Outstanding Essays are Honored

Lifting Up Westchester recognized two Ursuline students in their 2022 essay contest on the theme “What Role Does Housing Play in Influencing Our Future?” Isabella Vembenil ’25 was awarded second place in the 9th and 10th grade category and Kendal Mangum ’26 was awarded 2nd place in the 7th and 8th grade category.

Margaret Gordon ‘22 and Ava Jackson ‘22 were among the students who wrote essays describing their community service and received awards from the St. Vincent’s Auxiliary.

Congratulations to Grace Boynes ’23 and Jane Connelly ‘23, winners in the Intellectual Freedom Challenge sponsored by the National English Honor Society in partnership with the International English Honor Society Sigma Tau Delta. Students were encouraged to write rationale essays based on potentially controversial texts. Grace wrote To Kill a Mockingbird”: Utility or Controversy? and Jane wrote The Importance of To Kill A Mockingbird: Acknowledging the Past.

Ursuline student Ébahi Adubor ’23 is currently working on a unique Girl Scout patch called the “Better Together” patch in order to earn her Girls Scouts Gold Award. This patch is geared towards Junior Girl Scouts (Ages 8-11) to identify, educate, and prevent racial and religious discrimination. It will be disseminated through collaborative workshops and discussions in an encouraged safe space. There is no other diversity patch like this in the history of Girl Scouts. Ébahi says, “I believe that Ursuline has truly helped steer me in the right direction to make this possible. I plan to complete this project by February of my senior year.” The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouts and less than 6 percent of Girl Scouts in the United States earn it.

College application essays are required of every Ursuline senior but only Jennipher Martiena’s essay elicited a corporate response.

Her exceptional essay, The 4 Letter Word That Shaped My Life, chronicled her discovery of Legos at the age of six which led to her enthusiasm for engineering. Jennipher wrote, “Unlike my challenges with dyslexia in school, where letters switched themselves beyond my control, I found my Lego world was the perfect arena for me. I could invent race planes, imagine Lego mini-figures like Superman and Zod coming to life, or produce speeding motorcycles such as the Ducati Panigale. I discovered that these were not toys, but were the blueprints for learning about gears, mechanical parts and circuitry.”

Jennipher’s teacher, Ms. Cunningham, shared the essay with the Lego Group and received an almost immediate response. “I was both thrilled to hear how great an impact our little bricks have made in your life, and impressed by your smooth and captivating writing!” wrote the Lego representative. “Your imagination and determination in learning and creating has led you to be so accomplished.”

Jennipher’s tinkering with Legos inspired her exploration with engineering. She created her first prosthetic arm at Iridescent, an after-school program in the Bronx, and later enrolled in engineering webinars at Manhattan College. In her Junior Year, Jennipher participated in the Ace Mentorship Program, working with an engineering consultant and other students to design a hypothetical building for the Columbia University Campus.

In her Senior Year at Ursuline, Jennipher spent time using new tools in our school’s Innovation Hub. She completed our Engineering and Design course which offered the chance to use coding to manipulate a robot and learn how to use Computer-Aided Design to construct a model house.

Throughout the hours of Lego construction and subsequent high school engineering assignments, Jennipher also demonstrated a growth mindset, which is a culture Ursuline actively promotes. Jennipher disclosed that, “The construction was not without problems. When I could not get the door to close properly, I was determined to find a solution. . . There was satisfaction in analyzing the problem and even more satisfaction in finding the solution. I wanted to learn more.”

Jennipher has decided to pursue engineering in college. She received a number of offers of admission and has chosen to attend Rochester Institute of Technology, to major in mechanical engineering technology. She is particularly interested in the automotive industry. She shares, “My passion is to make cars more aerodynamic so they consume less fuel on the road. In my dreams, I have already designed prototypes of electric vehicles that will fight against climate change. Who knows, maybe my new innovation will have its own Lego set for the next generation.”

On March 31, 2022 Gianna Ambrosio ’24 was chosen by Stop & Shop and Memorial Sloan Kettering to be a patient ambassador for Stop & Shop’s Help Cure Childhood Cancer campaign to support MSK Kids, the pediatric program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Gianna is a fighter and a survivor, having undergone chemotherapy and surgery to treat Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer, in her left femur. Her mother, Kim Ambrosio, said, “Memorial Sloan Kettering Kids helped Gigi and so many other children. We will be forever grateful. We look forward to helping Stop & Shop raise money for pediatric cancer research to continue making a difference in the lives of so many children and families.”

On May 25, 2022 our faculty and staff gathered to celebrate Mrs. Kathy Freeman and Mrs. Moira Prunty for their 25 years of service to The Ursuline School. Whether in the Gabelli Library or in the College Counseling office, each of these dedicated women have shown great care and commitment to Ursuline students. Liturgy was followed by a reception on the JB Commons.

On March 9, 2022 Davia Richardson ’26 was selected to be a member of the Jamaica CARIFTA National swim team to compete in Barbados. Davia was a member of our Varsity swim and dive team as an 8th grader and we congratulate her on this honor. She was ranked number 1 in the 1314 age group for girls with seven first place and three second place finishes.

Congratulations to Kyleigh O’Keefe ’27 who was named the under 13 North American Irish Dance National Champion. The win qualified her for the World Championships in April 2023. As a 7th grader, she also was named All League and a scoring distance runner for all three track seasons.

The seniors who achieved national academic recognition based on their PSAT scores are: Lola Milazzo (National Merit Finalist); Frances Cockburn, Brooke Snyder and Mary Wrotniak (National Merit Commended Students); Frances Cockburn, Kamryn Gaines, Safiya Grant and Jannett Martiena (National African American Recognition Program); and Sofia Alvarez, Anna Brody, Caroline Brody, Caitlyn Negron, and Sofia Odeh-Cintora (National Hispanic Recognition Program).

Seated, from left: Frances Cockburn, Safiya Grant, Brooke Snyder, Jannett Martiena, Mary Wrotniak. Standing, from left: Caroline Brody, Sofia Odeh-Cintora, Lola Milazzo, Dr. Melnyk, Anna Brody, Sofia Alvarez, Caitlyn Negron. Missing from photo: Kamryn Gaines.

We congratulate the 29 students who earned distinctions on the 2022 National Latin Exam.

Gold Summa Cum Laude - Silvia Cuono ’25’, Katherine Miller ’25, Sophia Frank ’22 Silver Maxima Cum Laude - Kelly Lahiff ’23, Jane Connelly ’23, Ava Snyder ’24, Hailey Tyndale ’23, Danielle Restaino ’22, Daphne Banino ’22, Victoria Morris ’26, Anjali Shafiee ’25, Corinne Ross ’25, Catherine L’Helias ’25, Rachel Ortiz ’23 Magna Cum Laude - Miah Zabala ’26, Elizabeth McFarland ’25, Sophia Tang ’24, Annika Pitawala ’25, Meghan McDonald ’24, Caralyn LoConte ’25, Morgan Adamson ’23, Katherine Mehler ’23 Cum Laude - Emily Trezza ’26, Blake Wilson ’26, Evelyn Gassman ’24, Ella Sohng ’24, Audrey Warren ’25, Juliet DeMeo ’23, Lola Milazzo ’22