PIONEER NEWS BRIEFS

Providence Singers lead by Kenneith McIntosh and accompanist Tracy Stroh

Providence singers eArn first PlAce At heritAge festivAl

Providence High School’s advanced choir, Providence Singers, traveled to San Diego for the Heritage Festival hosted by San Ysidro High School from March 31st – April 1st where they earned a first place award. The choir received a Gold Rating on stage, which means they scored between 90-100, and were named the Outstanding Choral Group for the entire competition. The Providence Singers were the highest overall scoring choir at the competition, which included local schools such as Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, Hoover High School, Thousand Oaks High School, Hemet High School, and Fountain Valley High School to name a few. They also won the Adjudicator Award, which means they scored higher than 95. Three Providence soloists received Maestro Awards: Daphne Policarpio ‘19, Zoe Leyretana ‘18, and Alissa Goretsky ’18. Additionally, the choir was the only school invited to the Festival of Gold competition at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Choral Director Marisa Rawlins-Bradfield, who gave birth to daughter Olivia on April 2nd, was unable to attend the competition but interim director Kenneith McIntosh and accompanist Tracy Stroh successfully assisted in leading the Providence Singers to their victory.

Fr. Mark Ciccone, Marissa Miyamoto ‘18, and Head of School Joe Sciuto

AnnuAl “PeoPle of Providence” drive rAises $5,000 for guAtemAlA mission

Every year, the Providence High School community commemorates the season of Lent by participating in the annual “People of Providence Lenten Charity Drive.” Sponsored by Providence High School’s Campus Ministry Department, this annual event seeks to celebrate the legacy of the Sisters of Providence by raising fund to support a ministry which carries on their mission in the world today. This year, Providence High School joined Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in supporting Providence Health International’s Guatemala Mission. Providence Health has been a great humanitarian presence in Guatemala for some years through their offering of life saving medical care to the inhabitants of one of this nation’s most impoverished regions. In an effort to do even more to curtail infant mortality in the villages served, Providence High School was invited to join other Providence Ministries in raising funds to provide clean water storage, sanitary latrines, and clean burning stoves for these communities.

Throughout the season of Lent, the Providence High School community was invited to give up an unnecessary luxury such as coffee or candy, and to donate a portion of their money saved to the support of the Guatemala Mission. Students also had the opportunity to learn more about Providence Health and Services’ mission and humanitarian aid work through school wide assemblies and information sessions. Students enrolled in Providence’s Social Justice classes were also fortunate to hear a special guest lecture from Aimee Khuu, Senior Director of Providence Health International.

Student homerooms participated in weekly spare change collections, and school clubs organized fundraiser events. PHS faculty and staff, as well as the Burbank community of the Sisters of Providence, also joined the students in the fundraising efforts. Together, Providence High School raised a grand total of $5,000 for the Guatemala Mission! Yet again, Providence High School has proven that “spare change can change lives!”

Providence high Arts’ Production of The AddAms FAmily Wins A Jerry hermAn AWArd

The spring production of The Addams Family was entered into a High School Musical Theatre Awards of Los Angeles competition, known as the Jerry Herman Awards, this year. It is a regional competition run by the renown Nederlander group and based at the Pantages Theatre. Adjudicators attended productions at 37 Los Angeles county high schools and provided critique on a number of categories, both technical- and performance-based. This marks the second time PHS has entered into the competition.

Providence received four nominations in the categories of Best Scenic Design, Best Technical Crew, Best Costume Design, and perhaps most exciting, a “No Small Parts” nomination for Justin Marlow ‘19 and his portrayal of Lurch! Samantha Weitekamp ‘18 and Sam Avila ‘19, competed in the Best Actress and Best Actor categories, for their portrayals of Wednesday and Gomez Addams, respectively. In addition to auditioning for the lead categories, both Sam and Samantha performed in the opening number of the awards show live on stage at the Pantages on Monday, June 5th .

Providence won the Herman Award for “Best Technical Crew,” beating out San Marino High School, Chadwick High School, Village Christian High School, Palos Verdes High School, Saugus High School, Diamond Bar High School, and Mira Costa High School in this category. The recognition for the technical crew was well-deserved, as they ran a tight ship every night. Frances Gross ‘18, Maya Tanasi ‘19 & Poni Dykstra-Tucker ‘17 led an outstanding team, including Zoe Jaeger ‘20, Mary Shahinyan ‘19, Skylar Jones ‘18, Elizabeth Cruz ‘17, Elyssa Birrueta ‘17, Adriana Ortega ‘17, and Alejandra Ortega ‘20.

Congratulations to Director Dominic Catrambone, Producer Jeremy Jackson, Music Director Marisa Bradfield, Choreographer Julianne Kusmierczyk, Lighting Design/AV Tech Vince McManus ‘14, Sound Engineer June Pak ‘15, and all of the students involved in the production!

Winter sPorts teAms eArn leAgue chAmPionshiP titles

The girls’ soccer team had a very successful season and earned their first league championship! Midfielder Kelly Fitzgerald ‘18 was named player of the year while forward Kristen Ayap ‘19, midfielder/defender Veronica Hunstable ‘20, midfielder Carissa Guardado ‘20, and forward Micaella Haban ‘20 were named to the all-league team.

The boys’ soccer team also ended their successful season with a league championship, which is the second league championship for the program. Elias Ferguson ‘18 was named player of the year, while Paul Swaine ‘18, Will Simmons ‘17, Daniel Villeda ‘18, and Montgomery Greene ‘18 were named to the all-league team.

Not to be outdone, the boys’ varsity basketball team secured the title of league champions for the first time since 2012. David Grigoryan ‘18 was named player of the year, while Bryce Whitaker ‘20, and AJ Bautista ‘18 were named to the all-league team.