csaa alumni association newsletter issue # t cathedral …csaa-national.org/2014newsltr.pdf ·...

CSAA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER Issue #

steviethethinke [email protected],

The

Cathedral

Herald

Cathedral School Alumni

Association, USA

April, 2014

2nd Quarter

LET’S CONTINUE TO SUPPORT OUR ALMA MATER 3RD EDITION

Contact: Cathedral School Alumni Assoc.

P. O. Box 250717, Columbia University Station New York, NY 10025

Website: www.csaa-national.org

________________________________

Cathedral School Oath There’s a school we know filled with boys

and girls, To God’s glory ever be;

It’s the same old school that we’ll faithful be And to whom our praises ring.

Refrain Cathedral School, Cathedral School, For a better world, Cathedral School.

May your glory all may see And to you we loyal be

Cathedral School, Cathedral School, May the world you build, be ever free And your peace may grow and grow And the World see what we know.

Now the time has come

It’s our destiny as we face a troubled world; May the love we instill carry to God

And we’ll be faithful to His call. Refrain

Contents 2 Editorial

2 Greetings from the President

3 CSAA National Officers 2013/2015

3 The NY / NJ 2013 Convention

5 Revitalizing Cathedral School

6 Cathedral School Basketball Project

6 Cathedral School Computer Lab

7 New York Metro Chapter: Archbishop Michael K. Francis Awards

8 Sr. Rose Gabriel Scholarship Report

8 Educational Foundation Report

9 Membership Dues Paid

10 NY/NJ Convention Report

10 National Financial Report

11 2014 Convention: Tri-State Chapter

11 Chapter Update: Tri-State

12 In Memory Of

CSAA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER | Issue # 2

2

EDITORIAL

Dear Alumni and Friends,

Happy New Year to each and everyone!

Welcome to the 3rd issue of our newsletter, The Cathedral Herald.

We hope these newsletters provide open publication of events and news happening in the Cathedral Alumni Association that further allows you to continue your support towards the many efforts we are part of at Cathedral Catholic School. Can you believe we are going on 19 years of support for our beloved Cathedral Catholic School? We have had many success stories over the years, but members, we still have a lot of work ahead of us. Let us continue to support our Cathedral School as well as continue to empower our students for future success! We have many stories to share in this newsletter as well as successful financial reports. We thank you for all your generous support to continue to help make our goals complete. May God continue to bless you and your families, and we look forward to seeing you for the 2014 Convention! Tanya Debblay-Burrell

Greetings from the President

CATS,

I greet you in the name of God who strengthens us. My profound thanks and appreciation is to all for entrusting me to serve as the National President of the Cathedral School Alumni Association (CSAA). I am so honored and deeply humbled. Our organization has come a long way over the years. Every member must be proud to be part of CSAA. We have stood the test of time and we have delivered in the midst of adversities. We can boast that we are one of the best and most productive Alumni Associations of any school in Liberia.

Today we find ourselves faced with new challenges and tasks, just how we have striven over the years, I am very hopeful that come what may we will continue to support Cathedral Catholic School in Monrovia, Liberia.

I am very fortunate to be leading CSAA at this particular time because I am surrounded by very qualified and highly committed individuals who bring game changing ideas to the table to effect a positive change in the mission and goals of this organization. I have no doubt that working together we can far exceed our previous achievements.

As we look forward to a new term, I want to encourage all to put CSAA first; there may not always be consensus but if we can hold to our commonalities and work around our differences, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. Let us remember God/Allah in everything we do for blessing us so much.

Let us allow our learning and values instilled in us at CCHS to lead us in everything we do, and as our school ode says, “Now the time has come It’s our destiny as we face a troubled world; May the love we instill carry to God And we’ll be faithful to His call.”

Charles Dennis


3

CSAA NATIONAL OFFICERS 2013 – 2015

National President Charles Dennis

Executive Vice President Theola Gibson-Hansford

Vice President for Membership George Okyne

Secretary Mouna Fahs

Treasurer Joyce Sakor

Financial Secretary Tanya D-Burrell

Chaplain Father Urey P. Mark, SVD

NY / NJ 2013 Convention

CSAA had another successful Convention in August 2013, hosted by the NY/NJ Chapter. We give many thanks to the members of the chapter

for their diligence and efforts to making the convention a success! We also give thanks to the

keynote speaker Mr. Willie A. Givens.

We encourage all members to continue to support our yearly convention and come out and

have a good time!


4

Please visit the Cathedral Alumni Association websites for more pictures

Website: www.csaa-national.org

Facebook: Cathedral School Alumni Association, Inc


5

Revitalizing Cathedral Catholic School

Multiple projects are in place to renovate and revitalize Cathedral School.

Cathedral Parish next door to the school is constructing a building (almost completed) that goes two floors above the High School building. Then the CES could construct on top of the existing High School building to serve as additional classrooms and offices for the School as well as offices for the CES. The Alumni Association will be keeping close tabs on the project to see what role we can play in this vast improvement to our alma mater.

Several years ago, the CSEF donated 4 coolers to the school. They are still available and being used. The constant supply of safe drinking water is cost-intensive, however. Fifty gallons of water are supplied every school day at the cost of US $10 a day. To help meet this demand, the CSEF has pledged to send $2,000 annually until running water is restored to Snapper Hill.

Additionally, Cathedral's Science Lab has been refurbished to serve as a demonstration lab for the schools of the Archdiocese. With the help of the CSEF, the Archdiocese was able to equip four labs and provide training through the Peace Corps for the science teachers of the Archdiocese's 57 schools. Now the faculty is in a better position to instruct their students in the very important STEM subjects (Science/Technology/ Engineering/Math). Thanks to Cianna Cooper for working with Father Varfee and Carolina Biological to make this happen. CSSA has partnered with the Secretariat for this effort and secured approximately $11k of supplies from the Carolina Biological Supply Co. in NC.

And as you can see on page 8, we continue to provide scholarships through the Sister Rose Gabriel Scholarship Program. Thanks to strengthened criteria and expectations, our scholarship students are showing their appreciation through their hard work and good grades.


6

Cathedral School Computer Lab

The Cathedral Catholic School Computer labs have been upgraded with the acquisition of 35 new computers purchased by Father Sumo-Varfee Molubah, the Secretary of Education of the Monrovia Archdiocese. Additional 20-25 computers were donated by the Q Foundation of Charlotte, NC. We are working on reimaging them and will ship them to the school in the coming months. This is a great accomplishment, as the computer labs were in need of updated computers for the students. Besides the hardware, the environment of the lab is being improved to make sure the computers remain in working condition.

Cathedral School Basketball Project

The basketball Court Renovation Project is about to become a reality. To jumpstart the effort, two rims have been purchased and shipped to the country and a contractor has been contacted to undertake the renovation. Though we were able to raise nearly $5000 to fund the project, we are still short of our goal. Here’s your chance to be part of the renovation: Anyone who makes at least $100 tax-deductable contribution will have his/her name added to the plaque that will be placed near the court. Don’t you want your family and friends to see that you cared enough about your alma mater to make this sort of contribution? Make a sacrifice now for the kids at Cathedral and send $100 (or more) from your tax refund or other means. You can do this by contacting Steve Tolbert at [email protected] or simply sending your check or money order (payable to Cathedral School Educational Foundation) to CSEF, P. O. Box 250717, Columbia University Station, New York, NY 10025.

We greatly appreciate your support!

mailto:[email protected]


7

New York Metro Chapter: Archbishop Michael K. Francis

Awards

The CSAA New York Metro Chapter celebrated its 4th Annual Archbishop Michael K. Francis Achievement Awards Dinner, honoring the legacy of His Grace, in grand style as usual. The annual fundraising gala, normally held in September, was held on November 2, 2013 at its usual venue, The Pines Manor, in Edison, NJ.

The evening was filled with dancing, an entertaining fashion show. and of course the presentation of awards to: Gebah & Maudeline Swaray (Music), Saran Kaba Jones (Humanitarianism), and Wayétu Moore (Writing). The Archbishop Lifetime Achievement Award was also presented to the former US Representative of Rhode Island, Hon. Patrick J. Kennedy II, who only missed the affair due to a family emergency.

Also present among the 150+ guests was the newly elected CSAA National President, Mr. Charles Dennis, who not only brought remarks but surprised the long-standing Cathedral School Educational Foundation Treasurer, Dr. Seah Dennis-Myers, with a bouquet of flowers for her dedicated service.

The occasion was not only successful but one of the best in the short history of the Annual Archbishop Awards. As indicated by Virginia Hesel, a guest from Friends of Liberia (past recipient of the Archbishop Awards), the event was “of exceptional and lively interest” for the FOL membership. Thanks to the tremendous support from our sponsors, patrons, donors and guests, the signature event generated a net profit of $6,340, which was given to the Cathedral School Educational Foundation, the beneficiary of the Archbishop Michael K. Francis Achievement Awards. Many thanks to everyone, and we look forward to seeing you at our 5th anniversary celebration, which is back on the last Saturday of September 2014.

Steve Tolbert


8

Sr. Rose Gabriel Scholarship End- of-Semester One Report for

2013/2014

Below is a list of Cathedral School scholarship recipients. We are proud of our students and want to ensure we share these successes with alumni. Line Name of

Beneficiary Class Sem. I

Average

1. Sankully Welah 2 80.3

2. Ellen Robertson 3 89.6

3. William L. Clarke 3 75.8

5. Diana Christopher 4 83.0

6. Jewel Nyenpan 4 85.8

7. Theophilus When-Yehn

4 84.8

8. Emma Mator 4 82.5

9. Margaret Quartey 4 81.3

10. Gaius Dukuily 5 85.5

11. Raphael Allison 8 80

12. Annie King 8 77

13. Edwin Sarpolucia 9 78.2

14. Bangali Keita 10 82.5

16. Patrick Sekey 10 80

17. RoulinceDukuly 10 83.9

18. Emmanuel Sherman 11 79

19. Tahirou Jalloh 11 86

20. ChinyereOnudogo 12 83

21. Princess Dardee 4 82.3

22. Angeline Clerke 7 85

23. Diana Quire 6 79

24. Solomon Julius 3 87.6

25. Patience Ogwuch 7 86.4

26. Adophus A. Chinton 9 85.6

27. Mariah Harsay 8 82.3

28. Delight Kawah 8 91

29. Roland Jones 10 82.8

30. Momo Joejoe 10 78.8

31. Jametta Sando 6 94

32. Amelia Kamara 5 78.8

33. Sovereign Wleh 7 87.8

34. Godina Brathwaite 4 89.7

35. Albertine Somah 3 93

Education Foundation Report


9

Membership Dues Paid 2013



Thank you members for paying your dues and helping us achieve the many projects at hand at our

alma mater NY / NJ 2013 Convention Report


10

Cathedral National Financial Report 2013


11

2014 Convention: Tri-State Chapter

The Tri-State Chapter in Philadelphia Pennsylvania will be hosting the 2014 Yearly

Convention.

Let us support our 2014 Convention by coming out and enjoying the events and activities

planned.

The Convention will be held from August 1st to August 3rd 2014. More information to come!

Chapter Update: Tri-State Chapter Gala

The CSAA Tri-State Chapter hosted a Valentine /

Spring Ball April 5th 2014.

We want to thank all those who attended and supported this event and look forward to more

fundraising events from other chapters.


12

In Memory Of

The CATS Kingdom has been hit with deep loss.

On behalf of the Cathedral School Alumni Association, we would like to take this time to give our deepest sympathies to all our families

who have lost a beloved one.

csaa alumni association newsletter issue # t cathedral …csaa-national.org/2014newsltr.pdf ·...

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