The Academy of the Holy Angels recognized multiple scholarship recipients during the October 25th Foundation Day celebration. This festive event marked the 186th anniversary of the establishment of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, AHA’s foundresses and sponsors.
Morgan Morrissey of Saddle River earned the Margaret Klett Literary Scholarship, an alumna-endowed award of $1,500 that is presented to a senior who maintains an average of at least 93 percent in her English courses and an overall average of at least 87 percent.
Applicants must have submitted at least one original literary work to an AHA publication and must prepare an essay for the selection committee.
This year’s applicants were asked to discuss the challenges young women will face in the next decade. Morrissey identified a need for her generation to be involved in the political system and elect more women to public office.
Kayla Pringle of Suffern, New York, received the Lorna Ciccarelli and David Cahn Leadership Scholarship for modeling leadership at Holy Angels and within the greater community.
This $1,000 award is presented to a senior with a grade point average of 90 or above. Applicants must also submit an essay regarding the meaning of leadership. Pringle has attended the Yale Young Global Scholars program and the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference, where she was a 2018 participant and a 2019 junior staff member. She established Blankets for Linus at AHA to support children served by Project Linus.
AHA also honored the 2019-2020 Nonna Dunphy Scholarship finalists and semi-finalists. This year’s finalists are seniors Grace Flynn of Oradell and Shannon Garrity of Old Tappan, juniors Isabelle Egan of Oradell and Caitlin Brannigan of Hillsdale, and sophomores Adriana Santos of Ridgefield and Madeline Risbud of Westwood.
Nonna Dunphy Scholarship semi-finalists include Shannon Dobres of Bergenfield, Katherine Gazzini of Ridgewood, Sophia Luongo of Upper Saddle River, Joanna Scorese of Mahwah, Brooke Hess of Cedar Grove, Colleen Driscoll of Oradell, Emma DeMarco of South Nyack (New York), Brigid Miller of Pearl River (New York), Isabella Dail of Saddle River, Grace Watson of Glen Rock, and Catherine Callahan of Tenafly.
“Our semi-finalists and finalists exhibit characteristics that reflect the ideals that Sister Nonna Dunphy, the foundress of the school, embodied herself and that she encouraged in her own students,” AHA Principal Jean Miller said.
“These young women can live boldly and make educated decisions based on faith, character, and gospel values.
They recognize that, with education, comes the great responsibility to share their knowledge and their gifts with others.”
Nonna Dunphy Scholarship finalists receive $1,000 awards named for AHA’s foundress, Sister Nonna Dunphy. Each fall, the administration chooses two seniors, two juniors, and two sophomores based on academic achievement, leadership, character, service, and an interview conducted by the Scholarship Committee.
The AHA board established Nonna Dunphy Scholarships during the 1990-91 academic year when Holy Angels was celebrating the 25th anniversary of the school’s move from Fort Lee to Demarest.
The awards are presented in honor S. Nonna, who reportedly had just $20 in her pocket when she and S. Cyrilla Geifel signed the contract for the original AHA campus in Fort Lee.
That momentous occasion took place 140 years ago, on October 2, 1879.