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TOWER REVISITED honored at CASE professional advancement conference
February 15, 2005

Seton Hall Prep's Community Magazine, "Tower Revisited," received a Bronze Award for Independent School four-color magazines at the January CASE District II Conference in Baltimore. CASE [The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education] is a national organization whose mission is to provide support for the development, alumni, media and community relations efforts of universities and independent schools. The District II annual conference, hosting schools from the East Coast and lower Canada, offered lectures, discussions and roundtables on fund-raising efforts, public relations and media planning, as well as recognition of all manner of publications and institutional advancement. The theme of the conference, It Takes a Team, provided the central message for the many programs, speakers and special events.

The conference provided an invaluable opportunity to view the communications efforts [print, video, web] of a wide selection of major universities and independent schools. The district conference's "Accolades Program," which awarded "Tower Revisted" the bronze medal, has served as a model for other accolades and awards programs in the other districts of the national organization.

Seton's Spanish Teacher to put classroom skills to the test in Central America
February 6, 2005

Seton Hall Prep Spanish teacher Marta Gibson will put her classroom knowledge and skills to the test in the second week of February, joining "Team 11" of the Friends of Barnabas Foundation in Honduras, as the group travels for eight days in the backwoods and on mountain paths, bringing badly needed medical care to an area of the Central American country isolated as a result of the government-built Morazon Dam. Gibson will join the 12 member team as a translator, teaming up with medical professionals and a photographer, flying in to San Pedro Sula and traveling on to El Cajon, which will serve as the group's base of operations. Daily treks to remote interior areas will enable the group to set up roadside clinics and de-worming stations, provide eye exams, as well as family medical and nutrition education.

These services are in short supply in the remote areas surround El Cajon, a man-made lake resulting from the building of the Morazon Dam. The mountainous area has very few roads and the formation of the lake isolated parts of the population from basic services. Team 11's twice daily treks will entail travel by bus, boat, mule, and foot, to and from the villages. Children in the area suffer from malnutrition due to parasites, poverty and the overall lack of basic health care. The clinics provided by The Friends of Barnabas Fund enable many to see a health professional once or twice a year. Partnering in the endeavor is the Honduran National Power Company [ENEE], which built the dam and created the lake in the early 1980's, and now feels responsible for the hardships endured by the people of the watershed area.

Gibson, a teacher in Seton Hall Prep's Language Department since 1999 and a resident of South Orange, teaches the upper levels of Spanish. "I feel very fortunate to be able to use the Spanish language in this rewarding way," she recently remarked, "and thankful to Seton Hall for allowing me this week to participate in the opportunity."

Friends of Barnabas Foundation is a Christian mission and volunteer organization based in Virginia. For more information about Friends of Barnabas Foundation, visit www.fobf.org.

Bob Farrell wins 600th, joins very exclusive club
A milestone night at Seton Hall Prep
Wednesday, January 19, 2005    BY MIKE KINNEY    For the Star-Ledger
Bob Farrell has always expressed great affection for the school he coaches, but forever downplays the personal achievements he's realized at Seton Hall Prep.
   It was therefore fitting, and a slight relief to Farrell, when the thunder of his 600th career victory was seized somewhat by senior Andrew Pusar. [continues]>>>
 

Santa and his helpers, center stage at a Children's Institute Christmas Party
December 23, 2004

The torch has been passed in Morristown's Mota household from one Santa's helper to the next. Seton Hall Prep freshman Patrick Mota, with his brother Andrew now off to college at St. Joseph's in Philadelphia, has stepped in to engineer the collection of Christmas gifts [continues] >>>
 

Seton Hall Prep Pirates, signing up and getting prepared
November 20, 2004
  
Looking forward to the upcoming season, Seton Hall Prep Basketball Coach Bob Farrell met with three of his returning starters to celebrate their signing with major universities during the recent NCAA signing period. The Pirates, who have won 14 consecutive Iron Hills Conference Championships, and are the returning Essex County Champions, enter the season picked in the Top 25 in USA Today's pre-season forecast. Guard Andrew Pusar [left in photo, from Westfield] has signed with Harvard University and will be joined in the Ivy League by his backcourt mate Chris Andrews [center, from South Orange] who will head next year to Yale University. The team's center, 6'9" Brandon Costner [right, from Montclair] has signed with North Carolina State University. Coach Farrell is about to begin his 19^th year at the helm of the Pirates.
    They will be joined by returning players Mark Solomon, Darryl Harvey and Alex Wujciak.
    "Having so many returning starters allows you to pick up where you left off," Coach Farrell noted. "But the challenge for a coach is to stay fresh, to give them a different look, to not let them get bored from the same drills they've been doing for three years. You need to find different routines to get the same results. It can't be business as usual."
    Chris Andrews brings to the table exactly what a point guard needs to bring to a team. "Chris is so competitive. His shortness of stature has made him work even harder at every aspect of his game. But his unselfishness turns out to be the most important trait he contributes. His only objective is coming out with a 'W,'" the coach said. "If he scores zero points, he's just as happy as when he scores ten points, as long as the team wins." And to top it off, Farrell continued, "He's one of the best on-the-ball defenders we've ever had." That is high praise coming from the coach of Brevin and Brandin Knight [Stanford University and the-NBA, and University of Pittsburg, respectively] and Tyronne Barley [St. Joseph's University]. He is competitive in the classroom also, accumulating a 4.0 GPA over three years.
    Remarking on Andrew's backcourt mate, Farrell noted, "Andrew [Pusar] is a unique kind of player. He scores in every offensive way: out of our sets, in transition, as an offensive rebounder. He's willing as a 6'2 guard to take the punishment you get on the boards. He can take a hit and still finish. He'll absorb anything to score." The Westfield resident has done his work in the classroom as well, sporting a 4.58 GPA during his time at The Prep.
    The two guards, who will head off after graduation to compete against each other in the Ivy League "are both on the same wavelength," Coach observed about the pair of best friends off the court. "If Chris gets an outlet, his first thought is always, 'Where's Andrew?' And vice-versa."
    Brandon Costner, who has signed with North Carolina State University, has developed into a major force on both ends of the court since his freshman year. Now at six-nine and highly skilled, "Brandon has turned into a nightmare in terms of match-ups," Coach Farrell noted. "For a big man, Brandon has sort of learned the game in reverse. He was always comfortable shooting from the perimeter. But now if they guard him out there, he can now go inside and post up with anyone." Costner's passing has not gone unnoticed either. "He's a great passer," Coach said. "A lot of our plays go through him." He is no slouch in the classroom either, with a 3.2 GPA for his career.
    Coach Farrell has good reason to be ready to enjoy the comfort level these three have developed during their time playing for the Pirates. "They have a tremendous feel for each other. They can execute, pass, shoot and finish. At this point you can call a play, and right away their eyes light up knowing that they expect it to work."
   

[download hi-res photo]

Seton Hall Prep to mark the dedication
of three athletic facilities at Kelly Complex
10.1.04

On Thursday, October 21, Seton Hall Prep will honor three individuals with storied athletic histories by dedicating three facilities at the Edward D. and Helen M. Kelly Athletic Complex in their names, and in recognition of their longstanding contributions to Seton Hall Prep and to New Jersey athletics.
    The Bill Persichetty Track will be dedicated in the name of retired Prep Hall of Fame track coach Bill Persichetty, and the Charlie Lorenzo '52 Training Facility will be dedicated in the name of Prep Hall of Fame basketball player Charlie Lorenzo, who as a post-graduate in 1953, while playing for Carteret School, formerly located on the very same spot, scored a New Jersey record-setting 73 points in a basketball game. Additionally, as the result of an anonymous gift of a current Seton Hall Prep parent, a plaque marking the start-finish line of the Frank Gagliano Running Course will be placed in honor of retired Rutgers and Georgetown University Track Coach Frank Gagliano.
    Persichetty, a former national recordholder in the 660 yard run in the fifties at Dickinson High School and Fordham University, was Track and Cross-Country coach at Seton Hall Prep for over 35 years, until his retirement in 2000. His teams won numerous conference and New Jersey State Parochial Championships during his tenure, in addition to setting a national mark in the Indoor Two-Mile Relay and a number of Eastern States, and New Jersey individual and relay records. He currently lives in Nelly's Ford, Virginia.
    Lorenzo was a mainstay on Prep basketball teams of the early 50's, helping the Prep to Essex County Tournament Championships and the Championship of the prestigious Glens Falls (NY) Tournament. As was common in that era, he followed up his high school varsity career, with a year at West Orange's Carteret School, where he scored his record-setting 73 points in a game against Eastern Military Academy of Long Island. Lorenzo now lives in Lavallette, NJ.
    Gagliano began his coaching career of more than a half-century at Roselle Catholic and Rutgers University, before moving on to national renown at Georgetown University, where he was at the helm of nine Big East Championship Track Teams. He has coached five Olympians and is currently the leader of Nike Farm, a group of fifty post-collegiate runners training and competing out of Stanford University.
    Headmaster Rev. Msgr. Michael E. Kelly '57, who dedicated the 44-acre site in the name of his parents in 1999, will officiate at the ceremony, honoring the contribution of these three outstanding individuals to New Jersey athletics and to Seton Hall Prep.
see the Kelly Athletic Complex>>>

Future Lawyers Series Puts Students in Contact with Real World Issues
September 20, 2004

The Seton Hall Prep Future Lawyers Club recently sponsored the first in the continuing series of guest speakers from various areas of law and law enforcement. On September 23rd Amy Winkelman, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division of the US Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey, spoke to a large group of club members and other interested students and faculty, about her career and the path that led to it.
    Ms. Winkelman had teamed with Club Adviser John Pascal in 1995, when the latter was a NASDAQ Special Investigator assigned to the FBI and the US Attorney's Office. The pair worked on a stock fraud case which took several years to investigate and which culminated in a seven-month trial which sent four individuals to prison.
    Ms. Winkelman spoke to the students about her academic path prior to entering government service. That path began in the Detroit Public Schools, and eventually passed through the University of Michigan, Harvard Law School and private practice. She encouraged the students to study books intently, so as to develop investigative skills and the ability to recognize patterns in facts. In answer to some questions she encouraged the students to highly value their reputations, which can only be earned by honesty and attention to detail and deadlines. [>>>Future Lawyers in 2003]

A New Look for the KAC Training Facility
September 20, 2004

The multi-faceted six month project, the brainchild of Prep Trainer Larry Baggitt, came on-line during the summer, providing a first-class facility to be enjoyed by the hundreds of Prep team members and students looking to get in shape...>>>[continues]