Over 100 Stanners Gather at St. John’s University

Nearby St. John’s University played host on Saturday, January 3rd to a gathering of over 100 enthusiastic Stanner alumni, family members and friends. The Molloy community was invited to attend a special reception in the university’s Bent Hall shortly before tipoff in Carnesecca Arena between the mens’ Red Storm basketball team and rival Butler. Graduates representing 6 decades, including St. Ann’s alum Ed Gaughran ’52, were treated to a spread of sandwiches, wraps, salads and other refreshments in addition to other giveaways including lapel pins, car decals, and St. John’s banners. A limited number of Chris Mullin and Lou Carnesecca bobbleheads were also distributed – good news for the many children in attendance. The Johnnies have been enjoying an exciting season, which made it the perfect time to bring a Stanner event to St. John’s. Molloy has long been a natural feeder school for the university, and as a result the connection between the two alumni bases has always been strong. As such, the desire to host a Molloy event at St. John’s has been a frequent suggestion among alumni. “I am pleased that the relationship between Molloy and St. John’s allows for collaboration on great events such as this,” said Molloy President Richard Karsten ’81 (pictured center). “I spoke to many alumni today who couldn’t thank us enough for inviting them to this reception and game. It is my hope that we will continue to maintain a strong bond with St. John’s leadership and be able to offer these kinds of opportunities to our alumni.” We extend special thanks to Molloy School Board member Jim Shannon ’83, St. John’s Director of Athletic Development Kevin Barry (pictured left), and St. John’s VP of Institutional Advancement Ed Kull ’99 (pictured right) for their outstanding work in making this event possible. Browse our photos below or on Facebook.

View full photo gallery from alumni reception at St. John’s University

“Boardwalk” Star Vincent Piazza Visits Molloy

Students were star-struck recently when former Stanner Player and current movie and TV actor Vincent Piazza paid a visit to his alma mater. Vincent wrapped up his work on the popular HBO series Boardwalk Empire in 2014 after five successful seasons and has since worked on a few other projects. He has starred in the crime drama The Wannabe and is set to appear Surviving Me: The Nine Circles of Sophie and You Were Never Here later in 2015. “I’ll miss Boardwalk,” said Vincent. “It was a big part of my life, and I made great friendships over the five years. It was the longest time I ever spent with a crew. I hope to stay in touch with the cast.” Vincent explained he gained much perspective from Boardwalk, including from “milestone scenes” which he described as “historic characters recreating a part of real history.” He went on to describe Boardwalk, “It had top shelf art and costume design. Everything was authentic and the attention to detail was subtle but effective. You can often see how the characters evolve over the years through how their dress changes.” (Pictured: President Richard Karsten ’81 with Vincent Piazza)

Vincent is also well known for his work in the film Jersey Boys (2014) as well as TV series including Rescue Me, Law & Order, and The Sopranos. “Jersey Boys was a fun project. I was in my comfort zone. Also Tommy DeVito was an interesting character to learn. I’ve always enjoyed working on accents and learning how different people talk. In that way my Boardwalk and Jersey Boys characters were very different.”

Vincent is looking ahead to writing more often in addition to pursuing acting roles. “Writing helps acting, and vice versa. You learn a lot about structure, the way things are done from both sides…it’s a very complimentary process,” he explained. After sitting down with the Stanner Alumni Center, Vincent took some time to answer questions from students about the business of acting. He shared advice and many stories from the sets he’s worked on over the years. It was a valuable opportunity for our students to gain insights from a professional who has worked alongside other big ticket talents like Steve Buschemi, Denis Leary, and Kelly Macdonald. Vincent was also kind enough to stick around for some photos after the Q&A session. We thank Vincent Piazza for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit Molloy and speak to our students!

Around the School

PRESS RELEASE: Molloy Earns Re-Accreditation by Middle States Assoc.

Briarwood, New York — Archbishop Molloy High School announced today that it has earned re-accreditation by the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools, a worldwide leader in accreditation and continuous school improvement.

“We are pleased to have earned re-accreditation by the Middle States Association and to share in our success with the greater school community, especially the teachers, parents and students who worked so hard to make this possible,” said Br. Thomas Schady, Principal. “Re-accreditation confirms and validates the work we do each and every day to ensure a top quality education for our students.”

Accreditation is a self-evaluation process that schools voluntarily undergo to demonstrate they are meeting a defined set of performance standards. The accreditation process helps schools – and ultimately students – to continuously grow and improve. The process begins with a self-study that is conducted by the school and requires input from school leaders, teachers, parents and students.  Following the self-study, a team of volunteer educators from Association member schools conducts an on-site peer review visit to observe school operations and interview various stakeholders. The visiting team makes its recommendation to the Middle States Association Commissions, which votes on the accreditation.

“The accreditation process is an effective and efficient approach to helping schools plan for the future, promote staff development and advance student achievement,” said Henry G. Cram, Ed.D., president of the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. “School leaders, teachers and parents are to be commended for working together to establish goals focused on providing high quality education for all students.”

Girls Varsity B-Ball Team Ranked #1 in State, #6 Nationally

Congratulations are in order for Molloy’s Girls Varsity Basketball team and coaching staff, who have caught the attention of competition and media on both the state and national levels. Our Stanners have achieved a #1 overall ranking in New York State along with #6 nationally according to the Max Preps/CBS Sports Rankings. The only other New York team in the top 10, Long Island Lutheran, fell victim to Molloy in a 55-45 contest in late December. Molloy is 8-0 on the season. “Our Varsity girls being #1 in New York and #6 in the country is an incredible accomplishment that is shared by all of our players and coaches in the program,” said Athletic Director Mike McCleary. “This is the first time the team has reached #1 in the state. They deserve congratulations and our support toward continued success.” Head Coach Scott Lagas also shared his excitement. “Our team has had success because our athletes play together. They put the success of the team before any individual accomplishment.”

Other Sports Updates

Elsewhere in Molloy sports, Jared Lovelace ‘15 is currently ranked #2 in the nation after spending some time at #1 in the triple jump. He is expected by the coaching staff to continue to compete for the top spot for the rest of the season. Girls JV basketball is a perfect 8-0 on the season and champions of the Petrides Christmas tournament. The Boys JV basketball team is off to a great start at 9-0 under the direction of dedicated coach Chris Murphy ’87. “We all have great expectations for this group,” said McCleary, who is also head coach of the Boys Varsity team. McCleary believes the Varsity squad has worked very hard at 5-4 and has some good wins to show for its efforts. “They need to continue with their efforts to improve daily and reach our goals for the season.” Freshman basketball is doing very well at 8-1 on the season. Molloy’s bowling team recently won the Brooklyn/Queens Championship and will compete for the City Championship next week. Girls swimming is undefeated at 8-0, continuing a stretch of long-term success dating back several years. The boys swim team is currently 3-3 and are currently set to sending two swimmers to the NY State Championships: Ruben Cerri-Diaz (100 Breast) and Harry Ortof (500 Free).

Mathletes Compete in “Hour of Code” Event

Over 100 Students at Molloy were recently given the unique opportunity to participate in the “Hour of Code”, an event focused on promoting computer science education through the application of mathematics and coding skills. The event, which took place on a national scale, was sponsored by Code.org, a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science education in schools and helping to give every student the opportunity to learn computer programming. The event began with an opening address from President Barack Obama, who thanked students for participating and encouraged them to continue to hone their computer skills. As the hour commenced students chose one of three different activities, each varying in difficulty and goals. One activity used basic concepts of computer science to promote programming, with the end result seeing the student create their very first original computer program. Another utilized drag and drop programming to build the student’s very own computer game including customization for personal preferences. “The students really enjoyed being able to download their finished work onto their phones at the end – quite a few stayed afterward to try each other’s games/programs,” said Jeanne Longerano, Chair of the math department. “The math department decided to host the coding event in order to give the freshmen a small sense of what coding involves. Since the field of computer engineering is wide open, we wanted to get them thinking about their future careers. The response from those who participated was very enthusiastic and we are looking forward to hosting the event again next year for both freshmen and sophomores.”

Diego Rodriguez ’83 was named Assistant Director within the FBI’s New York field office. In this role, Diego will oversee all of the office’s operations and personnel throughout the five boroughs. James B. Comey, field office Director, stated that Diego, “possesses leadership abilities,” and he believes that the staff “will benefit from his tactical experience and his thoughtful and motivating management style.” (source) Diego has worked with the FBI since 1990 in a variety of capacities including as a member of the SWAT team and the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force. He has worked in numerous locations including Miami, San Juan, and Washington DC. Diego is an alum of St. John’s University.

A former Stanner ballplayer made his professional acting debut in a recent TV commercial for Foot Locker. Jin Hong ’09, who played for Jack Curran and later the College of St. Rose, co-stars in the 40 second spot alongside former NBA great Tracy McGrady and current NBA rookie Damian Lillard. Jin’s appearance begins at the 00:17 second mark in this video.

Greg Farrell ‘74 submitted the following: “At the recent wedding of my daughter, we took the opportunity to get a photo of my 6 brothers, my brother-in-law and myself – all Stanner alumni. Shown in the photo, from left to right, are Don Farrell ‘89, brother-in-law Joe Franki ‘66, Kevin Farrell ‘78, Phil Farrell ‘76, Ray Farrell ‘81, Greg Farrell ‘74, Bill Farrell ‘72 and Dennis Farrell ‘75. At one time we were tied with another family as having the most family members to graduate from Molloy (7), but I don’t know if that ‘record’ holds today.”

Henry Roubian ’85 was promoted to the rank of Corporal in the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department.

James G. Hennessy ‘61 passed away on December 20th after a lengthy illness. He resided in Plymouth, MA. Born and raised in New York City, he attended Molloy and later Marist College. He resided for many years in Connecticut, Cape Cod and most recently, Plymouth. Jim held management positions spanning 30 years at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT; the Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven, CT; and Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. He was past President of the CT Association of Patient Account Management, past President at the Hospital of St. Raphael Credit Union, past member of the MA Association Patient Account Management, past treasurer of the New England Association of Patient Account Management. Jim was the son of the late George and Julia Hennessy. Loving father of Sheila, James and Kevin. Dear brother of Elizabeth and also survived by two loving grandchildren Emily and Ryan, their dear mom Liane, and many nieces and nephews.

We regret to share the passing of Philip O’Connell ’63 on December 2nd, 2014 at the age of 69. He is survived by his wife Loretta, who shared with us that Philip “loved Molloy and always talked about it.” Please keep Philip and his family in your prayers.

We were recently informed of the passing of William Zika ’39. Please keep our lost St. Ann’s graduate in your prayers.