THOUGHTS FROM OUR HEAD OF SCHOOL, JOSEPH VORBACH:
We began the week on Monday at Mass as a school community on the Feast of the Annunciation. This feast day calls us to reflect on the critical meaning of Mary's response to the Lord's call and Father's homily assisted us in that reflection. Father's efforts as our Chaplain remind us daily of how fortunate we are that the Diocese is committed to having a full time Chaplain at its high schools.
Our performing arts students came into the week riding on the adrenaline of an exciting and successful trip to New York City. Among other things, they competed with other schools at Riverside Church in Morningside Heights, had an opportunity to see the show Anastasia at the Broadhurst Theater, had a Q&A session with an actor from Anastasia, and the choir even performed at Mass at Saint Malachy's (the Actor's Church) on West 49th Street.
On Wednesday, representatives from NASA's Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) were with our engineering students for a presentation in the auditorium. This opportunity was another great example of our teacher's being opportunistic and taking advantage of rich networks in the DMV to continue to expand our students' horizons.
Yesterday, an organized and dedicated group of students from our Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Club organized a challenging assembly with a powerful message for young drivers. The Assembly was followed up by opportunities for students to use simulators outside the cafeteria that simulated the feeling of trying to operate a motor vehicle while impaired or distracted.
I had the privilege yesterday of attending the events surrounding the formal inauguration of Dr. Irma Becerra as the 7th president of Marymount University. We are so fortunate to be connected to Marymount through dual credit/dual enrollment and other partnerships, and it was exciting to listen to Dr. Becerra lay out her vision for Marymount's next chapters - a vision that will provide new opportunities for O'Connell students in the future.
And of course it is Superdance week. It is almost impossible to overstate the commitment and dedication of the Student Council and Superdance committee leadership to this great and worthy cause. As I type on Friday afternoon, they are putting the finishing touches on a wonderfully transformed gymnasium that reflects the dance theme they developed and that will inspire all the dancers tomorrow. I hope many parents will have the opportunity to at least stick their head in for a bit and marvel at what has been accomplished.
And finally, I was very happy today to be walking the construction site of our campus with our design and construction team as well as the construction management experts from Arlington County, who were reviewing our readiness to being the construction work in earnest. We received some additional guidance that the contractor is addressing, but we seem to be on track and that is very exciting. Talking about construction is a good time to remind everyone that the work will create, from time-to-time and in different locations on the property, some disruption and dislocation. We will do our best to communicate early and well to the community on these developments and we thank everyone in advance for their patience with these adjustments as we complete these beautiful transformations of our facility.