02 GivinG Across the GenerAtions 03 introducinG our newest BoArd MeMBers NEWSLETTER - FALL 2022 IN THIS ISSUE... 04 students Apply 21st century skills in AcAdeMic & co curriculAr pursuits 08 clAss notes
One of three children, Gerry Zaro ’46 Johnson was raised in San Jose by Croatian immigrants. She remembers her older sister, Marie Zaro ’42 Schmitt, working in the Notre Dame kitchen and doing janitorial work to help pay for her tuition. When it came time for Gerry to attend ND, it was the generosity of a parishioner at St. Joseph’s that made it possible. She cherishes memories of classes taught by extraordinary teachers, almost all of whom were Sisters of Notre Dame, and a strong sense of sisterhood that continues today. Gerry excelled in math, loved history and took business classes to gain a better understanding of her job at Sears, where she started at only 14 years of age. The classes and retail experience were helpful when she and her husband opened a children‘s clothing store in San Luis Obispo and with her extensive community and nonprofit work over the years.
“Many of us have families and kids in private schools who are playing expensive club sports and getting driver‘s licenses. Life is just expensive, but planned giving is giving back after we‘re gone,” she said. “Planned giving is a great way to give back to Notre Dame without giving cash today. And for those that don‘t have children that need your financial support, think outside the box – there are other options like naming Notre Dame as a beneficiary on your life insurance policy.” G A cross the G ener Ations
“Without the generosity of that St. Joseph’s parishioner, I might not have been able to attend Notre Dame,” said Gerry who, in addition to including Notre Dame in her estate plan, has supported tuition assistance for more than 30 years. “I have always been thankful for my scholarship and believe anyone who wants to attend Notre Dame and is willing to work hard, should be able to. I believe in paying it forward.”
Gerry Zaro ‘46 Johnson Susie Peralez ’00 Pernsteiner, her husband, Jerad & daughter, Julissa Have questions?
Want to learn more about how to support Notre Dame through your estate plan? Contact Marilou Figone ’60 Cristina, development and alum relations, at mcristina@ndsj.org or 408.293.1113 ext. 2189
G ivin
They may be generations apart, but two Notre Dame alums find themselves on the same inspiring path to supporting their alma mater through planned giving.
Fast-forward 50 years to Susie Peralez ’00 Pernsteiner, who also grew up in San Jose, one of six children. She also remembers amazing teachers, classes in the mansion and strong friendships that continue today. “Ms. Garcia (Susana) was in her first year working part-time and I remember her as a role model,” Susie said. “ND teachers really care and, because of them, we are the women we are today.”
After graduating from the University of Portland, Susie worked in telecom and currently works for Above & Beyond Hydroseed. She and her husband, Jerad, decided to include Notre Dame in their estate plan, and she feels good about supporting Notre Dame while also balancing the financial demands of raising a family.
Head of School’s Message
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Dear Notre Dame Community, With excitement, we launched our 2022-2023 school year, the 172nd year of Notre Dame education in San Jose! I look forward to every precious moment of this year as I walk toward my retirement in June 2023 after 37 incredible, life-giving years serving the mission and students of Notre Dame! I recently shared a letter with the Notre Dame community about my plans, assuring all that the school is well-positioned for the upcoming leadership transition. The board of directors is strong and, working with a consultant, they having been developing a process and timeline as well as seating a competent, committed hiring committee for the transition. We are in good hands! I am both relieved and ecstatic that we are no longer in pandemic crisis. Yes, we still have protocols that will keep us safe and able to be together. But, yes, we can be together! I look forward to our return to an in-person Women of Impact luncheon on Friday, October 14 where we will be inspired by the work of Dr. Mary Lomax-Ghirarduzzi and Lori Castillo ‘92 Martinez. I hope many of you will be there to support women‘s leadership and Notre Dame San Jose! For all of my dear Notre Dame alum readers, come to the all-alum reunion weekend on October 15 and 16! Spending time with Notre Dame alums brings stories, laughter and tender moments of remembrance. I hope to see many of you come together and celebrate your legacy!
Executive Meet our newest Notre Dame board members! Sister
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Read more about the newest
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on our
Ora et labora, Hail Notre Dame! Mary Beth Riley, Head of School Terry Davis, SNDdeN Jen Hall (Madison ’20), Human Resources Ngoc Nguyen ’94, Real Estate Attorney Rose Que ’82 Lue, Advance Lay Leader, Diocese of San Jose members Notre Dame‘s Board of Directors website at www.ndsj.org/board
Retired
Critical and collaborative thinking, leadership and initiative — 21st century skills necessary for career and life success — are fostered in Notre Dame students, whether those skills are applied through academic or co-curricular endeavors, every day. These students are already the thoughtful, engaged and compassionate community members needed today, and for the future.
At the 2022 Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Engineering Fair, where nearly 800 students presented outstanding and innovative research, Snikitha Bands ’23 was one of 12 students awarded the Grand Prize - Best of Championship Award. Her project is titled “Predicting Survival and Recurrence of Cancer Patients using MIBI Scans in Tumor-Immune Microenvironment.”
irst roBotics deAn’s list
Joyce Yang ’23
Robotics Dean’s List salutes the best of the best, and this year Joyce Yang ’23 is among 10 students in earning this international honor. Each year students from more than 3,800 teams from 34 countries enter the competition, and FIRST Dean’s List winners have attracted the attention of prestigious colleges and universities hoping to recruit these students who exemplify student leadership and have led their teams and communities to increased awareness of FIRST and its mission. These students have also achieved personal technical expertise and accomplishment.
During her freshman and sophomore years, Snikitha participated in Notre Dame‘s Independent Science Research Program, which provides students with an opportunity to experience the rigors and rewards of higher-level scientific research while still in high school.
The FIRST (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology)
Working with a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford‘s Laboratory of Quantitative Imaging and Artificial Intelligence (QIAI), she first-authored a paper that has been accepted into the Nature Communications biology journal. Snikitha was also named a finalist at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world‘s largest international pre-college science competition awarding approximately $4 million in prizes each year.
“Joyce has been instrumental on our team in leading the programming committee and creating documentation of training, design process and team outreach,” shared robotics co-chair Marta Carrillo. Passionate about giving back to her community, Joyce organized the robotics team‘s first Bots for Tots donation drive, collecting toys, canned goods, blankets, sleeping bags, packs of feminine hygiene products, shampoo, bar soap, toothbrushes, and/or toothpaste to provide immediate support to adults and children in our downtown neighborhoods living without basic necessities. Proceeds were donated to San Jose’s Sacred Heart Community Service. Snikitha Banda ’23 ynopsis silicon vAlley science & enGineerinG FAir winner
students Apply 21st century skills
Caminos al Futuro is a fully funded, pre-college and residential summer program offered by the Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute. To be eligible, a student must be a rising senior at a U.S. high school with a high-level of academic achievement and a demonstrated commitment to service and leadership within the Latino/Hispanic community. This year, Malyna Trujillo ’23 was one of only 16 students invited to participate. During the three-week intensive program, Caminos scholars examine the social, economic and political transformations affecting the Hispanic/Latino community in a college-like environment.
Participants get a first-hand view of policymaking in the nation’s capitol with visits to Congress, government agencies and leading non-profits.
“I am honored to have been chosen to participate in this program,” shared Malyna. “It allowed me to meet with national Latino leaders, learn about the injustices my community faces, develop a community action project and find my independence in a city I hope to live in one day. This life-changing experience has inspired me to reflect on my own identity and break down the barriers placed around me as a Latina woman. I recognize that people who look like me aren’t often seen in positions of power in our nation’s capitol, which only gives me more of a reason to pursue my dreams there. Through the Caminos al Futuro program, I gained the skills and inspiration to serve my community as a public servant, and I have also learned the importance of uplifting my community in the process.”
In a program designed to celebrate youth literacy and amplify young voices, Anna Yang ’23 has been named the next Santa Clara County Youth Poet Laureate. Anna was among seven finalists selected by a panel of judges based on criteria ranging from leadership skills to their ability to dig deep for their personal truths. Anna, who will also receive an education scholarship, cofounded Journals of Justice, an online forum that encourages students to advocate through journalism so they can serve, lead and make change in their
cAMinos Al Futuro pArticipAnt
“Ascommunities.YouthPoetLaureate, my purpose is to represent and uplift youth voices through poetry and civic engagement, serving as a poetry ambassador for youth,” shared Anna.
Parnika Chaturvedi ’24 & Anchal Bhardwaj ’24 (pictured on cover)
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Malyna Trujillo ’23
cAliForniA stAte speech & deBAte tournAMent First plAce winners
Anna Yang ’23 sAntA clArA county youth poet lAureAte
“I will create a year-long poetry project to promote poetry in the community, making it a more accessible medium for self-expression and social justice advocacy. The Youth Poet Laureate program has done so much for me, helping me grow into the confident writer that I am. As the next Youth Poet Laureate, I hope to provide this same opportunity for other youth who have a story to share with the world, but don’t yet have the community to lift them into these supportive spaces.”
The California State Speech & Debate Tournament is the culmination of months of preparation and competition for high school students. Parnika Chaturvedi ’24 and Anchal Bhardwaj ’24 earned a first place title in Public Forum Debate, beating out 64 teams from across the state. Public Forum Debate is a team event that advocates or rejects a position posed by the assigned topic which, in this case, was the question of revising Japan’s constitution. The team argued on the pro side, stating that China’s recent aggressive military actions and President Xi’s drive for political strength and legitimacy warrants the need for Japan to revise its constitution to allow Japan to create stronger military capabilities to deter potential Chinese attacks. Their opponents argued that it’s best for Japan to maintain the pacifist/non-combative philosophy of Japan’s constitution in order to preserve peace and stability in this region of Asia.
14th ANNUAL Dr. Mary J. Lomax-Ghirarduzzi VICE PRESIDENT DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION (DEI), FULL PROFESSOR OF COMMUNICATION AT UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC For the past 13 years, Notre Dame San Jose has been celebrating the contributions of women in Silicon Valley at our annual Women of Impact event. Honoring women for their vision, commitment and leadership, the event highlights their important role in our community and provides resources to transform the future through education that prepares young women for engagement and leadership in careers and fields where they are underrepresented. Our fourteenth annual Women of Impact honorees are visionary women leaders who have made a life-long commitment to service. Friday, October 14, 2022 | 11:30am - 1:30pm @ SIGNIA by Hilton San Jose (FORMERLY FAIRMONT HOTEL) Lori Castillo ‘92 Martinez EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF EQUALITY OFFICER AT SALESFORCE BUY YOUR TICKETS TODAY! www.ndsj.org/woi TICKETS AREONSALENOW!
The Women of Impact event offers the Notre Dame community a chance to celebrate changemakers, while raising dollars that create opportunities for Notre Dame students to become changemakers themselves. The event brings greater recognition to the contributions of women leaders and provides models for others to see this potential for their own lives. I‘m honored to be on the WOI team!
SUZANNE ST. JOHN-CRANE CHAIRPERSON, WOMEN OF IMPACT COMMITTEE
Sister MatasciBarbara’52(1)
’11ManlapazAlexandra(5)credits the Santa there-integrateusemanagementalthemandincarceratedbeenthen,justicewithinhealthstudyingherwhichcorrectionaltoherwithPsychologyUniversityClaraCounselingProgramprovidingopportunitiesvisitvariousfacilities,deepenedinterestinmentaltreatmentthecriminalsetting.SinceAlexandrahassupportingyouthadultstohelpimprovetheirhealth,substancedisordersandbackintocommunity.
Berenice Ruiz ’14 (9) started her academic career 23 years ago in a preschool called Kids on Campus at Santa Clara University and earned a bachelor‘s degree in 2018. In June, she crossed the stage and received a Master of Arts in Teaching with a preliminary MultipleSubject Credential.Teaching Varsha Sathappan ’14 (10) is beginning her residency training at UC San Diego after earning her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. In May, she married Chris Chivetta, with several of her ND classmates as attendants.
Alliance reviewsthethat-andexpandusedtoSheSystemsSpaceforGEOEarthGeosynchronousInfraredfinalwithlaunchedsuccessfullytherocketthesixthandSpaceBasedSystemOrbit(SBIRS6)spacecrafttheUnitedStatesForce’sSpaceCommand.hasbeenworkingupdatesoftwarebysatellitestocapabilities“sittingconsole”talkingtothecrewscommandsatelliteasshetestdata. Lorena Cortez ’14 (8) and her company, Ruby Rae Clothing, were featured in the June edition of British Vogue. Ruby Rae Clothing empowers all body types by handcrafting custommade designs and is dedicated to making women feel their best through life-longNDglamour.everydayHermodel,classmateandfriend,Hira Srinivasan ’14, works as an editor, writer and journalist. Ali Gruber ’14 Low is working as a perinatal nurse in Santa Cruz while pursuing a master‘s degree in nursing strangulationviolenceassault,examsconductingSannursealsopractitioner.women’saprogramofGeorgetown’sthroughMasterScienceinNursingtobecomenursemidwifeandhealthnurseSheisasexualassaultexaminerforMateoCounty,forensicforsexualdomesticandcases.
, SNDdeN, celebrated her 70th Jubilee as a Sister of Notre Dame. She always wanted to be a teacher and spent most of her career joyfully teaching in Notre Dame weworkthosefriendshiptoHallmarktheCaliforniaschoolselementarythroughoutandlivingNotreDamecallinghercommunityandamongwithwhomweandwiththoseserve.
Sister Rosalie Pizzo ’52 (2), SNDdeN, celebrated her 70th Jubilee. Over the course of her career, she served as the SND toandinGeneralatecoordinatorhospitalityattheinRome,parishministrywasthedelegatereligiousforthe Diocese of San Jose. She was also a teacher and principal for more than 20 years.
Loretta Solari ’56 Wilson (3), former ND student body president, has lived in Morgan Hill for more than 60 years. For five years she ran the Morgan Hill Farm Labor Office during the summer months, assisting itinerant farm workers and their families. She then FlowersoperatedbyWilson for more than 30 years. She has published several includingnovels,Travel on Down the Road about farm laborers. Ashley Lopez ’09 (4) married Drew Llewellyn and started working with the public relations team at Pacific Clinics, a nonprofit for mental health.
Annadine Kost ’13 Power (6) and husband Joe welcomed a son, Maximus Vernon Power, on May 18. Mimi Boursier ’14 (7), who works for Lockheed Martin as an TheinAtlastheassociate,systemsaerospaceengineerattendedlaunchoftheV521rocketCapeCanaveral.UnitedLaunch
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FALL 2022 9 1 Bringing back retro glamour with a modern twist, Rae empowersClothingall body types by handcrafting custom on@rubyraeclothingandrubyraeclothing.comglamour.throughwomendedicatedownedindesigns.madeEstablished2015,thisLatinabrandistomakingfeeltheireverydayVisitfollowInstagram. RUBY RAE CLOTHING 2 4 3 5 7 98 10 6
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Jaclyn Woodward ’14 (11) married Ethan Tashman on July 17 in Sonoma. ND classmates and life-long friends Janelle Leif, Kaela Crowley, Juliana Orr, QuinnHamiltonReames,KristenEmeliaandCabral attended the wedding. Christina Connell ’16 (12) joined the 4% of female airline pilots this summer after six years of training. Christina flies with SkyWest Airlines and hopes to someday fly with her mom, who is a captain at United Airlines. Halle Sousa ’17 (13) graduated with her Master of International Affairs degree from the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego. Sister UngerVirginia(14) , SNDdeN, served as principal and president at Notre Dame San Jose from 1963 until 1966 and served as principal from 1982 until 1989. She also celebrated her 70th Jubilee in August at Notre Dame de andministry,inworkingherCalifornia,schoolsassignmentsAlongUniversityNamurinBelmont.withvariousatNDthroughoutsheservedcommunitywithwomencrisis,parishandLoavesFishes.
Sister Martin de Porres Coleman (15), SNDdeN, who also celebrated her 70th Jubilee, realized her dream of teaching music and other subjects at many Notre Dame schools, including San Jose (1959 through 1963). She later ministered at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Hunters Point where she started two Gospel choirs, one for older teens and, later, one for adults. The choirs continue to this day. For the 2022-2023 school year, Notre Dame San Jose will have 19 alums (16) working on campus in various roles! continued
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www.ndsj.org/alum All-Alum Weekend OCTOBER 14-16, 2022 FRIDAY October 14, 2022 Notre Dame invites alums from all years to join us as we kick o All-Alum Weekend with ND's signature event, celebrations and Mass. SATURDAY October 15, 2022 @ Notre Dame SUNDAY October 16, 2022 @ Notre Dame ALL-ALUM BBQ ALL-ALUM Mass @ Signa by Hilton San Jose 11:00am 11:00am11:30am - 1:30pm If you would like to join the planning committee and help us bring your class together, please email Alum Relations: ALUMS@NDSJ.ORG
596 S. 2 nd Street San Jose, CA 95112 Address service requested SANUSORGANIZATIONNONPROFITPOSTAGEPAIDJOSE,CAPERMITNO.499 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER 20th Annual Crab Fest Saturday, February 4, 2023 WWW.NDSJ.ORG/CRAB-FEST | WWW.NDSJ.ORG/CRAB-FEST@NOTREDAMESJ
