Summer 2016

Starting a Second
Career at OLSH
Meet three of OLSH’s newest faculty members
Many people start out in one
profession and end up in
another for a variety of
reasons. For three of OLSH’s newest
faculty members, teaching at OLSH
came after another fulfilling career.
For music teacher Allan “Rusty”
Pontiere, working at OLSH was a way
to continue working with students
after retiring from a public school
position. For Susan Rusnak and
Paula Vigrass, teaching came after
training and work in engineering
fields. Regardless of how they started
their journey, these three teachers
have been struck by the opportunity
to engage students in fields that they
love, helping to foster a love of music
or engineering or computer science
in the students that enter their
classrooms.
Before coming to OLSH, Allan “Rusty”
Pontiere was a band director for
over 30 years and music department
chairperson for 20 years for the
Montour School District. He taught
elementary, middle, and high school
band and high school chorus during
his tenure. After retiring from Montour,
he needed to keep busy, and he
knew he wasn’t quite ready to “walk
the malls in a sweatsuit”! He wanted
to continue in music education in
some way. He had been subbing at
OLSH from time to time, and when the
music teacher position opened up,
Rusty interviewed and got the job. He
looked forward to working with older
students since he had spent the last
22 years of his career working with
5th-8th graders. “Being Catholic all
of my life, I was also looking forward
to teaching in a small Catholic high
school with much smaller class sizes,”
he shared.
Science teacher Susan Rusnak
started her career as a civil engineer
focusing on traffic and highway
design. After taking time off to stay
home and take care of her two
sons, Susan obtained her Master’s in
Education, and worked for several
years as a substitute
teacher. When a
position teaching
physics in the OLSH
science department
opened up, Susan
decided to bring her
engineering experience
to the classroom. “I
am still active in
the engineering
community,” Susan
shared, “and wanted to
help students discover
the opportunities
available to them if
they were considering
an engineering career.”
Allan “Rusty” Pontiere
After graduating from Grove
City College with a Mechanical
Engineering degree, Computer
Science teacher Paula Vigrass spent
about 10 years working in technical
sales, but she felt called toward
education. “I always knew that I
wanted to teach,” she says, “and
returned to school to get certified to
teach Mathematics.” After obtaining
her teaching certificate, Paula
worked as a substitute teacher in the
Mars, Seneca
Valley and
Pine Richland
school districts
and taught
some cyber
courses. When
Susan Rusnak
told her that
OLSH was
looking for
a computer
s c i e n c e
teacher,
P a u l a
decided to
apply.“ The
first thing that
interested
me was the
possibility of
teaching the Paula Vigrass
computer
programming courses,” Paula said. “I
had the opportunity to teach some
cyber computer science courses and
enjoyed the challenge. Once I saw
the beautiful facilities and met some
of the faculty and administration, I
knew it would be a good fit.” •
SPOTLIGHT: ABBY CERCONE ‘16
Making an Impact & Serving Others:
A Senior Year of Service
Jessica Cerchiaro
Since her childhood, service has
been an important a part of life
for Abby Cercone ’16. As a Girl
Scout, she documented over 200 hours
of service, but at OLSH she had mainly
focused on her academics and her role
on the cheerleading squad. This year,
however, Abby was inspired to get more
involved in service at OLSH after Senior
Service Day in the fall.
When it came time for the seniors to
sign up for projects for Senior Service
Day, Abby chose to go to McGuire
Memorial Home, another Felician
Ministry. She had been considering
a service-related career and thought
spending the day at McGuire would help
her get a feel for one aspect of health
care. While there, Abby and other OLSH
students helped facilitate games for
McGuire’s Fall Festival that was going
on that day. “I loved being there,” Abby
shared. “It was fun interacting with the
residents.”
Abby returned to OLSH with a renewed
interest in doing service. When the
Young Hands activity moderator, Ms.
Theresa Long ’86, encouraged her
students to become more actively
engaged in service, Abby suggested that
the group plan service days similar to
the Senior Service
Day throughout
the year. She
suggested that
they go to McGuire
to start.
The Young Hands group at McGuire at Christmastime.
With Ms. Long’s
blessing, Abby
took the initiative
to contact Brooke
Graff, Director of
the Adult Training
Facility, and made
arrangements for
the group to make
regular visits to
McGuire. “The
Adult Training
Facility at McGuire
Memorial is most
appreciative of
Abby’s willingness
to serve as well
as her strong
leadership
qualities,” shared Graff. “Her
compassion shines as she visits with and
assists the adults in the program. Abby
has become a friend to many and has
truly made a difference in the lives at
McGuire.”
Abby and other
OLSH students
have gone back
to McGuire twice,
helping to prepare
decorations for
holiday parties,
playing games
with the residents,
and assisting
with Earth Day
preparations.
She says that the
experiences she
has there keep
her coming back.
“Seeing people
with those types
Abby Cercone ‘16 and a McGuire resident.
makes me realize the things I take for
granted,” she adds.
Being involved in service has given
Abby a sense of purpose. “I like making
an impact and giving back and I really
wanted to focus my senior year on
doing something for somebody else, not
just me,” she says. She hopes that the
underclassmen in the group will keep
the collaboration with McGuire Home
alive after she graduates.
Next year, Abby plans to attend Slippery
Rock University and major in Spanish.
She hopes to pursue a career as either
a translator or teacher. She also plans
to continue to serve at McGuire after
graduation and may even apply to work
there over the summer. •
Be Transformed
of challenges really
6 • www.olsh.org Be Known | Be Transformed | Be Inspired • 7