The Tower · Summer 2012 - Presentation Academy

Alumnae Association
Announces Scholarship
The Alumnae Association Board
of Directors is proud to announce
the establishment of an Alumnae
Association Scholarship.
Under the direction of Chair,
Lynda Lynch Biere ’53, the Alumnae
Board of Directors decided,
unanimously, to establish a scholarship
at Presentation Academy.
Proceeds from various fundraising
events hosted by the Alumnae
Association are the main funding
source for this scholarship. The
Board of Directors, compelled by
the association’s purpose, felt this
scholarship would not only foster
relationships between the alumnae
and the Academy, it would also directly
support young women who
want to recieve a Catholic education
at Pres. It is with tremendous
pride and heartfelt gratitude that
the Alumnae Board presented a
$10,000 check during the annual
Hats Off dinner meeting to President
Sister Chris Beckett and Principal
Barbara Wine.
Presentation Academy
Alumnae Scholarship(s)
Each year one Alumnae Merit
Scholarship will be awarded to an
incoming ninth grader who scores
a 90-94 percentile or above on
her High School Placement Test.
The test must be written for Pres
and not transferred from another
school. The student will be chosen
by the president and principal. If
this student maintains a GPA of
3.5 or above, she will receive this
scholarship for four years. Priority
will be given to a Legacy student,
if possible.
Natalie Heitz’ Love of Horses Leads to Darley Int’l Student Programme
Natalie’s love for horses was always
known by classmates and faculty
during her years at Fourth and
Breck. It’s no surprise she would
be accepted into the School of
Veterinary Medicine
at Tuskegee
University after
studying Equine
Science and Management,
as well
as Pre-Veterinary
Medicine as an
undergrad at the
University of
Kentucky. Her sorority,
Kappa Delta
of the Epsilon
Omega Chapter,
named Natalie
Heitz, of the 2012 Senior Pledge
Class, as “Most Likely to Own Secretariat.”
She would pack her bags
for Alabama later this summer in
preparation for life’s next chapter.
Skipping ahead a few pages, Natalie
received an exciting phone call
in early May. Instead of heading
south, she will travel overseas as a
Darley Flying Start International
student. This full time, two year,
international training is for potential
thoroughbred
industry leaders.
The program focuses
on personal
development
and leadership,
while specializing
in international
thoroughbred
business. Management
training
is provided by establisheduniversities
including
University College
Dublin and University of Sydney.
During the program, trainees
will live and learn in Ireland, UK,
USA, Dubai, and Australia. Each
trainee receives a full scholarship
from HH Sheikh Mohammed of
Dubai.
Applicants are accepted on an
annual basis, and 12 candidates
are selected each year. Natalie is
one of 12 students to receive this
unique scholarship opportunity.
Typically, successful candidates
have a strong academic background,
full-time work experience
in the thoroughbred industry and
strong leadership qualities. Obviously,
Natalie’s hard work as an
undergrad allowed this dream to
become a reality, yet before she
stepped foot onto UK’s campus,
Natalie was exposed to opportunities
at Presentation Academy that
would lead her down this amazing
road. Natalie was introduced to
Churchill Downs’ Vice President
of Racing Communications, John
Asher, as a part of the Leadership
Program. Her mentor would guide
her through her years at Pres and
beyond.
Natalie’s father, Pat Heitz, says,
“To say that she is happy is an understatement.”
Becca Noonan Puts “Faith into Action” at Small Chicago Catholic School
B e c c a ,
described by
her fellow
classmates as
most down to
earth, is not
one to boast.
She is humble,
intelligent,
and determined, never expecting
anything in return. She owes
much of her sense of service
to her parents, who instilled in
her from a young age that faith
means nothing unless it is put into
action. Rebecca Noonan, class of
2000, did just that: put her faith
into action. After graduating from
Marquette University in 2004, she
began volunteering with Amate
House of Chicago. Volunteers can
be found working in every corner
of the city, providing vital services
to schools, parishes, and social
service agencies. Amate House
recognized Becca’s work as a
volunteer during her commitment
in the 2004-2005 program at
their awards dinner held earlier
this year. She was presented with
the Founders’ Award, an award
given annually to an Amate House
Alum who continues to live out
the ideals of Amate House – faith,
community and service – in her
daily life and work.
During that 2004-2005 year,
Becca began her first year at Our
Lady of Tepeyac High School in
Little Village as an English Teacher.
With every intention of staying
only one year, she was forever
changed by the cycle of poverty
and violence experienced by her
students. These students, enrolled
at a small, all-girls’ Catholic school
on the southwest side of Chicago,
needed her support. Constantly
facing adversity outside the walls
of Our Lady of Tepeyac, Becca
committed herself to fostering a
safe and pleasant environment for
the students inside. She spent the
next four years teaching, constantly
inspired by the school’s mission
of educating and empowering Latina
and African American young
women. During the 2008-2009
school year, Becca transitioned
into a new role: College Readiness
Director. Through this role, she
worked to change the long standing
statistic of college acceptance
and attendance in the Little Village
community. Less than 35 percent
of (public school) students in this
low-income community further
their education. Since Becca took
on this position, 100 percent of
Our Lady of Tepeyac High School
students have enrolled in college.
Becca exemplifies faith, service,
and love in her daily interactions
with students, teachers and families.
She became Principal of Our
Lady of Tepeyac in 2011-2012, a
position in which she continues to
impact the Little Village community
in a positive manner, implementing
changes for the better.
Our Lady of Tepeyac’s current
enrollment is 170 students: 79 percent
are Latina, and 21 percent are
African American. Students hail
from more than 29 zip codes, 83
percent of the students’ families
fall below the poverty line, and
63 percent of the students speak
Spanish at home.
D o r o t h y s c h m i t t ’ 41 and the p. A . s y m b o l
For decades, Presentation’s class rings bore a simple
yet elegant design: the letters P and A interwoven with a
cross.
The logo also graced the school’s letterhead,
its yearbooks, commencement
programs and a sign outside the building
announcing the school’s presence to
the public. Today the 71-year-old design
joins the Tower Logo in flanking the entrance
of the new Arts & Athletic Center.
Whose hand created the enduring emblem?
It was the work of Presentation senior Dorothy
Schmitt, class of 1941. Although she continued to live
in Louisville and worked within blocks of Presentation
much of her life, her contribution to the school was almost
forgotten over the passing years. She died May 1
at age 89, leaving no relatives and outliving many of her
friends.
But a classmate, Sister Miriam Corcoran, who later
taught at Presentation as Sister Mary Andrea, remembers
the young artist and cherishes the design. “It’s so powerful.
Just the name of the school and a cross
. . . it’s immediately clear it’s a Catholic
school.”
She recalls Dorothy as a gifted artist
who took private art lessons from a Presentation’s
Sister Idalie Geoffrion, in addition
to her schoolwork. Dorothy was asked to
create a logo by Sister Mary Aquinas Kelleher, the principal,
and the school used it until 1995, when Spalding
University took over Pres for nine years.
Quiet Accomplishment
It was a mark of the women of Dorothy’s time to
“stay behind the scenes” and not talk of their achievements,
Sister Miriam said. World War II was raging in
Europe, France had fallen, and “we graduated into a very
uncertain world … We all knew it [war] was around the
corner” for America, she recalled.
Along with their mothers and sisters, the young women
who graduated from Presentation in 1941 quietly set
about keeping the country going as men began to leave
for war. Dorothy took a job as an office worker at Klein &
Appel, an insurance and engineering firm in the Starks
Building. Her art became a private, personal pleasure.
The daughter of a music teacher and a singer,
Dorothy was a longtime member of the Cathedral of
the Assumption and in her later years
turned up every Monday to help count
the Sunday collections. “She had a prayer
for everything – she even had a prayer to
count the money,” recalled friend Julie
Wise Zoeller, class of 1960.
Dorothy never married and her only sibling, her
brother Leo, died in 1948.
DiDn’t toot her own horn
Those who knew her in her later years describe an
independent woman with a mind of her own and a willingness
to speak if she wanted. But she also guarded her
privacy.
Dorothy could be “very quiet, very reserved,” Sister
Miriam said. She never sought praise or recognition for
designing the Presentation logo.
Nevertheless, the design has endured.
“In her honor and in the honor of so many
anonymous women, we should acknowledge her gifts,”
said Sister Miriam. “Hundreds and
hundreds of girls” wore the class rings
bearing Dorothy’s design.
“Young women need to know
their foremothers’ gifts. They need to
grow up knowing their own gifts from
God and develop and share them.”
-Carolyn Yetter
6 · The Tower · Summer 2012
Presentation Academy · Louisville, Kentucky · 7