our lady of fatima parish school alumni newsletter summer 2012
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Vol. 2, Issue 1TRANSCRIPT
OUR LADY OF FATIMA PARISH SCHOOL
Alumna Marie Manilla, ’72
talks about her Fatima roots and her first novel, Shrapnel Plus Blue Knights Go Green 2012 Graduation
Summer 2012 Vol. 2, Issue 1
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Features
Pastor Fr. James M. Sobus
Principal
Jeff Jackson
Our Lady of Fatima Parish School Newsletter
is distributed twice a year by:
Our Lady of Fatima
Parish School Alumni Association 535 Norway Avenue
Huntington, WV 25705 [email protected]
Vol. 2, Issue 1 Summer 2012
2012 Graduation2012 Graduation2012 Graduation
13 students added to
Alumni Association
Blue Knights Blue Knights Blue Knights Go GreenGo GreenGo Green
An interview with writer
Marie Manilla, ‘72
Fatima recognized for green efforts
An Open BookAn Open BookAn Open Book
Departments
School News 9
Athletics 12
Memories 14
10
4
6
O ur Lady of Fatima Parish School celebrated the school’s 57th commencement
ceremony on May 23, 2012. Our Lady of Fatima’s Alumni community grew by
13 members with the graduation of the Class of 2012. The event was a beautiful
reflection of the spirit and mission of our school.
We congratulate the Class of 2012 on all of their accomplishments and wish them well
in their future endeavors.
Dean Edwin Cornell
John Paul Figler
Benjamin Ivan Haikal
Jeffrey Daniel Jackson
Isabella Winifred Grace Mayes
Edward Maxwell McGee
Bryce Stafford Parker
Mary Kelci Parker
Mary Louise Piaskowski
Robert Joseph Reynolds II
Haillie Alexandra Runyon
Annabelle Marie Treacy
Lauren Elise Vega
GRADUATION GRADUATION GRADUATION 201220122012
4 ∣ Summer 2012
Mary Piaskowski 2012 Class Valedictorian
5 ∣ Summer 2012
When did you graduate from Our Lady of Fatima? I was the last of the five Manilla children to attend Fatima. My older siblings are Chuck, Steve, Chris, and Phil. I graduated eighth grade in 1972.
Where did you go to high school? St. Joe’s. My father also graduated from there in about 1942. We had the same science teacher: Sr. Juliana.
Where did you attend college and what was your major? I earned a BFA from WVU in graphic de-sign, an MA in English from Marshall, and an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Did you have a career other than writing? My first job was as a cook at Frostop Drive-In
during high school, and I have the burn scars on my arms to prove it. My first post-college job was as a graphic artist for Exxon in Houston, Texas where I worked for seven years. Since earning my English degrees I have been teaching off and on at Marshall.
Did you have a favorite teacher and subject while at Fatima? Mrs. Lamb, who taught sixth grade English, was my favor-ite teacher. We butted heads a few times, but I like to think it’s because she saw a potential in me that I didn’t yet see in myself. Though I didn’t feel the call to be a writer until decades later, it was while reading and writing stories in her class that I began to understand the funda-mentals of storytelling.
An Open Book
Marie Manilla, Class of ‘72
6 ∣ Summer 2012
What stories from Fatima are most memorable to you or contributed to who you are now?
I learned much more than reading, writing, arithmetic, and catechism at Fatima. I learned about social justice, racial equality, and how to be an engaged citizen of the world.
One of my earliest and most profound Fatima memories occurred when the student body was called to the basement cafeteria sometime in 1964. We watched a news clip about Kitty Genovese, the women who had been murdered outside her New York apartment while her cries for help went unanswered by local residents. Some might consider this too harsh a subject for a first grader, but I have never forgotten it. Throughout my life I have offered help to people and animals in crisis because of the lesson I learned at that delicate age.
During my Fatima years the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing, and the nuns quietly expanded our social awareness. One year an African American classmate was having a party at her house. Our teacher, Sister Anita, quietly went to various children to make sure we were attending—and several of us had already planned to—but it was a gracious and just act that has stayed with me. I also remember the day Paula Pendleton came home with me after school. I think I knew even then that some of my neighbors would be less than thrilled to see a black child on their turf. Paula and I just looped arms and paraded down the street singing: “We shall overcome!” I’m also proud to be a member of the first class to elect an African American May Queen, Donna Congleton, who made a beautiful queen indeed.
When did you discover you wanted to be a writer? What inspired you to write a book? Though I always loved reading, it became an obsession in my twenties, particularly short stories. I vividly remember the day I finished reading a story in a magazine and I smugly thought: Well, I can write a story at least as good as this. So I wrote one story, then another, and another, and that’s all it took to send me down a completely different career path. Of course I had to swallow a gigantic dose of humility when I started collecting rejection slips, but after studying the craft and honing my skills, I began getting stories published, and many of them are collected in Still Life with Plums, which West Virginia University Press published in 2010. After a decade of writing short stories almost exclusively, I began writing novels because I needed a larger world to tackle the issues I wanted to explore.
7 ∣ Summer 2012
Tell me about your novel, Shrapnel, which won the Fred Bonnie Award for Best First Novel, and will be published this August. Like most West Virginians I am sensitive to the ways we are misunderstood by the outside world. I wanted to explore what would happen if a character from Texas moved to West Virginia with all those stereotypes in place, and then watch his reaction when he is confronted by the reality, the diversity, the harshness, and the beauty that is West Virginia. Shrapnel, which is set in 2002 right before the U.S. invaded Iraq, also examines the legacy of war in three generations of the same family. Bing Butler is a WWII veteran who bullied his son into going to Vietnam. Now Bing’s grandson wants to enlist, but Bing is no longer certain if he can send a loved one off to perhaps a tragic fate. Shrapnel is also set in Huntington, so I got to draw upon a very familiar landscape.
Are you presently working on any new projects?
I just finished a novel called The Patron Saint of Ugly, which will be published by Houghton Mifflin in Spring 2014. It’s about a woman covered in port wine birthmarks who is being investigated by the
Vatican because she may or may not be able to perform miracles. The novel is filled with both humor
and tragedy, but it’s also a spiritual journey for my main character who loses, then reclaims, her faith.
I drew heavily upon my Italian-American, and Catholic/Fatima roots in this novel. And though it’s
set in a fictional West Virginia town, I was envisioning the Walnut Hills and Gallaher Village areas of
Huntington where I grew up.
Who is your favorite author? What is your favorite book? Are you reading anything now? I can’t pick just one author or book, so I’ll list several writers whose collective works have taught me
so much about craft: Ernest Hemingway, Anton Chekhov, and Raymond Carver taught me about
economy of language. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Salman Rushdie, and Sandra Cisneros taught me
about magic. Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, and Carson McCullers taught me about humor.
Currently I’m reading the stories of West Virginia writer Breece Pancake, plus the fabulous debut
thriller by another Fatima graduate, Flowertown by Sheila Redling.
Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers? Read-read-read. Write-write-write. Revise-revise-revise. FINISH SOMETHING! Rinse and repeat.
How do you spend your free time? I grow a vegetable garden every year that the squirrels, slugs, and birds seem to enjoy. I do a lot of dog
walking, which is also when I solve writing problems. I also love to paint and draw. There’s something
restorative about having another art to go to when the writing just isn’t going well.
Learn more about Marie’s writing and art at www.mariemanilla.com. There will be a launch party for Marie Manilla’s novel Shrapnel at Empire Books in Huntington, Friday. September 14th from 6:00pm – 9:00pm. Wine, noshes, and music provided. Everyone welcome!
8 ∣ Summer 2012
Cabell County Reading Council Creative Writing Contest
Our Lady of Fatima Parish School stu-dents in grades 4 through 8 participated in the 2012 Cabell County Reading Council Creative Writing Contest. Fatima students won first place in four individual grade lev-el competitions in the Prose Division and one individual grade level competition in the Poetry Division. Overall, 13 students from the school captured 15 total awards.
2012 Math Field Day Our Lady of Fatima Parish School stu-
dents competed with approximately 200 students from every school in Cabell Coun-ty at the annual Math Field Day competi-tion held in February 2012.
Fatima students won first place in the fourth and sixth grade individual and team competitions, placed second in the seventh and eighth grade individual competitions, and placed third in the sixth grade individ-ual division. Fourth grader Christopher Si-moni went on to win the regionals, which sent him to the state competition where he placed 4th in the state.
2012 Lumen Christi Awards Eighth grade students John Paul Figler,
Mary Piaskowski, Annabelle Treacy, and Bryce Parker were each presented with the Lumen Christi Award during graduation ceremonies in May.
The award (Latin for “Light of Christ”) was presented by Fr. Sobus to recognize those students who have opened their hearts to God through their spiritual, ser-vice, and academic behavior. The 2011 - 2012 school year marked the 2nd annual Lumen Christi Awards given by Our Lady of Fatima Parish School.
9 ∣ Summer 2012
Chess Club Competition Over 30 students gathered for friendly
competition in the Our Lady of Fatima Parish School Chess Club during the 2011 – 2012 school year. Three Fatima students also attended the United States Chess Fed-eration National Elementary Tournament in Nashville Tennessee in May and compet-ed against 300 students and 42 different schools in their section. Congratulations to our students who are learning to master this game of skill and strategy.
Choir Receives Superior Rating Our Lady of Fatima Parish School Choir
placed first with a rating of “superior” in the middle school I-A division at the Music in the Parks Competition sponsored by Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Schools from West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee participated in the contest.
O ur Lady of Fatima Parish School was
recently recognized as an inaugu-
ral West Virginia Sustainable School
and was nominated for the U. S. Green Rib-
bon School Award, which recognizes sound
environmental practices.
Environmental and sustainability educa-
tion is integrated into Fatima’s science, so-
cial studies and health curricula at all grade
levels. Students, parents and parishioners
support a culture of conservation and stew-
ardship in partnership with community or-
ganizations. All students learn the motto
“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” and discuss how
small changes in daily decisions such as
showering, to packing lunches, and to recy-
cling can all significantly impact the environ-
ment in a substantial way.
10 ∣ Summer 2012
In terms of environmental impact and
energy efficiency, Fatima's strength is in its
many recycling and reuse activities en-
gaging students, staff, parents and busi-
nesses. The staff at Fatima coordinates pro-
jects such as uniform exchanges while mid-
dle school students volunteer collecting re-
cyclables at weekly drop offs and organize
materials for pick up by Goodwill, which col-
lected 6,805 pounds of recyclable material
in a six month period. Parent volunteers or-
ganize the Green School Project and St.
Jude's Card where students prepare Christ-
mas cards to be recycled for St. Jude's Chil-
dren's Ranch. Several classrooms collect
gently used books for the Marshall University
School of Medicine Pediatric Rural Health
Initiative, hold used toy sales to raise funds
for community outreach, and promote coat
drives for community organizations.
Further, the school recycles cell phones
and ink and toner cartridges from school
families, parishioners, and businesses. Pro-
ceeds are reinvested to engage elementary
students in a composting project, to pur-
chase eco-friendlier disposable products
when feasible, decreasing the use of
Styrofoam and using recycled products
when possible.
Reusable water bottles were provided to
players and volunteers at the 2012 Catholic
School’s Week basketball tournament held
in the school gym. Washable reusable gro-
cery bags were recently sold to families with
proceeds to be used for environment/ sus-
tainability projects. Donations of used books
to the school library and to community pro-
jects reduce landfill waste as does the
school's rummage sale.
Projects in development include working
with a landscape gardener to address issues
of run off and exploring a partnership with
the Huntington Community Garden for use of
compostable material. Overall, much has
been accomplished with many new arenas
to explore as well.
“We, at Our Lady of Fatima Parish
School, believe, live and teach the truth
that Planet Earth is a Gift that has
been entrusted to us by our Creator. As
grateful stewards of this tremendous
Gift, it is our job to treat and care for it
as our home.”
-Fr. Jim, Parish School Pastor
11 ∣ Summer 2012
T he school motto rings true: “Our La-
dy of Fatima Parish School, where
faith, learning, and service have no
limits.” Fatima will indeed always be a place
with limitless possibilities, and the sports pro-
gram is certainly no exception. The 2011-2012
school year presented itself with multiple ath-
letic achievements, with everything from posi-
tive attitudes to state championships.
Fatima had its priorities straight from the
beginning of the year. In fact, some veterans of
the school sports’ teams agree that Fatima has
superb sportsmanship, energy, and support.
Elizabeth Mayes, alumni of the girls’ basket-
ball, soccer, and cheerleading team, said, “I was
taught at Fatima that no matter how good an
athlete you are, it’s always the heart that
counts. Try your hardest, even when it hurts,
and you’ll leave with no regrets.” Rachele Su-
bik, alumni of the tennis and basketball team,
commented, “Everyone is always supportive
and makes all the players feel great no matter
if they win or lose.” It can’t be denied that OL-
OF has its head on straight when it comes to
the attitude of their sports.
Article by Sarah Bryan
12 ∣ Summer 2012
These principles definitely paid off, too! In
the Catholic Schools Week Basketball Tourna-
ment, we had several winners. Not only was
there great school spirit and energy on and off
the court, the boys’ team won first place for the
entire tournament! Furthermore, Ben Haikal
received the MVP award, and Isabella Mayes,
Grant Subik, and Casey Colquitt all got Tourna-
ment Team. In addition to the tournament,
Rachele Subik won the tennis state champion-
ship! She also received this award as a fresh-
man at Huntington High School, which is prac-
tically unheard of. “I proved to myself that
hard work and dedication truly pay off.” And
she isn’t finished yet! She’s told us that she
plans to claim more state titles in the future, as
well.
This great number of accomplishments
wouldn’t have even been possible without all
the help that the sports teams received. Eliza-
beth Mayes completely agrees: “All the coaches
are so encouraging; they really push you to try
your best.” Rachele Subik observed, “All the
basketball games and tennis meets were so or-
ganized this year. Everyone got along, and all
the teammates made sure that everybody gave
one hundred percent on the court.” Also, there
were so many parent volunteers! Lee Ann Par-
ker and Mrs. Elizabeth Mayes put together the
Catholic Schools Week Basketball Tournament.
Susan Subik congratulates them on a job well
done, and also said that many parents were in-
volved as well as many parishioners, who gen-
erously donated food. Susan herself is a very
dedicated volunteer for Fatima’s sports teams.
She is team mom for the tennis team and was
involved with the boys’ basketball program for
the first time this year by helping with conces-
sions, tickets, and the Catholic Schools Week
Tournament. It’s easy to say that Susan is pas-
sionate for Fatima sports: “Sports have always
been viewed secondary to academics and mu-
sic; sports need to be addressed in a more posi-
tive light.”
Mrs. Subik along with many others, believes
that the sports department will thrive as Jim
Treacy becomes the athletic director of Fatima
this upcoming year. There are a lot of very op-
timistic views on this new establishment, espe-
cially since he is an alumnus of Fatima himself.
Moreover, his children attend Fatima; so, it’s
easy to say that Jim is very intertwined within
the parish school, and the sports department
will undoubtedly flourish this upcoming school
year.
This past year, Fatima surely had multiple
athletic achievements from the stands to the
court and from the teammates to the coaches.
Fatima as a whole is a very accomplished
school, and the successful sports teams only
made Fatima’s light shine even brighter!
“I proved to myself that hard work
and dedication truly pay off.”
-Rachele Subik, ‘11
13 ∣ Summer 2012
MEMORIES
14 ∣ Summer 2012
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17 ∣ Summer 2012
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18 ∣ Summer 2012
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19 ∣ Summer 2012
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