Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart

FEBRUARY 2018

HeartbeatA Message from the Head of School, Jennifer M. Demert

A N E W S L E T T E R F O R P A R E N T S A N D S T U D E N T S

SAVE THESE DATES!February 13- SHA Coffee House & Musical Desserts

March 9 & 10 - Drama Production “The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet”

March 16 - Unyts Blood Drive at SHA

April 27 - Day of SHAring

You have been hearing about it all year, and now it is right around the corner- the Sandstone Dinner Auction! After multiple gift gathering parties, planning meetings, emails home seeking parental support for this once a year event, and countless volunteer hours, the night itself is just over a month away! If you have never been to Sandstone before, you are in for a huge treat. Yes, the event is a fundraiser for the school, but it also is a great night out.

We will have basket raffles and auctions for any budget located throughout the school building, an open bar, passed hors d’oeuvres, and musical entertainment courtesy of our students. We will then move over to the Athletic Center which will be transformed into an elegant setting for a sit-

down dinner catered by Rich’s. As the evening progresses, you will have the opportunity to bid on amazing live auction items, including a family trip to Disney, a couple’s escape to NYC to hear Billy Joel in concert and of course, for our senior parents, VIP seating for the 2018 graduation ceremony at Center for the Arts, along with a few more surprises. We also use the evening to unveil a new program or capital project for the school and ask for your support to help make the wish list item of the year a reality for our students. Past projects have included: an enhancement of our scholarship program; funding for our award-winning STEM Honors Program; the creation of the Collaboratory, our unique, hands on engineering and computer lab; and our upgraded video security system.

Have you ever wondered why the event is called “Sandstone”? Founded in 1877, our current school building became our permanent home in the early 1930’s. Construction of the school’s foundation was made possible due to a generous donation of sandstone. Based upon this donation and the Sisters’ tremendous faith, our beautiful academic building was built. In the years since the first cornerstone was laid, our building has undergone some incredible changes to help us meet the ever-changing needs of our young women. Likewise, the Sandstone Dinner Auction continues to evolve to meet the needs of our students.

Please plan to join us on March 24, 2018 for this exciting evening that supports our students and our mission. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now through the Sandstone link on our webpage. Please gather your fellow parents and friends and join us! (Official invitations will be mailed later in February.)

Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart Heartbeat

FEBRUARY 2018SHAcademics

Notes from the Music Department - by Terry Madill, Music Department

Consider Art... It’s Good For Your Heart! - by Gina Cutrona, Art DepartmentSacred Heart art studios have been very busy as students have experienced art while creating a variety of works. Along with creating, art students have shared their gifts and talents in a variety of ways. Students have used pencil, charcoal, pastel, ink, oil, acrylic, and tempera to experiment and put concepts and ideas into finished works. They have also interacted in

the broader community.

In the fall, some of the Drawing and Painting students created placemats for a special prison ministry. The placemats were decorated with inspirational messages and images and were used for a select prison retreat program.

Building social awareness through art, Ceramics students were asked to consider various aspects of those in need. Each student then created and adorned a bowl for the Empty Bowls Project. Bowls were sold at the Soup Fest of Buffalo and proceeds were donated to the Friends of the Night People.

November brought Raku Day. Ceramics students created pumpkins and birds to prepare for glazing and firing during a Raku style event in the SHA

courtyard. All of the art classes on Raku Day experienced this event. Guest artist, Thom Hooper from Artyard Studio in Williamsville facilitated this spectacular firing process.

Some students from Introduction to Art, Painting, and Photography had the pleasure of viewing Father Roy Herberger’s collection of over 600 nativity sets from around the world on a field trip to Ss. Columba and Brigid Church in December.

It was very impressive to see the variety of art forms and mediums used to express the Incarnation.

Many art students were thrilled to see a clay throwing demonstration as ceramic artist Mike Carroll from Studio Sales Pottery in Avon, NY, demonstrated a variety of techniques and created a number of bowls and vessels on the wheel.

Art instructors, Lisa Bonn and Gina Cutrona had the pleasure of participating in the tenth anniversary celebration of the art’scool

education program at the Albright Knox Art Gallery.

There is much more to come as we look forward to and experience the second semester...

The Music Department at Sacred Heart is very proud to announce that we had eight music students who were accepted to participate in the NYSSMA (Zone 1) Area All-State Music Festival held in Fredonia

in November. These students were accepted based on their exceptional scores at the NYSSMA solo festivals held last spring: Isabel Murphy- String Orchestra; Hannah Rose Clifford- Women’s Chorus; Sarah Bartnik, Sarah Cody, Sarah Dworzanski, Kailea Logal, and Gina Rizzo- Mixed Chorus; Sarah Arnold- Alternate. In addition, Isabel Murphy was accepted to the NYSSMA All-

State Music Festival & Conference held in December in Rochester.

Two students from our freshman class were selected to represent Sacred Heart at the Buffalo State College Honor Band. Kayleigh Colleary (flute) and Demi Riegel (alto saxophone) performed with dozens of other students from schools across WNY. During the week-end, both participated in intensive rehearsals and informative sectionals with guest conductor, Dr. Rebecca Phillips from Colorado State University. The weekend culminated with an energetic and rousing concert by all participants.

December was a busy month for the music department as we prepared for and performed a number of Advent Services and Holiday Concerts. Again, we were proud of our students as they performed with conviction and profes-sionalism at the following events: The Musical Theater Showcase, two Masses, three Advent Prayer Services, the Department-wide Christmas Concert, and various Community Outreach Concerts at Roswell Park, M&T Gold Dome Building, and Fallon Health- Weinberg Campus. It was a busy time but so important for our students to share their talents and skills with others- especially during the Christmas season.

In January, a number of students performed at various All-County Music Festivals throughout WNY. We are happy to announce that the following ladies have been accepted to All-County Ensembles this spring: Isabel Murphy (violin)- Senior High

Orchestra; Bridget Gedeon, Kaitlin Griffin, Amanda Wellence- Junior High Chorus.

It was an exciting evening of music as the SHA Chamber Singers and Wind Ensemble were featured guests at Kleinhans Music Hall on Saturday, January 20th. Both en-sembles performed in the Mary Seaton room prior to a BPO Pops concert. Our music students were excellent on and off the stage. It was a memorable night!

Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart Heartbeat

FEBRUARY 2018SHAppeningsSpreading Our Angel Wings

The Write Stuff - by Ms. Kate Posenjak, English Dept. & Dr. Martha Horohoe, Foreign Language Dept.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again - by Jenna Cordani ‘19

The National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an exciting writing contest that encourages students across the nation to write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. In order to finish their novels before 11:59 PM on November 30, contestants must stick to a rigor-ous writing pace, adding roughly 2,000 words each day to their work. However, NaNoWriMo students do not need to go through these challenges on their own. In addition to the support that they receive through their schools and communities, NaNoWriMo also offers a safe place for students to connect with other contestants to brag about their progress, share questions and advice, and, perhaps most importantly, receive encouragement when faced with the dreaded writer’s block. The reward is well worth the trying hours of work, too. Contestants are able to enter their work based on age group and genre for the chance to win awards, including prestigious scholar-ships. The benefits do not end there, though. The young writers are also helping this nonprofit organization raise awareness of the value of storytelling and raise donations for writing programs for young people, such as Camp NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo has had an impact on SHA as well. Last November, the members of Spilled Ink, one of SHA’s creative writing clubs, took on the NaNoWriMo chal-lenge. Club members spent meetings mapping out their stories, peer-editing, and encouraging each other to reach their goals. Although the members did not submit an entry to NaNoWriMo this year, they learned valuable writing techniques and created imaginative, skillful proj-ects that they continue to work on today. Next year the club hopes to submit their work and that the community will join them on this quest to honor storytelling.

Quoth the Raven is Sacred Heart’s own creative magazine, published at the end of the school year. The magazine holds an annual flash fiction contest, in which students need to write a story in 750 words or less. We have received a number of imaginative submissions. The winner of the contest is decided later in the second semester as the literary magazine staff deliberates and often confers with the writers regarding stylistic or grammatical matters. In addition to being published, the winners receive a food-related prize at the year-end awards ceremony.

The literary magazine also sponsors a biannual cover contest. The 2017-18 school year is a year for both contests. At February's music coffeehouse there will be voting on covers for this year as well as next year's magazines.

Students in Advanced Placement or Honors Literature classes have the option of joining Franciscan Scholars and have opportunities to see various productions throughout the school year. Mrs. Brady, English teacher, leads the program. This January after midterm exams, the group went to see the musical Mamma Mia! at the Kavinoky Theatre on the D’Youville College campus. It was one of the final nights of the performance. We all enjoyed the humorous musical and loved having the chance to see it together. After the show, we met one of the actors, Arianne Davidow, who played a main character, Sophie. Arianne is a Sacred Heart alumna from the class of 2012, and she offered to meet us after the show to talk about it. We mentioned our thoughts on the performance and what we liked most about it. It was great to be able to watch a talented SHA graduate perform and see her success. We all really enjoyed the evening with our classmates. The show was funny and lighthearted- a great experience for the Franciscan Scholars.

For more information about NaNoWriMo, please go to https://nanowrimo.org/ and see how you can help spread creativity today.

Every year at Christmastime, Sacred Heart Academy reaches out to the neediest in the Buffalo community by gathering gifts and necessities for the people at St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy and Gerard Place. Dr. Martha Horohoe organizes these kind-hearted projects. An Angel Tree stands in the main hall; its ornaments are angel tags labeled with gift suggestions for children of all ages. These donations go to the many families who visit St. Luke’s during the Christmas season.Each homeroom “adopts” a child from Gerard Place and prepares a gift of some-thing warm, something useful, and something fun. Faculty, staff, and some par-ents join by purchasing gifts for the moms of these children. Additionally, these

families each receive a laundry basket filled with personal care products appro-priate for them. This year, SHA supplied Christmas presents to 15 families,

including 32 children. Senior, Maddie Kates has personally contributed to this drive. Since the 6th grade, Maddie has been hand knitting and sewing winter hats and scarves to be donated to local kids. The last two years her projects have

gone to the kids at Gerard Place.

Dr. Martha Horohoe and Maddie Kates ‘18. Maddie’s handmade gifts

pictured above.

Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart HeartbeatSHAppenings, continued FEBRUARY 2018

NYSTEA Conference 2018 - by Katie Makowski ‘18

Father Daughter Dance

Mrs. Lyons’ 9th period Religion class had the pleasure of hearing from Dr. Qazi, the UB medical professor and founder of the Western New York Muslim Council. An advocate of the Islamic religion, Dr. Qazi spoke to 9th period about his faith along with his practices. Dr. Qazi shared with us the basic beliefs of Muslims, testing us on our knowledge of what we learned in the class. He also shared with us the role of women in the faith, empowering us by including examples of famous, accomplished, Muslim women. Additionally, he showed us pictures of his participation in the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca in which about 2 million Muslims attend each year. Dr. Qazi spoke with us about the aspects of the Hajj, answering our many questions. It was really interesting to hear a first hand description of this once in a lifetime opportunity. It was truly a pleasure to hear from such a wonderful man, a man who fully lives out the call of the Islamic faith. Through this experience, the 9th period World Religions class was able to better understand the religion of Islam.

The Buffalo Hyatt Regency Hotel was the setting for this year’s Father Daughter Dance- A Mardi Gras Masquerade Party!SHA girls and the special men in their lives enjoyed a “NOLA” inspired meal and plenty of dancing fun.

WNY Muslim Council Founder Visits SHA - by Olivia Zanelli ‘19

When someone hears the word “conference,” they often picture a gathering of adults in a room with a big table, having meetings, and talking for hours upon hours for an entire weekend. It is safe to say that the NYSTEA Student Conference is quite the opposite. The New York State Theatre Education Association (NYSTEA) holds a weekend conference every January for students in 10th through 12th grades who are interested in pursuing the performing and technical arts of the theatre. The conference is held in Callicoon, NY at the Villa Roma Resort, and has almost 900 students and chaperones from around the state attend each year.

Throughout the weekend, the students attend workshops that pertain to working on skills such as acting, singing, dancing, directing, managing, etc. New York state colleges also attend and offer auditions for seniors interested in their programs. The conference also raises money for the Broadway Cares/

Equity Fights AIDS organization.

Sacred Heart was invited to the conference for the first time last year. This year, twelve of us packed into the SHAbus and traveled the four and a half hours to be greeted by high energy students and a very welcoming staff. I am sure I speak for all of us when I say it was one of the best weekends of our lives. I hope Sacred Heart continues to bring girls to such an amazing experience.

Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart Heartbeat

FEBRUARY 2018SHActivitiesOur Clubs Are Doing Amazing Things!

The DIY Club with their fall and winter crafts.

SHArks Bite Cancer Club members packed the room to hear Martha Hickey speak about the Roswell Park Resource Center.

Donate Life Club sponsored a contest to collect feminine hygiene products for a women’s shelter.

History Club prepared for and participated in the Western

New York History Bowl and Geography Bee in the fall at Nichols School. Quinn Kennedy ‘20 qualified for

Nationals in the Geography Bee.

Please keep Sacred Heart Academy in mind if you have changes in any of your contact information. This includes address, phone number (home, cell, work) or email address.

If you have an update, please email Mrs. Michienzi at lmichienzi@sacredheartacademy.org.

In Life Skills club, students have discussed insurance, personal money management, "college stuff," and taxes in preparation for

life in the real world!

Glee club practicing for their SHA Coffeehouse performance.

In Coding Club, there are students at all levels. Some are learning basic coding principles like loops and variables. Others are beginning to learn new languages, namely Python and Java. Everyone is being very creative and thinking logically while having fun!

Faculty and staff members received a Christmas treat from S.H.A.R.K. Club, and students found Smarties on their lockers to help ease mid-term tension.

Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart Heartbeat

FEBRUARY 2018SHAthleticsSports Shorts - by Barbara Rooney ‘74, Athletic Director

On January 3rd before the varsity basketball game, the coach’s box in the gym was dedicated to the memory of Sr. Maria Pares O.S.F. ’58. Sr. Maria’s accomplishments as a coach have been well documented. She helped to build the athletics program at SHA and fought for equity in girls’ and women’s sports for many years. Sr. Maria passed away on January 20, 2017 after a long battle with breast cancer. Former SHA athletes, members of our Sports Hall of Fame and current board members, Susan Fortunato ’79 and Janice Cheney ’80, offered remarks at the dedication. They spoke of Sr. Maria’s spirit, tenacity and desire to help student-athletes become confident, suc-cessful women. The quote used in the box was a favorite of Sr. Maria’s as it emphasizes the importance of team over individual.

Road Trips for the Sharks

This season, the varsity basketball team went on some road trips that didn’t involve playing a game. First year coach, Carrie Owens, has taken the team to see Division 1, 2 and 3 women’s basketball games where they got to meet with the team and coaches after the games. They also were invited to a tour of the athletic facilities at UB, attend a practice and meet with Coach Jack and the players. It’s been a great experience for our girls to see the different levels of college play and to learn from the student-athletes what it takes to be successful in college.

For updates on all our athletic teams, follow us on Twitter @SHAathletics.