April 3, 2019 Lynise Lassiter WATERTOWN – Every year at Immaculate Heart Central School in Watertown, the sixth graders spend the day at the high school and then attend the annual registration night in the evening. That event was held March 13. On the morning of March 13, Mr. Delaney, IHC’s guidance counselor and athletic director, and this year’s 2019 New York State Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, explained to the students how course selection and the sports program works. One student marveled at IHC’s three language offerings with the possibility of even more to choose from through IHC’s new partnership with The Virtual High School. What they don’t know yet, too, is that American Sign Language will be an option. Christin Filippelli, the Enrollment Management Director, assigned student ambassadors to guide each student group throughout the day. At no time did the older students leave their sides. After becoming acquainted with the morning routine, the newbies were led by Mrs. Filippelli through a guided tour of the building. During a stop at the main office, Lynise Lassiter, the K-12 principal, greeted the students again with a smile. Mrs. Lassiter reassured the onlookers with a surprising statement. She echoed Mrs. Filippelli by stating, “My office is not always a scary place.” Before visiting the office, Mrs. Filippelli stopped in front of the chapel and told the students how fortunate we were to have one in the building. “You can come here any time of the day to talk to God. We also have adoration here.” The class of 2025 even caught a glimpse of what changing classes every forty minutes and battling with the lockers in three minutes are really like for the average student. Becoming fully immersed in French with Mrs. Minter-Powell, a longtime IHC veteran teacher and the community service coordinator, discovering the many ways to say the word “smart” in Mr. Rowland’s English Language Arts class, and preparing to become a well-informed voter at the age of eighteen while Mrs. Pedraza teaches a civics lesson are just some of the ways the students became acquainted with what is to come next school year. And most people are not even aware of one of IHC’s best kept secrets: the cafe. Students, faculty, and staff dare to enter the kitchen with a hearty appetite. The menu includes fresh salads, yogurt parfaits, turkey wraps, and the entree of the day. Mrs. Magovney, the cafeteria manager, believes that “Children should eat fresh food every day.” The line is often almost out the door with little left over after the period ends. At dismissal time, students left very satisfied with their junior high experience. As one of many parents noted on the buffet line at registration night, “My daughter was so happy at the end of the school day. She could not stop talking about starting the seventh grade.” Dave Nicol, the Booster Club president, and other club members, sponsored a delicious pasta and meatball dinner with salad, bread, cookies, and a variety of beverages. Towards the end of the dinner, Mrs. Filippelli reminded the families about the reason we were all there. Each family received a mason jar to fill with prayers and reasons to be thankful. She also encouraged everyone to add petitions for others as they remember them in the jar. Other suggestions included placing the jar at the center of the dinner table as a reminder that God should be first in our lives. Mrs. Filippelli told all families to save the date for the New Student Orientation. She asked the students to recall the day they will meet again to receive their locker numbers and combinations. They shouted, “August 20!” Immediately, the cafeteria was filled with phone lights as the students and their families enthusiastically programmed the very important date in their devices. After the students, their parents/guardians, and in some cases, their siblings, left their tables, they toured the school building, tried on the new uniform, and learned more about our community service and music programs. |
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