Campus Upgrades Shine This Fall

During the summer months, while students are enjoying a well deserved vacation, Archbishop Molloy High School remains a very active environment. July and August provide our school administration and facilities staff the perfect opportunity to pinpoint and execute necessary capital improvements around the campus. During the past several summers, Molloy has seen its William J. Murphy Library and Jack Curran Gymnasium renovated and modernized while other upgrades have been made to the infrastructure of the building. The new features in these facilities are utilized daily and help keep Molloy among the most technologically advanced schools in NYC while also improving the overall learning experience for students.

This past summer, Molloy implemented several new upgrades that continue to facilitate a safe and effective learning environment. First, new fencing was installed along the perimeter of the track and ballpark. The new fence makes these heavily used facilities more secure, further ensuring the safety of our students. In addition, concrete was poured in an area that will house new recycling units for use by all school departments. These units will help improve the recycling efforts of the school as a whole.

Elsewhere, underutilized space adjacent to the music room has been furnished to serve as a dance and step studio as well as general use space. Molloy’s dance club/team and step teams have long sought their own practice space, and now they have it. The Beehive has featured these clubs and teams many times in the past. Whether contributing cultural dances during International Day, revving up the crowd at half-time of a big game, or competing on the local or national stages, Molloy’s dancers and steppers are an important and beloved part of school life.

In addition, Molloy now boasts two new meeting spaces in the Ralph DeChiaro building (pictured below). These spaces feature general meeting tables for use by students and faculty as well as study areas for after school work. There are often needs for such spaces, including college rep visits, club meetings and teacher meetings. The more spaces that are available to our students and faculty, the better our school can create an accommodating environment.

While Molloy has been upgrading its technology infrastructure for many years, the latest installation of networking cables this past summer has helped the school reach over 400,000 linear feet of cable in total throughout its campus. The installment of these cables, which has spanned several years, has forged Molloy ahead as an institution that can easily and confidently rely on wireless Internet services for every college application and every lesson plan. This is also critical in the way of implementing visionary plans such as the one-to-one iPad program that Molloy has begun with its faculty this year and will introduce to freshman in Fall 2014. Establishing iPads as part of the Molloy curriculum is a huge shift in the way we educate our students, and establishing the proper infrastructure to support it is the first step toward success.

As always, these capital upgrades to our campus are due in large part to the generosity of the Molloy community. Your charity to Molloy consistently allows for the improvement of school facilities, which give our faculty better opportunities to educate and inspire as well as the ability to offer the most relevant technology to our students. Everyone at Molloy is extremely humbled and thankful for the dedication and commitment shown by our community, and we look forward to taking full advantage of each and every campus upgrade during the 2013-14 school year as we educate the best and brightest students NYC has to offer.

Molloy Hosts Alumni at Oktoberfest Event

On September 19th, alumni and friends gathered here at Molloy for a special Oktoberfest & Cigar Night (outdoors). The event was partially sponsored by members of our Badges and Lawyers alumni networks, while food and beverages were prepared and donated by dedicated alumnus Mike McGuire ’81 and his Trinity Restaurant & Bar. The event was conceived as a way to follow up our successful inaugural Badges Cigar Night while expanding the invitations beyond just our badges alumni. According to Mr. Ed Shannon ’84, one of the event organizers, “We want to come together with everyone in our community. Not only are alumni invited, but I can invite friends from my neighborhood to this kind of event. The friends I invited just happened to know some alumni in attendance. It helps expand interest in the school and what we’re trying to do. It also allows for broader networking among our other established alumni societies, which you can never do enough.” Celebrating an Oktoberfest theme, alumni enjoyed bratwurst, pretzels, German potato salad, homemade mushroom bread and much more as well as several unique craft beer selections. The first 50 registrants also received a complimentary cigar. The evening was a wonderful opportunity to welcome our community back to Molloy to catch up and celebrate the beginning of our new alumni event season. We enjoyed spending time with many old friends, some new ones, and several alumni who had not been back to the school for many years. After a few brief tours, these alumni were particularly astounded by the transformations in the William J. Murphy Library, the Stanner Hall of Fame, and the Jack Curran Gymnasium. Alumni reveled in reconnecting with their alma mater and spoke of their anticipation for the next event at Molloy. Thank you to everyone who came out for our Oktoberfest event, and we hope to host you again at Molloy soon.

View full Oktoberfest Photo Gallery HERE.

Around the School

Colleges Prepare to Visit Molloy

Several of these schools also consider Molloy to be a feeder school for them, meaning they have been destinations for a great many Stanners in the past. These colleges maintain their interest in Molloy students consistently every year based on this history as well as the school’s high standing among competing private college preparatory institutions. While the choice is still a difficult one, students benefit greatly from this visitation schedule in the short and long term.

Guy Mongelli ’06 has been very busy since graduating from the University of Rochester. Having earned his BA in Science & Chemical Engineering, his Master’s Degree, and an induction into the university’s Honor Society, Guy also earned membership into the Order of the Engineer. The Order is an association for graduate students and professional engineers with guidelines to ensure prideful workmanship. He wrote his thesis with the help of Professor Ching W. Tang, a Wolf Prize winner and highly renowned researcher who invited him to work alongside him on several research projects. One such project, which Guy’s thesis was based on, focused on next generation lighting and display technology used in smart phones – an area in which Professor Tang made critical innovations. Guy spent a year working on the thesis while attempting to increase the efficiency of Professor Tang’s technology even further. Since then, Guy has moved on to other studies, including one funded by the National Science Foundation. In this study, Guy observed and worked with materials used in common shampoos and shaving creams. The goal is to understand the molecular characteristics in these products and to create more efficient and safer versions of them. “It’s a $30 billion global industry. It’s important work,” said Guy. His bigger professional goal is to either find his place as a faculty member at a top tier research university or work with a larger chemical company. Until then, Guy remains on the move. He enjoys coming back to Molloy and guest speaking in Ms. Mallia’s science classes, and recalls his time in the Science Olympiad club noting, “It all started there. I still have my Olympiad medals.”

A familiar face recently appeared on several Fox Business broadcasts to share his financial insights. Jon Giacobbe ’03 (pictured right) visited the set of Money With Melissa Francis on three separate occasions between August and early September. He hopes to make more appearances on future broadcasts.

Eric Van Zanten ’98 made news recently when he and three of his fellow firefighters got an emergency call right down the road from their station house. Panicked family members had come to their door asking that they help their pregnant relative, who was in labor and in need of immediate assistance just blocks away. Eric and the other available members of his engine company sprung into action, arriving at the house of the pregnant woman just in time to help deliver her baby. You can read more about this amazing story in this NY Post article.

Aldo Manino ’94 shares this quick but important note with the Stanner community: He and his wife Gemma welcomed a baby boy into their family! Lorenzo Manino was born on July 24th. Congrats to the new parents!

Earlier this year, Pat Gorman ’69 and wife Carol enjoyed a special Danube River Cruise vacation with some familiar Stanner faces. Bill Schlageter ’65, Steve Mayer ’70, and Ernie Dejak ’67 accompanied the Gormans along the breathtaking scenic route, making for a very unique mini Molloy reunion. Pictured left to right: Bill, Pat, Steve and Ernie.

Pursuing yet another “bucket list” adventure this past summer, Mike Gaertner ’69, completed a sailing trip from Honolulu to San Francisco as one of five crew members aboard the 50 foot racing sloop, “Hula Girl.” The trip, spanning 15 days and almost 2,500 miles, was not only another milestone for Mike, but was also used as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society with donations totaling over $3,000. During the voyage, the crew (each of whom cooked, tended sails, stood watch (including the dreaded 2 AM-4 AM “dog” watch), navigated and “drove” the boat, encountered whales, false killer whales, “real” killer whales, sea lions, harbor porpoises, pelicans, a giant ocean sunfish, and flying fish too numerous to count. Mike also enjoyed the absolute flat, mirror like waters of the North Pacific high region with several afternoon swims in a “large 15,000 foot deep pool located 1,000 miles from any land” and provided some entertainment with his limited ukulele skills. As seen in the photo, Molloy was well represented at the half way point some 1,250 miles at sea with Mike sporting his AMHS track alumni cap and alumni sport shirt.

Archbishop Molloy High School shares its thoughts and prayers with the family, friends, and loved ones of Bernard Tansey ’45, who passed away on September 17th. During his time as a student at St. Ann’s Academy, and as a parent and grandfather to generations of fellow Stanners, Bernard was a shining example of our school motto “Not for school but for life” as a loving family man, and dedicated and generous alumni. “Bernie” was an outstanding student-athlete consistently atop the Honor Roll, letterman in Baseball, and Basketball where, as Captain, he led the Stanners to an impressive 19-9 record as the #2 scorer during his senior year. Bernard instilled his love for St. Ann’s and Molloy in his sons Matthew ’73 and Andrew ’77, and grandchildren Sarah ’06, Emily ’09, and Arthur ’12.

To honor the memory of Bernard, the Tansey Family has requested in lieu of flowers that gifts be made to Archbishop Molloy High School. Gifts in memory of Bernard will directly impact the programs and services at Molloy that he cherished so deeply and supported throughout his life. Donations in memory of Bernard Tansey ’45 should be made out to (Checks and Money Orders should mark in the memo section: In Memory of Bernard Tansey):

Archbishop Molloy High School
Stanner Alumni Center
83-53 Manton Street
Briarwood, NY 11435

For further information regarding how to make a memorial gift, please contact the Stanner Alumni Center at 718.441.9210, email Alumni Development Director Craig Katinas ’93 at ckatinas@molloyhs.org, or go online to www.molloyhs.org/donate – Click on the “Gift Dedication” section and provide all requested information. Please continue to keep the Tansey family in your thoughts and prayers.

After 52 years of marriage, Margaret Feeney, mother of Jim ’82 and John ’87, died peacefully in her husband Jim’s arms on the morning of Saturday September 21, 2013. Native of Glenmore, Crossmolina, County Mayo, Ireland. Beloved wife of James Feeney. Devoted mother and mother-in-law to Jimmy & Caroline, John & Liz, and Joanne & Terence Rooney. Loving sister to Vera Murphy, Evelyn Crehan and Seamus Lynott. Sadly, Margaret was predeceased by sisters Bridie Lynott, Nancy Hoban, and Kathleen Lynott. Devoted grandmother to 10 wonderful grandchildren. After living in Middle Village, New York for 46 years, Margaret moved to Fairfield Connecticut in January 2011. Margaret was a proud member of the Mayo Society for many years. Please keep the Feeney family in your prayers.