UPCOMING EVENTS

See what's happening this month.

PORTRAIT OF AN OAKCREST GRADUATE

Meet our alumnae

THEN AND NOW

A pictorial history of Oakcrest then and now

ALUMNIFIRE

Network with Oakcrest alumnae

ALUMNAE NEWS

Share your news and update your

contact information

ALUMNAE PRAYER INTENTIONS

Submit your prayer intentions

Greetings from

Maritere (Gramatges '91) Crum

Alumnae Relations Coordinator

Dear Oakies,

The month of March ended with another fabulous Alumnae Week! Thank you to all who participated in the various events throughout the week; it was great to reconnect with so many of you! Our Spring Day of Giving was moved to May 18. You can read

more about the details in this issue of OakLink.

As we close out the month of April, we are thrilled to announce that this year's Oakcrest Gala and Auction raised over $320,000 and had 280 guests! Thank you to all of the alumnae and alumnae parents that helped make this possible. A special thank you to Tara (Hill '11) Van Zoeren, along with the OAA Leadership Team and Class Captains for putting together an alumna basket,

"A Day at the Beach," for the auction. Your efforts helped us raise $430!

Gratefully,

Maritere

Upcoming Events

RSVP

Although our Spring Day of Giving has been moved to May 18, several alumnae have already donated and we are well on our way to securing the additional $12,500 donation for tuition assistance. Two very generous alumnae parents have offered to donate an additional total of $12,500 if we receive 25 new donations. If you haven't already made a donation this year, please consider making one to help us reach our goal. To make it fun, we encourage you to donate an amount that represents the year you graduated from Oakcrest. Don't forget that the class with the overall most giving this year, will be honored during Homecoming Weekend.

Dont wait, donate now!

RSVP and Pay for the Brunch

Oakies in Action

Spring sports are in full swing at Oakcrest thanks to our many alumnae coaches: Meg Gargulinski '11, Caroline Heeter '97, Katie (Gabriel '99) Carney, Meghan Hadley '06, Brigid Hale '21 and Anna Diederich '17. Thank you ladies, we appreciate your continued dedication to your alma mater! Be sure to check out all of the sports highlights here.

Maryland Day Oakies

"Happy Maryland Day from the Claire’s

(Hadley '02 and Giuntini'18) from Maryland! We subjected everyone to Maryland trivia at breakfast!"

Alumnae Week Recap

Alumnae Day of Service

Thank you to all who helped make this day a success! 11 alumnae, 5 alumnae daughters and 1 current student assisted on the day of with writing thank you notes, packaging items, sewing burp clothes and prepping envelopes for a mailing for A Woman's Choice in Herndon, VA. We appreciate all of the alumnae and alumnae parents who generously donated items off of the baby registry as well!

Catching up with the Faculty

Thank you Ms. Phyliss Savino, Mrs. Mary Deiss and Ms. Christine Nussio for "catching us up" on what you've been up to in the last few years and for sharing so many fun memories. Did you know that Mrs. Deiss' candy locker (even with IOU's) was able to fund all the drinks for the sports teams one year? Are there faculty members you'd like to reconnect with? Let us know who you'd like to have featured next year.

Class Captain

Meet and Greet

We are so grateful to all our Class Captains for helping us stay connected with our alumnae! In appreciation, all Class Captains were mailed an alumna tote, alumna car window sticker and print of the campus where they graduated. Thank you Oakies! Reminiscing and sharing stories from the different eras is always a blast!

Would you like to be a Class Captain?

I'd like to be a Class Captain

Alumnae Trivia Night

Congratulations Team Holly Salls: Meg Gargulinski '11, Ali Gargulinski '14 and Tara (Hill '11) Van Zoeren for winning this year's trivia night; third times the charm! Each of you have a $25 gift card coming your way!

Alumna shares her talent with

the 7th Grade for their Grade Level Experience

Alumna Jill (Collins '17) Burtis joined the seventh-grade class for a paint class, allowing the students to bond in friendship with one another while they painted on canvas. The theme of friendship is explored throughout the seventh grade. Read more here about the Oakcrest Grade Level Experiences.

Class of 1993 Mini Reunion

Members of the Class of 1993 recently gathered in the DC area for a mini reunion.

From left to right: Caterina (Sparacino) Watson, Megan Clancy, Theresa (Currano) Talavera, Christine (Capobianco) Koczela, and Yancie Alvero.

Meet Our Alumnae

Susan Hanssen '92

Sue Hanssen ’92, Ph.D., traces back her love for history to the Oakcrest teacher and first headmistress of Oakcrest, Ms. Pat O’Donovan, whom she called “the most joyful and fascinating teacher” that she had during her Oakcrest years.

“She inspired in me a desire to study and teach history,” Sue said of Ms. O’Donovan. “She showed us that everything has a history and history can encompass every interest: art, architecture, philosophy, literature, politics, theology, war, diplomacy. It has turned out to be 100 percent true.”

Now a history professor at The University of Dallas, Dr. Hanssen has the opportunity to bring history alive for her own students.

Another history teacher she remembers fondly is Ms. Margaret Otto, who introduced the famous Catholic historian Christopher Dawson to Sue’s class. “When I was in eighth grade, she taught (Dawson’s) insight that at the root of every culture is a culture’s mode of worship,” Sue remembers. “First you need to understand a culture’s god and then their family structure, their political regime, their economic workings, all flow from that. It was the exact opposite of Marxism which teaches that economics is the foundation of everything and culture, literature, family relations, philosophy, and theology are nothing more than an ideological superstructure justifying economic oppression. History today is every bit as much of a battlefield as it was when they trained me up!”

Read Susan's complete profile here.

Did You Know?

We have had over 100 visits from alumnae throughout this school year!

We love having you come by for a visit, give presentations to the students, as well as attending

Mass and events!

Oakcrest Then and Now

Class of 2004

Class of 2023

Senior Privileges

As the eldest in the school, the senior class is traditionally granted special privileges throughout the school year to recognize their accomplishments and prepare them for life outside of Oakcrest. Back in the 90’s, Oakcrest seniors were permitted to leave the Yuma campus to escape for an off-campus lunch, so long as they were back in time for class. This tradition continues today and seniors often do the same, running to nearby restaurants and coffee shops in the area. In the early 2000’s, seniors began the tradition of wearing red polo shirts embroidered with the Oakcrest logo as part of their school uniform. This also continues until today. Seniors are allowed to use Fridays as professional dress days, giving them the opportunity to practice dressing in a professional environment. The senior loft, which continued successfully from the McLean campus to the Vienna campus, is another special privilege of the senior class - a designated space in the school in which they are permitted to spend their free periods eating lunch and convene as a class. Seniors are allowed to use their laptops during free periods to complete school or college-related work, and are given Wi-Fi access to laptops to assist with work on their senior thesis during the second semester.

Oakies on Campus

Congratulations Class of 2023!

Alumnae Parents Corner

Alumnae Week Parent Event

On Wednesday, March 29, parents of alumnae

from the classes of 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 gathered in the school lobby for an evening of socializing and packaging up care packages for

their daughters away at college.

Thank you to all that were able to join us; it's always nice to have you back on campus! Next year we will be hosting the classes of 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023; we hope to see you there!