Spellman News WINTER/SPRING 2013 A P uBlICATION FOr THe A lumNI / Ae , P AreNTS ANd F rIeNdS OF C ArdINAl S PellmAN H IgH S CHOOl Oprah and Justice Sotomayor Visit Spellman! Taped Interview in Spellman’s Library Cardinal Spellman High School was host to two of this nation’s most powerful women: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, class of 1972, and Oprah Winfrey. In advance of the release of Justice Sotomayor’s memoir, My Beloved World , the two women met in the Spellman library to tape an interview for Oprah’s Next Chapter TV show. is episode is to be broadcast at a later date on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). e February edition of O Magazine features pictures and excerpts of the interview. Because of the important role Cardinal Spellman High School played during her adolescence, Justice Sotomayor requested for the interview to take place at her alma mater. “It was here at this school,” she told Oprah, “that I began to see a larger world.” Since there was no advance publicity allowed, students and faculty were both surprised and thrilled to see these two inspiring women walking the halls of their high school. d r a w o After the taping of the interview, Justice Sotomayor spent time greeting H b o R the students. She even went into the gymnasium and shot a few baskets with : o t o h the girls’ basketball team. It was a very memorable day for all involved! P Cardinal dolan Helps Spellman Begin a New Academic Year At Spellman’s Annual Mass of the Holy Spirit On monday, September 17, Spellman’s student body of more than 1,400 students, along with the administration, faculty, and staff, gathered together for the annual mass of the Holy Spirit, held at the start of each school year. As a special treat, this year’s mass had as the principal celebrant, His eminence Timothy Cardinal dolan, Archbishop of New York. Cardinal dolan was joined by rev. Trevor Nicholls, President of CSHS; Father O’Shaughnessy, Father Kraljic, Father monaghan, Father Pilsner, and Father Principe (CSHS Faculty members); Father Artlotta ’68 and Father grippo ’64 (Alumni of CSHS); and deacon James Bello (the father of faculty member and alumna, ms. mila Bello ’00). In his homily, Cardinal dolan thanked Cardinal Spellman High School for all it does for both the Archdiocese of New York and the surrounding community in the Bronx. e Cardinal saluted the students and acknowledged the great reputation they have in a variety of areas, including the four “r’s” – reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and religion. He also brought to their atten - tion that they would be held accountable not for the things they have or the titles they earn, but for whether they have had faith and lived as Jesus has asked them to do; and whether they have treated all people with love, dignity, and respect. ese are the things one must do, said the Cardinal, to get to heaven. (Continued on page 3) dear Alumni and Friends, After the tragic events in Newtown CT, the Christian Service Society again reached out. Perhaps the most So much has happened in the past few outstanding symbol of love and support came in the form months. It is difficult to reflect on the of banners sent to St. rose of lima Church and Sandy beginning of this school year without Hook elementary School. Spellman students made looking at the hardships we have faced. beautiful banners over 50 feet long. By the hundreds, We have endured Hurricane Sandy and they signed their names and wrote prayers, brief notes of Sandy Hook. Both events deeply affected encouragement, and words of support and consolation our students, their families, our alumni, on these banners which were sent to the families affected and our friends. ose members of the by the tragedy. Spellman community most deeply As a faculty and administration, our response was affected in both tragedies are in our immediate as well. e administration began to review thoughts, our hearts, and most safety and security procedures. e Crisis management importantly, in our prayers. Team, which was established last year, reviewed policies We pray as a community in particular way for the and procedures and continues to evaluate changes. Barden Family. As many of you already know, Jacqueline e entire faculty had received training for this type of (giblin) Barden was a member of the Spellman Class of emergency during a professional development day last 1984 and her son, daniel, was one of the victims of the year. I am certain that the training they received seems Sandy Hook tragedy. We ask for god’s healing presence more important now than ever. It is a blessing to our in the Barden Family. school community that they received it. We pray that In true Spellman spirit, the response of our beloved they will never need to use it. school community was immediate and overwhelming in As I reflect on the actions of the Spellman both instances. After Hurricane Sandy, the Christian community, I can truly say that I am so proud to see the Service Society under the leadership of ms. Kathy type of students and faculty that Cardinal Spellman High Alexander, immediately set up collections for money, School produces. ey truly embrace the gospel message. food, clothing, and cleaning supplies for the victims of ey are vibrant examples of our Christian call to love the storm. ey sent out thousands of dollars in donations our neighbor. and truckloads of supplies to rockaway, Staten Island may that wonderful Spellman Spirit continue to and New Jersey. Spellman students and faculty spent reach out to all of you. We are all blessed to be part of countless hours giving of their time and talents to this such an amazing school. cause. even as I write this, plans are still being made for continued support for the families still suffering in those Yours in Christ, devastated communities. dan O’Keefe Spellman Senior, Amir Small, Performs at Inner-City Scholarship Fund’s Annual Black Tie Dinner When you combine talent with the exposure of a Spellman educa - tion, opportunity may come knocking at your door! at has been the case with our very talented Amir Small. Amir was noticed last year for his talent on the piano when he accompanied the Spellman gospel Sensations as they sang for the Inner-City Scholarship Fund’s annual Black Tie dinner. A year later, Amir was asked to play a solo performance on the piano at the same affair. e dinner was honoring edward Cardinal egan who is an avid pianist. e planning committee felt a young man with Amir’s talent was just the right choice for playing before the discerning ear of the talented Cardinal. Amir described himself as feeling honored and excited about the opportunity to play at such an important and upscale event. e Inner-City Scholarship Fund is a leading non-profit organization that provides tuition assistance to low income students attending schools in the Archdiocese of New York. mo rocca from CBS Sunday morning was the master of Ceremonies at the dinner which was attended by flawlessly performed Night and Day by Cole Porter. Cardi - his eminence, Timothy Cardinal dolan, Archbishop of NY, as well as nal egan praised the performance and mentioned his con - edward Cardinal egan; also in attendance were marcello giordani, versation with Amir. e Cardinal then pointed out mr. and many other loyal donors to the ICSF. e dinner raised 1.2 million Tuck, a director at Carnegie Hall, and he announced that dollars for the fund. mr. Tuck would arrange for Amir to play at the Amir and his parents met Cardinal egan during the dinner. e prestigious music hall! Cardinal and Amir discussed classical music, particularly the third All in attendance gave Amir a standing ovation for an movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata . After the dinner Amir opportunity of a lifetime … maestro, the stage is yours! 2 spellman news dear Alumni and Friends of Cardinal every day we were being photographed by some TV station Spellman High School, or media company or other. (Please check the school web - site regularly for broadcast dates of the programs that will Well, I guess we avoided falling over the feature us). Obviously, we hope that our profile in the com - fiscal cliff – just. Incidentally, does anyone munity – not only the Bronx but nationwide – will be raised remember Y2K? life in the last few years considerably by the very positive attention focused upon us. has resembled those old serials I used meanwhile, the regular work of the school, spiritual, to watch on a Saturday morning at the academic, sporting and social continues. every day, good special kids show at the local movie people are doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. e theater. each episode ended with the hero desire for a Spellman education is stronger than ever and or heroine in an apparently impossible your support enables us to provide that and to maintain and almost always deadly predicament our mission. I will never tire of expressing my heartfelt from which he or she would, as if by a thanks to you all for your generosity – or of encouraging miracle, escape at the beginning of the next episode. you to continue it! (You younger guys don’t know what you missed!). I am sure that you, like us, will continue to hold the Of course, all this uncertainty, the threats of fiscal folk of Newtown in your thoughts and prayers, especially disaster and all the other mayhem swirling around our those who lost children and other loved ones in the tragic heads, makes life a challenge, to say the least.