ALION FOR LIFE | Alumni News
Making Art Work: Alumni Return for Fine Arts Week Panel Saint Viator’s annual Fine Arts Week looked different this year, but was nonetheless jam-packed. More than 80 percent of our students participate in extracurricular activities, giving them the chance to grace the stage, pick up a paint brush, and put their creativity to work every day. The school recognized Fine Arts Week from March 9-12. The week consisted of virtual performances by our theatre, choral, and band students, as well as an alumni panel exploring careers in the fine arts. Alumni featured throughout the week and on the panel included: • Paige Ehlman ’92 - Paige Model & Talent Agency • Ryan Wolfe ’14 - Opera Singer • Diane Vadnal ’07 - Director of Marketing at Warner Music Group / Arts Music and Ghostlight Records • Fiona Dolce ’16 - 6-8th grade theatre and drama teacher • Karen Mason ’69 - Theatre actress and singer
Congratulations to all those involved in the 55th annual Saint Viator musical this spring, “Into the Woods,” including the following legacy students: • Henry Jochaniewicz ’23 (Alexander Jochaniewicz ’92) • Paige Klostermann ’21 (Sheila Culm ’86 Klostermann) • Maeve Martin ’23 (Maureen Henning ’92 Martin) • Chris Rapala ’22 (Bryan Rapala ’79) • Gwen Starr ’23 (Dominic ’91 and Caroline Avell ’91 Starr) • Rory ’22 and Jack ’24 Whetstone (Kerry Whetstone ’91)
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Saint Viator During this school year, Saint Viator High School initiated a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) review. This DEI initiative comes out of our mission, vision, and values. We are making sure that we are who we have said we are through the Catholic and Viatorian lens. There are many aspects to diversity, including race, economic opportunities, social acceptance, and educational access. There is a far greater diversity in our immediate and surrounding communities than is represented in our student body and the make-up of our administration, faculty, and staff. By creating a sense of belonging for all, we believe we both honor the diversity that God has created in our world, and we strengthen and enrich our community to better prepare our students for the world they will encounter after graduation. Our values of community and service call for an environment of kindness for all to feel welcomed, included, and involved. The vision statement calls for all Saint Viator family community members to discern who God wants them to be, discover what the world needs, and transform the communities they encounter. Our mission, vision, and values should drive our diversity, equity, and inclusion plans, rather than having DEI or any other outside forces influence
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our mission, vision and values. Doing so reinforces who we are as a community and provides a path for growth in the future. The process began during this past summer as we engaged Brave Dialogue to lead the formation of our plan. In conjunction with their experienced staff, we conducted a DEI survey with the Saint Viator community, receiving almost 500 responses, and 83 people participated in three focus groups. Our next steps will be to provide a report to the Board of Trustees who will then take action to provide updates to our strategic plan and implement improved practices to lead the effort to be more inclusive for the betterment of our community and the world we serve.
