March 2021
St. Mary's School Alumni Association
A Catholic Preschool, Elementary and Middle School
600 Veirs Mill Road, Rockville, MD 20852
(301) 762-4179
The St. Mary's School Alumni Association (SMSAA) is dedicated to supporting the school in the fulfillment of its mission by enlisting support from our proud alumni and parents of alumni. We seek to provide St. Mary's alumni locally, nationally, and internationally with meaningful social, professional, and spiritual opportunities.

If you are interested in becoming more involved in the Alumni Association, please contact us by emailing alumni@smsrockville.org
Distributing the COVID-19 Vaccine
If you've been watching the news recently, you may have seen a familiar St. Mary's face. Alumna Claire Hannan '81 has recently been on NBC Nightly News, CNN, Fox DC, Today Show, MSNBC, CBS Morning News, Bloomberg, and many other programs discussing the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines. The work that she and her organization are doing is literally changing the world.

Since 2004, Claire has been the Executive Director of the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) which is a nonprofit, membership association that represents the immunization programs in public health agencies in the 50 states, 8 territories/federated states, and 6 large cities. She has been supporting state immunization programs since 2004 working closely with state health organizations, the CDC, and other agencies to identify and implement strategies to increase vaccination rates. AIM represents the 64 immunization programs, which includes states, major cities, US territories and the Pacific Islands, that receive funding from the CDC to run vaccine programs. AIM helps these immunization programs by providing forums to learn from each other and discuss best practices and challenges that they have faced. 

During the COVID pandemic, AIM has focused on helping public health agencies succeed in planning and carrying out the largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history by building a welcome and support group for new members and building a resource library on everything from handling dry ice to planning mass vaccination clinics. In the planning phase, AIM shared lessons learned from the 2009 H1N1 vaccination campaign. AIM advocated on behalf of the needs of state public health agencies. Claire wrote several op-eds, letters to Congress, met with Congress and with Trump Administration Operation Warp Speed -- calling for resources, guidance, and expertise for programs to plan and enact vaccination campaigns. The immunization program managers were working nonstop throughout the summer and fall to improve their IT systems, identify and enroll tens of thousands of private providers to accept and administer COVID vaccine, training these providers and making sure they had the right vaccine storage and handling equipment, identifying groups with potential priority for vaccination, such as first responders and essential healthcare workers, and mapping out where and when vaccine would be shipped, stored and administered once it became it available.

Throughout the summer and fall, there seemed to be a lack of information in the media and Congress about how things would work. Claire started explaining things to reporters, and they started routinely calling her back for more information. The same thing happened with members of Congress. She soon found herself getting quoted in the Washington Post, New York Times, and other major publications. She has given many briefings for Congressional staff, and many other stakeholders hungry for information and advice on how they should prepare. She has been a regular on National Public Radio, and done live TV interviews on CNN, MSNBC, FoxDC, and Bloomberg TV. She appeared in feature stories on Samantha Bee, NBC Nightly News, and the Today Show. There have been a lot of adjustments and improvements along the way, and the efforts of Claire and her team have helped get the United States to administering about 2.5 million doses a day currently and making real progress toward ending this pandemic. 

Claire's other claim to fame is her love of basketball. She played basketball while at St. Mary's and has coached multiple girls and boys teams in the area. She was inducted into the Catholic Business Network's Coach's Hall of Fame in 2013.

To hear a more detailed description of the vaccine development and rollout, check out the presentation that she gave to the Catholic Business Network of Montgomery County (linked below) earlier this month.
Claire's Interview on Bloomberg News (3/19)
Claire's Presentation to the Catholic Business Network of Montgomery County
Virtual Showing
Seussical Jr. performed by the school Drama Club
All alumni and families are invited to join us online Friday March 26 starting at 6:45 PM for a free showing of the 2019 school Drama Club performance of Seussical Jr.! The performance will be streamed on the St. Mary's School Alumni Association YouTube Channel. Take a magical trip to Who and the Jungle of Nool and discover the Thinks You Can Think with this uplifting and fun performance. The performance features students from the Classes of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. The performance starts at 7 PM and runs for about 77 minutes. Closed Captioning is available. 

For additional information throughout the week, visit the Facebook event (can be viewed without a Facebook Account). 
Friday Night Dinner
Support a St. Mary's Alumni Family Owned Business
10% OFF
March 26, 2021
On the day of the Seussical Jr. virtual watch party, March 26, Armand's Pizzeria & Grille Rockville will give us a 10% discount on orders (mention St. Mary's) to celebrate the virtual watch party! 

You can place an order regardless of whether you watch the play that night. Place an order for a tasty dinner, get a discount, and support a St. Mary's Alumni family owned business! The Co-Owner of Armand's is Jim Hrozencik P'10, P'16.
You can use the discount on dine-in, carryout, or delivery (within their delivery radius)! Mention St. Mary's when you place the order to get the discount! Call them at 301-231-5000 and visit their website to view the menu.
Celebrating Alumni who are in the
Class of 2021
Do you know of a St. Mary's Alumna or Alumnus who is graduating from high school, college, trade school, or other program this year? Throughout the months of April and May, we will be celebrating the Alumni who are part of the Class of 2021 on our social media accounts. 

Please share them with us by emailing the following to alumni@smsrockville.org so that we can celebrate them as a community!
  • Student's Name
  • St. Mary's graduation year
  • A current photo or graduation photo
  • Current school from which they are graduating this year (e.g., McDaniel College '21, Holy Cross High School '21, etc.)
  • List of schools and graduation years between St. Mary's graduation and 2021 (e.g., St. John's High School '17, etc.)
  • Where the student is going next (e.g., Towson University, etc.)
Alumni Owned Businesses
If you have or know of a business that is owned by an Alumni or Alumni Family, please let us know by emailing alumni@smsrockville.org. We'd like to be able to help spread the word about them!
Join St. Mary's Church for a Live Stream
of the Stations of the Cross
at 12 PM on Good Friday
Msgr. Amey will lead the parish in a live-streamed Stations of the Cross on the Friday of the Passion of the Lord. Participation in this liturgy is only possible through the live-stream.

In the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross, we recall anew the sufferings which our divine Redeemer endured while going from the praetorium of Pilate, where he was condemned to death, to Mount Calvary, where he died on the cross for our salvation.

A plenary indulgence may be acquired on any day when the faithful call to mind the memory of the Passion and Death of our Lord with the prescribed fourteen stations. This plenary indulgence may be earned through prayerful participation with this recording.
Alumni Favorite Scripture Passage
"Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded." 2 Chronicles 15:17
-- Bridget Poirier '15