Faculty/Staff News
Diane Andraka (Science) received a Masters of Art in Science Education from Western Governors University. She will be attending a ChemEd conference at the University of Guelph (Ontario). It is the largest conference for educators teaching high school chemistry in North America and she is looking forward to attending demos, labs, and workshops and meeting other Chemistry teachers.
Caroline Becker (Religious Studies), attended EduCon 2023 conf at SLA here in Philly and completed certification in Youth Mental Health and First Aid through the SpeakUp organization.
Becker also joined Andy Cavacos (Principal), Kevin Hensler (Religious Studies), and Jason Zazyczny ’90 (History) at the St. Albert Initiative at the Prep on March 25. At this session, noted scientists discussed how they merge their faith and science.
Mr. Cavacos and his wife Karen happily celebrate their daughter Sarah, who will graduate from the University of Notre Dame in May with a degree in Chemical Engineering.
Tony Braithwaite ’89 (Dramatics, Marketing/Communications) recently directed and starred in “Mistakes Were Made” at Ambler’s Act II Playhouse, where he is heading into his 12th year as Artistic Director. The show was essentially a 75-minute monologue for Braithwaite as Felix Artifex, a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer whose theatrical credits are punchlines: Florence Henderson as Medea, Jamie Farr in Death of a Salesman, etc. Through most of the show Braithwaite’s character works the phone attempting to save from imminent collapse his most ambitious project ever: an epic new play about the French Revolution called “Mistakes Were Made.” Cape and Sword alumnae Renee McFillin and Laura Mancano joined Braithwaite; McFillen played Felix’s harried secretary, and Mancano was puppeteer for Felix’s only confidant: a large goldfish named Denise.
Bill Conners ’80 (History) has been accepted into the Library of Congress “Teaching with Primary Sources” workshop in Washington, DC and the NEH Seminar, “Echoes of History: Mistreatment and Incarceration in the American West” in Cody, WY.
Tanika DiGiovanni (History) has been accepted into Envision’s Oxbridge Teacher Seminars at Oxford University, UK
Bill Conners ’80 will participate in the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation’s NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture “Echoes of History: Mistreatment and Incarceration in the American West Educator Workshop Session II” from Sunday, July 23-Friday, July 28. This program places the Japanese American incarceration during World War II in the context of the mistreatment of different ethnic and ideological groups in the American West from the founding of the United States. This includes the systematic elimination of indigenous cultures, the racism against Asian immigrants and the oppression of German immigrants in Montana during World War I.
Kamala Brown (Facilities) is starting the Saint Joseph’s University Executive MBA program this summer with a concentration on Organizational Leadership.
Bill Conners ’80 (History) will participate in the Library of Congress “Teaching with Primary Sources” workshop, scheduled for July 17-19.
Dan DiBerardinis (Athletics) and Bryan Ghee (Athletics/Student Life) and attended the Jesuit School Network (JSN) Ignatian Colleagues gathering for co-curriculars and student life in Dallas, Tex., March 28-31.
Mr. DiBerardinis oversaw the Philadelphia Catholic League basketball championships at the Palestra, which had higher attendance than all but seven conferences’ men’s basketball championships. In addition, he has collaborated with the Philadelphia Department of Recreation to train lifeguards at the Prep.
Mr. Ghee has also received a certificate in Ignatian Leadership, and in Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm. He and his wife Colleen are expecting their second child.
Caitlin Geraghty (Learning Services) and Rory O’Connor were married in the Church of the Gesu in September. We congratulate them and wish them the blessing of a happy marriage (even if Rory is a graduate of the Haverford School!).
Joseph Dougherty (Human Resources) graduated from Saint Joseph’s University in the fall with a Master’s in Leadership and Organizational Development with a concentration in DEI.
Several members of the Prep Faculty/Staff showed their support of the Junior Class on the day of their Ring Mass by wearing their class rings
Bill Kuncken (Religious Studies) will reach a professional milestone this summer: his first published work! His paper, “Detachment, Vulnerability, Temptation, and Learning from Failure: Major Themes in Meister Eckhart’s The Talks of Instruction” will be included in Medieval Mystical Theology’s Summer 2023 Issue (the International Journal for the Eckhart Society).
Mr. Kuncken also presented at an International Conference in Davenport, IA celebrating ten years of the Holy Father’s pontificate. He organized a panel around Forging a Friendship with Nature: Pope Francis’s Language of Love in Laudato si’.
Kat Lee (Fine Arts) and partner Kyle Psulkowski celebrated the birth of their first child, Woods Dahbin Psulkowski. Ms. Lee is attending the NAEA (National Art Educators Association) conference in San Antonio, TX and is the recipient of the group’s 2023 ISAE Independent School Art Educators Award.
Dino Pinto (Religious Studies/Mountain Biking) attended a workshop on teaching philosophy in HS through the Plato Institute. He also completed Wilderness First Aid weekend training and completed L-3 Coaching certification through the National Interscholastic Cycling Association.
Megan Russell P ’20 (Marketing/Communications) and Bill Avington ’90, P ’18 ’20 attended the annual CUPRAP Spring Conference in Lancaster. CUPRAP is an organization of communications and marketing professionals in education. At the conference, the Prep was honored with a CUPPIE Award for the communications plan around the Gun Buyback Program that the school did in conjunction with Gesu School and Girard College.
Bethany Weed (History) has been accepted into the National Council for Geographic Education’s GeoCamp Amazon in Peru
Leo Vaccaro ’05 (History) has been accepted into the NEH Seminar, “Saipan’s Land and Sea: Battle Scars & Sites of Resilience” in Saipan, Northern Marianas
