FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 Thomas A. Kardish, President Ι Lauren Carr '00, Principal
Class of 2023: Welcome! This Week at Villa will be your weekly update throughout the school year and will include many of the exciting things that our students and staff have accomplished, as well as reminders for upcoming events. If you know someone who would like to be added to this weekly email update, visit www.vjmhs.org/twavrequest.
Construction Corner Construction Update Construction is complete. As you saw at Back-to-School Night, our new Performing Arts Center is officially done and so is our newly renovated Student Lounge! This will be our last construction update until the end of this school year, when we break ground on our Student Media Center and begin renovating our main school hallway for STEAM classrooms, as well as expand additional classroom space in St. Joseph's. Stay tuned!
Founded in Faith. Fulfilling the Mission Update Interested in learning more or care to schedule a tour of our new Performing Arts Center? Contact Jennifer McDonald at 215.357.8810 x124 or jmcdonald@vjmhs.org.
While Villa's Annual Fund and Auction support the yearly operations of the school, Founded in Faith. Fulfilling the Mission, the Campaign to support the Villa's facilities expansion, is an investment in Villa's future. We are looking for partners to join us in our vision to create an environment where young women can explore who God is calling them to be. Already, $3.4 million has been raised from 83 donors. Please consider how YOU can partner with Villa to assure an exemplary Catholic secondary education for future generations of Jems.
Student Spotlight National Merit Scholar Semifinalists Congratulations to our National Merit Scholar Semifinalists — Olivia Glunz '20 and Caitriona Carolan '20!
PFEW This summer, Emily Noone '20 and Mackenzie Robertson '20 won scholarships to attend Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week (PFEW) at Lycoming College on July 7-13. The girls spent the week building a profitable company as VP of Marketing (Emily) and VP of Communications (Mackenzie). In addition to making new friends, they learned from amazing business leaders, one of which was Villa alumna Patricia Martin, PHR '64 (shown with Emily in the second photo).
Summer Studies This summer, Valarie Rubinstein '22 successfully completed the Advanced Johns Hopkins Number Theory class. According to the course description, "the material covered in the course is roughly equivalent to a semester of undergraduate-level number theory, as taught at a college or university. Two past members of the United States team at the International Mathematical Olympiad have cited the course as a significant factor in their mathematical successes." The instructors peppered the curriculum with entertaining ways to make the material more accessible, such as through introduction of an episode from the American crime drama tv series "Numbers." Attendance also afforded Valarie the opportunity to reside on campus and experience college dorm life.
HOBY This summer, Julie Garrison, Maddy Kupper, and Emily Aschenbrenner attended the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) Seminar at Albright College. HOBY Leadership Seminars empower high school sophomores to develop their leadership talents to become the leaders of their community. Julie said, "This experience was incredible. It provided me with priceless advice about being a leader and how I can make a difference in my community and the world!"
Citizen Scholar Award Caitriana Carolan '20 was selected as a recipient of the University of Vermont Citizen Scholar Award. This award is designed to recognize outstanding citizens on the road to their pursuit of higher education.
National NPR Contest Winners Congratulations to recent graduates Jessie Aniloff '19, Katie Bruni '19, and Tara Czekner '19 for winning the National NPR Podcast Contest through Civics 101! The group's podcast, which was created for Mr. Micalizzi's class, is now available online, along with an interview. Their podcast, "On the Bench," focused on the importance of diversity on the Supreme Court with a primary focus of female representation. Use the link below to listen! www.civics101podcast.org/civics-101-episodes/studentcontest2019
Athletics News & Notes Becky Flynn Hensel '99, Athletic Director | VJMAthletics@vjmhs.org Attention Cheerleaders (New and Returning) Anyone interested in joining the cheer team this year should contact Coach Kelsey-Lynne Keen at VJMCheer@vjmhs.org immediately, so that the new season can begin!
Admissions News & Notes Stephanie Gahagan, Director of Admissions | sgahagan@vjmhs.org Parent Ambassadors: We Need Your Help! In anticipation of a busy recruiting season, all parents are invited to become a Villa Parent Ambassador. Parent Ambassadors will share in recruitment by assisting with the Villa Open House on October 6; volunteering to speak with prospective students and parents at local High School Nights; volunteering to assist at the Villa Entrance/Scholarship Exam on October 26; and/or volunteering to host informal information sessions at your home or local coffee house for friends and neighbors. Not only will you be advocating for our Jems and school, but you will meet other Villa parents! This is a great way to give back to our school.
Alumnae News & Notes Mary Beth Walinskas '96, Alumnae Relations Coordinator | mwalinskas@vjmhs.org Alumnae Legacy Students Last week, after the opening Mass of the school year, we honored this year's Alumnae Legacy Students — students who have mothers or grandmothers who are Villa Alumnae. This year, in the Freshman class, we have 5 students who share this distinction. These students each received a pin, which was placed on their uniform by their mother during the ceremony. The Freshman Alumnae Legacy Students for the 2019/20 school year are:
Congratulations to our Alumnae Legacy Students and thank you to our Alumnae Mothers for sharing in this special tradition!
Wall of Fame On Saturday, we inducted the two newest members of Villa's Wall of Fame — Maureen Cleary and Sr. Johanna Marie Shainauskas, SSC. With memorable reflections of their time at Villa, we celebrated these two remarkable women and the impact that they had, and continue to have, on our school. Maureen joined us, surrounded by her friends and family, as well as other members of the Villa community, and Sr. Johanna Marie was able to video chat from Chicago on a large screen for the entire event. Also attending the event via video link were Sisters of St. Casimir from near and far — including Argentina! Congratulations to Maureen and Sister Johanna as you officially become a part of Villa's Wall of Fame.
Development News & Notes Jennifer Drayer-McDonald, Director of Development | jmcdonald@vjmhs.org Villa Scrip Program Check out Villa's Scrip Program! Through ShopWithScrip.com, Villa offers gift cards to hundreds of retailers that provide a direct benefit to you and our school — a percentage of your purchases will be donated to Villa and an equal percentage will be applied to tuition for the following school year for your daughter or another student of your choosing. Click here to learn more! *Come chat with us at the Villa Fair on Wednesday, October 2, 2019. *Physical card orders will began on Sunday, September 8, 2019.
Guidance News & Notes Anne Perez, Director of Guidance | aperez@vjmhs.org Attn: Class of 2020 We have two very important opportunities for all of you to get some college questions answered:
9/17 Financial Aid Night in the PAC at 7-8pm No RSVP required; please come! Joe Alaimo (Rosemont College Financial Aid Office) will present pertinent financial aid information as your daughters move through the application process and which financial aid documents need to be completed to help pay for school.
9/20 Coffee Talk at Maria Hall-Topic: "The College Process" 8:30-9:30am This is an opportunity to ask those questions you all have; it is structured to be a question and answer session. I will have an admissions counselor on hand to help answer questions. *Please RSVP to Kim Bedrosian at kbedrosian@vjmhs.org. Light refreshments will be served.
Upcoming College Fairs Use this link to the PACAC Fall College Fair Schedule: https://pacac.memberclicks.net/college-fairs Mark your calendars! Remember that these representatives of the colleges come to Villa, so students should start checking the list in Naviance under "College Visits."
STEM College and Career Fair Saturday, October 12, 2019 from 1-4pm, Free!
Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York City Sunday, October 13, 2019 from 1-4pm, Free!
Philadelphia Architecture and Design College Fair
Interested in Science? Scholarship Opportunity!
Summer College Visit! Mr. Kardish, Mrs. Bedrosian, Caroline Kuzy '20, Ana Postowski '20, Jessica Stott '20, Jillian Stott '20, Hunter LaBree '21, and two wonderful Villa moms toured the University of Scranton and Marywood University together. The group is pictured in front of the Estate building, which houses Scranton Admissions.
Summer College Visit! Ashley Whalen '20, Jordan Benner '20, Danielle Ferone '20, and their parents joined Mrs. Bedrosian on a group tour of Temple University. The students are pictured in front of the bell tower in the green space on Temple's campus. They had a great tour, and they were all impressed with Temple's newly updated and changing campus!
Mission & Ministry News & Notes Stephanie McCarthy, Director of Mission & Ministry | smccarthy@vjmhs.org Service in Mt. Carmel, PA Fifteen students spent the start of their summer walking in the footsteps of Mother Maria in Mt. Carmel, PA. The students planted flowers to beautify downtown Mt. Carmel, cleaned an old apartment building, and helped with fundraising efforts for the Mt. Carmel Public Library by delivering drive letters. They also explored the Pioneer Coal Mine and learned about the history of coal mining in PA. **Update: Villa was later informed that over $2,300 was raised that wouldn't have otherwise been donated! Thank you, girls, for your service.
A Reflection from Lily Dineen '20 "Through this trip, we were able to work with a community that is very different from ours, without access to things that we take for granted. I did not realize the sense of community that can come from a place like a library until I imagined a town without it. Any place that can gather people and give them the resources they need to thrive is a place worth supporting. We were so lucky that we happened to be at Mount Carmel in a time when we could help them. Though Mount Carmel has changed a lot since the time that Mother Maria lived there, her spirit still lives there in all the kind people that we met during our trip."
Parents' Guild News & Notes Connie Whalen, President | vjmparentsguild@vjmhs.org Campus Store The Villa Campus Store is restocked with NEW ITEMS! The Campus Store will be open during lunch periods on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The Campus Store FALL SALE is happening right now! Visit www.vjmhs.org/fallsale to purchase your exclusive items. Be sure to place your order before midnight on Wednesday, September 18, 2019. Orders will be available for pick up the week of October 14, 2019.
20th Annual "Fore! the Girls" Golf Outing
*New location* Jericho National Golf Club Monday, September 30, 2019
for details and to register
2019 Mother-Daughter Tea Save the date for one of Villa's most treasured traditions! Sunday, October 20, 2019 11:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Philadelphia 4200 City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131
Our Tea Co-Chair volunteers leading the planning efforts for the 2019 Tea are Maureen Montemuro and Teresa Propato-Tulio. For any other Tea-related questions, please contact the Co-Chairs at maureenmont@verizon.net (Maureen) and tpropato@gmail.com (Teresa).
Important Links
SOCIAL MEDIA CONTEST Parents, share your photos with us! If you post photos from Villa events, sports, and activities — or share about upcoming events like our Open House — on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn, please use our new hashtag #AlwaysVilla. Anyone (parent, student, alumna, friend, etc.) that uses our #AlwaysVilla will automatically be entered into a monthly drawing to win a $20 gift certificate to the school store. One entry per post per platform. No limit on entries — share, share, share, and help us spread the word about our great school! Winners will be messaged privately on social media and announced publicly each month in This Week at Villa. To kick off our contest, we're offering 2 drawing entries for every post you make or share about our upcoming Open House on Sunday, October 6, 2019: Mass 9am, Tours 10am-12pm.
(Note: The Facebook account entitled "Villa Joseph Marie High School" is not an official account and is not managed by Villa). Photos also may be emailed to efranzzo@vjmhs.org School Calendar Fri, Sept 13 Day 3, Schedule B
Sat, Sept 14
Sun, Sept 15
Mon, Sept 16
Tues, Sept 17 Day 5
Financial Aid Planning Night: 7pm, PAC
Wed, Sept 18 Day 6-3
Thurs, Sept 19 Day 1
Fri, Sept 20 Day 2
Senior Coffee Talk: 8:30am, Maria Hall
Back-to-School Dance: 7pm, Gym
Sat, Sept 21
Sat, Sept 22
Please forward your submissions for This Week at Villa to Erica Franzzo '03 at efranzzo@vjmhs.org. Deadline for submissions is 12 p.m. on Wednesday. Submissions may be edited or omitted for space, clarity, or content at the sole discretion of the editor. We also welcome your questions, feedback, and suggestions. Thanks for reading This Week at Villa!
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