tvc.dsj.org | June 11, 2019 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
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Nativity Welcomes Bishop Cantú at Fiesta Event
Sacred Heart Nativity Schools’
18th annual Fiesta Dinner & Auction
event was held on April 6 and raised a
record $340,000 in support of student
scholarships.
Bishop Oscar Cantú presided over
a celebratory Mass on the campus
of Bellarmine College Preparatory
in San Jose. Concelebrants included
Nativity founder and first president,
Reverend Peter Pabst, S.J., along with
current Nativity president, Deacon
Rubén Solorio. Also in attendance
were Mayor Sam Liccardo, Supervisor
Dave Cortese, former Nativity presi-
dent Sonya Arriola, the presidents of
local Catholic high schools, and other
special guests.
At the conclusion of Mass, smiling
Nativity students shaking maracas
welcomed over 400 attendees as they
converged to Liccardo Center, and
enjoyed tequila tastings, street tacos,
and a silent auction prior to a sit-down
dinner and program.
Nativity alumna, Diana Piña, was
the Fiesta keynote speaker. As the first
in her family to graduate from college,
Diana credited her strength and suc-
cess to a Nativity education – from its
supporting staff and teachers, to the
encouragement of former Nativity
principal, Kevin Eagleson. Piña cur-
rently works as a Victim Advocate at
the District Attorney’s Office in Santa
Clara, as well as a Behavior Interven-
Assisted by Sacred Heart Nativity President,
Deacon Ruben Solorio, Bishop Cantú cel-
ebrates Mass for Nativity. Retired Bishop
Carlos Sevilla, SJ, of Yakima, Washington,
behind Solorio, was a concelebrant.
tionist, working with children on the
autism spectrum.
The Fiesta Dinner and Auction
event is the biggest fundraiser of the
year for Nativity. Hundreds of spon-
sors, in-kind donors, and attendees
joined together in the Nativity mis-
sion of breaking the cycle of poverty
through education. Special thanks to
the Fiesta Dinner Committee mem-
bers: Sonya Arriola, Natasha Bhave,
Gretchen DiNapoli, Silvana Gentzkow,
Carol Sabatino, and Andrea Thomas.
The 12t h An nual Peter Pabst,
S.J. Legac y Gol f Tou r n a ment i s
on September 23 at t he San Jose
Country Club. For sponsorship, ad-
vertising, or participation informa-
tion please contact SHNS Special
Events Manager, Rhonda Nourse at
[email protected].
Saint Joseph of Cupertino Celebrates Both Teams Winning Awards in the Tech Challenge
Every year Saint Joseph of Cuper-
tino School sends teams comprised of
students from grades 6-8 to the Tech
Challenge presented by Dell at the
Tech Museum.
This year two teams participated
and both brought home awards. The
overall goal of the Tech Challenge is
to teach students about the impor-
tance of the engineering process and
how these skills can be utilized in
real life.
The “Kewl-Aid Kids” was a team
comprised of t hree eight h grad-
ers and the “HoverChamps H2O”
consisted of four sixth graders. This
From left, sixth graders, Jade, Jessica,
Matthew and Ashley - “HoverChamps H20.” From left, eighth graders, Dhruv, Rachel and
Sarah - “Kewl-Aid Kids.”
year’s challenge was to design and
build a hovercraft that can navigate
different terrain while carrying a payload of five U.S. quarters.
These teams spent months build-
ing their models through trial and
Saint Martin of Tours Third Grade Brownie Troop
#62180 Gives Back to the Community
Shout-out to the third Grade Brown-
ie Troop #62180 at Saint Martin of
Tours, for their generosity to Vil-
lage House. They presented Patrick
O’Meara, Site Director with a check,
they visited with guests and made arts
and crafts for them. The women are still
showing-off the bracelets, butterflies
and mirrors to everyone, they were so
grateful. This is just one of the many
ministries this fine group of girls sup-
ports in the parish – they are charitable,
thoughtful and kind to so many in the
community.
There’s still time to get involved
with Village House – please visit
smvillagehouse.org for your chance
to put your faith in action.
Saint Martin of Tours Third Grade Brownie
Troop #62180.
More information regarding Catholic Schools in the
Diocese of San Jose can be found at www.dsj.org/schools.
error. Their engineering journals
detailed their involvement in the
program and all their activities that
would later be shown to the judges as
proof of their experience and study of
the engineering process.
All this hard work culminated in a
two-day event where the “Kewl-Aid
Kids” took home the award for Out-
standing Device Performance while
the “HoverChamps H2O” took home
the award for Judges Choice: Payload
Design.
Through their hard work these
teams have encouraged other students
to join the Tech Challenge next year.
Bellarmine Principal Receives
“Women of Influence” Recognition
Kristina Luscher, principal of Bel-
larmine College Preparatory, was one
of 100 community members recently
honored as being among the most in-
fluential women in Silicon Valley. The
recognition occurred at the annual
Women of Influence Awards ceremony,
presented by the Silicon Valley Busi-
ness Journal, on May 16 at the Fairmont
San Jose.
Luscher was among the class of
2019 honorees who were selected from
private, public, and nonprofit sectors.
Following a nationwide search, she
was appointed Bellarmine’s principal
in January 2017. This is a significant
milestone, as she is the first female
principal of the all-boys Jesuit second-
ary school since its founding in 1851.
Having worked at two schools prior
to joining Bellarmine’s faculty in 2000,
Luscher has also been an English and
Kristina Luscher
dance instructor, served as the English
Department chair, and as academic as-
sistant principal.
A well-respected member of the
community, Luscher’s volunteer work
has included service at LifeMoves
Montgomery Street Inn homeless
shelter, at Saint Simon Parish, and she
has participated in national and inter-
national immersion trips to Appalachia
and Ecuador.