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Fall 2008

Holy Cross High School • 587 Oronoke Road • Waterbury, CT 06708 • 203.574.5422

Inside This Issue: Halloween Happening Holy Cross Educator of the Year Scholar Recognitions

Help Us Meet the Challenge

Upcoming Events: Class of 1983 25 Year Reunion Saturday, November 15th

v Thanksgiving Eve Liturgy Wednesday, November 26th

v Thanksgiving Day Football Game Thursday, November 27th

v Class of 1988 20 Year Reunion Saturday, November 29th

v Christmas Concert Thursday, December 11th

As Holy Cross celebrates its 40th Anniversary, the Holy Cross Fund has been challenged to raise $250,000.

We hope to increase overall participation in the HC Fund to make our endeavor a success.

If we reach this amount, an anonymous donor has pledged to MATCH it for a grand total of $500,000.

Help us reach our half-million dollar goal!!!

Please consider making a gift to the Holy Cross Fund TODAY!

Thanksgiving Eve Liturgy

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On Wednesday, November 26th we will have our Annual Thanksgiving Eve Liturgy at 7:30 pm in the school auditorium.

We invite all to come and remember the deceased members of our Holy Cross Community ~ alumni, students, faculty, family, and friends ~ 3

as well as give thanks for the many blessings we all have.

A reception will immediately follow the liturgy.

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Advancement Office Notes The Holy Cross Fund Frequently Asked Questions About The Holy Cross Fund

Q. What is The Holy Cross Fund? on campus that make the Holy Cross experience “different where A. The Holy Cross Fund is it counts”. We invite you to take comprised of gifts from a dedicated part in this important tradition, by group of alumni, parents, and friends helping the current generation of that are generally unrestricted and students benefit from the outstanding are used where they are needed educational opportunity Holy Cross most in supporting the school’s provides. day-to-day operations. Academic programs, need-based financial aid & Q. How important is my scholarships, campus technology, and participation? teacher resources are a few of the A. Your support is vital to the many areas that benefit from your gift. financial health and reputation of the Q. What does a gift to The school. The participation rate of those who contribute to the school’s annual

Holy Cross Fund do? fundraising effort is an important A. Your gift helps to bridge measure used by foundations and the gap between what the school receives in tuition and what it actually other grant-giving institutions in dispensing grant funding. It is also a costs to educate each student. As good tool to measure how pleased an unrestricted fund, it provides alumni are with their high school the school flexibility to absorb experience and how happy parents unexpected costs and maintenance are with the education and guidance throughout the campus without that Holy Cross High School has increasing the tuition rates. provided for their children.

Q. Why should I contribute?

Q. How will I be contacted?

A. Your gift to the Holy Cross A. We will contact you about Fund helps keep tuition increases The Holy Cross Fund through mail, to a minimum. It also supports the through our phonathon and by e-mail. budgets for many valuable programs

ExxonMobil Grant Holy Cross was again awarded a grant from the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance Program made possible through Bruce Dessereaux, alumni parent of Krysta ’05 and Justin ’02 and owner of Dez Mobil in Middlebury. The $500 grant will be utilized by the Science Department. Thank you to Mr. Dessereaux and ExxonMobil.

Holy Cross Fund Gift Holy Cross recently received a generous gift of $1,250 for the Holy Cross Fund from the Oxford Lions Club. Tony Zupa, VP of IT Vendor Management for GE Money, a Holy Cross Alumni (1983) and Board Member, and a member of the Oxford Lions Club, received a Sourcing Excellence Award from GE, which he donated to the Oxford Lions Club with the request that a portion of the award be allocated toward educational institutions.

We would like to thank Tony and the Oxford Lions Club for their generous donation which will be used to increase the financial aid that Holy Cross awards to qualified students who otherwise might not be able to receive an education in the Holy Cross tradition.

Reunion Dates: 1983 - 25 year Reunion November 15, 2008 Grand Oak Villa in Oakville 1988 – 20 year Reunion November 29, 2008 Crowne Plaza Hotel in Southbury

Green & Gold Gala The combined Parents Clubs will be sponsoring the 8th Annual Green and Gold Gala on March 21, 2009 at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville. The evening will include dinner, dancing, open bar and a silent auction. Our hope is to have tables representing every class year as well as have present parents, alumni parents, past and present board members, past and present faculty members, friends of Holy Cross, and our religious brothers and sisters attend this milestone celebration. Save the date.

Take A Seat Donor Reception On September 30th, the Advance­ ment Office hosted a donor reception for all who supported the auditorium renovations. Guests enjoyed refreshments as well as admired the renovations and the donor recognition board. The reception was followed by a musical performance featuring talented Holy Cross students.

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Crusader Clippings Fall Sports Wrap Up The Fall Sports season had over 300 students participating on our seven fall teams.

Following week one of the season Senior Julia Shea was named Athlete of the Week by the Republican-American for her outstanding play in girls’ soccer.

The Boys and Girls Soccer teams and Girls Swim Team will finish their regular seasons by the end of October and will prepare for the NVL and CIAC Tournaments.

Holy Cross High School Celebrates International Day of Peace To celebrate the International Day of Peace the Holy Cross High School community folded more than six hundred and fifty origami peace cranes and purchased a Peace Pole with the phrase “May Peace Prevail On Earth” inscribed in English, Italian, Japanese, and Arabic. The cranes and Peace Pole were blessed during prayer services and a Mass on Friday, September 19th, in commemoration of International Day of Peace on Sunday, September 21st.

The Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams finished with identical 6-4 records and ran well in the NVL Championships. Matt Caulfield, Ryan Parker, and Kelsey Rowley earned First Team All NVL Honors.

On October 8th the athletic department brought back 1995 graduate and Northeastern University basketball standout Harold Miller to speak to our athletes about preparing for their future. Harold is a respected educator and speaker in the Boston area and was excited about returning to his alma mater for this engagement. His presentation was well received and many of our parents have logged on to his website to help with the college search.

This Thanksgiving will be a special one for the football program.

For the first time in school history we will host the Thanksgiving football game. For the past 33 years Wolcott has graciously hosted the game but this year and from now on in even numbered years the game will be played at Municipal Stadium.

Mark your calendar for November 27th at 10:00 am.

“Halloween Happening ‘08” On October 19, 2008, the Student Government of Holy Cross High School opened up the doors and facilities of the school to the children of the Town Plot neighborhood to allow for a safe and fun place for neighborhood youngsters and their parents to celebrate Halloween. This is the seventh year the Holy Cross student body has hosted this seasonal event. Two hundred and seventy-five Holy Cross students representing Holy Cross Clubs and Fall sports team worked together to host this superb annual event for more than three hundred children from area elementary schools.

Students at Holy Cross High School collected over 300 pounds of candy in preparation for Halloween Happening.

Shown in this photo counting bags of candy are: Seniors Scott Mamrosh, Erin Stevens, Carl Miller, and Katie Cavanaugh.

Behind the students is a Halloween themed backdrop painted by students Caitlin Daly, Paige Vaillancourt, and Lindsey Baeder.

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AP Scholar Awards TEN students at Holy Cross High School in Waterbury, have earned the AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on Advanced Placement Program (AP) Exams.

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program provides motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school, and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams. About 18 percent of the more than 1.6 million students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award.

The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students’ performance on AP exams.

Two students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award

by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. The AP SCHOLARS with Distinction are: August Dinwiddie of Morris and Victoria Parkes of Terryville.

Two students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. The AP SCHOLARS with Honor are: Shannon Flaherty of Waterbury and Matthew Goulet of Watertown.

Six students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams, with grades of 3 or higher. The AP SCHOLARS are: Kristin Burr of Thomaston, Richard Case of Naugatuck, Sarah Herlihy of Southbury, Ojala Naeem of Waterbury, Heather Romano of Terryville and Christina Waiculonis of Watertown.

Semifinalist in the 2009 National Merit® Scholarship Program Matthew Swircenski of Waterbury, CT has been named a Semifinalist in the 2009 National Merit® Scholarship Program.

Officials announced the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 54th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,200 Merit Scholarships, worth more than $35 million, that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of competition. About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.

The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of US high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. A Semifinalist must meet additional standards and fulfill several requirements to become a Finalist and be considered in the rigorous competition for Merit Scholarship awards. These requirements include: a very high academic performance in college preparatory course work, submitting SAT scores that confirm the PSAT/NMSQT performance, being fully endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, being involved in extracurricular activities and leadership positions.

Matthew Swircenski, son of Mrs. Kim Swircenski of Waterbury, CT, is a senior at Holy Cross High School. He graduated from St. Francis Xavier School in Waterbury.

Commended Students in the 2009 National Merit® Scholarship Program The following students have been named Commended Students in the 2009 National Merit® Scholarship Program: Margaret Malley of Plymouth, CT and Samuel Terhaar of Litchfield, CT. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, will be presented to these scholastically talented seniors. About 34,000 Commended Students across the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise.

These students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2009 competition by taking the 2007 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/ NMSQT).

Margaret Malley, daughter of Atty. and Mrs. Mark Malley of Watertown, CT, is a senior at Holy Cross High School.

She graduated from St. Peter School in Torrington.

Samuel Terhaar, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Terhaar of Litchfield, CT, is a senior at Holy Cross High School. He graduated from St. Francis of Assisi School in Torrington.

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Alumni News Alumni News Publishing Policies To be considered for publication, the Advancement Office must be able to verify that you are a graduate of Holy Cross High School. Alumni News submissions are accepted from, but not limited to the following sources: press releases, e-mail and our website ‘Contact Us’ page. Holy Cross High School has the exclusive authority to reject any Alumni News submissions not in alignment with the spiritual and religious character of the school. The Holy Cross Advancement Office retains the exclusive right to edit any material submitted for publishing in the Alumni News. All Alumni News submissions will appear in both the Advancement Newsletter – CROSS Words and on the Website www.holycrosshs-ct.com, unless otherwise requested by the sender. Requests to change information intended for publishing must be made by phone, e-mail or in writing to the Advancement Office. Any information to be published in the In Memoriam section must be verified by appropriate documentation.

Class Notes Class of 1983 Peter Pronovost is the recipient of a $500,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Peter was honored by the MacArthur Foundation for “devising life-saving, clinical practices that are improving patient safety in hospitals and sparing countless lives from the often deadly consequences of human error.” (See Summer 2008 CROSSWords for more.)

Class of 1991 Susan Homrok is the principal at Henry James Memorial School in Simsbury, CT. Karen (Murphy) Olsen is a Controller and Director of Finance at Guggenheim Partners, LLC in New York, NY where she lives with her husband, Brad.

Class of 1993 Amy Strozzi was nominated for an Emmy Award in the “outstanding makeup for a multicamera series or a special” category for her work on an episode of “So You Think You Can Dance.” She is based in Los Angeles where she works for the Fox reality show and is currently the make up artist for Vice-Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin.

v Alumni News includes submissions received since the last newsletter.

If you would like to have a Class Note, Engagement, Marriage or Birth Announcement published in an upcoming newsletter please click on ‘Contact Us’ on our home page at www.holycrosshs-ct.com and submit your news.

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Class of 1999

Ashleigh (Banwell) Nelson ‘93 and her husband, Justin, welcomed their third child, Eden Jay Dougherty and Randi Tomaszewski Grace, on August 14, 2008. celebrated their son, Jayden Cole’s, first birthday Elaine (Swanson) Coberly ‘94 and her on October 3, 2008. husband, Drew, are happy to announce the birth Class of 2003 of their son, Connor Frank, on June 18, 2008.

Broadway’s “Hairspray” Lead, Marissa Follo Amy (Weber) Doucet ‘95 and her husband, “Perry”, Tara Sorcinelli, and Melissa Michael, announce the birth of their daughter, (Sauvageau) Green, visited together backstage Olivia Katherine, on June 20, 2008. after the show. Marissa currently stars as Tracy Jessica (Baransky) Hudacko ‘97 and her Turnblad in Broadway’s “Hairspray”. husband, Paul, announce the birth of their son, Gary Novakowski, former Holy Cross pitcher, Paul “Lucas”, on September 3, 2008. signed a free agent minor league contract with Kelly-Jean (Gamelin) Huard ‘97 and her the Kansas City Royals. Gary graduated from husband, Daniel, welcomed their first child, Stony Brook University.

Dylan Joseph, on May 30, 2008.

Class of 2005 Paul Gagnebin is a senior Airman with Air Force intelligence currently serving a second tour of Iraq. Please keep Paul and all our alumni currently serving our country in your thoughts and prayers.

Future Crusaders

Greg Zupkus ‘81 and his wife, Lezlye, are happy to announce the adoption of Reagan Ke Yi Zupkus on September 2, 2008.

Steve Gambini ‘84 and his wife, Johanna (Snyder) Gambini ‘94, announce the birth of their daughter, Elizabeth Kristen, on May 31, 2008.

Class of 1995 Cassandra (Zorn) Crea ‘85 and her husband, Gregory Duch is a 10th grade teacher at the Norwich Free Academy in Norwich. He resides Giovanni, welcomed their daughter, Gabriella Suzanne, on April 21, 2008. in Higganum, CT with his wife, Kara.

Jennifer (Morea) Strileckis ‘86 and her Class of 1998 husband, Tedd, announce the birth of their Domonic Tafuto and Denise (Fasano) daughter, Avery Morea Strileckis, on February 7, Tafuto have been married for two years and 2008. live in Wolcott with their 7 month old daughter, Auggie Fidanza ‘91 and his wife, Carla Avery Lynn. Denise was an Assistant Holy Cross (Thomas) Fidanza ‘93 are happy to announce Varsity cheerleading coach from 2004 until the birth of their first child, Sofia Frances, on September 2007.

August 28, 2008.

Weddings Jennifer Volpi ‘90 to Wayne Van Aken on July 25, 2008.

Karen Murphy ‘91 to Bradley Olsen on May 17, 2008.

Agustin E. Margary ‘94 to Irene G. Checchin on July 20, 2008.

Victoria Castaldi ‘96 to Michael Massicotte, on August 20, 2008.

Brittany L. Guba ‘98 to Michael Rainiero on August 31, 2008.

Melissa LaPointe ‘00 to John Taberna on August 23, 2008.

Jessica West ‘00 to Christopher Carreira on August 15, 2008.

Pamela Shea ‘01 to Christopher Henderson on March 15, 2008.

Engagements Susan Homrok ‘91 to Erik Lemke, a July 2009 wedding is planned.

Mark Dziezynski ‘01 to Jessica Hoff ‘02, an August 1, 2009 wedding is planned.

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Holy Cross Educator of the Year Award

Brothers of Holy Cross Educators in the Faith Making God Known, Loved, and Served For information contact: Bro. Jonathan Beebe, CSC Director of Vocations holycrossvocations@earthlink.net www.holycrossbrothers.org

Mrs. Ann Estrada, Chair of the Theology Department, was the first recipient of the Educator of the Year Award, which will be presented annually to an educator, nominated by his/her colleagues and selected by the administration, for demonstrating the qualities of one who “educates the heart as well as the mind.”

In announcing the award, Mr. Tim McDonald, President of Holy Cross, stated “We are truly fortunate

to have so many dedicated and capable educators and it is indeed appropriate that we publicly express our appreciation and admiration of those whose efforts are examples of “an educator in the Holy Cross tradition.”

The award was presented to Mrs. Estrada this past June at the annual President’s Luncheon.

Congratulations, Mrs. Estrada.

Mrs. Ann Estrada

Holy Cross High School Advancement Office

587 Oronoke Road Waterbury, Connecticut 06708

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