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