June 2009

Sister Kathleen Donnelly: ‘Light of Christ’

Posted: 06.16.09

MARLENE QUARONI | FC
MIAMI BEACH | Dominican Sister Kathleen Donnelly, OP, retiring principal of St. Hugh School in Coconut Grove, where she served for the past 34 years, holds the Lumen Christi award that she just received from Msgr. John Vaughan, pastor of St. Patrick Church, Miami Beach, and her former pastor at St. Hugh. With them is Miami Auxiliary Bishop John Noonan. The Lumen Christi award, which means “Light of Christ”, is presented every year by the Catholic Educators Guild of the Archdiocese of Miami. This year’s presentation took place June 14.

Henriquez hired as Belen coach

Posted: 06.16.09

MIAMI | Ralph Henriquez, whose Key West High School baseball teams were ranked USA Today’s No. 1 in 1996 and No. 2 the year before, has been hired as Belen Jesuit Prep’s new varsity head baseball coach. He replaces Tony Meilan.

“Coach Henriquez brings a lot of professional and high school experience to Belen Jesuit,” said the school’s principal, Jesuit Father Guillermo M. Garcia–Tuñon. “He is very energetic and excited about this opportunity and we welcome him into our family.”

Henriquez is a 1975 graduate of Key West High School and a 1993 graduate of Saint Leo College. He was drafted in the eighth round by the Cleveland Indians in 1977.

Henriquez coached the Key West High School Conchs from 1994 to 1997, then again from 2001 to 2005, with a career record of 242–50, including four Final Fours and three state championships in 1995, 1996 and 2005. During his career at Key West, 77 of his players received baseball scholarships and nine were selected in the Major League Baseball First–Year Player Draft out of high school.

Henriquez also served as a minor league instructor with the Atlanta Braves from 1998 to 2005, and with the New York Yankees from 2006 to 2007. He won a Gulf Coast League championship and received “Gulf Coast League Manager of the Year” honors in 2003.

Barry teams with State Fire College

Posted: 06.16.09

MIAMI SHORES | Barry University has reached an agreement with Florida State Fire College to offer bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in public administration at the college’s Ocala site. The public administration degree is offered through Barry University’s School of Adult and Continuing Education.

Classes for the bachelor’s program are under way and the master’s program will begin this fall. These programs, which offer flexible class schedules, are open to firefighters as well as the general public. With this accelerated program, students could complete their bachelor’s or master’s degree within two years of part–time study.

For more information, contact Rashanda Denson at 1–888–824–0339 or e–mail rdenson@mail.barry.edu.

St. Thomas U. fills state college funding gap

Posted: 06.16.09

MIAMI GARDENS | At a time when state universities are cutting programs and capping enrollment, the dean of St. Thomas University’s School of Business has called for closer collaboration between public and private institutions of higher learning.

Speaking at the annual meeting June 3 of the Florida Association of Colleges and Universities, Jose Antonio Villamil said, “In order to meet the serious challenges of higher education in Florida, there must be a collaboration between state and private colleges and universities.”

Among the measures already launched by St. Thomas University to address this issue, Villamil noted that the school will extend its fall 2009 undergraduate and graduate admissions deadlines and enhance the transfer process from Miami Dade College. St. Thomas also has added new degrees and methodologies, such as a bachelor’s in economics and online degrees in professional studies designed mainly for those in private– and public–sector management and administration.

St. Thomas’ School of Business is also making class schedules more flexible for the nontraditional student who needs to be part of the full–time marketplace and for those arriving from Latin America needing to transfer courses to finalize a degree in the United States.

During his keynote speech at the higher education conference, Villamil presented an in–depth report on Florida’s economy and future trends, including information on the drivers of the state economy, the global economic recession, deterioration in business climate and public education spending.

The former director of economic development for the state of Florida and former U.S. undersecretary of commerce, Villamil pointed out that Florida is one of the largest economies in the Americas, yet from a leading growth position between 2004–2006 it moved to “bottom” among the 50 U.S. states during 2008–2009.

Villamil added, “It is imperative to launch this action plan if we want to expand academic opportunities to Florida undergraduate students interested in certain study areas that have been cut from public universities’ curriculum due to economic factors.”

St. Theresa School wins sports award

Posted: 06.05.09

CORAL GABLES | St. Theresa School has won the 2009 private/parochial school award for excellence in athletics from the Sports Society, a group of community leaders dedicated to promoting opportunities for girls and women in sports.

At the award presentation, Marjorie Wessel, society president, cited St. Theresa’s “outstanding physical education program,” as well as its intramural sports program, which is open to the entire student body and in which nearly half of the students participate. She also noted that the physical education department also encourages students to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

“Students raise money and are educated about juvenile diabetes by parents of diabetic school children and by medical volunteers,” said St. Theresa’s athletic director, Paul DiMuont. “They are made aware of their peers that have the disease and partake in a lap around the school in support and awareness.”

He added that, “every year, we continue to inspire new programs and ideas to create a healthy, functional, positive experience for our students and even faculty to resume an active lifestyle.”

Grant brings kids to government

Posted: 06.05.09

MIAMI | A grant from the Target Corp. underwrote all expenses for the senior class of Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll High School to travel to Miami’s Government Center for its study of government’s separation of powers.

The students visited the state 11th Judicial Circuit Court, the Miami Dade Commission Chambers and the Main Library Government Center. At one of those stops, Chief Judge Joseph P. Farina spoke to the students about the importance of the separation of powers from his judicial perspective as head of the state court.

The students also went to the Miami Dade Commission Chambers and were on the agenda to present an appreciation award to their district commissioner, Joe Martinez.

Chantz Mack, Carroll High quarterback and government student, said he was “was very impressed with Judge Farina’s career and perspective on the law.”

Teacher tapped as ‘House Fellow’

Posted: 06.05.09

SOUTHWEST RANCHES | G.J. Cosgrove, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Special Forces and government teacher at Archbishop Edward McCarthy High School, has been selected to participate in the 2009 House Fellows Program, an intensive, weeklong workshop on the history and practices of the House of Representatives. The workshop takes place June 22 to June 26.

The House Fellows Program is an annual opportunity for 12 secondary education teachers in the country to watch the House of Representatives in action.

During the program, Cosgrove will meet with Congressman Lincoln Diaz–Balart and conduct research in the Library of Congress to develop curricular materials on the history and practices of the House. These materials will then be made available to educators around the nation. He also will hear presentations on the War Powers Act, the history of the Congress, the committee system and the role of civic education in the U.S.

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