Thomas A. Kardish, President Lauren Carr '00, Principal February 14, 2020
After a successful day on Thursday focusing on reducing stress at school, we hope that you and your daughters will join us next Saturday to continue the focus on self care and positivity by attending the Symposium on Empowerment for Women. Registration closes on Monday. We're also looking forward to basketball playoffs, the Villa Science Fair, and Chicks with Sticks next week. Important reminder to grab tickets for the Father Daughter Dance by the end of next week too! *Scroll down to view highlights from the past month at Villa. - Erica Franzzo '03, Communications and Public Relations Manager
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FUTURE DATES TO REMEMBER and where to find more info about them!
ANNUAL FUND Raised $116,249 (42%) of Our Goal of $275,000 Please remember that every gift, regardless of size, assists Villa in covering the 15% gap in expenses left by tuition and is often unrestricted so it can be used wherever there is greatest need. Care to select where your donation is used? Make a donation today and choose where you feel most called to give!
FOUNDED IN FAITH. FULFILLING THE MISSION Raised $3,520,399 (59%) of Our Goal of $6 Million
Please consider how you can partner with Villa to assure an exemplary Catholic secondary education for future generations of Jems. Interested in learning more? Contact Jennifer McDonald at 215.357.8810 x124 or jmcdonald@vjmhs.org.
IMPORTANT Please note that the above calendar is subject to change after this email has been sent. Please confirm with Villa's online calendars for the most up-to-date information.
Highlights from Villa Congratulations! We are happy to announce our Valedictorian and Salutatorian for the Class of 2020: Valedictorian - Olivia Glunz Salutatorian - Isabelle Anzabi
Reduce Stress Our Jems had the opportunity to participate in several stress reduction activities on Thursday, Feb. 13. Some sessions offered were meditation & yoga, laughter through improv, guided prayer, open gym, and organization & study skills, as part of our first Growth Mindset activity period. Students will have more opportunities to practice stress reduction throughout this school year!
Pulsera Spanish Honor Society Fundraiser: Pulsera (Bracelet) sales began this week to support artesans in Guatemala and Nicaragua
Swimming The swim team competed at the AACA Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday, Feb. 8. Special shout outs to Caitlin Whalen who placed third in the 200 IM and Sabina Hartman who earned gold in the 100 breast. Way to go, Jems!
The team also celebrated seniors Caitlin Whalen and Jillian Reifsnyder at their last meet vs. Nazareth Academy the week prior.
Anatomy and Physiology Students in anatomy and physiology used what they learned in class to dissect a sheep brain and identify the different parts.
Rowing The rowing team celebrated their second annual Erg-a-thon on Friday, Feb. 7. There was a great showing of current rowers, interested rowers, incoming freshmen, parents, siblings, and other supporters. Additionally, the 2018 City Champs crew was presented with their new banner!
Quizzo Friendly Competition and Trivia and Costumes, oh my! Thanks to everyone who attended Quizzo on Saturday, Feb. 1. VILLA QUIZZO CHAMPIONS:
Basketball Senior Night The basketball team hosted senior night and earned a hard fought win over league opponent Sacred Heart on Thursday, Jan. 23. What an exciting way to celebrate these seniors' careers! Way to go, Jems! Good luck to the team as they prepare for playoffs next week.
Real World Day Another successful Senior Real World Day is in the books! While half of the Class of 2020 is away at Senior Retreat, the other half spent the day learning about such practical topics as home repair, sewing, cooking, CPR, yoga, personal finances, and car repair. Thanks to all of our presenters for putting together this fun and informative day!
Senior Retreat The January Senior Retreat was filled with time for prayer, reflection, community building and fun!
Mock Trial Led by seniors Isabelle Anzabi, Tara Czekner, Madeline Marriott, and Kiersten McKenna, the Mock Trial team really wow-ed in the courtroom. We are so proud of the effort that these girls put forth this year!
Athletes Helping Athletes Villa was honored to host Peter Thursday, Jan. 30 and Kenny on Tuesday, Jan. 14 as our AHA honorary captains! Thank you to Hailey, Abby and the Villa basketball team for helping them have great nights.
Leadership On Wednesday, Jan. 29, nine Villa student-athletes participated with approximately 60 from each of the eight schools within the Athletic Association of the Catholic Academies (AACA) at a leadership workshop. Held at MSJA, the workshop was sponsored by the AACA and their new partner, The Positive Coaching Alliance. The workshop accomplished both goals of educating athletes as to how to be a "Triple Impact Competitor" and fostering league camaraderie and sportsmanship.
March for Life Villa girls attended the March for Life on Friday, Jan. 24, in Washington, DC.
College Essay Writing and PFEW On Thursday, January 23, juniors joined Mr. Jim Plunkett, Direction of Admissions from La Salle University for an assembly on college essay writing. Sophomores joined the assembly to hear Mr. Nate Cooper, from Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week (PFEW), describe this informative summer opportunity, exploring all facets of the business world.
Hail Mary A heartfelt thank you goes to Andy Taylor and the Villa Fathers' Club, who coordinated with Tom Gavigan at Monument-Mausoleum Restoration, to move our beautiful Blessed Mother statue to Villa's recently renovated front lobby.
What Makes America Great Allison DeFriece '22 received awards from the VFW for her essay and recording of her original work on "What Makes America Great." There were 46 essays submitted this year. The judges praised Allison for a well-written essay, in particular for her descriptions and the level of vocabulary she used. They complimented Villa for encouraging her to write essays of this caliber. Allison's essay has been put into the national archives in Washington, DC, by Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, and Allison received a flag from him that has flown over the Capitol. Congratulations to our talented sophomore!
Community Service Corps Villa's CSC blanket making tradition continued after mid-terms on Wednesday, Jan. 15. The blankets were donated to Blessed Sarnelli Community!
Honor Society Induction Night On Wednesday, Jan. 8, at the Eleventh Annual Honor Society Induction night, 84 Villa Jems were sworn into our eight different Honor Societies. Math, Science, Music & Arts, English and all our our Foreign Languages were represented at the ceremony. These societies reflect not only the achievements of our diverse student body, but Villia's ongoing mission to empower young women in not only our school community but as citizens of our nation and world. As Mr. Kardish pointed out in his keynote address, these 84 women are our future and stand to represent our motto, "Always More, Always Better, Always with Love," everywhere they go. These inductees can now wear with pride the pins of their academic excellence on their uniform as a visual reminder to all that any student can achieve academic excellence in virtually every subject area.
Service Hours So far this year, Villa girls turned in 4,000 service hours — Wow! (Note that only 1,500 were due at this point.)
Shown here: Villa girls at their finest visiting the Blessed Sarnelli Community with Mrs. McCarthy and Mr. Kardish
AP Government AP Government students refined their debating skills in Mr. Phethean's 6th period class.
AP Government Introducing the SWORD Writing Center! At SWORD, students can engage in meaningful conversations about their writing assignments with our trained peer readers. Beginning Wednesday, Jan. 8, SWORD will be open on Wednesdays during all three lunch periods in the student lounge conference room across from Mrs. Brown's office. Students can sign up for sessions in advance using this Sign-Up Genius link. Walk-in appointments are also encouraged! See Ms. Chirico with any questions.
Campus Store Campus Store will have hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays this month during all lunch periods. If you missed our Christmas sale, stop by to pick up some of the extra pieces still available, including our super-soft sherpas and custom Villa Vineyard Vines long sleeved tees!
Contact Erica Franzzo '03 at efranzzo@vjmhs.org with questions, feedback, or additions for this weekly email. Thanks for reading! Past editions of This Week at Villa can be viewed here. Past editions of the Alumnae Newsletter can be viewed here.
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