october teaser
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OCTOBER 2014 EDITION II
A TRIBUTE TO THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES AT AHA HUMANS OF AHA | AINE DOYLE ‘16 AND VICTORIA CABALES ‘15 ................ 2
THE CULTURAL GAP BETWEEN AHA’S NON-THEISTIC COMMUNITY AND RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY OPINION | RENATA FRANCESCO ’15 ……… 3
The AHA voice EM B O D Y I N G T H E V O I C E O F O U R C O M M U N I T Y
HUMANS OF AHA | A Letter from Sister Carole Tabano
IN LOVING MEMORY: SISTER CATHERINE GREEN
To The AHA Voice:
I want to thank you for asking me to
express my thoughts and feelings
about S. Catherine. It is an honor for
me.
You asked me how I met S. Catherine,
what were some of my fondest memo-
ries, and what she was like as a person,
educator, and colleague. It forced me
to go down memory lane.
Since S. Catherine and I are both
SSND sisters, I have worked with her
on various provincial committees over
the years. I actually bonded with her
about 30 years ago when we were
members on our provincial planning
assemblies. We would go out for din-
ner after the meetings and share for
hours. It was easy and comfortable to
be in her presence.
S. Catherine was at AHA when I ar-
rived in 1988,after my father had a
stroke. She was always very welcom-
ing and compassionate as I dealt with
teaching and the care of my both par-
ents. She was always asking how
things were going and how I was han-
dling all of it.
She, in turn would tell me about her
family. She would tell me who gradu-
ated, who was ill, who married, who
had a baby, who made first Eucharist,
etc. She loved her family dearly and
was so proud of all they accomplished
and who they were as wonderful per-
sons. That pride and love was mutual.
The members of the World Language
Department share their workplace in
the back of the upper faculty room
with some of the religion teachers. S.
Catherine was one of them, and we all
celebrated birthdays and special occa-
sions together throughout the years.
We have fond memories of those times
spent together and all grew to be good
friends. I smile as I can recall S. Cathe-
rine’s unique laugh. It would catch the
attention of all.
Many of us, here at AHA, have said
that S. Catherine was a faith-filled
woman who truly cared for others, her
students, family and friends. She was a
dedicated teacher, a wonderful friend
and a woman of strength and courage.
During her last few months, when she
knew she was very ill, she prepared to
put her life in order with a dignity that
is unsurpassed. We were inspired by her
faith and hope in her loving God.
Read more at chips.holyangels.org
RESPONSE TO “ONE IN TEN GIRLS HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED” LETTER TO THE EDITOR | CASSIDY FERRICK ‘15 AND JULIET VICARI ‘15 ……….2
FEATURED ARTICLES
Photo courtesy of Mrs. Quiñones
A RESPONSE TO “ONE IN TEN GIRLS
HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED—
WHICH GIRL ARE YOU?” LETTER TO THE EDITOR | By Cassidy Ferrick ’15 and Juliet Vicari ‘15
While we were thor-
oughly impressed by the
newspaper’s new look,
name, layout, and much
more modern and relevant
article topics, we found a
big problem in one of the
articles featured last
month. “One in Ten Girls
Have Been Sexually As-
saulted - Which Girl Are
You?” is extremely prob-
lematic. Even the title it-
self is alarming as it could
be a trigger for the statisti-
cally proven dozens of
girls at AHA who have
been sexually assaulted.
The title implies that they
should identify as victims
over anything else, making
them feel different and sep-
arated from the girls they
are surrounded by. There
are ways to talk about the
all-
important
issue of
sexual as-
sault with-
out singling
out victims
and divid-
ing the au-
dience on an issue we so
desperately need to be unit-
ed on.
The article also has the ef-
fect of blaming the victim,
and the “tips to avoid being
raped” suggest that these
victims could have and
should have avoided the
attack. Therefore, these
tips imply that it is the
victim’s own fault for
being raped. This
is never the case.
Whether a girl
wants to stay out
late and wear
short-shorts (or
other kinds of
“provocative”
clothing) is her
own prerogative and in
no way, shape, or form
should be used to justify
the rapists’ actions
against her.
Read more at
chips.holyangels.org
“...THESE TIPS IMPLY
THAT IT IS THE VIC-
TIM’S OWN FAULT FOR
BEING RAPED. THIS IS
NEVER THE CASE.
CASSIDY FERRICK ’15 AND
JULIET VICARI ‘15
FEATURED ARTICLES
Don’t know what to do
for Halloween? Check
out our What Should
You Be for Halloween
Quiz by Jillian
Vlacancich or get tips
from makeup expert
Olivia Guido to perfect
your Halloween look!
PLUS: check out Why
We Should Wear
Costumes in School on
Halloween, our latest
staff editorial.
HALLOWEEN
A TRIBUTE TO THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES AT HOLY ANGELS HUMANS OF AHA | By Aine Doyle ’16 and Victoria Cabales ‘15
According to her mother,
Renata Francesco ‘15 first
fell in love with art when
she was four. She slowly
made her way to her cray-
on box, scrutinized the
quality of her wax color
pigments, and triumphantly
pulled out a purple crayon,
knowing that it was the
one. Then, she took that
very crayon and spent
hours bent over a sheet of
paper, pushing away the
temptations of both snack
and nap time. The four-
year-old’s determination
engendered her very first
masterpiece, which was to
be displayed on the Fran-
cesco family fridge.
Renata’s passions, like
those of many other aspir-
ing artists, are celebrated in
a very special month. In
1993, October was named
National Arts & Humani-
ties Month in order to cele-
brate the creativity and in-
tellectual curiosity that
these academic fields fos-
ter. Art, defined as the em-
bodiment of human imagi-
nation through physical
mediums, encompasses
areas of study including the
visual arts, music, dance,
and much more. The hu-
manities, meanwhile, study
the areas of culture that the
arts provide the base for,
including fields like lan-
guage, history, and philos-
ophy. In other words, Na-
tional Arts & Humanities
Month is a celebration of
humanity itself. AHA’s
very own principal, Ms.
Moran, has even stated, “I
do so believe that the arts
make us human [and] fos-
ter civilization and univer-
sal understanding.”
According to a school-wide
survey recently conducted
by The AHA Voice, a large
portion of the student body
agrees with Ms. Moran.
Out of the 307 respondents,
43% reported that the arts
and humanities were very
important to them, while 31% stated
that the fields were important. In
addition, 20% of voters stated that
AHA emphasizes the arts and hu-
manities very well, and 55% said
that the school stresses them well.
Read more at chips.holyangels.org
Photos courtesy of Olivia
Guido ‘15 and History.com
THE CULTURAL GAP BETWEEN AHA’S NON-THEISTIC COMMUNITY AND RELIGIOUS PHILOSPHY
OPINION | By Renata Francesco ’15
On October 2nd, The Acade-
my of the Holy Angels cele-
brated the 135th anniversary of
its foundation with the usual
liturgy. For most students, the
liturgy was just as celebratory
as any – people went through
the motions of the mass auto-
matically, singing along to the
songs and reciting the prayers
by heart.
For some, however, liturgies
aren’t necessarily familiar sub-
jects. Holy Angels’ school phi-
losophy proudly states that
“the Academy welcomes stu-
dents from many different
communities, ethnic back-
ground, and religious affilia-
tions, appreciating the unique-
ness of each individual while
working towards the fulfill-
ment of Jesus Christ’s prayer
‘that all may be one.’”
It’s a powerful, idealistic state-
ment that has shaped our
school’s identity for more than
a century, inspiring our community to
work towards a more united world.
But when you don’t believe in God,
truly fitting in in a Catholic school can
sometimes seem to be a great adjust-
ment.
Though our community of non-theistic
students is understandably small com-
pared to the majority of religiously-
affiliated students, many do feel that
there are times where their spirituality
clashes with AHA’s culture. Athiest
senior Kiana Yee reflected on her first
AHA liturgy experience with refresh-
ing honesty. “I’d only ever heard of
mass from television shows, so it was
a completely new experience for me,”
she explained. “As time went on I
became accustomed to liturgies and
understood how they were important
to the Catholic faith… I’ve learned to
just deal with the liturgies,[to] stand
up to get out of people’s way when
they get up for communion.”
Other students have learned to re-
spond to liturgies similarly, though
some often find themselves conflict-
ed between honoring the traditions
they were raised with and staying true
to their spiritual identities. “I was
brought up in a very Catholic family,”
said one student. “My sister and I
went to CCD and church every Sun-
day with my mother who would al-
ways say how this was the time we
needed to give to God in exchange for
all that he had given us in life. It was
not until recently that I became able to
separate myself from what I grew up
knowing [and understand] what I now
believe myself to be: an atheist… In a
school surrounded by prayers and peo-
ple who have devoted their lives to
God, I feel lost at times. During as-
semblies, for example, I am accus-
tomed to saying the prayers and going
through the necessary motions, yet I
stop myself and realize that I should
not be saying and singing all of these
things that I neither mean nor intend
to say.”
Read more at chips.holyangels.org
WAN T M O R E ? S TAY T U N E D F O R O U R N E X T I S S U E !
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING BEES STEM | BY RASA ANVARI ‘16 AN INSIDE LOOK AT HOW OUR ACTIONS IMPACT THE BEE POPULATION, AND HOW THAT COULD POTENTIALLY CHANGE THE WORLD
DON’T LOOK BEHIND YOU SHORT STORY | BY ALEXANDRA HOTTENROTT ‘15 THE LATEST STORY FROM OUR RESIDENT AUTHOR JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN IS SURE TO LEAVE YOU AT THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT