Greetings from Molloy – Week Seven
Upcoming Alumni Events
Two weeks to go! – November 7th, 2009
The Annual Mass of Remembrance
The Stanner Hall of Fame Inductions
& Reunions for the 4’s and 9’s
We see more and more people signing up for their reunions and the Hall of Fame Induction every day. As the time approaches, we encourage everyone who plans on coming to register and pay online for this exceptional evening. We want to be certain to have the right number of seats and the most accurate beverage count we can for this evening of fun, friendship and celebration.
If you have any questions about this event, please call or e-mail Charlie Flood in the Alumni Office at 718-943-3151 cflood@molloyhs.org .
Sports Update from the A.D.’s Office
Fall Update
Girls Tennis is 9-1 and will enter the playoffs as the number one seed on Friday 10/23 @ The West Side Tennis Club. If they win the championship is Monday 10/26 at Alley Pond Park.
Girls Varsity Soccer is completing their regular season this Friday 10/23. With a victory they secure the number two seed in the playoffs and play in the semi finals on Wednesday 10/28 in Alley Pond Park.
Girls JV Soccer completes their season on Friday 10/23. They are currently 7-3-1 and enter the playoffs as the number one seed. They play in the Championship on Thursday 10/29 at Alley Pond Park.
Varsity Volleyball finished the season at 6-4 and enters the playoffs as the number three seed. Playoffs start at Molloy on Sunday 10/25.
JV Volleyball finished the season 7-3 with a tie for the second seed. They have a tiebreaker on Friday 10/23 at 4:00 PM at Molloy. Playoffs for them will be on Sunday.
Boys Varsity Soccer enters the playoffs as the number two seed from Brooklyn/Queens. Their record is 10-0-5. Playoffs begin on 10/31 @ SUNY Maritime.
Varsity Baseball finished the fall season 14-1-1. JV Baseball finished the fall 5-1-1.
We are awaiting the results from the Boys JV Soccer team.
Volleyball Senior Night
When any sports season comes to an end, the seniors begin to realize that their high school sports career has also ended. Each team celebrates this time of transition differently. One of the strongest traditions is the recognition of the graduating seniors as they take the court, field or starting line for the last time. The Girl’s Varsity Volleyball team celebrated this week.
The JV set the tone for the evening with a hard fought first game victory over TMLA. By the end of the afternoon they won the match as well. The Senior Ceremony was a tribute to our graduating seniors’ dedication and leadership. To top off Senior Day, the Varsity also won their match. Congratulations to all and now, on to the tournaments.
Around the School
Open House
Last Sunday was our annual Open House for prospective students. This is an “all hands on deck” day for the faculty and staff at Molloy. According to Joan Porcella, “approximately 2,000 families toured the school resulting in a crowd of nearly 6,000 people. As part of their Molloy experience they visited with teachers and students, saw our world class science facilities, and witnessed classroom technology in action on SmartBoards®.”
Twenty-two activities from Anime to Yearbook were represented along with all sixteen sports. The Science Club had their robots roaming and Knitting Club showcased their hats, gloves and scarves. There was something for everyone to see.
There were many families who spent their entire day here at the school. In spite of the weather, we had a wonderful turnout.
National Honor Society
This year the Louis E. Willett chapter of the National Honor Society inducted 106 seniors into their ranks. Named for Stanner Hall of Fame member Louis Willett, a casualty of the Vietnam War and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, our chapter has a long and proud heritage of inducting seniors who demonstrate academic excellence along with a commitment to service. Every year a new piece of artwork is developed which exemplifies the four tenets of the National Honor Society – character, scholarship, leadership, and service.
Four officers have been elected by the other members to lead the NHS in future service projects: President- Benedict Joson, Vice President- Patryk Perowski, Treasurer- Maria Akay, and Secretary- Grace Lisandrelli.
Lantern – New Beginnings
When Lantern met this week the students discussed New Beginnings. The meeting concluded with the planting of 100 bulbs. Brother John prepared St. Ann’s Courtyard with 100 holes ready for each student to place his or her bulb. The bulb represents the struggle to break through some of life’s challenges, sustaining ones self through a harsh winter to emerge as one of God’s gifts of beauty. Next spring the courtyard will come to life with color and triumph over life’s challenges.
Walk-a-Thon
Give 1500 students the chance to earn a day off by walking proudly for their school and raising money to renovate their library – then watch them go! This year the walk-a-thon day was cool and crisp, it was also quite productive. Though the numbers are not yet tallied, the prospects of hitting the mark are well within range.
This year’s fundraising event will support the renovation of the William Murphy Library & Research Center. Plans have not yet been developed for the renovation, but Mr. Sherry, Dorothy DeNoto and CJ Mallia have been on at least one field trip scoping out what developing a state of the art facility would entail.
As usual, the day started with all of the logistics in place and all of the tee shirts delivered. It was a sea of color as the teal/navy blue shirts worn by class after class streamed out of the building. As they walked out of the building they were encouraged by the Archbishop Molloy Pipe and Drum Band. Members of the track team set out on their run ahead of the pack and the I A.M. Green (Environmental) Club followed the student body line of march making sure that the path taken was left in better shape than they found it.
The faculty joined in, taking to the pavement in support of this effort. They guided their classes through the streets of Queens. A second group of walkers left for the City under the guidance of Chris Dougherty ’91, Br. James Norton and Ted McGuinness ’81 to walk across the Williamsburg Bridge and spend the day exploring Manhattan.
Faculty Spotlight
Lauren Kemmerer
Lauren Kemmerer just started teaching math at Molloy last year. As a kid Lauren grew up in Flushing where she attended St. Mel’s. After she went to St. Francis Prep, Molloy at the time not being a choice for her since it was still an all boys’ school. At Prep she was inspired by her freshman math teacher, Mr. Frank Destefano. “He opened a door for me,” explains Lauren. “He really encouraged me and made me realize I excelled at math.” She wanted to fulfill students the way Mr. Destefano did by “making students realize math doesn’t have to be so scary and frustrating.”
Lauren moved on to Adelphi University and got her BS in math and MA in secondary education. She was drawn to teaching in a Catholic school because she missed the environment. “Growing up I was a alter server, CCD teacher, Eucharistic minister- I like being in a place where I can celebrate being Catholic,” Lauren said.
The thing that she enjoys most about Molloy is how open and welcoming everyone is. “People here show kindness above and beyond- through little gestures and great support.” In particular Lauren mentioned Jeanne Longerano as being a great educational mentor.
She also likes the particular type of student that she gets to teach here at Molloy. “You know what type of student you are going to get simply because they picked this school, it tells a lot about them. It tells me faith and excelling in doing well is important to them.”
Lauren also likes to be able to say she loves her job because she thinks most people her age aren’t able to. In her down time Lauren loves to travel. She described herself as being “very German” and visits Germany a lot, along with other places in Europe. She is an avid Mets fan and keeps her family close at heart.
Non Scholae — Sed Vitae
Dr. John D. Briggs ’75, his daughter and classmate Brian Foley ’75 stopped in to tour the school. Dr. Briggs was up from Florida for a few days to show his daughter the city and visit with old friends. He has a unique medical practice in Florida with a large group of more than 80 physicians throughout the state.
More than Just Dreamers these Stanners are Dreamcatchers!
If you have ever wondered what happens when you put three outstanding Stanners with a shared interest in service to others, you need to follow the story of Operation Dreamcatchers. It was organized as a not-for-profit organization with a focus on collecting money and medical supplies for underprivileged charity institutions in underdeveloped countries. The brainchild of Melissa Bhikham ’08, Melissa Buchan ’08, and Stacy Lalman ’08, they are off to a good start, recruiting students on their college campus’ as supporters. Molloy’s Knitting Club will support their effort by knitting infant caps as gifts for newborns in Guyana. For more information, visit their site at: www.operationdreamcatchers.org.
Photo by Tom Harrison
Alumni Golf News – Molloy Alumni Defeat Chaminade Alumni!
Joe Howard reported in with the attached photograph. This year’s “Unofficial” Molloy -Chaminade Alumni Battle resulted in a win for the home team!
Those participating from Molloy from left to right were:
Mike O’Conor, Joe Howard, Joe Simone, Rob Adamski (son of the late Bill Adamski)
Tom Scaturro, John Smollen, Barry Ryan and Gerry Betts.
The photo was accompanied by a check for $450.00 which represents the Chaminade “losers” contribution to Molloy. Well done!
Blood Manor – A Frightful Success!
Jim Faro ’70, an attorney and entrepreneur is a partner in the Halloween experience known as Blood Manor. This venue is one of the best seasonal haunted house experiences in Manhattan, and throughout the greater NY region. Our students can purchase discount tickets at the school through the end of the show. Featured on NY’s local television recently, the experience is bound to thrill even the most hardened Halloween aficionado.
In addition to the discounts our students receive, Jim donates a portion of the proceeds from our ticket sales back to the Alumni Office for the Fund for Molloy.
In Memoriam
We received notice that the father of Frank Pellegrino, CFO of the Marist Brothers, passed away this week at the age of 93. Please keep Frank and his family in your prayers this week.
We have also received word that Paul R. Phinney, father of Paul C. Phinney ’68 passed away last December 8th. Though we did not post a notice at that time, we will remember him and his family at our annual Mass of Remembrance this November 7th.
We received notification of the passing of Mr. John P. Devlin ’57 this week. After St. Ann’s Academy, Mr. Devlin received his BA from Manhattan College in 1961. According to the note from Mr. John Halvey, Mr. Devlin passed away on October 9th from Pancreatic Cancer. Please keep his family in your prayers this weekend.
