Ground Breaking For New St. Joseph's Church In Somers

Artistic rendering of the the St. Joseph's Parish complex,which
 will include church, social hall and priests' residences

Pastor Monsignor James R. Moore officially broke ground for the new St. Joseph's Catholic Church last Tuesday, May 31.  Bishop Dominick Lagonegro D.D., Episcopal Vicar of Northern Westchester and Putnam, blessed the grounds.  The new church will be located on Plumbrook Road, on the campus of Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, NY.  Fifty members of the community, including priests, parishioners, and town officials attended the ceremony, according to a news story at NCNLocal.com.  That news site also reports that the fate of the old St. Joseph's church in Croton Falls is still undetermined. Seating in the new church will accommodate 800 people. The existing building holds 199. 


For more on the ground breaking and the new buildings as well as photos, see the updated June 3 story by Kathleen Fitzpatrick Maffetone in NCNLocal.com, Ground breaking and blessing for new St. Joseph's Church.
The artistic rendering of the new church is from the June 2009 newsletter at the web site of DCAK-MSA  Architecture 

LINKS:
http://ncnlocal.com/ncnlocal_living/living_articles/article_ca0e173c-8c8d-11e0-a710-001cc4c002e0.html
http://www.DCAK-MSA.com/
http://sas-inc.net/Sacredartstudio/june2009.1.htm

Somers Rotary Inspires High School Writers From Inner-City And Suburbia

A book launch party was held last week at Somers High School, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Somers, NY.  The book -- On My Mind 2011 --  brings together the writings of suburban and inner-city high school students.  Somers and Kennedy Catholic High School students participate as well as a Rockland County suburban school.  This year the three inner-city high schools are from the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens. The student writers celebrated together at the book launch.   
The New York Times raved about the writing and the concept in the project’s first year, saying: 

Still, when a busload of kids and parents from Brooklyn head for the green glades of northern Westchester tonight to celebrate a collection of writing by high school students from Brooklyn and Westchester, they'll also celebrate a great idea that goes far beyond words on a page. And even if their separate planets, 50 miles and many galaxies apart, fully align for only one night, that's one more than most of them would ever have experienced without it.
The collection, ''On My Mind: Student Writings from Somers and Brooklyn, New York,'' bears the unlikely imprint of the Rotary Club of Somers ... . The club wanted to do a project about literacy, and what began as a local effort with Somers High School and John F. Kennedy Catholic High School soon came to include [two schools] in Brooklyn ... .  And before long, a modest idea turned into a handsome book and quite a remarkable effort to bridge the void between poor and rich, urban and suburban, in a way that almost never occurs.
The book is available for purchase by mail for a suggested donation of $11 (postage included) by writing to:
The Somers Rotary Foundation
PO Box 561 
Somers, NY 10589
The web site for the Rotary Club in Somers is here.  See On My Mind 2011 book launch photos.   


Read the New York Times story, Our Towns; Worlds Apart, But Bound In Softcover.  A blog post by Barbara Nackman about the 2011 project and book launch party is at LoHud.com at Somers Rotary publishes student writings.


LINKS:
http://somersrotary.club.officelive.com/default.aspx
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03E7D71F3EF932A05756C0A9609C8B63
http://northernwestchester.lohudblogs.com/2011/06/01/somers-rotary-publishes-student-writings/

Kennedy Catholic and Somers High Receive 11 Nomination For Theater Awards

Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, NY is nominated for seven High School Theater Awards for its spring 2011 production of On the Town, while Somers High School garners four nominations for the Drowsy Chaperone.  The Helen Hayes Youth Theatre makes the nominations for the “Metro” awards.  The Awards Ceremony is June 6, 2011, at the Paramount Center for the Arts, Peekskill NY.  Last year Kennedy Catholic won two Metro awards.  
Here are the categories in which each school is nominated:

Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – On the Town – Kim Galaraga (Hildy Esterhazy)

Outstanding Duet
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – On the Town “Come Up to My Place”
Kim Galaraga (Hildy) and Anthony Ruperto (Chip)
Somers H.S. – The Drowsy Chaperone “Cold Feets”
Tom Oliverio (Robert) and Ricky Hvisch (George)

Outstanding Stage Crew
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – On the Town

Outstanding Dance Performance
Kennedy Catholic H.S.- On the Town- Jena Lynn DiFrisco (Ivy Smith)
Somers H.S. – The Drowsy Chaperone -  Emma Klipstein (Kitty)

Outstanding Orchestra
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – On the Town

Outstanding Instrumentalist
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – On the Town - RJ Aprile (Timpani)

Outstanding Stage Crew
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – On the Town

Outstanding Lighting Achievement
Somers H.S.- The Drowsy Chaperone - Bob Geronimo, Dominick Belmont

Outstanding Choreography
Somers H.S. – The Drowsy Chaperone - Linda Duci

Technical Merit Award (Teacher Nominated)
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – Christina Oros (Choreographer/Assistant Director)


Created in 1998, the High School Theater Awards shine a spotlight on the exceptional musical theater productions, talented actors and actresses and devoted creative teams who take to the stage every spring in local high schools. High Schools in Rockland and Westchester Counties in New York and Bergen County in New Jersey are invited to participate in this competition.
Throughout the spring musical season, judges evaluate participating shows. In June, all of the participating schools are celebrated in an awards ceremony modeled after Broadway's Tony Awards. Broadway stars hand out the awards, top nominated schools and actors perform live, and the theater students in our region receive support and recognition.


For more information see the High School Theater Awards web site.  A full list of the 2011 nominees is here.



LINKS:
http://www.hstheaterawards.com/index.html
http://www.hstheaterawards.com/docs/2011_noms.pdf

Students From China Looking At Kennedy Catholic

Burke Catholic School in Goshen, NY may enroll 30 students from China this year to offset declining enrollments and funding cuts from the Archdiocese.  Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, NY is giving strong consideration to the idea as well, according to a May 12 story in the Times Herald-Record based in Middletown, NY.  The story says:

The interest by Chinese students in private U.S. schools complements a trend in China, where strong economic growth allows more families to spare their children from the country's fiercely competitive education system. High school students in particular must work morning to night to get into a miniscule number of seats in top universities.

"What's being told to me is that the education in China is very rigorous and taxing on the young," said Mark Vaillancourt, president and principal of John F. Kennedy Catholic High School.

Follow this link to the story, Chinese students seek out local Catholic schools.

LINKS:

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110512/NEWS/105120332/-1/SITEMAP