From the School President's Desk:

SAINT MARY MAGDALEN ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

Many of our graduates have sent information last year to share in our Sunday Church Bulletin.  As you read this, I am sure you will be impressed with the variety of ways that those who attended St. Mary Magdalen are serving our world. Again in the spring I will be telling the parish community how their contributions to the church have help many graduates attain their goals in life.   It is amazing how many people in the church have commented on these write-ups and how it has made difference in their lives to know what a parish community can accomplish.

I am requesting that you write and tell me what you are doing.  If you are getting married, waiting for the blessed birth of a child, or share with us what you are doing in your field of employment. 

So, now I invited you to read and enjoy about some of our graduates.

 Some of our graduates have returned to their roots and their children are now attending our school. 

Donna Marie (Schneider) Britt, who graduated in 1970, had a daughter, Julie, graduate last year and Jennifer is in our fourth grade.  She and her husband, Jeff, reside in Donna’s original family home.  As a member of the parish, Donna is involved in many parish projects and gives of her time and talents. 

A graduate of the class of 1979, Maria Ciminera Malloy had two sons, William and Jonathan, who have graduated from our school.  Maria had used her talents of nursing to the service of many.

Christopher Meinhart, a graduate of the class of 1981, is living in the parish. Over the years, he has built his own building company.  He and his wife, Andrea, had a daughter, Victoria, who graduated and Jessica, who  is in 8^th grade.  Chris has been a consultant and a contributor in helping with special building projects in the school.

This year our Marketing/Publicity Committee is headed by another of our graduates, Barbara (Mueller) Weyler from the class of 1982.  Barbara moved back to her alumni parish with her husband, Stephen, and her three children.  Their two sons are in our eighth and sixth grades.  Stephen, the 8^th  grader, last year was awarded First Place in the Delaware Valley Science Fair and received a special award.  Barbara has provided her expertise in keeping our school highlighted in the area newspaper.

Pamela Corr Stewart, class of 1983, writes about her career. “My career started in advertising (agency side) and from there moved into marketing.  Roughly eighth years ago I transitioned to Marketing Research, working with various brand teams in assisting strategy development for new products, communications, relauches, etc …, I worked at McNeil Consumer and McNeil Nutritional (both J & J) for over seven years—across the OTC brands and nutritional brands.  Two years ago, I moved to Shire Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharmacy company.  Here I lead the patient/consumer Marketing Research efforts across their ADHD portfolio of medications and the GI brands for ulcerative Colitis.

My husband is self employed, owning and operating a spring/wire form manufacturing company (Liberty Spring USA).  We have four children: Lucy, Christopher, Joseph and Piper.  (Lucy is in first grade at St. Mary Magdalen School.)  We are surrounded by loving grandparents and are blessed with a wonderful nanny (Jodi Jamgochian-Jones) who is truly part of our family.

The teaching profession has captured many of our graduates who are sharing their talent and time and making a difference with the future of our world:

Cindy Carbo Rendel, from the class of 1984, began her teaching career at SMM.  Now Cindy substitute at a number of parish schools while mothering her two children.

Marissa Giunta, a 1988 SMM School graduate, received her degree from Temple for film/TV production and studied in London.  For 8 years she worked in the film/TV industry doing commercials, movies, and TV shows form Comcast Sports Net, Discovery Channel, TLC and HGTV.  Then, back to Temple for a Masters in Elementary Education and now has returned to SMM School and is teaching six grade.

Jen McGowan Clark, a 1992 SMM School graduate, is now a full time mother of three darling little girls.  But Jen did her student teaching at SMM and has substitute for us while handling her own children.

Jen Bennett Luft, a 1993 SMM School graduate, is currently living in Meridian, Mississippi. Her husband, Tom, a 2002 Naval Academy graduate, works as an instructor pilot for the T-45, the Navy's jet trainer. Jen is proud to be a Navy wife and thoroughly enjoys the military lifestyle. Her husband's career has taken them to Maryland, Texas, Florida, Hawaii and now Mississippi. Before giving birth to their first child, a son named Everett John, Jen worked as an elementary school teacher. Jen also graduated from Mount St. Mary's University in 2001 and received her Masters in Education from University of Phoenix in 2006.

Lori Babin Campitelli, a 1994 SMM School SMM graduate, after completing her education at St. Joseph University, has returned to her roots and has taught for the last eight years the first grade here in our parish school.  Her gentle, caring manner has nurtured many of our first graders.

Carrie Kauffman, a 1998 SMM School graduate, is teaching 7th grade Social Studies at Garnet Valley Middle School in Glen Mills.  She went to Cabrini College for my undergraduate and West Chester for my Masters in Ed.  Her quote to me was, “I love teaching! I am in my fourth year.”

Valerie Pron, from the SMM class of 1998, writes the following about her life in education:  I graduated from La Salle University in 2006 with a bachelor's of arts as well as dual certification in elementary and special education.  I took a position as a special education high school teacher in Penn-Delco School District at Sun Valley High School.  Although I always thought I would work with younger students, I have been teaching learning support math and English to high school students with learning disabilities, emotional disturbances, and autism for the past three years.  My favorite population of students to work with is those with autism.  Autism is a multifaceted disability and manifests itself differently in each student, which makes it an intriguing disability group to teach.  Because of my high school position, I took tests to receive my certification in middle school math, English, and science, and received highly qualified status in secondary math.  I am finishing up my last course for my Masters in special education at West Chester University.  For the past two years, I have been coaching girls' tennis in the fall and boys' tennis in the spring at the varsity level at the high school.  This year, I was named the head of the special education department at Sun Valley High School.  Through my experiences in teaching and coaching, I have developed many wonderful relationships with my students and their families.  It is this personal aspect of my profession that makes me love what I do. 

Graduates are serving in our military and one has shared his story with us:

Since six grade, Kevin Moran, a 1996 SMM School graduate, set his goal to be a pilot in the United States Navy.  He received his pilot wings in 2006.  Today, he is in San Diego and is assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron, the Black Jacks.  Last summer, he was deployed on the USNS Mercy, a naval hospital ship that performs many operations on children and adults in the attempt to show the good will of the United States. Thank you for your service to your country and achieving your goal Lt. Kevin Moran USN.

In the fields of Medicine and Law our graduates continue to be of service to others:

Doctor Joanne Filicko O'Hara, MD, SMM Class of 1978, was especially honored recently by the Eastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey chapters of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at their Annual Black Tie Gala at The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Philadelphia. Joanne was awarded their annual "Service to Mankind Award" for her service as a member of the Board of Directors of the organization, a speaker at patient and professional education programs, and a fund raiser for leukemia and lymphoma related activities.  Joanne is an Assistant Professor of Medical Oncology and Director of Hematology Medical Oncology Fellowship Training Programs at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.  Joanne's twin sister Terry Filicko, also SMM 1978, is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Melissa Fry Hague, Esquire, Class of 1995, shares some of her accomplishments: I graduated from St. Joseph University in 2003 magna cum laude and Widener Law School in 2006.  I passed both the PA and NJ bars in 2006.  My husband whom I married in 2006 and I love in NJ.  Currently, I am working for the law firm, Anapol Schwartz in center city.

Lori Frio, SMM Class of 1996, did her undergraduate studies and graduate studies at Saint Joseph's University and obtained her MBA in management.  Then, Lori went on to graduate from Villanova Law School.  While at Villanova Law School, she was Editor in Chief of the Women's Law Forum Journal and Associate Editor of the Journal of Catholic Social Thought.  After law school, Lori sat for both the PA and NJ bar exams and am now both PA and NJ bar certified.   She is currently working at Dilworth Paxson, LLP in both the Philadelphia, PA and Cherry Hill, NJ offices, and working in the litigation department, primarily on bankruptcy matters. 

The Arts have been blessed by the talents of our graduates:

Tom Coyne, is a 1989 SMM Graduate, and his novel, A Gentleman's Game, was named one of the best 25 sports books of all time by the Daily News.  Tom wrote the screenplay for the film version of the novel which starred Gary Sinise.  He is also the author of Paper Tiger: An Obsessed Golfer's Quest to Play with the Pros, which was an editor's pick in both USA Today and Esquire Magazine.  His latest book, A Course Called Ireland: A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee, is currently a Barnes & Noble Recommends selection, and has appeared on the American Booksellers Association bestseller list.  A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, and his lives in Philadelphia and teaches creative writing at St. Joseph's University.

Stephen Ciavardini, a graduate of the class of 1998, believes that his firm foundation from St. Mary Magdalen  lead him to continued his education at St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia then on to Temple University where he majored in Film.  Immediately following his graduation from Temple in May 2006, Stephen moved out to Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA, to begin work in the film industry.  Following internships with Fremantle Media and Spring Creek Productions, Stephen found his current home at media conglomerate Strange Fruit Films/Strange Fruit Media/Momentum Entertainment where he was hired as a Production Assistant/Runner on "Exalted" (a TV showed aired on BET) and "Family Reunion" (aired on TV One).  He has since worked his way up within the company and was most recently hired as an Associate Producer on "Sunday Best", also aired on BET.  Next up for Stephen are two feature films in pre-production, including numerous in-development features housed at major studios, and a few original and follow-up reality and scripted television shows on major networks, as Producer.
 
P J. Mullen, SMM School class of 1999, graduated from Penn State in May of 2007 and after a few radio stints in Carlisle, West Chester and Washington DC, now has returned to  find himself back in Happy Valley.  He is currently the Operations Manager for five stations in the Johnstown-State College region including an ESPN affiliate as well as an ABC affiliate. Half the work he is behind the scenes and the other half is on-air. He produces and co-host a daily entertainment, sports and news morning show on WBHV-FM and host the afternoon drive show on WOWY-FM.  The rest of his work includes all of promotional, programming and production that goes into making the stations run properly.  In addition, P. J. has joined and gotten heavily involved with the CYO in the different parishes where his jobs have led him. He writes, “Call me a homer but none of them compare to what we have at St. Mary Magdalene’s. It’s always great to visit home then head to Sunday mass with my parents and see how much St. Mary’s has grown; it’s even better to see that so many of the old-timers are still extremely active with both the church and school.”

Regina Ciavardini graduated from St. Mary Magdalen in 2000.  She attended Merion Mercy Academy high school, where she was elected to the National Honor Society, as well as the Spanish National Honor Society. The summer before her senior year, Regina traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico, to do missionary work.  At Merion, she was an active member in the school’s music department by playing the harp and guitar in the ensemble and liturgy group.  Regina also appeared in four Merion Mercy Music Theatre productions, including the lead role of “Maria” in West Side Story.

Her music involvement was not limited to Merion.  Regina played the role of “The Evil Stepmother” in Upper Darby Summer School’s world premiere of “Isabelle and the Pretty Ugly Spell,” where she was then asked to record a CD of the vocal score for Disney, as they were sponsoring an off-Broadway presentation of the play.  Regina also played the lead role of “Mabel” in the operetta “Pirates of Penzance” at Devon Prep during her junior year.
College began at The Catholic University of America where she was accepted into the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music as a Vocal Performance Major.  Although she changed her major to Spanish for International Business, Regina was the only student chosen from the university to travel with an opera company along the Amalfi Coast in Italy to perform in 3 different operas during the summer of her freshman year.  Halfway through her sophomore year at Catholic, Regina transferred to Temple University, where she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish for International Business, while continuing to study opera.   She graduated in the top 5% of her class, earning the awards of Summa Cum Laude and President’s Scholar. After graduating in May 2008, Regina earned her Series 6 and Series 63 financial certifications and began working at Vanguard as a bilingual client relationship associate. On a daily basis, Regina works with clients regarding their 401(k) investments.  She continues to study opera and plans to pursue a more active music agenda. 

Those who are studying are achieving their goals:

The Sincavage college daughters are excelling.  Caroline, a 2001 SMM School graduate, is a member of the Chi Omega sorority and busy was first runner up on the homecoming court for the University of Pittsburg.  Her sister, Rosemary, a 2003 SMM School graduate, because of being a Archdiocese Scholar and many AP’s credits will graduate a year early and begin her M.Ed. next summer after graduation.  Congratulations girls!

Lastly, we are forming a SMM Alumni Board.  I am grateful to those who responded to the invitation to serve on it.  More about that in the next newsletter.

In the next newsletter we will have news about: Valentino Baio (2001), Kristen Bodalski (1998), Thomas Buchanan (1999), Michael Delaney (1995), Joseph Frio(1997),  Barbara Dzwonczyk Gatta (1971), Lauren Kinslow (1998), Maria Dzwonczyk Kurmlavage (1974), Ian McLarney (2008), Bob Protesto(2000), and Jaspal Singh (1993).