Dear MHC Academy Family and Friends, As we conclude these last weeks of the month of Mary, we continue to prepare our hearts for Her crowning as Queen of our school and our lives. This preparation will culminate in our May Crowning on Wednesday, May 24, beginning at 8:00 am in St. Joseph Chapel. Please join us if you can. The honor of crowning Our Lady is reserved for our sophomores. They will lead us in the recitation of the Rosary before the crowning ceremony. We've had an exciting month so far with the Dance and Arts Showcase and Spring Concert. These visual and performing arts events are always designed to help us appreciate the hard work and progress our students have achieved throughout the course of the academic year. We're so proud of their varied gifts and our MHC Academy faculty who work hard to help them reach their fullest potential! With all this going on in addition to AP exams, prom preparation, and the flurry of activity prompted by graduation, the month of May has just…flown by. As a school dedicated to Our Lady, let’s remember that St. John Bosco saw Her walking in our hallways, among the Sisters and girls. She is still traversing these halls side by side with us, imbuing us with a sense of Her humility and love, and giving us the joy of knowing how near to us God truly is.   Sincerely,

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Mrs. Green’s Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management class has completed their “business in a box” project. This project had the students choosing a business to form, which included making a business plan and designing their floor plans in boxes using different materials to make their businesses come to life. Great job, ladies!

PHYSICAL EDUCATION Ms. Clarke's P.E. students were introduced to the game of pickleball. This exciting game of pickleball, though not a new sport, has been growing in popularity among sports enthusiasts and now has become a permanent fixture here at Mary Help in the P.E. dept. Our students learned the basics of play and the rules of the game in an introductory lesson. Originally developed in 1965 by a businessman from the state of Washington, in his backyard, the sport is a combination of tennis, badminton and ping pong. Though Pickleball is not yet an Olympic sport it is fast gaining in popularity surging through the US and globally. Many are hopeful that it will be added by 2030.

MU ALPHA THETA MATH HONOR SOCIETY Congratulations to the new members of the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society. Fourteen new members join the existing fourteen members of the Sr. Julia Marzorati chapter at MHC Academy. Known for her love of Math, Sr. Julia taught in the math department for years here at MHC Academy prior to becoming the school principal. She was known by all to be a deep thinker and used math to understand the rules God created to govern the world.

SPRING CONCERT The Music Department at MHC Academy hosted their Spring Concert featuring the choir, orchestra and band - in collaboration with Don Bosco Prep. It was an evening of magnificent music celebrating all that our students have learned this year in the newly revamped Music Department. A thank you goes out to our amazing faculty including Ms. Toni Bilotti Cecere, Ms. Basia Danilow, Mr. Nick Dellosa, and Mrs. Irene Serdsev.

DANCE AND ART SHOWCASE Our Dance and Practical and Fine Art students had a chance to showoff what they've been working on all year! The evening began with the "Finding Rhythm" showcase which was a medley of dances ranging in style from contemporary, to tap, to ballet and more. Following the showcase, guests had the opportunity to appreciate the artwork of our students in the various Practical and Fine Art courses MHC Academy offers. Congratulations to all our Mary Helpers who participated and dance teacher, Mrs. Hannah Battista, art teachers Ms. Caron Chiusano and Mrs. Liz Manzella, TV production teacher Mr. David Dunn and Fashion Design teacher Mr. Frank LaMendola.

TALENT SHOW The Junior Class hosted an MHC Academy Talent Show featuring the myriad gifts of our students. Acts included solos, duets, dancing and even a skit. History teacher, Mr. Dunn also joined in on the fun, playing the electric guitar with some of our students.

HANDBAG BINGO About 200 people joined us for Handbag Bingo on April 20th. Prizes included bags by Marc Jacobs, Coach and Tory Burch. There were also dozens of bags for raffle and a beautiful Hartgers Diamond Bracelet on offer as well. A wonderful time was had by all!

FIREFIGHTERS MASS & DINNER MHC Academy celebrated area firefighters from North Haledon, Hawthorne, and Franklin Lakes who were the first responders to the chapel, the morning of our fire in 2018. The evening consisted of Mass celebrated by Msgr. Raymond Kupke, the chaplain of the Hawthorne firefighters, an Italian feast prepared by the Sisters, a magic show and snippets from our Spring Musical. Thank you again to our local heroes!

SAFETY SYMPOSIUM The PTG offered a two-part safety symposium, in collaboration with The Passaic County Sheriff's Office of Community Policing, to all parents and to MHC Academy juniors and seniors. Topics discussed included drinking, drug use, date rage, Uber safety and other general safety tips. We thank the PTG for the sheriff's office for this very important and informative symposium.

KINDNESS CHALLENGE The Great Kindness Challenge of 2023 occurred between April 24th to May 5th. Our Mary Help family continued to encourage one another in holiness through different activities in and outside of school, such as writing affirmation notes and letters and doing small acts of kindness. Keira Fay, a junior, won the kindness challenge by receiving the most kindness coins from other students. As a community, we also raised more than $300 to benefit the music program in Zambia, led by Sr. Fernanda, by providing funds toward a musical organ.

MAY PASTORAL THEME May is the month of our Blessed Mother Mary and in our Pastoral Plan it is the month of the Cry of the Poor. Our Blessed Mother knew what it was like to make do with little and to find joy in all that God had given her. She was an inspiration to the Venerable Sr. Theresa Valse-Pantellini who came from a wealthy family in Italy and was inspired by the sisters to give up everything she had and to serve the young people most in need in Rome, Italy. These young girls experienced many kinds of poverty, not just materially - some came from difficult family situations and many of them gave Sr. Theresa a very difficult time. Yet, Sr. Theresa continued to love and serve them in imitation of our Blessed Mother. This month, let's dedicate at least one Rosary with the intention of those who are poor in body, mind, or spirit and for all those who seek to care for them.

SOFTBALL On Tuesday, May 16th, the Varsity Softball Team celebrated our five Seniors at their last home game of the season. 4 Year Varsity Players/Starters: #1 Gabriella Fromm (shortstop), #26 Reagan McNiff (catcher), #39 Kaitlyn Raleigh (pitcher); 1st Year Varsity Player/Starter: #15 Catie Terminello (outfield); and 2nd Year Manager: Molly Ursich.  Softball wrapped up their season on May 18th with a winning record of 7-6. Here are our stat leaders for the season: Senior Shortstop #1, Gabriella Fromm led the team offensively with 32 HITS, 11 of those were extra bases, 29 RUNS and 25 STOLEN BASES. Fromm was named ATHLETE OF THE WEEK by The Record for the week of April 24th. This is the first Athlete of the Week in school history.  Senior Catcher #26, Reagan McNiff led the team in RBIs with 28, from her 21 HITS 8 of them were for extra bases, including 5 HOME RUNS! Leading in Runs Scored: Junior Giulia Russo and Freshman Nina Primerano with 19 a piece, followed closely by McNiff and Freshmen Briana Vaniapillil with 18 each and Senior Pitcher Kaitlyn Raleigh finishing the season with 16 Runs.  Extra Base Hits: Fromm - 1 HR, 5 triples & 5 doubles; McNiff - 5 HRs, 2 triples, & 1 double; Russo - 1 HR, 2 triples & 3 doubles; Vaniapillil - 1 HR, 2 triples & 3 doubles; Raleigh - 1 HR, 1 triple, & 2 doubles; Freshman Gianna Balderas - 2 HRs& 1 triple; Freshman Lily Kramer - 2 HRs & 1 double; Primerano - 3 doubles and 18 stolen bases. Senior Pitcher #39, Kaitlyn Raleigh doubled her innings pitched this season as well as doubled STRIKE OUTS from her previous year, totaling 71 Ks for the season. Raleigh also pitched 3 no hitters in 12 games.

LACROSSE On Thursday, May 18th, the Varsity Lacrosse Team celebrated our four Seniors: #2 Olivia Fanning (M,D), #22 Nora Maloney (A,D), #8 Kaithlyn Santiago (Goalie), #21 Shannon Stix (M,A). Senior Shannon Stix is currently leading the team offensively with 35 goals this season. Stix will now hold the school record of MOST GOALS IN A SINGLE SEASON. Once held by Class of 2015 Alumna, Elizabeth Livi, who had 29 goals. Stix is followed in goals by fellow Senior Olivia Fanning, 12 goals, and sophomore Liliana Eastlake, 10 goals.  Senior Goalie Kaithlyn Santiago earned her 100th save of the season on Friday, May 19th. Santiago is one of two varsity lacrosse goalies to have over single 100 saves in a single season here at MHC Academy. Here are our stat leaders for the season through 5/19/23:  POINTS: Stix 40, Fanning 13, & Eastlake 12; GROUND BALLS : Stix 42, sophomore Scarlett Black 30, Eastlake 26, Fanning 24, & Sophomore Emily Dymkowski 16 DRAW CONTROLS: Stix 32, Fanning 13, Eastlake & Dymkowski 5 each FORCED TURNOVERS: Sophomore Madison Oh 23, Stix 22, and Black 15  This was the first spring season that the Lacrosse Team competed at a Varsity level since spring of 2015. Coach Craig Stix & daughter Shannon Stix wanted to bring the program back since entering the school in 2019-2020. With Covid there were no spring sports in 2020. In the Spring of 2021 we didn't have enough interest to officially start a team but several girls continued practicing throughout the season including current seniors Stix & Fanning. Finally in the Spring of 2022 we had a roster of 13 girls to bring back our program at the JV level and this year, Spring of 2023, with the help of Assistant Coach & Faculty member Bill Bliss, interest rose and we competed at the Varsity level with a roster of 22! Well done ladies.

TRACK Our Varsity Track team will be competing in the Passaic County Championships this week at Clifton HS on Tuesday 5/23 & Wednesday 5/24. Four of our student-athletes will be competing, including Varsity returning runners, Senior Ajanae McCoy, Junior Makiyah McCoy and Sophomore Emma Pandorf, along with newcomer Freshman Nia Capers. Good Luck, ladies!   SPORTS AWARDS DINNER We will be celebrating all of our student-athletes & teams at our Annual end of year Sports Awards Dinner on Wednesday, May 24th.   FALL SPORTS TRYOUTS Bosco Cheer - Monday May 22nd & Tuesday May 23rd at MHC Gym  Soccer, Tennis, Volleyball & Cross Country - August 21st-25th Times TBA

MHC Academy 659 Belmont Avenue North Haledon, NJ 07508 P. 973.850-7467 F. 973.790.6125 maryhelp.org

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