4 A Conversation with Our Fourth President Distinguished Alumnus Spotlight
6
35 Years of Women at Good Counsel Holy Orders
10
16 Falcons to Follow
On September 8, 1958, 271 male students took the steps into Good Counsel. Almost 30 years later, on September 6, 1988, we opened our doors to 280 female students, forever changing Good Counsel as it used to be known. In the 35th anniversary year, we hear from some of our first female students on their experiences and how Good Counsel shaped their lives (see page 6).
In 1958, Good Counsel had 12 Xaverian Brothers on staff, but as of the 2022-23 school year, Bro. Bob Arrowsmith ’63 was the last remaining Xaverian Brother in the building. Despite this, many Good Counsel alumni have pursued Holy Orders (see page 16).
In this edition of the Counselor, you will discover a range of articles and features highlighting the accomplishments and successes of our alumni. From profiles of alumni making a positive impact in the world by redistributing medication to those in need to alumni improving representation by working with Mattel, Inc. and the National Down Syndrome Society, there is something for everyone in these pages.
We also welcome our fourth president, John Ciccone, this year. Although we will miss Dr. Paul Barker's bow ties and kiwi accent, we are eager to work with John Ciccone to help our falcons soar even higher. We will be holding Falcons Flock events regionally to bring John to you - see when we come to your area on page 39.
I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to all of our alumni who have contributed to the magazine this year. Your stories and insights are what make this publication so special, and we are grateful for your ongoing support.
As we look ahead to the coming year, I am excited to continue working with our alumni community to build a brighter future for all of us. Whether it is through mentorship, networking, or simply staying connected with one another, we have the power to make a difference and create positive change in the world.
Thank you again for your continued support and participation in our alumni community. I look forward to staying in touch and seeing all the amazing things that we will accomplish together in the years to come.
Sincerely,
Catie Brown ’13
Your stories and insights are what make this publication so special.
OUR LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL HIGH SCHOOL
A Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School
17301 Old Vic Boulevard, Olney, MD 20832
240.283.3200 | olgchs.org
PRESIDENT
John Ciccone
PRINCIPAL
Tom Campbell ’93
2023-2024 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CHAIR | William Riley, Jr. ’68
VICE CHAIR | Patrick Caulfield
Ralph Boyd, Jr.
Trista Colbert
Nancy DeNicola, Ph.D.
Denny Goforth
Eileen Haase, Ph.D.
Edward Hardiman, Ph. D.
Consuelo Kendall ’99
Margaret Kim
Leah Kramer ’90
Rev. Robert Lawton, S.J., Ph.D., ’65
Roger Mason, Jr. ’99
Matthew McCormack ’89
Dan Murphy ’84
Rebecca Neff
Robert Ramin
Michelle Rubie-Smith
Amy Sample
Stephanie Saturni
Maggie Lynch Selwood ’01
Jennifer Smith
Hollie Bodiford-Taylor
Craig Vincent ’12
EDITOR
Jane Bornhorst
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Lori Fields
PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTOR
Joey Cabigas ’82
ADVANCEMENT OFFICE:
Chief Advancement Officer
Julie Potter
Director of Alumni Engagement
Catie Brown ’13
Director of Annual Giving
Jane Bornhorst
Director of Advancement Services
Karin Boteler
Events Manager
Kendall Thomas
President’s Assistant
Jeanette McCarthy
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE:
Chief Communications and Enrollment Management Officer
Cheryl Plainte
Director of Creative Strategies
Erica Tituana
Assistant Director of Digital Media
Paul Kennedy
Submit comments, contributions and address updates to cbrown@olgchs.org.
John Berry ’77 received the Brother Robert Arrowsmith ’63 Distinguished Alumnus Award at the Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel on April 26, 2023.
Good Counsel
We sat down with Berry during his visit to campus to campus in the spring of 2023.
Berry serves as the president of the American Australian Association based in New York City. Among many leadership roles in a distinguished career, Berry has served in government as head of the Federal Office of Personnel Management, in the nonprofit sector as head of the Smithsonian National Zoo, and in the diplomatic corps as United States ambassador to Australia. He retains the title of ambassador for life.
GC: What are your most vivid memories of your days at GC?
JB: Being motivated to serve. Brother Greg Turlik was inspirational in getting us involved. This was before the traveling to serve that Good Counsel has now. From meeting with patients with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, I learned to respect that people are differently abled and to be patient. We gained the courage to go into scary situations. Steve Katsouros (now Fr. Steve), Steve Sabatini and I did service at the State Mental Institution in Sykesville. One time, I thought I was being given a tour by a young employee. It turned out he was one of the patients. Since I had not been properly processed with my ID when I arrived, I ended up having to talk myself out of Sykesville.
Location: New York City, New York
GC: Were there any teachers who made a particular impact on you?
JB: Barry Trick taught me the emotional depths found in literature and the power of the imagination. Tom Kolar brought history alive in AP Euro. He prepared me for jobs where I faced complex problems. In government, the public only gets to see about 1/10th of how the sausage gets made. My Good Counsel teachers helped me to analyze and think more deeply.
GC: Were you involved in any clubs that helped you later in life?
JB: Drama Club. I remember the first play I was involved with was Annie Get Your Gun. Under director Michael Lewis, every student was of equal importance. Some had more talent, but there were no celebrities. I think what helped me get three unanimous Senate confirmations was I could talk with people from both parties with respect.
GC: What was your big break?
JB: I applied for a budget analyst’s job in the Maryland Department of Financial Services in Annapolis. Within a few weeks, Senator Rasmussen somehow leveraged his relationship with Mickey Steinberg, President of the Senate, and I became Staff Director for the Senate Finance Committee. My connection to Steny Hoyer (House Majority Leader until this past January) and everything else flowed from that opportunity.
GC: Being in charge of the National Zoo seems like a dream job. Was it?
JB: When I took the job, the zoo was a mess. It was so bad that anytime anything happened, the Washington Post knew about it. There was serious discussion of it perhaps being time to close the zoo. I had one message for our team: “We’re going to be the best zoo in the world.” Over time, with that single focus, instead of rolling their eyes, people started to believe. We turned it around.
GC: What was your coolest animal encounter?
JB: I recall one really scary encounter when I was in Antarctica. We were out on the sea ice looking at Emperor penguins. The ice was about 1½ ft thick. All of a sudden, a huge school of Adelie penguins started propelling themselves out of the water at incredible speed. I looked out and a dozen or so killer whales bobbed their heads out of the water and then went under. We had photographers laying down on the ice to get good photos. To the orcas, they
would look like seals. An orca could power through 18 inches of ice easily. I started screaming at everyone to stand up to make their profiles smaller. We waited five nerveracking minutes before we observed the orcas heading out to open water.
Another time, we had a major donor who was eager to hold a young tiger cub. That was until he saw that a cub being handled by a keeper could, with little effort, tear inches-long gashes in a thick leather apron. He changed his mind.
GC: What’s the story behind having a mountain, the Berry Bastion, named after you in Antarctica?
JB: When I was Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget at the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. scientific presence in the Antarctic was dying. This was around the time that people were beginning to speak more about climate change and global warming. The largest river in the world, three times the volume of the Amazon, flows beneath the ice sheets. We learned, counterintuitively, that the ice was melting from the bottom, not the top. The recognition came as a result of my successful efforts to restore our scientific presence in the Antarctic.
GC: You’ve met two saints, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul the Great. What do you remember from those encounters?
JB: I met Mother Teresa when I was a volunteer at The Gift of Peace in Washington, D.C. This was during the AIDS crisis. We were all gowned and masked up around the patients. I saw her remove her mask and caress the arm of a dying man. It was the first time he had been directly touched by another human being in three months. From her, I learned to have courage and not be afraid.
John Paul II was the most powerful diplomat in the world. He understood the Soviet Union better than leaders in the West did. When I met him in New Orleans, he tapped me on the cheek twice, rather firmly, and whispered, “Do Good.”
GC: President Obama appointed you as Ambassador to Australia, a major ally of the U.S. What did you learn from the Aussies?
JB: When you grow up in the U.S., you get a distorted view. We are optimistic and think every problem is solvable if we just roll up our sleeves. After you travel, you realize that our optimism is actually a pretty rare national trait. Australia, I learned, is one of the few countries in the world that has that trait. It can come across as cocky. It is empowering. Australians have confidence they can take on anything.
In September 1988, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School became the first private, coeducational high school in Montgomery County when it first opened its doors to female students. As we enter the 35th school year in which Good Counsel has accepted young women, we check in with some of our first female graduates to reflect on the bold step that was taken years ago.
Jennifer Mariani Whitman ’92 came into Good Counsel in the fall of 1988 as a freshman. She remembers being welcomed by an energized, welcoming staff. Whitman was part of the first class of women who attended all four years of high school at GC.
The freshman class was divided roughly equally into boys and girls. “It was a huge shift for our teachers because they had to change their teaching styles to accommodate girls in addition to boys. We brought different learning styles and social structures,” Whitman says.
It was a thrill for her and other young women to be entering GC. “My brother had graduated in 1988, so I was already comfortable with the school,” she says.
Leah McCormack Kramer ’90 adds, “It was an extremely exciting time because it was a massive change for everyone in the school and felt like we were pioneers.”
Kramer works as a clinical social worker in the field of behavioral health at Georgetown University. She credits the junior retreat at GC as being a formative experience for her and many of her classmates, and she loved her overall experience as a falcon.
“Faculty really paid a lot of attention to you, and there was a sense of community without any friction,” she says.
Whitman remembers taking a bus on the long trek from North Potomac to Wheaton during her freshman year, and carpooling with a group of five girls as a sophomore. She says it was worth it.
“I feel like it was so special that we went through all four years and graduated before any other girls,” she says. “That’s my tag line when I meet GC people. There is a sense of pride in that.”
“I felt valued and appreciated when I came in as a new student,” says Stefanie Generao ’90, who enrolled as a junior and was part of the first class to graduate women.
“I was the only girl in some of my classes, but the faculty were not patronizing. They didn’t give us special treatment,” she says.
Changing schools was an adjustment, Generao recalls.
“Having gone to Holy Cross for a couple of years, sometimes I would just roll out of bed and go to school without putting on any makeup. At GC, with boys there, I felt like I needed to look my best and make more of an effort,” she laughs.
That first year, the athletics department pivoted and made adjustments to accommodate girls sports. Practice space had to be found. The old Falcon Hall was transformed into a women’s locker room. Coaches faced a learning curve in some cases.
“My friend Elizabeth O'Connell Stanislav ’90 played lacrosse and helped to get the team started. They were pioneers,” Generao says. “Now the team is competitive at the national level, so it has been neat to see that evolution.”
A lot of girls sports came in as club teams. They started playing in conferences later, Generao says. GC added girls basketball, cheer, dance, field hockey, girls lacrosse, softball, girls soccer and girls volleyball. Also, girls participated in cross country, track and golf.
Kathleen Kolar
Quinn ’90 says girls in her class gave substantial input and influenced many parts of GC, from sports programs to school uniform choices.
When girls were added into the equation, there was an increase in dress code infractions. “I got in trouble quite a bit from Mr. Raimo for things like wearing stretch pants instead of khakis,” Generao says.
Whitman recalls, “When we came in, there was a more flexible dress code - khaki pants and a shirt - and the administration quickly realized we would bend the rules a lot, so the following year there was a uniform for girls.”
“We were trailblazers and paved the way for even bigger co-ed classes,” says Quinn, daughter of the late Tom Kolar, beloved longtime teacher and coach. Her father’s position at GC ensured her comfort level was high when she first entered the school.
“Honestly, it just felt like familiarity and comfort when I walked in on the first day; after all, I used to play hide-and-seek
throughout the school with other kids at faculty holiday parties and knew all the nooks and crannies of the original GC - even the room with the bathtub!” Quinn says.
Today, she works in the healthcare communications field, serving as the vice president of U.S. corporate media relations & digital communications at a large bio pharmaceutical company.
Whitman, who has run Whitman Summer Camp for 14 years along with her husband, is also a GC parent. Her son, Luke Whitman, will graduate in the spring of 2024. “I’ve seen a lot more of my classmates again now that I’m a parent at GC.” She enjoys reconnecting with fellow falcons who are sending their children to GC. “They are people who really value GC and want their kids to have the same experience we had. It’s neat to see that full circle moment,” she says.
Often, parents who send their children to the Whitmans’ camp end up enrolling them at GC because they know that is the school the Whitmans chose for their three sons.
Generao says, “The quality of the education I received was stellar. I realized I could
write and study, and you take those things for granted until you see others without those skills.”
She had always struggled with math until she studied it at GC. “Eventually, I took college calculus and got an A,” Generao says. “At GC, I learned you can succeed no matter where you are or what you try. I carried that with me.”
Today, Generao works for the Peace Corps in public health and is a doctoral candidate at Yale. Eventually, she hopes to have a positive impact on global health.
Learning in a faith-based Catholic school helped to position her for success. “Having that spirituality throughout college and life helped me to be strong during hard times,” she says. “Also, the friendships I developed were so strong and have lasted. I am closer with girls from high school than anyone.”
“I think that’s true of a lot of the GC classes, not just mine,” Generao says. “I think that’s really special.”
“We were like an experiment, no one really knew what was going to happen. It turned out to be the best experiment ever.”
This summer, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School welcomed its fourth president, John Ciccone. A seasoned professional with many years of experience leading schools,
John was recommended by the Search Committee to the Board of Directors, who then appointed him by unanimous vote. John succeeds Dr. Paul Barker, who retired after 12 years at the helm, in June.
John served as President of Saint Ignatius Loyola Academy in Baltimore for the past 14 years. Before that, he led as Chief Administrative Officer at Rochambeau French International School in Bethesda and as Head of School at The SEED Public Charter School of Washington, D.C. John is, at his roots, an educator, who began his career teaching history and social studies at Catholic schools in Rhode Island.
John has an exceptional record as an educational leader at Catholic, independent and charter schools, from early childhood education through high school. He earned his undergraduate degree in history and education from Rhode Island College and his master’s degree in administration, planning and social policy from Harvard. He has completed non-profit executive education programs at the Harvard Business School and the Kellogg School of Management as well as the New Heads Institute of the National Association of Independent Schools.
GC: What excited you about taking on the role of president at Good Counsel?
JOHN CICCONE: Good Counsel is an extraordinary school and community. It is clear that everyone at Good Counsel lives the mission of inspiring students to “excel, serve and love.” I appreciate the school’s strong Catholic mission and tradition, while at the same time being unafraid to take risks and reimagine itself to tread brave, bold new paths.
I greatly value the robust and well-rounded educational programs, like the Ryken and STEM Programs, alongside AP and International Baccalaureate offerings. All of these are enhanced by vibrant performing and visual arts and athletics, which are hallmarks of the student experience.
You have been on campus for several events already. What are your first impressions of the school and community?
Every time I'm here it only confirms my decision to join the Good Counsel community. The thoughtful and reflective students and faculty have been extremely welcoming.
I have met committed alumni who are devoted to Good Counsel, and I look forward to meeting many more in the coming weeks and months. The GC community has a deep sense of purpose and seriousness, yet everyone is having fun and enjoys being with each other at the same time; it’s a great mix.
What are your initial priorities as the school year begins?
My initial priorities will be getting to meet and know students, families, alumni, faculty, and to really learn from them. My goal is to better understand the school’s programs and listen to all constituencies to help grow and focus our continued mission to serve our students.
How do you see your role in terms of interacting with alumni, and how will that develop in the future?
I look forward to interacting with more alumni. I have spent many years in the DC Metro Area community and have met and worked alongside many fantastic Good Counsel alumni. They all have a real spirit and passion for this school and the community, and they feel still very much connected to Good Counsel. I’m excited to be a part of that connection.
Falcon pride runs deep, and you see that so clearly in the community. I expect to be interacting with alumni regularly. I'd love to hear stories about the Good Counsel that they attended, and to talk to them about where GC is now, and where we are headed together in the future.
Which of your achievements are you most proud of?
When I think of achievements, I often don’t think of professional ones first. I've been fortunate to have a wonderful marriage to an amazing woman and friend for 27 years. That's definitely a big achievement.
I think another interesting personal achievement is that in my late 40s, I decided to learn Spanish, and I've learned to speak and read and write and understand Spanish.
Professionally, at the previous school where I was President - Saint Ignatius Loyola Academy - we launched a major capital campaign to move the school to a new campus, not unlike the story of Good Counsel. That campaign and move also enabled us to expand enrollment by 50%, so more students could be served by the mission. And that to me is probably one of the really great achievements of my professional career.
What are some of your hobbies and outside interests?
During the week, I'm an active runner and swimmer. I regularly run in area races. I also enjoy biking, less outdoors these days, but
usually weekly at indoor spinning classes. I spend time cooking, mostly Italian cuisine. My wife and I love to travel during school breaks, especially in Europe and Latin America. We also love to attend concerts; we’ve seen everyone from Taylor Swift to Billy Joel to Lizzo to U2.
What might surprise people about you?
I'm a dual Irish citizen; I have the luck, but not the accent!
Can you leave us with thoughts about what your approach will be as you join the Good Counsel community?
I plan to learn a great deal about Good Counsel and its community in the weeks and months ahead. There is a very clear strategic plan from the Board of Directors, which outlines the strategic path forward for GC. But I will also take time to learn from alumni, current faculty and families about where Good Counsel’s future lies.
What do you enjoy about working in an atmosphere with young people?
Students bring so much energy and enthusiasm to the day ahead, and it's great to see that liveliness and hear it in the halls, classrooms and athletic fields. I look forward to interacting with students on a daily basis and hearing about their life experiences. That, to me, is a great joy.
John looks forward to meeting alumni locally and across the country. See page 40 for our local events listings and page 39 for our Falcons Flock events.
“Students bring so much energy and enthusiasm to the day ahead, and it's great to see that liveliness and hear it in the halls, classrooms and athletic fields.”
“Once I found myself in a good space mentally, I discovered a new purpose. I wanted to help athletes navigate challenges similar to the ones I had faced,” Jenkins says.
He has worked to help athletes from various sports, including football, basketball, volleyball and soccer. One client, Mike Wallace ’09, drew inspiration and healing from working one-on-one with Jenkins. Corey James, a former player for the NFL’s Oakland Raiders, has found success in real estate after taking part in the program.
Jelani Jenkins ’09, entrepreneur and retired NFL linebacker, is founder and CEO of Postseason, an educational program that helps acclimate athletes to the “real world” after their college or professional sports careers have ended.
The concept stemmed from Jenkins’ own experience, in which he found himself distraught and directionless after his time playing football for the Miami Dolphins and other teams had ended.
“At first, I was excited about life after sports,” Jenkins says. But that excitement soon turned to pain as he lost his identity as a pro athlete. Angry and frustrated, he reached out to a mentor and went on a journey of self-discovery that included reading, meditation and journaling.
With a planned launch later this year, Postseason’s online platform will offer educational resources and opportunities for participants to connect with other athletes. Jenkins plans to partner with universities in order to reach out to student athletes as they near graduation.
Last spring, Jenkins came to Good Counsel’s campus to speak to and mentor GC student athletes.
“It’s gratifying; that mental paradigm shift when they realize life can be just as exciting and purposeful as their time playing sports,” Jenkins says.
Good Counsel alumni make their mark on the world in so many ways. Here are just some of the accomplished individuals who are doing great things, and whose names you are likely to hear again.
Matt Hollister ’14 and Stefano Brugnerotto ’14 co-founded the James Hollister Wellness Foundation, a charity organization named after Hollister’s late father that reduces waste of leftover medication by getting it to people who need it. Founded in 2015, the charity has saved over $7 million worth of medicine by redistributing it to more than 600,000 people (as of the writing of this article).
After James passed away from cancer, Matt and his family were unsure about what to do with his leftover medications. Hollister wanted to give it to people in need, so he started the foundation while still in college. Brugnerotto helped and managed the finances.
The charity has helped victims of
earthquakes in Syria and others who are assisted by the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and church organizations globally. In the spring of 2023, Good Counsel held a collection drive for the foundation.
GC alumni can help too. “If they have any medication they don’t need, or are affiliated with a hospital, health care facility or nursing home, we are willing to take donations in exchange for tax write-offs. Or if they need donations for a service mission or church trip, we’re happy to help,” Hollister says.
Brugnerotto also founded a biotech company called Save, which is developing a suite of software products that aim to make the pharmaceutical
is the chief of culture and inclusion for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball
“I love being able to focus on making us more intentional about what we are doing to ensure equity,” she says.
She spends much of her time talking and listening to staff to discover their needs. “Part of my job is in employee engagement and development. I spend time meeting community leaders and community partners. It is tied to social
The Heat organization surveys staff and Stroude-Vazquez analyzes the resulting data with the human resources department, brainstorming to come up with optimal ways to recruit talent and increase retention.
Stroude-Vazquez also works on community programs to support diversity efforts and education with local Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
“I’ve always been a champion of people in nontraditional roles in terms of leadership and being in those roles, including minorities, women, immigrants and people with disabilities,” she says.
Michelle Sagan ’12 spent over a year working with Mattel, Inc. to create a Barbie doll with Down syndrome. The goal was to allow even more children to see themselves in Barbie, as well as have Barbie reflect the world around them.
Sagan, whose younger sister, Marie, has Down syndrome, is the senior manager of communications for the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS). NDSS empowers individuals with Down syndrome and their families by providing resources, driving policy change and engaging with local communities.
“Representation is so important and finally Marie has a doll that reflects who she is. Even better, we got to share it with the world on ‘Good Morning America,’” Sagan says.
NDSS’s guidance informed the doll’s design process from start to finish, including the doll’s sculpt, clothing, accessories and packaging. Sagan was involved every step of the way,
Eleanor Thompson ’01 was recently named a 2023 Obama Foundation Leader thanks to her work in Sierra Leone. Thompson is the deputy director of programs at Namati, a land and environmental justice organization there.
along with the rest of the NDSS team, including two women with Down syndrome, Kayla McKeon and Charlotte Woodward. A medical doctor also weighed in.
“We had many rounds of emails, strategy, and design meetings to create this doll,” Sagan says. The goal was to ensure the doll would respect and immediately connect with the community.
Among other efforts, she assists communities with the legalities of lease negotiations with investors. Thompson has worked extensively on human rights, the rule of law and justice at national, regional and global levels for over 15 years.
She co-drafted the Customary Land Rights Bill and National Land Commission Bill in Sierra Leone, creating more equitable and democratic frameworks for decisionmaking on land. Thompson is passionate about supporting people to utilize their power to protect their rights, hold their leaders accountable and shape the laws that affect them.
The Obama Foundation program honors innovative and values-based changemakers who will drive positive change in their communities, the African continent and the world.
Lindsey Spann ’13, the assistant women’s basketball coach and recruiting coordinator for the University of Maryland, was named one of the Baltimore Sun’s “25 Black Marylanders to Watch” in 2023.
Last year, she was named by Silver Waves Media as one of the Most Impactful Assistant Coaches in the sport, the Sun reports.
Previously, Spann played as a point guard for Pennsylvania State University, where she scored more than 1,000 points in three seasons, and for the University of South Carolina. She also had a successful basketball career at Good Counsel.
Rachel Newman ’14 is assistant art director for Hinge, the fastest growing dating app in the US, UK, Canada and Australia in 2019 and 2020. Newman collaborated on an advertising campaign for the app that was featured on the large screen in Times Square and took over the West 4th Street Subway Station.
Hinge connects people through unique conversations over the text, photos and audio that users share on their profiles. The ads highlighted “Not So Frequently Asked Questions,” an educational guide to LGBTQ dating and identity. Hinge won two People’s Voice awards in The Webby Awards for the campaign.
Tristan Cooley ’07 always lived a life centered around music, having grown up with a jazz musician for a father. He played flute in school and attended The New School, where he studied jazz. After graduation, he took up the saxophone and worked as a musician in New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
to Rome’s Chiesa Nuova for the premiere of Drama and Devotion, his first collaboration with The University of Notre Dame, for which he wrote the libretti.
His most recent project, The Passion, is a 95-minute sung and spoken oratorio commissioned by the University of Notre Dame Folk Choir. As the librettist for The Passion, Tristan collaborated with students in the Folk Choir to produce the text and staging for the show. In May 2022, he designed and led a student pilgrimage to the Holy Land, culminating in a recording of The Passion at the Jerusalem Music Center. The record was released on Ash Wednesday 2023.
The app, which launched in 2013, has around 20 million users, with 800,000 of them paying for its premium services. Hinge is the thirdmost-downloaded dating application in the U.S. after Tinder and Bumble. The app has always been positioned as a more intentional alternative that is ultimately, as its marketing promises, “designed to be deleted.”
Newman has also started a women’s health magazine called Unstained, along with the associate creative director from Hinge, Emily Nagoski. “Outside of work, I’m just as passionate about what I do,” Newman says.
He went back to school in 2014, picking up a Masters in English from Brooklyn College, where he taught writing for two years. In 2017, he traveled
“That was fantastic. The students were able to go through Galilee and into Jerusalem and visit the holy sites - all these places they had been writing, singing and dreaming about. And then at the end of that trip, we got to record this music, this precious thing that we had been making.”
Paul Rigney ’03 is a two-time Emmy Award-winning journalist. He became interested in broadcasting while studying journalism and political science at the University of Notre Dame. Eventually he earned a master’s degree in journalism from Georgetown University and started working at C-SPAN.
Currently, Rigney works for NBC News, where he has been a photojournalist for ten years. In that time, he has traveled to 47 countries.
“Sixty percent of the time, you’re in a motorcade speeding through a major city, but there are a few assignments that stand out,” he says, such as flying on Air Force One with President Trump, filming Vice President Pence feeding a koala in Australia and visiting Times Square when it was completely empty at the beginning of the pandemic.
He won an Emmy when he shot the only footage for the first 45 minutes of the Capitol Insurrection in January of 2021.
The other camera crews had been run off by a mob of protestors.
“We thought it was just going to be a protest with speeches and a march to the Capitol,” Rigney recalls. “When we got there, it was obvious things had gone very wrong.
Rigney also won an Emmy for his work on an episode of the TODAY show in which Jenna Bush Hager skydived with the U.S. Army.
He has covered the war in Ukraine, conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, protests in Minneapolis after George Floyd was killed, poverty in West Virginia, a NATO summit in Belgium and the American Embassy opening in Cuba.
Olamide Shokunbi ’05 is a successful Hollywood writer, most recently known for co-writing “Sade,” a film in development with Walt Disney Pictures. The live action fairy tale tells the story of an African princess and would be the first of its kind produced by Disney.
Shokunbi also wrote the screenplay adaptation for a Netflix film “Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun,” based on a young adult book by Tọlá Okogwu about the adventures of a young Nigerian girl, as well as the films “Satellite,” “The Fix” and “A Yellow Heaven.”
Dr. Priscilla Mpasi ’00 is a pediatrician and clinical director for community medicine with Christiana Care, the largest health system in Delaware. She works with practices that serve unique populations, including adolescents in schools for whom English is their second language and young people in the juvenile justice system. Mpasi also treats pediatric patients on a parttime basis as an attending physician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
At Christiana Care, Mpasi focuses on patients with Medicaid to make sure that they can have the same outcomes as someone who has commercial insurance. A major aspect of her work is examining data outcomes to better determine how care delivery can shift to better help these populations. The data include things like health trends within specific zip codes or at certain medical practices.
“The challenge is that, like patients that are underserved or disadvantaged, oftentimes the practices that serve them are also under-resourced,” she says.
In 2023, Mpasi was appointed by Governor John Carney to serve on the Delaware Healthy Mother and Infant Consortium. “I will be at the policy level working with legislators and community groups to figure out how we can focus on maternal health outcomes at the statewide level,” she says.
Mpasi is a recognized national leader and child health advocate with current leadership involvement with the National Medical Association. She has received numerous awards, including the National Minority Quality Forum 40 Under 40 Leaders in Minority Health, the NMA Top Healthcare Professionals Under 40, NMA Pediatric Section Billie Wright Adams Scholar Award and the American Medical Association’s Foundation Physicians of Tomorrow Award.
At age 34, Jennifer Kasman ’98 founded J.R. Kasman, PLLC, a prestigious business and real estate law firm. She and the firm have received a “Best in Real Estate” designation from U.S. News and World Report for several years. The rankings are determined by peer law firms.
J.R. Kasman has represented Fortuneranked institutions, government agencies, financial institutions, privately held commercial real estate development companies, non-profit organizations, multiple labor unions and a wide variety of entrepreneurs. “I love working to support hardworking people, to help them grow,” Kasman says.
Also a published author and an advocate for women in the workplace, Kasman gives credit for much of her success to her Good Counsel education.
“I truly believe if I hadn't gone to school
at Good Counsel, I might not be where I am today,” she says. “I was intellectually, spiritually and academically prepared for college and life when I left GC.”
Through the sacrament of Holy Orders, those who feel called to do so dedicate their lives to serving Jesus and the Church. Fulfilling leadership roles such as deacon, priest or bishop, they help continue Jesus’ presence on earth in the tradition of the apostles. Many alumni of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School have followed this path and other means of serving God.
James Fangmeyer, Jr. ’11, a seminarian living in Rome, is the eldest of nine children, a proud alumnus of Good Counsel and brother to a current GC sophomore, Joe Fangmeyer ’26. At the end of September, James will be blessed with his diaconate ordination, followed by ordination into the priesthood in June.
He says his personal relationship with Jesus is at the core of his desire to serve as a priest. “It’s really so connected to my baptism, my faith, my openness to explore the church, my discipleship, and now this is where it has led me,” James says. “God is the closest one to my heart, the one who knows me best. I get a lot of peace and confidence out of that. It is amazing and mysterious.”
After his time at GC, he attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied business and math.
A turning point in Fr. James’s life came when he decided to go to mass and confession each day of Lent during his sophomore year at college. “I couldn’t believe how much I liked it and how much better my life was,” he says.
James continued his spiritual journey for the next two years by talking with priests, friends and family, praying and considering the path to priesthood.
After graduating college, James took a position at the Technológico de Monterrey in Mexico doing mission work. He relished the opportunity to practice speaking Spanish as he had fallen in love with the language in Mr. Essig’s class at GC.
In 2018, James was accepted into John Paul II Seminary in Washington, D.C.
“It was a time filled with prayer, study, practical service experiences, as well as an attentive environment from the priests who care for the seminary and guided all of us into maturity while we took stock of our lives.” he says.
Since 2020, he has lived at the North American College in Rome.
“I like going to mass every day. I like studying the scripture. I like these beautiful, simple realities in my life. I thank God for them,” James says.
Father Lee Fangmeyer ’79, James’s uncle, plans to attend his nephew’s ordination this fall. “It will be a beautiful occasion for everyone in our family,” Fr. Lee says.
As for his own path to priesthood, he credits GC and the Xaverian Brothers. “They gave their lives for us. They chose to be in our community in the school and to be friends to us.”
It was while attending GC retreats that Fr. Lee first felt a calling to the vocation of serving the church. “That was a place where I could see a possibility. The brothers seemed like happy men,” he says.
Fr. Lee had enjoyed attending mass in high school, and did so daily during college at the University of Maryland.
“One day I said, ‘God, I’m praying to you to help me figure out what I want to do. Whatever it is you want me to do, I say yes to it.’ Right then at that moment I realized he was offering me to be a priest,” Fr. Lee says. “It brought me a great sense of peace.”
He contacted the Archdiocese of Washington and was ordained in 1989.
For 34 years, Fr. Lee has served in various roles at several churches, including at the Shrine of St. Jude Catholic Church in Rockville, St. Francis of Assisi in Derwood, St. Michaels in St. Mary’s County and Mother Seton in Germantown, where he has served as priest since 2013.
Fr. Lee says he still visits old friends from GC, and has attended many graduations of nieces and nephews who are fellow falcons.
“Attending Good Counsel was very important to my life, formationally,” he adds.
Father Kevin Fields ’04 felt his commitment to serving others grow when he participated in Key Club at GC, as well as campus ministry, which was established when he was a senior. Fr. Kevin also got involved in school masses and liturgies.
Eventually, Fr. Kevin attended Canisius College, a Jesuit university in Buffalo, N.Y. After graduating, he worked as a banker and earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Baltimore. Discerning a call to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Washington, he completed his priestly formation at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg.
“I was ordained in 2018,” Fr. Kevin says. “Two days later, Dr. Paul Barker called to ask me to give the homily for the school’s 60th Anniversary Mass.”
His first assignment was at St. Mary Parish in Rockville from 2018-21.
During the early days of the pandemic, he was appointed to perform the sacrament of anointing the sick for Catholics dying from COVID-19 at Shady Grove Hospital. It was a profound experience, and often a difficult one.
“Amidst the trials and suffering, I realized this was what I had been called to do,” he says.
From 2021 to early 2023, Fr. Kevin served at St. Elizabeth’s Parish in Rockville, where he was youth minister. “I helped high school students to continue to be curious about their faith after the completion of their confirmation,” he says. “It is one of the most rewarding ministries.”
This summer, Cardinal Gregory appointed Fr. Kevin as administrator of two parishes in St. Mary's County, Md. - Sacred Heart Parish in Bushwood and Holy Angels Parish in Avenue.
Janelle Neubauer ’06, the college chaplain at Muhlenberg College since 2021, says the religion classes and campus ministry at Good Counsel led to her religious studies in college. In fact, she says, “In Harmony, Small Things Grow” is her mantra.
“In high school, I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to service and helping others,” she says. That realization first came when she attended GC’s service trip to Camden, N.J. “My faith was always very important to me growing up, but I never anticipated serving as a pastor,” she says.
Neubauer majored in religious studies and kinesiology at the College of William and Mary. She also holds a master of divinity degree from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago.
As a chaplain, she guides students on a diverse campus, no matter their religion.
When she first started her ministry, Pr. Neubauer served at a church in Rwanda for four years working with young adults in a global mission program.
Next, she went to a church on the West Bank of Palestine for a year.
“My eyes were opened to the complex realities of Israel and Palestine,” Pr. Neubauer says. The first six months were challenging to her faith; she couldn’t understand God’s plan for the people who were suffering.
“That was my wakeup moment. I realized I can only be a messenger of hope.”
Brother Bob Arrowsmith ’63, the last Xaverian Brother at GC, retired to Xaverian House in Danvers, Mass., this summer. He had worked at GC since 1996 and has been a Xaverian brother for 60 years.
“There have been rough times, but far more good times,” he says.
“I was raised in a very Catholic family. My oldest brother was a priest. By the time I was 17 years old, I was thinking about becoming a Brother.”
“It was the custom in those days to join the Brothers right out of high school. After some serious talks with Brother Bennett, I decided to enter the Xaverian Brothers on July 8, 1963,” Br. Bob says.
At Good Counsel, he served primarily as a counselor. Those were his most rewarding years, he says.
Over the decades, he has taught religion, English and psychology and was involved with Junior Retreat. Br. Bob says he treasured his time working with the students, faculty and staff at GC.
Pr. Neubauer has also worked in ministry in Jerusalem and at a predominantly black church in Chicago.
“I was finding myself in places where there had been a lot of challenges and turmoil, whether in the past or in the present,” she says. “I was proclaiming hope by reaching into the vulnerability of the human experience and in solidarity with people on the margins like Christ did. He healed people who did acts of power for those who sat with outcasts. I’m following Jesus’s example.”
“GC played a huge role in my spirituality and in my development. I am ever grateful for that experience.”
colleges and universities in states and D.C.
percent
will attend US News Top 100 Colleges and Universities
122 academic scholarships earned by the Ryken Studies Program students totaling $6.375 million
received four-year academic scholarship offers totaling $40.15 million
percent a school record!
73% attending a college outside of Maryland
100% reported acceptance to a four-year college or university 23 students in our STEM Program offered 88 scholarships totaling $5.2 million
3 National Merit Finalists
1 National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar
7 National African American Recognition Program Scholars
31 NCAA student athletes
26 student athletes were offered scholarships totaling $3.3 million
38% are attending private schools
50% have been accepted into honors programs across 26 colleges and universities
38 students in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program awarded 115 academic scholarships totaling $7.8 million
For Brandon Chernosky ’23, four years at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School offered the opportunity to delve into a wide variety of new challenges. The recent winner of the Brother Mark Award, Good Counsel’s highest honor for graduating seniors, has a long list of achievements.
A talented hockey player, Chernosky played for GC’s team all four years and served as team captain as a senior.
He served on the lighting crew for the drama department for four years, as assistant lighting designer for the productions of “Ragtime” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and head lighting designer/crew chief for “Once on This Island.”
The multitalented athlete also played junior varsity golf his sophomore and junior year. As for academics, he especially enjoyed calculus and science with Dr. Dusan Turcan, Chernosky says.
He appreciates the rich high school experience he had at GC. “It's not just academic. It's not just athletic. I feel like the school really focuses on developing people as humans,” he says. “I have a good relationship with most of my teachers that extends beyond the classroom, and I feel like that's such an amazing thing. They cared
about me more as a person than just as a student. Sure, they cared about my grades, but they cared about much more than that.”
In the school marching band, Chernosky played drums, was section leader for the drumline for two years and became section leader for the entire percussion section as a senior.
He was also a member of XBSS, an organization of student leaders who participate in the work of service and stewardship in the tradition of the Xaverian Brothers. In fact, Chernosky was the leader of Campus Ministry during his senior year.
“Brandon's dedication and enthusiasm is exceeded only by his thoughtfulness and compassion for others,” says GC Band Director Tom Kramer ’07
Chernosky says his exposure to spiritual teachings had a profound impact on him. Next year, he will attend Saint John Paul II Seminary; his classes will be taken at Catholic University of America.
“My religious education is a continuous thing,” he says. While he has not made any definite decisions about the future,
Chernosky is considering the possibility of the priesthood.
“It's this idea that God could be calling me to this. I owe it to Him and to myself to see where it goes, because He knows what's going to make me most happy,” Chernosky says. He sees seminary as a time to grow and spend time with others who are also considering the priesthood, to see how his path develops.
“If it works out that way, that's great. But if something else happens, then that's also okay,” he says.
In the future, Chernosky says, he looks forward to staying connected with others from GC and maintaining his relationship with the school that has given him so much.
Of all of his experiences in high school, winning the Brother Mark Award was one of the most memorable. When he heard his name called at graduation, Chernosky was momentarily frozen. “I had to figure out how to get up and walk past everyone,” he laughs.
Ever humble, Chernosky says he appreciates the recognition for his work, but adds, “I know so many other people who also could have gotten the award, and it just happened to be me.”
As most graduates of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School know, Mario and Jorge Gonzalez have been fixtures of the school for more than 40 years. Mario’s smile brightens everyone’s day as he walks the halls and says hello to all he passes, and Jorge’s hard work kept the school running smoothly since 1979.
Last spring, Jorge retired from his position as director of building services at Good Counsel. He was first
team after immigrating to the U.S. from Guatemala. Shortly after, he persuaded former business manager Tim McNiff to hire Mario, who quickly became a favorite of students, faculty and staff alike.
At a farewell event for Jorge in the dining hall last April, former president Dr. Paul Barker spoke about the brothers’ longtime service and dedication to the school. Mario will remain at Good Counsel, but on a part-time basis, for the 2023-24 school year. The brothers were also recognized at an all-school mass, where they received a standing ovation from the school community.
“As a brilliant lawyer, Tom has made a huge difference in the lives of many, many clients. Now this remarkable gift is going to make a huge difference for many, many GC students”
— Dr. Paul Barker, president 2011-2023
During the summer of 2023, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School’s new Student Learning Center was built on the third floor of the school in the media center. It provides space for students who don’t have a study hall as part of their schedule, or those who need extra study time or tutoring.
The center was made possible thanks to the largest one-time gift in school history in August 2022, from the Peace through Law Foundation and Mr. Thomas Fortune Fay.
Fay served on the Good Counsel Board of Directors from 2017-20 and is parent to two Good Counsel alumni, son Brendan ’87 and daughter Caragh ’96
“Tom is a wise soul. I learn from every conversation with him. As a brilliant lawyer, Tom has made a huge difference in the lives of many, many clients. Now this
remarkable gift is going to make a huge difference for many, many GC students,” says Dr. Paul Barker, who retired as president in June 2023.
The Center will allow for faculty to address those learning gaps caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and will provide additional support for any student who needs it. It will be led by Connie Embley, who has experience serving as a high school principal and helping students with learning differences.
“The Thomas Fortune Fay Student Learning Center will serve as a resource for students who could benefit from support with study skills, organization and extra assistance with content,” says Principal Tom Campbell. “Programming will begin with targeted support in specific areas for students and evolve over time in response to student needs,” Campbell says.
The Anupom Ghosh ’90 Memorial Endowed Scholarship was established in loving memory of the Our Lady of Good Counsel High School alumnus, whose life was tragically cut short at 49 years old by a drunk driver on November 29, 2021.
Ghosh was born on July 17, 1972, in Eugene, Ore. He graduated from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in 1990, and went on to attend the University of Maryland, College Park, graduating with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering. After working for a few years and garnering real world experience, he continued his pursuit of higher education, again at Maryland, with a master’s degree in computer management systems. Ghosh worked in the IT field as a senior software engineer for SAIC in Virginia.
His friends and family remember Ghosh as someone who embodied kindness and generosity and found comfort in his deep sense of spirituality. As a devoted son, he looked after his elderly parents. He loved spending with his family. Ghosh found passion in food and reveled in discovering new, unique restaurants. He was an avid reader and acquired a wealth of knowledge and perspectives across a wide range of subject areas, his family says. No matter the topic, he loved engaging with others who shared his passion in thoughtful conversation.
At Good Counsel, Ghosh participated in many activities, including the speech and debate team and the critical analysis club, and was a member of the National Honors Society. He was also the captain of the math team during his senior year. Ghosh developed many meaningful and lasting friendships while at Good Counsel. As an alumnus, he praised Good Counsel as “the gift that keeps on giving.”
Ghosh cherished his years at Good Counsel and genuinely believed that GC helped him find his potential, says his sister, Anita Ghosh. “He was happy and proud to be a student there,” she says.
The Ghosh family decided to endow a scholarship at GC in Anupom’s name. They wanted to ensure that Good Counsel continues to be the “gift that keeps on giving," as Anupom had described it, for many years to come.
The scholarship will be awarded for the first time during the 2023-24 school year to a rising senior who is exceling in the STEM program.
“He’s not here, but being able to help another generation of students go to Good Counsel and have the experience he had at GC is really important to us,” Anita says.
To find out more about how to support this or another scholarship, please contact Julie Potter, Chief Advancement Officer, at jpotter@olgchs.org
Our Lady of Good Counsel High School’s Community Partners Program offers a comprehensive way for local and affiliated businesses to support our students and our school community. The membership fees build the school’s endowment, securing the future of Good Counsel and establishing an enduring legacy that will benefit students in perpetuity.
The Community Partners Program offers four sponsorship levels that deliver broad-based marketing and networking opportunities for alumni, current parents, past parents and local businesses. Our partners are integral members of the Good Counsel community. If you are interested in joining the program, please contact Julie Potter, Chief Advancement Officer, at jpotter@olgchs.org or (240) 283-3234 for more information.
If you have a business or organization that you think would be a good fit for our Community Partner program, please contact Julie Potter, Chief Advancement Officer, at jpotter@olgchs.org or (240) 283-3234 for more information.
For 50 years, Gary Sandman ’69 talked about how much he loved the drama club at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School. It defined his high school experience.
To support the program he loved, Sandman, who passed away in 2020, made a gift through his living trust that will benefit GC’s drama department in perpetuity.
“Gary and I were members of the drama club during our four years at Good Counsel. He had a special relationship with the club all four years of high school,” says his friend, Andy Johnson ’69
Over the next four years, both were active in all of the school’s drama productions, working on production and stage lighting. Their freshman year, 1965-66, the department produced its first full musical, which was performed in the cafeteria. “We didn't have a theater or even a stage,” Johnson recalls.
“The stage crew was a special team. You had to audition,” Johnson says. “Try-outs required running around the gym as quietly as possible. Anyone who ‘clunked’ was cut. The level of dedication the crew showed was impressive.”
Sandman served as technical director during his senior year. “That experience was something Gary always looked back on with pride,” Johnson says.
The pair’s friendship lasted for the next 55 years, as schoolmates at University of Maryland, and even when the two lived on opposite coasts.
Sandman became a pioneer in the integrative wellness industry, working for over 30 years to help integrate natural and complementary medicine. The tall, spiritual man loved movies and ballroom dancing. In the late 90s, he returned to Maryland. Johnson also moved back in the 2000s and the friends enjoyed getting together more often.
Sadly, Sandman began showing signs of early onset dementia in his early 60s. He asked Johnson to serve as the administrator of his trust fund, in which he specified that he wanted a portion of his funds to go to Good Counsel High School for the enrichment of the Drama Program.
Sandman passed away in April 2020. Today, his generosity is helping to support students in the GC drama program through an endowed gift.
“He was happy to give back to something he cared about so much,” Johnson says.
If you would like to learn more about how you can support Good Counsel with a gift through your estate, please contact Julie Potter, chief advancement officer, at jpotter@olgchs.org or 240-283-3234
Good Counsel Connect makes it easier than ever for our alumni to connect in meaningful ways.
Looking for an internship, first job, next job, career advice, or industry contacts? Good Counsel alumni can be your best connections!
Twenty-seven legacy students graduated from the Class of 2023.
Alphabetically: Ted Abromavage, Jr. ’86, Nathan Abromavage, and Samuel Abromavage; Paul Beckham ’82, and Zachary Beckham; Sarah (Diggins) Best ’97, and Morgan Best; Mike Bykowski ’92, and Katherine Bykowski; John Crocker ’88, and Jaynna Crocker; Todd Dickerson ’89, and Trent Dickerson; James Fangmeyer, Sr. ’83, and Ruthie Fangmeyer; James Filliben, Jr. ’86, and Emma Filliben; Damon Flynn ’90, and Lauren Flynn; Craig Frick ’89, and Cam Frick; Stephen Garland ’74, and Jacklyn Garland; Sarantos Georgopoulos ’87, and Demetre Georgopoulos; Russ Hamill, III ’79, and Jackson Hamill; Alfred Key ’88, and Emily Key; Stan Kowal ’73, and Lilianne Kowal; Stephen Noyes ’86, and Brett Noyes; Moses Nwulia ’80, and Elise Nwulia; Rosanna (Calabrese) Rensberger ’93, and Dean Rensberger; Jennifer (Cook) Richardson ’93, and Courtney Richardson; Tim Russell ’84, and Sean Russell; Tom Shioutakon ’91, and Claire Shioutakon; Michael Stanislav ’89, Elizabeth (O’Connell) Stanislav ’90, and Marguerite Stanislav; Julian Tait ’89, and Donovan Tait; Erika (Michael) Thompson ’96, and Carter Thompson; David Eynon ’97, Kristi N. Weaver ’96, and Billy Castro; Ludolph Welanetz ’84, and Ludolph Welanetz
▲ Leah Stephens was named the 2022-23 Gatorade Maryland Girls Cross Country Player of the Year. Leah will continue her running career at Florida State University in the fall. Leah joins an exclusive group of Good Counsel alumni who were also named Gatorade Players of the Year: 2005-06 Vicki (Anagnostopolous)
Papanastasiou ’06 (soccer), 2005-06 Kaili McLaren ’06 (basketball), 2007-08 & 200809 Jelani Jenkins ’09 (football), 2012-23
Midge Purce ’13 (soccer), 2012-13 Kendall Fuller ’13 (football), 2012-13 Amanda Fioravanti ’13 (basketball), and 2013-14
Imani Dorsey ’14 (soccer).
Haley Marshall qualified for the 2023 NCAA Dive Championships in the 3-meter springboard.
Madison (Hoover) Borneman and her husband, Spencer Borneman, welcomed their daughter, Hadley Bree Borneman, into the world on September 7, 2022. They are currently living in Canal Winchester, Ohio. Madison is the director of marketing at Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club. Spencer is a custom regional sales engineer at Orbis Corporation.
Bez Mbeng was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year for men’s basketball.
Olivita Hunt returned to the Good Counsel campus for a fire protection engineering demonstration for junior STEM classes. She is currently a student at the University of Maryland in the fire protection engineering program.
Marisa Casimates graduated from the United States Naval Academy in May; she is now serving as a submarine officer in the US Navy.
Emmanuel Cadet graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in the fall of 2022 and is entering law school this fall.
Louis Lyles is in the doctoral program in clinical psychology at Catholic University of America.
Lucielle Ayuk is working at Northrop Grumman as an associate business management analyst.
Anna Miller completed training to become a forensic nurse examiner. She will assist in investigating sexual assaults, domestic violence, child and elder abuse, and strangulations. She continues to work as an ER nurse at Carroll Hospital.
Suzi Blake is working as the background artist for the Eisner-nominated debut collaboration between DC Comics and Webtoon: Batman Wayne Family Adventures, set to be published this year in August. This year, her work will also be featured in the official Skullgirls comic adaptation and Rick & Morty.
Phylicia Pearl Mpasi recently celebrated the premiere of "Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies," a show on Paramount+ that she worked on as a writer for the first season. She also completed a scripted podcast for HBO entitled "We Stay Looking" for Hollywood mogul Issa Rae and her production company. In December 2023, Phylicia can be seen as "Young Celie" in the feature film musical adaptation of "The Color Purple" playing opposite The Little Mermaid's Halle Bailey. The film is produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey and will hit all major theaters on Christmas Day.
The Class of 2007 at their reunion in October.
Monica (Augustyn) Buck and her husband, Lucas, welcomed their second son, James, to their family on July 23, 2022. James weighed 8 lbs., 4 oz., and was 21 inches long. Big brother, Thomas, is happy to welcome his little brother.
On October 30, 2022, Molly Shawhan and "Team Tommy" ran the Marine Corps Marathon breaking the Guinness World Record for Fastest Female Marathon while Pushing a Wheelchair. Molly said, "It was a glorious day, Tommy loved it and was smiling and dancing to our bluetooth speaker throughout."
Brett Moore and Kaitlyn Moore welcomed their third son, Callan Joseph, into the world on February 2, 2023. Callan's two older brothers, Conor and Cameron, are very excited to have another brother. Brett and Kaitlyn celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary this month.
▲ On April 8, Spencer Magladry ’15 married Alexis Hempelman in Chattanooga, Tenn. His best man was his brother, Maxwell Magladry ’19. The couple lives in Chattanooga, where Spencer works as a mechanical engineer for the Mueller Company. His wife, Alexis, is an emergency room nurse.
◀ Spencer Neff ’13 married Anne-Marie Mills in Washington, D.C. on September 17, 2022. Fellow GC wrestling alumni and Coach Skylar Saar ’98 were in attendance. Spencer is an attorney working on international trade issues and Anne-Marie works in foreign policy.
◀ Cecilia Majors
Paul
Maryland. Father of the bride, Caroll Majors ’76, walked Cecilia down the aisle. They were surrounded by many Good Counsel friends and family, including Andrew Majors ’08, Phil Majors ’79, Juan Tituana ’74, Gabriela Winter ’18, Claudia Fess ’09, Laura Fess ’04, Larry Fess ’73, Soraya Dos Santos ’94 and classmates Amy McNeil ’05, Erica Alfeche ’05, Tracy Taguas ’05, and Matt Sinkiat ’05
11, 2022
▲ On Saturday, January 14, 2023, Clare Campbell Barry ’17 married Matthew Barry ’17 surrounded by family and friends, including more than a dozen GC alumni. Clare and Matt are moving to North Carolina, where she will work as a sonographer at University of North Carolina Hospital and he will start law school at Duke University.
▲ Kevin Stein ’11 married Colleen Schauf Stein on February 24, 2023 in Washington, D.C. Sixteen members of the Good Counsel community were present. Pictured: back row – Jake Tran ’11, Pat Finotti ’11, Matt Merryman ’11, Matt McCarthy ’11, James Purce ’10, Katrina (DeGuzman) Purce ’11, Monica DeGuzman ’09, Bernadette Launi ’13 Front Row – Colleen Stein (Bride), Kevin Stein ’11, Oliver Sangster ’10, Morgan (Dunlow) Merryman ’11, Michelle (Procaccini) Yost ’11, Jeanette McCarthy (GC president’s assistant), Brian Alexa ’11, Alexis Prada Leonard ’11
In January, Dhonielle Clayton visited GC and talked to the entire student body as well as smaller groups of students. Dhonielle is a New York Times bestselling author of The Belles series, “Shattered Midnight,” co-author of “Blackout” and the co-author of the “Tiny Pretty Things” duology, which is also a Netflix original series. She taught secondary school for several years, and is a former elementary and middle school librarian. She is also COO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books, and president of Cake Creative, an IP story kitchen dedicated to diverse books for all ages.
Shannon (Miller) Cron is choreographer for the third time with The British Players, a DMV area theater company started by the British Embassy. She was the choreographer and a performer in their traditional Music Hall of 2015 and choreographer again last year for "The Wizard of Oz." Since graduating, she has been performing in professional, regional, and community theater while also teaching and directing/choreographing/ musical directing musicals in many local schools and companies, including Imagination Stage, Ballet Petite, where she was the Artistic Director of Musical Theatre Companies, and for many years at St. Michael Archangel, Our Lady of Mercy, and well over a decade at St. Jane de Chantal in Bethesda. Shannon now works full time at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School.
Eleasha Gamble joined the cast of Broadway’s "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" on November 15, 2022. Eleasha was previously in the San Francisco cast of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."
1977
Matthew Reed, a captain with the 258th Air Traffic Control Squadron, attended a multinational, joint exercise - Defender Europe-22 - with NATO and other military partners in June 2022, working directly with the Lithuanian Air Force. He went to Lithuania to collaborate and share expertise on air traffic control operations and capabilities, placing an emphasis on modernization, especially with equipment. He has worked as an air traffic controller at Potomac TRACON and at DCA. He is currently with the US Air Force at the FAA command center, as well as with the Air National Guard.
1988
1978
Steve DeCarlo retired January 1, 2020 after 38 years of public service as a Police Officer with the Montgomery County Police Department. He also left Good Counsel in 2021 after nearly 40 years of providing security for GC sporting events, dances, college fairs along with working the morning and afternoon traffic control for student drop off and pick ups. He relocated in September 2022 to Longs, South Carolina only a 15-minute ride to the beach at Cherry Grove and North Myrtle Beach.
1973
Frank Monaldo spent 43 years as a principal staff physicist at the Johns University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he led an Earth remote sensing group. After retirement, he joined the faculty of the University of Maryland College Park to continue NASAsponsored research. He and his wife enjoy their three children and eight great grandchildren.
1972
1968
Tony Gallagher retired in March 2022 from the Federal Defenders of Montana, having served as the head of the federal public defender organization for more than 30 years. In addition to administering the organization and carrying a caseload, he served on several national, Ninth Circuit, and local court administration and policy committees. After retiring, he established a federal criminal defense solo practice. In addition to casework, he offers services as a CLE instructor, adjunct professor and contract consultant. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and was named Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year twice (2005 and 2022) by the Montana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He was the 2016 recipient of the Ninth Circuit’s John Frank Award presented to outstanding attorneys practicing in federal courts in the Western United States. For more than four decades, he officiated high school and small college football and umpired American Legion baseball.
1967
1962
1966
Bob Clark was chosen to speak at the DC Navy Memorial's National 80th Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Wreath Laying Ceremony in 2021. Bob’s father fought in Pearl Harbor on the USS Honolulu as a gunner’s mate and he remembered the contributions of his father in his speech.
Marking a fourth consecutive sellout, the Steve Dean Golf Classic brought generous sponsors, community partners, alumni and friends to Manor Country Club on Sept. 19, 2022, and netted nearly $24,000 for the Steve Dean ’67 Memorial Scholarship. This year’s Classic will be held on September 18, 2023.
Over 190 members of our giving societies attended the Society Celebration dinner on December 1, 2022. The evening celebrates the philanthropic impact our donors make on the GC community.
The next Society Celebration dinner is scheduled for November 30, 2023
Alumni flocked to campus for Falcon Fest held during the Homecoming football game with band and cheer among the groups bringing back alumni to participate in game day festivities. Alumni, come home to GC, and join us this year on September 22, 2023.
Class of 2022 Falcons visited with each other to share stories of their first year post graduation with their favorite faculty and staff on June 2, 2023.
Reunion Weekend welcomed back alumni from the Classes of 2 & 7 for a weekend full of activities culminating with the Saturday evening reunion receptions.
Classes ending in 3 and 8 are encouraged to join us for Reunion Weekend 2023 from October 13-14; for more information visit www.olgchs.org/reunions
More than 400 alumni, parents, faculty, staff and friends celebrated an evening of philanthropy at the 35th Annual Grand Celebration on April 29, 2023. Over $162,000 was raised during the live appeal in support of the Barker Endowment for Student Talent (BEST) and the net profit from the evening was nearly $233,000.
Also featured during the evening were the 2023 Visionary Award Winners, celebrating eight distinguished members of our community. We are grateful to Morrell “John” Berry ’77, our Brother Robert Arrowsmith ’63 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year; Joe ’69 and Debra Connors, our 1958 Cornerstone
Award recipients; Mike ’91 and Vivian ’96 Diokno, the Our Lady Award recipients; Jennifer Smith, the Magnificat Award recipient and Joseph W. McCartin Insurance Inc. with Mike and Ann McCartin, the Concordia Award recipients.
During the evening Jennifer Smith was presented with the gift of a named, endowed scholarship in her honor by Rudy Cline-Thomas ’96, founder and managing partner of MASTRY, Inc.
Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 27, 2024, and plan to join us for what promises to be an unforgettable 36th Annual Grand Celebration.
Members of the Class of 1973 joined faculty and staff on the altar during the Commencement for the Class of 2023.
August 26-27 - Cleveland
October 3-5 - NYC and Boston
October 16-20 - California
February 12-16 - Florida
March 18-20 - North Carolina
May 15 - Ocean City
*All dates subject to change
Future Falcons flocked to campus for our 5th Annual Cookies & Cocoa with Santa event. See you at our next event with Santa on December 3, 2023.
Meet President John Ciccone and connect with other Good Counsel Alumni in your area.
2023
September 6–8 Founder's Day
2023-2024
2023
September 12–
November 30 8th Grade Shadow Visits
September 18 40th Annual Steve Dean Golf Classic
September 22
September 22
October 13 & 14
Legacy Admissions Breakfast
Homecoming Football Game/Falcon Fest
Reunion Weekend (Classes ending in 3 and 8)
November 1 Alumni Memorial Mass
November 30
Good Counsel Giving Society Celebration
December 3 Cookies and Cocoa with Santa
2024
January 3 Young Alumni Career Fair (with Gonzaga)
February 8
Community Partners/Alumni Business Networking Event
March 13 Day of Giving
March 26
April 14
April 26
April 27
Celebration of Scholarships
Athletic Hall of Fame Induction
Distinguished Alumnus Award and Mass
Grand Celebration
May 23 Graduation
May 30
Reunion One for the Class of 2023
September 22
Sibling & Legacy Day
September 26 Parent Information Night
October 22 Open House
Month of November Campus Tours led by the Parents Association
November 3 8th Grade Invitation to Football Game
November 15 8th Grade STEM Contest
December 1
Application and Need-based Financial Aid (FACTS) application deadline
December 2 HSPT Exam
2024
January 6 Interviews
February 20
Make-up Interviews
February 22 Admissions Decisions Mailed
February 23 Admissions Decisions Emailed
March 5
March 8
Accepted Students Event
Freshman Registration
March 15 Enrolled Student Placement Tests
Dates are subject to change.
For more information on our alumni events
We remember the following Falcons that have passed away.
May their spirits soar high.
Bob Attreed ’63
Walter Barry, Jr ’84
Michael Broderick ’68
Riley Clair ’15
Gina Creel ’00
Mike Derosa ’67
Thomas Fischetti ’62
Anupom Ghosh ’90
Andy Guida
Kenneth Hayden ’74
Shawnte Jones ’96
Tyler Lightcap ’17
Matthew Long ’95
Benjamin (Jim) Mundell ’67
Claire O’Reilly
Michael Ossi ’64
Bruce Price ’63
Chris Welsh ’86
John Zelenka ’68
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this list based on notifications received of alumni who passed between June 2022–May 2023.
17301 Old Vic Boulevard | Olney, Maryland 20832
PARENTS OF ALUMNI
If this issue is addressed to a son or a daughter who no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please notify Catie Brown ’13, director of alumni engagement, at cbrown@olgchs.org or use the below QR code to update their contact information..
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