Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart

FEBRUARY 2017

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 15 - SHA Coffee House & Musical Desserts

March 4 - Mother-Daughter Retreat

March 10 & 11 - Drama Production “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”

March 24 - Unyts Blood Drive at SHA

April 21 - Day of SHAring

2017 Career Day Presenters

Friday, February 3, was Career Day here at Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart. Every year, we set aside an afternoon for girls to hear from women from a variety of careers in an effort to encourage our students to begin the exploration of their interests, talents and passions. We were excited to welcome Mimi Cuddy Mierzwa ’81 as our keynote speaker. Ms. Mierzwa is an Operations Executive for Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory.

Following the keynote presentation, our students had the opportunity to attend three career specific presentations. Girls selected from among nearly 30 presentations ranging from attorneys to web services and digital media professionals. This year we had almost half our presenters representing STEM fields. Each session was roughly 30 minutes and contained an informal presentation and a question and answer period.

Career Day is just one way we encourage students to explore different careers and profes-sions. Our guidance department also just finished a unit with our sophomores in which they completed Myers Briggs Personality Profiles and the Holland’s Code Interest Inven-

tory. These assessments were then used to point to potential careers and professions for the sophomores. Parents interested in viewing those results may review their daughter’s Naviance account. Building on the work completed sophomore year, our guidance department will now start working with our juniors this quarter on narrowing students’ areas of interest into potential college majors. From there, our counselors will assist the girls with their college search based upon courses of study and other factors. Be sure to review the results of this work with your daughter on her Naviance account. Guidance counselors are also available to set up individual meetings with parents and students to discuss college and career plans. If you haven’t had the opportunity to review our Pathways to College publication (which can be found on the website on the guidance home page), I encourage you to do so as it has valuable additional information as your family navigates the college exploration and application process.

Finally, 18 of our seniors are taking time out of their last semester at SHA to learn even more about the careers and profes-sions in which they are interested. Our Senior Internship Program kicks off this week with girls exploring professions in-cluding law and medicine. Still other seniors are exploring careers spanning from aerospace engineering at UB’s Aerospace Engineering Department to a career in politics with a placement at State Senator Ranzenhoffer’s Office. We are grateful for the efforts of Mrs. Margaret Wietig who has coordinated the Senior Internship Program for over 15 years.

As a college preparatory school, I am pleased we are able to offer these auxiliary programs to further refine students’ col-lege and career choices. While it is the norm for SHA students to graduate college in four years, across the country, a four year college completion is becoming the exception rather than the norm. Solid preparation and investigation into colleges, courses of study and careers during the high school years can help insure students finish their undergraduate work and receive their degree in four years.

Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart Heartbeat

FEBRUARY 2017SHAcademicsThe Christmas Wheat

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

Under the direction of Ms. Meghan Dandrea, the Freshwomen celebrated St. Lucy’s feast day (December 13) by following a Croatian custom of planting Christmas wheat. Each student planted her seeds in a small cup, placed them in a sunny window, and watered them regularly. Following tradition, the green wheat was cut and placed in the manger as a gift to the child, Jesus. SHA’s manger was on display in the Chapel.

This project was part of Ms. Dandrea’s religion lesson on the Christmas Creche and its Franciscan roots. Alexis Kuzniarek ‘20 said the project helped the students learn responsibility, and Rory Schaeffer ‘20 was amazed at how quickly the wheat grew. Deirdre McGovern ‘20 appreciated the meaning behind the Christmas wheat and was happy when it came time to offer the cut wheat to Jesus in the manger.

The Music Department at Sacred Heart Academy is very proud to announce that we had eleven music students who were ac-cepted 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. Congratulations to the fol-lowing SHA students who were accepted into the following ensembles:

String Orchestra: Isabel Murphy (Concertmistress), Marina Wittmann

Women’s Chorus: Sarah Bartnik, Sara Dworzanski, Kailea Logal

Mixed Chorus: Gia Marciniak, Lindsay Ackerman, Abby Rauvenpoor, Gina Rizzo, Maeve Hawk, Mairead Farrell

Special congratulations to Isabel Murphy (Symphony Orchestra, Principal, Second Violin) and Marina Wittmann (Alter-nate, Women’s Choir, Soprano II) for being accepted to the NYSSMA All-State Music Festival & Conference held in Decem-ber in Rochester. Great work everyone!

In January we had a total of eleven choral and instrumental students perform at various All-County Music Festivals through-out WNY. All the students performed with great success. We are happy to announce that the following students have been accepted to All-County Ensembles this spring:

Junior High Orchestra: Reannon Frost (viola) and Abby Feldmann (french horn)

Senior High Orchestra: Isabel Murphy (violin) and Marina Wittmann (viola)

JH SATB Chorus: Sarah Cody

December was a busy month for the music department as we prepared for and performed at two Masses, three Advent Prayer Services, a department-wide Christmas Concert, a Musical Theater & Dance Showcase, and three downtown performances at Roswell Park, M&T Gold Dome Building, and Fallon Health-Weinberg Campus – all within a three week period! It was a busy time but so important for the students to share their talents and skills with others, especially during the holiday season. Plus it was a good opportunity to showcase some of our extra-curricular groups such as String Trios and Quartets, SHAkuleles, SHAcappella, the Flute Choir, and our Jazz Ensemble. Our Christmas Mass was enhanced by the presence of a member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra- Principal Timpanist, Matthew Bassett (husband of Chamber Singers Director, Kathleen Bassett) who played along with the Wind Ensemble, the Orchestra, and with the SHA Chamber Singers. Thank you so much!

Thank you to all the friends and family members who attended our Christmas Concert last December. We really appreciated seeing such a big audience in the auditorium. We would also like to thank you for your generous donations of food for the WNY Food Bank. Together you helped contribute over 123 pounds of food for families in need during the holiday season. Thank you for your generosity.

Please save the following upcoming dates:

February 15- SHA Coffee House & Musical Desserts (7-9 PM) (CS, CH, OR, WE, MT)

March 25- Orchestra @ BPO Community Spotlight Concert, Kleinhans Music Hall + BPO Concert 7PM

Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart Heartbeat

FEBRUARY 2017SHAppeningsBaby Boom!

Harrison James Covey, Born April 16With mom Andrea (Biology Teacher)

and dad Dale.

Harper McKenna Lanfear, Born May 7With mom Ashley (Guidance Counselor),

dad Ryan, and sister Avery.

Penelope Grace Hooper, Born June 10With mom Patty (Math Teacher)

and dad Dennis.

Adeline Jane Marciniak, Born October 13With mom Mary (English Teacher),

dad Jeff, and sister Eleanor.

Mason Bradley Gilbert, Born March 27With mom Tina (Math Teacher), dad Kevin, sister Serenity, and

brothers Kayden and Jackson.

2016 was a big year for SHA babies! Six faculty and staff members brought new bundles of joy into the world! Introducing the four girls (SHA Class of 2034?) and two boys (SHA Prom dates?)...

Olivia Cate Ayers, Born June 17With dad Mark (History Teacher)

and mom Emily.

Mathletes @ D’YC - by Mairead Farrell ‘17

On December 2nd, thirteen Sacred Heart students competed in a local math league competition at D’Youville College. This competition consisted of four separate activities that determined individual scores which were then averaged into the school’s overall score: the individual sprint (30 multiple choice questions in an hour), the team test (10 problems in 20 minutes), the target round (8 questions in 40 minutes), and the math relay (5 rounds, each in 6 minutes). For the math relay, the first team member in each relay solved a problem, then sent her answer back to the next relay member to be used in that player’s problem. Once the second member found her answer, she passed it back to the last team member to be used in another problem. Once the last person found an answer, she wrote it down and handed it in at either the three or six minute mark. Juniors and seniors alike rose to the occasion, earning SHA second place overall for the rigorous competition. Audrey Filonczuk scored first place individually at her grade level, and one of SHA’s relay teams scored first place, as well. Overall, 5 SHA students qualified for the next level of competition in April: Mairead Farrell, Audrey Filonczuk, Giovanna Gnozzo, Piper Jacobs, and Kristin Kolmetz. Congratulations to all the girls who competed and good luck to our qualifiers! To better understand the level of math each question required, here is a sample problem:

Answer to above question: 18T-shirt formula translates to D Y CBack Row: Piper Jacobs, Kristin Kolmetz, Julia Tudor,

Audrey Filonczuk, Maggie Ziemann, Aoife Scannell, Claire Coughlin, Mairead Farrell; Middle Row: Alyssa Weldon, Victoria Jasinski, Elaina Murphy, Claire Mastrandrea, Sarah Wellence;

Front: Giovanna Gnozzo

If a < b, then 32 + 42 + 52 + 122= a2 + b2 is satisfied by only one pair of positive integers (a,b). What is the value of a+b?

Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart HeartbeatSHAppenings, continued FEBRUARY 2017

Debutante Program - by Jensen Daniels ‘17

Junior Craft Night - by Kenya Sanders ‘18

After spending the day at Villa Maria College for a retreat, many juniors stayed after school the same day for Junior Craft Night. Created just a few years prior, craft night allows the girls to relax and spend time with one another while creating a variety of gifts and snacks for the upcoming Christmas season. These gifts included: a Tea Tree, sugar scrub, a heat/ice pack, Christmas White Trash, and different types of Christmas ornaments. While there, I made a heat/ice pack as well as a bag of Christmas White Trash as a snack to share with my family. Not only was it delicious but I enjoyed making it with the other juniors!

The newly remodeled cafeteria is a bustling space at lunchtime. Personal Touch has a terrific staff at SHA who prepare healthy and tasty lunches for our students and faculty. These ladies handle the crowds with efficiency and a smile!

Left to Right: Charlene Morales, Rene Clemens, Mary Pfalzer, Lisa Pierce

Fresh Faces in the New Cafeteria

The Debutante Program is an amazing seven month, biannual experience hosted by various chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, known as AKA Sorority, Inc. The AKA Debutante Program experience is worldwide, spanning from the Virgin Islands to Buffalo, NY, where I became a participant. AKA is historically and predominantly a sorority of African American women, with a commitment "to promote unity and friendship among college women. Setting out a goal to study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women in order to improve their social stature, to maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of 'Service to All Mankind' for young African American girls." Even though I am not of age, I am already heavily involved with the AKA sorority because of family ties. My great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, aunts, and family friends are all members of the sorority and were participants of the Debutante Program.

The Debutante Program is geared to enrich cultural opportunities for African American girls and to promote deserving and outstanding young ladies who exemplify high scholastic achievement. Throughout the seven months, I participated in leadership seminars, community service, higher education, and ballroom dance lessons to prepare for the culminating ball, which took place on December 3, 2016. During the ball, we were introduced to society, now as “young women.” We performed two ballroom dances: the Foxtrot with our fathers and the Viennese Waltz with our escorts. After the dances were over, we were awarded scholarship incentives, and later in the night we received character awards- I was awarded Miss Debutante 2016. I was truly honored and felt very blessed. Through these memorable experiences I realize what it takes to be a responsible, positive, and productive young lady.

Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart Heartbeat

FEBRUARY 2017SHActivitiesToo Many Cooks? - by Mrs. Jolene Rucinski, Cooking for a Cause Club Moderator

Let It Snow! - by Savannah Revelas ‘19

Documentary Club Opens Minds - by Mrs. Sheila Lyons, Religion Teacher; Moderator, Documentary Club

Who says there can be too many cooks in the kitchen? Not in a SHA kitchen according to this year’s Cooking for a Cause group. Inspired by past years’ events, over 35 students once again baked their hearts out for Gerard Place and the Down Syndrome Christmas Party. After a successful bake sale in October to start them on their way, the girls planned and prepared yummy treats for the Staff/Client Thanksgiving meal together at Gerard Place in November. Both novice and experienced bakers had their hands in measuring, stirring, baking, and decorating over multiple days. Students made over 70 turkey-themed cupcakes and just as many Rice Krispie Treat turkey legs for the clients attending the dinner, while baking, wrapping, and decorating fresh pumpkin bread for the families to share together on Thanksgiving morning. Karen Kasperek, the Director of Services for Gerard Place, stopped by on the final day of baking to share with the girls how the organization serves its clients and the community. After which, one student was inspired to contact the director to continue on as a regular volunteer.Eager to continue to use their baking skills, students were back in the kitchen the following week baking over 20 dozen cutout cookies for guests to decorate at the Family Down Syndrome Christmas party celebrated here at Sacred Heart. Both organizations shared how grateful they were for the girls’ efforts but truly the reward was ours!

For the past two years, I have participated in St. Joe’s Ski Club. The three buses come around 3:15 and the hour long ride goes by fast as we arrive in Ellicottville around 4:30. Ski Club is a great opportunity to spend the night skiing or snowboarding with your friends. Many schools participate in Ski Club outside of St. Joe’s and Sacred Heart which means students have the chance to spend time with kids from other schools. Along with their amazing waffles, Holiday Valley provides a fun skiing or snowboarding experience for all levels. If you are a beginner, free lessons are also provided. Ski Club is a great way to meet people and spend your Friday night!

The newly formed Documentary Club meets approximately twice a month to view and discuss interesting, often award-winning documentaries. Se-nior Clare Lyons sums up a documentary’s appeal: “Documentaries allow us to watch and experience real-life stories and events that provoke emo-tion and make us think deeper about them.” Already we have watched The Hunting Ground (sexual assault on college campuses), Virunga (endan-gered gorilla habitat in Congo National Forest and the rangers who pro-tect it from devastating oil drilling), 13th (mass incarceration of African American males), Music on the Brain (Alzheimer’s study involving effects of favorite playlists from patient’s life) and The Mask You Live In (boy version of Miss Representation). Upcoming films include excerpts from Half the Sky and Cosmos, David Blaine: Real or Magic?, Blackfish, Before the Flood and Waiting for Superman. Senior Emelia Sullivan loves this new club: “Documentary Club has opened my eyes to a lot of issues going on in the world that I’ve never known about before.”

Come join us- I’ll buy the popcorn!

Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart Heartbeat

FEBRUARY 2017SHAthleticsSHA Curls - by Barbara Rooney ‘74, Athletic Director

On Saturday, January 14th, five brave freshwomen par-ticipated in a Bonspiel at Canalside as a part of Chilli-bration 2017. What is a Bonspiel, you ask? It’s a curl-ing tournament! Curling- the sport played on ice with stones and brooms, the sport associated with our north-ern neighbor, Canada... the sport that looks a lot easier than it is!

After a few quick instructions and some practice throws, Martha Balthasar, Isabella D’Amato, Catie Grable, Ella Mascaro and Ava Munschauer took the ice and played their first game against Cardinal O’Hara. After four “ends”, like innings in baseball, the Sharks came out on the losing end of a close one! From there, they moved on to play Frontier HS and unfortunately, lost again. But then, things started to click for them, or I should say, curl! They won their next two games by defeating City Honors and St. Francis and finished third overall.

The girls had a great time and are already planning on participating next year. When asked if curling is dif-ficult, Martha Balthasar said, “It isn’t that difficult after you get the hang of it. There is a lot of strategy involved though, like knowing where to throw and when and where to sweep.” She also added that, “In the beginning, we were having trouble with getting used to throwing the rock. Having the last throw can win the end for you, so having someone on the team who is precise and ac-curate helps a lot. Also, knowing each player’s strengths can help to know where to place them in the lineup for throwing.”

Our hats are off to these adventurous freshwomen who proudly represented Sacred Heart. Happy curling!

Signing Ceremony - by Barbara Rooney ‘74, Athletic DirectorOn Wednesday, February 1, Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart seniors Kiley Austin, Taylor DiMarco and Alexa Perna signed National Letters of Intent to continue their athletic careers in college. Kiley, an Orchard Park resident, will be playing soccer at Division II California University of Pennsylvania in California, PA. Taylor, a Buffalo resident, will be playing soccer at Division I Loyola University in Baltimore, MD. Alexa, a Clarence Center resident, will be playing lacrosse at Division II Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA.

Kiley Austin transferred to Sacred Heart after Immaculata Academy closed. She was named to the All-Catholic First Team for four years. Taylor DiMarco was named to the All-Catholic Second Team as a freshman and First Team the next three years. She was league co-MVP junior year and named to the All-WNY First Team this year along with the All-NYS Third Team Class A. Alexa Perna has been on SHA lacrosse for four years and soccer for two years. She is a member of Stampede Lacrosse Club.