Upcoming Alumni Events

It’s Reunion Time in Briarwood!

Two weeks from tomorrow more than 300 Stanners will gather in the Theater for Mass, and in the Curran Gym to celebrate their time at Molloy. The Mass of Remembrance will begin promptly at 6:00 PM and the 50th and 25th Anniversary medallions will be presented following the Mass. We expect a good turnout from the classes of 1958 and 1983 this year.

We have been assured that the program for the evening will be brief and that there will be maximum time for socializing and renewing friendships. The new Chemistry Lab will be open for inspection. There are still “naming opportunities” for the various work stations in the lab. Please contact Maria Ford if you would like additional information on this or any other giving opportunity.

Around the School

Stanners for Life — Parent’s Wine and Cheese event

Brother Roy George opened the program with an engaging slide show about “A Day in the Life of a Stanner”. His approach gave parents an insight into the typical day at Molloy. In his presentation he demonstrated why their teenagers are so tired at the end of a typical school day. Immediately following Brother Roy’s presentation, Mr. Sherry took the floor and introduced a Stanners for Life Campaign video highlighting the key changes since our dedication in 1957.

The Parent’s Wine and Cheese Reception, sponsored by the Stanners for Life Campaign Parents Committee, was a chance for Stanner parents to get together in an effort to better understand life at Molloy and what to expect as time passes. Our Stanners for Life campaign has a parent component to it and we encourage parents to “go the extra mile” by volunteering to help out at events or by making a financial commitment.

Tom Bradley ’74, the Stanners for Life Campaign chair and chair of the Parent’s committee, brought the evening to a close with his heartfelt endorsement of his alma mater and the campaign.

Open House to be held Sunday, October 19th, 2008

We will have our Open House for prospective students and their families this weekend. Sunday will bring a lot of new faces to Molloy for the first time. Of course, there will be some alumni bringing their sons and daughters to “their school” as well. All are welcome and we have a FANTASTIC story to tell.

Technology

We will showcase our leadership in this area, including our constant innovation in the area of technology. We are a wireless school, and every classroom has a SmartBoard®. Every teacher has a laptop. In addition, we have carts of laptops which can be brought to a classroom for in-class research time, and a technology center in the library for teacher and student use. Attendance is “sent in” electronically and all daily messages are sent directly to the teacher’s laptop. Grade books are also kept electronically.

The Arts

Our Theater Department will produce Godspell this fall — the casting is complete and the Theater will be in high gear for the next couple of months in preparation for the performance. One of the major components of the Stanners for Life campaign is to renovate and expand our Theater Arts program.

The Sciences

Our new Chemistry Lab will be open for previews and its state of the art features are sufficient to attract the best science students to the school.

In all, we are looking forward to a great day as we showcase the results of student and alumni investments. You can rest assured that there is a lot to be proud of when it comes to your alma mater.

Faculty Spotlight — Lou Barbera ’76

Born and raised in the Queensboro Hill section of Flushing, Mr. Barbera attended St. Ann’s Grammar School. He claims that he was a “Stanner” long before becoming a Molloy graduate.

A man of many talents and interests, Mr. Barbera has been a part of the Molloy faculty since 2002. A member of the class of 1976, Mr. Barbera went on to earn a BA in Philosophy at Fordham College. He worked his way through school at the Super Scoop Ice Cream store. It gave him a great set of “life skills” including working with people, and how to manage a staff. He also learned a fair amount of what he lovingly refers to as Ice Cream Spanish. He did this in order to better serve his customers.

After receiving his degree he wanted more from life and so he explored his interest in Theology at the Seminary. From 1982 — 1985 he earned an MA in Theology, and, after great discernment, decided that he was not destined to become a priest. The lifestyle and commitments were not in line with his vision for his own life. And so, his journey continued.

He worked in business for a while at NY Telephone company, and the Bank of New York, and finally decided to focus on a degree in Law. He went to Catholic University in Washington, DC, and received his J.D. degree in 1992. He was head of the Student Law Association the year the school built the new Law Center on the campus. But, that was not the best part of his time at C.U. While there he met Mary, the woman who would later become his wife. She was singing in a church folk group at the time. As many of you know, they have two sets of twins within 20 months. They are now ages 7 and 5 1/2 and tons of fun at the holidays.

In his “spare time” Lou is a professional bowler. He has qualified in the past three years and manages to keep his status as a professional. He has bowled two perfect games in his professional career and is very proud of the watch given to him in light of this accomplishment. He attributes his success in the sport to his ability to calm down and steady up under pressure. He really enjoys the competition and the quality of play at the professional level.

When he speaks of returning to Molloy he talks about the feeling of “coming home”. He finds himself doing those idiosyncratic things he did as a student like running his knuckles along the tiles as he walks the halls. He knows that tradition is important and the being a Stanner has real meaning. He is confident that Molloy will be around for many years to come because of our dedication providing the best possible education for every student in our care.

Sports Update

Girl’s Tennis reached the Diocesan Final yesterday and lost to Mary Louis. This is their fifth straight year in the finals.

Both Varsity and JV Boys Soccer are Brooklyn Queens Champions and they enter the playoffs on next week.

Both Girls Soccer teams are playing for first place in their division this afternoon. They both play in the playoffs next week.

Track trophies are in the Front Hallway. They won both Sophomore and Freshmen XC Sectionals.

Volleyball will be hosting Senior night this coming Tuesday vs. Mary Louis.

Fresh Swimming is just getting underway!

Bowling is 6-1.

St. Ann’s Corner

Mr. Don Eustace ’52 stopped by the school. He remembered seeing a picture from the 1942 yearbook in the St. Ann’s display case. It was his second grade class. We were able to get him a copy of the picture for his collection… and might I say, the socks were something special…

Non Scholae — Sed Vitae

Steven Lewis ’94

We had a great visit with Steven Lewis this week. He stopped in to catch us up on his life since 1994. He currently works as a independent contractor for Primerica and Citigroup. One of his primary activities involves organizing group presentations for people interested in planning their financial future. In light of the current economic conditions, this should be a very busy time for him. When his is not giving seminars, he opens new branch locations for the bank. The rest of his world centers around his daughter, Chelsy, and her mom Mahogany.

Steven went to St John’s University where he played baseball on a full scholarship. He later played for the farm team in Lakeland, Florida associated with the Detroit Tigers. When he returned to NY he worked for a while as an 8th grade Earth Science teacher and then settled into the world of banking and finance.

When he thinks about Molloy he thinks about Coach Curran, a man he considers to be both caring and loyal. The teacher who had the most impact on him, personally were Mr. Harrison — who taught him to be passionate about things that are important to you, and Mr. McKenna who taught him to look for meaning in everything — especially the media.