Volume 18 Issue 2
Spring 2011
From the Principal’s
Desk
OLMA Newsletter
OUR LADY OF MERCY ACADEMY
It is hard to believe that we have completed another year. Graduation
was a glorious experience for our 50 young women, their families, and the faculty.
Our graduates are off to a good start – heading to colleges and universities all
over the country with scholarship awards totaling over $8.5 million dollars. Congratulations to all!
The end of the year activities were a success and lots of fun. The prom was
perfect and the seniors had a blast in Florida (in spite of the rain). Exams are over
and final grades are being gathered as I write this letter. We are proud of our students who continue to make honors and do wonderful work in their respective
courses. We ask that you encourage your daughter to work to her capacity.
Should she need any assistance or help from any teacher, please insist that she approaches that (those) teachers immediately upon realizing any problem. Help them
keep up the good work!!!
We are making some changes to our database program and the Honeywell
Instant Alert System. There will be training sessions held for the administration
and the faculty during the summer months. Transitioning to the new program
should not be complicated. You will receive details before the end of the summer.
Summertime is a period of rest for most educators. It provides each of us
an opportunity to reinvest in our professional lives and relax our minds and bodies
from a very hectic schedule. Please encourage your daughters to do the same.
Once again, we wish to thank you for your help and ongoing support.
Thank you to each of you who participated in the events of the Parents’ Society.
Without your help, we could not accomplish all that we do.
Also, I remind you to mark your calendar for special 50th Anniversary
events happening throughout the year. We will open with Communion Breakfast
on October 2nd. We hope to have a special guest speaker for that event. If you
have time during the summer, please contact Dana Catalana
([email protected]) to volunteer for our 50th Anniversary Committee. We can
use any extra help that may be available.
Sincerely in Him
Around School
Spanish
The Spanish Club hosted a TOPA-TAPA Fiesta on February 14th
during Break periods in the Cafeteria. Students enjoyed delicious
"tapas," traditional Spanish
snacks made with an array of toppings typically served all over
Spain. We love TAPAS!
OLMA Cafe
Duffy and Miss Miley, act as
judges to decide which presentation, pro or opposing, gives the
best supported argument. The
first debate that took place was to
determine whether public or private schools provide a better education. The victory was given to
the private school supporters, although both sides presented their
sides impeccably.
cake. Club moderator Mrs. Kennedy would like to congratulate
her students for another wonderful
―Fait accompli!‖ The indulgences
of Mardi Gras mark the day before
the Lenten season of sacrifice.
Chorus Angelorum
The next debate topic is
technology in the classroom, and
thus another battle ensues.
Congratulations to Ms. Ruberti,
winner of the $50.00 certificate to
the OLMA Café. Many thanks to
Anne Brewer, who graciously
took over selling chances for this
fundraiser. Buy a chance for the
next raffle for only $1.00, and
help support the Sophomore
Class. What a great deal!
Debate Club
To welcome in the new year,
OLMA students came together to
form a brand new Debate Team,
governed by Sophomores Anne
Brewer and Samantha Robins.
But no, they do not just sit around
and argue. They do the research,
find the facts, and create a strong,
factual argument that is backed up
by statistics, quotations and accomplished studies. There is no
yelling, screaming, or eye-rolling,
just civilized un-biased discussion.
They attempt to learn which side
of the coin, so to speak, is better.
Their moderators, Mrs.
Page 2
French
―OLMA celebrates early Mardi
Gras.‖ With the ―real‖ Fat Tuesday falling on a day of standardized testing, the OLMA French
Club brought Mardi Gras to life a
week early this year. Club officers wore colorful hats, and students were dazzling in their bright,
shiny beads. The whole school
was treated to some French
snacks, including croissants,
cheese, éclairs and grapes. Refreshing fruit juices washed down
the goodies as French music filled
the cafeteria. The kitchen staff
even got in the mood by serving a
Cajun shrimp lunch and festive
Ashton Flora, Junior, is a member
of Chorus Angelorum. Recently,
Ashton rehearsed for two weeks
during break at OLMA to learn
five songs for First Penance at St.
Rose of Lima Church.
Ashton volunteered to teach the
second-graders during practices at
the church. The young boys and
girls especially enjoyed the song
―Noah, God Has A Job For You.‖
Thank you, Ashton, for sharing
your gift of song.
OLMA
NEWSLETTER
Catholic Schools Week
Page 3
OLMA
NEWSLETTER
FEATURE TEACHER– Mrs. Beth Hopman
Class. Years later, while on a field
trip with students from Penns
Grove, Ms. Hop met students from
Oaklyn who were bragging to her
about how well prepared after they
took her Biology Class. Always
wanting to teach in an all-girls private high school, OLMA then came
on the horizon bringing with it
hopes to pass her knowledge and
experience on to students eager to
learn. ―Teaching can be a challenge, but it always gives the opportunity to encourage the student
to work to their potential,‖ said Ms.
Hopman.
The Chemistry Lab would not
know what to do without its proctor, Mrs. Beth Hopman. Ms. Hop
(as warmly referred to by her students) has been a part of OLMA‘s
faculty for twelve years. Beth came
to Newfield from IFI Chemical Patent Company in Wilmington, Delaware where she worked on staff as
a patent data entry person.
Once Ms. Hopman finished her under graduate education at
(Glassboro State College) Rowan
University and was certified to
teach Science at any level, she decided to teach Chemistry. Certified through the University of Manhattan to teach Advanced Placement Chemistry, she taught for two
years in Penns Grove High School.
During her early career Ms. Hop,
while teaching at Oaklyn School,
developed the whole curriculum for
the 9th grade Honors Biology
Page 8
Mrs. Hopman conducts her life
with devotion to her two children,
Sara, age 10 and DJ age 6, her husband Dan, to whom she has been
married for twelve years and to her
profession. Together with her family, Beth likes family vacations
(especially to Disney World), exercising and spending time with her
parents and her sister, Liza. She
and Dan also volunteer for their
children‘s sporting events and become soccer and wrestling parents
when the seasons demand their attention.
and Semi formal dance.
―We are utilizing lap tops to collect
data for experiments so we can tie
together science which parallels
with industry‘s samples. We then
generate reports (from the data).
We use a program developed by
Dupont engineers to correlate what
is done in industry so that we can
emulate that process in that classroom. The students can then use
the same procedures in the ‗real
workforce‘,‖ said Mrs. Hopman.
―Beth Hopman is one of OLMA‘s
quiet resources. She has added
strength and consistency to the Science Department. She has sent
many students off to college with
excellent Science skills and an in
depth overview of Chemistry and
Biology. We are very pleased to
have Beth working with us and
look forward to many more academic successes,‖ said Sr. Grace
Marie, DM, Principal.
As a faculty member at OLMA, one
of Mrs. Hopman‘s responsibilities
is to the Mother Rossello Club. As
coordinator, she leads the students
in gathering food items for the
needy, collecting items for Christmas and Easter baskets and reaching out to the surrounding communities when there is an emergency.
Beth also shares the responsibility
as coordinator of OLMA‘s Prom
OLMA
NEWSLETTER
New Club at OLMA
OLMA now has a Book Club.
Moderated by Miss Capps and led
by sophomore Samantha Robins,
the book club has been meeting
regularly to discuss their readings
since September. The idea to have
a book club began last year, when a
group of avid readers in the student
body noticed that Miss Capps also
likes to read. Since then, they have
been generating lists of books that
they would like to read. Some
books they have read so far include
Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer,
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky, An Abundance of Catherines by John
Green, and The Christmas Shoes
by Donna VanLeirre. Currently,
they are reading The Princess
Bride by William Goldman. At
meetings, Miss Capps and the students discuss books they have
read, and how the lessons apply to
real life. Even if students have not
finished the book, they are encouraged to come, listen to the stories,
and participate in the discussions!
There is so much to learn from
literature!
OLMA ATHLETICS
Winter Track – Tacquaya Tobias – NJSIAA Non-Public B State Champion for the 55 Meter Dash
Cape Atlantic League All Stars for Winter Sports:
For Basketball:
2nd Team – Bridget Dandrea
Honorable Mention – Lauren Hartman & Ali Dandrea
For Swimming:
1st Team – The 200 Free Relay – Lisa Lyons, Dominque Koons,
Morgan Falasca and Christina Melchiorre
nd
2 Team – 100 Freestyle – Morgan Falasca
500 Freestyle – Christina Melchiorre
400 Free Relay - Lisa Lyons, Dominque Koons,
Morgan Falasca and Christina Melchiorre
Honorable Mention – Meghan Cavanaugh, Devonee Fatcher,
Emily DiGuglielmo & Toni LaBelle
Page 5
OLMA
NEWSLETTER
ART with Mrs. Glatz
Left - Senior,
Brianna Dugary, Tree Dress:
design a prom
dress using nature as inspiration.
Right - Freshman, Sedona
Hill: torn paper
mosaic.
Senior Kaitlyn Reeves - Ceramic
Jewelry Holder. Use hand building
techniques.
Freshman Felissa Tan‘s ink painting.
Use ink to depict an item of nature.
Left - Junior
Toni LaBelle,
My Favorite
Cupcake. Project: Pop Art,
Choose an aspect of modern
culture to depict
in a pop style.
Right - Junior
Rae-Ellen Donofrio, Album
Art. Project:
1960‘s graphics,
Create an album
cover for your
favorite band.
Page 6
NEWSLETTER TITLE
PHILOSOPHY CLIP—Mrs. Bonnie Hammerstedt
SCHOOL HISTORY
Since OLMA is preparing to celebrate her 50th anniversary
(beginning September 2011), it
seems only appropriate that we talk
a bit about the school‘s history.
Our Lady of Mercy Academy was
founded and is conducted by the
Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy
and is adjacent to the Motherhouse
of the Order in North America,
Villa Rossello. In September of
1962, the Academy opened its
doors to fifty-two girls comprising
the freshman and sophomore
classes., with Sister M. Dolores as
Principal. The first faculty was
composed of Sisters Gertrude, Dominica, and Matthew Marie.
The first class of 23 students was
graduated from OLMA in June of
1965: Marie Sparacio, Nancy
Bender, Laura Granese, Yvonne Farina, Wanda Bzozwski, Lorraine Marino, Lorraine Granese, Mary Hannacker, Julia Patterson, Judith Barnes,
Mary Ellen Maguire, Laura Marshall,
Paula McClennen, Jacquelyn Ward,
Margaret Ney, Mary Ellen Tracy, Barbara Pullan, Jean Marie Ervin, Anita
Tomasello, Diana Vertolli, Giovanna
Rosati, Cynthia Campbell. The sophomore class included: Gini Adams,
Marjorie Gavigan, Nancy Cheesley,
Maryfrances Carino, Gloria Dinmore,
Carol Galante, Jeannette Ward, Ann
Marie Camp, Lois Downey, Denise
McCorristin, Kathleen Senner, Denise
Menz, Christine Tuso, Jacqueline Paladino, Geraldine Passarelli, Theresa
Walker, Joyce Barbarotto, Linda Tallarido, Samantha Coates, Carmella
Giordano.
modate all of the new activities.
Hence, ground was broken in June,
1967 for a new field house, Carew
Hall, named in honor of Mother
Bridget Carew. One year later the
graduation exercises were conducted in the newly-opened building.
OLMA is unique in that it is the
only all-girls high school in southern New Jersey. The school lies on
a 57 acre site in Newfield, five
miles north of Vineland and ten
miles south of Williamstown. The
four-year high school prepares its
students, not only for college, but
more importantly for life.
Within the next six years, the facilities
were not sufficiently large to accom-
Viridian—A Green Energy Company
These are exciting times for Our
Lady of Mercy Academy as we
begin one of the most pivotal and
educational initiatives in the almost half century existence of our
school.
We are proud to announce that
OLMA will be launching a Go
Green program, representing our
commitment to clean energy technology, the extended use of recycled materials, more natural
cleaning products, the protection
of our lakes and streams, and a
genuine hands-on effort to positively affect the world around us.
VOLUME 18 ISSUE 2
Our students will share in this
wonderful adventure by sharing in an expanded curriculum
that will help them personally
research technological
changes, government legislation and other topics related to
making our planet safer for future generations.
To launch our initiative, we
will evaluate our own personal
impact on the environment by
calculating our personal
―carbon footprint‖ and how we
can reduce the effect we have
on the world around us. Our
use of energy has the most impact on this ―footprint
‖ and we will be analyzing that
use – both at the school and in
our homes – during the first
stage of our initiative. As a result of this evaluation, we will
look at various ways to live a
―greener‖ life … through including more green, clean energy in our homes, using more
energy efficient lights, implementing a more paperless lifestyle and other simple, common
sense strategies.
To find out more on how you
can ―go green‖ please log onto
www.olmagogreen.org. Start
today by choosing Viridian as
your energy supplier!
Page 7
Miss New Jersey
Just back from her appearance as a contestant in the Miss America Pageant held in Las Vegas
last week, Ashleigh Udalovas , Miss New Jersey, paid a visit to the students of Our Lady of
Mercy Academy on Tuesday morning‘s Catholic Schools‘ Week assembly.
Ms. Udalovas spoke to the girls about community service and commitment to one‘s values
and ideals. She described how hard she worked to found Cumberland County‘s ―Read to Succeed: Improving America‘s Future through Literacy‖ program. She gave examples of how,
through her volunteerism, young children with whom she has interacted were enlightened and
proud to be the recipients of their ―very own first book.‖ Ashleigh encouraged the student
body to continue working hard at their own community service endeavor – whether it is volunteering at a local library, hospital, animal shelter or helping a younger child with their academics. She also stressed the importance of furthering one‘s education by going on to college and
completing the studies necessary to secure a worthwhile career.
Miss New Jersey went on to describe to the students what it takes to become a contestant
for the prestigious position and the many experiences she has had when getting to know the
other 52 girls from across the country – all vying for the spot of Miss America. ―We soon realized how much we all had in common - our commitment to community service, education and
strong work ethics,‖ said Ashleigh. ―These are traits that all of us possess, we just have to
learn how to develop and refine them.‖
Miss New Jersey will continue to represent the state until June 18, 2011, when a new Miss
New Jersey will be chosen. She is looking forward to graduating from Rowan University in
the spring and going on to law school. We wish her well!
Page 8
OLMA
NEWSLETTER
Don’t Forget

FYI– Target and Education
TAP—Tuition Assistance Program—this
program assist those in need with tuition so
that their daughters can continue their education at OLMA. Please be generous.

Save on your electric bill. Go to Viridian
Energy at http://www.olmagogreen.org/

Be sure to visit our website under links to
start using the On Line SAT prep course.
All students have access!
TAKE CHARGE OF EDUCATION
TARGET makes Fundraising easy.
Thanks to parents, teacher and other supporters in
our community OLMA is already benefiting from
Take Charge of Education. We have just received a check for $345.00. THANK YOU!
If you have a Target REDcard please designate
OLMA as the school of choice for 1% of every
purchase made with your REDcard. To designate
OLMA you can go online at Target.com/tcoe or
by calling 1-800-316-6142.To get a REDcard
(Target Visa Credit Card or Target Credit Card).
Encourage your family members to designate
OLMA as their school choice, too! The more
supporters we have the quicker that 1% will add
up!
FYI– IMPORTANT DATES
August
Aug. 23 - Senior Portraits
in Carew Hall
Aug. 24 - Senior Portraits
in Carew Hall Service
Aug. 29 - Opening Faculty Meeting
September
O U R L A DY O F
M E R C Y AC A D E M Y
1001 Main Rd.
New field, NJ 08344
Phone: 856-697-2008
Fax: 856-697-2887
E-mail: [email protected]
Sept. 6 - School opens for
Freshman & Seniors
12:00 Dismissal
Sept 7 - All Students Full
Day
Page 9
“The Best Girls in South Jersey”
OLMA
NEWSLETTER