 |
News From the Head of School By Lauren Lek, Head of School
Dear OLP Pilot Community,
As partners in this journey of formation and transformation of our young women, I would like to begin by extending my gratitude to those parents who joined us at our Back to School Night. Working together, we can ensure great success for all of our young women!
This year we are celebrating a focus on the CSJ charism of Show the Love. Already we have seen that charism lived out through the work of our Link Crew Leaders in shepherding our newest Pilots through the first few weeks of school, Campus Ministers in coordinating our opening of school Mass of the Holy Spirit, Carondelet Circle in guiding community members in our opening of school events, and our OLP Council of Ten in preparing for opening rallies, events and even Wacky Wednesday celebrations! And in each classroom, teachers and students are exploring and learning - the magic that is a Catholic CSJ education.
This week also marked the launch of this year's fall campaign, All in for OLP. No longer will your daughter be selling magazines. Moving forward, we are embracing a model of giving that seeks 100% participation from all families, at any level appropriate for them. Following our launch this week, your daughter received a personal letter to take home and share with you.
We believe that this new model echoes our unity as a community, and is in alignment with our CSJ charism of unifying love. Already, faculty and staff are 100% committed in providing not only an exemplary education for your daughters, but also investing beyond their time in providing a financial gift to OLP. Their generous contributions help to support the Carondelet Annual Fund, student scholarships, and provide girls with financial support in times of need.
We are similarly asking each family to consider their financial gift to support our school. Even with the rising cost of tuition, it still does not fully cover the full cost of education. Our goal is to stabilize tuition increases, while still providing access to innovative technological tools, co-curricular programs, maintaining our athletics, and bringing in new furniture for learning. Through the All in for OLP campaign, we are asking each family to consider a gift at any level, in support of the school.
We stand together as a community, in solidarity, unified as one family, to continue the exemplary tradition of educating our girls! Together, with your support, we will continue this legacy for another 133 years.
Have a wonderful September, thank you for all you do in support of OLP, and God bless!
Lauren Lek
Head of School
September Updates By Jessica Hooper, Assistant Head of School
Dear Parents & Students,
We are officially in the swing of things here at OLP! Our frosh orientation was a success and we are so thrilled to have the Class of 2019 officially join our OLP family. Pictured below is a Link Crew group on the first day of frosh orientation. The Link Crew program was established last year to help bridge the transition from middle school to high school. Link Crew leaders consist of two upper class women. They lead their assigned freshman through the two days of orientation and will continue to meet with them throughout the year to participate in academic counseling and social activities.
Our ASB theme for the 2015 -2016 school year is "Show the Love" and is rooted in Pope Francis' latest Encyclical, "Laudato Si." As a school community we are focused on showing the love as it relates to the Earth, our resources, each other and the poorest among us. We hope that you will join us by supporting your daughter in the various efforts that will be introduced throughout the year.
Fall sports are practicing and beginning to compete, please join us in cheering on our OLP Pilots! The athletics schedule is available on the OLP website or can be accessed by clicking here. Volleyball, tennis, cross country and golf are all preparing to represent OLP in our San Diego community. The OLP/Saints surf team will begin their season in October, any questions related to joining the OLP/Saints surf team can be directed to Mrs. Allison Weatherford, Assistant Athletic Director at [email protected]. Go Pilots!
Save the Dates! Parents, we hope that you can join us for our monthly Coffee with Counselors October 9, 2015 (updated date) from 8 am - 9am in the Pilot Cafe. Some parking will be available on the top floor of the parking structure. Coffee with Counselors is a wonderful opportunity to meet your daughter's counselors and learn more about the services provided by our incredible counseling department.
Our bi-monthly morning masses begin this month. We celebrate mass before school every first and third Tuesday of the month. We hope that you and/or your daughter join us whenever possible. These masses take place in OLP's chapel prior to the start of school at 7 am. Following morning mass, all parents are invited to stay for the weekly Parents in Prayer gathering. We will also be celebrating a school-wide liturgy this Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 11 am in the Holy Family Event Center. As always, all parents, alums, family members are invited to join us for our all school liturgies. Please sign in to the front office prior to walking to the event center. We hope to see you there! Thank you for your continued partnership.
God Bless,
Mrs. Jessica Hooper
Assistant Head of School
Mentoring Opportunity for Students at UCSD Supercomputer Center
Mentor Assistance Program (MAP) | November 2015 - May 2016 |Student Application Period: September 1- 30, 2015
UC San Diego's Mentor Assistance Program (MAP) is a new campus-wide program, which will engage high school students in a mentoring relationship with an expert from a vast array of disciplines, from History, Marine Physical Sciences and Nanoengineering to Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Athletics and Computer Science. MAP's mission is to provide a pathway for student researchers to gain access to UCSD faculty, postdoctoral fellows and staff to mentor students in their own field of interest (i.e. independent study, class projects or Science Fair projects). Students may choose to communicate with a mentor over email or may indicate their interest to visit the mentor's lab or work environment. MAP is an opportunity for students to take the first step into a potential career path. MAP students will build an early foundation for success in their academic career.
UCSD's MAP has received astounding support from the UCSD campus and community and we welcome all students with open arms, including underserved populations, women and those with disabilities. As such, UCSD will provide a San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Compass Card to all accepted students who have transportation concerns.
Further Program and Application Information
For complete information about MAP, including eligibility, to meet the program mentors, to download a program flyer, view a MAP program video and to download a MAP student application, please visit http://education.sdsc.edu/studenttech/?page_id=879.
Junior Ambassador Program
By Cassie Anderson '16 and Maria Balistreri '16
OLP's Junior Ambassador program gives Juniors and Seniors the opportunity to learn about the colleges admissions and application process by interviewing college representatives, attending and helping at college fairs, and passing this information onto our peers in creative and fun ways.
This year we are excited to announce that we have created Twitter and Facebook accounts (#OLPJuniorAmbass and @JuniorAmbassadors), as new ways of communicating college information directly to our classmates. JA's will also have their own PTV spot, called "College Corner," where OLP students can tweet or post Facebook questions that will be answered on the air.
On August 19 & 20, Senior Mentors (last year's JA's) assisted Mrs. Wyatt in training the newest members of the team! The new Junior Ambassadors for the 2015-2016 school year are: Vanessa Chika '17, Taylor Christian '17, Mikayla Davis '17, Rocio Flores-Villa '17, Noelle Gavino '17, Sofia Gonzalez '17, Madeleine King '17, Katie Krieger '17, Hailey Martin '17, Celia Martinez '17, Mikahla McDeavitt '17, Sabrina Oghassabian '17, Paulina Sierra '17, Taylor Storniolo '17, and Lauren Widasky '17.
As part of the training process, these 15 young ladies got to know each other through various ice-breakers, were shown examples of good and bad interviews with college representatives and performed mock college visit interviews, while being observed by their Senior Mentors: Maddie Alexander '16, Cassie Anderson '16, Ximena Aragon '16, Maria Balistreri '16, Erin Berg '16, Hannah Lawson '16, Spencer McVeigh '16, Amanda Moreno '16, Sasha Ramirez '16, Gabrielle Ripa '16, Savannah Sheena '16, and Samantha Trescott '16. Senior Mentors also gave the new JA's advice and shared stories from their experiences last year. We are happy to congratulate the newest members of the team and look forward to working with them this upcoming school year.
CSJ Corner: Parents in Prayer Practice Unifying Love
In accordance with Pope Francis' encyclical "Caring for Creation and the Poorest Among Us" released this year, we as a school community have chosen Show the Love as our 2015-2016 Mission Statement. The OLP Parents in Prayer (PIP) organization practice Unifying Love every Tuesday!
Parents in Prayer is a group of school parents who meet weekly to pray for the needs of the Academy of Our Lady of Peace. We meet every Tuesday (unless there is no school) at 7:45 AM in the school Chapel. All parents, grandparents, alumnae parents and alumnae are welcome to join us in praying the rosary for our students, parents, neighbors and our own special intentions. The Rosary lasts about 45 minutes, but it feels good all week long!
Parents in Prayer gives each of us the chance to spend a few minutes on the really important things in our lives. In our busy, hectic week, it is often difficult to find the time to slow down and pray. We worry about juggling our schedules, whether our daughters are doing well in school, how we are going to find time to get to the grocery store, soccer practice and cook dinner! Prayer often ends up on the back burner, but not because it isn't important to us. Parents in Prayer helps us to pencil in time on our calendars for prayer, each and every week.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Rosary, it is easy to learn. We have handy sheets that list the prayers and the Mysteries of the Rosary to help us as we pray. You are welcome to join in (or meditate in silence) as we pray the five decades, each dedicated to a special intention. Most importantly, we pray with Our Blessed Mother, asking her intercession and protection for us and those for whom we pray.
So, please join us on Tuesdays at 7:45 AM in the Chapel and for fellowship in the Carondelet Parlor following the recitation. Children are welcome!
If you have any questions, you may call Cathy Smith at 619-589-8850 or email her at [email protected].
Alumnae Profile Q&A with Christina Harmes '05
Christina Harmes (Fulleton '05) graduated from SDSU in 2010 with a degree in finance and economics. Now she is a local Mortgage Broker and Realtor working all over San Diego as business partner's with her father. She and her father make up one of the top 5 teams for California's Largest mortgage brokerage, C2 Financial. She is a guest reverse mortgage expert on the TV show Smarter San Diego once a month and puts on workshops for the community regularly. Christina is also the Surf coach at AOLP and loves sharing her passion for surfing.
My time at OLP really instilled a lot of confidence in me. I was never afraid to raise my hand in the classroom and even if my answer was wrong, we were encouraged and lead to the right answer without any fear of embarrassment. I think there's something magical about an all-female classroom where you can really focus on learning and being who you are without fear of rejection or embarrassment. There was always just a feeling of support and love from my classmates and teachers who taught me to never be afraid of failing because every wrong answer is a learning opportunity. I absolutely carry that forward today as a mortgage broker and have confidence that I can serve my clients needs by being an expert, or finding the answers needed if I ever come across something I don't know.
"A bird sitting in a tree is not afraid of the branch breaking because her trust is not in the branch, but in her own wings"- anonymous.
Did you learn any particular lessons during your time at OLP that helped you get where you are today? Too many to count! Hindsight is 20/20 and looking back, I am actually grateful most for the lessons in persistence. Teachers and coaches taught me that talent is not all it's cracked up to be and that it is only with persistence and effort that goals are attained. I was on the swim, basketball and surf teams while I was at OLP and I never once remember a coach favoring a "naturally gifted" athlete, but instead using that person as the model of hard work and inspiring us that we could also get to that level with enough practice and determination. As a mortgage broker, I'm constantly faced with new challenges whether from industry regulatory changes or a client with a spotty credit history. I am able to navigate these challenges because I know that with persistence, I can overcome any obstacle and master it.
How do you use what you learned at OLP to succeed in your current career? Accountability was, and I'm sure still is, big at OLP. I couldn't do what I do and have a growing base of happy clients and get referrals to continue to grow my business without the heartfelt lessons in accountability I leaned at OLP. Sometimes this lesson was learned painfully, like when my swim bag was locked in a classroom overnight because I was told to be there 5 minutes after the bell, and I got there 10 minutes after the bell. Today, the difference between 5 to ten minutes in my industry could mean my client either gets their dream house or doesn't.
Any particular teacher or class that impacted you to this day during your time at OLP? Ms. Hay's math class, without a doubt. I feel absolute gratitude that I was on what my friends lovingly called "the slow track" for math. I didn't love it then, and I found math to be a challenge. This track broke down what other students learned in one semester into two semesters to slow it down. Ms. Hay was a wonderful teacher and taught me to be determined in my own education. I believed her when she told me I needed to learn this well to move on to higher math classes at OLP and in college. I think for my entire junior year, I was in Ms. Hays classroom every day before school and every co-curricular block doing math problems. She had so much patience with me and I am forever grateful to her. With this strong foundation, I went on to get a degree in finance and economics and now use high level math every day.
Any advice for OLP students or grads who want to get into the mortgage business? Don't give up. It sounds cliché, but I've watched many friends and colleague face the same challenged I have and when they stopped trying, I didn't. That has been the biggest key to my success so far. And lastly: take advantage of your OLP alumnae network. OLP grads are some of the most amazing women that I consider myself very blessed to know. If you want to get into any specific industry, whether it be Real Estate finance or anything else, don't be afraid to reach out to an alumna and ask for advice. I have prospered so much from always having a mentor to teach and champion me. OLP alumna share a special connection; most will be honored you asked and more than willing to help.
My name is Christina Harmes and I am proud to be an OLP Pilot!
|
|
|
 |
|
