Alumni News

THE LEGACY CONTINUES

There are currently 103 PFPS students who have parents who are alumni of one of our legacy schools!

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Denise Lacharite Audette HCHS ’68

and her husband, Richard Audette HCHS ’66, recently celebrated their 50th wedding Anniversary. They were married at Blessed Sacrament Church in Holyoke on April 8, 1972. Their daughters Nichole and Lauren treated them to a weekend celebration at Star Pass Resort in Tucson, Arizona. Followed by a twoweek Mediterranean Cruise in May. They currently reside in South Hadley and spend much time at their vacation home in Tucson.

Daniel Walsh CHS ’73 recently retired after 48 years as the Cross Country and Track Coach for Cathedral High School and Pope Francis Preparatory School. The PFPS community is grateful for his dedication to coaching and feel blessed for all he has done for Cardinals and Panthers throughout his amazing career. We wish him the very best and hope he enjoys retirement. He will be missed!

Steven J. Hooper CHS ’75 has recently retired at age 59 after working as a pharmacist for 36 years. Steven and his wife have been married for 42 years. They have three adult children and eight grandchildren. Steve enjoys spending time in his garden, working around the house, and is always busy. He is now a board member of the OuterBelt Civic Association and enjoys politics with local politicians and get-togethers with friends. Steve and his wife enjoy driving around in their summer car with the top down during his free time. Steve would like to share with his classmates that “life is good, life is short, enjoy what time you have!”

Kimberly Sokolowski CHS

’77, recently retired, loves spending time with her 8-yearold grandson and working on the home she purchased four years ago. She would like to relay the message “Peace, love, and Rock and Roll to all my stage and lighting crew friends from the class of ’77.”

Joe Bessette CHS ’90 and Dan Bessette CHS ’92 celebrate 20 years as owners of “Get Set Marketing.” Since 2002, Get Set Marketing has worked with hundreds of businesses and organizations, providing marketing solutions to help them communicate to their audiences.

Joe and Dan Bessette Coach Walsh

Steven Hooper

Kristin LaBelle, Ryan, and Megan Smith

Kristin LaBelle Smith CHS ’92 is working as an Infection Control Practitioner at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA. She is celebrating 24 years of marriage with her husband, Ed Smith, who she met at Boston College in 1994. She is getting used to the “empty nest.” Their oldest, Ryan PFPS ’20, is a junior studying to be a commercial pilot at the Florida Institute of Technology. Their youngest, Megan PFPS ’22, left to study musical composition and creative writing at Lawrence University.

Joe Sullivan CHS ’95 and John Sullivan CHS ’03 are the current owners of Nathan Bill’s Bar & Restaurant and have been for more than nine years. Recently they purchased Allen Package Store, real estate and business at 390 Allen Street, Springfield, MA. The new liquor store will be called Sullivan’s Allen Package store and has been a landmark of East Forest Park in the city of Springfield for decades! They look forward to continuing their great relationship with the East Forest Park Civic Association, Pope Francis Prep and their goal of keeping the neighborhood beautiful!

Brianna Jackson CHS ’12 is the Farm to School Coordinator at ChicopeeFRESH, the farm-to-school program for the Chicopee Public Schools. She graduated from Smith College in 2016 and Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition in 2020. In her current role, she helps incorporate locally sourced ingredients into school meals and provides students with opportunities to learn about the food system in the classroom and eight school gardens throughout the city. ChicopeeFRESH’s goal is to support the Food Service department in serving delicious (and nutritious!) school food, strengthening the New England food economy, and fostering positive, healthy relationships with food.

Emily Jackson Brianna Jackson

Patrick Jackson Emma Patterson

Emily Jackson CHS ’14 is an ASHAcertified Speech Language Pathologist. Emily received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in Psychology and Education and Child Studies from Smith College in 2018. She earned a clinical master’s degree in speechlanguage pathology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2020. Emily is currently pursuing her doctorate in speech, language, and hearing sciences at the University of Connecticut, grant funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in an interdisciplinary Early Childhood Intervention Doctoral Consortium (ECiDC) to become a leader in early intervention for infants and young children with high-intensity needs and their families. Emily also currently works in early intervention and specializes in working with children ages birth-3 years old. Emily enjoys

playing ice hockey, hiking, and going to the beach in her free time.

Emma Patterson CHS ’15 graduated from George Washington University in 2019 and earned a degree in International Relations focusing on Spanish Language, Latin America, and geography. During her time at GWU, she worked as a tutor for the university’s Spanish department for two years. Emma studied at the Universidad Torcuato di Tella Buenos Aires for one year during her college experience. After graduating from GWU, Emma worked as an English teacher in Valencia, Spain, teaching grades 1-6. When the pandemic started, she returned home to Springfield, where she began a retail management career before deciding to get back into teaching. Emma now works as a Spanish teacher at Pope Francis Prep. In her free time, Emma enjoys creating film photography.

Patrick Jackson CHS ’16 received his bachelor’s degree in Marine

Transportation from Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 2020. Patrick is working as a Third Mate onboard the M/V Excellence, a ship owned by Phoenix Processor LP, in the Alaskan Pollock fishery in the Bering Sea, in Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

Anthony Reynolds CHS ’16 graduated from Westfield State with a degree in Economics in 2020. He now works as a Court Officer for Barnstable District Court.

Sarah Heavren PFPS ’17 graduated as one of the Valedictorians from Providence College Class of 2021. Sarah received her bachelor’s degree in math, history, and American studies. Sarah now attends Northeastern University to complete her master’s degree in public history.

Ethan Pilon PFPS ’18 graduated from the University of Massachusetts Isenberg School of Management in May 2022 with a degree in Operations and Information Management. Ethan plans to attend Boston University this fall to complete a Master’s degree in Applied Data Science and is expected to graduate in 2024. Ethan currently works as an accounting data analyst for Dennis Group. Within this position, he codes and designs reports from financials from industrial food building construction that accountants, project managers, and senior partners view. He also is the specialist/administrator for Microsoft Power BI companywide. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his past classmates Ben Perkins PFPS

’19, Ryan Rivest PFPS ’19, and Dom Ratkiewicz PFPS ’19.

Sophia Roselli PFPS ’22 has been selected as one of 45 subjects featured in the Boston Museum of Fine Art’s Portraits of Leadership exhibit. Portraits of Leadership celebrates the arrival of the Presidential portraits of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Carolyn Casey of the Commonwealth’s Project 351 organization reports that the Project 351 Alumni Leadership Council was honored to be invited to participate in the exhibit—their vision was a series of black and white portraits featuring Three Words to Change the World. “Project 351 is a youth-led service movement powered by an eighth-grade Ambassador representing the Commonwealth’s 351 cities and towns. Over a year’s term, Ambassadors develop the confidence, capabilities, and community of allies to lead positive change. High school Alumni serve as near-peer mentors, inspiring Ambassadors with their Three Words to Change the World—hopeful aspirations for their generation and our global community.” Sophia was selected as Westfield’s 2018 Project 351 representative and was honored to continue her service throughout high school in the Alumni Leadership Council. She attends the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in the Isenberg School of Management and the Commonwealth Honors College.

Anthony Reynolds Sophia Roselli

Sarah Heavren

Ethan Pilon

(Photo Credit: Mike Casey)