The Torch - 2022-2023

The Torch

St. Mary’s Dominican High School

From the President

Dear Members of the Dominican Community,

“How can I repay the Lord for all the great good done for me?” Psalm 116:12

We are profoundly grateful for all the blessings God has given St. Mary’s Dominican High School. The blessings, achievements, and challenges each year present opportunities to see through the eyes of faith, do good in this life, and prepare our hearts for eternal life in Christ.

Before reading this edition of The Torch, I invite you to pray with a song that we often sing at our schoolwide Masses, Open Our Eyes, by Jesse Munibusan. (https://youtu.be/eo6gZAUuQ3E?si=A6ZM3buRbvGQuwk) It is in this spirit of faith, in this spirit of prayer, that we share with you this edition of The Torch, the School Year in Review 2022-2023.

Please join me in congratulating the Class of 2023 for their numerous accomplishments and distinctive contributions to our school community. As you read about the members of the class, you will see the commitment they have demonstrated to the four pillars of Dominican life—prayer, study, community, and service. May God continue blessing them and all, especially their parents, guardians, and teachers, who supported them throughout their Dominican Catholic education!

We pray for our entire Dominican community and all who have been part of the Dominican Catholic educational mission that our Dominican Sisters of Peace have shared with us. We pray that we will each continue seeing the opportunities to grow in God’s love and to preach the good news of the Gospel with our lives.

On behalf of our school leadership, administration, faculty, and staff, thank you for your commitment to St. Mary’s Dominican High School.

Gratefully,

Cynthia A. Thomas, Ed. D. President

13th Century Dominican Blessing

May God the Father bless us. May God the Son heal us. May God the Holy Spirit enlighten us, and give us eyes to see with, ears to hear with, hands to do the work of God with, feet to walk with, a mouth to preach the Word of salvation with, and the angel of peace to watch over us and lead us at last, by our Lord’s gift, to the Kingdom. Amen.

St. Mary’s Dominican High School, sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Peace, is a Catholic collegepreparatory program for young women rooted in the tradition of prayer, study, community, and service. With Jesus at its center, the Dominican community preaches the Word, radiates joy, advocates peace, promotes justice, seeks Truth, manifests Catholic values, and ministers to others.

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ST. MARY’S

DOMINICAN

HIGH SCHOOL

A Toast of Praise, Class of 2023!

Class Size: 172

8 Seniors Recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation

181 colleges & universities v Over $27.73 million in scholarships and awards v

115 honor graduates v Admission offers from

795 college credit semester hours earned v 24,685 community service hours

Class of 2023 Valedictorians

Brooke Elizabeth Babin

Katherine Nalty Ellis

Stella Grace Martin

Brooke Elizabeth Babin will attend Louisiana State University that offered her Alumni Leadership Scholarship, Flagship Scholarship Residence Award, and Tiger Legacy Excellence Scholarship. The Dominican Scholarship Student was a member of Latin Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, National English Honor Society, National Honor Society, and Science National Honor Society.

Katherine Nalty Ellis will attend University of Virginia and was awarded an Enterprise Scholar Athletes Scholarship to a college of her choice. The Dominican Scholarship Student held membership in Latin Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, National English Honor Society, and National Honor Society.

Stella Grace Martin will attend Sewanee: The University of the South that awarded her the Ecce Quam Bonum Award. She was a member of Latin Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, National English Honor Society, National Honor Society, and Science National Honor Society.

Salutatorians

Katherine Joan Harper

Abi Carmen Scanlan

The Salutatory Award, presented to the honor graduates who achieved the second highest cumulative grade point average in their program of studies, was merited by seniors Katherine Joan Harper and Abi Carmen Scanlan.

Katherine Joan Harper will attend University of South Carolina Columbia that awarded her the Academic Scholar Superlative Award and the Henry M. Rothberg Bicentennial Scholarship Award. The Dominican Scholarship Student held membership in Latin Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, National English Honor Society, and National Honor Society.

Abi Carmen Scanlan will attend University of Notre Dame and received the Dominican College Corporation Scholarship to the Catholic college of her choice. The Dominican Scholarship Student was a member of Latin Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, National English Honor Society, National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, and Spanish Honor Society.

The Valedictory Award, presented to honor graduates who achieved the highest cumulative grade point average in their program of studies, was merited by seniors Brooke Elizabeth Babin, Katherine Nalty Ellis, and Stella Grace Martin.

Award Recipients

Veritas Service Alumnae AOH

The Veritas Award was presented by school President Dr. Cynthia A. Thomas to Elise Catherine Grefer and Mia Jeanette Signorelli.

It is the most prestigious award presented to a St. Mary's Dominican High School graduating senior. Following the example of St. Dominic de Guzman, founder of the Dominican Order, the Veritas Award recipient faithfully strives to seek Truth through prayer, study, community, and service. She preaches the Truth of the Gospel through the example of her life and calls forth the best in others.

Elise will attend Louisiana State University. Mia will attend the University of Mississippi.

The award recognizes a student’s outstanding, dedicated service to St. Mary’s Dominican High School. Dominican life and growth are mirrored in her reflection of the school’s philosophy by belief in God and respect for the dignity of all human beings.

The recipient is selected by her classmates as one who represents Dominican spirit. Dominican’s motto: “To Praise, To Bless, To Preach,” is an integral part of her life as is her commitment to truth, Veritas. Isabelle will attend Louisiana State University.

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Selected by administration, faculty, and students, the award is given to the senior who exemplifies the motto of the AOH: friendship, unity, and Christian charity. Carol will attend National University of Ireland.

The Mother Mary Magdalen O’Farrell, O.P. Service Award was presented by President Dr. Cynthia A. Thomas to Mia Jeanette Signorelli.

The Sr. Mary Ambrose Reggio, O.P. Alumnae Award was presented by Alumnae Association President Nelita Ramey '79 to Isabelle Do Tran.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) Award was presented by Dr. Cynthia A. Thomas to Carol Tonry Alley

Scholarship Offers

REAGAN HALEY ADAMS

Pere Marquette Scholarship to Marquette University, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi

AMELIA DEVEREAUX ALBERTS

Presidential Scholarship to Loyola University Chicago, Presidential Scholarship to University of San Diego, Provost Scholarship to University of Denver, Residence Hall Grant to University of Denver, Undergraduate Dean’s Award to University of California-Santa Cruz

Seniors earned $23.25 million in scholarships!

CAROL TONRY ALLEY

Student Achievement

Academic Excellence Award to Seton Hall University, Catholic High School Achievement Award to Seton Hall University, University Scholarship to Seton Hall University, Pirate Pride Scholarship to Seton Hall University, Summer Scholarship to Seton Hall University, Bethany Scholarship to Seton Hall University, Academic Excellence Merit Award to University of Mississippi, Bachelor’s Earn & Learn Scholarship to Culinary Institute of America, Early Application Award to Culinary Institute of America, Recognition Award to Culinary Institute of America, Excellence Award to Culinary Institute of America, Bonner Service Scholarship to Rhodes College, Bonner Service Stipend to Rhodes College, Music Scholarship to Rhodes College, Ralph C. Hon Scholarship to Rhodes College, Ecce Quam Bonum Award to University of the South, Flagship Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State Universit, Innovation Award to Louisiana State University, General Academic Merit Scholarship to Belmont University, Honors Program Scholarship to Spring Hill College, Legacy Grant to Spring Hill College, Presidential Scholarship to Spring Hill College, Honors Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Legacy Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, President's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Jogues Scholarship to Fordham University, Merit Scholarship to College of Charleston, Presidential Scholarship to Loyola University Chicago, UA Scholar Scholarship to The University of Alabama, Wildcat NonResident Award to Kansas State University

INCHARA ANAND

Academic Merit Scholarship to Tulane University, Founders Award to Tulane University, Louisiana Legislative Scholarship to Tulane University

LAURYN ALONNE ANCAR

Cypress Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette

KATHERINE ELIZABETH ARANDA

CC&E Undergraduate Scholarship to Louisiana State University, Shell Honors Student Leadership Program Award to Louisiana State University

BROOKE ELIZABETH BABIN

Admissions Honors Scholarship to University of Florida, Alumni Leadership Scholarship to Louisiana State University, Flagship Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tiger Legacy Excellence Scholarship to Louisiana State University, Classic Scholarship Award to University of Georgia, Merit Scholarship to College of Charleston, Dean's Scholarship to Texas Christian University, Out-of-State National Merit Finalist Scholarship to Florida State University, Provost's Scholarship to University of Notre Dame, University and Summer Scholarship to Seton Hall University, University Scholarship to University of Notre Dame, Louisiana State University State Rally 2019 Scholarship to a LA College of Her Choice, Southeastern University District Rally 2019

*Scholarships and awards as of June 2023. Does not include Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) awards.

The Class of 2023 gained acceptance into 181 colleges and universities around the United States and internationally

University of Alabama at Birmingham • The University of Alabama • Albright College •Appalachian State University • Arizona State University-Tempe •University of Arizona • University of Arkansas • Auburn University • Barton College •Baylor University • Belhaven University • Belmont Abbey College • Belmont University  • Bennington College • Berry College • Bethune-Cookman University • Boston University • Brandeis University • California Lutheran University • University of California-Davis • University of California-Santa Cruz • Catholic University of America • University of Central Arkansas • University of Central Florida • Champlain College • Chapman University • College of Charleston • Christian Brothers University • Clark Atlanta University • Clemson University • University of Colorado Boulder • University of Colorado Denver • University of Colorado Colorado Springs • Colorado State University-Fort Collins • Columbia College • Columbia College Chicago • University of Connecticut • Cornish College of the Arts • University of Dallas • Defiance College • Delta State University • University of Denver • DePaul University • Dillard University • Elizabeth City State University • Emory & Henry College • University of Evansville • Fairleigh Dickinson University • Fisher College • Fisk University • Florida A&M University • Florida Gulf Coast University • Florida Institute of Technology • Florida Polytechnic University • Florida State University • University of Florida • Fordham University • Furman University • Georgetown University • Georgia Institute of Technology • Georgia State University • University of Georgia • Grambling State University • Hampton University • Hannibal-LaGrange University • Harrisburg University of Science and Technology • High Point University • Hilbert College • University of Houston • Howard University • University of Illinois-Chicago • Indiana Tech • Indiana University-Bloomington • Ithaca College • Jackson State University • Jacksonville University • James Madison University • Kansas State University • University of La Verne • Langston University • University of Louisiana Monroe • Louisiana State University • Louisiana State University-Eunice • Louisiana Tech University • University of Louisiana at Lafayette • Loyola Marymount University • Loyola University Chicago • Loyola University New Orleans • Marquette University • University of Mary HardinBaylor • University of Maryland Eastern Shore • Marymount Manhattan College • Mercer University • Michigan State University • Millsaps College • Milwaukee School of Engineering • Mississippi State University • University of Mississippi • University of Missouri-Columbia • Morgan State University • Mount Saint Mary’s University • National University of Ireland • New Mexico State University • University of New Orleans • Nicholls State University • Norfolk State University • North Carolina A&T State University • University of North Texas • University of Northern Colorado • Northern Illinois University • Northwestern State University of Louisiana • University of Notre Dame • Nova Southeastern University • Ohio University • University of Oklahoma • Oregon State University • Pace University • Palm Beach Atlantic University • Paul Quinn College • Pennsylvania State University • Pfeiffer University • University of Pittsburg • University of Portland • Quinnipiac University • Regis University • Rhodes College • Rice University • Roanoke University • Robert Morris University • Rochester Institute of Technology • Rollins College • Saint Leo University • Samford University • University of San Diego • Savannah College of Art & Design • Seton Hall University • Sewanee: The University of the South • Shaw University • Shelton State Community College • Simon Fraser University • University of South Carolina-Columbia • University of South Florida • Southeast Missouri State University • Southeastern Louisiana University • University of Southern California • Southern Methodist University • University of Southern Mississippi • Southern University and A&M College • Southern University at New Orleans • Southern Utah University • Spelman College • Spring Hill College • Saint Edward’s University • St. John’s University-New York • Stonehill College • University of Tampa • Temple University • University of Tennessee, Knoxville • Texas A&M University • Texas Christian University • Texas Southern University • The University of Texas at Austin • Culinary Institute of America • The New School • The Ohio State University • Tennessee State University • Tougaloo College • Trinity University • Tulane University • Tuskegee University • University of Holy Cross • University of South Alabama • University of Utah • University of Virginia • West Chester University of Pennsylvania • University of West Florida • West Virginia University • Wilberforce University • University of Wisconsin-Whitewater • Xavier University of Louisiana

Let me welcome you to our home. The place where we have laughed, cried, studied, made lifelong friends, and heard Spitz tell us to "experience Dominican" about 1000 times! We have grown together as sisters and have become strong Dominican women, poised to embrace our next endeavor and chart a path toward our future.

LAUREN JULIA BABINEAUX

Cooper Dome Scholarship to Southeast Missouri State University, RedHawks Achievement Award to Southeast Missouri State University, Residence Life Leadership Award to Southeast Missouri State University, Innovation Award to Louisiana State University, Ithaca College Scholarship to Ithaca College, Ithaca Grant to Ithaca College, Residential Experience Scholarship to Ithaca College, Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, NonResident University Award to Arizona State University

ISABELLE SOPHIA BAILEY

Athletic Scholar Award to Loyola University New Orleans, Ecce Quam Bonum Award to Sewanee: The University of the South, Innovation Award to Louisiana State University, Ignatian Leader Award to Spring Hill College, Spring Hill College Grant to Spring Hill College

ANNE MARGARET BENT

Peak Admissions Award to University of Colorado Colorado Springs

ELLA GRACE BERTUCCI

Tiger Excellence Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Athletic Scholarship to Belmont University, General Academic Merit Scholarship to Belmont University, Merit Scholarship to University of South Alabama, American Italian Renaissance Foundation Scholarship to a College of Her Choice

ELIZABETH LORRAINE BOND

Tiger Excellence Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tiger Legacy Superior Award to Louisiana State University

TYLER FAITH BORDELON

Founder's Grant to Millsaps College, Ignatian Leader Award to Spring Hill College

ALLYSON GRACE BRADLEY

Academic Scholarship to Xavier University of Louisiana, Dean's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Presidential Scholarship to DePaul University, Shields Merit Scholarship to Stonehill College, Stonehill College Book Award Scholarship to Stonehill College, University Scholarship to Temple University

Abi Scanlan ’23, Salutatorian

LUCILLE MICHELET BRAUNER

Merit Scholarship to University of Illinois at Chicago

MADELAINE HELEN BROWN

Academic Recognition Award to Tulane University, Non-Resident Scholarship to Michigan State University, Presidential Study Abroad Scholarship to Michigan State University, Red Cedar Scholarship to Michigan State University, Out-of-State Presidential Scholarship to The University of Alabama

MAGGIE ELISE CALIX

Presidential Scholarship to Regis University, Ranger Award to Regis University, Catholic High Award to Regis University, Merit Scholarship to College of Charleston, Presidential Scholarship to Marymount Manhattan College, Presidential Scholarship to Spring Hill College, Academic Scholars

Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tiger Legacy Excellence Scholarship to Louisiana State University

EMILY ELIZABETH CAMBRE

Ignatian Leader Award to Spring Hill College

VICTORIA LYNN CAMBRE

Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Provost's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans

CECILIA ANNE CANGELOSI

Louisiana Tiger Legacy Merit Scholarship to Louisiana State University, Transformation Merit Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Loyola Scholarship to Loyola University Chicago, President's Scholarship to Pace University, Presidential Scholarship to DePaul University

LEAH MARIE CHARLES

Academic Scholarship to Xavier University of Louisiana, Achievement Award to Indiana Tech University, University Scholarship to Christian Brothers University, Back Bay Scholarship to Fischer College, On-Campus Award to Fischer College, Catholic Scholarship to Christian Brothers University, University Scholarship to Christian Brothers University, Community Engagement Grant to University of La Verne, Leo Scholarship to University of La Verne, La Verne Grant to University of La Verne, Mount Clef Scholarship to California Lutheran University, Track and Field Scholarship to Defiance College, Trustee Scholarship to Defiance College, Housing Scholarship to Xavier University, Leadership Award to Xavier University

EMMA GABRIELLE CLESI

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Damen Scholarship to Loyola University Chicago, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Provost's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Magnolia Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Two-Year Partial Housing Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Academic Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Innovation Award to Louisiana State University, Academic Charter Scholarship to Auburn University, President Scholarship Award to University of New Orleans, Academic Scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana University

EMMA MARIE COOK

Academic Excellence Scholarship to The University of Southern Mississippi, Cypress Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Freshmen Merit Scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana University, USA Freshman Admission Scholarship to University of South Alabama

COLLEEN CERA CORCORAN

Academic Excellence Award to University of Louisiana Monroe

ISABELLA CHRISTINA CORDOVA

Academic Recognition Award to Tulane University, Arizona Distinction Scholarship to University of Arizona, Presidential Scholarship to DePaul University, Presidential Scholarship to Loyola University Chicago

RILEY KAMRYN CRESPO

Academic Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Hadley Honors Outof-State Award to New Mexico State University, O-State Competitive Discount Award to New Mexico State University, Out-of-State Collegiate Scholarship to The University of Alabama

ELLEN RENÉE DARCEY

Innovation Award to Louisiana State University, Transformation Merit Resident Award to Louisiana State University

SOPHIE OLIVIA DAUTERIVE

Columbia Scholar Award to Columbia College Chicago, Dean's Scholarship to Columbia College Chicago, Faculty Recognition Award to Columbia College Chicago, Lagniappe Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Legacy Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Provost's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Regents Scholarship to Loyola University Chicago, Vincentian Award to DePaul University

Scholarship Offers Student Achievement

CAROLINE ELISE DAWSON

Tiger Excellence Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tiger Legacy Superior Award to Louisiana State University

VICTORIA ANN DESPENZA

Cypress Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette

BROOKE CATHERINE DIMAGGIO

Cypress Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Provost Scholarship to University of New Orleans

AVERY ELIZABETH DONNELLY

Regents Scholarship to Loyola University Chicago

MADELINE ELIZABETH DOUCET

Bayley Award to Seton Hall University, Pirate Achievement Grant to Seton Hall University, Pirate Pride Scholarship to Seton Hall University, Summer Scholarship to Seton Hall University, University Scholarship to Seton Hall University, Provost Scholarship to Champlain College

LILY CATHERINE DUPLANTIS

Housing Scholarship to University of Holy Cross, Institutional Scholarship to University of New Orleans

ANNIE RUTH DYKES

Cypress Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Innovation Award to Louisiana State University, Lagniappe Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Award to Loyola University New Orleans, Provost's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Social Justice Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Merit Scholarship to University of New Mexico, Provost Scholarship to University of New Orleans, Tuition Scholarship to Belhaven University

KATHERINE NALTY ELLIS

Volunteer Scholarship to University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Presidential Scholarship to Auburn University, Enterprise Scholar Athletes Scholarship to a College of Her Choice, Out-of-State National Merit Finalist Scholarship to Florida State University, Green and Gold Scholarship to Colorado State University

LILY MARGARET ELLIS

Academic Award to Saint Leo University, Catholic Promise Award to Saint Leo University, Athletic Scholarship to Nicholls State University, Gautrelet Award to Spring Hill College

LUCY ROSE DIANE ENGER

Out-of-State Blazer Scholarship to The University of Alabama at Birmingham

ABIGAIL CAMERON EVANS

Academic Charter Scholarship to Auburn University, Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Flagship Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Out-of-State UA Scholar Scholarship to The University of Alabama, Italian American St. Joseph Society Scholarship to a College of Her Choice

AVA FRANCES FALCON

Volunteer Scholarship to University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Dean Scholarship to University of Denver, Merit Scholarship to College of Charleston, Panther Fund Scholarship to Florida Institute of Technology

RACHEL GAYLE FATH

Academic Heritage Scholarship to Auburn University, Academic Merit Award to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Flagship Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Out-of-State Presidential Scholarship to The University of Alabama, USA Freshman Admission Scholarship to University of South Alabama

ISABELLA CRISTINA FOREST

Volunteer Scholarship to University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Academic Heritage Scholarship to Auburn University, Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Dean's Scholarship to Texas Christian University, Flagship Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Merit Scholarship to College of Charleston, Todd and Valerie Schexnayder Endowed Scholarship to Louisiana State University

AVERY ELIZABETH FREY

Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarship to The University of Southern Mississippi, Provost Scholarship to University of New Orleans, USA Jaguar Achievement Admission Scholarship to University of South Alabama

ELLEN MARGARET GAUDIN

All Orange Scholarship to Auburn University, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Magnolia Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Two-Year Partial Housing Scholarship to University Louisiana at Lafayette, Provost's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Tiger Excellence Scholar Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Donald T. Bock Educational Grant to a College of Her Choice

EMILY MARIE GIACONA

Outstanding Student Scholarship to Louisiana Tech University

EMILY ANN GLAZNER

Academic Charter Scholarship to Auburn University, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Provost's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans

ELLA GRACE GOINGS

Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tiger Legacy Excellence Scholarship to Louisiana State University, Collegiate Scholarship to The University of Alabama, General Academic Merit Scholarship to Belmont University, Louisiana Retailers Education Foundation Scholarship to a College of Her Choice

LISETTE FORTIER GOWLAND

Dean's Scholarship to Loyola University Chicago, Dean's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Merit Scholarship to The New School

MALLORY ANNE GRANIER

Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Provost Scholarship to Oregon State University

CATHERINE ANGELIC GRECO

Transformation Merit Resident Award to Louisiana State University

ELISE CATHERINE GREFER

Academic Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University

KARLI GRACE GREMILLION

Success Scholarship to University of Mississippi

MORGAN ELIZABETH GRICE

Tiger Excellence Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, All Orange Scholarship to Auburn University, Catholic High School Award to Saint Louis University, Vice Presidents' Scholarship to Saint Louis University, Distinction Award to Baylor University, Out-of-State Crimson Legends Scholarship to The University of Alabama, USA Freshman Admission Scholarship to University of South Alabama

CHLOE MADELEINE GUIDRY

Volunteer Scholarship to University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Dean's Scholarship to Texas Christian University, Flagship Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Innovation Award to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tiger Legacy Excellence Scholarship to Louisiana State University, Ralph C. Hon Scholarship to Rhodes College, Scholar Scholarship to The University of Alabama

AMELIA FRANCES HAAB

Tiger Excellence Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Academic Presidential Scholarship to Auburn University, Chancellor Scholar to University of Denver, Green and Gold Scholarship for Non-Residents to Colorado State University, Merit Scholarship to Arizona State University, Trustee Scholarship to University of Northern Colorado

Dominican has formed us into the women we are today. Dominican has taught us how to pray with one another and for one another; how to help a classmate when she needs someone to lean on. Dominican has taught us what sisterhood truly means through events that are so unique to this school. You will always be my sisters, even if we don't share the same second home anymore. This class and this school will always be a part of who we are.

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Katherine Harper ’23, Salutatorian

O'NEIL ANN HADDAD

Second Century Scholarship to Southern Methodist University

ANNE MARIE HARDOUIN

Athletic Scholarship to Florida Gulf Coast University, Athletic Scholarship to Louisiana State University, Athletic Scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana University, Athletic Scholarship to Spring Hill College, Athletic Scholarship to The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Athletic Scholarship to University of Louisiana Monroe, Athletic Scholarship to The University of New Orleans, Athletic Scholarship to University of Southern Mississippi, LA Tiger Legacy Merit Scholarship to Louisiana State University

KATHERINE JOAN HARPER

Volunteer Scholarship to University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tickle College of Engineering Scholarship to University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Academic Scholar Superlative Award to University of South Carolina Columbia, Henry M. Rothberg Bicentennial Scholarship to the University of South Carolina Columbia, Merit Scholarship to College of Charleston, Pirate Pride Scholarship to Seton Hall University, Catholic High School Achievement Award to Seton Hall University, University Scholarship to Seton Hall University, Trustee's Scholarship to Trinity UniversitySan Antonio

LEE-AH RAKEL HEURTIN

Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Loyola Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Merit Award to Fairleigh Dickson University

JAYLAH ANESE HOLMES

Cypress Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Founder's Grant to Millsaps College, Outstanding Student Scholarship to Louisiana Tech University, Tornado Scholarship to Talladega College

OLIVIA GRACE ICAMINA

Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, STEM Major Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Out-of-State Foundation in Excellence Scholarship to The University of Alabama

CADENCE OLIVIA JACKSON

Colvard Future Leader Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarship to Mississippi State University, James C. and Elytte P. Robertson Loyalty Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Mary and Brad Bradway Endowed Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship to Mississippi State University

EMMA REBECCA JAQUES

Academic Honors Scholarship to Savannah College of Art and Design, Achievement Honors Scholarship to Savannah College of Art and Design, Distinguished Scholars Award to Savannah College of Art and Design, Cypress Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Scholarship Offers

Student Achievement

I encourage you all to take pride in being not only Dominican alumnae, but a Class of 2023 graduate. Take all you have learned these past five years and cherish all the friendships and bonds you have formed.I can't wait to see what amazing things the future has in store for you all!

ALLYSON AINSLEY JOHNSON

Business Fellowship Award to High Point University, Presidential Fellowship Award to High Point University, Rhodes Award to Rhodes College

BAILEY CLARE JOHNSON

Magnolia Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Two-Year Partial Housing Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Millsaps Presidential Scholarship to Millsaps College

MADELINE CECILE KERBER

Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Flagship Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University

SARAH-MARIE KOCSIS

Dean’s Scholarship to Loyola University Chicago, Select Scholarship to Harrisburg University of Science and Technology

OLIVIA GRACE LABRUZZO

Volunteer Scholarship to University of Tennessee, Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Innovation Excellence Award to Louisiana State University, UA Competitive Admissions Scholarship to The University of Alabama

GRACE LOUISE LANDRUM

Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Non-Resident Alumni Award to University of Mississippi, STEM Major Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Transformation Merit Resident Award to Louisiana State University

OLIVIA AUDREY LAVIE

Louisiana Tiger Legacy Merit Scholarship to Louisiana State University, Transformation Merit Resident Award to Louisiana State University

Katherine Ellis ’23, Valedictorian

BRIANNA NICOLE LEBANT

Dean's Scholarship to Dillard University, Dean's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Second Century Scholarship to Millsaps College

CHYRA MIREYÃ LEE

Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Recognition Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans

ANNIE ELAINE LEINGANG

Tiger Excellence Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Innovation Award to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tiger Legacy Superior Award to Louisiana State University, Academic Excellence Scholarship to The University of Southern Mississippi, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, STEM Major Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Crusader Grant to Belmont Abbey College, Honors College Scholarship to Belmont Abbey College, Foundation in Excellence Scholarship to The University of Alabama, Freshman Admission Scholarship to University of South Alabama , Jaguar Achievement Scholarship to University of South Alabama

ASHLEIGH CATHERINE LEROUGE

Dean's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans

ARIA CELESTE LEWIS

Dean's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Second Century Scholarship to Millsaps College

KELCI ROSE LEWIS

Access Scholarship to Howard University, Catholic Scholarship to Christian Brothers University, CBU Merit Based Scholarship to Christian Brothers University, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Loyola Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Outstanding Scholars and Leaders Award to Fisk University, Outstanding Student Scholarship to Louisiana Tech University, Tornado Scholarship to Talladega College, Xavier Academic Scholarship to Xavier University of Louisiana

ABIGAIL ELIZABETH LUNDGREN

Academic Excellence Scholarship to The University of Southern Mississippi

MYKAIL CATHERINE LUSCO

Softball Scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana University

MARIAH JANAÉ MALLIETT

Academic Scholarship to High Point University, Distance Award to Mount Saint Mary's University, Opportunity Award to Mount Saint Mary's University, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Loyola Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Institutional Scholarship to University of New Orleans

STELLA GRACE MARTIN

Catholic High School Success Award to University of Portland, President's Scholarship to University of Portland, Ecce Quam Bonum Award to Sewanee: The University of the South, General Academic Merit Scholarship to Belmont University

PRISCILLA GABRIELLA MARTINEZ

Leadership Award to Tulane University, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Provost’s Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans

LILY HELENE MARTORY

Colvard Future Leadership Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Housing Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Distinguished Scholar Scholarship to Tulane University, Flagship Scholars

Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tiger Legacy Excellence Scholarship to Louisiana State University, Out-of-State Presidential Scholarship to The University of Alabama, Presidential Scholarship to The University of Southern Mississippi

ROMA AIDA McALEAR

Merit Scholarship to College of Charleston, National Award Scholarship to University of Oklahoma, National Recognition Scholarship to The University of Alabama, Rhodes Award to Rhodes College

ELIZABETH LEIGH MCCABE

Academic Admissions Scholarship to University of South Alabama, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, STEM Major Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, FPU Poly Scholarship to Florida Polytechnic University, Out-of-State Scholarship to Florida Polytechnic University, Two-Year Partial Housing Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Magnolia Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette

SARA JANE MERCHANT

Outstanding Student Scholarship to Louisiana Tech University

MARGARET ELLEN MILLER

Academic Heritage Scholarship to Auburn University, Engineering Scholarship to The University of Alabama, Out-of-State UA Scholar Scholarship to The University of Alabama, Flagship Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Entergy Community Power Scholarship to the College of Her Choice

MARGUERITE ELLIOTT MILLER

Boundless Ram Grant to West Chester University, Trustee Scholarship to Emory and Henry College

MONICA ELIZABETH MUSCARELLO

Flagship Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Four-Year Housing Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, General Academic Merit Scholarship to Belmont University, Live Oak Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Meal Plan Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Presidential Scholarship to The University of Alabama

'ANGELLE DENISE NASH

Boston University Grant to Boston University, Charles River Housing Grant to Boston University, Cornerstone Scholarship to Catholic University of America, Parish Scholarship to The Catholic University of America, Dean's Scholarship to Fordham University, Flagship Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, LA Tiger Legacy Superior Award to Louisiana State University, HU Achiever Scholarship to Howard University, Merit Scholarship to St. John's University, Pirate Pride Scholarship to Seton Hall University, Presidential Diversity Scholarship to The University of Alabama, Presidential National Housing Scholarship to The University of Alabama, Provost Academic Excellence Scholarship to The University of Alabama, Presidential Scholarship to Loyola University Chicago, Provost Scholarship to Brandeis University, STEM Leadership Scholarship to University of Connecticut, University Scholarship to Seton Hall University, University Scholarship to University of Southern California

CLAIRE ELIZABETH NASH

Academic Scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana University, Housing and Meal Scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana University, Colvard Future Leadership Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Entering Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Outstanding Student Scholarship to Louisiana Tech University, Presidential Scholarship to Spring Hill College

ANDELYN ELLIS PASSANTINO

Tiger Excellence Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tiger Legacy Superior Award to Louisiana State University, Out-of-State Provost Scholarship to The University of Alabama at Birmingham

RYLEE ANGELA PAULEY

Cypress Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Provost Scholarship to University of New Orleans

SAMANTHA ANNE PHILLIPS

Outstanding Student Scholarship to Louisiana Tech University

EMMA BESS PLAISANCE

Incoming Freshman Scholarship to Louisiana Tech University, Outstanding Student Scholarship to Louisiana Tech University

MADELINE ELIZABETH POURCIAU

Transformation Merit Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tiger Legacy Merit Scholarship to Louisiana State University

GABRIELLA HOPE FRANCOISE PORCHE

Dean's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Institutional Scholarship to Spelman College

ANNABEL ELIZABETH PORTEOUS

Academic Heritage Scholarship to Auburn University, Flagship Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tiger Legacy Excellence Scholarship to Louisiana State University, Out-of-State Tuition Waiver to Florida State University, Out-of-State UA Scholar Scholarship to The University of Alabama

SHANIA ANN RAIMER

Tiger Excellence Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Dean's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Provost Scholarship to University of New Orleans

CHRISTINA MATTINGLY RARESHIDE

Fordham Recognition Scholarship to Fordham University, One UGA Scholarship to the University of Georgia, Presidential Waiver Scholarship to University of Georgia, Presidential Scholarship to Rhodes College, Presidential Scholarship to University of Southern California

EMMA LYNN RIDGE

Colvard Future Leadership Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Honors Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Provost's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Outof-State Capstone Scholarship to The University of Alabama, Provost Scholarship to University of New Orleans

ISABELLA ROSE ROBERTS

Transformation Merit Resident Award to Louisiana State University

MORGAN CONWAY ROTOLO

Tiger Excellence Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Volunteer Scholarship to University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Academic Heritage Scholarship to Auburn University, Dean's Scholarship to Texas Christian University, Founder's Scholarship to Southern Methodist University, General Academic Merit Scholarship to Belmont University, Merit Scholarship to College of Charleston, Merit Scholarship to the University of Tampa, UA Scholar Scholarship to The University of Alabama

KILEY LISSETTE ROUSSELLE

Volunteer Scholarship to University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Colvard Future Leadership Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Entering Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship to Mississippi State University

ABI CARMEN SCANLAN

Academic Presidential Scholarship to Auburn University, Distinction Award to Baylor University, Merit Scholarship to Louisiana State University, Out-ofState Presidential Elite Scholarship to The University of Alabama, Classic Scholarship Award to University of Georgia, Southeastern University District Rally 2019, Dominican College Corporation Scholarship to the Catholic College of Her Choice

MADISON ANN SCHICK

Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Provost's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans

The Torch

Finally, I thank Him for you all, the Class of 2023, for placing you in my life and for giving you all the unique gifts that have made my Dominican experience so memorable. This year in religion we learned about love and how "love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Upon exiting Dominican, I know this to be true because you all have shown me the love of a sisterhood that I will never forget and will continue to carry with me forever!

Brooke Babin ’23, Valedictorian

MIA JEANETTE SIGNORELLI

Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Innovation Award to Louisiana State University, Colvard Future Leadership Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Freshman Academic Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Non-Resident Tuition Scholarship to Mississippi State University, Dean’s Scholarship to University of Dallas, Lagniappe Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Legacy Scholarship to LOYOLA University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Provost’s Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Live Oak Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Four-Year Housing Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Four-Year Meal Plan Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, USA Freshman Admission Scholarship to University of South ALABAMA, New Orleans Fireman's Federal Credit Union Scholarship to the College of Her Choice

ANDREA SOPHIA SIGUENZA

Innovation Award to Louisiana State University

ZOE ELIZABETH SMITH

Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi

LILLIAN GRACE STRICKER

Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of MISSISSIPPI, Academic Merit Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Academic Presidential Scholarship to Auburn University, Dean's Scholarship to Texas Christian University, Distinction Award to Baylor University, Faculty Selected Scholarship to Baylor University, Invitation to Excellence Scholarship to Baylor University, Faculty Scholar Award to Belmont University, Flagship Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Legacy Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, President's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans

LILY CARLENE SUNDQUIST

Academic Merit Non-Resident Scholarship to University of Mississippi, Innovation Award to Louisiana State University, Out-of-State Crimson Legends Scholarship to The University of Alabama

MORGAN SULLIVAN TEBBE

Tiger Excellence Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tiger Legacy Superior Award to Louisiana State University, Dean's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Legacy Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Magnolia Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Two-Year Partial Housing Scholarship to University of Louisiana at Lafayette, New Arkansan Non-Resident Tuition Award to University of Arkansas, Tennessee Explore Scholarship to University of Tennessee, Knoxville

ANNA ROSE THOMAS

Father John Oetgen Scholarship to Belmont Abbey College, Hintemeyer Scholarship to Belmont Abbey College, Oetgen Scholarship to Belmont Abbey College

ANGELINE THẢO AN TRẦN

Academic Excellence Full Tuition to The University of Southern Mississippi, Academic Scholars Resident Award to Louisiana State University, Board of Trustees Scholarship to Xavier University of Louisiana, Distinction Award to Baylor University, Founders Award to Tulane University, Paul Tulane Award to Tulane University, Honors Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, President's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Presidential Scholar Award to Spring Hill College, UA Scholar Scholarship to The University of Alabama

ISABELLE DO TRAN

Dean’s Scholarship to University of New Orleans, Founders Grant to Millsaps College, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Loyola Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Regents Scholarship to Loyola University Chicago

NICOLE TRAN

Academic Recognition Award to Tulane University, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, President's Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans

RHIAN FOX WINFREY

Aggie Merit Scholarship to North Carolina A&T State University, Board of Trustees Scholarship to Xavier University of Louisiana, Dean's Scholarship to Nova Southeastern University, HU Achiever Scholarship to Howard University

AUDREY ELIZABETH WYBLE

Outstanding Student Scholarship to Louisiana Tech University

JOLIE MICHELLE YOUNG

Merit Scholarship to Christian Brothers University

LAILA ANGEL YOUNG

Founders Award to Millsaps College, Millsaps Access Grant to Millsaps College, Louisiana Resident Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, Loyola Scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans

JOELLE ELIZABETH ZENGARLING

Priority Honors Scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana University

Profile of a Dominican Graduate

A Dominican graduate is encouraged to be a woman of integrity who seeks Truth, Veritas. Embracing the Dominican program and aspiring to its ideals, she:

National Merit

Student Achievement

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Approximately 15,000 students of the 1.5 million juniors who entered qualified as finalists.

and

Four Dominican seniors were named National Merit Finalists. They were among the 15,000 Finalists in the 68th annual National Merit® Scholarship Program. As Finalists, these academically talented high school seniors had an opportunity for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that were offered in the spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition.

were selected as winners of college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships. Chosen from the 15,000 distinguished Finalists, approximately 3,800 National Merit Scholarships are awarded from 160 colleges and universities.

Four Dominican seniors were named Commended Students in the 2023 National Merit® Scholarship Program. Commended Students place among the top 50,000 students who entered the competition by taking the Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Although these students did not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships, they were recognized for their exceptional academic promise.

Finalists Commended

Amelia Haab Lily Martory Margaret Miller Charlotte Raymond

Brooke Babin Katherine Ellis

Christina Rareshide Abi Scanlan

Brooke Babin, Katherine Ellis,

Christina Rareshide

In September 2022, 18 Dominican students (Class of 2023) and 21 graduates (Class of 2022) of St. Mary’s Dominican High School earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program (AP) Exams. AP tests are scored on a scale of 1-5.

AP Scholars

Carol Alley ’23 AP Scholar

Alexandra Amato ’22 AP Scholar with Distinction

Như-Thảo Cao ’22 AP Scholar

Jane Bostick ’22 AP Scholar with Distinction

Haneen Awadallah ’22 AP Scholar with Distinction

Brooke Babin ’23 AP Scholar with Honor

Inchara Anand ’23 AP Scholar with Honor

Jane Bickerton ’22 AP Scholar with Distinction

Caroline Blais ’22 AP Scholar with Honor

Monica Cabes ’22 AP Scholar

Emma Clesi ’23 AP Scholar

Isabella Cordova ’23 AP Scholar

Jasmine Ferrier ’22 AP Scholar with Distinction

Katherine Ellis ’23 AP Scholar

Katherine Gomez ’22 AP Scholar with Distinction

Elise Grefer ’23 AP Scholar

The AP Scholar designation recognizes students who earned scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP exams. The AP Scholar with Honor designation recognizes students who earned an average of 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on four or more AP exams. The AP Scholar with Distinction designation recognizes students who earned an average score of 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scored 3 or higher on five or more AP exams.

AP Scholars Student Achievement

Sara Landry ’22 AP Scholar

Erin Kramer ’22 AP Scholar

Stella Martin ’23 AP Scholar

Ada Holmes ’22 AP Scholar

Allison Lefante ’22 AP Scholar

Amelia Haab ’23 AP Scholar

Catherine Mansfield ’22 AP Scholar with Honor

Lily Martory ’23 AP Scholar with Distinction

'Angelle Nash ’23 AP Scholar

Elizabeth Mobley ’22 AP Scholar with Distinction

Monica Muscarello ’23 AP Scholar with Honor

Kaylie Nguyen ’22 AP Scholar with Distinction

Christina Rareshide ’23 AP Scholar with Distinction

Lucy Perschall ’22 AP Scholar

Charlotte Raymond ’23 AP Scholar with Distinction

Katelin Obletz ’22 AP Scholar

Student Achievement AP Scholars

College Board National Program Scholars

Four St. Mary’s Dominican High School students were among 32,000 students from across the country to earn academic honors from the College Board’s National Recognition Programs.

The designation is based on the students’ remarkable academic achievements and outstanding performance on the PSAT and/or AP exams. The College Board, which administers the PSAT and SAT among its activities, recognizes academic excellence through its National Recognition Programs. Students selected for this prestigious honor can cite it on their college and scholarship applications. In turn, colleges use the listing of this honor as a way of identifying students from underrepresented groups (i.e. ethnic minorities and/or those who attend school in rural areas or small towns), who have excelled on their

10, or AP Exams and in their classwork.

Roma McAlear

Allison Harmon

National African American Recognition Program Scholars

PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT

′Angelle Nash Rhian Winfrey

National Indigineous Recognition Program Scholar

National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar

Maeve Storm ’22 AP Scholar with Distinction

Abi Scanlan ’23 AP Scholar with Distinction

Elise Stricker ’22 AP Scholar

Kiley Rousselle ’23 AP Scholar

Angeline Tran ’23 AP Scholar with Distinction

Lillian Sticker ’23 AP Scholar

Kate Weiss ’22 AP Scholar with Distinction

Student Achievement

8TH GRADE

STATE LITERARY RALLY:

District and State Qualifiers:

Katherine Amick – Algebra I

Emily McDonald – English I

Leah Plaisance – French I

Victoria Salazar – Spanish I

Catherine Trimber – World Geography

LOUISIANA HIGH SCHOOL RALLY:

Katherine Amick – 3rd in Algebra I

Scholastic Achievement Award:

Victoria Salazar – 1st in Spanish I

Catherine Trimber – 1st in World Geography

FOREIGN LANGUAGE AWARDS

National Spanish Exam Level 1:

Meredith Huck – Honorable mention

Lourdes Maristany – Honorable mention

Ava Stack – Honorable mention

Hailey Walker – Honorable mention

Lourdes Hanemann – Silver medal

Victoria Salazar – Gold medal

National Latin Exam:

Ann Varughese – Magna Cum Laude

FRESHMEN

STATE LITERARY RALLY:

District Qualifier:

Therese Carrier – English II

State Qualifier:

Kristian Champagne – Latin II

District and State Qualifiers:

Natalie Cage – English II

Grace Chategnier – Biology I

Jovie Leingang – Geometry

LOUISIANA HIGH SCHOOL RALLY

Natalie Cage – 1st in English II

Grace Chategnier – 1st in Biology I

State Rally Medal Recipient:

Natalie Cage – English II

FOREIGN LANGUAGE AWARDS

National Spanish Exam Level 2:

Leah Patterson – Honorable mention

Mia Rabalais – Honorable mention

Julianne Sanchez – Honorable mention

Rani Smith – Honorable mention

Victoria Thomas – Honorable mention

Ashlynn Dinh – Bronze medal

Elise Kerisit – Bronze medal

Vanessa Liu – Bronze medal

Amiya Bullie – Gold medal

National Latin Exam:

Truc Nguyen – Cum Laude

Claudio Cifreo – Cum Laude

Grace Chategnier – Cum Laude

Kristian Champagne – Magna Cum Laude

Ana Redmann – Summa Cum Laude

Le Grand Councours, the National French Exam:

Christine Anderson – Silver

SOPHOMORES

STATE LITERARY RALLY:

District and State Qualifiers:

Sahara Garcia – French III

Gabriela Munoz – Spanish III

Emma Nguyen – Algebra II

LOUISIANA HIGH SCHOOL RALLY:

Sahara Garcia – 2nd in French III

State Rally Medal Recipient:

Sahara Garcia – French III

FOREIGN LANGUAGE AWARDS

National Spanish Exam Level 2:

Kennedy Boutté – Honorable mention

Vida Alvarado – Bronze medal

Bailey Bush – Silver medal

Ashley Montoya – Gold medal

National Spanish Exam Level 3:

Gabriella Brent – Honorable Mention

Lauren Webre – Honorable Mention

Sofia Chanes – Bronze medal

Emma Nguyen – Silver medal

Gabriela Muñoz – Silver medal

Kavya Paramesh – Silver medal

2023 National Latin Exam:

Ellen Ellis – Maxima Cum Laude

Le Grand Councours, the National French Exam:

Abigail Beben – Honorable Mention

Livy Eastman – Honorable Mention

Grace Mandella – Honorable Mention

Sophie Spera – Honorable Mention

Reese Tatford – Honorable Mention

Maia Briuglio – Bronze

Sahara Garcia – Silver

JUNIORS

STATE LITERARY RALLY:

Kathryn Fine – District and State Qualifier in Advanced Math – Pre-Calculus

Allison Harmon – District and State Qualifier in Spanish IV

Sahithi Koneru – District and State Qualifier in English IV

Camille Truxillo – District and State Qualifier in English IV

Samantha Wild – District and State Qualifier in Biology II

LOUISIANA HIGH SCHOOL RALLY:

Kathryn Fine – Superior Rating in Treble Trio

Samantha Wild – 2nd Place in Biology II

Camille Truxillo – 4th place in English IV

Allison Harmon – 2nd place in Spanish IV

Scholastic Achievement Award:

Katherine Fine – 1st in Advanced Math: Pre-Calculus

Allison Harmon – 1st in Spanish IV

Camille Truxillo – 1st in English IV

Samantha Wild – 1st in Biology II

FOREIGN LANGUAGE AWARDS

National Spanish Exam Level 3: Iriel Duplessis – Honorable Mention

National Spanish Exam Level 4: Josie Sanders – Honorable Mention

Milan Solis – Honorable Mention

Miranda Bishop – Bronze medal

Allison Harmon – Bronze medal

National Latin Exam:

Margaret Redmann – Maxima Cum Laude

Kathryn Fine – Summa Cum Laude

Catherine Redmann – Summa Cum Laude

CC Truxillo – Summa Cum Laude

Le Grand Councours, the National French Exam: Berit Stolz – Honorable Mention

Senior Academic Honor Day

SENIORS

STATE LITERARY RALLY:

District and State Qualifiers:

Rachel Fath – Civics

Katherine Harper – Calculus I

Charlotte Raymond –Physics

Nicole Tran – Psychology

LOUISIANA HIGH SCHOOL RALLY:

Superior Rating

Carol Alley – Treble Trio

Leah Charles – Treble Trio

Lisette Gowland – Treble Trio

Emily Giacona – Treble Solo Low Voice

Kelci Lewis – Treble Solo High Voice

Rhian Winfrey – Treble Solo High Voice

LOUISIANA MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION (LMEA) HONOR PERFORMANCE EVENTS:

Vocal Solo and Small Ensemble Assessment Festival:

Superior Rating Solo: Emily Giacona, Kelci Lewis, Rhian Winfrey

Ensemble: Trio of Carol Alley, Lisette Gowland, and Leah Charles

Instrumental Solo and Small Ensemble Assessment Festival:

Superior Rating Ensemble: Trio of Victoria Despenza (Marimba), Lisette Gowland (Drums), and Nicole Tran (Bells).

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS AWARD

Lillian Stricker received the Knights of Columbus Award, presented to the senior who has displayed the principles of Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism and in doing so has shown the highest degree of citizenship by helping others especially those less fortunate.

ST. MARY’S DOMINICAN COLLEGE CORPORATION SCHOLARSHIPP

Abi Scanlan received the St. Mary’s Dominican College Corporation Scholarship, presented by Sr. Dominic Savio Estorge, O.P. The scholarship is in memory and honor of the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary who established, maintained, and supported St. Mary’s Dominican College and St. Mary’s Dominican High School.

Service

2022-2023 STUDENT COUNCIL EXECUTIVE BOARD

Student Council Executive Board (E-board) officers were presented with E-Board Medals in recognition of their outstanding leadership and service: President Elise Grefer; Vice-President Isabelle Tran; Secretary Olivia Labruzzo; Treasurer Kiley Rousselle

CHEVRON SCHOLARS ATHLETE AWARD

Zoe Smith received the Chevron Scholars Athlete Award presented by William Dede, Director of Event Operations and Community Relations for the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation. The award recognizes a senior athlete who earned over a 3.0 GPA and participated in sports for at least three years and made a positive contribution to her school and her team.

Service is one of the four pillars of Dominican life and collectively during their years at Dominican, the Class of 2023 completed 24,685 hours of service.

Thirteen students earned the St. Mary’s Dominican Service Award by performing more than 200 hours. Six students recognized for completing more than 500 hours were: Lucy Enger – 832 hours; Madelyn LaVie – 700; Kelci Lewis – 560; Emma Ridge – 545; Landyn Bush – 519; and Chyra Lee – 513.

Academic Honors Student Achievement

SCHOLASTIC ARTS AND WRITING COMPETITION

The following St. Mary’s Dominican High School students received Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards for Southeast Louisiana. Fine Arts teacher Angelle Caffery is moderator of Dominican’s National Art Honor Society.

GOLD KEY: The very best works submitted to local programs. Gold Key works are automatically considered for national-level recognition.

Drawing & Illustration: Evan Bellow, Landyn Bush, Olivia Lavie, Ashleigh LeRouge, Hannah Ohlsson, Adelaide Rodrigue, and Lillian Stouder.

Fashion: Cadence Jackson.

SILVER KEY: Stand-out works submitted to local programs that demonstrate exceptional ability.

Drawing & Illustration: Tessa Caffery, Brooke DiMaggio, Amelia Haab, Vivienne Hotard, Emma Jaques, Kelci Lewis, and Shania Raimer.

Mixed Media: Rylee A Pauley, and Claire Coffer.

Photography: Gabrielle Maggio.

Painting: Rylee Richard.

Personal Essay & Memoir: Shania Raimer.

Poetry: Shania Raimer.

HONORABLE MENTION: Accomplished works submitted to local programs showing great skill and potential.

Drawing and Illustration: Elisabeth Amato, Madeline Branch, Landyn Bush, Abbey Callhover, Avery Darbonne, Brooke DiMaggio, Rylee Fay, Mallory Granier, Rachel Haase, Anne Hardouin, Vivienne Hotard, Olivia Lavie, Kelci Lewis, MaryGrace Ohler, Rylee Richard, and Victoria Volpe.

Photography: Ramsey Aron, Annie Bent, and Sophie Dautrieve.

Printmaking: Sophie Dautrieve.

Painting: Brooke DiMaggio.

Mixed Media: Mary Grace Ohler.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. The Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to identify students with exceptional artistic and literary talent and present their remarkable work to the world through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The Awards give students opportunities for recognition, exhibition, publication, and scholarships. In 2022, students across the United States and Canada entered more than 260,000 original works in 28 different categories of art and writing.

Celebrating Art - National Art Contest

CelebratingArt.com hosts a student art contest to motivate student artists. Top Ten Winners are selected in each age category where their artwork will be part of its publication.

Top Ten winners: Ramsey Aron, Evan Bellow, Madeline Branch, Landyn Bush, Tessa Caffery, Alivia Christiansen, Sara Coogler, Lucy Enger, Lauren Giardina, Mallory Granier, Amelia Haab, Madison Lauve, Madelyn LaVie, Kelci Lewis, Gabrielle Maggio, Sara Merchant, Grace Ohlmeyer, Rylee Pauley, Madeline Pourciau, Anna Thomas, and Joelle Zengarling. High Merit winners representing the top 25% of all entries across the country: Elisabeth Amato, Ellen Darcey, and Emma Jaques.

Front Row (from left): Evan Bellow, Olivia Lavie, Ashleigh LeRouge, Adelaide Rodrigue, Lillian Stouder, and Cadence Jackson. Row Two: Rylee Pauley, Gabby Maggio, Emma Jaques, Brooke DiMaggio, Kelci Lewis, Tessa Caffery, and Shania Raimer. Row Three: Ramsey Aron, Sophie Dautrieve, Annie Bent, Madeline Branch, Anne Hardouin, MaryGrace Ohler, Abbey Callhover, Elisabeth Amato, Victoria Volpe, Rachel Haase, and Mallory Granier. Not Pictured: Landyn Bush, Claire Coffer, Avery Darbonne, Rylee Fay, Amelia Haab, Vivienne Hotard, Hannah Ohlsson, and Rylee Richard.

Student Achievement Academic Honors

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH AWARDS

DOMINICAN

JUNIORS

RECEIVE ACHIEVEMENT

AWARDS

IN WRITING FROM NCTE Dominican juniors Meredith Kononchek and Camille Truxillo were selected for the 2023 Achievement Awards in Writing from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). During this school year, the students were in the English IV Advanced Placement class, taught by Dominican English teacher Ms. Casey Lefante.

Meredith Kononchek, received First Class designation and Camille Truxillo received Excellent designation. National judges evaluated writing entries for expression of ideas, language use, and unique perspective and voice. The NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing is a schoolbased writing program established in 1957 to encourage high school students to write and to recognize some of the best student writers in the nation. Only students who are juniors may participate.

This year, schools nominated 360 students to participate in the Achievement Awards in Writing Program. Of that number, 114 received First Class designation, 131 Superior, 71 Excellent, and 31 Merit.

DOMINICAN 8th GRADERS NAMED PROMISING YOUNG WRITERS BY NCTE

Dominican 8th grade students Shanlee Raimer and Riya Shah were recognized as 2023 Promising Young Writers by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Shanlee Raimer received First Class honors, and Riya Shah was awarded Superior honors. They were students in Ms. Casey Lefante’s English I Honors class.

The Promising Young Writers Program represents NCTE’s commitment to early and continuing work in the development of writing. The school-based writing program was established in 1985 to stimulate and recognize writing talents and to emphasize the importance of writing skills among eighth-grade students.

This year, schools nominated 146 students to participate in the Promising Young Writers Program. Of those, 56 were selected to receive the First Class designation, 58 Superior, 27 Excellent, and 5 Merit.

NCTE is the nation’s most comprehensive literacy organization, supporting more than 25,000 teachers across the preK–college spectrum. Through the expertise of its members, NCTE has served at the forefront of every major improvement in the teaching and learning of English and the language arts since 1911.

NATIONAL ENGLISH HONOR SOCIETY CONTESTS

Seniors Ellen Darcey and Cadence Jackson, and junior Gabrielle Marcello were among the October/November National English Honor Society (NEHS) Flash Fiction Contest Winners: Six-Word Stories. Any member from an active chapter, student or advisor, could submit original flash fiction based on the theme of “six-word stories.” Their entries were “Birthday Flowers” by Ellen Darcey; “The Burden of Grief” by Cadence Jackson; “The Optimist” by Gabrielle Marcello. The students were members of Dominican’s Veritas Chapter of NEHS.

Founded and sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta, NEHS is the only international organization exclusively for high school students and faculty who, in the field of English, merit special note for past and current accomplishments. Members of Dominican’s Veritas Chapter of the NEHS must have a 3.75 average in English and a 3.5 GPA. Dominican’s Veritas Chapter head moderator is Kristin Thomas and co-moderator is Charlene Ford.

Ellen Darcey and Cadence Jackson were among the twelve National English Honor Society (NEHS) Writers

Meredith Kononchek Camille Truxillo

Shanlee Raimer

Riya Shah

Ellen Darcey Cadence Jackson

Gabrielle Marcello

Scholarships Student Achievement

St. Mary’s Dominican High School awarded scholarships to 15 students during the St. Martin de Porres Scholarship Awards Ceremony, which honored recipients and benefactors. St. Martin de Porres is the patron saint of social justice. Recipients and scholarships awarded are:

Amelie Szapary

Helen Kuehne Evans ’43 Scholarship

The Kitchen Family Endowed Scholarship

Arianna Collins

The Reuther Family Endowed Scholarship

The Margaret Allen and Elmo C. Waltzer Endowed Scholarship

Gabriella Brent

Ann M. Lewis Endowed Tuition Grant Scholarship

Dakota Daniels

Ruth U. Fertel Endowed Scholarship

The Sid and Harry Kammer II Endowed Scholarship

Emma Knock

Dorothy D. Porter II Endowed Scholarship

The Grandparents Tuition Assistance Fund

Amiya Bullie

Sr. Delia McDonald, O.P. Endowed Scholarship

Fiona Szapary

Von Wolff II Endowed Scholarship

Leah and Jill Weis Scholarship

Jai’dyn Jones

Shirley “Sherps” Wiemers Endowed Scholarship

James P Raymond Jr. Foundation Endowed Scholarship

Joy Nesanovich Hillebrand and Lauren Nesanovich Kinberger Endowed Scholarship

Kaylee Gonzales

Joseph G. and Marguerite Ayala ’35 Lier Endowed Scholarship

Chiappetta Family Scholarship, Dorinda, ’83, Shelly, ’85, and Dawn ’89

Kymani Singleton

Elaine Bernissant Conlan Scholarship Endowment Fund

Sr. Mary Veronica Miceli, O.P. Endowed Scholarship

Maci Walker

Endowed Agape Scholarship in Memory of Mary Truxillo Boudreaux ’51

Sr. Mary Veronica Miceli, O.P. Endowed Scholarship

Jay and Charlotte Mince Bourgeois ’62 Scholarship Fund

Maryah Creighton

Blanchard-Kevlin Memorial Endowed Scholarship

Elaine Prager Ridgley ’53 Endowed Scholarship

Riley Crespo

The Maria (Maruja) Fernandez Leon Tuition Grant Assistance

Gracyn Sapp

Julie Waltzer Flick ’69 Endowed Scholarship Fund Class of 1961 Scholarship

Tessa Fox

Kathleen Louapre Howell ’62 Scholarship Fund

The Lew and Linda Satterlee Myers ’68 Scholarship

Scholarship recipients, Front row (from left) Gabriella Brent, Amiya Bullie, Arianna Collins, Maryah Creighton, Riley Crespo, and Dakota Daniels. Back Row: Kaylee Gonzales, Jai’dyn Jones, Emma Knock, Gracyn Sapp, Kymani Singleton, Amelie Szapary, Fiona Szapary, and Maci Walker. Not Pictured: Tessa Fox.

Scholarships Student Achievement

During a ceremony on campus, St. Mary’s Dominican High School awarded academic scholarships to 23 incoming 8th graders representing 15 different elementary schools. Academic scholarship awards are based on the students’ academic records and their performance on the High School Placement Test. Recipients and scholarships awarded:

Sandra Smallpage

Alumnae Association Endowed Scholarship

Hannah Geihsler

Carol Lohfink Drawe Endowed Scholarship

Grace Guidry

Class of 1957 Endowed Scholarship

Ruby Spreen

Denise Galatoire Schoen Endowed Scholarship

Camille Weimer

Dorothy D. Porter I Endowed Scholarship

Elizabeth Redmann

Dr. and Mrs. William Dardis Scholarship

Valentina Smith

Drs. Jewell (Lozes) and Richard Wunderlich Endowed Scholarship

Madelyn Nguyen

Gauthier Endowed Scholarship

Camille Hymel

Karen Graffagnini Favret ’62 Endowed Scholarship

Eliah Sheridan

Kathleen Lier Endowed Scholarship

Sophia Perez

Lolita Fernandez de la Reguera Pittman Endowed Scholarship

Mary Katherine Raymond

Lynn and Arthur S. Mann Family Scholarship

Hadley Bonifacic

Patricia J. Blanchard Scholarship

Avery Johnston

Ruth U. Fertel Endowed Scholarship

Zoey Ochoa

Sid and Harry Kammer Endowed Scholarship

Veronica Matherne

Siena Endowed Scholarship

Macie Hebert

Sr. Angeline Magro, O.P. Scholarship

Addison Crescioni

Sr. Waldia Warden, O.P. Endowed Scholarship

Aubrie Dalton

The Father Jean Marie Germain Tuition Endowed Scholarship

Therese Hymel

The Joan Frischertz Mascaro Endowed Scholarship

Avery Boland

Veritas Endowed Scholarship

Amelia Hernandez

Vivian Agnes Chasez Coney Memorial Endowed Scholarship

Abigail Bosch

Von Wolff I Endowed Scholarship

Scholarship recipients, Front Row (from left): Avery Boland, Hadley Bonifacic, Abigail Bosch, Addison Crescioni, Aubrie Dalton, Hannah Geihsler, Grace Guidry, Macie Hebert, Amelia Hernandez, and Camille Hymel. Second Row: Therese Hymel, Avery Johnston, Veronica Matherne, Madelyn Nguyen, Zoey Ochoa, Sophia Perez, Mary Katherine Raymond, Elizabeth Redmann, Eliah Sheridan, Sandra Smallpage, Valentina Smith, Ruby Spreen, and Camille Weimer.

A Toast of Praise

Dominican Students Recognized by New Orleans Archdiocese

ST. TIMOTHY AWARD RECIPIENT

Senior Madeline Kerber of St. Catherine of Siena Parish was among 14 teenagers who received the prestigious St. Timothy Award for their leadership in parish and school ministries. Archbishop Gregory Aymond and CYO Director Adrian Jackson presented the awards during the CYO/Youth and Young Adult Ministry Annual Youth Leadership Celebration at Divine Mercy Church in Kenner.

The national St. Timothy Award is the highest award the Archdiocese of New Orleans can bestow upon a young person. The award seeks to recognize, from the diocesan level, outstanding youth who exemplify Christian service, Catholic leadership, and good moral standards.

service

NEW ORLEANS ARCHDIOCESAN STUDENT OF THE YEAR

Lourdes Maristany, a St. Mary’s Dominican High School 8th grader and the New Orleans Archdiocesan Student of the Year, is a nominee for the Louisiana Catholic School Student of the Year Award.

At Dominican, she was an Alpha Honor Roll student, a Student Council Vice Representative for the 8th Grade, and a member of the Varsity Tennis Team. She participated in several clubs, including Ecology and Stewardship, Student Ambassadors, and Student Council where she spearheaded the school’s Happy Feet Sock Drive that donated socks to Ozanam Inn.

The Louisiana Catholic School Student of the Year program is a statewide competition that recognizes students in 5th, 8th, and 12th grades who have demonstrated excellence in discipleship, leadership, service, citizenship, and academic achievement. It is open to students at Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the Dioceses of Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Houma-Thibodaux, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport.

BOOK AWARDS

Fourteen St. Mary’s Dominican High School juniors were presented Book Awards from universities and colleges to celebrate achievement of the Junior Class. The annual Book Awards are in recognition of academic excellence, strong character, and commitment to community service. School counselors, teachers, and administrators nominate the student or students they feel best embody the criteria set by each college or university.

AWARDS PRESENTED:

Reese Macicek – Brandeis University Book Award

Mia Reyes and Josie Sanders – Clarkson University High School Achievement Award

Katherine Fine – Dartmouth Club of the Gulf Coast Award

Tamia Williams – Lasell University Book Award

Eliza Christovich – Rachel Carson Healthy Planet Award, Chatham University

Isabella Sachitano – Rensselaer Medal Award

Samantha Wild – Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Science and Math Award

Sophia Sherwood – RIT Business and Leadership Award

Meredith Kononchek – RIT Women in Stem Award

Rachel Haase – RIT Innovation and Creativity Award

Krystal Fernandes – Stonehill College Book Award College Book Award

Camille Truxillo – Tulane Book Award

Tess Baker – Williams College Book Award

Book Awards recipients (from left): Isabella Sachitano, Tamia Williams, Reese Macicek, Mia Reyes, Meredith Kononchek, Krystal Fernandes, Eliza Christovich, Camille Truxillo, Tess Baker, Kathryn Fine, Rachel Haase, Josie Sanders, Samantha Wild, and Sophia Sherwood.

Faculty & Staff Highlights

PERSONNEL SERVICE AWARDS 2022-2023

5 Years:

Leslie Cobar

Cameron Hahne

Elyse Harrison

Robyn Miltenberger

Gerald Richoux II

Al Silvas

10 Years:

Celeste Anding

Sandra Cordray

Cynthia Donnelly

Crissy Giacona

Mark Gonnella

Courtney Margot

Catherine Thomson

15 Years:

Janine Koenig

Theresa Maquar

Dr. Wayne Rupp, Jr.

20 Years:

Beverly Battiste

Jessica Chatellier

Evelyn Maggio

Mazie Stewart

25 Years:

Ryan Reuter

Paul Spitzfaden

45 Years:

Aline Delgado

Eva Rezza

COACH JESSICA CHATELLIER Keynote Speaker at Empower 2022

Dominican’s Head Volleyball Coach Mrs. Jessica Chatellier was among the keynote speakers at Empower 2022 – Women Empowering Women that featured inspirational and successful leaders from a variety of industries and their efforts to support and empower women. In her talk, “Pushing Outside Your Comfort Zone,” she shared insights from her experience as a sixsport athlete, coach, and educator.

“Being an athlete has taught me many things along the way, but I’m going to go into my pregame mode and use a quote to describe one of the most important lessons it has ever taught me. ‘A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.’ Growth is necessary in all aspects of life. To grow as an athlete, a professional, as a person, we must constantly push ourselves past that point of fear to see what we can actually achieve.”

Inspiration comes from those she has coached and “…to see them go forward and take on this world with the confidence and people skills that volleyball has helped them gain, is why I do what I do every day. ….Eleanor Roosevelt said – ‘Do one thing every day that scares you.’ I leave you today with that challenge.”

REVEREND JEFFREY A. MONTZ Awakening Hearts to God

As Dominican’s Chaplain, Reverend Jeffrey Montz, S.T.L. leads the school community in the celebration of Masses and offers spiritual guidance. From a young age he was involved in his family’s parish, Our Lady of Prompt Succor in Chalmette and credits his parents as, “the first ones to teach me how to pray and to ensure that I and my siblings were praying each night. As we grew, and our attention span grew, this became nightly reading from Sacred Scripture followed by praying the Rosary together. Since I really do see a vocation as an invitation from God to a particular way of life, I credit my parents with creating the environment that allowed me to hear that invitation from God, and they had taught me how to pray so that I could continue to discern that call even after I had entered the seminary. In that sense, I already came into the seminary with a good habit of prayer because of the example my parents set for me.”

In 2004 Fr. Montz graduated from St. Joseph Seminary College at St. Benedict, Louisiana with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts. At Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, he continued his seminary formation and in 2008 received a Master of Divinity. That same year he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and assigned to St. Charles Borromeo Church in Destrehan. In 2013 he studied in Rome to pursue a licentiate in spiritual theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, also known as the Angelicum. The Angelicum has its roots in the Dominican mission to study and to teach truth. This mission is reflected in the order’s motto, Veritas.

After completing his licentiate in the summer of 2015, he joined the full-time faculty of Notre Dame Seminary where he serves as Spiritual Director and Professor of Theology for the more than 100 seminarians. As Dominican’s Chaplain, he said, “I look forward to praying with you all and hopefully helping to awaken in your hearts that same thirst for God that others have helped to awaken in my own heart.”

St. Mary’s Dominican High School personnel Front Row (from left): Evelyn Maggio, Jessica Chatellier, Beverly Batiste, Mazie Stewart, Paul Spitzfaden, Ryan Reuter, Aline Delgado. Second Row: Theresa Maquar, Janine Koenig, Dr. Wayne Rupp Jr., Crissy Giacona, Mark Gonnella, Cynthia Donnelly, Celeste Anding, Courtney Margot, Sandra Cordray. Third Row: Gerald Richoux II, Robyn Miltenberger, Al Silvas, Cameron Hahne, Leslie Cobar, Elyse Harrison.

“I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A TEACHER.” -EVA REZZA

Walking into Eva Rezza’s classroom, it is evident this is a history classroom. There are books about World War II, posters marking events in world history, a small statute of Socrates flanked by other historical figures. Eva loves ancient history, especially the Egyptian period and the Greeks. “From the Greeks we have democracy; Rome – law. History is telling the story of humankind,” she offers. “And the story begins with once upon a time. I do not just teach through books. I use additional resources – travel guides, literature, art. What makes teaching so enjoyable is when the students see the connections and their response is, ‘I did not know that!’”

She and husband Martin always knew what career path they would choose. “He wanted to be an architect,” she said. “In the 8th grade he drew design plans for a house that his uncle later used to build his home. In high school I joined Future Teachers of America. I liked helping people and influencing them. All my teachers I liked and admired them.”

The year she entered Warren Easton High School was the year it became coed. “The boys did a three-day strike in protest of it changing to a coed school and having a woman named as principal,” she recalls. “After the third day they were back in class.”

She pursued a degree in education at Newcomb College, now part of Tulane University. During her senior year, Eva student taught at Alcée Fortier High School for half of the school year and enrolled in one course at the college. There were 35 students in her class at Fortier. Her first full time employment was teaching at Live Oak, a public school located in the Irish Channel. She was there for three years. “It was a baptism by fire,” she recalls with a smile. At New Orleans Head Start she helped prepare young children for Kindergarten and described her work “an eye opener and fantastic experience. It was so rewarding to see their response to using crayons for the first time and drawing.”

When her daughter Evie was eligible to start 1st grade, Eva transferred to teach at Resurrection of the Lord. There she taught 7th and 8th graders. Evie enrolled at Dominican, and her mother joined the faculty. Eva’s sons, Tony and Marty, are Brother Martin graduates.

Sr. Delia hired her. Sr. Hildegarde was treasurer. Eva taught freshmen World history, sophomores US History, and one year of geography and civics. For five years she was coach of Dominican’s Quiz Bowl team that competed at the local and state levels. There were four students for the A and B teams that met after school to prepare for competition. Quiz Bowl recorded at WDSU-TV studios where on one visit the students and Eva met comedian Dick Van Dyke.

When their children were young, she and her husband took them on trips around the United States. There were visits to Kentucky to see where the Cherokee tribe had lived, travel out West to visit the national parks, plus Mt. Rushmore in

South Dakota. Later the trips expanded – Europe, Australia, the Middle East. She was a chaperone for one of Dominican’s student travels to Europe. In Asia she walked the Great Wall of China and saw the Terracotta Army, a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. Switzerland and Hawaii are her favorite destinations – each one with beautiful foliage and landscapes, but equally appealing.

Daughter Evie taught in public schools before teaching at St. Philip Neri Catholic School where she is now the Technology Coordinator. Her mother recalls, “She was a tremendous help when Dominican went with virtual classroom due to the COVID Pandemic. Adjusting to the technology was challenging and she helped me.”

“Teaching at Dominican has been so rewarding. I have enjoyed the classroom, but also the community events outside the classroom – the plays, volleyball games, band performances, choir concerts. Dominican is very well rounded. Not just STEM, but STREAM™ where you have religion and arts, with science, technology, engineering, and math.”

Her 45 years teaching at Dominican has a lasting impact on students. In 2021, when Rosalie Stoner (’11) received her doctorate in Classical Languages and Literatures from the University of Chicago, she shared with her alma mater her gratitude for Dominican’s holistic education that gave her the opportunity to study the ancient world with inspiring Dominican teachers Eva Rezza and Dr. Wayne Rupp.

Retirement will herald new opportunities for Eva’s continued engagement with community. She looks forward to being an active volunteer. Reading books for listeners of Lighthouse for the Blind is among the opportunities she is exploring.

A Love of Learning for Patricia Byrne

Dominican is family for Assistant Principal Patricia Byrne. The 1975 graduate is one of nine children. Her four sisters and mother are alumnae. Aunt and godmother Sr. Mary Ester Warren, O.P. made Patricia’s First Communion dress while living in the convent on campus. Growing up Patricia was fascinated with the Apollo space program and wanted to be an astronaut after watching the first men walk on the moon. When her eighth-grade teacher asked some “big kids” to help the “little kids” with their homework, “I discovered that I explained math well and enjoyed it,” she recalled. In high school she learned the military would not accept her because of her eye issues. Although her father and uncles were engineers and tried their best to steer her in that direction, she wanted to teach math.

In 1979 she married her high school sweetheart, J. Malcolm Byrne, earned a BS in Mathematics Education with a minor in Business Education from Louisiana State University, and took her first teaching position at an all-girl’s school where she later became the math department chair. In 1995 she received an MS in Teaching Mathematics from Loyola University New Orleans.

She started teaching math at Dominican in 2002. Her love of learning and openness to people’s ideas is shared by her children Anita, John, and Matthew. At Dominican she enjoys the people and the Catholic faith community, “the daily prayer, especially by the student preachers,” she shared. “I admire their commitment, insight, and witness to their faith at a young age. They have helped me to do the same in my life. I enjoy helping and watching people learn, whether it is students, faculty, or staff. There is always something new to discover, learn, and share. I find it fascinating how people can think differently to solve problems. Whether it is teaching or in collaboration with teachers, I love to hear people’s perspectives and suggestions. Dominican has wonderfully creative teachers who have embraced change and genuinely love their subject matter and their students.”

Responsibilities have included professional development and technology. Working with colleagues David Ruth and Louis Negotto, the trio implemented a wireless network with student personal devices and Microsoft Office 365. She helped design the Technology Center and Creation Space, the Veritas Room for computer science and graphic design course; an on-line inventory system to track equipment and develop a laptop loaner program for students. Among the professional development projects: administering Title II and Title IV Federal Funds for equipment and teacher training, including using funds to assist teachers obtain master’s degrees and become Microsoft certified; working with Department Chairs on faculty professional development; helping schedule and design technology training for new teachers and students.

She served on AdvancEd accreditation teams and steering committees at several schools and led Dominican’s steering committee for its four accreditation cycles. The accreditation teams’ work helped her understand the AdvancED/Cognia process and witness how other schools operate. “School improvement involves all stakeholders and takes consistent deliberate effort to achieve goals. Dominican’s commitment to school improvement has resulted in positive changes that impact students’ daily experience on campus and performance on standardized tests. It is best reflected in how Dominican has ‘changed with the times’ by developing the STREAM™ program, utilizing technology, adding a creation space, and adding to the curriculum dual enrollment, computer science, AP Art, and engineering courses.

Her first plan when she retires, “is to turn off the alarm clock. Malcolm and I are retiring at the same time. For the first six months, we plan to relax and do some maintenance on our home. We are thinking of traveling, but have not made any definitive plans as of now. I am sure there will be a grand adventure somewhere within a year.”

Basketball Cross Country Golf

Soccer Softball Swim

Tennis Track & Field Volleyball

Fall Sports

Swim Team

Division I State Runner Up

• Annalise Gagliano - 50 yard freestyle State Champion

• Kaylee Caro - 500 yard freestyle State Champion

• 200 yard freestyle relay (Ginny Robinson, Annalise Gagliano, Kayleigh Jollands, and Haley Valdine)State Champions

• 200 yard medley relay (Riley Crespo, Kayleigh Jollands, Kendall Jollands, and Haley Valdine)State Champions

• 400 yard freestyle relay (Ginny Robinson, Kendall Jollands, Riley Crespo, and Annalise Gagliano)State Champions

DISTRICT CHAMPIONS

• Kaylee Caro - 200 yard freestyle and 500 yard freestyle District Champion

• Riley Crespo - 200 yard IM District Champion

• Kayleigh Jollands - 100 yard breast stroke District Champion

• Kendall Jollands - 100 yard backstroke and butterfly District Champion

• Haley Valdine - 100 yard freestyle District Champion

• 200 yard freestyle relay - District Champions

• 200 yard medley - District Champions

• 400 yard freestyle relay - District Champions

METRO CHAMPIONS

• Riley Crespo - 200 yard IM Metro Champion

• 200 yard medley - Metro Champions

• 400 yard freestyle relay - Metro Champions

Coached by Mr. Bret Hanemann

Athletics

Cross Country Team State 5th Place

DISTRICT RUNNER UP

REGIONAL RUNNER UP

Coached by Mr. Paul Garvey

Cross Country Regional Runner Up - Quailified for State (from left) Morgan Trauth - 3rd place; Virginia Turner - 4th place; Kaitlyn Wismar - 7th place; Mary Cate Garvey - 13th place; Isabelle Bailey - 14th place; Katherine Patron - 17th place; Enna Hawes - 19th place

Division I State Runner Up Swim Team - Front row (from left): Kaylee Caro, Lauren Santos, Allyson Johnson, Riley Crespo, Madison Beckmann, Lauren Giardina, and Blair Foss. Second row: Haley Valdine, Kendall Jollands, Sydney Ranson, and Lila Merchant. Back row: Annalise Gagliano, Virginia Robinson, Terese Vocke, Embry Palmisano, Julia Davis, and Kayleigh Jollands.

Division I

State

Volleyball Team

Champions - Back 2 Back 2 Back!

DISTRICT CHAMPIONS

OVERALL RECORD of 43-3

Camryn Chatellier named MVP of the Division I State Championship Game.

Coached by Mrs. Jessica Chatellier

(Top photo) The Dominican Varsity Volleyball team celebrates winning the Division I STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - THREE YEARS IN A ROW !

Front row (from left): Maia Briuglio, Aurore Tortorich, Lauren Pipitone, Camryn Chatellier, Molly Baker, Rachel Zamjahn, and Athletic Trainer Peyton Uzee. Back row: Head Coach Jessica Chatellier, Assistant Coach Heather Nunez, Zoie Mitchell, Grace Landrum, Tamia Williams, Noelie Haddad, O'Neil Haddad, Mykail Lusco, Gabby Marcello, Zoe Smith, Anne Marie Hardouin, Assistant Coach Ashlee Juhas, and Assistant Coach Kaitlyn Schoeppner.

Winter Sports Athletics

Soccer Team Division I State SemiFinalist

DISTRICT RUNNER UP

OVERALL RECORD of 19-3-6

Coached by Mr. Al Silvas

• Named 2022 United Soccer Coaches Girl’s High School Regional Coach of the Year for the Private/ Parochial Classification

Varsity Soccer Team

Basketball Team

Division I Regional Round

DISTRICT RUNNER UP

OVERALL RECORD 23 - 8

Coached by Mr. Ryan Reuter

The

defeated St. Amant 3-1 to advance to the semifinals! Front Row (from left): Juliette Marino, Ella Jones, Olivia Labruzzo, Morgan Rotolo, Ella Goings, Kendall Guidroz, and Mattie Cantrell. Middle row: Theresa Newburger, Lizzie Phillips, Annmarie Dacus, Hayley Adorno, Kristian Champagne, Mallory Cascio, Grace Wattigney, Avery Frey, Mary Katherine Werling, Kiley Rousselle, and Kiersten Smith. Back row: Bryce Couvillon, Caroline Detillier, Corinne Lannan, Evelyn Ieyoub, Ashley Montoya, Stella Zippert, Zoe Miller, Olivia Icamina, Stella Martin, Gia Thompson, and Lily Ellis.

Front row (from left): Lillian Reyes, Leah Patterson, Sophie Naquin, Molly Baker, Harper Griffin, Visa Alvarado, and Kalie Tu. Back row: Rachel Fath, Bailey Johnson, Sophia Martin, Katherine Ellis, Zoie Mitchell, and Rachel Zamjahn.

Golf Team

DISTRICT RUNNER UP

METRO - 4th PLACE

REGIONAL - 8th PLACE

Sahithi Koneru placed 2nd in Regionals, 5th overall at the LHSAA Division I State Golf Tournament!

Coached by Mr. Rick Ciolino

Gymnastics Team

Division I Level 8 State 5th Place

Gymnastics team members Bryce Couvillon, Maggie Calix, Meredith Huck, and Lauren Babineaux competed in the LHSAA State Gymnastics meet.

Lauren Babineaux was the State Champion on the uneven parallel bars - she scored a perfect 10! She placed 2nd on the balance beam and 3rd on the floor exercise. Lauren was the Level 8 ALL-AROUND Champion with a composite score of 38.2250!

Coached by Mr. Ryan Reuter

Softball Team

Division I Regional Round

OVERALL RECORD of 21 - 11

DISTRICT CHAMPIONS

Coached by Mrs. Dawn Benoit

Golf Team members and coaches at regionals (from left): Assistant Coach Jerry Brumfield, Evan Bellow, Sahithi Koneru, Annie Dykes, Sara Rouse, and Head Coach Rick Ciolino.

Gymnastics Team members (from left): Ava Buquoi, Simone Gaudet, Briana Shook, Bryce Couvillon, Lauren Babineaux, and Meredith Huck.

Dominican Softball team members on the road to Regionals - Front row (from left): Sadie Cambre, Jovie Leingang, Evelyn Booth, Delaney Durr, Kirsten Goodwin, Raegan Porche, Ella Bertucci, and Maddie Branch. Back row: Hailey Bourgeois, Sara Tracy, Sarah Steeg, Kalei Masson, Autumn Green, Aubrey Daigrepont, Mykail Lusco, Sophia Martin, and Ava Lusco.

New Record Holders

SOCCER

Ella Goings - All-Time Leading Scorer - 88

SOFTBALL

Ella Bertucci - 94 career stolen bases

Mykail Lusco - 31 career homeruns

TRACK & FIELD

Olivia Bordes - 100 meters (12.3 seconds)

Tennis Team

State 5th Place

DISTRICT RUNNER UP

REGIONAL RUNNER UP

Coached by Mrs. Stephanie Bollman

Track & Field

DISTRICT - 3rd PLACE

REGIONAL - 8th PLACE

Olivia Bordes - District champion in the Long Jump

Bryce Couvillon - District champion in the High Jump

Morgan Trauth, Kaitlyn Byrd, Virginia Turner, Bryce Couvillon, Kaitlyn Wismar, Enna Hawes, Katherine Patron, Mary Kate Garvey, and Caroline Bailey qualified for the State Meet

Coached by Mr. Paul Garvey

Track and field members who competed in regionals - Front row (from left): Samantha Wild, Enna Hawes, Bryce Couvillon, Morgan Trauth, Jaylah Holmes, and Madison Bazile. Middle row: Leah Charles, Katherine Patron, Isabelle Bailey, Kaitlyn Wismar, Harper Griffin, A’Jah Canselo, Kaitlyn Byrd. Back row: Olivia Bordes, Caroline Bailey, Meg Garvey, Mary Cate Garvey, Brooke Babin, Bridget Palermo, and Virginia Turner.

Tennis team members and coaches (from left): Assistant Coach Peggy Miner, Lourdes Maristany, Sofia Chanes, A’Maya Freeman, Bailey Couret, Kay Harper, Elle Thomas, Enna Hawes, Mackenzie Hertz, and Head Coach Stephanie Bollman.

LOU REILLY AWARD

The Lou Reilly Award is presented in memory of a wonderful Dominican graduate. For many years she served the community as an educator with a special love for athletics and student athletes. She saw athletic competition and sportsmanship as an important part of the Dominican High School spirit. The award recognizes the athlete who continually tries to improve her skills and listens to her coaches and teammates. This athlete encourages her teammates and gives her full effort at each moment. The student athletes themselves have a nominating vote in the selection of award recipients. The final decision is left to the discretion of the coaches.

9 Award Recipients

JV SOCCER: Merrill Luttrell

Louisiana High School Athletic

LHSAA ALL ACADEMIC TEAM

Presented for outstanding academic achievement by maintaining Point Average of 3.50 or higher during their academic career while varsity high school athletics.

• Isabelle Bailey (CC/T&F), Madison Beckmann (Swim), Ella Bertucci Maggie Calix (CC/Gymnastics/T&F), Victoria Cambre (CC/T&F), (Swim), Caroline Detillier (Soccer), Annie Dykes (Golf), Avery Goings (Soccer), O’Neil Haddad (Volleyball), Kay Harper (Tennis), (Soccer), Allyson Johnson (Swim), Bailey Johnson (Basketball), (Soccer), Roma McAlear (CC/T&F), Kiley Rousselle (Soccer), Zoe Smith (Volleyball), Audrey Wyble (T&F)

LHSAA ALL ACADEMIC 4.0 SCHOLAR TEAM

A student-athlete’s six-semester GPA must have an un-weighted presented for exemplary academic achievement by maintaining the Point Average among all athletes during their academic career while varsity high school athletics.

• Katherine Ellis (CC/BB), Rachel Fath (Basketball), Stella Martin Brooke Babin (T&F)

8th GRADE BASKETBALL: Grace Blamphin

JV CROSS COUNTRY: Caroline Bailey, VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY: Isabelle Bailey, SWIMMING: Riley Crespo

VOLLEYBALL: Kaitlyn Byrd (8th grade), Bailey Couret (JV), Noelie Haddad (Varsity)

VARSITY SOCCER: Morgan Rotolo, JV BASKETBALL: Harper Griffin, VARSITY BASKETBALL: Sophia Martin

TENNIS: Kay Harper, GOLF: Annie Dykes, JV SOFTBALL: Raegan Porche, VARSITY SOFTBALL: Ella Bertucci, VARSITY TRACK & FIELD: Isabelle Bailey.

JV TRACK & FIELD: Josie Sanders (not pictured)

College Signings

LAUREN BABINEAUX Ithaca College Gymnastics

KENDALL GUIDROZ

Louisiana State University-Eunice Soccer

Association

maintaining a cumulative Grade while participating in Bertucci (Softball), (CC/T&F), Riley Crespo Avery Frey (Soccer), Ella (Tennis), Olivia Icamina (Basketball), Olivia Labruzzo (Soccer), Abi Scanlan (CC),

TEAM 4.00. The award is the highest Grade while participating in Martin (Soccer),

ISABELLE BAILEY Rhodes College Track

BAILEY JOHNSON Millsaps College Basketball

ELLA BERTUCCI

Belmont University Softball

MYKAIL LUSCO

Southeastern Louisiana University Softball

Athletics

RILEY CRESPO

New Mexico State University Swimming

STELLA MARTIN College of Sewanee Soccer

LILY ELLIS

Nicholls State University Soccer

End of the Year Award Recipients

From left: Katherine Ellis, Stella Martin, Sophia Martin

The DOMINICANITE AWARD recognizes the senior who participated in the most athletic teams throughout her Dominican career. This honor was awarded to KATHERINE ELLIS

The SCHOLASTIC AWARD, given to the senior who participated in at least two sports per year and has the highest cumulative GPA, was presented to KATHERINE ELLIS.

The ST. SEBASTION AWARD, presented to the outstanding senior in athletics, leadership, and academic excellence, was awarded to STELLA MARTIN

The LEE FERNANDEZ DE LA REGUERA PITTMAN ’51 AWARD , voted by the Dominican coaching staff recognizing the overall varsity athlete who exhibits great athletic ability, strong character, and a positive attitude, was merited by SOPHIA MARTIN .

Second Harvest Canned Food Drive

Marking its 24th year, St. Mary’s Dominican High School’s annual food drive collected 58,541 donations for Second Harvest Food Bank. Led by Dominican’s Campus Ministry Club, all class levels and alumnae participated in the oneweek drive. The theme for this year’s competition was, “So You Think You CAN Dance.” Eighth Grade received the Spirit of Service Award for bringing in more than 8,000 items in one day. A generous donation of $12,500 from Mrs. Jessica Brandt and Ray Brandt Automotive contributed to the successful drive. Donations breakdown:

Seniors – 23,679

8th Grade – 11,791

Juniors – 11,578

Sophomores – 4,931

Alumnae – 4,662

Freshmen – 1,900

Second Harvest Food Bank leads the fight against hunger in South Louisiana by providing food access, advocacy, education, and disaster response. Second Harvest provides food and support to 700+ community partners and programs across 23 parishes. The staff and volunteers distribute the equivalent of more than 48 million meals to 300,000+ people a year.

Happy Feet Sock Drive

Twelve area schools participated, donating 6,700 pairs of socks to homeless men, women, and children at Ozanam Inn. Dominican collected 933 pairs.

Student Council organized Dominican's week-long Happy Feet Sock Drive, spearheaded by 8th Grade Student Council member Lourdes Maristany.

Adopt-A-Family

St. Mary’s Dominican High School’s religion classes and personnel members delivered Christmas spirit when they adopted 154 individuals for the school’s annual Adopt-a-Family program. Receiving gifts and goodwill were St. Rita Church, the Metro Centers for Community Advocacy, and Catholic Charities’ programs for Refugee Services, Immigration Services, and Head Start - Incarnate Word. Dominican’s Dads Club members helped with deliveries.

Kindness Week

Community

Thanksgiving Baskets

Exceeding its goal for this year’s annual Thanksgiving Baskets Drive, Dominican delivered 115 Thanksgiving baskets to St. Rita Catholic Church in New Orleans for distribution to families in the neighborhood. The baskets were filled with food items to make a complete Thanksgiving meal for a family. Dominican partnered with St. Rita for this year’s drive.

Dominican’s Campus Ministry coordinated the one-week food drive that collected donations from homerooms, clubs, and athletic teams. Dominican alumnae, spanning several class years, donated 30 Thanksgiving baskets to the annual drive. The Dominican Dads Club volunteers delivered the 115 baskets to St. Rita where Campus Ministry Club officers assisted with distribution. Thanksgiving cards, created by Dominican freshmen as a part of their retreat service project, were included with each basket. Additional food donations were used to stock St. Rita’s food pantry.

January 2023, Student Council carried on the tradition, started by the 2020-2021 Executive Board, of Kindness Week! The purpose was to encourage our school community to start the new year on a positive note. Each day of the week had a theme to help spread kindness. Students and personnel discovered little ways to add kindness into their daily routines and spread kindness to each other whenever possible. Students sent digital notes of encouragement to one another, and inspirational messages on the “Take What You Need” display were available. Student Council members hand-made TPWK (Treat People With Kindness) bracelets and designed stickers for purchase. Students could submit a “shoutout” recognizing a friend or mentor to be read by E-Board during announcements. The King Cake for Kindness sale on Friday was a sweet way to end Kindness Week!

Classroom Experience

Students in Mrs. Latashia Wise-Jackson's Psychology and Psychology Honors classes learned about the brain and its different parts. They learned about neurons and their function as the processing units of the brain which have a responsibility for sending, receiving, and transmitting electrochemical signals throughout the body. The students used various materials such as PlayDoh, candy, marshmallows, and sticks to create a model of each.

Seniors Visit Courthouse

Throughout their final semester, Dominican seniors visited the Eastern District Federal Court and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals where they met several support staff who explained their range of work in the court system. The seniors, accompanied by Civics teachers Randy Duplantis and Anne Kerth, experienced many different aspects of the court system including being briefed by a district judge about a case, witnessing court proceedings, and meeting with an appeals court judge who explained the appeals court process.

Match Day Lesson

Match Day, a term used widely in the graduate medical education community, is when the National Resident Matching Program releases results of applicants seeking residency and fellowship training positions in the United States. When Dr. Lindsay Huber, Dominican’s Assistant Principal over Classroom Supervision and Curriculum Development received a request from Dr. Brian Credo, director of Archbishop Rummel’s Bio-Med track in the preprofessional program for help implementing a lesson plan by the American Association of Medical Colleges to interest high school students in a career in medicine, she connected him with science teacher Janine Koenig.

Dr. Credo, Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Tulane School of Medicine, talked with students in Mrs. Koenig’s Bio II Honors class about medical school and their interests. Before their Match Day at Dominican, all students researched a medical specialty they were interested in and locations throughout the country with residency programs in that specialty. They ranked the programs in order of preference and on Match Day opened their envelopes to see if they matched with their program.

“Staying in character of a Dr., the students asked others about their chosen residency programs,” said Mrs. Koenig. “They had to meet with Drs. in at least five other specialties. The lesson ended with a shared lunch as Match Day is a celebratory event in the real world. Both our students and Rummel’s really enjoyed it. They learned much about medical school and medicine in general.”

It was a unique connection for Spanish teacher Mrs. Claudia Vallejo’s AP Spanish class when the AP Spanish Class from Loyola Blakefield High School in Maryland joined them to interview a father and daughter who are coffee growers in Colombia via videoconference.

LSU Coastal Roots

Students gathered outside Aquinas Hall for their assignment: prepare a plant nursery for 980 Water Hickory and Bald Cypress seeds for planting in the fall. Guiding them were science teacher Mrs. Joann Haydel; Louisiana State University faculty Dr. Pam Blanchard, Associate Professor in the College of Human Science and Education; Dr. Ed Bush, Associate Professor, Ornamental Horticulture at LSU School of Plant, Environment, and Soil Sciences; and Mrs. Dani Dilullo, Director of Education and Engagement, Louisiana Sea Grant.

Mrs. Haydel covers a unit on Louisiana Wetlands with her Earth Science class. “We do a unit on Louisiana Wetlands and the LSU Coastal Roots program is a great way to engage students to actively be stewards of their environment,” she said. “This is our first year to participate in the program. A grant from the Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation Service Learning Program funds our participation.”

Dominican’s planting site partner is the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway where in early April Mrs. Haydel’s students took a restoration planting trip and planted 300 Cypress tree seedlings.

“They learned about the role of the spillway and the importance of planting trees there to increase habitat. We had help from Science-8 and my Physical Science class, who built our campus plant nursery. Through the summer we will watch our seeds grow and hope to have plenty of seedlings for next year’s Earth Science classes to plant in the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway next December or January. Then the cycle will start over, planting new seeds in the spring.”

Lessons in the Sky

It was a first for science teacher Crissy Giacona when she took to the air in a Cessna, 172 Sky Hawk Plane to work on lesson plans for her students. The flight was part of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Aerospace Education Teacher Orientation Program (TOP) Flights for CAP members. Mrs. Giacona learned about the program from other educators attending the International Society for Technology in Education conference who also were doing STEM projects. CAP provides free STEM kits to teachers and Mrs. Giacona has used them in her classes. On flight day, she met pilot Scottie Burge at the Lakefront Airport. Before taking off, he did a preflight check of the airplane with Mrs. Giacona and briefed her about what they would cover during the flight.

Back in the classroom, Mrs. Giacona connected the flying experience with her students. Class discussion ranged from an airplane’s design to its lift and static wicks. “It was amazing the freedom in the air and how quickly you get in the air,” shared Mrs. Giacona. “Once we started moving, we only needed 15 feet to get off the ground. Our speed was 80mph and we were off! I can’t wait for my ride next year.”

Washington, DC Close Up

"The benefits of Close Up go well beyond its mission of advancing civic education. Although students get hands-on lessons in the workings of our government, they get to leave their bubble and experience these lessons with people their age and from all parts of America, giving much more relevance to the world in which they live. Though many political beliefs will change over time, the long-lasting relationships forged during this process are a true testament to our students embracing their role in a larger community."

-Randy Duplantis

Club Awards & Recognitions

Debs Robotics

DOMINICAN ULTRAVIOLET TEAM FINISHES IN TOP 3 AT STATE CHAMPIONSHIP ROBOTICS TOURNAMENT

Dominican’s robotics team, Dominican Ultraviolet, placed third overall at the March 4th Championship Tournament for Louisiana. This is the highest placement for any Dominican Robotics Team since 2013.

Dominican Ultraviolet also won the Motivate Award, took 2nd Place for the Inspire Award, and was a member of the Winning Robot Alliance team during game play. The team finished in the top three out of 23 robots at the Championship Tournament.

Academic Games

NATIONAL ACADEMIC GAMES TOURNAMENT

Dominican students Mia Bavido, Isabelle Anderson, Tess Baker, Camille Truxillo, and Truc Nguyen competed at the Academic Games League of America nationals that were held in Orlando, Florida.

Camille Truxillo earned a perfect score in Equations and took fourth place out of 87 competitors. Camille Truxillo and Isabelle Anderson, along with 3 New Orleans area students competed against 17 teams and placed second in Presidents and against 24 teams placing third in Propaganda.

NEW ORLEANS ACADEMIC GAMES LEAGUE

Presidents

Individual: Camille Truxillo placed 2nd out of 28 competitors. On-Sets

Individual: Isabelle Anderson and Camille Truxillo tied for 3rd place out of 26 competitors.

Dominican’s Academic Games Moderators were Mrs. Monica Haag and Mr. Spencer Schnell.

DEBS TOOK HOME WINS AT STATE AND REGIONALS

At the American All-Star Louisiana State Dance/Drill Team

Championship held in Lafayette, the Debs won Pom State Champion for the third year in a row.

STATE Wins included:

POM: 1st Place Division II; 1st Place Overall State Champions; Choreography Award.

JAZZ: 1st Place Division II ; 3rd Place Overall State.

GAME DAY: 1ST Place Division II; 2nd Place Overall State; Technique Award.

SWEEPSTAKES: 2nd Place

HIGH SCHOOL ENSEMBLES: Jazz 1st Place; Hip Hop 2nd Place. HIGH SCHOOL DUETS: Lily Duplantis and Aubrie Duplantis – 5th Place.

REGIONALS

At the Universal Dance Association Regionals, the Debs placed first in Medium Game Day event. They also placed 4th in Small Varsity Hip Hop and 6th in Small Varsity Jazz.

DOMINICAN DEBS NATIONALLY RANKED IN JAZZ AND GAME DAY

Dominican Debs attended Universal Dance Association’s National Dance Team competition in Orlando, FL where they competed against a combined total of 173 teams from around the country in Jazz, Hip Hop, and Game Day.

The Debs advanced to the finals and were ranked 9th in the nation in Game Day and 21st in the nation in Jazz!

Debs Coach - Fran Moran '87; Moderator - Sina Baldwin '84; Choreographers - Virginia Babin '19 (Jazz); and Ali Dupré '18 (Hip Hop choreography used in Game Day).

Dominican Debs at the American All-Star Louisiana State Dance/Drill Team Championship, Front Row (from left): Claire Kirsch, Alivia Goertz, Maddie Pearce, Reese Macicek, Catherine Greco, Lena Tabony, Maggie Miller, Adelaide Rodrigue, Brooke Babin, and Anna Thomas. Row 2: Gracyn Sapp, Aubrie Duplantis, Reagan Macicek, Remi Layne Hernandez, Ava Windmeyer, Madison Minor, Lucie Burke, Ashleigh LeRouge, and Delaney Hedrick.

Members of Dominican’s award-winning robotics team, Dominican Ultraviolet, (Standing from left): Coach Madelyn Maldonado, Coach Matt Foss, Charlotte Raymond (Captain), Tess Baker, Vanessa Liu, Violet Matherne, Aya Elmadah, HidayaNureen Khan, Emma Plaisance, Mia Reyes, Coach Kenny Lannes, and Coach Crissy Giacona. (Kneeling): Meredith Kononchek, Katelyn Nguyen, Isabella Sachitano, and Marisa Acevedo.

Club Awards & Recognitions

Band & Choir

Speech and Debate Team

NATIONAL SPEECH AND DEBATE TOURNAMENT

MUSIC AWARDS

Col. John Bourgeois Senior High Honor Band – Krystal Fernandes (Flute) and Camille Truxillo (Baritone Saxophone)

LMEA All-State Senior High Honor Mixed Choir – Kathryn Fine (3 Years – Achievement Award) and Anastasia Redmann

District VI Junior High Honor Band – Leah Gilmore (Clarinet) and Isabelle Tsien (Electric Bass)

District VI Senior High Honor Band – Krystal Fernandes (Flute)

District VI Youth Honor Chorus – Andrea Lagos and Emily Praner

District VI Senior High Honor Choir – Isabelle Anderson and Kathryn Fine

District VI Junior High Honor Jazz Band - Leah Gilmore (Clarinet), Isabelle Tsien (Electric Bass) and Marina Vincent (Electric Guitar)

LMEA Vocal Solo and Small Ensemble Assessment Festival –Superior Rating

LMEA Instrumental Solo and Small Ensemble Assessment Festival –Superior Rating

LMEA Vocal Large Ensemble Assessment Festival – Excellent Rating (Stage) & Superior Rating (Sightreading)

LMEA Instrumental Solo and Small Ensemble Assessment Festival –Sweepstakes Rating

At the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) Tournament in Phoenix, four Dominican students were among 6,000 of the nation’s best debaters. Shania Raimer, Class of 2023, was one of the two Senators representing Louisiana in Congressional Debate. Imad Siddiqui was on the Louisiana Purple team with students from Louisiana for World Schools. Emily McDonald competed in Middle School Lincoln Douglas and Shanlee Raimer reached the Middle School Lincoln Douglas Octofinal round.

Bradley Guillory is moderator of Dominican’s Speech and Debate Club. Coaches are Andrew Cerise and Kristina Plunkett.

National Art Honor Society

The entry by St. Mary’s Dominican High School’s National Art Honor Society won the Judges’ Choice Award for the Painted Pumpkin Patch Contest at Lakeside Shopping Center. The contest supports local high school art departments and is sponsored by Lakeside and Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers. Dominican’s “Down the Rabbit Hole Alice in Wonderland” pumpkins featured Cheshire Cat, Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter, Alice, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll.

First Row (from left): Kelci Lewis, Jai’dyn Jones, Isabelle Tsien, Leah Gilmore, Lauren Giardina, Kathryn Fine, Zoha Mahmood, Victoria Despenza, Sahithi Koneru, Krystal Fernandes. Second Row: Andrea Lagos, Eilyn Smith, Camille Truxillo, Meredith Kononchek, Abigail Beben, Heather Engelhardt, Emma Ernst, Lauren Santos, Brooke Lambert, Lillian Stouder. Third Row: Emily Praner, Jessica Cook, Elisabeth Amato, Nicole Tran, Molly Glas, Abbey Sweeney, Lisette Gowland, Anastasia Redmann. Fourth Row: Katherine Amick, Isabelle Anderson, Catherine Redmann, Leah Charles, Rhian Winfrey, Carol Alley, Emily Giacona, Marianne Kononchek

Club Activities JCL

Color Guard

Junior Classical League (JCL) members attended the Louisiana JCL Convention in Natchitoches at the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and The Arts. The NJCL 2022-2023 Theme was “Caelum, non animum matant, qui trans mare currunt.” Those who rush across the sea change their sky, not their soul. – Horace, Ep. 1.11.27

The Dominican Color Guard team hosted a Candy Drive for Boo at the Zoo benefiting the Audubon Zoo and Children’s Hospital New Orleans. Color Guard asked the student body to donate candy to reach their goal of 25,000 pieces of candy. After all of the candy was counted, the student body collected 39,725 pieces of candy!

Ecology & Stewardship Drama

Dominican students attended a Sustainability Symposium, hosted at the Academy of the Sacred Heart, with Mrs. Joann Haydel (far left), club moderator. Keynote speaker was Dr. Aimée K. Thomas, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Loyola University New Orleans and a 1991 Dominican graduate.

Band

Residents and staff at neighboring Chateau de Notre Dame were delighted when the Dominican Band brought a Mardi Gras parade inside for their enjoyment!

A collection of gifts collected by St. Mary’s Dominican High School Drama Club members and donated by guests at Dominican’s Instant Theatre presentation will bring holiday cheer to children at The Peace Center and Children’s Hospital.

Craft

Dominican Craft Club officers took a trip to City Park to set up their Celebration in the Oaks display!

Clubs Partner Together for Community and Service

GROUNDS KREWE

Dominican students in Ecology and Stewardship, Campus Ministry, and other clubs earned service hours packaging consumable Mardi Gras throws for the non-profit Grounds Krewe and learned about its mission to promote, plan, and facilitate waste prevention, recycling, and sustainable products at New Orleans special events. Joining them were Assistant Principal Dr. Lindsay Huber, teacher and Ecology and Stewardship Club Moderator Joann Haydel, and Campus Minister Rebecca Wallace. Brett Davis, who founded Grounds Krewe in 2018, shared with the group that creating consumable Mardi Gras throws is one way Grounds Krewe supports the city and promotes stewardship.

SOUL TREE PLANTING

Students in The Ecology & Stewardship Club, Campus Ministry, and Students for Human Dignity and Diversity in Action, together with faculty and alumnae, including Dominican personnel with a group from the New Orleans Archdiocese, represented Dominican on January 16th at the SOUL tree planting in Pontchartrain Park. It was a wonderful way to serve our community in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The mission of SOUL (Sustaining Our Urban Landscape) is driving a resilient and environmentally equitable New Orleans by reforesting our urban landscape.

SUPPORTING THE PEACE CENTER DURING THE HOLIDAYS

Dominican students from various clubs collected sweet treats for the Peace Center’s community Halloween gathering. Participating in the candy drive were students in Academic Games, Ecology and Stewardship Club, National Honor Society, Psychology Club, Robotics, Science National Honors Society, Speech and Debate, and Students for Human Dignity and Diversity in Action.

Dominican clubs filled Easter baskets with canned vegetables, instant potatoes, rice, beans, grits, and candy that were delivered to 35 households in the neighborhood. Participating clubs were Biotechnology, Ecology, Color Guard, National Honor Society, Students for Human Dignity & Diversity in Action, National English Honor Society, Robotics, Star Newspaper, Student Ambassadors, and Yearbook. Walking distance from Dominican, the Peace Center opened in 2014 as a neighborhood outreach organization for people of all ages.

Club Activities

Student Council

Dominican’s Student Council enjoyed a post-exams retreat filled with friends, fun, and leadership! They worked as a team to choreograph dances, paint spirit posters for the Pink Volleyball Game, and make sandwiches for Lantern Light, a local organization that supports the homeless and those in need in the New Orleans community.

Jazz Band

Members of Dominican’s Jazz band competed in the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation’s Class Got Brass - A Brass Band Competition.

Robotics

Students and coaches in the Robotics Club welcomed two guest speakers from the faculty at Tulane University and one from the University of Denver who shared their expertise and insights on robotics. Visiting from Tulane were Senior Professor Katherine Kleinpeter Raymond, Ph.D. (a Dominican alumna) and Professor Dylan Lucia, MS who met with robotics teams’ members while they prepared for their upcoming competition. Kimon P. Valavanis, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Denver, presented, “History of Robotics: a Journey Through Time.”

Spanish Club & Honor Society

In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept 15-Oct 15), students in Dominican’s Spanish Club and National Spanish Honor Society — Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica, Las Adelitas Chapter — enjoyed homemade pupusas, a traditional dish from El Salvador.

Domini-Jazz Fest

Dominican's Music Department hosted Domini-Jazz Fest on April 25. The lunchtime festival featured performances by the Dominican Jazz Band, snoballs, popcorn, and a bake sale.

Special School Events

St. Mary’s Dominican High School presents Wizard of Oz Dominican’s production of Wizard of Oz debuted on March 24. The cast and crew dedicated their time and talent for many months leading up to the production and their hard work came to fruition on stage in a spectacular performance!

Spring Musical

Special School Events

Ring Day

At the beginning of their senior year, the Class of 2023 received their rings during a Mass and

in the Sr. Ambrose

OP Gymnasium. After the ceremony, the seniors 'ran the halls' to have their rings turned - a Dominican tradition!

New Student Induction

ceremony

Reggio,

Special School Events

Baccalaureate Mass

Special All Saints Day Mass

Gala 2023

Greatest School on Earth

Dominican’s annual All Saints Day Mass second line was followed by a surprise announcement that Principal Carolyn Favre was named in NOLA Family Magazine’s Family Favorites 2022 as Favorite Private High School Principal. Dominican was also named Favorite Private High School, and students, faculty, staff, and visiting Spend-a-Day students celebrated with custom black and white king cakes and a hot cocoa bar during lunch time!

FAM

While the newness of starting high school can be an adjustment, 8th graders and first-year students at Dominican have FAM (First-year student Adult Moderator) sessions to support and guide them, and also help them feel a sense of community. The FAM idea was a collaboration with Science Teacher Joann Haydel, Counselor Julie Pitisci, and Religion Teacher Claire Gallagher.

Bleacher Swap

Mother Daughter Senior Tea

E-Board Elections

Executive Board incoming officers (from left): President - Grace Koenig; Vice President - Amie Lewis; Secretary - Ella Brown; and Treasurer - Lauren Johnson

Summer Camps

DominiCamp · Jumpin' for Joy

From volleyball and cheerleading, to arts and crafts and conducting experiments, campers at DominiCamp and Jumpin' for Joy channeled their creativity in a variety of activites, including the arts, sports, dance, music, and science.

Walkin' on Walmsley

Incoming students enjoyed Walkin’ on Walmsley, an exciting week of orientation where they met faculty and fellow students, made new friends, and had fun as they discovered their new school. Lunch, locating lockers, reading and math time, a service project, enjoying beignets with a campus visit from Café du Monde, and a Friendship Talk led by the Counseling Department were some of the many activities that packed their week. A bounce house, photo booth, and Italian ice treats were a few of the last day events.

Upcoming Recruitment Events

September 2023

October 2023

November 2023

February/March 2024

April 2024

FALL SPEND-A-DAYS

September 8, 13, 28

October 23, 25, 30, 31

November 1, 7

DEB MINI CAMP

September 9

ADMISSIONS INFORMATION SESSION

September 20

SEVENTH GRADE SOCIAL

September 29

STREAM™ SATURDAY

October 7

OPEN HOUSE

October 19

CHEER MINI CAMP

October 28

SHADOW MY SADDLES

November 4

SPRING SPEND-A-DAYS

February 28

April 10, 11

DESTINATION DOMINICAN

March 8

BLACK AND WHITE FRIDAY NIGHT

April 19

2023-2024

NOVEMBER

FEBRUARY

Save the Dates Upcoming Dominican Events

SEPTEMBER 27

New Student Induction

OCTOBER 6

Living Rosary Assembly/Grandparents' Day

OCTOBER 19

Open House

OCTOBER 25

Volleyball Pink Games

NOVEMBER 4 & 5

Instant Theatre

NOVEMBER 15

Career Day

DECEMBER 1

Tennis Tournament

JANUARY 20

Mother Daughter Luncheon

MARCH 16

Gala

APRIL 5, 6, 12, & 13

Spring Musical

MILESTONE REUNIONS

2024 is right around the corner and many of you will be celebrating milestone anniversaries. We invite all of you to come back to Dominican for your Anniversary year reunion.

Class of 1949

75 year reunion

Class of 1984

40 year reunion

Class of 1974

50 year reunion

Class of 1999

25 year reunion

Class of 1994

30 year reunion

Class of 1989

35 year reunion

Class of 2009

15 year reunion

Class of 2004

20 year reunion

UPCOMING REUNIONS

Please be aware that reunion dates are subject to change.

CLASS OF 1978 - 45 YEAR REUNION

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2023

4:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Dominican’s Campus

CLASS OF 1993 - 30 YEAR REUNION

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2023

9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Dominican's Campus

CLASS OF 1998 - 25 YEAR REUNION

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2023 6:00 pm

Vintage Rock Club

St. Mary’s Dominican High School is the only official vendor selling Alumnae Office DOMINICAN ALUMNAE items via email and our website. Each time you make a purchase, you are supporting St. Mary’s Dominican High School and the Alumnae Association.. Please direct any questions to Alumnae Director, Celeste Anding ’82 at canding@stmdhs.org

Class of 2014

10 year reunion

Class of 2019

5 year reunion

REUNION PLANNING GUIDELINES

Planning your next class reunion?

The Dominican Alumnae Office is available to assist you with all your reunion needs!

• We offer on campus and off-site options, with a donation to Dominican built into the cost.

• We make it easy for you to coordinate your class reunion.

• There will be no out of pocket fees for the organizers.

• We will sign the vendor contract, create a link for your classmates to register online, provide your class with volunteers at your check in table, and take your class photo for the next edition of The Torch!

• We will also coordinate with your class to raise funds as a donation to Dominican in the name of your class.

Contact Alumnae Director Celeste Anding ’82 at alumnae@stmdhs.org to get started on your class reunion. We want to make your reunion fun and affordable for everyone in your class.

’83 ’08 ’88

’12

Alumnae Happenings

Alumnae Appreciate Personnel

Alumnae collected 4,662 cans of food for the Annual Canned Food Drive.

Class of 2022 Coffee and Yearbooks

Mother Daughter Tea in Honor of the Class of 2023

Alumnae at Open House

Tennis Tournament

Breakfast with Baby Jesus

Cocktails in the Courtyard & Makers Market

Mother Daughter Generations

Lois Klein Kloesel '55 with daughters: Kathryn Kloesel Firmin '79, Kelly Kloesel Smylie ' 80, Karen Kloesel Katz '82, and Kendra Kloesel Dragna '90. Not able to attend were daughter Kristin Kloesel Baker '85 and granddaughter Molly Katz '15.

3rd Generations

Alumnae Happenings

Alumnae Association Induction Catholic Schools Week

New Alumnae President and Officers serving a two-year term are President Nelita Manego Ramey ’79, Vice President Samantha Lee ’09, Secretary Caroline McCall ’09, and new member Stacey Whitney Campo ’99.

Shadow My Saddles

Alumnae Band and Cheer Event

The January 14 inaugural Alumnae Band/ Cheer campus event was led by Dominican's Fine Arts Chair Brenda Castillo and Cheer Moderator Kathleen Fasold '14. There were 11 band members representing classes from 1955 to 2022, and three cheerleaders from 1990 to 2018. That day, the Dominican basketball team raced to a win against South LaFourche.

Alumnae Brushing Up

Benches

Last fall, thanks to more than 200 alumnae representing 47 classes from 1951-2024, the campus outdoor furniture was upgraded. Alumnae raised funds from July to September and donated $40,000 toward the purchase of 26 black iron benches, four black iron picnic tables, and 17 black iron trash cans. Thanks also to the 23 Dominican Dads who spent an entire day assembling the benches on campus. The replaced wood benches and picnic tables were donated to a local grammar school.

Academic Honor Day

How to Stay Connected

Please update your contact information on our website WWW.STMARYSDOMINICAN.ORG.

Social Media

We are on FACEBOOK! Follow DHS by “LIKING”

The school page: ST. MARY’S DOMINICAN HIGH SCHOOL

The alumnae page: ST. MARY’S DOMINICAN HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNAE.

We are on INSTAGRAM too! Follow DHS at stmarysdominicanhighschool.

Established in 1901, the St. Mary’s Dominican High School Alumnae Association continues to strengthen its heritage with each graduating class.

Annual alumnae dues are vital to the operational expenses of the Alumnae Office and are used to produce The Torch. Dues also help to offset costs of the many events coordinated by the Alumnae Office including Shadow My Saddles, Breakfast with Baby Jesus, Easter Egg Roll, Cocktails in the Courtyard, Homecoming Weekend, and so much more!

Class of 1930 - 1964...........Dues $15

Class of 1965 - 2016...........Dues $35

Class of 2017 - 2023...........Dues $15

Please make checks payable to DHS or visit our website, www.stmarysdominican.org, and click on the Give to Dominican tab - Donate OnlineAlumnae Giving.

If you have any questions, comments, or would like to submit news for The Torch, email Alumnae Director Celeste Shelsey Anding ’82 at canding@stmdhs.org.

Dominican's 61st Alumnae Homecoming

On Saturday, April 15th, St. Mary’s Dominican High School alumnae returned to their alma mater for the 61st Homecoming Mass and luncheon to celebrate class anniversaries and recognize five honorees for instilling Christian moral values while encouraging the practice of ethical behavior as demonstrated through their dedication to family, public service, and career.

Rev. Jeremy Lambert, LC, celebrated Mass with music by the Dominican Alumnae Glee Club and Dominican Choir, jointly conducted by Brenda Castillo, Dominican’s Fine Arts Chairperson and Director of Band and Choir and Florence “Flo” Presti ’71 in honor of former Dominican Glee Club Director Elizabeth “Betty” Johnston ’52. A special thank you to Anna Maria Mitchell ’45 for her donation of the alumnae awards given in memory of her parents Rose and Guy D’Antonio and grandparents Angelina and Joseph Caruso.

Kathleen Swiler LaGrange ’71 Alumna of the Year Award

Kathleen Swiler LaGrange was presented with the Alumna of the Year Award, given to an alumna who is recognized by her peers as a woman who instills Christian moral values while urging the practice of ethical behaviors as demonstrated through her dedication to family, public service, or career, and for at least the last 20 years since her graduation has worked tirelessly and consistently to serve others in her community or globally. After a 41year career in security for Emergency Management with the Department of Interior (DOI) where her passion was keeping people safe, she retired as Regional Emergency Services Manager of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Recognized by the DOT with the Distinguished Service Award and the Secretary of Interior for her Regional Emergency Manager before and after Hurricane Katrina, she continues to share her expertise with Dominican in developing emergency preparedness measures for students and personnel safety.

St. Catherine of Siena Preaching Award

Judy Landrieu Klein ’78

Judy Landrieu Klein received the St. Catherine of Siena Preaching Award that honors an alumna who exemplifies the wonderful qualities that speak of St. Catherine of Siena, patroness of Dominican’s Alumnae Association. The award is given to an alumna who is a seeker of Truth, preacher of the Word by the example of her life, inspires all to make Jesus the center of their lives, and is a true witness to the transforming power of allowing God’s will to guide her daily life. Author of the books Miracle Man and Mary’s Way: The Power of Entrusting Your Child to God, Judy is a Catholic theologian, counselor, devoted wife, mother, and grandmother who holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Christian Counseling and Doctor of Philosophy in Bioethics. She works with her husband, Dr. Mark Gelis, at My Father’s House Christian Counseling Services.

(From left) Nelita Ramey, Alumnae Association President, Dr. Cynthia Thomas, President of St. Mary's Dominican High School, and Kathleen LaGrange.

(From left) Nelita Ramey, Dr. Cynthia Thomas, and Judy Klein.

Sr. Mary Angela Mulhern, O.P. Service Award

Margaret “Peggy” Delarosa ’69

Peggy Delarosa’s 40-year career with a Berkshire Hathaway company took her around the country where she was responsible for 28 locations as a critical asset manager. Among the many businesses and industries that she interacted with were the New Orleans Saints, Major League Baseball teams, 1996 Olympics, and Paramount Studios. She counts the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans one of her most rewarding projects. She embraced all opportunities to share New Orleans culture and cuisine with architects and administrators from several countries and agencies. Upon retirement, Peggy inquired about volunteer opportunities at Dominican. She volunteers for numerous alumnae events, including homecoming, reunions, Open House, and Cocktails in the Courtyard. When asked to make rosaries for the 50th class anniversary, she said yes. Then she realized there would be 300 rosaries to make because of the postponement for two 50th anniversaries due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Undeterred, she completed the task, and every year since makes the rosaries.

Shannon Rodi Nash ’85

Shannon Rodi Nash gives her time and talent to Dominican and her community. A parishioner of St. Clement of Rome, over the years she has dedicated countless hours chairing the parish raffle that has a major impact on the parish fair’s success. She is a member of Women of Faith and board member of New Orleans Right to Life Education Foundation and devotes her time to civic organizations, including Willwoods Community and New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors. In addition to volunteering for Open House, Breakfast with Baby Jesus, Mother-Daughter Tea, reunion committees, and phone-a-thon chair, she was secretary and president of the parent’s club board. She volunteers for Pink Game fundraisers, annual gala, golf tournament, and Alumnae Annual Personnel Appreciation Week.

Outstanding Young Alumna Award

Ashley Ernestine Anglin ’01

Ashley Ernestine Anglin was recipient of the Outstanding Young Alumna Award. The award honors an alumna who, through her service, leadership and achievements has made outstanding commitments within her community and/or her profession. A licensed psychotherapist and professional counselor in Houston, Texas, for the past 16 years she has been working in the mental health field with experience in inpatient, residential, women’s shelters, assisted living, and outpatient settings. Ashley holds a

Mental Health Counseling and is working on a PhD virtually at the University of Holy Cross (New Orleans). She is owner of Bridging the Gap Psychcare, PLLC, a private practice that helps individuals, couples and families who struggle with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, loss and other issues. Her mission is to aid clients in achieving autonomy and wellness in addition to ending the negative stigma as it relates to mental health and minorities.

(From left) Nelita Ramey, Peggy Delarosa, and Dr. Cynthia Thomas.

(From left) Nelita Ramey, Shannon Nash, and Dr. Cynthia Thomas.

(From left) Nelita Ramey, Ashley Anglin, and Dr. Cynthia Thomas.

master’s degree in

WHAT IMPACT DID YOUR DOMINICAN EDUCATION HAVE ON YOU?

At Dominican High I learned that it was OK to be a strong woman, not afraid to express thoughts, ideas, and opinions. That has been so important in my social justice work which demands that I be an advocate for justice with and for marginalized people even when – and especially when – there are so many dissenting voices trying to drown out the voices of those crying out for equity and belonging.

MARY BAUDOUIN ’74

In 2003, Mary Baudouin became Provincial Assistant for Justice and Ecology for the Jesuits of the US Central and Southern Province, a position that only Jesuits had held. She was appointed by Fr. Fred Krammer, SJ, who worked at Catholic Charities with Mary. In her position, Mary coordinates social justice, ecology and corporate responsibility activities for the Jesuit priests, brothers, lay colleagues and institutions in the province. She is province representative to the Jesuit Commission for Justice and Ecology and the Jesuit Committee on Investment Responsibility. She also assisted in the establishment of the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University

At Dominican, she said, “I found ‘my voice’ – as a person of faith, an inquirer, a leader, and a young woman. I felt supported by Dominican faculty, staff, and friends in asking questions, expressing opinions, and exploring a variety of interests. I don’t know if I could have grown in that way in a co-ed, secular school. I’m so grateful for those formative years – and grateful that my daughter had the same experiences during her years at Dominican.”

Her decision to be a social worker came junior year at Dominican when she and a few students began regular tutoring in a grammar school that served children in what was then called the Desire Housing Project. She recounts, “Growing up in Harahan I had never seen that kind of poverty before and was struggling to understand the stark economic and educational disparities in my own city. I knew then that I somehow wanted to be involved in addressing those disparities, and it seemed that a career in social work would be one way to do this.”

I can’t imagine just throwing my hands up and saying that I should give up on the pursuit of justice and reconciliation.

On scholarship at Loyola University New Orleans, the social work major led fellow students to move Loyola University Community Action Program (LUCAP) from a Campus Ministry program to a student-run organization. “We thought that it could be much more attractive to students if it was student-run, so we developed a fledgling plan for turning over the leadership and ownership of students to student leaders,” she recalled. They brought their plan to

Campus Ministry and to University President Fr. James Carter – “and they totally supported us. Within the first few years, we had over 200 student volunteers working in a variety of service and educational organizations and becoming involved in social justice movements.”

Today, LUCAP continues providing opportunities for students to participate in community service and advocate project for justice. Notes Mary, “One of the key characteristics of Jesuit higher education is the pursuit of faith, justice, and reconciliation. Students’ involvement in LUCAP is one very significant way that Loyola students can live and live out this value in a way that leads to personal and societal transformation.”

For her, the Jesuits’ impact is profound. “My faith was calling me not just to ‘practice’ Catholicism in the way that I had been taught as a child, but to practice mercy and justice as a way of living out my faith,” she shared. “My education in a Jesuit institution instilled in me the desire to be a ‘person for others,’ and that desire was fueled by embracing ‘the faith that does justice’ – both key principles of the Society of Jesus.” In 2015, Loyola recognized Mary with the Adjutor Hominum Award, that honors an outstanding Loyola graduate whose life exemplifies the values and philosophy of the Jesuit education – moral character, service to humanity and unquestionable integrity.

After earning a master’s degree in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, specializing in community development and community organizing, she was hired by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans to organize their Parish Social Ministry Program. The next seven years, she and five other organizers worked with parishes to develop social ministry and social justice projects.

In 1982, when the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote their pastoral letter on the U.S. economy, Mary coordinated their Office of Implementation for the US Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops Office of Social Development and World Peace. For seven years, she was a consultant with faith-based and social service non-profits in the South, specializing in the areas of strategic planning, board development, and grant-writing.

“I’ve probably experienced many more roadblocks than advances, but I can’t imagine just throwing my hands up and saying that I should give up on the pursuit of justice and reconciliation. I might not be able to make a big difference, but I can make some difference, even if it’s just for a few people. My heroes – Jesus Christ, Dr. Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, Sr. Helen Prejean, so many other civil and human rights leaders, never gave up hope in spite of audacious odds. I want to be a person who lives in Gospel hope.

Clearly a strong educational foundation helps you soar. Strong spirituality and faith keep you grounded. To me, this is a necessary combination because you should never lose compassion for others throughout your journey to success.

Featured Alumna

ARTHEL NEVILLE ’80

Arthel Neville describes her Dominican education, “a combination of education and spirituality. Clearly a strong educational foundation helps you soar. Strong spirituality and faith keep you grounded. To me, this is a necessary combination because you should never lose compassion for others throughout your journey to success.”

Born and raised in New Orleans, she is the daughter of Lorraine Doris Neville and the late Art Neville, Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, keyboardist, solo artist, and founder of the New Orleans music groups The Hawketts, The Meters, and The Neville Brothers. Coming from this legendary family, she is proud of her father and uncles “and the trails they blazed, the examples they set,” but chose her own path and is proud to carry the Neville name in her way. “The bedrock of our bloodline is compassion. My father and uncles spread it through music. I spread it through storytelling. My mother exudes compassion and generosity. She also has keen intuition. I am doubly fortunate,” she said.

Her career track was no surprise, given her knack for creative writing and writing in general. “Combined with my genuine interest in learning about others and wanting to empower their voices, journalism felt like a natural path,” she said. During her junior year at the University of Texas at Austin (UTA), Arthel attended classes from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm and worked at KVUE-TV from 1:30 pm to 10:30 pm as a general assignment reporter. She is not sure how she managed the schedule. “Honestly, it was determination. My mom and daddy always taught me that hard work pays off and I believed them! Plus, my mom made it very clear that had I dropped out of college, I would not be free-loading and had to get a job, any job, as long as it was an honest way to earn a paycheck. Of course, she encouraged me to ‘get my education’.”

After seven years as a reporter in highly respected local newsrooms, Arthel got a national break becoming the nation’s first high-profile African American Black female entertainment reporter. She hosted and produced a one-on-one celebrity interview show on E! Entertainment Television and later launched the entertainment news show, EXTRA. Before returning to Fox News, Arthel helped launch the newly acquired Fox affiliate in San Diego that had only aired programs from Los Angeles to Mexico. Under her leadership the morning show soared to #1 in a very short time.

On Fox News in New York, she co-anchors four weekend newscasts – Fox News Live airing Saturdays from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Sundays from 11:00 am to noon and 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm Central Standard Time. “When there’s breaking news my co-anchor and I are on for additional multiple hours. When not on the air, I am constantly reading and keeping abreast of national and global news and events. I suggest stories, request interview segments, and meet with our team to plan newscasts. Everything is live and current, so our plans often change, and I usually don’t know what I’m covering until the morning of. Breaking news throws all planning out the window!”

Arthel’s work has garnered numerous honors. She was the third Black female inducted as a Distinguished Alum at The University of Texas at Austin and received the University’s Distinguished Alumna Moody College of Communications DeWitt Carter Reddick Journalism Award as their first African American Black female honoree. Past recipients include legendary journalists Walter Cronkite, Bill Moyers, Dan Rather, and Ted Turner.

“Next year I will celebrate forty years in my career,” she shared. As I look back on the various ways, I’ve been able to apply my journalism skills, whatever the genre, there are a couple of constants – integrity and authenticity. That is rewarding. Topping that reward are the people I’ve inspired along the way. I am grateful.”

ALISON NENOS CERNICH ’93

In elementary and high school, Alison Nenos Cernich, Ph.D. loved science. She considered dentistry because her great uncle was a dentist. “I later gravitated to forensic science, mostly spurred by reading murder mysteries and science fiction,” she said. “I became interested in psychology after watching Silence of the Lambs and decided I wanted to be a forensic psychologist or profiler as portrayed by Jodie Foster. As I learned more about psychology, my interests changed.”

Family always supported her educational goals “and gave me the freedom to pursue a career that interested me,” she said. “The biggest impact they had was giving me the space to be curious and to figure out what I wanted. They were behind me through college applications, graduate school interviews, and moves across the country to pursue my career.”

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU SHARE WITH DOMINICAN STUDENTS?

Be present in the present. It is so easy to look ahead and be consumed with what is next. While you can plan and prepare, high school is such an amazing time in your life, so be there for it. Be a part of the things you are passionate about, discover what you enjoy learning, and make time for fun. Know that things can always change. I have had so many different twists and turns throughout my career, many of which I could have never planned for or anticipated. It’s okay to go in a different direction or try something new.

The Deputy Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) assists the NICHD Director in overseeing the institute’s programs that support research including child development, developmental biology, nutrition, intellectual and development disabilities, and population dynamics. Previously, as Director of NICHD’s National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, she managed a $72 million research portfolio aimed at improving the health and well-being of people with disabilities.

Prioritizing and pacing are the two big challenges. “We are asked to respond to so many different concerns in our area of science and we have to choose how we approach them and where we dedicate resources” she said. “Having a clear strategy helps with this challenge. The pace of our work is also fast; we are asked to respond to stakeholders, Congress, the White House, scientists across the world, advocacy organizations, and the press often with pressing or tight deadlines. Some weeks are manageable and some weeks it feels like a hamster wheel. Maintaining a steady pace and keeping focus is important in this area.”

Work is rewarding. “First, I love working on solutions to public health problems that impact millions of people. We work on a number of major national initiatives and there is always a new issue or challenge to tackle. Second, I never stop learning. Science is so dynamic right now, technology moves so quickly, and it is fascinating to see the discoveries move from a basic science lab to a clinical treatment. Lastly, we have an amazing team of people with whom I have the honor and privilege to work. They are brilliant, passionate, and hardworking and they inspire me.”

Great-great maternal grandfather Adolphus A. Aucoin, M.D., was a physician in New Orleans during the cholera pandemic of 1880. Six months into her new position, the coronavirus pandemic came, bringing many lessons. One – importance to remain flexible and open to new information. “As the pandemic evolved, we had to continually change both the focus of our science and the way we ran our organization. Keeping an open mind, staying aware of what was going on around us, and making sure we continually communicated what we knew, either scientifically to the public or administratively to our personnel, was critical. The other key lesson was that doing things because they are always done that way is not a good rationale. So many things changed during the pandemic, the way we worked, the way we conducted our studies, and the way we communicated. The crisis gave us the opportunity to re-examine many aspects of our organization. Finally, I learned a lot about how important it is to set an example as a leader. If I was up all hours of the night or working all weekend, my employees thought I expected the same of them. I learned to check my pace, set realistic expectations for what could be done, and ensure I was taking care of myself, and my staff were taking care of themselves.”

I never stop learning. Science is so dynamic right now, technology moves so quickly, and it is fascinating to see the discoveries move from a basic science lab to a clinical treatment.

Alison is passionate to ensure that people who have disabilities are part of the whole community. “My family and network of friends included many people with disabilities, either because of an intellectual or developmental disability, an injury, or a condition that led to disability, such as a stroke. They were always included and part of the fabric of my life. As I worked with a broad range of people with disabilities over the course of my career, I recognized that people make a number of assumptions about disabled people that do not reflect the value they bring and the contributions they can make. Disabled people and their families are creative problem solvers, they face barriers every day because we do not design our world to be inclusive of their needs. We honestly need to do a better job as a country of including people with disabilities in our workplaces and our communities. This is a major focus of my work and my service in my community.”

At Dominican’s Career Day, 40 alumnae were among the speakers on campus who shared their time and career advice. They represented a range of careers, including art, education, music, medicine, computer science, occupational health, and cyber security. Students had the choice of attending four presentations at the event organized by the Counseling Department. Alumnae speakers were Alysse LeBon Baudier ’08, Yvonne Calvo ’82, Taylor Amedee Aucoin ’12, Maggie Montgomery Morris ’09, Lesley Ramoneda Rye ’79, Cathy Maher Storm ’78, Shea Moreau ’15, Emily Hendricks Buras ’06, Kayley Kalil Bodine ’04, Allison Willem Caillouet ’11, Gabrielle Richard Benoit ’08, Kathryn Gallagher Kerisit ’99, Lauren Mullins Mutter ’02, Endya Young ’14, Claire Pivach ’03, Lisa Abbondante Horzelski ’00, Mary Clare Palmer Serio ’05, Allison Herrera ’11, Whitney Teachworth Fischer ’05, Lisa Fenasci-LaFrance ’93, Sarah Jane McMahon Briscoe ’98, Kathy Rodriguez ’98, Sydnie Julien ’13, Claire Rosamond ’16, Angelique Dyer ’07, Reba Becnel Rhode ’16, Kendra M. Barrier ’79, Jennifer Zeringue Rosenbach ’95, Katie Thomas Impastato ’03, Ashley Ernestine Anglin ’01, Jiarra Jackson Rayford ’03, Emma Hensley Taylor ’12, Kathleen Swiler LaGrange ’71, Sarah Oertling Glennon ’07, Lauren Weicks Stelly ’07, Hope Quigley ’17, Christina Greconia ’06, Amanda Collura Day ’04, Beryl Radcliff Small ’79, and Kelly Wells Ponder ’94. On behalf of the Leadership Team, administration, alumnae, faculty, staff, and students, the Counseling Department extends its thanks for everyone’s participation in Career Day.

All About Alumnae

ALUMNAE MENTORING PROJECT

In its 163-year history, St. Mary’s Dominican High School graduates are successful women in a vast range of careers. Dominican currently has more than 13,000 alumnae from 18-102 years old. The knowledge base in the alumnae corps is vast, rich and diverse. The incredible spectrum of experience and abilities of our alumnae provide an untapped wealth of knowledge to share with our students. The Alumnae Mentoring Project connects alumnae with aspiring students who have an interest or a declared focus in an area of study or profession. This connection provides real life examples and touchpoints for the students’ development. Our goal is to create a framework that has a positive impact on our students ’ professional and spiritual formation.

Creators and collaborators to the Alumnae Mentoring Project are: Celeste Shelsey Anding ’82, Ellen Roniger Tombaugh ’88, Andrea Rye ’10, Caroline McCall ’09, Kathleen Sullivan, M.D. ’89, Nelita Ramey ’79, Katie Faust, M.D.’03, Jennifer Gniady ’90, Gloria Thomas ’20, Gissel Alvarez’23, and Ashley Ernestine Anglin, Ph.D. ’01.

WASHINGTON, DC

Jennifer Gniady '90 is chairperson of Dominican’s DC Chapter. In addition to organizing alumnae from the DC area, Jennifer has organized meet ups with every student group that has traveled to DC from New Orleans, including Close Up, March for Life, and this year’s Fourth of July parade.

At this year’s Close Up in Washington, DC, 18 students and chaperones Randy Duplantis and Kathleen Fasold attended the February 19-24 event. They also enjoyed a dinner with Dominican alumnae Erin Metzinger Collier ’92, Jennifer Gniady ’90, Laura Iverson ’90, Anne-Marie Dardis Minnis ’86, and Darneshia Robinson ’97.

Dr. Katie Faust ’03 has mentored Gissel Alvarez ’23 who aspires to be an Orthopedic surgeon. After the Alumnae Office connected the two, Dr. Faust invited Gissel for a day of shadowing on Dr. Faust’s patient rounds, plus the opportunity to watch a surgery.

Dr. Kathleen Sullivan ’89 and Dr. Jessica Patrick Esteve ’99 have been mentors to Gloria Thomas ’20, an LSU pre med student who is majoring in Kinesiology with a concentration in Human Movement Science.

PEACE CENTER WISH LIST

Alumnae Association President Nelita Ramey has a deep passion for the Dominican Peace Center. The alumnae registry, created by Kathleen Swiler LaGrange ’71 , for The Peace Center Wish was a resounding success that helped make a wonderful summer for the many children who are supported year-round by Dominican’s neighbor. The Peace Center supports the Gert Town community through various programs that include afterschool program, computer education, and programs for employment and senior citizens. Within a few months, more than 300 items were purchased and shipped to the Peace Center. At the Peace Center with some of the donated items are Sr. Suzanne Brauer, O.P., Vallerie Maurice, O.P.A. ’78, Nelita Manego Ramey ’79, Sr. Pat Thomas, O.P., and Alumnae Director Celeste Anding ’82.

Sheri Maestri Derbes ’89 and Theresa Bertucci Truxillo ’97 completed the Institute of Ecclesial Ministry Program and were commissioned by Archbishop Gregory Aymond at St. Louis Cathedral on January 15, 2023. They are with with their daughters, Molly Kate Derbes ’18 and Camille Claire Truxillo ’24.

All About Alumnae

ALUMNAE

Inside New Orleans Magazine Women IN Business April-May 2023 featured:

Jessica Marasco Illes ’00

Jiarra Jackson Rayford ’03

Allison Herrera ’11

The Order of St. Louis IX Medallion was awarded to the following alumnae for their contributions of time and talent to the Church:

Elsa Schroeder Hodges ’62

Peggy Beach Ronzello ’64

Irene Stumpf Rauch ’65

Hilary Zollinger Huck ’87

Laura Solis Hagstette ’88

Clare Carpenter Muscarello ’88

Monique Fayard Serpas ’00

Queen Lauren LaBeaud ’07 and the Captain Kristin Lee Bertucci ’97 in the Krewe of Isis on its 50th anniversary.

Shelley Mateu '92 with niece Elizabeth “Libby” Ward ’22 in Paris, France celebrating her graduation.

Enjoying lunch and sharing memories at II Tonys (from left, seated), Jean Riecke Deckert, Julie Landry Bouy, and Janice Flatley Rodosta. Standing: Alumnae Director Celeste Anding, Joan Mitchell Mayeux, and Patsy Nolan Brewster (Janice’s cousin).

1969

It all started with a bang (literally)! When homeroom ended that first day of high school September 1966, Linda Wilson leaned over her one-armed wooden desk to gather her books located underneath. She toppled over, blocking the aisle. Classmates Sharon Uhl and Colleen Ward stopped to help right her desk and pick up the books. They went to lunch and started a friendship that would last a lifetime. Bonnie Brugier joined the friend group the following year.

In February the group gathered at Colleen’s home in Plimmerton, New Zealand. They reminisced about Rally Nights, Proms, Talent Shows, and other escapades. They were also informed!

Colleen and Sharon shared details of the day in late May 1970 when they skipped school and were never questioned regarding their absence. (Even Linda and Bonnie were unaware of their plans to play hooky!)

All were in agreement – Dominican aided in establishing lasting friendships, and gave the group the foundation for extending their educations: Bonnie Brugier Campbell earned a BS Elementary Education from LSU, MS Education of the Deaf and Hardof-Hearing from Oregon College of Education, and Educational Specialist degree School Psychology, University of Colorado at Denver; Sharon Uhl Coleman – BS Zoology and MS Natural Science, LSU; Colleen Ward – BS Summa Cum Laude Psychology, Spring Hill College and PhD, University of Durham England. Stanford University included Colleen in the top 2% of the world’s most influential scientists for Social Psychology; Linda Wilson – BS Nursing, LSUMC and MSN Nursing Administration, University of California San Francisco.

1975

Sharing memories at dinner in Orange Beach - Maureen Turner, Lisa Soldani, Janet Emig, Jo Ann Hart, Kim Thomassie, Jo Ann Gemelli, Kathy Blattner, Gerry Zeringue, and Leslie Fielding.

1979

Professor Theda Daniels-Race was appointed to the US Department of Energy’s Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee.

1982

Valerie Turner Schexnayder is a mediator and arbitrator with Schexnayder Mediation Services, LLC, in Baton Rouge and volunteers for various pro bono events and initiatives. She has practiced for more than 30 years with a large firm, a small firm and an international corporation. Recently, she was inducted Secretary of the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) and served as a LSBA Distinguished Access to Justice Pro Bono Fellow, partnering with the Baton Rouge Bar Association to expand its pro Officers 2023--2024 Louisiana State Bar Association Officers and Board of Governors. A member of the Louisiana Bar Journal’s Editorial Board, she will serve as Journal editor-in-chief for her two-year term as secretary.

She is a fellow of the Louisiana Bar Foundation and a member of the Baton Rouge Bar Association, currently serving as chair of the Pro Bono Committee. In her community, she serves on the board of directors for the Capital Area Finance Authority’s board of trustees and Tiger Athletic Foundation. Additionally, she is chair of the Emerge Foundation board of directors and as a sustaining adviser for the Junior League of Baton Rouge, where she previously served on the board of directors. She holds a BBA from Loyola University New Orleans and JD degree cum laude from Tulane University

1983

Sheri Salvagio was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Cabrini High School by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Cabrini High School’s Board of Trustees.

All About Alumnae

1986

Lisa Gennusa

Flood received the 2023 Council of Catholic School Cooperative Club’s Regina Matrum Award that exemplifies Catholic Motherhood.

1987

Nichole Mathieu Dupree was initiated into the New Orleans Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in Spring 2023.

1991

Monica Cado Shellabarger celebrating 25 years with Eli Lilly & Company, was recognized at the Immunology Business Unit Sales meeting for her sales accomplishments and leadership in 2022 that included the Team Lilly ‘Deliver’ Award for her work with the analytics team, District MVP voted by her peers, Platinum Performer, Circle of Excellence, and Dermatology Territory Manager of the Year. She and her sales partner were the number one Dermatology sales territory in the nation in 2022.

1994

Ellen Romig Fihlman, Social Studies Department Chairperson at St. Paul VI in Chantilly, Virginia, was a Panther Pride award recipient. The annual awards honor one student, one staff/faculty member, and one parent for their extraordinary service to the school above and beyond what is expected, assigned or required. At Dominican, she taught Social Studies from 2005 to 2016.

1996

Alena Allen was selected by Louisiana State University to be its new Dean of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center. Previously, she served as deputy director for the Association of American Law Schools and law professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law.

1999

Michelle Marcotte Macicek was among the 2022 New Orleans Archdiocese Distinguished Alumni Award recipients recognized for their outstanding contributions in one or more of the following ways: exceptional service to the church; exceptional accomplishment in chosen field; exceptional service to local, state, or national entities; exceptional service in support of their school. Archbishop Gregory Aymond and Dr. RaeNell Houston, Executive Director and Superintendent of Catholic Education and Faith Formation, presented the award.

2001

Shenique “Renee” Harris Celestin was initiated into the New Orleans Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in Spring 2023.

2001

Jenn Garnand, PhD, MBA, RN, FACHE, NE-BC, CMTE. Dr. Garnand has worked in the healthcare industry for the past 12 years, holding positions in executive leadership, operations, emergency management, flight medicine, and critical care. In her early career, she served in education (briefly at Dominican just before Hurricane Katrina) and youth ministry, then was soon drawn to nursing as a secondary calling. Recently she earned a PhD in Nursing Leadership from the University of Southern Mississippi. Her research and dissertation focused on organizational culture and empowerment through transformational leadership. She was Louisiana Nurse of the Year (Louisiana State Nurses Association) in 2020 and Louisianian of the Year (Louisiana Life Magazine) in 2021. Vice President of the Board of Directors for Help A Sister Out nonprofit organization, she also is on the Advisory Board for Charity Hospital School of Nursing Alumni Association at Delgado Community College and Medical Training Officer for Jefferson Parish Third District Volunteer Fire Department in. She has a passion for being “with and for” others, giving back to her community, and inspiring others to achieve their goals and dreams.

2005

Maggie Wattigney Doussan was named 2023 Teacher of the Year for Hynes UNO Charter School.

2006

Kelly Amstutz joined Dominican faculty as World History and World Geography teacher. Welcome back, Kelly!

2013

Samantha Ramey was initiated into the New Orleans Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in Spring 2023.

All About Alumnae

Congratulations

Special Delivery

WELCOMING A BOY

(A) Allison Lattie Paris ’02

(B) Michelle Fazende McGinnis ’07

(C) Alysse LeBon Baudier ’08

(D) Cassidy Montgomery Hadden ’11

WELCOMING A GIRL

(E) Claire Reuter Özoral ’04

(F) Danica Nguyen ’06

(G) Marissa Schmitt Lee ’07

(H) Amanda Steen LeGuluche ’08

Submit news and photos for the All About Alumnae section to Alumnae Director

Celeste Anding, canding@stmdhs.org.

Our Dearly Departed Sisters

1939 Lorraine Trepagnier Toerner

1941 Marion Tedesco DiGrado

1941 Elsie Neyrey Gelbke

Wedding Bells

(I) Senea Diaz ’16 to Dakota Bryant

(J) Julie Swartz ’88 to Brad Plumley

I1941 Antoinette Cammarata Maselli

1943 Christine Spinato Sauter

1944 Marie Louise Blaum Adams

1945 Mary Dean Howat Bouvier

1945 Helen Abbott Farrelly

1945 Mary Catherine Mickie

Newport Francioni

1945 Elizabeth “Betty” Smith

1946 Joanne Roeling Duke

1946 Janet Howat Raymond

1947 Joyce Breaux McCloskey

1948 Paula Napolitano Hawkins

1949 Florence “Taci” Capaci Hunter

1949 Mary Ann Abshire Marinoni

1949 Melanie Fabregas Senat

1949 Myra Terrio Thibodeaux

1950 Mary Elizabeth Betty Labarre Bagert

1950 Barbara Bobbie Rebennack

Druilhet

1950 Carlota Itsie Mendez

1950 Betty Ann Scheib Stevens

1951 Mary Lynn Locascio Bonck

1951 Amanda Davenport Bullinger

1951 Jeannine Clesi

1951 Rita Nastasi Federico

1951 Pauline Cascio Goddard

1951 Gretchen Bourgeois Tchiblakian

1952 Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Johnston

1952 Shirley Stoma Rhode

1953 Elizabeth Libby Wiley

Fisackerly

1953 Tena Arcana Schilling

1953 Moira McBride Schuhmann

1953 Millie Jung Tan

1954 Catherine Ragusa Auster

1954 Eleanor Ellie De Lange Brammell

1954 Nancy Dumas Cook

1954 Mary Ann Smith Kovacs

1954 Loretta Henriette Logan Martin

1954 Mildred Millie Damerau Sellers

Boudreau

1955 Simone Laudumiey Brown

1955 Floy Andrews Doull

1955 Patricia Pat LeBoeuf Huggins

1955 Lois Klein Kloesel

1955 Mary Ellen Guillot LeBlanc

1955 Sylvia Major

1955 Joyce LaMarca Wehner

1956 Sandra Folse

1956 Frances Fran LaMarca Malone

1956 Joan Tournier Nance

1957 Harriette Brownell Charles

1957 Joan Coldewy Gros

1957 Florence Knapp Halbert

1957 Anna Knebel Treadaway

1958 Denise Parra Bostic

1958 Rose Fratello

1958 Faye Lauga Kalpakis

1958 Mary Ann Mattingly Sherry

1959 Carol Drawe Guidry

1959 JoAnn Ecuyer McNeel

1959 Joan Harris Schmidt

1960 Mary Clo Carey

1961 Constance Connie Dauenhauer Bahman

1961 Adele Rosolino Bonura

1961 Ailie Dickey Kraemer

1962 Kathleen Kathy Haab Boihem

1962 Joan Fiasconaro Orlando

1963 Susan Simmons Benton

1965 Mary Jane Jane Brock

1965 Donna Doescher Poche

1966 Anita Niemeyer Miller

1969 Janice Reinders McArdle

1970 Janet Little Moore

1972 Dollye Harrison Mello

1972 Karen Hernandez Schindler

1975 Lucinda “Cindey” Liberto

1975 Kathleen Kathy Ward

1978 Giustina LeFante Persich

1982 Andrea Hingle Fleming

1983 Laurie Wilson Callens

1995 Joanna Rodi Ragas

2005 Nicole Elizabeth LeBlanc

2017 Audrey Elora Peralta Stewart

Our prayers and condolences to all members of our Dominican community and their families who have experienced losses this year.

St. Mary’s Dominican High School

7701 Walmsley Avenue

New Orleans, LA 70125

This Torch is a publication of the St. Mary’s Dominican High School community for alumnae, parents, faculty, staff, and friends.