Senior Named National Merit Semifinalist
SHA Sisters Accept Board Appointments
Senior Tess Cersonsky has been named a semifinalist in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program.
President Sr. Sheila O’Neill, ASCJ, Ph.D., ’71 has been named to the Board of Trustees of St. Martin de Porres Academy, a faith-based, NativityMiguel middle school in New Haven. Says Sr. Sheila, “I am eager to serve St. Martin de Porres as I strongly support their mission and vision.” Sr. Sheila also serves on the Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies Board at Fordham University, the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Board, and the Association of Catholic Admissions and Advancement Professionals (ACAAP) Board.
Selected as a Sr. Antonine Signorelli, ASCJ Scholar for her outstanding entrance exam scores and for her exceptional academic potential, Tess has earned highest honors each quarter while at Sacred Heart. She is a member of the National Honor, French National Honor, Science National Honor, as well as the National Math Honor Society – Mu Alpha Theta. Actively involved in the school’s musicals, she had leading roles in both The Wiz and White Christmas. A member of Honors Chamber Choir, Tess has served as manager for two years and planned the Academy’s 2012 French Choir Trip. This summer, Tess was selected as a Yale Discovery to Cure intern working in the reproductive immunology lab on her project, Developing an In Vitro Model for Implantation. Her awards include The Yale Book Award, Princeton Book Award, Certificate d’Honour in the National French Contest, Second Honors in the Connecticut State Science Fair, and Second Place in the Sacred Heart Science Fair. Offers Tess, “I am planning to major in biomedical engineering and to minor in French as an undergrad and hopefully go to medical school down the road. My dad was a pediatrician and I am interested in pediatric surgery or research as my experience in the Yale lab this summer was so fascinating.” Outside of school, Tess enjoys debating and talking politics, singing, acting, reading, cooking, studying French, and helping her mom, a teacher, with her elementary school students. About 1.5 million juniors in nearly 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2011 PSAT, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. These academically talented high school seniors now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,200 National Merit Scholarship awards, worth $35 million, that will be offered next spring.
AP Scholars Recognized for Excellence The following students and alumnae have been recognized by the College Board for their outstanding achievement on the 2012 AP exams. AP Scholars, students who received an average score of 3 or higher on three or more AP exams, include Jenna Bucetti ’12, Tess Cersonsky ’13, Marisa Ferraro ’12, Jenna Hernandez ’12, Christina Jiang ’13, Hannah Kolb ’12, Caroline Luciani ’12, Florette Purcell ’12, Roxanne Raiola ’12, Emily Roth ’12, Alexus Skobodzinski ’12, Nicole Sroka ’12, Jessica Widman ’13, Brianna Wilson ’12, and Kathy Xu ’12. Students recognized as AP Scholars with Honor received an average score of 3.25 on all of their AP exams, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more exams. These students include Sara Campos ’12, Nicole Casasanta ’12, Taylor DeRosa ’12, Sarah Fusco ’12, Allysandra Giannini ’12, Raeanne Nuzzo ’13, and Caroline Secola ’12. Students who received an average score of at least 3.5 on all of their AP exams, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more exams are recognized as AP Scholars with Distinction. These include Meghan Buckley ’12, Clare Donohue ’12, Rita Matta ’12, and Christine Smith ’12.
In addition, Sr. Mariette Moan, ASCJ, ’77 has accepted an appointment to the Advisory Committee for the Promotion of the Catholic and Dominican Heritage at Albertus Magnus College.
Seventeen Inducted to National Mathematics Honor Society Seventeen students were recently inducted to the Sacred Heart Academy Mu Alpha Theta National Mathematics Honor Society, bringing the total membership to thirty-three students. Members are academically qualified juniors and seniors who maintain strict grade point average requirements and excel in high level math courses. Members participate in Math League, a group that competes in the American Mathematics Contest and the New England Math League, and are active in the Study Buddy tutoring program. During March, Mu Alpha Theta will host Pi Day activities. The following students were inducted to Mu Alpha Theta National Mathematics Honor Society: Morgan Brokaw ’14, Alexa Cafasso ’14, Natalia Fronsaglia ’14, Anjali Sood ’14, Caroline Kohnert ’14, Christina Mercugliano ’14, Demery Ormrod ’14, Deirdre Reidy ’14, Emma Dragan ’14, Maria Beecher ’14, Campbell Disbrow ’14, Madeleine Donohue ’14, Molly Duffy ’14, Michaela Matos ’14, Madeline Ross ’14, Olivia Kelly ’14, and Willa Rusowicz-Orazem ’13. Sacred Heart Academy
15