Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Crayons, Beans and Chalk…Intergenerational Tools!

June 2, 2021

Cabrini Immigrant Services (CIS) Dobbs Ferry, NY, offered a workshop, via Zoom, to some of our parents. The workshop was held once a week for 4 weeks. CIS, wanted to help the parents work with their children when they arrive home from school as well as preparing their younger children who are still at home.

Donna Marie Lasco, a NYS certified teacher, created this workshop to help some of our CIS Moms. Each week, the Moms would come to CIS to pick up the needed supplies for each workshop. The first week, everyone received the book, Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina. Mrs. Lasco showed them how to ask questions of their children while reading the book. This skill would help them improve their reading skills as well as help them in their schoolwork. They also received crayons, beans, sidewalk chalk, play dough, etc. All these items were used to show how learning can be fun. It also allowed the children to not be on a computer but rather learning by doing. For example, the beans help the children learn to count, the play-dough helps them to create a letter or a number.

The workshop was presented in English and Spanish. Thank you to Cindy Ambrosio, MSW, a former social work intern at CIS, who translated into Spanish. We are grateful that she was able to assist.

The participants were very happy with the workshop and asked that we continue to offer programs that help them, help their children.

Cabrini High School’s Class of 2022 “Steps Up” to Become Seniors

May 20, 2021

On Friday, May 14, 2021, the Class of 2022 at Cabrini High School “stepped up” to become seniors at the annual Step Up-Day with a surprise second line* parade.

Each year Cabrini High School gathers to close the school year with the celebration of Step-Up Day, a long-treasured tradition at Cabrini where each class “steps up” to a different part of the gym and a different phase of life at Cabrini. They move up to the next grade level – pre-freshmen become freshmen, freshmen become sophomores, sopho

mores become juniors, and the juniors become seniors. With their class sisters, each student steps up to the new challenges of their next year.

Grade level coordinators take turns declaring the following to each class: “By the power invested in me, by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mother Cabrini, the faculty and staff of Cabrini High School – provisional on passing all of your classes – I now pronounce you ____.” Then, each grade moves to their new designated section in the gym, with the juniors parading across the stage into the senior section when it is their turn.

When the Class of 2022 were declared seniors, they began their celebration across the stage when a surprise second line band, organized by the Student Council moderators, entered the gym to join the festivities. The class second lined around the gym, down the senior middle stairs for the first time, and out onto Moss Street where an even larger celebration was waiting for them.

The entire Cabrini High School student body and the Class of 2022’s parents were waiting to continue the celebration, along with a Mardi Gras Indian. The class paraded across the Magnolia Bridge, or as the Cabrini community calls it the Cabrini Bridge.

Cabrini High School President Jack Truxillo stated, “Step-Up Day is a great tradition at Cabrini, but this year the event was even more meaningful and exciting. It was as unique as the year that preceded it and such a great way to end the school year with us getting back to a sense of normalcy.”

Wrapped in a Blanket of Service and Compassion

May 19, 2021

Following the induction of new members, the 66 members of Cabrini High School’s National Honor Society continued with their service project, “Fleur de Cause” blanket drive for the Metro Center for Community Advocacy’s Women Shelter.

With the support of the Cabrini Alumnae Association, Parents’ Association President Lisa Moree, and member donations, Cabrini’s National Honor Society was able to meet their goal of making one blanket per member. In all, the National Honor Society logged over 300 service hours organizing and putting together the double-sided no-sew fleece blankets.

Cabrini High School Confers Distinguished Educator Award

May 13, 2021

Six elementary school teachers were honored on May 4, 2021, by Cabrini High School students. The Distinguished Educator Award is presented annually to teachers who have done an outstanding job preparing their students to succeed in high school.

Cabrini Distinguished Educator Award.
5.4.21
Photo: Tyler Kaufman/©2021

Each year, Cabrini students who demonstrate outstanding character and hold a GPA of 3.5 or higher are given the opportunity to nominate an elementary school teacher who has had a positive impact on their lives. In the nomination, students are asked to share why they selected the teacher and the impact the nominee has had in their lives and preparation for high school and beyond.
Cabrini High School President, Jack Truxillo, addressed the Distinguished Educators and guests. “You have made such an impression and had such an impact on your former students that they chose to go through the nominating process. That itself speaks volumes. The influence you have daily on students is immeasurable. The terms parent, protector, counselor, nurse, referee, disciplinarian, coach, leader, expert, task master, time keeper, planner, janitor, decorator, supervisor and finally, instructor all fit in your job description. But, as we all know those are just a sampling of the jobs you do. Be assured that the work you do is valued. It is recognized.”

Religious Sisters Express Hope in President Biden’s Character and Catholicism

January 21, 2021

~ by Dan Stockman, Global Sisters Report (GSR)

Catholic women religious in the United States want to see many different things [as] the Biden administration enters the White House. While it’s no surprise that those sisters interviewed by the Global Sisters Report want to see policies more in line with Catholic social justice teaching, over and over, all of them kept coming back to the issue of character.

As the nation reels from a January 6 insurrection at the Capitol and impeachment in Congress, sisters said the new administration, led by President Joe Biden, will be a relief.

“Did anyone notice during this entire presidential campaign what was said most about Joe Biden? It was that he is a good man,” Sr. Joan Chittister, a Benedictine Sister of Erie, PA, and the co-chair of the Global Initiative of Women told the GSR, “[people] are looking for character. They’re looking for quality.”

Sr. Marcia Hall, of the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore, MD, said she is looking for a return to civility.

Sr. Simone Campbell of the Sisters of Social Service, executive director of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby, said Biden’s Catholic faith is inseparable from who he is.

Chittister said sisters’ calls for better policies on issues such as ecology, the economy, healthcare, just wages and racial equity will have a chance of being answered.

Chittister continued, “What I will be looking for is the character and the quality of the leadership and the recommitment to the Constitution. I’m looking for character.”

Chittister said that Biden’s win restored her faith in the electorate.
To read the entire article click here

A Symbol of Potential and Promise

October 1, 2020

Last month, the Cabrini High School Class of 2021 gathered at St. Dominic’s Church to celebrate their Ring Mass and Ceremony.

Cabrini Senior Ring Mass
9/3/20
Photo: Tyler Kaufman/©2020

This event was the official start to a year full of senior celebrations.

The senior class was safely joined by their families and members of the Cabrini community for this special occasion. President Jack Truxillo and Principal Yvonne Hrapmann distributed the coveted senior rings to the Class of 2021 during the ceremony.

Principal Yvonne Hrapmann ’76 reflected on the significance of the evening in her address to the Cabrini High School Class of 2021. “This is a major milestone for you, and it signifies your progress and accomplishments thus far in your Cabrini education. Look at your class ring not as an ending or a culmination of your high school experience, but as symbolic of the potential and promise of your senior year ahead of you.”

Cabrini High School Alumna Named Louisiana Elementary School Teacher of the Year

September 16, 2020

Angelle Bourgeois, current assistant principal of Allemands Elementary School and former teacher of Norco Elementary School, was announced as the 2021 Louisiana Elementary School Teacher of the Year at the 14th Annual Cecil J. Picard Educator Awards Gala.

In partnership with Dream Teachers and the Louisiana Association of Principals, the Louisiana Department of Education annually recognizes and celebrates some of the state’s most exceptional educators through the Teacher and Principal of the Year programs. These programs provide an opportunity to acknowledge teachers and leaders who are making exceptional gains with students.

In a communication with Yvonne Hrapmann, Cabrini High School Principal, Bourgeois, a proud alumna of Cabrini High School, Class of 2005, wrote, “I promoted Cabrini and the outstanding Catholic school education I received in the two interviews I gave this weekend. I am so proud to be a graduate of Cabrini High School which helped prepare for my successes in college, career, and in life.”

Cabrini University Welcomes the Class of 2024 to Campus with Hybrid Matriculation

September 8, 2020

Cabrini welcomed the Class of 2024 to campus on Friday, August 28, as first-year students, with the help of their families, took turns moving into East, Woodcrest, and Xavier halls. A total of 389 students—both residential and commuter—were enrolled as part of the Class of 2024 when classes began on August 31

Students participated in a new move-in process this year, which included capacity limits within each residence hall, as well as campus-wide face mask and social distancing mandates in accordance with Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 social restrictions.

“Morale has been high,” Je La Boulden ’23 said while helping direct students outside of East Hall. “A lot of schools can’t offer Orientation and the events that we’re having. Because we have the advantage of being a small school, it’s a lot easier for us to maneuver and still keep everything safe for the students, parents, faculty, and staff.”

Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Chioma Ugochukwu, PhD, addressed Cabrini’s newest students during a virtual Matriculation address on Friday.

“To our new Cavaliers, I am very proud to officially say, ‘Welcome, Class of 2024,’” she began. “I ask you to keep these questions in mind. How will you contribute your voice? How will you impact your community and your chosen field? How will you share your passion with the world?”

Several upperclassmen then explained, via video, what the University’s core values of Vision, Respect, Community, and Dedication to Excellence mean to them.

Junior Anthony Frasca encouraged students to ask themselves, “How are you going to leave your mark on campus and live with purpose?”

After the address, incoming students gathered in small groups in the Founder’s Hall lobby to sign Cabrini’s Charter of Core Values—an agreement to uphold the University’s core values and a signal of their transition to the next step in their lives.

ICE Rule for International Students Rescinded

July 16, 2020

~ Carol Zimmermann, Catholic News Service

On July 14, the Trump administration rescinded a rule it announced eight days ago that would have required international students to transfer or leave the country if their schools held classes entirely online because of the pandemic.

According to the Associated Press, the decision was announced at the beginning of a Boston hearing in a federal lawsuit against the rule by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). U. S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said federal immigration authorities had agreed to rescind the directive and “return to the status quo.”

U.S. Catholic college and university leaders had joined the nation’s higher education community in condemning the policy that would have prevented international students from remaining in or coming to the United States if their colleges used a completely online format in the fall semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The temporary final rule – guidance for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program – was issued without notice on July 6 by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Two days later, Harvard University and MIT filed a lawsuit against the administration seeking a temporary order to block the administration from enforcing it.

The lawsuit said the goal of the new guidance seemed to be to “create as much chaos for universities and international students as possible.”

The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, or ACCU, said the government’s decision is “not only bad health policy, it is heartless.”

“Allowing all students, regardless of country of origin, to be given equal access to online learning is the fair, sensible and moral thing to do. We can keep students safe and keep these young people on track,” the July 8 statement said.

The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities or AJCU, similarly expressed “grave concern” about this guidance and [had] asked Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf to withdraw it immediately.

The ACCU, whose members are leaders from Catholic colleges and universities across the country, said to send the international students “home, without a degree, would force them to start their lives over simply because a university is trying to keep its faculty and students safe as contagion levels continue to be unpredictable.” To read the entire article click here

Cabrini World Blog

June 11, 2020

Dear Sisters and Partners-in-Mission,

Greetings in this month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

We have been seeking new ways in which to share more of the love of Christ, to reach beyond boundaries and increase our collective understanding of how to collaboratively best serve those to whom we have been called in these times.

There are so many excellent practices across our ministries globally, ways in which we intelligently and effectively deliver services and so, share the love of Christ: in education, in healthcare, in eldercare, in refugee and immigrant services and in serving and comforting the marginalized and vulnerable around the world. We do this both through direct care, and work on structural change against unjust systems.

We would love for you to learn more from each other and those among us who are experts and leaders in their fields and who extend the Cabrinian charism through their specialties. One such vehicle we are developing for sharing is a new blog post on our Cabrini World website. To access the blog click here

It is a way that we can “gather together” with the current bans on travel. The blog posts are there for reflection, for comment and discussion among yourselves as communities and ministries. In this month of the Sacred Heart we’ll be launching the blog with the theme “Education of the Heart”. We look forward to the many ways in which we will continue to engage with one another.

Yours in the Heart of Christ,
Sr. Barbara Staley, MSC, General Superior