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f r O M t H e O f f i c e O f t H e P r e s i d e n t
ese quotes are, of course, words about words, and all are true in certain contexts.
As a society, we are bombarded by language. We have become full-time senders and recipients of messages. e word “message,” once an indisputable noun, has become a verb. We text, we tweet, we instant-message, we e-mail, we tell social networks what’s on our minds, we post to our blogs. Everywhere we go, relentless streams of information tell us about things to buy, places to see, events to attend, and on it goes.
In the midst of it all, we still find artists who can weave a tapestry of words.
rough their skill, we visit unfamiliar places, learn new ideas, or interact with people who may not even exist except in the author’s imagination. Words allow us to share a gi that is uniquely human and ubiquitous in all cultures: the urge to hear and the ability to tell a good story.
e distinction between disposable words and well-craed language has never been more apparent than it is today. at is why here at Lauralton Hall, we nurture writers who can not only express themselves clearly and well, but who have studied great literature. From Dante to Dickinson, from Milton to
Morrison, exceptional writers have the ability to stop us in our tracks, stir our souls, and make us ponder the human condition.
In this issue of Hallmarks , you will meet women whose literary gis allow them to demystify scientific inquiry, provide insight into world news, invite truthseekers on spiritual journeys, or just plain entertain readers. I hope you enjoy their words as much as I have.
Cordially,
Antoinette Iadarola, Ph.D.
President | Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, Lauralton Hall
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

P r E s I D E n t
Antoinette Iadarola, Ph.D.
P r I n C I PA L
Ann Pratson
A s s I s tA n t P r I n C I PA L
Cynthia Gallant
A D M I s s I O n s A n D F I n A n C I A L A I D
D I r E C t O r
Kathleen O. shine
E x E C u t I v E D I r E C t O r O F
D E v E L O P M E n t
Lisa M. Hottin
B u s I n E s s M A n A G E r vincent L. vigliotti
A L u M n A E r E L At I O n s D I r E C t O r /
H A L L M A r K s C O - E D I t O r
Kathleen Kearns Donahue, ’80
E x t E r n A L r E L At I O n s
C O O r D I n At O r /
H A L L M A r K s E D I t O r
Julie Kinsella, ’88
C O n t r I B u t I n G W r I t E r s
Kathleen Kearns Donahue, ’80
Meg Greene, feature articles
Julie Kinsella, ’88
P H O t O G r A P H y steve Adams Photography, East Berlin
Julie Kinsella, ’88
Prestige Barkley Photographic Design, stratford
Christine ring robert taylor Photography, stratford
C O v E r C O n C E P t
Julie Kinsella, ’88
D E s I G n
Fosse-Previs Design, Milford
Hallmarks is published twice a year for alumnae, parents, faculty, staff and friends of the
Lauralton community. © 2010, Academy of
Our Lady of Mercy, Lauralton Hall.
Please send address changes to Lauralton Hall,
200 High st., Milford, Ct 06460, Attention:
Hallmarks. Letters to the editor can be sent to Julie
Kinsella, ’88, at the above address or by e-mail to jkinsella@lauraltonhall.org. Alumnae are encouraged to submit articles, information, and photographs to Kathie donahue, ’80, at the above address or by e-mail to kdonahue@lauraltonhall.org
in the Alumnae relations Office.
F E A T U R E S
Legacy Society Member on the Lauralton Advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Supporting Catholic Education and Making a Lasting Tribute to a Departed Lauralton Sister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Revising after Morning Prayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Making a Case for Scientific Field Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Discovering Narratives in Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Book Lover, Technology Buff, and Decaffeinated Barista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
R E G U L A R D E P A R T M E N T S
F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
S T A F F N O T E S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6
S T U D E N T H I G H L I G H T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 8
C L A S S N O T E S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4
M Y S T E R Y P H O T O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

is one of the earliest members of the Lauralton Legacy society. Ask about her motivation for joining and her answer is simple: “I will never forget the education I got there, how it inspired me, or how far it got me in life.”
Lauralton biology teacher sister Catherine Mary was influential in Alyce’s decision to pursue science at a time when not many women did. Alyce doesn’t recall the name of her chemistry teacher, but vividly remembers
“having my nose to the grindstone during four years of that subject in college.” she attended rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, which gave rise to some teasing from friends when e Saturday Evening Post dubbed rollins “the country club of the south.” While Alyce did play on the golf team there, she was all business when it came to her studies. In her senior year, she got special permission to take a class in clinical studies, and aer graduating, went to Paine Hall school for technicians in new york City and became a laboratory technician.
For most of her career, Alyce used her clinical skills at Milford Hospital, where for many years she and just one other lab tech did all phases of clinical laboratory work needed in hospital laboratory testing. Later, the hospital’s head of surgery asked Alyce to add histology to her medical repertoire—histology being the analysis of surgically removed tissue. soon, she was a registered Histologic technician doing work for Milford
Hospital off-site at the Hospital of saint raphael Pathology Laboratory in new Haven, as she awaited the completion of the addition to Milford Hospital that would house its own facilities for histology. While at saint raphael’s, she was also noting the best practices for when she would set up a histology unit in Milford.
“It was my great joy to be the one who ordered all the needed equipment when those capabilities were added at Milford Hospital,” she says.
roughout Alyce Merwin’s long and satisfying career, she never forgot her alma mater. Alyce graciously named Lauralton Hall in the Charitable remainder trust set up in her will. e school will be perpetually grateful for Alyce’s help in assuring its bright future. “My Lauralton education stayed with me and helped me succeed,” she says. “It’s my way of giving back.”
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

joined the Legacy society for two reasons.
e first reason is that she and her husband Ed (an alumni of st. Joseph’s school in trumbull) valued their own Catholic educations and felt blessed by being able to provide the same type of education for their four children. noreen says of her parents, “ey are still living and made enormous sacrifices for us. My mother wanted to attend Lauralton herself, but wasn’t able to, so she worked extra shis to help send all six of the
Hermanns girls there. My sisters gail Hermanns Beliveau,
’65; Mary Hermanns McKenzie, ’66; shawn Hermanns
Landry, ’75; robin Hermanns, ’78 and Heidi Hermanns
Warren, ’83 attended from the 1960s through the 80s.
e second reason noreen became a member of the Lauralton Legacy society was Mary. noreen’s friend and sister-in-law, Mary fenton cady,
’74, struggled for decades with cancer and its debilitating treatments, but never gave in to despair and never stopped setting goals for herself. “When
Mary was having a relapse, she would set a modest goal, like sitting in a chair and not being in bed while she ate a small meal,” noreen says. “When her health was better, she would set ambitious goals like finishing college, seeing her children complete high school, and getting a master’s degree.
she set so many goals for herself and achieved them all before she died.”
Before Mary’s diagnosis during her senior year, the younger girl’s greatest dream was to become a cheerleader at Lauralton so she could cheer for
Fairfield Preparatory school. noreen was to become Mary’s honorary “big sister” at Lauralton as their friendship deepened. ose bonds of friendship were transformed into familial bonds of sisterhood when noreen married
Mary’s older brother. e same bonds sustained Mary and inspired noreen as Mary’s illness progressed.
Of her sister-in-law, noreen says, “she was a teacher of life lessons in how to deal with adversity. she taught us how to have a good attitude, how to walk our faith, how to set goals—no matter how small—and how to make the most of each day. e most valuable lesson she taught was how to be grateful to God for the gi of one’s life. Her untimely death gave Ed and me the nudge we needed to stop talking about giving back and do something about it.”
Lauralton Hall is humbled and grateful to noreen and Ed Fenton for designating the school in their wills with a gi given in such a profoundly beautiful spirit.
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

s ister dolores “dolly” Liptak, ’49 , a 1988
Claven Award recipient, freely admits to being a reluctant writer. “I began writing 15 or
20 years aer entering the convent,” she says.
“I did it because I was a historian, and publishing is the only way to prove yourself in that discipline.” she remembers that writing came quite naturally to her when she was very young, and she notes that literary talent seems to run in her family; her mother was an untrained but wonderful writer, and her brother is a journalist and executive editor.
For sister Dolores, however, writing for publication is only achieved through the
“blood, sweat, and tears” of exhaustive research, referencing and, above all, revision.
sister Dolores’ first book grew out of her
Ph.D. program in American history at the university of Connecticut in 1979. she was well versed in ethnic studies, but for her dissertation she wanted to include research on the roman Catholic Church. is combination of topics moved her into an area she hadn’t studied then, but later became an expert in—Catholic Church history in
America. Her dissertation, European
Immigrants and the Catholic Church in
Connecticut, 1870-1920, was published by the Center for Migration studies in 1987.
Eventually, she would take on an even more ambitious related project with Immigrants and eir Church, Makers of the Catholic
Community, published by Macmillan in 1989.
Aer completing her doctoral work, sister
Dolores moved to Washington, D.C., to work for CArA—the Center for Applied research in the Apostolate at Georgetown university.
CArA’s tag line is “Putting social science research at the service of the Church since
1964.” While there, she published an overview of the Catholic Church in
Connecticut that was translated into five languages. she also wrote about the development and contributions of women’s religious congregations in America.
“I organized an archive for the Baltimore
Carmelite Monastery and another for the
Georgetown visitation Monastery. In the course of compiling and categorizing so many papers, I got to know a lot about many contemplative orders,” she recounts. “I say this in all humility, but given the amount of archiving I’ve done, I may know more details about religious communities in the united states than anyone else at this point.” she branched out into editorial projects while at CArA. ursula stepsis, C.s.A., who worked for a Catholic healthcare organization, asked for sister Dolores’ help on a historical book.
e result was a work called Pioneer Healers,
e History of Women Religious in American
Health Care, published by Crossroad Press in
1989. e book was a scholarly overview of nuns who embraced the mission of caring for the sick from revolutionary wartimes through the twentieth century. One review of the book called the two editors pioneers in their own right for delving into a neglected but vast and fascinating topic.
Later, she would collaborate with an amateur historian named George C. stewart to create a compendium on women’s religious orders called Marvels of Charity: History of American
Sisters and Nuns, published by Our sunday visitor in 1994. e comprehensive nature of the book made it a valuable resource for understanding the history and mission of virtually every order of nuns in America.
Archival work is another aspect of a historian’s job, and sister Dolores did a great deal of it as well—particularly for monasteries.
Every writer has her or his own rhythm and approach to writing. When asked about hers, sister Dolores says that she typically sits down to write around 9:00 or 9:30 in the morning.
“I have lots of things to do when I get up,” she says, “the most important being prayer and going to Mass.”
Once sister Dolores begins her writing day, she will continue working until about 1:00. en she gets lunch and sits down in front of the tv to watch literally anything that’s on just to reset her mind. Aer about an hour, she returns to her work and continues until about 5:00. “I’m a person who tends to have a single focus when attacking a project,” she explains. “I complete all my research before writing the first word. I truly love that part.” sister Dolores has embraced a more nuanced view of her source materials over time. she notes that C.K. Chesterton identified a famous paradox: that anything worth doing is worth doing badly. “I gradually came to know what he meant as it relates to history, because written records are flawed by their very nature,” she says. “Here’s an example. I had two primary
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

sources for the book I did on the Church in
Connecticut. I would become frustrated with one of the sources because it contained so many inaccuracies, but over the years, I’ve become fonder of that imperfect source. ere were misstatements and misspellings in it, but the priest who wrote it really knew how to tell a story. He was writing about something he cared about and he had a definite point of view.
Whether history is written by an amateur or professional, it is always written through the perspective of the writer. With the imperfect source, I was seeing through the eyes of the writer in his own time.”
Aer the research is done, sister Dolly begins to formulate the structure of the book. “en it’s one chapter at a time,” she says. “I might produce ten pages a day, but the first thing I’ll do the next day is toss out all but four or five pages of what I’ve written. It’s not that I’m trying to be a perfectionist or that my prose has to sparkle and shine; it’s just that I strive to be completely clear. I oen write something that might sound fine on the face of it, but it doesn’t express what I meant to say. en I have to revise and revise until I get it right. at’s the
‘blood, sweat and tears’ part of writing.”
t oday’s academics understand the dictum:
“Publish or die.” ey must write academic papers within their disciplines, endlessly pursue grants, conduct research, teach undergraduate classes, and mentor graduate students. As these activities make ever-increasing demands on a scholar’s time and as research funding becomes scarcer, opportunities for field-based work, particularly in the natural sciences, have become scarcer, too.
Betsy gladfelter saw that a certain type of scientific researcher was becoming an endangered species. she was troubled by the growing rarity of broadly trained scientists who use all their senses to collect scientific data and who can put that data into a larger environmental context. she was also convinced that scientific progress and learning is oen best served in group settings, where forums exist for exchanging and improving upon individual ideas. erefore, this marine biologist, who had published many scientific papers for academic readers, decided it was time to become a storyteller with a wider audience in mind.
War.
“I like his writing style, and I’m also just naturally curious—the kind of person you can invite to a party because I’ll go around asking people about themselves.” she put terkel’s model of collecting and editing social history to use in her book.
Agassiz’s Legacy was published by Oxford university Press in 2002 and is organized by decade. It starts with the World War II generation in the 1940s, then tracks subsequent trends through the “silent” generation of the 50s, “sputnik” generation of the 60s (the beginning of Betsy’s own academic career), “Last of the Golden years” generation of the 70s, the “Lean years” that marked the 1980s, and concludes with thoughts on where the natural sciences were headed at the dawn of the 21st century. Betsy asked each interviewee four questions:
1.) How did you get into science? 2.) Who and what were your most important influences?
3.) How has doing science changed during your lifetime? 4.) How has educating scientists changed during your lifetime?
In Agassiz’s Legacy: Scientists’ Reflections on the
Value of Field Experience, Betsy conducted interviews with dozens of scientists and painted a picture of how scientific inquiry has evolved since World War II. “I’m a big fan of studs terkel,” she says of the famous oral historian and author of Working and e Good
Betsy distilled each of these responses down while holding them up against a broader social context. she examines why earlier generations of scientists were able to do field work and what it added to their research. she also discusses why that practice has lost ground to highly specialized, laboratory-based work, and how much of this change in emphasis stems from the way the u.s. government funded scientific research during the Cold War versus cutbacks that started during the reagan era.
Betsy wrote her book while working as a guest investigator at the famed Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, but prior to that she spent many years becoming an expert on coral reefs while teaching and doing research with her husband at Farleigh Dickinson university’s West Indies
Lab in st. Croix, virgin Islands.
Betsy found that, ironically enough, the academic trajectory of the women scientists she interviewed did not originally include science. Many started college with the idea of becoming an English or spanish major, but aer taking field trips during their college science classes, they rediscovered their love of the natural world, and realized that it could be a viable career path.
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

As for Betsy, “I went to Cornell for a year, got married and went with my husband to stanford where I completed my bachelor’s degree in biology. Bill and I took lots of field trips on our own to the deserts, mountains, and seashores in California. Cornell and stanford were unusual in that they both were coed, so there was a good balance of men and women in my classes. However, in my entire college career, with all the coursework I took,
I only had two female professors. And if you go back a few years earlier, there was a lot of blatant gender discrimination even there. My older sister anne [Higgins Porter, ’52] was at stanford before me and was also interested in field sciences, but when she applied to do field work in Alaska, she was told that as a woman, she couldn’t go because she would be too weak to dig ditches! My other sister, Mary etta
[Higgins, rsM, ’58] , also went into biology and then became a nun. she never told me whether she had to deal with that problem.”
Fortunately, the climate for women had changed by the time Betsy got to stanford; she went on to get her master’s in marine science at Pacific university and her doctorate in biology at the university of
California at Los Angeles. today, Betsy contributes essays on conservation to the local newspaper in
Falmouth, Mass., where she serves on the town’s Conservation Commission. A scholarathlete from her Lauralton days, Betsy also became an accidental journalist there.
“I played field hockey and basketball at
Lauralton and in college,” Betsy says.
“Lauralton’s newspaper needed a sports reporter, and I could pretty much just write down what had happened during the games.”
Her beloved late husband Bill oen encouraged her to consider writing a novel.
she doesn’t think she has the imagination for that, although Agassiz’s Legacy clearly indicates that she can tell a good story and cra strong, clear prose. Imagination or no, Betsy finds that she’s spent the last few months looking for an idea for the next book. Once bitten by the writing bug, the urge to write one more is hard to resist.
D onna Lucey’s literary imagination is fired by images; not just the mental images most authors conjure up as they write stories, but by pictures of real people. And such people! From scheming Gilded Age socialites to fiercely independent frontier women,
Donna Lucey brings elusive, oen eccentric historical characters to life through recovered images and the written word.
Calamity Jane—enough research to be offered representation by a literary agent who wanted a biography of that larger-than-life woman of the Old West. At the age of 22, Donna didn’t think she had a whole book in her yet, so she took a job as a photo editor at time-Life
Books instead. Her Calamity Jane research came in handy when she began working on a time-Life series on the American West.
Donna was attending Georgetown university when she had a fateful first encounter with the national Archives. “I was taking a course called ‘u.s. History in the 20th Century,’” she says. “I did a project on the treatment of the Chinese in America during World War II and conducted most of my research there.
at’s when I fell in love with old photographs, particularly old black and white photos.
e people in them came to life for me, almost like an old home movie. I wanted to tell their stories.”
Donna nearly got a job at the national
Archives. (“I was there all the time anyway,” she says.) However, she ended up in new york
City aer doing research-for-hire about seven years, two grants from the national
Endowment for the Humanities, and many trips to the desolate badlands of
Montana later, Donna had collected, organized and documented a huge treasure trove of images and diaries that provided a remarkable look at frontier life at the turn of the 20th century. e woman who created the photographs and diaries reclaimed her place in
American history in Donna Lucey’s first book:
Photographing Montana 1894-1928: e Life and Work of Evelyn Cameron.
Evelyn Cameron and her husband Ewen were an eccentric, aristocratic British couple who moved to terry, Montana, to breed polo ponies. at scheme bankrupted them, but
Evelyn fell in love with frontier life and taught herself to photograph it. When Evelyn
Cameron died in 1928, she le stacks of glass-plate negatives and detailed diaries to a beloved friend who was nearly 100 years old when Donna met her. Aer gaining the elderly woman’s trust, Donna was given permission to make new prints from the plates. “I had to work with them right there in terry,” she says.
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

“It was too expensive to move them, not to mention the danger of breakage in transit, so I rented a neglected old house and rigged up a darkroom. Every time I turned off the lights, grasshoppers would start jumping out of the shag carpeting.”
Donna’s epic battle with these critters paid off—Cameron emerged from the mists of history as one of the preeminent photographers of the American West and a meticulous documenter of frontier life.
Most of her photographs were donated to the
Montana Historical society, but the city of terry still loves Donna for bringing the work of its most famous citizen to light. Aer the book was published in 1990, the town declared “Donna Lucey Day.” And when a
Public Broadcasting service documentary based on the book premiered in terry a few years ago, Donna returned to town. “e film premier coincided with their county fair and rodeo, so my husband, son and I got to ride on a float in their parade. terry, Montana, is the only place where I can honestly claim that I am a bona fide celebrity.”
Donna's next book was also pictorially driven.
I Dwell in Possibility: Women Build a Nation
1600-1920 was published by national
Geographic and examines women’s contributions in America before this nation even granted them the right to vote. Lavishly illustrated, meticulously researched, and well reviewed, the book examined the lives of more women who, like Evelyn Cameron, had been consigned to the shadows of u.s. history.
A few celebrities—Pocahontas, Phyllis
Wheatley, Harriet Beecher stowe, and
Elizabeth Cady stanton—share chapters with anonymous seneca tribeswomen, unsung revolutionary War heroines, viciously oppressed slave women, and 150 factory workers who perished in a fire at an infamous turn-of-the-century new york sweatshop, along with the experiences of scores of other
American women.
A more conventional biography followed.
Archie and Amelie: Love and Madness in the
Gilded Age charts the scandalous marriage, subsequent divorce and sensational further misadventures of John Armstrong “Archie”
Chanler, an eccentric member of the Astor family, and Amelie rives, a manipulative, stereotypical “southern Belle.” Archie ends up in a “madhouse for the rich” and Amelie becomes both a best-selling author and a morphine addict. A reviewer for e
Washington Post says that “roughout,
[Archie and Amelie] engages its readers in the initially charming and ultimately harrowing tale of the marriage between two self-willed and self-absorbed thoroughbreds, a public and scandalous romance that crashed and burned, as such romances are wont to do, in a decidedly spectacular fashion.”
Donna Lucey’s latest work-in-progress is based on her discovery of thousands of original letters written to the famous painter and portraitist John singer sargent by several women who posed for him, including a sister of Archie Chanler. “He was an enigmatic figure,” Donna says. “ese letters provide a back-story and context for him and his work.”
Fans of the historical period Donna Lucey has so aptly researched and documented can learn more when she lectures on Evelyn Cameron and the American West at the ventfort Hall
Mansion and Gilded Age Museum in Lenox,
Massachusetts, on Wednesday, september 1 at 4:00pm. A victorian tea will add to the visitor’s experience of these bygone times.
For more information, call 413-637-3206 or visit www.gildedage.org .
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

P resident antoinette iadarola, Ph.d.
is delighted to announce a new set of
“In-residence” programs that will benefit
Lauralton students and the community at large. Distinguished scholars, artists and sisters of Mercy will visit Lauralton to lecture, teach advanced placement or other master classes, perform, and provide unique insights into their areas of accomplishment. While these visiting luminaries’ primary focus will be on Lauralton students, the school will also share their expertise and talents with the read American poets in the world, Ms.
Giovanni first came to prominence during the civil rights movement with her forthright examinations of race and injustice. since then, she has received numerous honors and awards and authored several children’s books in addition to her many poetic works, essays and spoken recordings.
she has been a university
Distinguished Professor at virginia tech since
1987, where she teaches residence deirdre Mulla n. sister Deirdre is the director of Mercy Global Concern, the Mercy International Association’s presence at the united nations in new york City.
As director of MGC, she facilitates the order’s advocacy for the impoverished people in the developing world. sister Deidre is scheduled to bring her perspective on global poverty and the efforts to address it to Lauralton Hall during fall semester.
[see profile on page 11.] wider community through lectures, readings writing and literature.
and other events.
“residency programs add depth to a school’s usual curriculum,” notes President Iadarola.
“ough scholar-in-residence series are more common at the university level, hosting such a series here at Lauralton highlights our commitment to providing exceptional learning experiences for our students.
[see interview at right.]
Before hosting one of
America’s finest contemporary poets,
Lauralton will get scholarly insight about another celebrated poet of the 19th century.
A
s masters of language, great poets are eminently quotable.
When we share our distinguished guests with the community, Lauralton’s visibility and prestige is further enhanced.”
A truly extraordinary set of distinguished guests will grace the program’s inaugural year.
Poet in residence nikki giovanni is slated to visit Lauralton in March of 2011.
Her engagement at Lauralton is made possible thanks in part to the generosity of a community grant from the Frederick A.
DeLuca Foundation. One of the most widely scholar in residence
Jonnie guerra will share her knowledge of and passion for the poetry of
Emily Dickinson in the fall semester of 2010.
A member of the board of directors of the
Emily Dickinson society, Dr. Guerra directed its first international conference, held several of the society’s elected offices, and edited its
Poet to Poet series. [see profile on page 10.]
In proud celebration of the mission of the sisters of Mercy who founded Lauralton Hall, the program will be rounded out by rsM in
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall
NG: got a poet who makes you want to quote absolutely everything she says. We profile her below using as many of her own brilliant words as possible.
written for as long as they can remember.
When did you become a poet?
(laughing) I don’t see the point of claiming turned five. Five-year-olds should be outdoors playing! I started writing when I was in college.
(continued)

P R O F I L E
P R O F I L E
including drama, dance, the visual arts and music. e choreographer and dancer
Martha Graham celebrated Dickinson in her work Letter to the World, and Aaron
Copeland set her poems to music in Twelve
Poems of Emily Dickinson.
Other artistic tributes have taken the form of fine arts quilts by Michigan textile artist Ann
Kowaleski, and the performance pieces and sculptures of Leslie Dill.
NG: I think there’s something people often miss
us all in that respect. Amiri Baraka, Allen Ginsberg, myself—we spoke for our generation and didn’t apologize for being who we were.
remembered as strident. There was plenty to be angry about with the Vietnam War and the civil rights and women’s rights movements. In your role as a professor at Virginia Tech, you’ve interacted with subsequent generations. Do you find young people to be different these days? Perhaps more complacent or preoccupied with material things?
destroyed with no end in sight. People like to call
NG: (laughing) Well, everybody doesn’t have to be outraged! That said, this generation has plenty to be angry about. Look at what’s happening with the oil spill in the Gulf right now. So much life is being this a Christian nation, but here we are murdering
embarrassment to be a billionaire. No one needs
J
However, Jonnie spent the first ten years of her career in the classroom and is especially noted for her examination of artistic interpretations of Emily Dickinson's poetry and life. People are most familiar with e
Belle of Amherst, but Dr. Guerra examined many more works in her essay "Dickinson
Adaptations in the Arts and the eatre,”
When asked about the approach she will take to teaching Lauralton students, Dr.
Guerra says that her goal is to encourage students to want to read more. “ere is a surface simplicity to Dickinson’s work that people misconstrue,” she says. “you have to mine the language of the poems. I can easily that much money. Kids should be taught that what is really important in life is never money.
topics yet?
NG: I like to stay current. When I visit, I’ll talk about how everything that happens relates to history on some level. I like to get students to connect the dots and see that what happens today is not unique. Everything that happens is like a link in a chain, but you have to pay attention to history to see how it all fits together.
HM: In 2008, you had the very unusual experience of having a best-selling poetry book on your hands!
spend a half-hour talking about eight lines—perhaps fewer than fiy words of her poetry—and not be finished. What makes
Dickinson complicated is her creative grammar and syntax. Her poems look odd because of their unique punctuation and capitalization, but they contain infinite riches.”
NG: I have always loved Hip Hop. People don’t realize that Hip Hop has a very long heritage; that
common people spoke Italian. Hip Hop came out of the vernacular—a particular kind of American
English. And when kids connect with art, we should
of a summer jobs program where kids from every background compete to find who’s the best breakdancer or waltzer or clog-dancer and
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

Then because you can’t judge if one type of dance
Kennedy Center and perform. Why not? is better than another, all the winners come to the
P R O F I L E
P R O F I L E
NG: The shootings in April 2007 are linked to
Virginia Tech in people’s minds, but what happened there had nothing to do with the University, just like 9/11 wasn’t New York City’s fault. If you believe in good, you have to believe evil exists, too.
One doesn’t make sense without its opposite.
If free will exists, people make choices all the time.
D
zone between northern Ireland’s Catholics and Protestants, sister Deirdre learned a
to see that a British soldier had collapsed at their front gate. Without a thought for her brings vulnerability to disease, chronic hunger, lack of access to clean water, degradation of one’s environment, and other crushing burdens. she cites World Bank statistics stating that the current economic crisis has pushed billions into the most abject forms of poverty and contends that the 21st century must develop a global economy that is dynamic, inclusive, and safe for all.
own safety and refusing to demonize the young man as an enemy, her mother ran out and cradled him in her arms as he died. she said simply, “He’s somebody’s son.” sister Deidre has seen what hatred can do and how people can push back against it.
e compassion she learned from her family runs through her work at the united nations, as she advocates for billions of voiceless, impoverished people around the
When sister Deidre visits the young women of Lauralton Hall, she will issue a call to global citizenship. she says: “While it was always true that one person’s hunger and poverty diminishes us all, we can no longer live in the united states or Europe or other parts of the developed world and pretend that global poverty doesn’t affect us. We are world. In a recent essay, sister Deidre noted that poverty is more than having a low all interdependent, and we all have a responsibility to act.”
© Nikki Giovanni.
Reprinted by permission of the author
income; it is a multidimensional reality that

c L a s s O f 2 0 1 0 V a L e d i c t O r i a n , s a L u t a t O r i a n a n d M c a u L e y a Wa r d W i n n e r
Valedictorian Lia Bonacci of Shelton has been awarded a one-time undergraduate research fellowship and plans to major in biomedical engineering. She will attend the Honors
College at the University of Connecticut as a Presidential Scholar.
Salutatorian Emily Ruggeri of Orange plans to further her love of the sciences next year at
Cornell University in the College of Engineering.
Eugenie Guterch, RSM , Chair of the Board of
Trustees, presents Amanda Rodrigues, ’10 of
Monroe with the Catherine McAuley award.
Amanda will attend Harvard University in the fall.
a L u M n a e O f t H e c L a s s O f 1 9 6 0 r e c O g n i z e d a t g r a d u a t i O n
Representatives of the Class of 1960 , celebrating their 50th jubilee, were recognized in a warm, time-honored Lauralton Hall ritual, as members of the graduating class presented each jubilarian with a single rose and President Antoinette Iadarola, Ph.D.
handed them golden diplomas and gifts.
Members of the Class of 1960 gathered at the 2010 Commencement (left to right): Patricia Rapp Reynolds, Judith McKeon Willard, Carolyn Della Pietra,
Rosita Sciortino Hargus, Patricia Duch Iancale; Alyce Harkin Casey,
Margaret Healy Kelly, Patricia Scherer Bellmore, Connie Lupariello
Fraccascia, and Anne Cassidy Weimann; missing from this photo is
Geraldine Gamble Caccavale.
D ressed in traditional white caps and gowns, the 104 members of the Class of 2010 graduated on June 6 in the Lauralton Hall gymnasium.
Proud family and friends listened as valedictorian Lia Bonacci and salutatorian emily ruggeri gave commencement addresses.
e Catherine McAuley Award, Lauralton’s highest honor, was presented by the Chair of the Board of trustees, eugenie guterch, rsM, to amanda rodrigues, recognizing Amanda’s academic achievement, service and character.
President antoinette iadarola, Ph.d., shared heartfelt remarks and bestowed the diplomas along with eileen dooling, rsM, President of the sisters of Mercy of the northeast, and Principal ann Pratson . eileen dooling, rsM, also gave an inspirational speech in which she told students to listen to their hearts and to know the world around them. “Know your world and what’s happening in it. Know its people, its cultures, its religions and its richness, and don’t be afraid. Know what’s happening and the people it’s happening to, and love. Don’t be a bystander,” said sr. Eileen.
e entire Lauralton Hall community congratulates the Class of 2010.
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

L a u r a L t O n f a M i L y L e g a c i e s W e r e r e c O g n i z e d a t t H e g r a d u a t i O n L i t u r g y
(Back row, left to right): Kaila Casey, ’10; Kerrigan Cotter, ’10; Ashley Carrigan, ’10; Cara Denos, ’10; Olivia D’Atri,
’10, Sarah Macone, ’10; Jennifer Mager, ’10; Carol Lyddy O’Connell, ’10; and Bianca Reising, ’10.
(Front row, left to right): Margaret Casey, ’87; Jacqueline Sconzo Casey, ’72; Megan Lyddy Cotter, ’79; Kathleen
Busko Currivan, ’74; Penny Obuhanick Denos, ’80; Barbara Judd D’Atri, ’76; Ellen Noonan Macone, ’79; Jacqueline
Lynch Mager, ’78; Carol Lyddy O’Connell, ’76; and Laura Pinciaro, ’83.
Principal Ann Pratson; President Antoinette Iadarola, Ph.D.; Eileen Dooling, RSM, President of the Sisters of Mercy of the Northeast; and Eugenie Guterch, RSM , Chair of the Board of Trustees.
Many members of the class of 2010 have legacy connections to Lauralton but a few whose mothers, grandmothers, and/or great-grandmothers are also alumnae include the following:
Margaret Boynton, ’10
Margaret Stuart Boynton, ’26 (deceased)
Great-grandmother
Kaila Casey, ’10
Margaret Casey, ’87
Mother
Jacqueline Sconzo Casey, ’72
Grandmother
Margaret Fagan Casey,’32 (deceased)
Great-Grandmother, former faculty
1981 Claven Award Recipient and 2009 Father Doherty Award Recipient
Kerrigan Cotter, ’10
Megan Lyddy Cotter, ’79
Mother
Carol Benson Lyddy, ’43 (deceased)
Grandmother
Ashley Currivan, ’10
Kathleen Busko Currivan, ’74
Mother
Cara Denos, ’10
Penny Obuhanick Denos, ’80
Mother
Olivia D’Atri, ’10
Barbara Judd D’Atri, ’76
Mother
Sarah Macone, ’10
Ellen Noonan Macone, ’79
Mother
Jennifer Mager, ’10
Jacqueline Lynch Mager, ’78
Mother
Carol Lyddy O’Connell, ’10
Carol Lyddy O’Connell, ’76
Mother
Carol Benson Lyddy, ’43 (deceased)
Grandmother
Bianca Reising, ’10
Laura Pinciaro, ’83
Mother
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

ur goal is to make the media center a lively, welcoming place,” says media specialist Terry Lawler, MLS. “With lots of laptops available and free Wi-Fi [wireless internet connectivity], we are Lauralton’s answer to Starbucks ® .” The welcoming part certainly seems to be working because about
270 of the 430 students who attend Lauralton visit the media center every single day.
And that doesn’t count all the teachers who pass through.
Lauralton’s wealth of architectural nooks and crannies means that it’s never hard for a student to find a silent place to study, and the back of the library is relatively quiet. Still,
Terry is convinced that giving students a vibrant gathering place yields big benefits.
“Learning is a collaborative process these days,” she says. “Kids use technology relentlessly to communicate and stay connected with each other, but here they get interpersonal time, too. There are also unique opportunities for teaching and learning. I’ve seen students consult faculty who aren’t even their own classroom teachers. They just happened to be there at the same time, and the student felt comfortable asking them for help.”
When asked what books were most popular this past year, Terry hesitates. It’s not that she doesn’t know what’s popular; it’s just that it’s tough to even define the word “book” these days. “What you hear about is print versus non-print. A student may go to the iTunes ® website, download a popular novel and listen to it,” she says. “It’s a novel all right, but the student hasn’t experienced it in its print form.
Sitting down and reading a bound book
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

doesn’t have the same appeal for a lot of young people as it did for older generations.
That includes using e-reader technology like Kindle TM because it emulates the experience of turning pages.”
Being a big advocate of printed books doesn’t mean Terry loves technology any less. “I use it constantly and I really see the communication benefits,” she says.
“For example, I’d love to take the media center’s page on the Lauralton website to the next level by adding a blog, some forums and podcasts.” past year wasn’t Twilight —they had already read it. The teachers were the ones reading
Twilight to see what the students were talking about. The most popular book with the students was Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.
Once they read it, they would usually go through all his novels.” This is something
Terry loves to see. If a student takes an interest in a particular popular author, she can usually be encouraged to read a similar author, and then perhaps take a step toward more literary works.
But back to the question of what the students are reading. “Due to the success of the
Twilight series, they will snap up anything to do with paranormal romance,” Terry answers.
“But the most popular book with students this
What is Terry herself reading? “Right now, I’m reading The Help.
It’s set in the South, which is where I grew up. It takes place during the
1960s and shows how events at that time were interpreted differently by the three main characters—two black and one white. That book is actually on the Lauralton summer reading list. And like the girls, I confess that
I also have a weakness for supernatural stories, so I enjoy authors like Kim Harrison.”
What were Terry’s favorites as a child? “I read everything! My favorite was definitely
Nancy Drew —I loved mysteries. Hardy Boys because they were mysteries, too, but they were a distant second to Nancy. I loved Jane
Eyre and Great Expectations and Catcher in the Rye.
But I would read literally anything.”
She laughs. “My family will often ask if I remember some major incident, only to find that I don’t. They say, ‘Oh, she must have been off-planet that day,’ meaning that I had my nose in a book!”
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

Following one week of intensive study about Ecuador, spanish teacher Barbara d’ambruoso voyaged to Ecuador with a group of educators to learn more about the country through classes, museum visits, and meetings with knowledgeable experts. she then enjoyed one week on the
Galápagos Islands.
External relations Coordinator
Julie Kinsella was nominated to the Board of the Milford
Preservation trust. e trust recently held their second annual meeting at Lauralton
Hall, where author Michael
Dooling, whose book “Milford
Lost and Found” includes a chapter devoted to Lauralton, was the guest speaker.
Mr. Dooling is the brother of Eileen Dooling, rsM,
President of the sisters of
Mercy of the northeast.
(Le to right): Milford Preservation Trust Board Member Timothy
Chaucer, Julie Kinsella, ’88, and author Michael Dooling.
In July, Ms. Kinsella attended “Aim High 3.0” — Cheney & Company’s conference for independent school communications professionals held at e study at yale in new Haven.
e program was packed with workshops and presentations delivered by a team of guest experts.
History teacher Marilyn cummings was selected to attend the highly competitive national Endowment for Humanities (nEH) summer workshop on Andrew Jackson and
“e Hermitage” in tennessee. e workshops covered the controversies and turbulence of
Andrew Jackson, his times, and his reputation under the broad theme, “e Hermitage,
Andrew Jackson, and America 1801-1861.”
Each workshop combined classroom and field studies at e Hermitage. e workshop was presented through collaboration between
e Hermitage and Middle tennessee state university.
For the second year, the Fine Arts Department presented an exhibit of work by many faculty and staff members.
e exhibit was open to the public and the works were on display for one week in the Claven Auditorium.
is portrait by art teacher Judith Doherty is acrylic and acrylic glaze on canvas. It is entitled
“My Suzy” aer the artist's daughter.
Lauralton Hall is proud to announce that seven certified faculty members will teach uConn Early College Experience (ECE) classes in the 2010-2011 school year, and 66 students are eligible to participate in the program.
ECE is a concurrent enrollment program that allows motivated high school students to take uConn courses at their high schools for both high school and college credit. Every course taken through uConn ECE is equivalent to the same course at the university of Connecticut. students benefit by taking college courses in a warm setting that is both familiar and conducive to learning.
Established in 1955, uConn Early College Experience is the nation's longest running concurrent enrollment program and is nationally accredited by the national Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (nACEP).
High school instructors who have been certified through the university of
Connecticut serve as adjunct faculty members and teach uConn ECE courses.
Becoming a certified instructor for uConn Early College Experience is a significant professional achievement. uConn ECE instructors reflect the credibility of uConn ECE, and represent a high level of professional trust and respect. e opportunities that uConn ECE instructors provide to their students will make a difference in the students' success in college.
( ont row): Courtney Dwyer, Margy Sargent, and Kate Rodgers;
(back row): Susan Cavar, Corene Crozier, and Lisa Peterson; missing om this photo is Regina Moller.
LAURALTON’S CERTIFIED UCONN ECE TEACHERS:
Susan Cavar
Biology AP
Corene Crozier
Elementary Discrete Math
Courtney Dwyer
United States History AP
Regina Moller
French Language AP
Lisa Peterson
European History AP
Kate Rodgers
English Literature & Composition AP
Margy Sargent
Fundamentals of Music I
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

President Antoinette Iadarola, Ph.D., is pleased to announce the appointment of Lisa M. Hottin as
Executive Director of Development, which became effective July 6, 2010. Ms. Hottin brings with her over
25 years of experience in fund development. she comes to Lauralton from the yale university school of nursing, where she was most recently Director of External relations, holding various posts there since 2000, including Director of Development. In addition to her professional work, Ms. Hottin has also participated in several professional associations and memberships. she is currently a member of the Council for
Advancement and support of Education (CAsE) as well as the American Association of Colleges of nursing – Advancement Professionals network, where she served as Chairman in 2007-2008.
A graduate of Columbia university with an M.s. in Library service, she also holds a B.A. in
American History from the honors program at Fairleigh Dickinson university.
We warmly welcome history teacher Lauren ariker
Korman . she comes to us from the Cheshire Public school system. Most recently, however, she’s been serving as a long-term substitute, teaching AP u.s.
History, College Prep History and Current Issues here at Lauralton Hall since January 2010, filling in for
Mrs. Dwyer who had a beautiful baby girl. Beginning in the fall, Mrs. Korman will teach World History,
Modern World History, and Government. Mrs.
Korman earned her teaching certification in 2008 and is one thesis away from earning her master’s degree in
History. Prior to teaching, Mrs. Korman worked as
Press secretary to Congressman Les Aspin, Chairman of the House Armed services Committee on Capitol
Hill in Washington from 1987-1993. she went with
Congressman Aspin to the Pentagon when he became President Clinton’s first secretary of
Defense. Mrs. Korman worked in a number of capacities in the Department of Defense over the next seven years when she and her husband Mark moved to their home in Cheshire,
Connecticut, in 1999 so their children could be near their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Mrs. Korman and her husband have two beautiful children, Jacob, age 12, and Molly, age 10. Coincidentally, Mrs. Korman grew up off Wheeler’s Farm road, just a few minutes from Lauralton Hall, so she feels like she’s coming home!
Congratulations to faculty and staff members who celebrated Lauralton milestones in the
2009-2010 school year, and were recognized and received service awards at the annual end-of-year staff meeting. e Lauralton Hall community salutes you! christine farren Healey, ’67, Math teacher – 30 years
Janet Powers, ’75, Math Department Chair /Math teacher – 30 years
Kathleen shine, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid – 15 years
Mark allen, social studies teacher – 10 years
Patricia doerr, World Languages Department Chair/spanish teacher – 10 years tracie serio, Math teacher – 10 years
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall
Members of the Lauralton staff share some of their recent book recommendations below:
Media Specialist Deborah Beauvais recommends:
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows
(The Dial Press, 2008)
Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky (Doubleday, 2010)
President Antoinette Iadarola, Ph.D.
recommends:
Any of the numerous books written by Nikki
Giovanni (see list below)
Night by Elie Wiesel
(Bantam Books, 1960)
External Relations Coordinator
Julie Kinsella, ’88 recommends:
740 Park: The Story of the World’s Richest
Apartment Building by Michael Gross
(Broadway, 2005)
Media Center Chair Theresa Lawlor recommends:
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
(Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, 2009)
Physical Education/Health Department Chair
Peggy McGowan recommends:
Ya-Yas in Bloom by Rebecca Wells
(Harper Collins, 2005)
“fun, happy, hair-raising reading ... great for summer”
– Peg McGowan
Having written well over 30 books, below is a selection of a few published books by acclaimed poet Nikki Giovanni, who will be visiting Lauralton in March 2011.
The 100 Best African American Poems
(Sourcebooks Media Fusion, 2010)
Bicycles: Love Poems
(William Morrow & Company, 2009)
Hip Hop Speaks to Children with CD:
A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat
(A Poetry Speaks Experience)
(Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2008)
On My Journey Now: Looking at African-American
History Through the Spirituals
(Candlewick, 2007)
The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1998
(William Morrow, 2003)
Milford Lost and Found by Michael C. Dooling
(Carollton Press, 2009)
Milford : A Brief History by Frank Juliano
(The History Press, 2010)

On April 22, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, 40 very excited students staged the 5th Earth Day fashion show under the guidance of Environmental Club moderator Donna DiMassa . The students designed, created, and modeled eco-friendly outfits. Each model also shared an environmental fact to help raise awareness of ecological problems.
Models Michele Dalena, ’11 and Maggie Mellot, ’11 exhibit their eco-friendly designs.
(left to right): Art Club students Teresa Starzecki, ’11, Chloe Walker, ’11, and Emma
Molloy, ’10 pose with portraits they created of orphaned children in Peru as part of a nationwide program called The Memory Project—an initiative whose purpose is to inspire caring and a positive sense of self. The portraits will be sent to the children and the artists will receive photos of the children holding their portraits.
This watercolor by Adriana Corso,
’11 was one of many Lauralton student works exhibited in March at the Café Atlantique in Milford.
This watercolor by Kristen Rasbach,
’10 was on display at the annual spring Fine Arts Festival.
Inspired by religion teacher Christine Ring, a group of students collected their lunch money change beginning during Lent of their sophomore year and continued throughout their junior year. The collection was donated to
Mercy Beyond Borders.
The Youth & Government club participated in the Connecticut State
Youth & Government Conference in
Hartford. Pictured here are future legislators: Shelby Halasz, ’12 and
Shelby Halliday, ’12 .
(left): Taylor Williams, ’10 and
Jennie Serra, ’10 star as two sweet old ladies with a habit of poisoning their guests in a student-run production of
Arsenic and Old Lace.
(front row left to right): Sofia Tavareszlock, ’11, Margaret Mellott, ’11,
Stephanie Simko, ’11 and Lindsay Warren, ’11; (back row left to right):
Julia Hannigan, ’11, Leslie Gorzkowski, ’11, Grace Wilson, ’11, Leila Dunn, ’11,
Emily Devaney, ’11, and Chair of the Religion Department and Campus Minister
Christine Ring .
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

On April 27, the Lauralton Hall Advanced Vocal Ensemble and the Concert Choir performed at Avery Fisher
Hall in New York City under the direction of music teacher Margy Sargent and at the request of Perform
America organizers. The concert included outstanding high school groups from Connecticut and New Jersey.
The Lauralton Hall Advanced Vocal Ensemble and the Concert Choir performing at Avery Fisher Hall.
Thirty-seven world language students were recently inducted into the
French, Latin and Spanish honor societies. Pictured here are newly inducted Spanish honor society members (left to right): Dominique
Bonessi, ’11, Faith Ellwanger, ’12, Danielle Flanagan, ’11 and Lauren
Flanagan, ’11.
The ceremony included a guest presentation by
Spanish honor society inductee Dominique Bonessi, ’11, who shared some of the highlights of her summer 2009 trip to Egypt.
The Lauralton Hall softball team reached the finals of the CIAC Class M Softball Tournament.
The team finished the season with a 21-5 record and a ranking of 6 in the state poll.
Two Crusaders were named All-State Athletes by the Connecticut High School Coaches
Association: catcher Courtney Collins, ’10 and center fielder Abigayle Casey, ’11 . Courtney
Collins was also named MVP All-Area and
All-State by the New Haven Register.
Softball Varsity team (front row, left to right): Rebecca Napolitano, ’11; Rhea Schneider, ’12; Jessica
Napolitano, ’13; Sydney Spitz, ’12; Marisa Dowling, ’12; and Caitlin Bennett, ’13; (back row, left to right):
Fallon Foster, ’12; Abigayle Casey, ’11; Courtney Collins, ’10; Jessica Linden, ’11; Mariel Schlaefer, ’12;
Emma Soviera, ’13; Hayley Spragg, ’12; Sydnee Sousa, ’13, and Manager Carley Rutherford.
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

T he Guidance Department was pleased to host the second biannual Career Day. This year’s participants included over 30 successful women professionals, many of whom were Lauralton alumnae, from a variety of fields—such as medicine, business, and fine arts— who generously offered their time and career advice.
As career exploration is an important step in the college
Keynote speaker Sharon Brennan, ’65 search process, this was a perfect opportunity for the students to hear about avenues for their interests, encouraging and motivating them to achieve success in their high school academics. The day began as keynote speaker Sharon Brennan, ’65 , an educational consultant, addressed the students. Sharon is a 1996 Claven Award recipient and she is also a former Chair of the Lauralton Hall
Board of Trustees.
If you’d like to share some of the life lessons you’ve learned, along with information about your profession at
Career Day 2012 , please contact guidance counselor Sue Fracker at sfracker@lauraltonhall.org or
203-877-2786, ext. 122. Both repeat presenters and new participants are welcome.
I f you are interested in helping give talented, successful students their first opportunity in the career world, please contact guidance counselor Sue Fracker at (203) 877-2786, ext. 122 or sfracker@lauraltonhall.org. Give Lauralton students the valuable gift of experience at your business and help launch a career. In return, not only will your business get a hard-working, eager intern, but you and your business will receive recognition in the next issue of
Hallmarks, as did the two businesses listed below.
A L U M N A E A N D / O R C O M PA N I E S T H AT H A V E R E C E N T LY H I R E D L A U R A LT O N I N T E R N S :
Mary-Morgan Childs, ’02 | Carpe Dancem Apparel interns: Gina DeFeo, ’10 , Monica Laskos, ’10 , and Lucy Moye, ’11
Lisa Valerio, ’99 | Valerio Financial Group interns: Gina DeFeo, ’10 and Meghan O’Connell, ’12
Kristin Huffman
Actor
Katy Potts
Architect
Gregg Wies & Gardner Architects
Debra Kelly Woodward, ‘90
Attorney/Partner
Kelly & Norris
Kristen Haydon Howell, ‘85
Director
American Red Cross in Central Florida
Kristi Buynak
Director of Material Logistics
Sikorsky Aircraft
Sharon Brennan, ’65
Educational Consultant
Ashley Mossa, ‘03
Engineer
Westinghouse Electric Co.
Sara Sirowich-Bastos, ’99
Engineer
BL Companies
Marybeth Reardon Miklos, ’88
FBI
Nicole Benson ’04
Graduate Student
UCONN Department of Allied Health Science
Santina Galbo ‘04
Graduate Student
UCONN Department of Allied Health Science
Meghan Kerrisk ’04
Graduate Student
Yale University Ph.D. program in
Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry.
Tamika Warner ‘95
Graphic/Web Designer
Warnerworkx Design
Technical Support Repsentative
Cablevision
Michele DiNello
Human Resources
SUBWAY Corporation
Lisa Shea
Human Resources
SUBWAY Corporation
Joanna Lee, ‘99
Marketing/Fashion Design
Lilly Pulitzer
Dr. Emily Blair
Medical Doctor
T E S T I M O N I A L
Dear Lauralton Alums,
Wait until you take on a Lauralton intern or three, as I did, to see your company soar! In September 2009, I founded Carpe Dancem Apparel, so dancers on any budget can “Seize the DANCE ... in Style!” It is a unique clothing company offering a full collection of “ready to buy” designs and customizable team wear.
In April, in an effort to expand my client pool, gain an online presence and set up a marketing campaign, I spoke with Sue Fracker in the Guidance Department and immediately secured intelligent Lauralton students to join my team of interns to tackle these projects! Gina Defeo, ’10, Lucy Moye, ’11 and Monica Laskos, ’10 have been indispensible to the growth of the company and the rapid progress made ... and that is still being made.
The professionalism and dedication that Gina, a Sales Representative, shows has been apparent from the beginning as she dove into the research component full-steam ahead. Lucy’s commitment to her role as the Media Representative was also clear from the onset. For example, she came back to work the evening of her first day’s training to orchestrate her first photo shoot. Monica, a Research
Assistant, is generating excellent results on her assigned tasks, and I can count on her for anything I ask. These students are hard workers and always willing to put in the extra time to help with projects not even in their position descriptions.
Their work has been invaluable and I am most grateful for this blessing.
I encourage business professionals to boost their team by offering internship positions to promising Lauralton young women.
Sincerely,
Mary-Morgan Childs, ‘02 | http://carpedancem.wordpress.com
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

Sarah Pfisterer
Musical Theater Performer
Kristina Brito Cappetta, ‘96
News Producer
WTNH-TV
Nancy Downing, ’84
Nurse
Norwalk Hospital
Amy Daniels DiGiugno, ’83
Nurse
Norwalk Hospital
Tara Glennon
Occupational Therapist/Professor
Quinnipiac University
Wanda Lanzone Hannigan, DMD
Periodontist
Fairfield Periodontics
Maryjo Gallo
Pharmacist
Stop and Shop
Sharon Cappetta
Philanthropic Officer
The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
Sharon Rentz
Photographer
Dawn Moser
Physician’s Assistant—Cardiovascular
St. Vincent’s Medical Center
Sarah Longden, ‘89
Producer
Dateline NBC
Jessica Lewis, ’90
Psychotherapist
Shannon Gerry, ‘97
Researcher
Wellesley College
Meghan Hunter Kranyak, ‘97
Respiratory Therapist—LIFE STAR
Hartford Hospital
Courtney Dickinson-Niemi, ‘96
Senior Inventory Planner
Stony Creek Brands
Kara Justo, ‘89
Social Worker
St. Vincent’s Medical Center
Stefanie Stevens, ‘99
Special Events Coordinator
Connecticut Food Bank
Allie Pantaleoni, ‘04
Sports Management—VP of Operations
ESBL Sports Management
Tracey Meaney Kelly, ’85
State of Connecticut Witness Protection
Program Coordinator
Office of the Chief State’s Attorney
Rose Baird
Teacher (Elementary)
Sam Sherwood, ’04
Teacher (Science)
Mott Hall V Middle School, Bronx, NY
Kim McClure Brinton, DVM
Veterinarian
Country Companions Veterinary Services, LLC
Maurya Keating
Vice President & Associate General Counsel
AXA Equitable
Aileen McDonough, ‘93
Writer/Editor/Business Consultant/Owner
3am Writers
Cat Urbain
Writer
Children’s book author and grant writer for Hole in the Wall Camps
A lively crowd of over 25 new Haven area alumnae and Legacy society members met on April 25 in the beautiful home of congresswoman rosa deLauro, ’60 to greet our president, dr. antoinette iadarola,
Ph.d.
e reception included an informative discussion about the
Academy’s future plans and recent events. Dr. Iadarola led a “Q & A” session about Lauralton, which our alumnae appreciated. Congresswoman
DeLauro shared her memories as a boarding student back in the fiies and had the crowd roaring with laughter about her stories as a student, including being told by the sisters to eat pizza and bananas with a fork and knife! e reception was a great success and more are planned throughout Connecticut and new England. If you are interested in hosting an informal gathering, please contact the Alumnae Office.
Rita Siclari Walker, ’53 and Legacy Society member Millicent Friedberg Zolan, ’43.
Maria Kinsella, AP ’88, ’91;
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, ’60;
External Relations Coordinator Julie
Kinsella, ’88; and Kristine Kinsella, ’91.
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, ’60 with
President Iadarola.
Alyssa Reyes, ’06; Roberta Tordoff Clouet, ’54;
Patricia J. Rooney, RSM, ’54; Congresswoman
Rosa DeLauro, ’60; and Ryan Donahue, ’06.

A sellout crowd of more than 500 people, including the 2010 Grand Marshall of the Greater Bridgeport st. Patrick’s Day
Parade, Mr. robert O’Keefe, celebrated Irish night in February. e sounds of thundering bagpipes and drums filled the gym as the
Fairfield Gaelic Pipe Band marched in to start this spectacular event. Guests rose to their feet to applaud—the first of many ovations that evening. Celtic Music Master and Lauralton faculty member Damien Connolly and his band trAD roused the crowd with footstomping, traditional Irish music. Patty K.
Lenihan, owner of Lenihan school of
Irish Dance, Monroe, presented a flawless show of world-champion Irish step dancers performing in full costumes of traditional and contemporary design. ough the dancers did not perform in hard shoe to avoid marring the gym floor, the crowd stomped and clapped in time with the girls. new this year was the “Best table” contest, where guests decorated their tables in the spirit of the season. First place winner was amy fedigan, ’95 and friends who created
“Finnegan’s rainbow,” complete with a large balloon arch, blinking lights, a pot of gold, and a table filled with gourmet fare. Amy’s name is engraved on the perpetual trophy, which will be presented at this annual event.
e winner of the Irish Night Best Table perpetual was Amy Fedigan, ’95.
Here CIM Chair Catherine Lopata and
iends pose with the trophy they did not win! rounding out the evening were homemade desserts contributed by members of the
Alumnae Executive Board, as well as a “Luck of the Irish” raffle with proceeds benefiting the
Alumnae scholarship, awarded to current
Lauralton students in need of financial aid.
served basis. Watch the school website for details and reservation information for this not-to-be-missed event. to volunteer to help, donate raffle prizes, or for more details, contact Kathleen Kearns donahue, ’80 , at kdonahue@lauraltonhall.org or
203-877-2786, ext.114.
Plans are underway for Irish night 2011, scheduled for
March 5, 2011. save the date and reserve early, as reservations will be on a first-come, first-
Direct from the new york metropolitan music scene, the Highland rovers Band thrilled with traditional Irish favorites as well as the contemporary sound for which they have become known. Parents, alumnae, faculty, staff and friends sang along with many of their songs. e Fairfield Gaelic
Pipe Band returned for another set beginning with an incredible drum solo, followed by the entire pipe band joining in for the encore. Guests danced well into the wee hours!
Mrs. Fitzgerald, Maureen
Iadarola and Grand Mar
O’Keefe, President shall of the Greater
Bridgeport St. Patrick’s Da y Parade Robert O’Keefe.
Faculty members Marilyn Cummings and Pat Doerr show their Irish spirit.
(Front, le to right): Fathers Club president Joseph Castignoli, Kathleen Morton, ’12, and Roberta Morton enjoy the night with iends.
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

t he summer Academy, a partnership between Lauralton and st. Martin de
Porres Academy, the new Haven Jesuit model middle school for girls and boys, has completed its 7th summer. e two-week experience for the middle school girls featured
Language Arts, spanish and Math, along with a variety of activities. is year, the students enjoyed a presentation by the “slant of Light”
eater troupe, a group of young women who talked with the girls about creating a play, directing, and performing. e students were also given the opportunity to perform in a play for the teachers.
Lauralton Hall rising sophomores volunteered as teacher aides and mentors to the students for the two-week experience. e program principal is Mrs. Peggy Mcgowan , Lauralton
Hall Physical Education/Health Chair.
Mrs. McGowan works in conjunction with
Mrs. Allison rivera, President of st. Martin de
Porres Academy, and Ms. christine ring ,
Lauralton Hall Campus Minister. is program is partly funded by the generosity of the sisters of Mercy of the northeast’s
Mercy Ministry Fund.
Each participant receives a full scholarship to the program, which strives to encourage, challenge, support and broaden the experiences of the girls while reinforcing their academic skills in an effort to help prepare them for success in the next school year.
Lauralton Hall President Antoinette Iadarola,
Ph.D. with Lauralton Hall student volunteers and Lauralton Summer Academy students om
St. Martin de Porres Academy.
It may be summer, but the cast of Lauralton Hall’s fall musical production of “Annie” is already in place. Some of the principal cast members include:
Dominique Bonessi, ’11 of Milford as Miss Hannigan
Victoria Conaway, ’12 of Trumbull as Grace
Jeff Sargent of Trumbull as Warbucks
Orphans
Briana Archer, ’12 of West Redding as Duffy
Rajane Brown, ’13 of Bridgeport as Pepper
Andrea Castillo, ’13 of Monroe as Molly
Brenna Donahue, ’14 of Trumbull as July
Maggie Mellott, ’11 of Norwalk as Annie
Amy Patterson, ’12 of Bridgeport as Kate
Saray Yoney,’13 of Easton as Tessie
The Boylan Sisters
Emma Linsenmeyer, ’12 of Fairfield as Ronnie
Abbey Maloney, ’13 of Fairfield as Connie
Carolyn Savoia, ’13 of Ridgefield as Bonnie
The student production of “Annie” will take place Friday, Oct. 22 through Sunday, Oct. 24 in the
Parsons Complex Auditorium,
70 West River St., Milford.
Tickets will go on sale in the fall.
Save the date and stay tuned for more details.
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 C L A S S N O T E S
D E A R L Y D E P A R T E D
A L U M N A E
’43 Sister Margaret Mary Conklin , a Sister of
Charity of St. Elizabeth, March 31, 2010
’51 Maureen Reidy Maguire ; sister of
Sheila Reidy Sargent, ’59 and Colleen Reidy
Baumgardner, ’63 ; April 6, 2010.
’56 Gail Ewanietz Kopalik , April 19, 2010
’57 Judy Ciglar Kearns , March 1, 2010
’59 Patricia Lavery Gleeson ; mother of Coleen
Gleeson Noonan, ’89 and Dr. Shelagh Gleeson,
’91 ; April 1, 2010
’60 Patricia Kalapir Tuzzio , October 22, 2010
’68 Carole Christy Surina , former Lauralton faculty member 1972-1979, sister of Patricia
Christy Philipp, ’70 , April 10, 2010
’76 Laurene DeVincentis McDevitt , mother of
Megan McDevitt, ’12 , April 18, 2010
Walter F. Stachowicz, husband of Mildred
Bujanauskas Stachowicz, ’41 , March 1, 2010
Robert D. VanWart, husband of Sharon Toothill
VanWart, ’60 , May 21, 2010
“Eternal rest grant upon them, oh Lord, and may the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”
E N G A G E M E N T S
’88 Catherine Walsh to Christopher Gumkowski
’96 Liza Riggione to Vincent Squeglia
’97 Jennifer DeCanio to Stephen O’Brien
’98 Eileen M. Donohue to Brian P. Kenney*
’02 Colleen Catalano to Daniel Laughlin III
’03 Ashley Mossa to Jeremy Lindeman
* wedding to take place in the Lauralton Hall Chapel
Gianna Grace Coppola, daughter of
Karen Sapione Coppola, ‘91
I N M E M O R Y
Eugene W. Abdale and Muriel R. Abdale, parents of
Ann Margaret Abdale, ’86 , July 4, 2009
Kelley Adams, mother of Conner Adams, ’10 ,
March 24, 2010
Edward Milton Bevington, husband of
Paula Lawton Bevington, ’54 , May 20, 2010
Ralph Ambry Bowley, Selectman for the Town of
Fairfield, husband of Deborah Boyle Bowley, ’62 , former Trustee and currently coordinator of special projects at Lauralton; father of Gillian Bowley, ’94 and Shannon Bowley, ’98 ; nephew of Marty
Antisdale , Lauralton tennis coach; and brother-inlaw of Leila Boyle Connor, ’60 ; April 10, 2010
Leon “Burry” Burrows, Jr., father of
Lisa Burrows, ’92 , April 19, 2010
Joan E. Chiota, mother-in-law of 2000 Claven recipient Diane (Dee) Trautman Chiota, ’61 ; grandmother of Katie Chiota Dresch, ’98 ;
February 25, 2010
Robert D. Miller, husband of Marilyn Johnson
Miller, ’54 , August 28, 2009
Helen M. Minutola, mother of 1994 Claven recipient Marianne Minutola Hennessey, ’58 , grandmother of Board of Trustees member
Maura Hennessey, ’87 , May 24, 2010
Susan Rhoades Nouss, mother of former “Christmas in the Mansion” Chair Nancy Nous-Brown , and grandmother of Courtney Brown Cave, ’98 ,
March 8, 2010
W E D D I N G S
’97 Selina Piselli to Sean Filkins, May 15, 2010*
’03 Bernadette Riley to Brandon Amorosso,
June 19, 2010
* wedding held in the Lauralton Hall Chapel
F A M I L Y A D D I T I O N S
’88 Nora Roach Ford and husband Sean announce the birth of their daughter, Siobhan Ford, April 28,
2010. Proud mom is a 2003 Claven recipient.
’91 Karen Sapione Coppola and her husband announce the birth of their second child, Gianna
Grace, born August 27, 2009. She joins four-yearold sister Mia.
’92 Maureen Lagasse Ysewyn and husband
Doug announce the March birth of son number three, Kellan Hayes Ysewyn. Proud grandma is
Peggy Sasso Lagasse, ’58 .
’96 Carrie King Dean announces the birth of her daughter, Schuyler Naomi Dean, August 20, 2009.
’96 Jackie Catanese Klahold and husband
Keith announce the birth of their daughter,
Ashlyn Jayden Klahold, born March 5, 2010.
’98 Katie Chiota Dresch , and husband Brian announce the birth of their first child, Hailey
Elizabeth, born March 2, 2010. Proud grandmother is Diane (Dee) Trautman Chiota, ’61 .
’98 Megan Flood-Merwin , a former Lauralton faculty member, and her husband Brian recently had their second child, Olivia Grace. She joins three-year-old brother Will. The family resides in
Maryland.
’99 KaraJayne Mandanici Satalino and husband
George welcomed their second son, Luke Daniel, on
April 25, 2010. His two-year-old big brother Gabriel just adores him!
W H A T ’ S N E W ?
1 9 4 0 ’ s
’48 Frances McNally Hargreaves is thrilled to announce that her great-grandson, Elijah Clinch, was born December 16, 2009.
’49 Norma Quatrella Marshall is proud to announce that her granddaughter,
April-Ann Marshall, ’10 , graduated from
Lauralton this past June. Norma notes, “It’s hard to believe six years have gone by since her sister,
Mary-Megan Marshall, ’08 , started at Lauralton
Hall and now April-Ann has graduated! Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Golden Girls
Luncheon in September!”
’49 Alice Ogalin notes that the greatest gift of her retirement years is the honor of being the senior altar server for masses at St. John the Evangelist
Parish in Canton, Mass.
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 C L A S S N O T E S
1 9 5 0 ’ s
’50 Jane Sweet Stagg , Class Agent, is excited to announce that plans are underway for
Homecoming and the Class of 1950’s 60th
Reunion on September 18 and 19, 2010 .
This year the class will celebrate at Lauralton with Mass, followed by the Soiree on Saturday evening and the Golden Girls Luncheon on Sunday.
She notes, “Our class will enjoy seeing movies of our graduation day, and photos from our years at
Lauralton and past reunions. It would be wonderful if all of our classmates (now there are 50 of us) would make plans to join in the festivities on this special occasion. I am really looking forward to seeing you!”
’51 Joan Kleinknecht has kept herself very busy.
She had the honor of having her painting “You Are
My Sunshine” transferred to a banner that hung on a lamppost during the summer of 2009 on the Post
Road in Fairfield. She reads monthly to second graders at Caesar Batalia School, Bridgeport, tutors, babysits former students’ children, takes art classes, and does gardening and genealogy. Joan is a member of the Order of Malta and sits on the
Board at Bridgeport Hospital.
’53 Anamae “Anne” Lucey Surber and her husband Joe of Trumbull observed their golden wedding anniversary at a Mass celebrated in their honor on May 22, 2010, followed by a party at
Roberto’s Restaurant in Monroe. They are the parents of three sons, Timothy (and his wife Kate),
Brian, and the late Kevin. Anne and Joe also renewed their vows at the Jubilee Anniversary Mass officiated by Bishop William Lori on April 25, 2010.
They further celebrated their special occasion on a cruise to Bermuda. Anne is retired as a registered nurse from St. Vincent’s and Park City Hospitals, and was also employed as an industrial nurse and office nurse during her career.
’57 Jeanne Cormier
Thayer is happy to share news about her granddaughters. Erin
Elliott graduated from
Southern Connecticut
State University, Lauren
Abelli will attend Paier
College of Art, and Emily
Elliott received a scholarship to Sacred
Heart University.
’58 Joanne Catandella
Fletcher received the 2010
Johnson & Johnson/ADHA
Award for Excellence in
Dental Hygiene. This award is presented to an individual who has had significant impact on the
Kellan Hayes Ysewyn, son of Doug and Maureen Lagasse Ysewyn, ’92. present and future of the dental hygiene profession. Joan resides in Texas.
daughter graduated from the University of
Maryland, Baltimore County.
’59 Barbara Naylor Mutrynowski announces the birth of her seventh grandchild, Eric Falzone, to daughter Jennifer Mutrynowski Falzone, ’89 and husband John.
’68 Marianne Damato VanZandt is proud to announce that her daughter Meghan graduated summa cum laude from Salve Regina University.
A Pell Scholar, she received the Biology Biomedical
Award for the highest GPA in her department.
She plans to be a veterinarian.
1 9 6 0 ’ s
’60 Eleanor Collimore Sluben retired from nursing five years ago after working in various positions; her favorite one was being a nursing instructor at the University of Bridgeport in the
1970s and 1980s. She hopes to attend the 50th reunion in September and sends her best to all of her classmates.
’63 Kathryn Lucarelle Penzotti announces the arrival of her granddaughter, Ella Kathryn, born
June 2, 2009.
’65 Sharon Franko has retired after 41 years of teaching for the Diocese of Bridgeport. She will be summering in a new home in Maine with fellow alum
Kristine Wojtowski, ’65 , who retired from nursing in July 2009.
’68 Eileen M. Peschel Smith is back in the classroom teaching 6th, 7th, and
8th grade science in a
Catholic elementary school.
Her oldest child married, her son is engaged, and her
1 9 7 0 ’ s
’72 Noreen Hermanns Fenton is enjoying volunteer work and her four grandchildren.
She is chairman of the annual Irish Festival in Louisville, Kentucky.
’74 Carole Durkin-Youngpeter is off to Malawi
(Central Africa) for the summer. Her youngest daughter Alyson, who graduated magna cum laude from Southwestern University last year, has been serving as a volunteer with the Marianist Brothers for the past year. It’s a family affair, as Carole will be traveling with husband Keith and their oldest daughter Jessica, who works in Dallas for Taylor
Yearbook Publishing Company.
’77 Claudia Bruno Sheketoff is pleased that her daughter Amy Jo Sheketoff, ’14 , will join the incoming class of Lauralton Hall freshman.
Her daughter Melissa Sheketoff, ’08 , is also an alumna. Claudia’s son Nicholas graduated this year from Jacksonville University with a bachelor’s degree in Business.
Gabriel and Luke Satalino, sons of KaraJayne Mandanici Satalino, ’99, and husband George.
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 C L A S S N O T E S
1 9 8 0 ’ s
’80 Kathleen Kearns Donahue , 2000 Claven recipient, is thrilled that daughter Brenna
Donahue, ’14 , will be a member of the incoming freshman class. Brenna was one of three students from St. Catherine of Siena, Trumbull, to receive the Patricia Gleeson Memorial Award, which is given to a graduating student attending Lauralton
Hall who excels in academics and is involved in school activities. This award honors Lauralton Hall alumna and former St. Catherine of Siena teacher
Patricia Lavery Gleeson, ’58 , who passed away this year. In addition, daughter Ryan Virginia Donahue,
’06 , graduated from Fairfield University with a
BA in Communications and Marketing.
’83 Mary Keeton Baier, P.E.
, has been reassigned to District 3 construction for the
Connecticut Department of Transportation.
Her title is Transportation Supervisor Engineer, and she is responsible for and in charge of all roadway and bridge construction from
Bridgeport to the New York line, including the
Merritt Parkway ... her favorite!
’83 CDR Joanna Collins Nunan, USCG , writes:
“I really enjoyed the recent Hallmarks and thought
I would send along an update from Puerto Rico.
My husband Tom Nunan (FP ’82) was just featured in The Losers, a movie that opened in April. If you
YouTube “The Losers TV Spot #5,” he is the Colonel at the Pentagon. Most of the year. I’m the only 0-6 in the house as the Deputy Commander of the
Coast Guard Sector San Juan. We’ll be moving to another tropical island this summer, Oahu, where I’ll be taking command of CG Sector Honolulu. I’m really excited for our daughters, Brigid (12) and
Grainne (5), who will attend Sacred Heart Academy, an all-girls Catholic school in Honolulu. It’s great to see how Lauralton and the Lauralton Ladies continue to flourish.”
’84 Sabrina Farrell Eschweiler was recently promoted to Information Technologies Manager at MBI, Inc., Norwalk.
’85 Donna Rooney O’Hara is thrilled that her daughter Molly O’Hara,’14 , is a member of the incoming class of Lauralton Hall freshman. She joins a long legacy including grandmothers, aunts, greataunts and cousins who have all attended Lauralton.
’85 Suzanne DeGiacomo O’Neill has a new position as Regional Sales Director for Select
Minds in New York City.
’87 Maura L. Hennessey is pleased to report that this past fall she completed her first Ironman
Triathalon. Maura is serving as a member of the
Lauralton Board of Trustees.
1 9 9 0 ’ s
’90 Debra Kelly Woodward has been named
Milford’s Assistant City Attorney. Debra, a seasoned attorney who built her practice at her Trumbull firm, Kelly & Norris, LLC., will leave her practice, which opened in 2001. Prior to that, she was a litigation associate for Diserio, Martin, O’Conner &
Castignoli, L.L.P., of Stamford. She graduated from
Quinnipiac University School of Law in 1997.
’99 Margaret Nagle is the Northeast Regional
Account Executive for Osborne & Little,
London, England.
2 0 0 0 ’ s
’00 Lauren O’Connell Vanney gave birth to a daughter named Veronica Aileen Vanney on
August 13, 2009, in Dubai.
’01 Natalie Cerino Kovacic is a 2009 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh Law School.
’ 02 volunteers are needed to serve as Class of
2002 Class Agents with classmate Jennifer Rose,
’02 . Please contact the Alumnae Relations Office to join this dynamic team.
’02 Sarah Jane Flood recently graduated summa cum laude from George Washington University with a master’s degree in Education and Human
Development. Sarah is a grants manager for
Open Society Institute in Washington, D.C.
’04 Nicole Benson graduated from the University of Connecticut with a master’s degree in Allied
Health: Health Promotion and Education.
’05 Jessica S. Vigliotti , Alumnae Executive
Board member, had another article published in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology,
Microbiology and Infectious
Disease section, entitled
“Increased Sensitivity and
Specificity of Borrelia burgdorferi 16S Ribosomal
DNA Detection.”
’05 Kristen McGoey is a registered nurse on the Burn/Plastic Surgery
Unit at Massachusetts
General Hospital.
’06 Elizabeth Correa graduated from Roger
Williams University on May
22, 2010, summa cum laude.
Elizabeth received the
President’s Core Values
Medallion, was valedictorian of the School of Education, winner of the Excellence in
American Studies Award, and granted a Thesis of Distinction for her
Members of the Lauralton Advanced Vocal Ensemble after participating in the St. Patrick’s Day Mass at St. Augustine Cathedral,
Bridgeport, Flag Raising at Bridgeport City Hall and the annual parade.
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 C L A S S N O T E S
Left to right: Amanda Rodrigues, ’10, Mary Kate Brigantic, ’10, Cara Denos, ’10 and Rebecca Rego, ’10 psychological and cultural work on Dr. Seuss.
She will become a published researcher in coming months, as her thesis is in the final stages of publication. She will attend Boston College in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in Applied
Developmental and Educational Psychology with the goal of becoming a child psychologist.
’07 Jane Becker participated in an SEA Semester while away from studies at Brandeis University, where she just completed her junior year. Jane traveled on the 134-foot Corwith Cramer, to St.
Croix, a journey of approximately 3,000 nautical miles. At the Woods Hole, Mass. campus, Jane developed a research project that was tested and completed aboard the Corwith Cramer. At sea, she served as Junior Watch Officer and collected data for her project, provided weather observations to a national database, and charted the Cramer’s course using celestial navigation.
’07 Jessica Colucci is a disc jockey at Sacred Heart
University and has a show called “Jessie’s on
Screen” on the student-run radio program.
’07 Allison Kirk attends the U.S. Naval
Academy at Annapolis, Md., not West Point as previously reported.
’09 Abbigail Colucci is enjoying attending the
University of New Haven.
’09 Curran Mitchell is happily attending
Providence College.
Librarian Terry Lawlor would appreciate your assistance in supplying the
Library Media Center with a Sony KDL-32EX500 32" LCD TV and computer
(about $1200). She is also seeking 5 flip video ultra camcorders (about $130 each). Last, the Library Media Center would also like Milestone Documents in African American History print and ebook (about $395).
For information on how you can help underwrite all or part of any of these items, please contact Lisa M. Hottin , Executive Director of Development, at lhottin@lauraltonhall.org, ext. 129.
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

C L A S S N O T E S
S U M M E R 2 0 1 0
Hallmarks Feature Writer Meg Greene
(far left) and other members of the 2010
Connecticut CARE delegation met with US
Representative and Lauralton alumna Rosa
DeLauro, ’60 (center) in May. CARE, one of the largest humanitarian agencies in the world, held its annual conference in
Washington, D.C., where CARE sponsors visited their congressional representatives to advocate on behalf of impoverished women and families around the world.
Caroline Holguin, ’10 (left), Amanda Rodrigues, ’10 (right), and Rebecca Rego, ’10 (back).
W I N A L A U R A L T O N T - S H I R T !
Photo #1 ...
Our readers were stumped again!
If so, e-mail or send us the identities of the people or events (along with any comments) and we’ll randomly select a correct answer and award the winner a Lauralton Hall T-shirt!
1 send your answers to:
Director of Alumnae Relations
Look for the correct answer, names of winners and your observations in the next issue of Hallmarks .
Note the photo number and ???????
2
Photo #2 generated a lot of interest among our alumnae.
Monique Coe Wilson, ’78 , of
Virginia, identified this photo by recognizing classmate Connie
Cuneo, on the left holding her classmates’ foot. Monique quips,
“I wouldn’t be surprised if this photo was entitled ‘How many
Lauralton Ladies does it take to change a light bulb?’ I remember well that ‘someone’ would unscrew the lights as a prank, leaving the catacombs in total darkness. I believe this photo was showing a reenactment!”
M Y S T E R Y P H O T O W I N N E R S
The Magazine for the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall

???????
albany college of Pharmacy albertus Magnus college alvernia university american international college american university assumption college
Bentley university
Boston college
Boston university
Bryant university cabrini college carleton university carnegie Mellon university central connecticut state university champlain college college of charleston college of the Holy cross colorado state university connecticut college cornell university curry college dalhousie university drexel university duquesne university eastern connecticut state university eckerd college elms college emmanuel college endicott college fairfield university fairleigh dickinson university fordham university franciscan university of steubenville franklin and Marshall college franklin Pierce university gettysburg college
Harvard university
High Point university
Hobart and William smith colleges
Hofstra university indiana university at Bloomington iona college ithaca college
James Madison university
John carroll university
Johns Hopkins university
Keene state college
Kenyon college
La salle university
Lafayette college
Lake forest college
Lasell college
Le Moyne college
Lehigh university
Liberty university
Loyola Marymount university
Loyola university chicago
Loyola university Maryland
Lynchburg college
Manhattan college
Manhattanville college
Marion Military institute
Marist college
Marquette university
Marymount Manhattan college
Massachusetts college of
Pharmacy & Health sciences
Merrimack college
Miami university, Oxford
Monmouth university
Moravian college
Mount ida college
Mount saint Mary college
Mount saint Mary’s university
Muhlenberg college new york university northeastern university northwestern university
Pace university, new york city
Pennsylvania state university, university Park
Philadelphia university
Point Park university
Providence college
Purdue university
Quinnipiac university rensselaer Polytechnic institute roanoke college roger Williams university sacred Heart university saint anselm college saint Joseph college saint Joseph’s university saint Louis university saint Michael’s college salve regina university santa clara university savannah college of art and design school of Visual arts seton Hall university siena college skidmore college southern connecticut state university springfield college st. Bonaventure university st. John’s university st. Lawrence university stonehill college stony Brook university suffolk university syracuse university temple university the catholic university of america the george Washington university the university of scranton the university of tampa trinity college tulane university united states coast guard academy university of colorado at Boulder university of connecticut university of delaware university of edinburgh university of Massachusetts, amherst university of Miami university of Mississippi university of new england university of new Hampshire university of new Haven university of Pennsylvania university of Pittsburgh university of rhode island university of san diego university of south carolina university of Vermont
Villanova university
Wagner college
Washington and Jefferson college
Wentworth institute of technology
Western connecticut state university
Western new england college
Wheaton college
Wheelock college
Xavier university

Academy of Our Lady of Mercy | Lauralton Hall
200 High Street | Milford, CT 06460
I M P O R TA N T U P C O M I N G D AT E S …
Homecoming
Saturday, September 18, at 5:00 p.m.
Details on inside cover.
Golden Girls Luncheon
Sunday, September 19, at noon
Open House for Prospective
Students and Families
Sunday, October 3,
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Please spread the word!
RSM in Residence
Deirdre Mullan, RSM
Tuesday, October 5
Guest speaker in Lauralton’s guest lecturer series.
See page 11 for more information on this guest.
Entrance Exam
Saturday, October 16, and
Saturday, October 23, at 8:00 a.m.
Fee $60. Call (203) 877-2786, ext. 144, for details.
Student Musical Production
Friday, October 22, through
Sunday, October 24
Parsons Complex Auditorium
70 West River Street, Milford
“Annie” will be presented.
Mother/Daughter Brunch
Sunday, November 14, at 11:00 a.m.
Scholar in Residence
Dr. Jonnie Guerra
Monday, November 15 and Tuesday, November 16
Guest speaker in Lauralton’s guest lecturer series.
See page 10 for more information on this guest.
Christmas in Song
Thursday, December 9, at 7:30 p.m.
Parsons Complex Auditorium
70 West River Street, Milford
Lauralton’s annual holiday concert
... a must see!
Irish Night
Saturday, March 5, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Save the date!
Poet in Residence
Nikki Giovanni
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Guest speaker in Lauralton’s guest lecturer series.
Save the date! More to follow.
See page 9 for more information on this guest.
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