Heritage Chapel Receives Gift From the Hermann Foundation

Plans are underway at Notre Dame Academy to create a chapel on the top floor of the academic building that once housed the Academy’s library and the computer laboratory. The chapel will be called the Heritage Chapel and will be dedicated to all who have fostered the mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame since the arrival in Worcester of eight sisters of the congregation in August 1872.   Notre Dame Academy would like to acknowledge the Hermann Foundation for their generous lead gift of $100,000. We are grateful for their support and confidence in this worthy endeavor.

The stained glass window from Ascension Church binds the history of the Sisters of Notre Dame in the Worcester area to the education of young women today and in the future. It is dedicated to Msgr. Thomas Griffin who invited the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to Worcester.  The window will hold a special place in the Chapel. Mrs. Mary Estes Zywar of the Arts Department is designing and creating two stained glass murals for the Chapel.  The three six foot panels on each mural will depict the mission and philosophy of St. Julie Billiart and the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

Notre Dame Academy is pleased to present a number of commemorative opportunities to help support the Heritage Chapel. These giving opportunities include key elements within the renovation area. Commemorative gifts afford the chance to forever link your own family name with this blessed space or to honor and perpetuate the name of a loved one. These gifts will be recognized with dedication plaques and listed on a donor honor roll within the Chapel. 

For further information regarding commemorative opportunities please contact the Development Office.

Maude Okrah '05, keynote speaker

Over sixty-five Notre Dame Academy graduates returned to the campus on March 31st to share their education and career paths with NDA students. Maude Okrah '05 was the keynote speaker before the morning sessions. She struck a theme that would reverberate through many of the presentations given during the day: "Discover your passion." Maude spoke about the many career choices she pondered during her high school years, from doctor to dentist to lawyer. It was at an event that she attended with a friend while a student at Emerson College that led her to her true calling, marketing. She presently works as a national accounts manager for Shell Lubricants and travels throughout North America helping companies reach their goals. She urged students to become involved in as many co-curricular opportunities as possible and stressed the importance of getting involved in activities in which they might not think they have an interest. "It might be an accidental experience that helps define your career," suggested Maude. To watch Maude's presentation click here.

After the morning sessions, students gathered in the Athletic Center with Alexis Rougas-Ermilio '90, owner of Adventure Boot Camp, a workout and training camp for women of all ages, and Suzanne McMullen '92, owner of Your Element Yoga. Both women put the entire student body through a series of exercises and yoga positions. After a final afternoon session, students gathered in the auditorium to hear Maude and Stephanie Logan '01, manager with Partnership Marketing, the Macy's Parade and Marketing Group. Maude and Stephanie spoke about the positive and negative aspects of social media and urged students to use media such as Facebook, Twitter and Link-In wisely. A listing of those who took part in Career Day can be found here. You will find photographs of Career Day here.

Career Day participants gather on the Kenary Terrace.

Lois Romano '70 graciously opened her Washington, D.C. home to twenty-three NDA alumnae for the annual Cherry Blossom Luncheon.  Lois, a reporter and columnist for The Washington Post for the last twenty-nine years, announced at the luncheon that she was leaving the The Post to join the staff of Tina Brown's The Daily Beast  and Newsweek.  She entertained the gathering with "inside stories" of Washington politics and the Washington social scene. Pictures from the Washington luncheon are here

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Ellen "Muffin" Harrington Ylitalo '68, Lois Romano '70 and Anne Harvey Wright '68

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The Worcester Telegram and Gazette Honors NDA Athletes

Taylor McVey '11	Libby McCusker '14	Danielle Gaudette '12

The Worcester Telegram and Gazette recently announced that Libby McCusker '14 and Taylor McVey '11 have been named to the Telegram and Gazette All-Star teams, Libby for her skiing prowess and Taylor for her skills on the basketball court.  Danielle Gaudette '12 received an "honorable mention" for her basketball accomplishments. In her first ski season at NDA, Libby placed eighth in the slalom in 34.31 seconds and 27th in the giant slalom in 52.29 seconds at the MIAA State Alpine Championship at Berkshire East Ski Area in Charlemont. She finished second in central Massachusetts and helped the Academy finish second as a team. Taylor averaged 16.2 points to lead the Central Mass. Conference and helped the Rebels to 16 wins and the Central Mass. Division 2 quarterfinals this season. Taylor is a two-time CMC All-Star who scored 338 points this season. Danielle consistently scored in double figures on the court this season averaging 10 points a game.  She ended the season scoring 36 percent of her three-point shots.

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NDA Hosts Stamp Winners

Sheila Hurley '11 presents a young artist her medal.	Ms. Pam Landry, Mrs. Mary Estes Zywar and Sr. Ann Morrison

On Sunday, April 10^th, Notre Dame Academy was honored to host the 2011 Massachusetts Junior Duck Stamp Competition award ceremony. Mary Estes Zywar, NDA Flagg Gallery Director, noted that the top 100 winning artwork pieces were held on exhibit in the Gallery throughout the weekend. The student artists from the state received medals, ribbons, and certificates from Junior Duck Stamp coordinator Ms. Pam Landry. NDA Seniors Sheila Hurley, Caitlyn Corfey and Deborah Ledoux served as student hostesses for the day. The collection of the top 100 pieces of art will be on exhibit throughout Massachusetts during 2011-2012. Mrs. Zywar is pleased to announce that Notre Dame Academy will host the exhibit during the month of March 2012.

While Notre Dame Academy seniors gathered at the College of the Holy Cross on Thursday, April 7^th for their annual retreat, freshman, sophomore and junior classes participated in their own time of reflection on campus. The theme of their retreat was “Reaching Out in a Time of Renewal” and was facilitated by Mr. Harry Duchesne, an educator from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Worcester and Boston and a well-respected youth minister in central Massachusetts. Mr. Duchesne was supported by members of the Class of 2012 who helped plan the retreat and who led small group discussions throughout the day. Students were exposed to a variety of ice breakers, skits, discussion questions, and art work, each designed to elicit from the participants ways that they could reach out to one another and then others in their community and in the world. One of the highlights of the retreat was a presentation by junior Nichole Farrington who gave a firsthand account of her recent trips to Haiti with her church group. Her personal account of meeting and working with the people of Haiti, especially the children, was particularly moving and inspiring. As Nichole explained, most people in Haiti are not aware of what they do not have. They are grateful for what they do have and that is a lesson she took away with her and thinks about very often.  The retreat ended with Mr. Duchesne sharing the stories of young people who have made a difference in the world by acts of courage and generosity. The students were then treated to a slide show of photographs by Mr. Harry Clough of the Math Department who had spent the day photographing the various retreat events.

"Look to God as a sunflower looks to the sun for life."  St. Julie

Alumnae Reunions Just Around the Corner

Alumnae will gather on Saturday, April 30th to celebrate their reunions. A Memorial Mass is scheduled for 4:00 pm in the Cuvilly Auditorium followed by a Reception from 5:00 to 7:00 pm in the Student Center. Class pictures will be taken beginning at 6:00 pm.  A schedule of times for individual class pictures will be posted in the Center. After the reception, class dinners have been scheduled at area restaurants by individual reunion committees. If you are a member of an NDA class ending in "1" or "6" we can't wait to see you all again! If you have any question, please contact Director of Alumnae Nicki Carignan Lazaros at 508-757-6200, ext. 227 or e-mail her here.

From the Office of Mission Integration:

In collaboration with the Religion Department, the Mission Integration Office invited Sister Jeannette Pierre-Louis to visit and share her ministry in Haiti with our students at Notre Dame Academy. Sister Jeannette is a Haitian Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, and is working presently with her people at Les Cayes in Haiti. Although this southern area of the country was not destroyed by the earthquake of January 12, 2010 it is inhabited by a large number of people known as “the poorest of the poor.” An unacceptable gap divides the rich from the poor who are sharing the same territory and this has resulted in two different “worlds” within a distance of not more than five minutes! The greatest reason for this poverty is the fact that more than 65%% of the population does not have access to school and therefore, they cannot read or write. The present mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame there, through Sister Jeannette, is to “teach them all that the people need for their life” according to Saint Julie Billiart’s recommendation to her sisters from the very beginning of the religious community of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Sister Jeannette made it clear that no matter where it is located, the mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame is always communal. The students felt themselves involved in this mission since they collaborate through their Lent collection for aid and their prayers for the people of Haiti. During the two days of meetings and sharing on April 4th and 5^th Sister Jeannette met with members of the sophomore class. Using stories, pictures and projections of a variety of photographs, she invited the students to see, to listen, to learn, to think and to make some suggestions and to give some advice. In her presentations, Sister Jeannette intentionally used the name of Notre Dame instead of her own name as she referred to the ministry she is doing in Haiti although she is alone as a Sister of Notre Dame at this moment. She sees herself and her presence there as a part of the Notre Dame Congregation. Then she would say: “Notre Dame went to Haiti…," “Here is where Notre Dame is doing her ministr,", and so on. We may recall one of  Saint Julie Billiart’s sayings: “A Sister of Notre Dame must have a heart as wide as the world." Sister Jeannette certainly demonstrated that this is true of her as she ministers in Haiti.

Marie-Angèle Kitewo, SND