asset for future needs of the Society. Sacred Heart first opened its doors to students in 1945, and has been operating on land controlled by the Society ever since.

Many years ago, the leadership of the School and the Society determined it would be in the best long-term interests of both institutions to have Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, acquire the deed to this property when the time was right. The Society, experiencing increased costs especially in their health and elder care, recently expressed the desire to move forward with this transaction. The Board of Trustees agreed that it was the right time in the School’s history to seize this exceptional opportunity.

“Holding title to the land allows us to expand our footprint, advance our programs, further our mission, and secure the future of the School in perpetuity. Without this acquisition, we would be unable to obtain required governmental approvals to add muchneeded facilities to our campus,” said Paula Tennyson, chair of the Board of Trustees.

The joint announcement was made to the school community

by Mrs. Hayes, Mrs. Tennyson and Paula Toner, RSCJ, the Provincial of the Society of the Sacred Heart in the United States, at an all-school liturgy celebrating the Feast of St. Philippine Duchesne. Sr. Toner told the congregation, “I am delighted to be here with you on this important day in your School’s history. I look forward to our continued mission together.” 

Pamela Juan Hayes ’64, at podium, announcing the land purchase with Paula Toner, RSCJ, left, and Paula Tennyson, between Sr. Toner and Mrs. Hayes. They are surrounded by the Board of Trustees and Provincial Team.

Convent of the Sacred Heart 5

Teach 6 H ORI Z ON S winter 2011/12

Linda Vasu teaching Upper School English class

CSH Report Card

circa 1951

S

chools of the Sacred Heart offer an education that is marked by a distinctive spirit. It is the essence of a Sacred Heart School that it be deeply concerned for each student’s total development: spiritual, intellectual, emotional, physical.

It has been this way from the very beginning. Our legacy compels us to view our education as one of the most demanding kind; Sacred Heart girls have a passion for embracing new ideas. Consequently, we at Sacred Heart, Greenwich, are well positioned to intensify our focus on what recent educational literature and research is calling 21st-century learning.

Interesting to note that contemporary educational author, Tony Wagner, unequivocally supports what has long been considered the quintessential Sacred Heart attribute: excellent writing and effective communication. As evidenced by our archival report cards, graduates were educated to be proficient in Christian Doctrine, logic, history, English, science, math as well as sewing, home economics, posture and courtesy. Sacred Heart Schools, and all schools for that matter, prepared students for predictable skills required for the very familiar tasks of the workplace. It goes without saying that mastery of content is still a vital endeavor, at the same time, our students are formed to see the bigger picture.

i21st-Century n g Skills

By Michael F. Baber, assistant head of School Convent of the Sacred Heart 7

Professional Development for Faculty This year to support our all-school theme, “Strengthening the Mind; Deepening the Spirit,” we have engaged well-known speakers and experts as resources for faculty, parents and students. The speakers include: • Kathleen Hughes, RSCJ, former U.S. Provincial of the Society of the Sacred Heart and an internationally known liturgical scholar on changes to the New Roman Missal • Barbara Quinn, RSCJ on our theme, “Strengthening the Mind; Deepening the Spirit” • Rachel Simmons, New York Times bestselling author on raising authentic girls with courage and confidence • Tony Wagner, the first Innovation Education Fellow at the Technology & Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard University and author of The Global Achievement Gap • Tom Daccord, educational technology specialist and author of Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology.

First-grader Robyn O’Connor

Today’s reality is this: the pace of change is occurring at exponential speed and schools today do not have the same sense of precisely what we are preparing our graduates for. Consequently, our charge is to equip our graduates with the intellectual grounding and broad-based skills and abilities that regardless of what the future brings, they will be very successful. We are no longer prescriptively preparing for specific job-related skills but are confidently preparing them to bring to all the tasks they are challenged with, the skills necessary to successfully respond. So instead of teaching typing, we now teach teamwork, instead of sewing, we teach creative problem solving and financial literacy.

No longer is calligraphy a core course but the skill of synthesizing interdisciplinary content is.

For good reasons schools today are reconsidering the rote memorization that went along with mastering “the three Rs.” Not that we are in any way abandoning our firm belief in scholarship and research, we are not. But what we are striving for is using the content by applying it, understanding it, integrating it so that the students can synthesize all that they have learned, discern and creatively solve the problem at hand.

Middle School history class

8 H ORI Z ON S winter 2011/12

Creativity in solving problems, effective and persuasive communication, realizing that a team’s talents are more likely to elicit more wisdom than standing alone are all equally important. Possessing an indefatigable sense that “I can do this” will propel the student to bring an entrepreneurial spirit to all that she does. These are but some of the distinctive traits of a Sacred Heart education. What we do very well is enable and encourage each student to take risks, to engage with curiosity and to see the whole world as an integral part of their classroom.

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat could never have imagined the intricacies of the genetic engineering of the genome, but what she was sure of was that her students would be given the framework to tackle any problem that the future would bring, with intellect and conscience. It is this proud tradition that we carry on each and every day, at this “little convent on the hill.”

Clearly, we have ample evidence that our students are not only ready for college when they graduate, but more importantly they are well prepared for courageous leadership in the 21st century. 

Sophomore Sydney DeVoe in the broadcast journalism studio.

First-grade teacher Brigitte Henry with her class

Ines del Castillo ’13 in science class

In fourth grade, Jimena Villegas, Elle de Alessandrini and Erin Dowrich with their teacher, Courtney DePeter

“I think we need to focus more on developing the learning process, looking at how students work collaboratively with one another on a problem, bringing with them a depth of intellect, resiliency in handling failure, and a bold creative vision.”

—Michael F. Baber Convent of the Sacred Heart 9

Integrating technology in the classroom:

By Karl Haeseler, director of educational technology

Over the last few years, the world witnessed an explosion of different devices that enable us to stay in touch and communicate electronically any place, any time.

The Apple iPhone and iPad are just two examples of this revolutionary development, but the integration of the Internet is now expanding to eReaders, TVs, game consoles and more. Portable computing devices are cheaper, smaller and more versatile than ever, and the future holds great promise for networking through the ubiquitous Internet. Inspired by the Goals and Criteria and challenged by Goal II and its criterion, specifically, the Technology Department is preparing the School for a more flexible and inclusive approach to technology integration, incorporating the latest major developments in education. This article provides an overview of the major changes taking place throughout the entire School.

10 H ORI Z ON S winter 2011/12

Net Books Expanding into Sixth Grade

Last year, we introduced net books in fifth and sixth grade via a single net book cart with 24 computers. These net books, small, portable computers, perform all of the functions necessary to incorporate electronic resources, including library databases, Moodle® resources and web-based learning activities. Teachers integrated net books in their classroom activities by incorporating more electronic resources into the fifth and sixth grade curriculum. Prompted by the success of the net book cart, members of the Technology Committee developed a plan to expand the laptop program into sixth grade and to allocate the existing net book cart exclusively for classroom use in fifth grade. In the 2012–13 school year, students entering sixth grade will be purchasing net books.

They will be the first generation of sixth graders folded into the laptop program.

Based on the success of our decade-long laptop program, and as a leader in the implementation of one-to-one computing, we are well aware of the challenges that lie ahead, but we feel that the benefits of enhancing technology integration far outweigh the potential pitfalls. We are also convinced that in light of our mission it is imperative to take advantage of electronic resources in the classroom as much as possible, while, at the same time, teaching students responsible behavior and ethical decision making. With those considerations in mind, the Technology Committee decided to implement a measured rollout of the net book in sixth grade. The existing

filtering policy will remain in effect for these student net books, both on and off campus. Our Internet filter can prevent users from going to Facebook or any other social network site, and blocks Americaonline Instant Messaging (AIM) and other chat-enabled websites. The goal is to reinforce the primary use of the net book as an academic tool, rather than as a social or entertainment device. To this end, the net book will be locked down, so only schoolrelated programs can run on it, and it will provide a curfew function, disabling access to the Internet between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Multi-Platform at Sacred Heart

For many years, the School adhered to a “PC only” policy regarding the laptop program. This approach kept maintenance and repair simple, and it was more cost effective, while offering excellent support to 600+ laptop users. New devices running on mobile operating systems from Google’s Android to Apple’s iOS prompted the Technology Committee to adopt a more inclusive approach. Beginning in 2012–13, Sacred Heart will offer a choice between a PC and a Mac to students in Upper School. The Lower and Middle Schools already have switched from PC to an iMac Computer Lab.

iPads

One of the most sweeping developments in education in the last few years has been Apple’s iPad and the development of applications (Apps) specifically designed for education. iPads hold great potential as

An Overview from the Technology Department eReaders, exploration tools and personal communication devices. Sacred Heart completed a pilot this past summer, allowing teachers to experiment with and explore this device for educational uses.

This year, the School integrated iPads in the library and throughout the three divisions, providing students access to eBooks and other applications on the iPad. Particularly in Lower School, iPads added new dimensions to eLearning as the youngest members of our community take to the ease of use and game-like qualities of the iPad Apps. Lower School teachers select applications carefully to enrich the classroom experience by making drill and practice in math, science and language arts more fun and engaging.

The Cloud

Cloud computing is a 21st-century concept that has gained great momentum in schools and businesses alike. The idea is simple. Instead of running applications, such as Word on a hard drive, applications reside on the Internet, allowing for greater flexibility and collaboration. Many businesses have moved to the Cloud with the help of Google Apps, a free suite of productivity software (such as Google Docs), eliminating the need for locally installed licenses of Microsoft Office.

The cost-saving benefits are obvious, but beyond that, the Cloud offers easy collaboration, sharing of resources, and pooling of ideas. Teaching students to be conversant with this set of skills is more important than ever, as these concepts are especially crucial in a global economy where the

location of a work force is secondary to having access to a network of collaborators.

As a result, the Technology Committee is implementing Cloud computing at Sacred Heart. Students and faculty are already beginning to integrate Cloud computing as an alternative to using Microsoft Office and network-based file management.

Office programs remain available, but will be phased out in the near future.

Furthermore, our e-mail exchange server will migrate to the Cloud to enhance reliability and cost effectiveness.

Converging Media

Plans are underway for shaping the Upper School newspaper, the King Street Chronicle, into a 21st-century publication via collaboration between print journalism and broadcast journalism students. This endeavor exemplifies how changes within the journalism field offer opportunities to rethink existing structures, taking advantage of opportunities afforded by 21st-century technology. The multimedia edition of our student newspaper will be a collaborative effort by video editors, writers, photographers, and digital media experts working to enhance the community’s access to real-time news via the Internet.

Building of a Learning Community via Online Classes

Another example of the sweeping changes taking place in education is the growing number of institutions offering online classes.

Twenty-first–century learning systems make it possible for students to be motivated

and engaged in the learning process over a distance, without face-to-face interaction. To introduce online teaching and learning in our community we are planning a two-week pilot program this summer, offering several online classes to Upper School students. Courses will include Arabic, Chinese, math, language arts, and PSAT prep. In an effort to promote collaboration in the U.S. Network of Sacred Heart Schools, we plan to open enrollment to students from other network schools.

Global Programs

For almost a decade, CSH students helped build the Sacred Heart Primary School in Uganda, providing financial support for buildings and infrastructure, as well as supplementing tuitions for the neediest students. This endeavor exemplifies the successful implementation of a global initiative, pooling resources and talents from communities all over the United States to promote Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat’s vision. Last year, a group of 10 students and teachers from Greenwich organized a visit to Uganda, installing computers at the primary school and the Kalungu Training Center for Girls, which is another school run by Society of the Sacred Heart. In 2012, our work will continue with a group of Sacred Heart educators from various network schools entering into the Ugandan culture by visiting the primary school for two weeks.

The initiative focuses on our mission and the continued expansion of the technology program, through professional collaboration, as educators in the Sacred Heart tradition across cultures.  Convent of the Sacred Heart 11

Senior Seminar:

sharpening critical thinking

By William Mottolese, English Department chair

“Are we saying that from the time the book of Job was written until now that God has changed?” asked a senior with an incredulous look on her face to her classmates around the table in room 405 of the mansion building. Her classmates looked pensively at each other and into the air before several hands went up and mouths opened.

“No” replied another quickly, “I think it is we who have changed? Our understanding of God … doesn’t it evolve as the human race progresses?” Such critical questioning and exchange characterize the Seminar in Literature and Thought, or “Senior Seminar,” now in its fourth year as the capstone course for all seniors at Convent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich.

Senior Seminar is a broadly interdisciplinary course in which students explore reading from philosophy, literature, theology, science, psychology and more. The course is run like a college seminar in an elegant room lit by bright French windows overlooking all of western Greenwich. In Senior Seminar, students are encouraged to confront some of the most difficult questions of human existence in an effort to integrate their faith lives with carefully practiced critical thinking and reasoning. The readings are rigorous and primary in nature, and the discussions can be intense and gratifying.

12 H ORI Z ON S winter 2011/12

The Senior Seminar, a course that fulfills both the theology and English requirements for seniors, is far more than a hybrid of those two fields. It is an authentic interdisciplinary seminar that many former students describe as broadly philosophical or as an exploration of the journey of life toward God and meaning.

Senior Seminar is divided into three major sections: Faith and Reason; Human Nature and Identity; and Justice, Service and Global Awareness.

Students start the year with Ayaan Ali Hirsi’s Infidel, a controversial and compelling memoir of an abused Somali woman who abandons Islam. Students then discuss suffering and the nature of God through such texts as the book of Job from the Bible, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Voltaire’s Candide before exploring the relationship between science and religion. As the year progresses, students study works by Flannery O’Connor, C.S. Lewis and William Shakespeare, probe primary readings about human nature from Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Mary Wollstonecraft, and learn about existentialism and modernism through both bold iconoclasts such as Jean-Paul Sartre and powerful, meaningmakers like Victor Frankl and Abraham Heschel.

As the year comes to a close, Senior Seminar challenges students to look outward through the lens of the Goals and Criteria at the world they will be inheriting. Students reflect deeply on Jesus’ call to serve the poor, the Beatitudes’ challenge to “bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you,” and the Jesusinspired nonviolence of Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day and Gandhi. The year ends with several texts from African and Asian women writers and activists.

From the start, students work on a research project related to the service work they have done in their first three years at Sacred Heart. Their final project connects their service experience with the intellectual and spiritual work done in the Senior Seminar classroom, resulting in topics as wide-ranging as the ethics of food consumption, to long-term care for the elderly, to the use of child soldiers in Uganda and Congo.

An exciting element of Senior Seminar is its lectures. One day a cycle, all seniors gather for a shared lecture experience in the Lennie and John de Cspel Theater. Visiting lecturers speak on topics such as the philosophy of Teilhard de Chardin, a talk given by Upper School Head Jayne Collins, to living as a Catholic Worker, given by Middle School history teacher Brideen Finegan. The lectures are open to all members of the School community and attract speakers from the School and beyond. Recent guest speakers have included Dale Williams, founder of Midnight Run, Ann Montgomery, RSCJ, an anti-war activist, and Larry Lunt, a parent and financial investor committed to a just and green planet.

Recent graduates have commented that Senior Seminar has already had a big impact on their lives, preparing them for college and life in ways they never anticipated. Gillian Redman ’09 comments, “Senior Seminar made me think about my faith and myself in a completely different way; instead of taking religion at face value, I learned how to think critically about the information I had grown up with … Senior Seminar was my

favorite class in eight years at CSH and definitely the one that had the most profound effect on my personality, my faith and my way of thinking. Even now, several years on, Senior Seminar still affects my academic work and casual musing; it taught me the value of critical thinking in faith and made me a far more accepting and open person.”

Taylor Sirabella ’10 echoes this sentiment, saying that it opened up and deepened her thinking ability and changed her awareness of her purpose in life. “In college, I have reverted back to my Senior Seminar class multiple times,” she said, adding that it is “a class that will stay with me forever. It has had such an impact on the way I see the world, suffering and my reason for being here.”

Others have characterized Senior Seminar as something of an ideal manifestation of Goal Five—“personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom”—and even a crystallization of the Goals and Criteria. Lauren Manning ’09 says that Senior Seminar helped her discover “that education is as much a journey of self-discovery as it is an opportunity to expand your mind and knowledge.” Susannah Laurence ’09 is thankful that at her large, secular university, fellow students who don’t always agree with her faith are “surprised that I can argue in favor of my beliefs and that I’m open to discussing their own, so long as they don’t resort to insults for the sake of insulting religion and spirituality.” Former valedictorian Olivia Grubert ’09 adds that Senior Seminar “was a unifying culminating experience for the grade.”

Teachers who have taught in the Seminar in Literature and Thought have witnessed tremendous growth in their students, as they explore profound issues in the familiar and safe community of their Sacred Heart classroom. Senior Seminar gives students a rare opportunity, in Rainer Maria Rilke’s words, “to live the questions now” so that they will “gradually, without even noticing it, live [their] way into the answer.”

Our graduates leave our campus for a complicated and troubling world. They will enter that world, we hope, with an ability to think critically about problems, a compassionate heart to address them and courage to change the world for the better. 

“education is as much a journey of self-discover y as it is an oppor tunity to expand your mind and knowledge.”

—Susannah Laurence ’09

Convent of the Sacred Heart 13

aDVancing cSh STUDenTS in Science, Technology, engineering & MaTh

CONVENT OF THE SACRED HEART SENT FOUR FACULTY MEMBERS to the “Advancing Girls in STEM Symposium,” sponsored by the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools last June at Wellesley College. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

Our teachers learned from national experts and from other teachers who do similar work, accessed valuable resources and returned with the strategies needed to enhance even further the critical work CSH is already doing. The teachers were Kiki Carozza, Marion Kieltyka, Victoria Landry and Charles Petersen.

“In today’s highly competitive, high-tech world, the next generation of leaders and innovators must have a mastery of science, technology, engineering and math,” said Mary Ann Rankin, CEO of the National Math and Science Initiative. “This program is equipping our students to better compete on the global stage, which is essential to the future of our country.”

Sacred Heart has introduced creative approaches, as it continues to integrate STEM subjects in the curriculum. Students are being offered a program that is stimulating and enriching from which will emerge their own rich experience for knowledge retention. The following articles by faculty who attended the symposium provide a glimpse into that learning experience for Sacred Heart students.

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S=Science

By Victoria Landry, Upper School Science Department chair

“A scientist,” wrote Albert Einstein, “must collect the unordered facts available and make them coherent and understandable by creative thought.” Most scientific exploration is indeed fueled by a desire to find meaning in the vast, unorganized bits of data collected from observation and experimentation. The skills required to do so are fostered in each of the core scientific disciplines studied by Convent of the Sacred Heart students. Inquirybased learning provides students with the opportunity to put into practice this scientific mindset.

Throughout the science curriculum, CSH students hone the critical skill of asking purposeful questions. In physics courses, students develop their own research questions, such as “How does temperature change the strength of a bar magnet?” or “What factors influence how fast a ball rolls down an incline?” and then design and carry out experiments to find answers.

In chemistry courses, students find connections between macroscopic observations of chemical reactions, such as color changes or bubbling, and the particle-level explanations for these phenomena.

Students also explore methods for displaying data that they collect, and appreciate graphing as an opportunity to tell a story with numbers.

Biology students find patterns and relationships in the seemingly endless complexity of the natural world. Critical thinking and problem solving are put into practice through the use of case study methods.

The skills required for success in strictly scientific endeavors (asking questions, designing methods for testing theories, finding connections, recognizing patterns) translate in no small part to the skills necessary to navigate all aspects of the information-rich 21st century.

T=technology

By Kiki Carozza, Middle School technology coordinator

Technology is just one component of the STEM acronym yet it serves as the main facilitator for the integration of science, engineering and math into one unified discipline. Tools such as computers, calculators, iPads and a host of other technologies enable a deeper exploration of topics in the math and science curriculum.

Technology’s contribution to the STEM field, however, moves beyond serving exclusively as a tool. Robotics and computer programming expand the definition of the “T� in STEM as students are able not only to contextualize math, science and engineering through creating

programs and robots, but they are also provided with opportunities for authentic problem solving.

Students at Convent of the Sacred Heart are exposed to computer programming and robotics through the technology curriculum beginning in the Lower School.

The curriculum features Lego Mindstorms, Microworlds and Scratch as students move through the Middle School. The students build robots, design programs and operate their creations as they seek to solve problems presented in the classroom.

Math, science and engineering concepts are applied seamlessly as students build

robots using Lego blocks, create programs based on desired outcomes and download these programs to the robots.

Scratch, a programming language developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, uses visual blocks to teach students about computer programming. Students use Scratch and Microworlds, another computer programming software, to create games and simulations based on content being studied in other disciplines. These projects are exciting and engaging to the students as they move beyond being users of technology and become creators of technology.

Laptops in Middle School Convent of the Sacred Heart 15

E=engineering

By Marion Kieltyka, Lower School science specialist

One of the goals of Lower and Middle School science at Convent of the Sacred Heart is to enable our students to develop the problem-solving skills necessary for life in the 21st century. One important component of the STEM initiative is engineering. This encompasses all fields of study and, most importantly, educates our students to be problem solvers in the 21st century.

Our Lower and Middle School science program has always been inquiry-based.

Our curriculum is driven by exploratory learning and requires our students to actively engage in their learning. In Lower School, even our youngest students are encouraged to be innovative thinkers and work to solve important, relevant problems in their science classes. For example, the electrical engineers in third grade are busy drawing schematics and solving problems they encounter, as they wire electric

circuits into their dollhouses. Their goal is to build a room that has functioning lights and switches. And they will accomplish it! The environmental engineers in fourth grade are in the process of solving major pollution problems in their model ecosystems. They will soon be extrapolating their findings to “real world” issues.

As students progress to Middle School, the problems and solutions become more complex. In fifth grade, our mechanical engineers will soon be presented with the problem of designing and building a working model of the solar system. Perhaps one of these young scientists will grow up to be a leader in space exploration in the 21st century! The biomedical engineers in sixth grade are busy designing cells and figuring out the best way to build representative models so they can study the irregularities of disease. Throughout seventh and eighth grade our students are

challenged to solve problems involving the earth’s atmosphere and chemical reactions.

An important 21st-century skill taught at the School is collaboration, which is integrated into our STEM program by grouping students to work together on projects. For example, last year collaboration in one group of third-graders resulted in the production of a short documentary on electricity, produced with the broadcast journalism program. The video was posted on the School’s website.

Our Lower and Middle School science students are given the opportunity to explore subjects in great depth, both independently and collaboratively, therefore giving them the skills required to become the great innovators and thinkers of the 21st century.

Upper School biology students exploring stream.

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M=math

By Charles Petersen, Math Department chair and Middle School math teacher

Advancing girls in a STEM-related field has been an area of great interest for the Mathematics Department at Convent of the Sacred Heart.

There are many skills that students will need when pursuing a STEM-related field. These include critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and innovation, communication, collaboration and leadership. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that by the year 2018, there will be approximately 1.2 million STEM-related job openings, so developing a program that focuses on these skills is of utmost importance.

Specific ways that the Mathematics Department is preparing students for this demand is through the use of “real world” applications and the implementation of technology that fosters discovery and exploratory learning.

Our students are exposed to the latest technology. The Math Department is currently piloting software that allows student calculators to wirelessly communicate with the teacher’s computer. This is particularly exciting because it allows teachers to design, research and implement calculator lessons that will require students to work collaboratively in analyzing data, exploring new concepts or in

reinforcing previously learned ones.

Most importantly, this provides a creative and innovative way to problem solve.

At the “Advancing Girls in STEM Symposium,” one presenter stated that more than 90 percent of math instruction in the U.S. focuses on practicing skills and less than 1 percent is spent on investigating new ways of thinking.

By designing creative lessons and integrating technology, our students are actively engaging with the material and are challenged to use their higher-level thinking skills and problem-solving abilities.

There has been much discussion about 21st-century learning and what it means to be a 21st-century learner. Being a creative thinker is central to this, and as the demands on our students evolve, the Mathematics Department will rise to meet those demands in preparing our students to become the problem solvers and independent thinkers of the future. 

Katie Nail, left, and Gabby Sanchez, eighth-graders, working on calculator in Mr. Petersen’s class.

Convent of the Sacred Heart 17

Science research students Samantha Tarde ’12 and Katie Colford ’12 in the lab at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Sacred Heart Students Work Alongside

World-Class

researchers

By Mary Musolino, director of the Upper School science research program

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onsistent with Sacred Heart’s commitment to STEM, 15 Sacred Heart science students spent last summer working alongside world-class researchers in labs at major universities, teaching hospitals and environmental centers. They conducted original research studies in areas ranging from cancer to autism and neuroscience. Several students will be published in scientific journals.

The students worked at many institutions, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York University, University of Connecticut, Yale University and Fordham University.

This year, the students will enter their research in regional, state and national competitions, including the Siemens Competition and the Intel Science Talent Search.

2011 Research Internships • Lucy Adams ’12: “The Effect of Depth on Perceptual Asymmetries,” New York University

• Brittanie Sanders ’12: “Studying Episodic Memory in the Hippocampus,” University of Connecticut

• Caroline Antonacci ’12: “Vaccinia Virus GLV1h-153: Effective Novel Treatment Agent and Imaging Tool for the Detection of Positive Surgical Margins of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer,” Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

• Samantha Tarde ’12: “The Effectiveness of RAF and MEK inhibitors on BRAF Mutant Melanomas,” Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

• Elizabeth Attubato ’13: “The Lowering of Blood Pressure by Treating Nerves Adjacent to the Kidney,” New York University

• Stephanie Viola ’12: “Metal Uptake in Vegetables Grown in Soil from Urban, Suburban and Rural Locations,” Fordham University, Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station 

• Kyra Baldwin ’13: “The Effect of Human-Robot Interactions on the Social Capabilities of Children with Autism,” University of Connecticut • Katie Colford ’12: “Creating a Cre/Lox Barcoding System: a Potential Breakthrough in Tracking the Heterogeneity of Glioblastoma Multiforme,” Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center • Caroline Cunningham ’12: “Agonistic and Antagonistic Effects of Resveratrol on Estrogen Receptors in Human Prostate Cancer,” New York University • Margaret Gavin ’12: “Investigating Factors Required for Centromere Assembly,” University of Connecticut • Madeleine Hay ’13: “Investigating the Effectiveness of N-acetylcysteine for the Treatment of Pediatric Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,” Yale University Child Study Center • India Knight ’12: “Horseshoe Crab Research,” The Maritime Aquarium • Anne McDevitt ’12: “The Benefits of Therapeutic Riding for Children with Autism,” Pegasus Therapeutic Riding • Krystyna Miles ’12: “The Effects of Human Activity on the Saugatuck River Watershed,” Earthplace, the Nature Discovery Center • Margaret Purcell ’13: “The Use of Gata5 to Direct Stem Cells to a Cardiac Fate,” Weill Cornell Medical College

Alumna Connection While at Sacred Heart, Christine Cahaney ’10 conducted research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis at Columbia University as part of Project A.L.S. Christine is currently a sophomore studying neuroscience at McGill University, and spent the summer shadowing a neurologist and cardiologist at New York Presbyterian. Christine hopes to continue with Project A.L.S. research this summer. Pictured above, Christine is presenting at the 2010 Southern Connecticut Invitational Science and Engineering Fair, where she came in second place in the Life Sciences Completed Projects Category. Christine attends McGill University.

Convent of the Sacred Heart 19

World Language Study

preparing our students for global citizenship

By Kevin Donnelly, Upper School World Languages Department chair

The study of a language other than one’s own is essential to a 21st-century global citizen’s education for academic, practical, cultural and ethical reasons.

Whether the language students study is the supposedly “dead” language of Latin or a contemporary, globally prioritized language of power, they benefit enormously from learning how to express their thoughts and personalities through a new and different combination of codes and expressions. Their limited vocabulary and knowledge of syntax in their newly acquired language appear to confine these students at first, yet ultimately they learn that thoughts, beliefs and ideas transcend the particularities of any one language. Consequently, these linguistically aware students become more creative and flexible thinkers who are always able to articulate what they think in a multiplicity of ways, an essential trait for the 21st-century’s imperative to “think outside the box.”

20 H ORI Z ON S winter 2011/12

Through this very same process, students come to appreciate cultures which, in addition to saying things differently, actually see and interpret things differently as well. The knowledge they attain by studying a particular language’s cultures and histories gives them the opportunity to feel at home outside the confines of their own patria and enables them to work through cross-cultural conflicts by focusing on understanding rather than fear.

In the end, the very real and practical benefits students reap by foreign language study are complemented by the ways in which they grow as ethical and responsible citizens. By seeing that even the most common of human experiences can be perceived and expressed, they acquire what Brazilian Portuguese calls the jogo de cintura. This term is used literally to speak of a flexibility of movement in dance, yet its figurative connotations are perhaps more relevant here: it speaks of “wiggle room,” negotiation and an ability to respond in time to others with ease.

For all of these reasons, the School administration and World Languages Department believe foreign language study to be a necessary component of the Convent of the Sacred Heart experience at every level. Students in the Lower School enroll in either Chinese, French or Spanish and receive instruction almost exclusively in the target language for four days out of every six-day cycle. Our Lower School curriculum focuses on communication and meaning, rather than form or grammar.

In addition to providing these students with vocabulary to talk

CSH introduces students to Arabic Arabic is the fifth most spoken language in the world. CSH is offering students an opportunity to learn more about Arabic language and culture through the four class levels taught by Mimi Melkonian, a native speaker of Arabic, who teaches summers at Middlebury Monterey Language Academy.

The program was introduced in 2007 and classes are small, but early results show that Sacred Heart students are eager to take their place as leaders in a society that includes more than 300 million Arabicspeaking people worldwide.

“In the academic year of 2010–2011, I had a total of nine Upper School students, four of whom attended immersion classes in Arabic with successful results,” said

Ms. Melkonian. Students included: Alexandra Murray ’12, who attended the Concordia Arabic Language Village, a program of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., and Emily Hirshorn ’15, Grace Hirshorn ’11 and Laura Marsalisi ’13, who all attended the Middlebury Monterey Language Academy in Middlebury, Vt. Grace Hirshorn is a freshman at Yale University, where she was placed in Arabic III, after she took a language placement exam. Kristen Roche ’11 is also continuing Arabic at Wake Forest University.

In a letter to Ms. Melkonian, Ms. Roche writes: “Ahlan Oustaza! I just wanted to tell you that I had my first Arabic class this

morning and was pleased to learn that only me and one other person have taken Arabic before! My professor started talking in Arabic as an introduction and had us introduce ourselves, and I understood it; all while the rest of the class was confused! I am so happy I took Arabic with you last year, I think it will definitely help me this semester.”

Every year, Ms. Melkonian schedules field trips to Brooklyn and New York City, that include museums stops and Arab restaurants, where students enjoy testing their language skills with Arab native speakers. “I thank Sacred Heart for giving me the opportunity to share my knowledge and experiences from the Arab world with the students,” said Ms. Melkonian.

“The knowledge they attain by studying a particular language’s cultures and histories gives them the opportunity to feel at home outside the confines of their own patria and enables them to work through cross-cultural conflicts by focusing on understanding rather than fear. ” about relevant experiences in their lives, they learn through songs, art projects and celebrations of festivities that are related to the language being studied.

By Middle School, language class becomes part of a student’s core curriculum, meeting for the same number of hours per week as other essential classes. Middle Students continue with Chinese, French or Spanish, ultimately reaching the high school “level 3” by the end of their eighth-grade year.

Once in the Upper School, students are given the added option of taking Arabic and/or Latin. Serious language learners are able to take more than one world language for all four years of their Upper School education if they wish, yet all students take at least one language for three full years of their high school experience. CSH offers Chinese, French and Spanish through the AP (and even post-AP) levels and provides students with a variety of extracurricular activities, such as the multilingual literary journal, Voices, service-learning projects with immigrant communities from Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America, the annual poetry contest sponsored by the Connecticut Council of Language Teachers and the opportunity for Sacred Heart Network exchanges abroad.

The faculty from the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools comes from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences and shares the common bonds of expertise, dedication and cosmopolitanism. 

(top) Lower School Spanish class making tortillas. (bottom) Upper School Arabic Class with teacher Mimi Melkonian Convent of the Sacred Heart 21

International Exchange Program Builds Awareness

By Jennifer Bensen, Upper School academic dean and Kathleen S. Failla, director of public relations and communications

1

1. Nicole Polemeni-Hegarty ’13, left, on exchange in Taiwan. 2. India Knight ’12, left, on exchange in Spain. 3. Mary Grace Henry ’15, in middle with green headband, at Schools of the Sacred Heart, San Francisco. 4. Caroline Katzensteiner of Austria, left, hosted by Shannon Longworth ’14; Marta Sanchez of Madrid, center, hosted by Caroline Kelly ’13; and Alica Kob of Austria, right, hosted by Katie Ellison ’13.

5. Maddie Webb of Duchesne Academy, Omaha and Laura Lafosse of France. Jeanne Marie Fishkin ’13, whose mother is a Duchesne alumna, hosted Maddie. Bridgette Fucigna ’13 hosted Laura. 6. Nicole Polemeni-Hegarty ’13 in Taiwan

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5

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2

3

Convent of the Sacred Heart 23

©iStockphoto.com/imagotres

6

onvent of the Sacred Heart began the new school year welcoming back its students and opening its arms to several exchange students.

The visitors from Sacred Heart network schools, international and domestic, live with a Sacred Heart host family and attend school here for several weeks, immersing themselves in the dayto-day life of a Greenwich student. Greenwich welcomed students from Austria, France and Spain in the fall.

CSH is part of a worldwide network of Sacred Heart schools.

The network is just one of our strengths, as it allows our students to take part in an exchange program that has been sending students abroad since the 1970s. Students apply to spend from 2 weeks to 2 months in one of our Sacred Heart schools in the U.S. or abroad. Living with a host family in a given country, while attending a Sacred Heart school, gives students a broader view of life outside their own world.

The Network Exchange Program is an exciting opportunity that is open to students in the tenth and eleventh grades. In 2010–11, CSH introduced the exchange program to the Middle School.

Mary Grace Henry ’15 was the first student to take advantage of this opportunity. She traveled to our sister school in San Francisco, Schools of the Sacred Heart. A student may go on exchange during the school year or during the summer months. The program is reciprocal and matches two families, who have daughters wishing to visit each other’s network school. The experience is mutually rewarding, as our students learn about new cultures and themselves, all with the benefit of a Sacred Heart education.

Junior Nicole Polemeni-Hegarty had spent three weeks in August as the first CSH student to attend the program in Taiwan.

Nicole arrived in Taiwan on August 8 after two long, but successful days of travel, including a transfer in San Francisco. She lived with Karen Shiu and her family in an apartment in Taipei. Karen had come to Sacred Heart, Greenwich, during the spring of 2011 and was our first exchange student from Taiwan. Nicole loved everything about the program, especially the people she met.

Each day at 8 a.m., Nicole arrived at the Cultural Exchange Camp Program for a full day of studies along with 24 other Sacred Heart girls. Nicole was well prepared for the language immersion with many thanks to the excellent preparation she had from Joanne Wu-Havemeyer, her Chinese teacher since freshmen year. Nicole gave a PowerPoint presentation in Chinese and shared information about CSH for more than 800 people.

It was rewarded with enthusiastic applause and compliments for completing the presentation in Chinese.

This year Australia, Austria, France, Peru, Spain and Taiwan are international destinations for our students, along with stateside Texas and Louisiana. We will also welcome students from Mexico, California and Nebraska.

The opportunity to share experiences and ideas, to improve language skills in a country abroad and to make new friends in different corners of the world helps our students to grow into their roles as future leaders in a global society. 

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Our 21st-Century Library: Where Tradition Meets Innovation

By Elizabeth Fernandez, director of Media Center

Even before entering the main room of Convent of the Sacred Heart’s stunning library, there is a sense of history and the traditions of a Sacred Heart school. On one side of the entryway, the familiar and beloved portrait of “Mater Admirabilis” by Pauline Perdrau, RSCJ, greets you. Our collection of Sacred Heart texts, biographies, histories, manuscripts and picture books that chronicle the Society of the Sacred Heart line another wall. A nearby glass display case features artifacts, writing samples, memorabilia, and items thoughtfully curated by Victoria Taylor Allen, School historian and archivist.

The library is a place where tradition and innovation meet to give every visitor the best of both worlds.

The library’s physical space is breathtaking.

Opened in October 2006, the two levels of the library offer ample and comfortable seating, sweeping views of the campus and, on very clear days, vistas of Long Island Sound. It is spacious and airy, well-lit and inviting. Beyond the physical space, the library plays a vital, supportive role in the community.

Sociologist and author Ray Oldenburg researches a phenomenon he calls “the third place.” In his book, The Good Place, he writes that the third place is a neutral venue that is not home or work. It is a place of social understanding “where everyone knows your name.” In this gathering place which is both public and private, members share a common purpose and space but can engage in individual

intentions to read, write, think, reflect or just be quiet for a while. Mr. Oldenburg writes, “The third place is remarkably similar to a good home in the psychological comfort and support that it extends… (as) the heart of a community’s social vitality.” Our library is this sacred place.

The day starts early in the library. By 7:30, as the dim morning light filters through the tall windows, girls are already assembled at the various sitting areas. They are studying, preparing for the day, or cramming for first period tests. At 7:45, our youngest members meet for “early morning room,” where they spend 15–20 minutes before School starts. Margo Hastings, Lower and Middle School librarian, reads aloud to the girls in the cozy Nora Falk Reading Room.

Convent of the Sacred Heart 25

Mother Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ, the great Sacred Heart educator of the early 20th century and the sixth Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart, wrote widely on education and had this to say about reading aloud: “Students’ first acquaintance with beautiful things is best established by reading aloud to them, and this need not be limited entirely to what they can understand at the time. Even if we read something that is beyond them, they have listened to the cadences, they have heard the song without words, the words will come to them later…There are good moments laid up in store for the future when the words, which have been familiar for years, suddenly awake to life, and their meaning, full-grown, dawns upon the mind.”

At any time of day, the library is a busy hive of activity. Preschoolers through sixth graders have

find them. “In The Library of Babel, Jorge Luis Borges constructs a library that is a replica of the universe, and a place of infinite possibilities,” said Linda Vasu, an English teacher in the Upper School. “Our library is a beautiful microcosm, a place of serenity, a hub that thrums with vibrant learning. Its celadon green walls and magnificent view inspire thoughtful reflection, scholarly collaborations, quiet study and research. For me it feels like home.”

All throughout the day, members of our school community visit the library to check out books and to read magazines, journals and newspapers.

Students in grades four through eight join book clubs that meet during lunch and recess and are hosted by the librarians. The computer labs, strategically located in the library, along with

“Our library is a beautiful microcosm, a place of serenity, a hub that thrums with vibrant learning.

Its celadon green walls and magnificent view inspire thoughtful reflection, scholarly collaborations, quiet study and research.

For me it feels like home.”

—Linda Vasu, English teacher

library classes in the lower level of the library.

After morning meetings for the Middle and Upper Schools, there is a buzz of industry as students file in. “The library to me is a place of solace. A place where all the rush, the noise and the problems stop.

All you have to do is read a good book and relax,” said Morgan Kennedy ’13.

Some faculty members, who are “regulars,” take up their positions at tables that are generally acknowledged to be theirs. There they grade papers, read, prepare classes and informally meet with students, who know just where to 26 H ORI Z ON S winter 2011/12

technology faculty and staff, converge to support the blended curriculum.

By 6, as the light of day wanes, the last of the students in the afterschool study program, lovingly guided by Kate Hanna, library assistant, leave to meet their rides home. “I have always loved working in a calm and relaxing atmosphere because I’m able to concentrate more,” said Jessica Zuniga ’12. “Because of this, the library is the perfect place for me to be. I know that in the library there is always someone there to help, and I don’t have to worry about not finding what I need.”

At first glance, our library looks like a model of scholarly tradition. Lining the walls are bookshelves filled with classic texts, reference materials, fiction, nonfiction, journals and periodicals. Upon closer inspection, we realize that our students are connected to a worldwide network of resources.

Research at CSH, whether in science, history, English, math or world languages, employs an array of university-level, state-of-the-art online resources such as databases and eBooks. Students may select a volume from our print or eBook collection. The iPad program, launched at the beginning of the 2011–12 school year, provides students with yet another opportunity to extend their learning. The iPads are part of the library instruction program in the Lower School and are available to lend to teachers in classroom sets. The impressive film collection, featuring foreign and domestic cinema, in both DVD and online streaming formats, is used throughout the curriculum. Our students are true 21st-century learners and the library plays a vital role in providing both the space and the resources.

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat had a dream for

women’s education that was visionary beyond the context of the 19th-century France of her girlhood. While her message was always rooted in traditional values, St. Madeleine Sophie was an innovator and a pioneer. She envisioned a global network of learners who (top) Morgan Kennedy ’13 would be united by Sacred Heart ideals. (bottom) Seventh-grader The 21st-century “learner” at our School Stephanie Comer is part of just such a network; she is a global citizen empowered by the rigors of a Sacred Heart education and the limitless possibilities of educational technology. Now more than ever, the library in both its physical and virtual realities helps students connect to the whole world, while staying close to their roots. As St. Madeleine Sophie said, “Your mission is great; it involves the whole world.”  Convent of the Sacred Heart 27

“Money doesn’t grow on trees!” Many of us may recall this quote having either said it ourselves or been the recipient of it. This begs the question then, where does money come from? At the root, this is what our financial literacy curriculum has as one of the “essential” questions.

In both curricular and co-curricular initiatives financial literacy is addressed. In the Lower School the “Everyday Math” program starts everyone on the right foot—identification of coins, monetary value and exchanges; by the fourth grade students know decimals, fractions and the concept of profit and debt. Continuing in the Middle School, they create their own credit cards, make a budget, understand interest and the stock market.

By the fifth grade, they understand compound interest and depreciation, focusing heavily on percentages.

Sacred Heart is committed to empowering our young women for their financial future, and to meet this challenge, the Upper School instituted a Financial Literacy Program in October 2011 for all tenth-grade students. Once per cycle, the sophomores will spend a class period covering topics such as savings and budgeting; understanding a credit score and its implications; managing credit cards, loans and debt; taxes and insurance; and how banks, the Federal Reserve, and the Stock Exchange work. The goal of the course is to have the students develop a fundamental knowledge of concepts and vocabulary, which will become a foundation for sound financial decision-making in the future.

As we educate our students for the 21st-century, a time of increasingly complex and challenging economics, this new class is an important step towards helping our young women to move into the world as responsible and informed consumers, investors and citizens of the world. 

New Financial Literacy Course

By Michael F. Baber, assistant head of school and Gail Casey, Upper School academic dean

28 H ORI Z ON S winter 2011/12

(left photo) Head of School Pamela Juan Hayes ’64 with fourth-grader Daniella Tocco, who exhibited an amazing financial literacy and sense of philanthropy, when she raised $500 for Barat Foundation by organizing a yard sale. (right photo) Members of the 2010–11 Barat Foundation board with parent Larry Lunt, a benefactor of the student-run foundation that teaches financial literacy while doing good. The foundation awards grants to nonprofits from interest earned on investments.

ŠiStockphoto.com/roccomontoya

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through the arts

Students Find Their “Voice”

By Eva Carrasquero, Art Department chair, and Paula Westcott, Upper School art teacher

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e’ve all read the research and seen the studies: the arts prepare students to think creatively, improving cognitive ability, reasoning and higher-order thinking skills. Students who are involved in the arts score better on SAT tests and employers consider creativity one of the most critical skills required for the next generation of workers. At Convent of the Sacred Heart, the arts faculty across all divisions is committed to what are commonly referred to as the “Four Cs” in their courses: critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity.

In Lower School, arts teachers work together with classroom teachers and other specialists to reach across curriculum and enrich learning in every academic subject. The iPad offers exciting new technology, especially in music and the visual arts, which is being incorporated into the curriculum, providing deeper, hands-on connections and allowing even the youngest students the opportunity to compose music, learn about famous composers and artists, and much, much more.

Middle School students are given a fundamental education in music, dance and visual arts through the seventh grade. A focus on global awareness and understanding of other cultures is an integral part of the curriculum that ties in across academic disciplines. An example of this is the Islamic Cultural Museum that the sixth grade participates in. In this project, students study the religion, artwork, history and dance of the peoples of Islam and join together to present what they have learned to the school community. Once students reach the eighth grade, they are able to

choose an arts elective in an area of their own interest. The choices are also broader, with offerings such as filmmaking, choreography, musical theater, mosaics, ceramics and more. Students have access to a variety of new technologies such as iMovies and Garage Band that allow them to create original films and musical compositions.

Through the arts, Upper School students learn valuable work habits and life skills necessary for the 21st-century workforce.

They learn to communicate visually and express themselves creatively through drawing and painting, mixed media, photography, theater and music. On a regular basis, students in the arts utilize critical thinking skills and collaboration: whether they are critiquing a painting, or working together to play a Bach chorale, they are able to describe, analyze, interpret and make informed judgments in order to solve problems individually and as a group The Advanced Placement Studio Art program requires students to create a portfolio of a concentration of works, allowing them to continually improve as artists through self-direction, creative problem solving, and accountability. According to the 21st Century Skills Map, “Students who possess these skills are better able to tolerate ambiguity, explore new realms of possibility, express their own thoughts and feelings and understand the perspectives of others.”

The performing and visual arts faculty at CSH is passionate about developing the artist within each student. Each child has unique gifts and talents, and through the arts they are given a creative voice. 

Convent of the Sacred Heart 31

Lucy Adams ’12:

Student filmmaker excels in media world Q&A with Ellyn Stewart, studio director

Lucy Adams is a senior in the Upper School at Convent of the Sacred Heart who has excelled in the Broadcast Journalism program. Her documentary about roller derby, Derby Girls, was selected as one of the finalists in the world’s largest student film festival. This year, Lucy is the creative director of Broadcast Journalism where she is mentoring her peers through a new and creative media curriculum.

32 H ORI Z ON S winter 2011/12

Q

Describe your experience being selected for the world’s largest student film festival.

A

My experience at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth was very rewarding. It was great to get to be around such a talented group of young filmmakers. I was really inspired by a lot of the films that I got to see.

Q

What lessons have you learned from the Broadcast Journalism program at Convent of the Sacred Heart?

A

There are many things I have learned throughout my two years in Broadcast Journalism, but one of the most significant things that I have learned is how to tell a story. I learned how to map out my projects, both visually and conceptually, and find a way to express myself through storytelling, whether the story is fictional or from real life.

Q

What role does technology play in this class?

A

Technology plays a big role in the class, from screenwriting, to filming, to editing—I learn new things every day. But what makes the technological aspect of Broadcast Journalism exciting is that the technology we use directly impacts our projects. The editing process teaches you to be very precise and pay careful attention to detail.

Q

How does what you learn in Broadcast Journalism prepare you for other academic interests?

A

Learning how to map my projects out, shot by shot, has become a tool for me with other academic interests.

Particularly in the writing process, I am now able to stay organized and have a defined goal.

Q A

How has Broadcast Journalism changed the way you see the world?

Broadcast Journalism has taught me to see the world from different perspectives and from different lenses, to try to understand and identify with different points of view. I have learned how to use film as a medium for expression both creatively and to spread messages that I think are important. 

For more information about the broadcast journalism department or lucy’s video visit our website at www.cshgreenwich.org

Convent of the Sacred Heart 33

Convent of the Sacred Heart commemorates the

10th Anniversary of September 11th S

tudents at Convent of the Sacred Heart commemorated the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, emphasizing peace and nonviolence at special prayer services.

Beginning on Thursday, September 8, with the Middle School, students gathered to pray for world peace and to remember victims of the attacks, first responders and families. A group of seventh-graders led a beautiful service in the school chapel. After each prayer was said, a Middle School student approached the altar to light a candle, signifying Christ’s light in world. “The girls handled a difficult topic with great sensitivity and optimism,” said Middle School Head David Olson. In addition to the prayer service, the students participated in a conversation about 9/11 in their history classes.

On Friday, September 9, the Upper School participated in their first chapel of the new school year, “A Remembrance of 9/11.” Molly Smith ’13, who conducted the opening prayer, said, “We pray for peace and reconciliation in the world. We pray for those people in our world who give of themselves for others when tragedy does strike.” Prayerful reflections were shared by faculty, staff and students. English Department co-chair Mimi Rafferty spoke about her experience on that day. Robert Allison, a member of the maintenance staff, who assisted at Ground Zero, displayed a Celtic cross, on loan to the School, made from steel recovered from the World Trade Center. The head of the Upper School, Jayne Collins, started her first day on the job as head on September 11, 2001. She recounted her memories of how the Upper School came together as “one family” in the chapel and how, from then on, the girls and faculty began calling the chapel “a sacred space.”

34 H ORI Z ON S winter 2011/12

The Lower School chose to mark the occasion on Monday, September 12, with a chapel that focused on hope, peace and the future. As at all other chapels, the girls stood and sang “God Bless America.” Theology teacher Marian Campana urged Lower School students to become sources of hope and peace. As they returned to their classrooms, the girls were each given a bookmark that quoted the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”

The following are excerpts from the prayerful reflections offered by our school community, as we came together to pray for world peace: Mimi Rafferty, English Department co-chair “‘After the second plane hit, we realized these were not accidents, we abandoned classes, and watched the news in the library or in classrooms. Soon we all gathered in this chapel which had a calming effect on everyone.’ Christina Ciardullo, whom many of you will remember as our Cum Laude speaker last spring, was a senior that year, and one of my advisees, responded to my recent e-mail request for a memory of that day. She recalled one comment volunteered by a student in that chapel service: that we should pray for the terrorists to come to understand that what they had done was wrong. Christina observed, and I quote her,

“I was so struck by the Christian love this student had, even in the darkest times, and will never forget it.”” … Ten years have passed … We need to be inspired by the love, cooperation and outreach that occur in times of great crisis and pray that this kind of behavior can re-emerge to help our country meet less dramatic but nonetheless important crises in the future. We need to sing with new meaning the following phrases from our beloved anthem, ‘America, the Beautiful’: ‘O beautiful for heroes prov’d in liberating strife, / Who more than self their country lov’d / And mercy more than life…”

Vincent Badagliacca, History Department chair “As we commemorate this day in our history, we ask ourselves: Which vision should we have? Which vision should endure in our minds and hearts? The clear blue September sky or the sky of fire, smoke and ash?

“There can be but one answer. We must remember both. God reveals to us both the beauty and unlimited potential of this life he has given us, as well as the weakness, evil and tragedy of our humanity. From tragedy and darkness there must always come inspiration and wisdom.

“We have witnessed inspiration over the last decade. That very day we saw it in the first responders. While others fled for safety, they were inspired to confront extreme danger in the selfless spirit that they might rescue others. In the aftermath, thousands more were sickened as a result of their selfless attempts to find survivors.

We witnessed inspiration in the courageous service of members of our military, in defense of the cause of freedom. And we have witnessed inspiration in those who in the United States and around the world have dedicated themselves to the cause of service of others to forever honor and remember the victims of 9/11.

Through countless endeavors, both large and small, seen and unseen, tangible and spiritual, they have been inspired to move the world community forward in the struggle for greater understanding, cooperation, tolerance, and love.

“Finding wisdom remains more elusive, but let me try. We must awaken each day and retire each evening with the recognition of our potential and the blessings we enjoy. We should neither be ashamed of our freedoms and privileges, nor should we flaunt, squander, or abuse them. Our mission must be to always and forever cherish, preserve, protect and defend our blue sky so that all God’s children might someday gaze upon it and live in peace.

That must be the legacy of this day.””

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Convent of the Sacred Heart 35

1 1. Chapel on grounds of the Centre Sophie Barat in Joigny, France

A Journey in the Footsteps‌

of Saint Madeleine Sophie

By Victoria Taylor Allen, school archivist and historian Photos by Kathleen S. Failla

36 H o r i Z o n S winter 2011/12

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On a warm July day, 13 colleagues from faculty and staff here at Greenwich set off on the

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pilgrimage of a lifetime, a journey that would bring us closer to our Sacred Heart heritage, one that

would allow us to travel, albeit for a short time, along

2. The River Seine 3. CSH’s pilgrims at the Centre Sophie Barat 4. Sacred Heart statue at Centre

the path of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat’s life journey...

©iStockphoto.com/kamisoka

Plans for the big trip began in the late summer of 2010, when Head of School Pamela Juan Hayes ’64, Assistant Head Michael Baber and School Archivist and Historian Victoria Taylor Allen sat down to discuss a suitable itinerary. Designed as a professional development opportunity and funded by the generous support of the Parents’ Association, the purpose was both spiritual and educational. Our goal was to visit our “roots” as members of the Sacred Heart community, as well as to deepen our understanding of our School’s origins in 19th-century France.

Participants were selected after their submitting a written essay on why they wished to take part in the journey. Their thoughts on what Sacred Heart meant to them personally and spiritually, on how they planned to use their acquired knowledge in the classroom and beyond, their various types of work in the School community, as well as their potential as members of a diverse group were important factors in deciding who would participate in the “Footsteps of St. Madeleine Sophie.” Important also was what the journey would mean to their spiritual lives. Mr. Baber states, “I count it an important and happy part of my work here at Sacred Heart to be able to deepen the love and appreciation for our mission. To be in

the very place where the foundress was born and was inspired to do her life’s work is a particular grace.” His belief is that the experience has the potential to be transformative.

During the course of the year, Mrs. Allen prepared a detailed itinerary that included information important to the travelers’ understanding of Sacred Heart’s French background and the life of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, as well as the history of the places we were to visit. Mr. Baber’s meticulous planning and hard work on practical details such as ticketing, reservations, bus journeys and places to stay made the trip go smoothly and seamlessly. Mrs. Hayes’ enthusiasm and advice added to the joy of planning the journey. Truly, this was Sacred Heart teamwork at its very best!

After a smooth Air France flight from JFK to Paris, our group arrived safe and sound at Charles de Gaulle Airport’s beautiful new arrivals terminal. Our van and driver met us and whisked us down to Joigny, the village of St. Madeleine Sophie’s birth, located in the north of Burgundy, about twoand-a-half hours from Paris.

Arriving at lunchtime at the Centre Sophie Barat, we sat down to a feast of fresh green salad, cheeses such as only the French seem to be able to serve, cold beef, lemon tart and of course, glasses of Burgundy!

Convent of the Sacred Heart 37

Our travelers were enchanted by the village, much of it consisting of quaint half-timbered houses dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries. “Our” house was surrounded by a large and peaceful garden filled with flowers and a variety of fruit trees. The cool, tiled floors and the quaint stairways that led us up to our cozy bedrooms made us feel as if we were about to encounter a member of the Barat family at any turn.

As Graziella Sidoli, a member of the World Languages Department writes, “…seeing the old stone stairs winding tightly up two floors; the minuscule rooms decorated in delicate, simple wallpaper; the windows facing the climbing, narrow streets of the village on one side, and on the other, the hills covered in vineyards where St. Madeleine Sophie’s father grew grapes for wine…allowed me to step into a sacred place…a connection that stretched across time.”

The vineyards surrounding the village were witness to many of our contemplative walks, either singly, or together. Lower School Head Dr. Ann Marr writes that, “Walking among the vines, I was struck by the fact that the vine-stocks are close together, so that when the leaves and fruit appear, it is difficult to see from which stock they come. They have merged into each other, all having become as one.” For Dr. Marr, the vineyards revealed much about the Heart of Jesus and what it means to be rooted in the Heart of Christ.

Kindergarten teacher Sarah K. Grogan ’97 states that, “The Sacred Heart connection notwithstanding, Joigny is a lovely medieval town situated on the river’s edge, with vineyards softening its far edges.”

The highlight of any visit to Joigny is hearing about St. Madeleine Sophie’s family, her birth and her life there as a young girl. Her little bedroom, shared with an older sister, is now a place for quiet reflection, a place for prayer and stillness of heart that looks out on the peaceful cobblestone streets of the little village. Our guide in Joigny was the unforgettable Doreen Boland, RSCJ, whose knowledge of the life of Mother

5 5. Entrance to Centre Sophie Barat 6. In Sophie’s garden, Joigny 7. St. Madeleine Sophie portrait in her old bedroom

38 H o r i Z o n S winter 2011/12

Barat, and the deep spirituality of the place, made what we saw come alive for each of us. She told us interesting details of St. Madeleine Sophie’s youth and set her forever in our memories as she described the young woman’s departure from Joigny, wending her way up the Yonne and Seine rivers on a riverboat captained by her uncle.

It was in Joigny, too, that the spiritual life of the tour began, for here we were privileged to attend Mass with residents of the town of Joigny in the chapel of the Centre Sophie Barat, to listen to Sr. Boland’s beautiful reflections on the life of Mother Barat and the spirituality of the vineyards. There was time for prayer and reflection in the church of St. Thibault, just steps from the Barat House, the church where St. Madeleine Sophie was baptized and confirmed. Magee Finn King ’93, assistant director of admissions, was particularly moved by the church, saying that she could imagine St. Madeleine Sophie as a young child learning to pray there.

Our spiritual journey continued in Paris with prayer and reflections each morning as we began our day’s travels, and with the beautiful Masses celebrated at Notre Dame Cathedral and, privately, at St. François Xavier. Individual travelers attended Mass at other lovely churches in Paris, such as St. Sulpice, with its beautiful organ, famed throughout the world, and its interesting, early 18th-century architecture.

Kathleen S. Failla, director of public relations and communications, states, “I could imagine St. Madeleine Sophie walking beside me, leading me down unknown pathways, guiding me to think, not about myself and the worries of everyday life, but to think confidently of God’s presence in my life. ‘Feel God’s presence,’ St. Madeleine Sophie seemed to be saying to me. ‘Expect the unexpected,’ she seemed to say with a twinkle in her eye.”

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10 8. Upper School girls on a visit to Joigny in summer 2011, from left are juniors Emma Burke, Jeanne Marie Fishkin, Tessa Davis, Margaret Dunne and Alex Jordan 9. Eiffel Tower 10. Sarah Grogan ’97, Margaret Finn King ’93 and Michael F. Baber with Doreen Boland, RSCJ, the Centre’s director 11. Joigny’s medieval architecture

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Paris brought us new

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sights and we continued to

deepen our relationship with our Sacred Heart spirit...

Continuing in the footsteps of St. Madeleine Sophie, our first sojourn in Paris was to the approximate place on the banks of the Seine where the riverboats coming up from Burgundy stopped to unload barrels of wine, produce and passengers such as the two young women, St. Madeleine Sophie and a childhood friend, who had joined her on the voyage. Joan Poulos, administrative assistant to the head of school. recalls the thrill of coming up out of the Métro and walking just a few yards to that place where St. Madeleine Sophie arrived in Paris from Burgundy. It was here on the banks of the Seine that her new life had begun. For Ms. Grogan, one of the “magical aspects of our pilgrimage was its chronological nature: we began in her birthplace and then progressed, as St. Madeleine Sophie did, through her later work and life.”

Located in the Marais, the house at 4 rue de Saintonge is the very building where the Society of the Sacred Heart was founded in Nov. 21, 1800. Wending our way through the narrow, picturesque streets of the Marais, we stopped briefly to examine several beautiful examples of late Renaissance to late 17th-century architecture. The Hôtel de Sens, right on the banks of the Seine, is one of the three oldest houses in Paris.

Once the home of the Archbishops of Sens, the diocese in Burgundy that includes Joigny, a stop to examine the beautiful, late 15th-century building was perfectly in order before we moved on to the rue de Saintonge.

Just a few houses from the corner of the rue des Francs Bourgeois and the rue de Saintonge, stands the house where the Society of the Sacred Heart was founded on a cold, late November day in 1800. St. Madeleine Sophie and her brother rented rooms at the house beginning in the late 1790s. It was from this very place that she and her brother went out every day to work: she teaching young children and working some

11

days at her sewing, for she was an excellent seamstress. We looked up at the dormer windows, imagining the events that took place there and reflecting on their importance in our lives.

A half hour later, our little group stood in the place des Vosges, gazing at the gorgeous, red brick buildings set around it, when, all of a sudden, familiar, happy voices called out “Hi! Greenwich.” It was none other than the group from 91st Street, also on their pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Madeleine Sophie! Laughter, photographs, travelers’ tales, tips on restaurants and news from our schools occupied our little groups for a good half hour until we continued on our separate ways.

For this particular traveler, the highlight of Paris was our visit to the passage des Postes, the place where St. Philippine Duchesne boarded the stagecoach (the poste)) that took her on the first leg of her journey to America.

The house where the nuns were living was right at the corner of the passage 12 12. In Paris, the house where the Society of the Sacred Heart was founded 13. The River Seine

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Convent of the Sacred Heart 39

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18 14. Teachers Graziella Sidoli, left, and Marcia Josephson 15. Joigny 16. Church of St. Thibault 17. Passage des Postes 18. Street plaque in Joigny

40 H o r i Z o n S winter 2011/12

des Postes, at the rue Llhomond and the rue Mouffetard, one of the most ancient streets in Paris, now, as it was for hundreds of years, a street market. The neighborhood has changed very little since the RSCJ lived there, and I felt that I could almost expect to see one of our religious rounding the corner, her shopping basket on her arm. For Americans in particular, this neighborhood is very special indeed. It is said that the stagecoach arrived just as St. Philippine and her community had sat down to lunch, and she left the house so hurriedly, that her plate of food was left almost untouched.

For Elizabeth Fernandez, director of our media center and head librarian, “The city of Paris will be forever marked with the delicate, but lasting impressions of St. Madeleine Sophie’s footprints. The legacy of her first steps continues to make its mark around the world.”

Our visit to the Musée Rodin and its gardens was very special. The beautiful house, built in 1728–1731, was a Sacred Heart school from 1820–1905. In its early years, the house was the greatly beloved home of its owner Peyranc de Moras, who tragically died just a few years after he had moved in. The next owner, a distinguished soldier, the Maréchal de Biron, bought the house and lived in it for many years, creating the elegant and beautiful gardens that once extended almost to the banks of the Seine. Upon his death, a cousin inherited the place, but unfortunately, he was guillotined during the French Revolution. By 1819, the family of the late owner was looking to sell the place. With a loan from the king of France, the Society of the Sacred Heart was able to purchase the house, with, it’s important to add, the loan being paid back in record time, at the behest of St. Madeleine Sophie, who hated debt and unpaid bills.

It was both moving and thrilling to walk through the beautiful museum, seeing the rooms where classes took place, where the students slept, where the office of the surveillante (in today’s language, dean of students) worked. Middle School math teacher Michael Maida says that as he walked through the rooms, his imagination was filled with images of how the building must have looked as a school. “I was wondering, ‘what color were the walls?’ ‘How were the classrooms set up?’”

Mrs. Failla, too, was enchanted by the building, for it made her think of how the children who lived in the building must have loved it. She writes of “its glorious sunlit rooms, with huge windows overlooking the vast garden…a place for children to play in a tranquil setting amid busy Paris.” She imagined, “Mother Barat, who had trod the same wood floors in the house, no doubt followed by a flurry of little girls, eagerly embracing her every word, sensing her love for them.”

Thrilling, too, to us Sacred Heart travelers, was the window in the original chapel, now an exhibit hall, depicting the seal of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Placed there in the mid-19th century, when the chapel was constructed, it remains to this day, forever a witness to our Sacred Heart presence there.

Time moved swiftly, and all too soon we were at the last afternoon of our journey. We were moved deeply by the beautiful Mass celebrated privately for our group at the Church of

St. François Xavier, just yards away from the Rodin Museum, and literally across the street from the building in which St. Madeleine Sophie died in May of 1865. St. Madeleine Sophie now rests in a chasse in a chapel at the church, and I know that for each of us, the Mass and the opportunity to pray and to visit her final resting place were among the most moving experiences on our whole journey. Head of School Pamela Juan Hayes ’64 writes that the experience of visiting the places and the person whose vision has shaped her life was a highlight of her own life’s journey.

Mrs. Hayes quoted from a talk that St. Madeleine Sophie gave in 1857: “The first person to be placed as a foundation stone of our little Society did not amount to much. It is you who are the hope of the Society; one day you will be its foundation stones. When we die, how glad we shall be to leave behind us…those who are devoted to it, who will fulfill the plan of God for it. When we have disappeared, YOU will carry on, better than we have done, the work that we began.”

Our shared memories of this trip that we were so privileged to take are joyous ones, filled with color, villages, vineyards, cloudless skies, flowers, good food, laughter, prayer, Holy Mass and time for reflection, and even more than that, a new and complete understanding of our shared mission and our shared life as “children of the Sacred Heart.” 

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19. Pamela Juan Hayes ’64 with 91st Street teacher 20. St. Madeleine Sophie rests in a chasse at St. FranÇois Xavier Church 21. Society’s seal in Centre’s chapel 22. Joigny

Alumnae: Explore Joigny & Paris!

When: July 7–July 15, 2012: 2 days/nights in Joigny; 4 days/5 nights in Paris.

Cost: $3,932 per person, private rooms; $4,197 for two, double room sharing.

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The cost includes departure from CSH, Greenwich, and Air France round trip to Paris, all transfers and tips in France, plus guided visits in Joigny and Paris. Stay at the Centre Sophie Barat in Joigny and the four-star K&K Hôtel Cayré in Paris. All meals in Joigny, breakfasts in Paris, Seine dinner cruise and farewell dinner in Paris. Mass at Centre Sophie Barat in Joigny, and at Notre Dame de Paris. Private Mass and visit to the final resting place of St. Madeleine Sophie at Church of St. François Xavier.

For travelers wishing to make their own air reservations, the land cost of the trip will be $2,682 per person, single room; $2,897 double room sharing.

A $500 deposit is due in early February. Full payment is due April 1, 2012.

Please contact Michael F. Baber or Victoria Taylor Allen at CSH for further information and itinerary: baberm@cshgreenwich.org or allenv@cshgreenwich.org Convent of the Sacred Heart 41

Sacred Heart Salutes:

Service to the mission at home & abroad Our service to the mission of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat continues at home and abroad and this year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of three youth programs on campus, and the 10th year of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools global initiative in Uganda.

42 H o r i Z o n S winter 2011/12

Celebrating 20 Years of Service to deserving Youth

By Kathleen S. Failla, director of public relations and communications Convent of the Sacred Heart is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its three on-campus programs serving disadvantaged youth.

The programs include the five-week Summer Outreach Program with its four academies (Summer, Science, The Arts and Athletics), and its two collaborations with the Carver Center, in Port Chester, N.Y., which are the Tuesday morning HeadStart program and “Saturdays at Sacred Heart.” These social outreach programs were shaped by the teaching of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat and serve approximately 350 children annually.

Since its inception by then Headmistress Joan Magnetti, RSCJ, in summer 1992, the Summer Outreach Program has grown in both enrollment and academic and extracurricular activities.

Rosemary Sheehan, RSCJ, has shepherded the program over the years, which began on the original farm that was part of this property when it was purchased from the Block family. Over the years, CSH has forgone potential revenue from the summer rental of our facilities to ensure that summer program’s operation.

“The school has been very generous,” said Sr. Sheehan, director of outreach for the School.

Celebrate and Support Goal 3 at Home!

Sacred Heart will sponsor a golf and tennis outing on tuesday, may 1, at Quaker ridge country club in Scarsdale, n.y., to raise funds in support of the Summer outreach Program. to learn more or to register, go to: cshgreenwich.org/golfandtennis.

Convent of the Sacred Heart 43

Global Learning at Sacred Heart

By Karl Haeseler, director of educational technology

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Computers for Uganda, a program which was initiated in 2001 by Dr. Janet Graeber of Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, in Seattle. The Ugandan Ministry of IT Services was reaching out to schools in the United States to bring refurbished computers to rural schools in Uganda. At the same time, Dr. Graeber was looking for opportunities to connect her students to other educational institutions around the world, but particularly in Uganda. This connection brought about a unique global learning initiative, which embodies Goal 3 of our educational mission to teach “social awareness which impels to action.�

The newly established Sacred Heart Primary School was among the first recipients of many computer labs to reach Ugandan schools between 2001 and 2011. To meet the growing need for technology the program expanded to other Sacred Heart Network Schools, including Greenwich, Texas and New York.

In 2006, more than 100 computers found their way into schools in the Masaka area to benefit students in different Catholic primary, secondary and secular institutions. Funds for shipping the donated equipment came from various student-led fund-raisers, engaging the entire community and raising awareness year-round.

In preparation for the time spent in-country, American students learned the skills necessary to install the networked computer labs and became efficient in troubleshooting and repairing the equipment.

Dr. Graeber handed leadership of her global learning initiative to Greenwich after having executed the program for eight consecutive years, during which more than 100 students had the opportunity to experience life in Uganda in this very extraordinary way. Working side-by-side with local residents, Sacred Heart students received an introduction to the customs and way of life in Uganda firsthand, with many students returning a second or third time because they witnessed the value of a strong education to manifest hope for a brighter future.

Students and chaperones were greeted warmly and enthusiastically everywhere they traveled. Schools greeted the arrival of the computers with much fanfare, including local dancers and musicians, to celebrate the end of a long process for being awarded with this gift. Many schools had to build or renovate facilities.

In order to accommodate the computers, they had to hire expert teachers to maintain and manage the equipment. Ugandan students could now learn firsthand how to operate computers, navigate Windows, and use Microsoft Office applications, such as Word and Excel.

44 H ORI Z ON S winter 2011/12

Students could access over 150 programs to conduct research, utilizing an extensive library of articles, eBooks, and encyclopedia entries. Because the Sacred Heart students returned year after year, schools could build on the initial infrastructure provided by the program, while the returning team could monitor progress made in their absence and verify the proper management of the facilities.

In 2010, a group of 10 students and teachers from Greenwich continued the legacy of installing computer labs. This past summer, Greenwich organized and sponsored a follow-up visit to the Sacred Heart primary and secondary schools, installing computers at the Sacred Heart Primary School and the Kalungu Training Center for Girls, another school run by Society of the Sacred Heart. Since Greenwich took over the global learning initiative, the focus has shifted to assist Catholic schools for girls, consistent with the core mission of our international network. Ugandan natives continue to provide much-needed support and encouragement for this type of program, as schools in the U.S. are working together to expand the scope and intensity of this unique global learning initiative.

The program faces several challenges, which have to be resolved to meet the growing demand for technology in these schools. Since the Ugandan government enacted a ban on the importation of used computers, we need to identify new sources of affordable computers that can be purchased in large quantities. To this end, we have to be able to raise enough funds to acquire significant numbers of new computers because acquiring new equipment is significantly more expensive than paying for container shipment of donated machines. Implementing global learning initiatives, such as this one, also depends on a predictable and stable political climate to provide a reasonably safe environment for students and chaperones from the United States. Even though our schools are removed from the capital, Kampala, and situated in rural farming communities with low crime rates and fewer political tensions, the sociopolitical climate has been more of a challenge in recent years.

In 2012, our work will continue with a group of Sacred Heart educators from various Network schools entering into the Ugandan culture by visiting the Sacred Heart Primary School in Masaka for two weeks. This initiative focuses on our core mission and the continuation of the expansion of the technology program through professional collaboration, as educators in the Sacred Heart tradition across cultures. ď ™

Working side-by-side with local residents, Sacred Heart students received an introduction to the customs and way of life in Uganda firsthand, with many students returning a second or third time because they witnessed the value of a strong education to manifest hope for a brighter future.

Convent of the Sacred Heart 45

catching up with our graduates

M e ss a g e f r o m t h e A l u m n a e p r e s i d e n t Dear Fellow Alumnae and Members of the Sacred Heart Family, What a great time it is in the life of CSH Greenwich! As I said at Alumnae Reunion in October, regardless of how long ago you graduated, somehow driving up the hill at 1177 King Street always seems like coming home. Although Convent of the Sacred Heart may look a bit different, the driveway has been widened and the formidable copper beeches are now a happy memory replaced by a graceful grass and stone staircase and new maple trees, be assured that the School is thriving with 770 academically, spiritually and athletically gifted girls. From the time I have spent on the campus, I can tell you that the spirit is still the same as when we were students.

Our alumnae year started off quite strong with our kick-off event—Reunion 2011.

This year, 175 of us gathered to worship, socialize and celebrate with one another and specifically honor the classes ending

in “1” and “6.” We were all inspired by the achievements of our Outstanding Alumna, Elissa Forstmann Moran ’66, for her work with the organization she began, Friends of Nick Foundation.

Our alumnae board is diligently working on a number of events that will take place throughout the 2011–2012 year. In addition to our traditional events, we have two inaugural events this year—an Alumnae Family Mass (held on November 20, 2011) and a networking event on March 7, 2012.

For a list of events, please go to our new alumnae section of the school website (www.cshgreenwich.org) or visit us on Facebook “CSH Greenwich.”

We have planned a multitude of events to appeal to all alumnae. From major events, such as reunion, to geographicallyspecific gatherings, such as the New York City reception, to our ever popular young alumnae congés, I hope that you will take the opportunity to join us at one, or many, and to reconnect with, or strengthen, your bonds with fellow alumnae.

Sacred Heart celebrated a historic moment on November 1 when the School acquired title from the Society of the Sacred Heart to the entire 110 acres of land on which the campus is located. Since CSH opened its doors in 1945, we have been operating on land controlled by the Society. Holding title to the land allows us to expand our footprint, advance our programs and further our mission in partnership with the Society. This is an exciting time to be at Sacred Heart. I look forward to seeing you this year at one of many events.

Regards,

Patreece Williams Creegan ’84

2011–2012 Greenwich-Maplehurst A l u m n a e Ass o c i at i o n B o a r d President: Patreece Williams Creegan ’84 Vice President: Shannon O’Leary Pujadas ’87 Treasurer: Lisa Burke Fallon ’89 Secretary: Magee Finn King ’93

46 H ORI Z ON S winter 2011/12

Board Members: Vanessa Arredondo ’87 Alyssa Keleshian Bonomo ’86 Dreux Dubin Claiden ’77 Lucy Coudert Conrod ’89 Katie Phelan Contino ’95 Ellen Feeney ’02 Carli Garcia ’01 Sarah Grogan ’97 Hope Houston Hirshorn ’82 Sarah Jorquera ’79 Barbara Linsenmeyer Malone ’85 Susie Callagy McCloskey ’84 Colleen Mara McLane ’91 Katie Molloy ’99

Catherine Finnegan Nix ’71 Sarah Quick ’04 Nicole Seagriff ’03 Ex Officio Members: Head of School Pamela Juan Hayes ’64 Director of Institutional Advancement Joan M. Petersen Director of Alumnae Relations Kathleen A. Feeney ’98 feeneyk@cshgreenwich.org (203) 532-3545

Alumnae Highlight: H o p e H o u s t o n H i r sh o r n ’ 8 2 R e c e i v e s D o c t o r at e i n Th e o l o g y

By Kathleen S. Failla and Elyse Schultz Hope’s path towards earning her Ph.D. was guided in part by her call to motherhood. “I made the decision to leave my job on Wall Street and stay home with our first child,” she said. After graduating from Convent of the Sacred Heart, where she was senior class president and a member of the National Honor Society, Hope attended Oberlin College and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

She joined AMBAC Indemnity Corp., in New York City, as an associate analyst and, over the next six years, rose to become vice president, before retiring in 1992 to start a family. Along the way, she obtained a master’s in public administration in the area of public finance and an advanced professional certificate in finance from New York University.

Hope always had an interest in theology, and, at that time, she was living in New York City, across from Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus. She walked across the street and asked about the theology program, but to her disappointment it was only offered uptown at the Rose Hill campus. As a young mother, it was hard to find a suitable babysitter so she put her plan on hold.

Five years later, after moving to London to support the career of her husband, Bill, she pursued a certificate program at the Marian Study Center at Heythrop College, which is connected with the University of London. After completing the program in 1998, she began work toward her master’s in contemporary Catholic theology. A year into her studies, her family was transferred back to New York. She applied to Fordham and started in fall 1999.

The Hirshorn family

When she completed the degree in May 2002, she thought she was done with school. However, after taking a year off from academics, she felt the pull to return again to pursue a Ph.D. “This entailed taking a second round of classes, a second translation exam (this time in German), and more comprehensive exams,” said Hope. This body of work became a master’s in philosophy, which is the precursor to the Ph.D. For her doctorate, she focused on the field of systematic theology, which concentrates on a study of modern Roman Catholic theology based in Scripture and tradition in dialogue with contemporary issues. “Everyone who knows me views this dissertation as my seventh child.

Although I am always quick to point out that this is the first child that has taken longer than nine months to produce,” she said. She defended her dissertation before a five-member board in September 2011, and her degree, a doctor of philosophy in systematic theology from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will be dated February 2012. She will walk in the May 2012 graduation to receive her hood.

In the future she hopes, “To distill my dissertation into an article that might be suitable for publication in a theological journal.” Eventually she would love the opportunity to be in an academic setting where she can teach theology and share her faith.

From the beginning of her journey toward her doctorate, being a mother has been most important. Dr. Hirshorn is the mother of six children, including three girls, all CSH “lifers”—Grace ’11,

“My advice is to imagine the p o ss i b i l i t i e s , d o the research a b o u t w h at y o u wa n t to p u r s u e , r e c o g n i z e t h at t h e pat h m i g h t ta k e a l i t t l e lo n g e r a n d t h e n — g o f o r i t .” a freshman at Yale University, Sarah ’13, and Emily ’15. Her sons are Joseph, 12, Daniel, 10, and Brendan, 4. Her husband is equally supportive of a Sacred Heart education and serves as a member of the Board of Trustees’ Budget Committee.

Hope chose CSH for her daughters because “I wanted an environment that would not only provide them with the finest education possible, but would also foster and support a personal and active faith in God.” As a board member of GreenwichMaplehurst Alumnae Association, she continues to be active in the School. Her advice for alumnae thinking about higher education? “My advice is to imagine the possibilities, do the research about what you want to pursue, recognize that the path might take a little longer and then—go for it. With determination and perseverance, anything is possible.” 

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Alumnae Highlight: Virginia Tucker Kaufmann ’32

By Judith Becker Virginia loved her Sacred Heart years. She treasured the education and she developed wonderful friendships that have remained strong throughout her life. A five-day boarder, she attended Maplehurst for five years, from eighth grade through twelfth.

Virginia was born in New York City, one of four children—three girls and one boy.

When the family moved from New York City to White Plains, Virginia commuted with her sister, Helaine, to Maplehurst in the Bronx.

Mother Ryan was the principal, and there were 17 members in her graduating class of 1932.

The subjects she studied were English, French, history, literature, math, Latin, logic and epistemology. She had only one year of science, and there were no science labs. Math was Virginia’s favorite subject. In line with her enjoyment of math and her competitive spirit, as an adult she achieved the ranking of master bridge player.

Following her graduation from Maplehurst, she attended the College of New Rochelle, majoring in history. She felt very well prepared for her college years, and found when she started her history courses that the college was using the same American history book that Virginia had at Sacred Heart.

At Maplehurst, the students slept dormitory style—10 girls to a room. Wakeup was at 6 a.m. The girls went into the chapel and knelt for 10 minutes before Mass began.

As Virginia says, she had “calluses on her knees.” Following breakfast and study hall, classes began at 9 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m.

After 3 p.m., the students had recreation, study hall, dinner and another study hall.

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Virginia with daughter, Josie

Night prayers followed study hall, and “lights out” was at 9.

Virginia was captain of the field hockey team and manager of the basketball team, the only other sport at the time. The basketball team traveled to play against other Sacred Heart schools.

Of course, the girls wore bloomers for their sports activities.

Virginia recalled with fondness some of her teachers at Maplehurst—Mother Acheson and Mrs. Hadley, who taught diction. She remembers, also, the Corpus Christi statue in the garden and how the students marched in procession on the feast day. Graduation was held outdoors, with the parents sitting on the porch of the school building.

Virginia recalls having tests every Monday, “just so you didn’t waste the weekend.” There were no holidays in the middle of the week; however, instead of having classes on those days where others had a holiday, there were congés! She fondly recalls the congés, where instead of having classes, students played games that fostered school spirit.

Greenwich students today still look forward to congés.

At that time, they had “primes” every week. “Primes” comes from the French and refer to student awards. It was an old Sacred Heart custom, adapted from French schools in the early 18th century. At Maplehurst, Virginia recalls that pink ribbons were given to the Middle School girls, and blue ribbons to the Upper School. “I never managed to get one,” she added.

Virginia traveled to Trinidad in 1941 to marry Leo Kaufmann who was working with a firm that built air strips

for the U.S. Air Force. She returned to the U.S. in 1943 to start a family that includes three daughters and two sons. Her daughter, Josie, is a 1975 graduate of Sacred Heart, Greenwich, and currently lives near her mother in Massachusetts. Virginia is now widowed and “retired.” Virginia has 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. In addition to her sister, Helaine Tucker Harrison ’34, and daughter, Josie, other family members at CSH include great-granddaughter Emme Leonard ’17, daughter of Virginia’s grandson, Brian Leonard, and his wife, Kerry. 

S h e f o n d ly recalls the congés, where instead of h a v i n g c l a ss e s , students p l ay e d g a m e s t h at f o st e r e d sc h o o l s p i r i t.

Reunion 2011:

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1. ann mcmanus deiters ’61, valerie moore o’Keeffe ’61, Pamela raymond ’61 2. michael f. baber, Patreece williams creegan ’84, molly donius boscarino ’91, margaret Shafer ’01, cynthia bouvet Heraty ’01, erin tiernan ’96, rebekah goodhue ’96, cristin mcguinn ’01, Pamela Juan Hayes ’64, Kathleen feeney ’98, Kelly whipple ’06, Katherine colihan ’06, liz Purcell ’06

Convent of the Sacred Heart threw open its doors and its heart to alumnae attending Reunion 2011. The theme was “Home Is Where the Heart Is” and it was evident everywhere, as alumnae returned “home” for a two-day celebration that began on Friday, September 30, and continued Saturday, October 1.

The new, two-day event gave alumnae an opportunity to visit classrooms while school was in session. On Friday afternoon, Head of School Pamela Juan Hayes ’64 hosted a goûter for alumnae to enable them to meet faculty and staff.

The celebration on Saturday featured a beautiful liturgy in the school chapel with an inspiring homily by the Rev. Joseph Cavoto, S.A. The annual alumnae awards were presented to the Outstanding Alumna of the Year, Elissa Forstmann Moran ’66, and the Honorary Alumna Award was given to Jayne Collins, head of the Upper School.

Patreece Williams Creegan ’84, president of the alumnae association, presented the Outstanding Alumna Award. She called Mrs. Moran “an inspiration to all to use our Christian faith in a way that it provides hope, strength and opportunities for children

and their families.” Mrs. Moran is the founder, program director and president of the Friends of Nick Foundation, which she started in loving memory of her brother, a successful businessman and author, and a former board chair of the Inner City Scholarship Fund.

Criteria for the Honorary Alumna Award state that a recipient must have served the school for at least 20 years and be outstanding in all ways. Mrs. Hayes presented the award noting: “Jayne is a beloved member of the Upper School faculty who is known to a generation of Sacred Heart students. Over the past 20 years, Jayne has contributed to our School’s growth from approximately 300 students in 1991 to a robust 770 today.”

Following the Mass, a reception for guests was held in the Cora E. McLaughlin ’29, RSCJ Art Gallery.

Student volunteers dressed in old CSH uniforms from the school archives strolled among the crowd, passing trays of appetizers and chatting with guests.

The event wrapped up with class photos, a champagne toast by Mrs. Hayes for class representatives, and an ongoing slide show in the front hall that enabled alumnae to relive memories. 

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3. class of 2001 (front row, left to right) Sara wallace, margaret Shafer, laura antonacci, Kate Kretschmann, eileen Hartigan barendse, meghan mara ryan; (back row, left to right) alexandra lewis, Kate Henry Zentko, carli garcia, beth moore russell, cynthia bouvet Heraty, cristin mcguinn

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4. victoria wells arms ’91 and carolyn ebbitt russo ’91 5. outstanding alumna elissa forstmann moran ’66 with Joanne graham ’66

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6. class of 1981 (front row, left to right) Janet morris Jones, elizabeth d’agostino ross; (second row, left to right) andrea Zdinak andretta, teresa Pica leruo, missy marandino breen; (third row, left to right) Sharon Heller, tammy childs, elizabeth tahmincioglu Kassapidis 7. margaret Shafer ’01

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8. Patreece williams creegan ’84, Patrick creegan, Paula tennyson, chair of the board of trustees, christopher tennyson, Shannon o’leary Pujadas ’87, michael f. baber 9. class of 1956 (front row, left to right) margi brown gregory, Kathleen dolan, rScJ; (second row, left to right) Patricia maguire murray, mary grady Keith; (third row, left to right) markey Pullen burke, mary ann Skelly tragesser, Suzanne marechal Scully 10. rebekah goodhue ’96, alexis maffei montemaggiore ’96, erin tiernan ’96 11. beth moore russell ’01, laura antonacci ’01, meghan mara ryan ’01 12. Honorary alumna Jayne collins and Patreece williams creegan ’84 13. cristin mcguinn ’01 (center) 14. libby white ’67, maureen wade, S.c., ban white

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15. class of 1971 (front row, left to right) cathy finnegan nix, christina barbero, titine Shrady Joyce, tootie neale, anne mccormick Hubbard; (second row, left to right) ellen luby, maryanne bardwil lynch, robin clark, Jeanette Srubar wallace, meg clary bisharat

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16. caroline coleman ’72 and rande coleman ’71 17. Sonia nash gupta ’01, Sara wallace ’01, Jayne collins, Kate Henry Zentko ’01, mimi rafferty, alexandra lewis ’01

21 18. lindsay o’callaghan ’12 and Kate mather ’12 19. class of 2006 (front row, left to right) catherine nix, Kelly whipple, Katie mullen, caitlin george, elise byrnes; (second row, left to right) Hannah walker, courtney burke, lauren mcglynn, michelle chieco, lizzy connor, Katherine colihan, liz Purcell, Joyce Khandji

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23 20. class of 1986 (front row, left to right) alyssa Keleshian bonomo, ondy levitt Schiciano, Jennifer Sullivan Schwartz; (second row, left to right) nicole Peluso, elle gaensslen, anne gorman randell, abby flynn daley 21. family and friends snapping photos

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22. Kaye cherry ’53, rScJ and beth moore russell ’01 23. mary grady Keith ’56, margi brown gregory ’56, Suzanne marechal Scully ’56 24. Kelly whipple ’06, liz Purcell ’06, Katherine colihan ’06

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25. Patreece williams creegan ’84 and Pamela Juan Hayes ’64

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OUTSTANDING AND HONORARY

mrs. moran, second from left, and family

ELISSA FORSTMANN MORAN ’66

Outstanding Alumna Award

Elissa Forstmann Moran, Class of 1966, is an inspiration to all to use our Christian faith in a way that it provides hope, strength and opportunities for children and their families.

Elissa is the founder, program director and president of the Friends of Nick Foundation, which she started in loving memory of her brother, a successful businessman and author, and a former board chair of the Inner City Scholarship Fund.

For the past eight years, her foundation has provided classroom programs and parent workshops at 15 of New York’s inner city schools. Her work has touched the lives of more than 4,000 families and set students on a new course for the future.

Partnering with principals and working with teachers and students, she is helping to draw families closer together as they engage in ongoing dialogues about character. Her foundation is currently exploring new partnerships with other school systems in locations, such as her former base in New Orleans.

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Little did Elissa know how much her education at Convent of the Sacred Heart would direct the course of her life and strengthen her commitment to serving others. During a recent visit to our School, Elissa remarked on the connection between her work today and her Sacred Heart education. “My work today started right here on the hill of Sacred Heart where I first began to consider ‘what really matters’ and what I heard went right to my heart and stayed,” she said.

Elissa grew up in Greenwich, the youngest of six children, and has lived in New York City, Providence, Rhode Island, and New Orleans. Now, after 30 years she and her husband have returned to Greenwich. “I have always enjoyed the world of ideas and appreciated the importance of scholarship,” she said. As mother of four and grandmother of three, she provided her own family with her perspective on living a life that is respectful of the religious and cultural differences of others. This is something that Sacred Heart continues to teach today.

After graduation from our School, Elissa obtained a bachelor of science degree in

international relations from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and a master’s degree in religious studies from Loyola University, New Orleans. She holds a certificate in systems of family communication from the Cambridge Institute of Family Therapy.

From 1998 through 2001, she worked as the program director of the Children’s Scholarship Fund in New Orleans. A woman of strong faith, she has been a religious educator for more than 35 years, even teaching classes for children at the Academy of the Sacred Heart (“Rosary”), in New Orleans, and also serving adults as a director and teacher of an R.C.I.A. program.

Elissa continues to draw on her education, skills and interests to support the growth and development of the next generation of leaders. It is a challenge and a call to action that St. Madeleine Sophie Barat heard more than 200 years ago—and it is a call that Elissa first heard here on the hill at Sacred Heart.

We are proud and honored to present Elissa with the Outstanding Alumna Award.

28 26. class of 1991 (front row, left to right) molly donius boscarino, adelaide Shafer barrett, victoria wells arms, carolyn ebbitt russo; (second row, left to right) colleen mara mclane, Heather flanagan brennan, mary elizabeth Scotti toulouse, meg gaillard myles, barbara farrell Smith 27. Pamela Juan Hayes ’64 and Jayne collins 28. ann mcmanus deiters ’61, Patreece williams creegan ’84, valerie moore o’Keeffe ’61, Pamela Juan Hayes ’64

mrs. collins with her children

JAYNE COLLINS

Honorary Alumna Award

Jayne Collins is a beloved member of the Upper School faculty who is known to a generation of Sacred Heart students. Over the past 20 years, Jayne has contributed to our School’s growth from approximately 300 students in 1991 to a robust 770 today. When Jayne joined Sacred Heart, the entire school had the approximate enrollment of our Upper School today.

She became head of the Upper School in September 2001. Thanks to Jayne’s gifts as a teacher and leader and her loving and caring spirit, the Upper School is a vibrant learning community.

Jayne is an inspirational leader who brings out the best in everyone—students, faculty and staff, and parents. They all admire her and appreciate her core values and dedication to the mission of the Schools of the Sacred Heart. Long-serving faculty look to Jayne as a mentor and role model, who has helped them celebrate personal victories and face challenges. She puts all others first. She brings to the job a passion for teaching, a devotion to the

mission of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat and a steadfast faith in God. Those of us who have worked with Jayne count ourselves lucky to be in her company.

She has been a supportive colleague to the administrative team, and her open door policy for students and faculty offers them the benefit of her wisdom and counsel. As a woman of deep faith, she models Goal 1 of a Sacred Heart education: “Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to a personal and active faith in God.” She has never forgotten what it is to be a teacher. To view her during the course of her day offers insights into her love of learning and of the School community.

She is also committed to serving Goal 2, our School’s theme this year, which is “educating to a deep respect for intellectual values.” With an extensive background in teaching both English and history, she continues to be a supportive advocate for strong academic curriculums, such as our intensive Science Research Program.

Prior to becoming head of the Upper School, she served as chair of the History Department for many years.

Since becoming Upper School head, Jayne has continued to teach an Advanced Placement course in Comparative Government and Politics, where she is a dedicated and exceedingly knowledgeable teacher. Each year her students post consistently high scores on the AP exam.

She has been instrumental in designing several innovative courses, and most recently she was the guiding force behind the implementation of our capstone course for seniors, Seminar in Literature and Thought, which incorporates elements of theology, literature, philosophy, history, art, social sciences and service learning. Students recognize and appreciate her love and support for them. Former students will also recall her role as moderator of the yearbook and the Model United Nations Club.

On a personal note, Jayne is the proud mother of three children and grandmother of six.

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29. class of 1977 (front row, left to right) mary davis Stanton, Joan campo carter, dreux dubin claiden, deborah morelli wygal; (second row, left to right) toni Palazzo maloney, rosemary Sheehan, rScJ, lisa carvin Palazzo, mary Ziminsky dowdle, Hildreth dunn; (third row, left to right) lisa becker edmundson, mary ellen tirelli Pais 30. Patreece williams creegan ’84 and barbara farrell Smith ’91 31. adelaide Shafer barrett ’91 and Heather flanagan brennan ’91 32. mary ann Skelly tragesser ’56 and Patricia maguire murray ’56 33. Pamela Juan Hayes ’64 and Joanne graham ’66 34. michael f. baber, Patreece williams creegan ’84, molly donius boscarino ’91

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