Principal's Newsletters from the PastSPECIAL NOTE FROM PRINCIPAL: The letter below, our 2010-2011 parent/student handbook, and a variety of forms and other materials with information about the upcoming school year were sent home on Friday, August 6th. If you have a child registered in Bishop Dunn for the 2010-2011 school year and have not received the summer mailing package by August 13th, please call our main office at 845-569-3494 , and another will be sent to you. “To keep our faces toward change in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.”– Helen Keller August 5, 2010 Dear Parents/Guardians and Students, At the end of a speech that I gave in 2005 at a dinner celebrating Sister Frances’ 35 years of service to Bishop Dunn, I joked that we should consider renaming the school after her when it got to be her 50th anniversary here! I still think that might be a good idea when we get to the year 2020, but unfortunately we won’t be able to simply pull Sister away from her work in her office to mark the occasion. With deep sadness, great reluctance, and a sense of loss that I know will only grow more profound as the year progresses, I need to formally announce today that our school’s heart and soul for the last 40 years, Sister Frances Irene Fair, has decided to retire. Sister actually told me in early June that she thought it was time to step down from her post as development director, but asked me not to say anything until school was out, “so that no one would make a big deal about it!” As you can see from the invitation included in this mailing, for probably the first time since I came to know her nearly 20 years ago, I decided, without any hesitation at all, to go against her wishes and make as “big a deal” as we can on September 26th to show her how much she has meant to all of those who she has touched in her years of service here. I am also hoping and praying, despite her announced “retirement,” that Sister Frances will continue to remain an active and spiritually inspirational member of our school community for at least another 10 years…school renaming enticement or not! Because we expect a large number of people to respond to the September 26th invitation for Sister Frances’ special communion breakfast celebration, please return the the form that is included in the summer mailing as soon as possible, if you plan to attend. A copy of the form will also be included this coming week on the development link on our website or your can call our development office at 569-3496. Look on our website over the rest of summer regularly, as well, for more updates and for information about a second “big deal” we are also planning to honor Sister Frances. Sister Frances, who has been on retreat the past few weeks, will be sending out her own letter about her retirement to parents and friends of the school, when she returns to school in the coming week. *** EARLY OPENING AGAIN: As first announced in late spring, we will be starting school this September before Labor Day for the second year in a row. The decision to open earlier was made after finding out that the Newburgh School District and several other surrounding districts that provide transportation services for the bulk of our students will also begin school before Labor Day. More critical in our decision was the fact that Labor Day falls in the second week of September again this year, which would mean that full days of school wouldn’t start until more than two weeks into the month if we followed our more “traditional” opening schedule. The good news is that we have built into the schedule a long Labor Day weekend again, with school closed on Friday, Sept. 3rd, and on Monday, Sept. 8th, and a two-week Christmas break! OPEN HOUSE RECEPTION PLANNED: We will be holding our Open House/Orientation for grades 1 through 8 during the first week of school again this year on Wednesday, Sept. 1nd. The Wednesday program will begin at 7 p.m. with parents invited to visit their children’s classrooms for grade level orientations. At 8 p.m. parents will be invited to return to the gym, where a short general school-wide presentation will be made followed by a small reception. Separate orientations for our PreK and Kindergarten programs will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 31st at 6:30 p.m. SPECIAL NOTE: Parents should also check their children’s classroom website links this summer, which have now been updated to include information about policies, procedures, and planned curriculum coverage for the coming school year. CALENDAR UPDATED ON WEBSITE: Since there have been no major changes in our annual school calendar for the coming year, since the first draft was sent home in June, the slightly updated version is only being sent home to new families, who did not already receive a copy. Please check the version on our website for any changes, paying special note to our First Friday schedule, since a few more, BUT NOT ALL, have been changed back to half days. More importantly, please remember that even the latest annual calendar listed on the website is subject to change and should be checked against our monthly calendars and the “This Week at Bishop Dunn” site on our webpage, www.bdms.org on a regular basis. FEW CHANGES IN HANDBOOK: While there are no major changes in this year’s parent-student handbook, some dress code and other policy guidelines, especially related to bullying, have been “tightened”. Please take time in the next few weeks to review the handbook that has been sent home in our summer mailing with your child or children to make sure that you are familiar with the rules and procedures detailed in the book before the school year begins. A handbook rules acceptance form included in the back of the handbook should be signed and returned before school begins or brought with you to our open house on Thursday, Sept. 2nd. BLOCK SCHEDULING EXPANDED IN 7TH GRADE: Based on the positive results of having our 8th graders attend classes on a full block schedule for all core content subjects, a decision has been made to expand the program to 7th grade classes as well this coming school year. Block scheduling involves having students attending double-period length classes every other day, rather than one 40-minute period daily. All 6th, 7th and 8th graders now follow block schedules for science and math. Beginning this fall, our 7th graders will also follow block schedules for language arts and social studies, as our 8th graders have been doing for the past four years. Block scheduling and other middle school programs will be discussed at our open house on September 2nd. If you have questions about the change, you can also contact me at school this summer. FORMS NEED TO BE COMPLETED/RETURNED: There are a number of other forms and surveys contained in this summer’s mailing that need to be completed and returned to school by opening day. Included are a pink emergency medical treatment card, an emergency dismissal form, pesticide notification request and Internet access regulation forms. Of special note, is a version of our new applicant interest survey form that has been included, so that we can use your responses to help provide guidance in improving Bishop Dunn’s programs, policies and procedures over the course of the year. If any of these forms are not contained in the mailing, please call our main office at 569-3494. PHYSICALS REQUIRED FOR SPORTS AND GRADES 2, 4, 7: All new students, as well as children entering kindergarten, 2nd, 4th, and 7th graders are required to have an annual physical examination completed before entering school in September. Physical Forms will be available at our Sports Program Information Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 8th. If you would like a physical form before the new school year begins, please contact our main office at 569-3494 and one will be sent to you. BDM PICK-UP PROCEDURES UNCHANGED: Our procedures for picking up children by car at the end of the day will remain the same this coming year. For the benefit of all families new to Bishop Dunn this year, I have enclosed a copy of the procedure guidelines in our summer mailing. VISITOR PARKING PASSES: Two parking permit passes have also been enclosed in our summer mailing. If you visit Bishop Dunn and plan to spend any time in the building other than simply dropping a child off, please use the lower lot across from the main entrance to Bishop Dunn and remember to place the pass on the driver’s side dashboard area. EXTENDED CARE STARTS ON SEPT. 9: Our after-school extended care program is NOT AVAILABLE the first week of half days. It will begin on the first full day of school on Sept. 9th. The rate for extended care this year will again be $5 an hour for the first child and $2.50 an hour for the second child. LUNCH PROGRAM REVAMPED: Finally, (and, perhaps, of most importance to our students), as a result of a very successful “experiment” having the college’s food service division provide hot lunches in our school for your summer camp, we have decided to continue the program for the regular school year. A detailed note, September menu, and order form have been included in the summer mailing. The menu and a copy of the order form will also be included on our website by the end of the month of August. See you in September! Mr. DelViscio
“Children are travelers in an unknown land and we are their guides. Guide them well.”-R.Fisher June 24, 2010 Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn, It seems like I have been trying to catch up with everything that needs to be done in the last weeks of school, but somehow I finally got one thing completed on time – this last newsletter of the year! Usually (I think for at least the past five year), it doesn’t get sent out until a week after school is closed. Maybe it’s that extra day we added on at the end, this year?? In any case, here’s the rundown of some of the events and activities that made the last week of school so busy, along with some end-of-the-year lists of accomplishments. And since there’s too much to include on one page, it spills over onto the back for those who get this note in hard-copy form. While I don’t plan to send my next note home until late July or early August, I suggest you look at our website periodically over the summer for special announcements. If anything is put on the website that I feel is really worth your attention, I may also send a reminder through our Immediate Response Information System (IRIS) for you to check our website. *** GRADUATES GET BIG SEND-OFF: Our 8th graders celebrated their graduation on Tuesday with a special Mass and awards ceremony at St. Mary’s Church, officiated by Father Bill Scafidi. Thanks, first of all, to Miss Brigid Killelea and Mrs. Susan Trieste, who did the bulk of the organizing and coordinating work for the special day’s events, and to Miss Marianne Sheridan, who did all the “filling in”, with some creative computer work added by Mrs. Donna Perk, in producing the nearly 100 certificates given out Tuesday and during the class’s awards dinner the previous Friday. All who attended also appreciated the beautiful music provided by Mrs. Trieste’s choir and the school’s Troubadour ensemble, directed by Mrs. Ada Margoshes and Mr. Grant Konno. During the graduation ceremony special awards were given out to a number of students. Gabriella Javinett and George Konno were joint winners of the Principal’s Award for overall academic excellence and for being tied with the highest grade point average for the school year. The Bishop Dunn Memorial School Award was given to George Wyand. The award is presented annually to a graduating student who “best demonstrates the spirit of Bishop Dunn by his or her strong faith, genuine kindness and respect for others.” John Paul McLoughlin received a special award for outstanding service to the school, and three other students, who were selected by their own peers, received Jena Cassalina Memorial Awards. Jena was a former Bishop Dunn student who died two years ago following a long battle with cystic fibrosis. Receiving awards for best representing the virtues exemplified by Jena of perseverance, courage, and individuality were Morgan Jackson, Ian Scully, and James Terotta. Also given “Lifetime Awards” at the awards dinner and recognized again at the graduation for having been students at Bishop Dunn Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten were: Emma Anderson, Italo Carrieri-Russo, Edward Dennis, Gabriella Javinett, Tayler Kissam, George Konno, John Paul McLoughlin, Kristin Morehead, Molly O’Brien, and JT Whritner. The ceremony was completed with the awarding of graduation certificates to the following students: Emma Anderson, Alex Beckham, Sean Booker, Kailyn Caldwell, Italo Carrieri-Russo, Cooper Casiano, Anthony DaSilva, Edward Dennis, Madison Dill, Rebecca Hayen, Chris Introcaso, Michael Irish, Morgan Jackson, Gabriella Javinett, Tayler Kissam, George Konno, Leonardo Maniscalchi, John Paul McLoughlin, Kristin Morehead, Molly O’Brien, Ian Scully, James Terotta, Grant U, JT Whritner, George Wyand, and Joshua Yeadon. RACE RESULTS FINALLY (ALMOST) IN: It wasn’t a last week activity, but we are still collecting donations for our annual Race for Education, which was held late last month. To date more than $11,500 has been raised. Winning gold medals for completing the most laps for their grade group were 7th grader Patrick Burke, who completed 21 laps and 5th grader Jack O’Brien, who had the highest lap total for the school of 26. Tied for first for completing 10 laps in the Grade 1 and 2 group were 2nd graders Miguel Bagtas, Emmanuel Davis, and Charles Godwin and 1st grader Michael Kissam. The big winners in collecting sponsor money for the school for the race, who will receive $50 Target gift cards for there efforts, were: Pre-Ker Matthew Petrollese ($420); 1st grader Bobby Havner ($355); 5th grader Roman Pianka ($315); and 6th graders Julie Costigan and Ryan Guarneri (tied with $245 each). Congratulations to all the boys and girls for a great job, and to their parents, relatives and friends for their wonderfully generous financial support. FINAL HONOR ROLL ANNOUNCED: I am pleased to announce (also earlier than ever) our final quarter Honor Roll for the year – on the day when report cards are sent home. Making Principal’s List for having an average of 95 or higher and no grades below 90 were: 6th graders Danielle Gonzalez-Wu, Brian Rhee, Alexander Gormley, Sam Schorno, and Mackenzie Wyant; and 7th graders Michael Cooke and Gracie Foster. Achieving First Honors status for having grade averages of 90 or better with no individual grades lower than 85 were: 6th graders David Adams, Kayli Berardinelli, Isabella Boccadoro, Cassie Cook, Jordan Crinieri, Alexandra Ellingson, Jordan Giordano, Kailey Loughran, Amanda Salvatore, Patricia Whelan, and Sean Youngberg; 7th graders Patrick Burke, Jenna DiVenuto, Carly Feldstein, Ally Galli, Abby Hastings, Meaghan McKay, Kate Mead, Brandon Rawlins, Ryan W, and Danny Yancewicz; and 8th graders Gabriella Javinett, George Konno, Kristin Morehead, Ian Scully and George Wyand. Receiving Second Honors recognition for having averages of 85 or higher and no grades under 80 were: 6th graders Ishaan Brissette, Julie Costigan, William DeTorres, Ryan Guarneri, Kyle Morehead, Nicolas Mongelli, and Edward Muschio; 7th graders Lauren Bayer, Michael Fleckenstein, Antonio Harris, Douglas Indzonka, Colin Loughran, Isabella Saffioti, and Tess Stepakoff; and 8th graders Italo Carrieri-Russo, Edward Dennis, Madison Dill, and Molly O’Brien. BEST BITS OF THE BARD: Another wonderful event that was squeezed into a very busy last week was our annual Shakespeare Reader’s Theatre, led by our upper grade language arts instructor, Miss Brigid Killelea, and featuring members of our 6th grade class. Reading, remembering and beautifully acting out scenes from the bard’s best works at Wednesday’s presentation were: David Adams, Kayli Berardinelli, Isabella Boccadoro, Danielle B, Denzel B, Ishaan Brissette, Cassie Cook, Julie Costigan, Jordan Crinieri, Jack Cuneo, William DeTorres, Alexandra Ellingson, Katherine Garcia, Melissa Garcia, Isabelle Frank, Jordan Giordano, Danielle Gonzalez-Wu, Alexander Gormley, Ryan Guarneri, Erica LaMela, Troy Lois, Kailey Loughran, Nicholas Mongelli, Kyle Morehead, Jake Pappas, Tyler Peterkin, Brian Rhee, Amanda Salvatore, Sam Schorno, Iris Stewart, Aaron Supple, Stanley U, Patricia Whelan, Henry Wyand, Mackenzie Wyant, and Sean Youngberg. MATH ACES HONORED: Top ranked students, who honed their academic skills in a year-long “First in Math” Internet-based instruction game, were announced earlier this week by our technology director, Mrs. Donna Perk, who organized and coordinated the school’s participation in this national program. The top 20 students from Bishop Dunn, in order of points accumulation, were: David Adams (4,903 points), Rachel Irish (4,800), Eddie Muschio (3,357), Joaquin Bagtas (3,294), Brielle Maxwell (3, 193), Adrian Broe (3,047), Alexandra Ellingston (2,728), Ryan Bayer (2,655), Jordan Giordano (2,640), Sam Schorno (2,540), Michael Irish (2,467), Brenden Bready (2,333), Denzel B, (2,319), Danielle B (2,068), Alliana Lightbody (1,979), Maureen Casiano (1,948), Joan Stein (1,822), Sean Hertel (1,753), Kiana Carver (1,738), Gabriella Palladino (1,669). STEPPING OUT: An artistically and athletically exciting demonstrations of student talent took place last night when step-dancers, under the tutelage of Ashley Gilnak, performed a variety of jigs, reels and other step-dance moves. Bishop Dunn students who took part in the performance were: Brendon Bready, Connor Bready, Ishaan Brissette, Francisca Chillino, Logan Eberling, Alexandra Ellingson, Cynthia Fioriti, Alliana Lightbody, Michael LoBiondo, Kailey Loughran, Evelynn Najork, Quinn Ratinski, Arnaz Reza, Hunter Scholfield, Patricia Whelan, Danny Yancewicz and Ava Zappone. SUMMER SHOPPING A BREEZE: Finally, this is my last reminder for the school year that you can continue to support Bishop Dunn all summer long by making any of your online purchases through Bishop Dunn’s own new online shopping website, www.shoptoearn.net/BDM, , which can also be accessed from the homepage on our own website, www.bdms.org, will connect you to more than 1,000 stores and services that will send cash back to our school each time you shop with them by first linking to their online sites through our web portal. , you can still download a copy from our website, www.bdms.org. “The teachers of this country, one may say, have the future in their hands.”- William James June 21, 2010 Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn, “Moving Up/Graduation” ceremonies for our Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten students served as beautiful bookends to a full week of special end-of-the-school activities this past week. Last Monday members of our Pre-Kindergarten class performed in a wonderfully Patriotic Flag Day ceremony prior to receiving their “diplomas” for successfully completing their first year at Bishop Dunn. At the celebration, the 26 members of the class sang and performed their way through more than a dozen classic songs celebrating our heritage as a nation, ranging from You’re a Grand Old Flag and Yankee Doodle Dandy to Take Me Out to the Ballgame and God Bless America. Congratulations, first of all to Mrs. Karen Powles and Mrs. Cathy McLoughlin, for all the work they put into preparing for their class’s closing activity, and for all they did to make their first year as co-teachers of our first-year students so successful. Congratulations, as well, not only for their performance last Monday, but for developing into such cooperative, caring and enthusiastic students in the months that preceded it to our Pre-K stars: Christopher Baccaro, Madeline Bobnick, Justin Bond, Hunter Castro, Ava D’Angelico, Will D’Angelo, Aidan Gatt, Callie Jones, Joseph Ludvick, Jasmine M, Morgan M, Zipora Morrison, Ann Najork, Elizabeth Najork, Nahomy Navarro, Donald Perpetua, Matthew Petrollese, Langley Phillips, Tia Pignetti, Hunter Roberts, Mason R, Hall Schofield, Anna-Livia Shea, Joseph Wagner, Karen Wang, and Tudor Wolfson. Our kindergarten students, who were part of the appreciative audience for last week’s Flag Day services, had their own chance to shine this morning, as they marked their “graduation,” following the performance of a beautiful skit and songs about the importance of understanding each other’s unique strengths and differences. Thanks to our kindergarten teacher, Miss Colleen LoCasto, and her assistant, Miss Abby Hecht, for instilling those ideas into their students every day, and for showing their understanding in so many ways to the “graduates”: Isabel Barton, Hope Campbell, Kyle Cosner, Jacqueline Cottini, Schuyler Creary, Daniel Donaldson, Logan Eberling, Justin Fagge, Bolivar Geraldo, Theresa Gormley, Trevor Jones, Daniel Lander, Michael LoBiondo, Mauro M, Catherine McLoughlin, Evelynn Najork, Riley Perez, Annie Ramos, Cal Rolon, Dave Sanchez, Tatiana Torres, Alexander Wyant, and Anthony Zappone. *** THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: We began handing out this year’s school yearbook last Friday, and if you haven’t seen it yet, you are in for a real treat! Mrs. Donna Perk, our technology director and yearbook coordinator outdid herself this year in taking and collecting photographs and overseeing the production of this truly impressive collection of visual memories that I know students and families will enjoy looking back on regularly for years to come. Congratulations to Mrs. Perk and to all those who helped complete this wonderful school project. NEXT YEAR’S CALENDAR ONLINE: In case it never got home to you or you didn’t see the notice last week, you can view and download a draft on our 2010-2011 school calendar by going to the calendar link on website, www.bdms.org. HALF DAY SCHEDULE REMINDER: This is a final reminder that today, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we will be on a half-day schedule, with dismissal at 11:15 a.m. and extension available until 5 p.m. School will close for the regular school year on Thursday, June 24th, school, with dismissal at 10 a.m.. THERE WILL BE NO EXTENDED CARE ON THURSDAY. BIG WINNER NAMED: Congratulations to Patricia Barr, a long-time supporter of our school and parent of alumni Brian Barr, who won our annual $10,000 Super Raffle in special drawing held this past Friday at school. ONE MORE NEWSLETTER: The last newsletter of the year will be sent home Thursday. If you don’t receive one and aren’t on our E-mail list “The value of a man resides in what he gives, not what he is capable of receiving.”- A. EinsteinJune 14, 2010 Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn, In my last newsletter I suggested a number of ways in which you could help support Bishop Dunn financially, even as the regular school year quickly draws to a close. I thought it would be useful today to open my note with another reminder about the “giving opportunities,” in part because of my concern that you might have missed the suggestions the first time around, since they came at the very end of an unusually long (two-pages) newsletter. More importantly, I wanted to offer them again, because any additional revenues they produce will be even more critical to our end-of-the-year budget, as a result of the decision since my last note went out that we won’t be staging our final planned major fund-raising, our annual golf tournament, due to the unexpected scheduling complications. So here they are again, with a final plea for as generous a response as possible. STILL TIME FOR SUPER WIN: While our golf tournament has been postponed, the $10,000 Super Raffle ticket that is usually drawn on the evening of the special event, is still up for grabs. Tickets are $100 each (or less if you split the cost among friends), and a maximum of 400 can be sold, so your odds of winning are pretty good. Tickets will be available all week through our Development Office at 569-3496. The winning ticket will be drawn on Friday, June 18th, at Bishop Dunn. HONOR A LOVED ONE: Another very special way to help improve our revenue picture for the year is to make a contribution to the school, and have the “priceless” satisfaction of being able to honor the memory or the achievements of loved ones in the process. You can do this by purchasing a leaf or plaque on the beautiful “Remember Me, Tree” that is installed in our lobby. For information about the memorial leaf program call our Development Office at 569-3496 or check our Development Office website link. BE WELL AND BOOST OUR FINANCIAL WELLNESS TOO: If you lost, or never saw, the list of all the great skin care, personal hygiene, and sun safety products, environmentally friendly water bottles, and other items being sold as part of our first Wellness Fund-raiser, please contact our Development Office at 569-3496 for more details, or to receive another order form. You can also make purchases through the summer and a percentage of the sales will continue to help our school be better off financially. SUMMER SHOPPING A BREEZE: Finally, you can continue to support Bishop Dunn in a very painless way, long after the school year is over, by making any of your online purchases through Bishop Dunn’s own new online “shopping website.” The web portal, www.shoptoearn.net/BDM, which can also be accessed from the homepage on our own website, www.bdms.org, will connect you to more than 1,000 stores and services that will send cash back to our school each time you shop with them by first linking to their online sites through our web portal. *** NEXT YEAR’S CALENDAR ONLINE, ON WAY: In my note last Monday, I promised that a draft version of our 2010-2011 school calendar would be sent home by Wednesday. Unexpected “glitches” prevented that from happening, but I did put a version on our website, www.bdms.org by week’s end. The “hard copy” of the calendar will be sent home by Tuesday. SUMMER CAMP HAS OPENINGS: While the deadline for outside applicants has passed for enrollment in the first two-week session of Summer FUNdamentals, our school’s academic, arts and sports enrichment camp, we can still take a limited number of Bishop Dunn students in the program, if you have not already signed up your child, but you need to complete and return an application before the end of this week. Enrollment is also still open for the second and third two-week sessions in the camp. Call our main office at 569-3494, for further information. FRIDAY IS LAST FULL DAY: Finally, this is a reminder that this Friday, June 18th, will be the last full day of school for the year. Next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we will be on a half-day schedule, with dismissal at 11:15 a.m. and extension available until 5 p.m. Next Thursday, June 24th, school will close for the year at 10 a.m., with no afterschool extension. “Success comes from opportunities you’ve created through diligent, dedicated work.”-D.Gephart June 7, 2010 Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn, There have been more than a few times over the course of the school year when it was hard to squeeze all the information about the “events” that went on the week before at Bishop Dunn on one newsletter page. My problem today is that I can’t decide which of the three special ceremonies that took place this last week were less special and therefore could be “held back” until my next note home. My solution? A rare double-sided newsletter for those who get hard copies sent home, and a longer than normal note for those like yourselves who receive it by E-mail. This week’s run of wonderful events began last Wednesday with our Spring Band and Choral Concert. Leading off the evening program, our 47-member band, with the help of several guest musicians, performed impressively, led by their director Mr. Dan Teare and his assistant Mr. Harvey Tibbs. The beginner and advanced band members who participated in the concert included: Ariana Tadayan on bells; flute players Abby Anderson, Sasha Attaway, Nicole Case, Julia Conyea, Molly Conyea, Jordan Crinieri*, Alexandra Ellingson*, Katherine Garcia, Jordan Graham, Rachel Irish, Gabriella Javinett*, Sara Palmatier*, Emily Salvatore, and Anna Schorno; clarinetists Danielle B, Melissa Garcia, Max Labrenz, Frank Russo, Mia Serrano, and Bridget U; saxophone players Joaquin Bagtas, Vincent Compagnone, Jordan Giordano* Sean Hertel*, Benjamin Patsalos, Stanley U and Ryan W*; trombonist George Konno*; trumpet players Michael Cooke*, Vincent DiNezza, Thomas James, Lucas Labrenz, Brian Rhee, Aaron Supple* and William Whelan; and drummers Jack Baccaro, Denzel B, Sean B*, Brenden Bready, Joshua Davila, Edward Dennis, Cleveland Lewis, Troy Lois, James Maniscalchi, Will Trieste, and Grant U. (*indicates Honor Band member). Following a brief intermission, our talented choral members, under the direction of Mrs. Ada Margoshes and Mr. Grant Konno, performed an equally impressive array of musical selections, including the beautifully appropriate Die Musici (Music Alone Shall Live), sung completely in German by our advanced Troubadour singers to a closing medley of songs honoring our country, entitled America, of Thee I Sing. Members of the Troubadours, who sang solos, duets, quartets and a wonderful mix of other vocal combinations included: Isabella Boccadoro, Nicole Case, Maureen Casiano, Natalie Cuneo, Jordan Graham, Nicole Javinett, Grace McElduff, Gabriella Palladino, Katherine Savage, and Leanza Tirado. Other members of the chorus performing with the Troubadours on Wednesday evening were: Thairi Azuaje, Francesca Chillino, Analiese Compagnone, Guy-Paul Delisfort, Theodore Friedrich, Rachel Irish, Shannyn LaCroix, Olivia Lynch, Gabriela Morris, and Ava Zappone. Congratulations to all our students for finding the time in their busy schedules to develop into such wonderful musicians, and to all those who helped nurture their talents, especially their parents. Thanks, as well, for providing such a relaxing respite from the hectic last full week of school activities. *** FORMER STUDENTS SHINE AT GRADUATION: I don’t normally attend graduations for John S. Burke High School, but Saturday’s, which was held at Mount Saint Mary College’s Aquinas Hall, was one that I was extremely happy not to have missed because it featured two “starring students,” who first honed their academic and public speaking performance skills as students at Bishop Dunn. Stephanie Naru, who was recently featured in one of my newsletters for her lead performance in her school’s spring musical production, opened this weekend’s graduation ceremony with a wonderfully articulate and eloquent introduction of the featured speaker, Mount Saint Mary College’s president, Father Kevin Mackin. Closing the ceremony to a rousing thousand-person standing ovation with a powerful and deeply profound valedictorian address, that rivaled any I have heard from much more seasoned professional adult speakers, was another Bishop Dunn alumni, Christopher Herries, who topped his graduating class of 121 students with a cumulative grade point average of 98.6! In between, one of our other Class of 2006 students, Hillary Hastings, and Jessica Perk, the daughter of one of our teachers, Mrs. Donna Perk, were honored for being among the top academic achieving students in their class at Burke over the last four years. It was a great day at Aquinas for Burke, but just as great a day for the wonderful “starter” school next door, Bishop Dunn, to bask in the achievements of its former students, as they complete one milestone in their lives, and begin another college journey that we all pray will be even more successful and fulfilling. (Continued on back of page) PRINCIPAL’S NEWSLETTER (Continued from front page) SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS NAMED: Last on my list of big events, a group of much younger Bishop Dunn students got their first chance to practice their public speaking skills in another slightly more intimate setting the day before the Burke graduation, when we held our final First Friday Mass of the school year, with 2nd graders, doing the sacred readings, singing and leading in other parts of the service, under the able direction of their teacher, Mrs Mary Birnbryer and her assistant, Mrs. Ann Giraudin. It also happened to be an event, like Burke’s, that reflected the strong continuing presence of the Herries family in our school. In addition to continuing to support our school in a variety of ways, including weekly visits over the course of the year by Chris Herries to lead our Chess Club, the family has provided wonderfully generous financial support for the past four years, through funding for scholarships for middle school students in the memory of Paul R. Miller. This year’s latest winner of the Paul R. Miller Scholarship was given at the conclusion of the beautiful Mass, which was attended by Paul’s mother, Mrs. Ruth Miller, Mrs. Ellen Herries, and her daughter Allison, who along with her sister Emily, also attended Bishop Dunn’s middle school. Having a “great love for learning” was the main criteria used in determining the Miller Scholarship, and several others also given out at the ceremony. Previous winners, who again qualified for the second or third year of the scholarship were 6th grader Kailey Loughran, and 7th grader Brandon Rawlins. Added to the growing list of Miller scholars on Friday was 5th grader Matteo Carrieri-Russo ,who will be entering our middle school next year. All student recipients will receive $2,500 a year through the rest of their middle school years at Bishop Dunn. In addition to making an initial contribution of $62,000 to set up the scholarship, the Millers have donated additional money again for this year’s scholarships, so that the principal amount in the fund does not have to be touched. In addition to the Miller award, three other $1,000 awards were given at the ceremony again this year for three scholarships - one in memory of Raymond Larkey, and the other two in honor of Sister Frances Irene Fair and Sister Barbara Hamilton. Mr. Larkey was the cousin of Sister Frances, who had a great love for our school. Money that was bequeathed to Sister Frances after Mr. Larkey’s death was used for his scholarship and for the one honoring Sister Barbara. Donations made by members of our school family have been used for Sister Frances’ scholarship. The winner of this year’s Raymond Larkey Scholarship, announced at the special Mass was 2nd grader Rocco Rinelli, while the Sister Barbara Hamilton Scholarship was presented to 1st grader Hunter Scofield. Finally, the winners of the second annual Sister Frances Irene Fair Scholarship awards was another 2nd grader Nayelli Geraldo. Congratulations to all the winners! DANCERS DISTINGUISH THEMSELVES: Very belated congratulations to Mackenzie Zupko and Sean Zupko who competed recently in a feis (an Irish Dance competition). Mackenzie won a first place, a second and two third place awards for different dance elements of the competition. Sean won a first, second, third and fourth place. Mackenzie is now getting ready for her first national competition in Walt Disney World on July 4th. LOOK FOR NEXT YEAR’S CALENDAR: A first draft version of our 2010-2011 school calendar will be sent home by Wednesday. If you don’t see a version by the end of the week, you can call our main office at 569-3494 to have one sent. A version will also be available on our website, www.bdms.org by Wednesday. JUNE CALENDAR CHANGE/REMINDERS: The date for the NY State Regents Algebra test, which is being taken by our advanced 8th graders, was incorrectly listed on our monthly calendar. It will be administered on Friday, June 18th, at North Junior High School. Other middle school final exam dates, the date for the 8th grade Spanish proficiency exam, and special activity reminders are available on the Middle School Bulletin Board on our website. Finally, this is another reminder that the last day of school will be Thursday, June 24th, with dismissal at 10 a.m. STILL WAYS TO SUPPORT SCHOOL: While all our formal fund-raising projects have been completed for the year, there are still a number of ways in which you can provide an extra financial benefit for our school as we try to close out the year with a very tight budget. Here are a few ways. SHOP ONLINE: Continue to consider making any of your online purchases through the summer by going through Bishop Dunn’s own new online “shopping website.” The web portal, www.shoptoearn.net/BDM, which can also be accessed from the homepage on our own website, www.bdms.org, will connect you to more than 1,000 stores and services that will send cash back to our school each time you shop with them by first linking to their online sites through our web portal. HONOR A LOVED ONE: Another way to help improve our revenue picture for the year is to make a contribution to the school, and honor the memory of loved ones in the process, by purchasing a leaf or plaque on the beautiful “Remember Me, Tree” that is installed in our lobby. For information about the memorial leaf program call our Development Office at 569-3496 or check our Development Office website link. WELLNESS FUND-RAISER CONTINUES: If you lost, or never saw, the list of all the great skin care, personal hygiene. sun safety, environmentally friendly water bottle and other items being sold in our first Wellness Fund-raiser, please contact our Development Office at 569-3496 for more details. SUPER WIN STILL POSSIBLE: Finally, if you missed making a killing betting on the horses at the Triple Crown’s Belmont Stakes this past weekend, you still have time to purchase a ticket for our $10,000 Super Raffle. Tickets are $100 each, and a maximum of 400 can be sold. They are still available through our Development Office at 569-3496. The winning ticket will be drawn on Friday, June 18th, at Bishop Dunn. “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”- Abraham Lincoln June 2, 2010 Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn, Wow, it’s June already! The regular school year is rushing by so rapidly that I’m afraid I’m going to run out of time and newsletter room to pass along all the messages, reminders and other announcements about upcoming events, special activities, and scheduling changes that you will need to plan for the month – and the year to come. Before I get to the list of items, I wanted to thank everyone who helped out at last week’s two fund-raising events, our Penny Social and Race for Education. I was running around so much, both literally (see below) and figuratively, through the staging of both events that I won’t even try to name all the volunteers individually now. Hopefully I’ll be able to provide that information in an upcoming newsletter, when I announce the race “winners” and, more importantly, the amount we are able to collect for this very important school fund-raiser. In the meantime, I hope you will respond as enthusiastically in helping your children collect their sponsor pledge money, as they all were participating in the race. SPECIAL NOTE: I asked our staff and students to consider sponsoring me on the day of the race for 10 cents or more per lap. In case they haven’t come to you yet, asking to raid their piggy bank, and still wanted to contribute, I ran 17 laps in 30 minutes. I also promised to match whatever amount they brought in. *** FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL SET: I hope to send home a first draft of the annual school calendar for next year before the week is over. In the meantime, I wanted to make you aware that since Newburgh and several other large area districts will open again before Labor Day in September, and because we are trying to coordinate our schedule as much as possible with the public schools that serve our students to try and keep transportation costs down, the three Newburgh area Catholic schools will also open earlier than has been the case in the past. Tentative plans are to open for two half days of classes on Wednesday, Sept. 1st, and Thursday, Sept 2nd. As we did last year, after the opening we will be closed Friday, Sept. 3rd, for a four-day Labor Day weekend. In addition to helping keep busing schedules in sync as much as possible with the public schools, the earlier opening will allow us to begin full days of class a week earlier than would be the case if we opened on the Wednesday after Labor Day. The complete schedule has not been finalized, but we are also hoping that the earlier start will allow us to take two full weeks off for Christmas break, as we did last year. SCHOOL CLOSING PUSHED BACK A DAY: In case you missed the first notification last month, I wanted to remind all our families, for their planning purposes, that school will end on Thursday, June 24th, (a day later than originally scheduled), in order to make up for an extra snow day that we had to use this winter. The closing time for the last day will remain the same – 10 a.m. SPRING CONCERT TOMORROW: Our Spring Band and Choral Concert will be held tomorrow, June 2nd, at the Aquinas Hall Theater. The band will perform at 7 p.m. and our choral concert will begin at approximately 7:30 p.m. DROP-OFF, PICK-UP REMINDERS: As we approach the end of the school year, I need to remind parents and visitors about some procedures for dropping off and picking up children in our building, that are not being followed consistently. When you drop off or pick up your children, please do not leave your cars unattended along the front curb near the main entrance to Bishop Dunn. If you need to enter the building, find a parking spot across from our school (which should be even easier at this time of the year, because college is not in session), before entering the building. Visitors who leave their cars parked along the curb (illegally, as the traffic signs point out) are causing an unsafe condition for anyone trying to get through the narrow roadway. LOST AND FOUND BOXES “FOUND”: Finally, I recently discovered that many of our parents weren’t aware that, in addition to the lost and found bin in our front lobby, we also have several large boxes that have been kept in our gym containing sweatshirts, lost lunch boxes and other items. The boxes are now in the breezeway, along with the tables filled with a variety of almost new (in many cases), uniform shirts, pants and other accessories that were purposely passed along to the school for recycling. “You can’t hit a homer while sitting in the bleachers. Get up and start swinging for the fences!” May 24, 2010 Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn, As I watched the third and, as it turned out, best performance of Damn Yankees, this past weekend, I finally decided what I liked best about this extremely professionally done musical extravaganza, compared to the last half dozen awesome musical extravaganzas that our Middle School Drama Program have produced. In past years, I have been amazed at how own drama program directors have been able to take some of the greatest Broadway musicals, such as Singin in the Rain, Anything Goes and 42nd Street, and pull such a high level of singing, acting and dancing talent out of “ordinary” 6th, 7th and 8th graders to do these blockbuster shows justice. This year the directors told me more than once that instead of picking students to fit the show, they fit the show for the seventy-plus students, who they knew would want to be a part of the production. Since more than half of those interested in taking part were boys, a sports-themed musical, like Damn Yankees, with more than twice as many male leads as female ones, turned out, as they predicted to be a perfect vehicle to show off the talents of the students with whom they had to work! Kudos, first of all, to our drama director, Brigid Killelea, and choreographer, Bernadette Kleister, for their extraordinary winning effort in fitting so well the play to the players and in the process putting together the best “Damn” student cast possible, and to Susan Trieste, the production manager, who helped keep the nearly 100 performers, stage crew and parent and student volunteers working so well as a team over five grueling months of practice. Congratulations, as well, to the featured players, led by Anthony DaSilva, the little guy with the big voice and even bigger stage presence, who literally carried the production on his big acting back with a perfect turn as the devil, despite the unexpectedly inspired resistance of his partner in arms, Lola, who was played with equally devilish charm and suddenly reluctant enthusiasm by Kristin Morehead. Others who hit a homerun in their debuts in feature roles included 8th graders James Terotta and Alex Beckham, as the boy-men with a passion for the national pastime, and Molly O’Brien, who expressed in a wonderfully lovely voice in several songs her passion for her man, even when he was gone. Memorable acting debuts in featured roles were also made by Ian Scully, Chris Introcaso, Carly Feldstein and Michael Cooke. Rounding out the list of featured performers were: Kayli Berardinelli, Maddy Dill, Leo Maniscalchi, JT Whritner, Ryan W, Trevor Scully, Eddie Dennis, Danny Yancewicz, Sean Hertel, Kailyn Caldwell, George Konno, Will Trieste, Jordan Giordano, Vincent DiNezza, Gabriella Javinett, and two devilisly impish dancers, Ishaan Brissette and Denzel B. SPECIAL NOTE: See the back of this newsletter for a list of all the other program contributors. *** RACE DAY FRIDAY: Our Race for Education fund-raiser will be held this Friday, May 28th. Any students, who have not done so, can still participate by bringing in completed sponsor forms, or by making a flat donation. Participants can wear their gym uniforms to school on Friday, even if it is not a scheduled physical education day for them. Call our Development Office at 569-3496 if you need a sponsor form. PENNY SOCIAL SET: In case you missed the fliers that have already gone out, Bishop Dunn will be hosting a Penny Social this Thursday, May 27th. The doors in our gym will open at 5 p.m. and calling will start promptly at 6:30 p.m. Please bring some friends, relatives or neighbors to this “fun” fund-raising event. DONNELLY FITTING ON FRIDAY: Representatives from Donnelly’s Uniform Co. will be at school on Friday, May 28th, from noon to 1:30 p.m. to fit students and take orders for next year. UNIFORM RECYCLING PLANNED: Before you go ahead and purchase new school uniform items this Friday, you should consider checking out all the nice, almost new (in many cases), uniform shirts, pants and other accessories that will be put out on table in our school breezeway later this week. WELLNESS FUND-RAISER CONTINUES: If the list of all the great skin care, personal hygiene. sun safety, environmentally friendly water bottle and other items being sold in our first Wellness Fund-raiser, please contact our Development Office at 569-3496 for more details. “DAMN YANKEES” CAST AND CONTRIBUTORS LIST While it is our 70 plus “on-stage” performers who get to bask in the limelight in our musical extravaganzas every year, there are just as many people who work behind the scenes to produce the best shows this side of Broadway (and I’m not talking about Broadway, Newburgh, if you know what I mean!) In past half dozen years, in this space, I have stated that our shows should be considered among the best musical productions of any high schools, colleges or community theaters in the region. Once again, our performers demonstrated this past weekend, they are still the best “Damn” theatrical game around! The names of all those who helped make this year’s play such an overwhelming success are listed below. We apologize, in advance, if we missed any contributors FEATURED PERFORMERS: (in order of appearance): James Terotta, Molly O’Brien, Anthony DaSilva, Kayli Berardinelli, Maddy Dill, Alex Beckham, Leo Maniscalchi, JT. Whritner, Ryan W, Ian Scully, Chris Introcaso, Carly Feldstein, Trevor Scully, Michael Cooke, Eddie Dennis, Kristin Morehead, Danny Yancewicz, Sean Hertel, Kailyn Caldwell, George Konno, Will Trieste, Trevor Scully, Jordan Giordano, Gabriella Javinett. ENSEMBLE: Emma Anderson, Lauren Bayer, Isabella Boccadoro, Danielle B, Denzel B, Sean B, Ishaan Brissette, Italo C. Russo, Nicholas Casiano, Toni Contini, Cassie Cook, Julie Costigan, Jordan Crinieri, Jack Cuneo, Billy DeTorres, Nadia Delisfort, Eddie Dennis, Vincent DiNezza, Jenna DiVenuto, Alexandra Ellingson, Cynthia Fioriti, Michael Fleckenstein, Gracie Foster, Belle Frank, Ally Galli, Katherine Garcia, Melissa Garcia, Ryan Guarneri, Antonio Harris, Abby Hastings, Rebecca Hayen, Tayler Kissam, Troy Lois, Colin Loughran, Kailey Loughran, Meaghan McKay, John Paul McLoughlin, Kate Mead, Nick Mongelli, Kyle Morehead, Annamarie Murillo, Katina Pagones, Tyler Peterkin, Brandon Rawlins, Isabella Saffioti, Amanda Salvatore, Iris Stewart, Aaron Supple, Grant Urbanski, Patricia Whelan, Henry Wyand, Mackenzie Wyant, Julia Zambito, and Marissa Zuccardo. PRODUCTION CREW: Director – Brigid Killelea; Choreographer – Bernadette Kleister; Production Manager – Susan Trieste; Pianist – Beth Crescimanno; Bass – Dom Crescimanno; Vocal Coach – Scott Tabone; Set Design – Sean Jones, and Brigid Killelea; Set Construction – Sean Jones, Pete McLoughlin, Leif Stepakoff and the Costigan Family; Stage Crew – Cooper Casiano, Justin Kolbinski, David Adams, Danielle Gonzalez-Wu, Alex Gormley, Michael Irish, Erica LaMela, Eddie Muschio, Brian Rhee, Sam Schorno, Rachel Stein, Tess Stepakoff, George Wyand and Josh Yeadon.; Art Director – Donna DelConte; Set Painters – Donna DelConte, Jill Cook, Anthony DaSilva, Beth DaSilva, Hannah Fleckenstein, Julie Hayen, Kerry Hertel, Michael Irish, Carole Scully and John Trieste; Lighting Design – Peter Ray; Microphones/Sound Assistant – Dylan Lewis, Sam Schorno, and Keith Osborne; Microphone Rentals - Monte Brothers; Costume Coordinators– Janette McKay; Costume Rentals – Marlu Costumes; Tickets – Beth DaSilva; Properties – Liz Damiano; Photography – Charles Frank, A Frank Image Photography; Refreshment Coordinator – Jen Caldwell; Program Journal – Gena O’Brien and Molly Whritner; Printing – Sentinel Printing; Florist – Diane Terotta and Rosalie Chiarella of Floral Bliss; House Manager – Virginia Albano and Nicole Purdy; Family Volunteers – Mrs. Caldwell, Mrs. Cook, Mr. Cook, the Costigan Family, Mrs. DaSilva, Mrs. Fioriti, Mrs. Fleckenstein, Mrs. Foster, Mrs. Frank, Mr. Frank, Mrs. Galli, Mrs. Hayen, Mrs. Hertel, Mrs. Kissam, Mrs. Mackey, Mrs. McKay, Mr. McLoughlin, Mrs. Mongelli, Mrs. Morehead, Mrs. O’Brien, Mrs. Scully, Mr. Stepakoff, Mrs. Terotta, Mrs. Whritner; Alumni Volunteers – Tim Costigan, Meryl Fioriti, Dylan Lewis, John Trieste, Sean McKay, Hannah Fleckenstein, Keith Osborne, Lily Snyder, and Nicole Vazquez. May 17, 2010 Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn, I have mentioned more than once in the past month, the big “push” we are making here at Bishop Dunn to ensure that our end-of-the-year fund-raising efforts will be as successful as possible, because of the very tight operating budget situation that we have been dealing with all year. The other half of the “revenue stream” that I don’t normally write about in this forum, but feel the need to mention now for the same “tight budget” reasons, has to do with the timely completion of tuition payments. I bring this up, mainly in fairness to the vast majority of our parents who do everything they can to keep up with all their bills, despite the continuing financial difficulties that so many are still experiencing as the region struggles ever so slowly toward economic recovery. I also felt the need to mention that we are now in the process of linking our budget accounting system much more closely to Mount Saint Mary College’s, and, as a result, stronger, but still relatively gentle, pressure is coming from our financial overseers there to put all our budget procedures, especially our collection policies, in order. That being said, I wanted to ask anyone who still has not paid their final tuition bill for the year (due at the end of April), to either send it in this week, or contact me directly to discuss the matter, to avoid any additional problems or the need to send out collection letters. In another, not completely unrelated, enrollment matter, I also wanted to ask once more if anyone is not planning to re-enroll their children in Bishop Dunn next year, but has not yet notified us, to contact me as soon as possible. We are fortunate to have a good number of families waiting patiently to enroll their children in our school at a variety of grade levels and we would like to accept new students, if any places become available. *** ANOTHER RACE “WARM-UP” SET: As part of the increased end-of-the-year fund-raising effort, mentioned above and in earlier newsletters, I would like to hold another “Warm-Up Wednesday” this week to encourage full (or close to it) student participation in our upcoming “Race for Education.” Students who have already sent in completed race sponsor forms, or who do so by Wednesday, May 19th, will be allowed to wear their gym uniforms, even though Wednesday is not a gym day for any classes. Students who have completed sponsor forms or who have made a flat donation for the event, will also get to “warm up” for the upcoming event by getting a break from class to walk/jog the “race” path. Please call our Development Office at 569-3496, if you need more information. YANKEES HOME “RUN” REMINDER: In case you missed my extra newsletter last Thursday, this is a reminder that our middle school musical extravaganza, Damn Yankees, will be staged this Friday, May 21st, at 7 p.m. and again on Saturday, May 22nd, at noon and 7 p.m., at Mount Saint Mary College’s Aquinas Hall. I’m sure that after all our students see the dress rehearsal Thursday morning they will be running home that day and try to convince you to attend one of the weekend performances, but you can beat them to the punch by purchasing tickets in advance by calling our main office number at 569-3494. You can also find out more about this year’s production, as well as view extended videoclips from previous musicals (just to remind yourself how good the shows are) by checking the extracurricular-drama link on our school website at www.bdms.org. LAST DAY OF SCHOOL RESET: Finally, for your planning purposes, please be aware that it has been determined that school we will need to end on Thursday, June 24th, and not on the originally scheduled closing date of Wednesday, June 23rd, in order to make up for an extra snow day that we had to use this winter. The closing time for the last day will remain the same – 10 a.m. May 13, 2010 Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Friends of Bishop Dunn, I haven’t been sending home many second weekly newsletters in recent months, but I have also been remiss in providing advance information about our upcoming drama production and wanted to make sure that you had more than a week’s notice, so you can make plans to attend at least one performance of this year’s middle school musical extravaganza, Damn Yankees. It will staged next Friday, May 21st, at 7 p.m. and again on Saturday, May 22nd, at noon and 7 p.m., and if you want to see the truly amazing things that can be done to make more than 70 sixth, seventh and eighth graders sing, act and dance like seasoned professionals, you can’t afford to miss the show! I say this every year, but continue to be frustrated about not being able to convince nearly enough of our parents to attend, especially the ones who don’t have children in the show. Please believe me when I tell you that it’s an extremely entertaining experience, better than any local production you might chose to see, and a lot cheaper than attending a Broadway show. I was reminded how well our productions stack up again one of those local shows again this year when I recently attended the Burke High School production of “Anything Goes,” which just happened to star Stephanie Naru, who cut her acting and dancing teeth, as they say, when she was a performer in our own middle school productions. While I went mainly to see Stephanie, I was also interested in comparing the Burke production to our own version of “Anything Goes” performed two years ago. To be completely honest (really, I tried not to be biased), Stephanie was outstanding and a few of the Burke performers were also very good, but our overall production blew theirs right out of the water! OK, still don’t believe me? Just look at any of the three video clips from the last three years of our productions on our website, www.bdms.org., and then try and stay away! See you at the show next weekend – I hope! *** BIG BUCKS UP FOR GRABS: When I wrote in a newsletter recently about all the ways that are still available to support our school’s fund-raising efforts, I forgot to mention one of the biggest ones – at least one that might provide the biggest reward for you if you take part. It’s our annual SuperRaffle, where a $100 wager gives you pretty good chance (only 400 tickets can be sold, which is much better odds than playing Lotto, for sure) to take home $10,000, when we have our grand prize drawing in June. Remember only 400 If you are interested in purchasing a ticket, or getting other friends and family to share in the cost of a ticket, please call our Development Office at 569-3495/6. Just remember, as they say, “you have to be in it to win it!” GENEROSITY APPRECIATED: I am pleased to report that our students donated a total of $380 as part of their last “Dress Down Day” a few weeks ago to two very worthy causes. The money collected is being split and sent to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and also to the fund programs for children’s cancer research. I also recently received a note from Father Peter Claver, who assists at St. Mary’s Church, thanking our students and families for the $484 that they donated to be used to help fund a fresh water well project for his home community in Nigeria. “The people of the benefiting community and I are united in gratitude for your extraordinary generosity. You remain in my prayers, and I ask for your continued prayers and support that our project be successful,” Father Peter wrote. STUDENT SCOUT HONORED: Finally, belated congratulations to 7th grader Michael Cooke, who recently received the Boy Scout’s Ad Altare Dei award in a special ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. The Ad Altare Dei award is one of three religious medals that Michael has earned in connection with his Catholic faith during his years with the Scouts.
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