Profile of Alumna, Neesha Rao, Class of 2004 Harvard Graduate!
I started Sacred Heart in grade nine, when I was fortunate to receive a scholarship to attend the school through grade twelve. I have fond memories of my time at Sacred Heart and know that the education I received was critical to helping me succeed in university and beyond.
While at Sacred Heart, I was deeply involved in the school’s debating program. Under the guidance of the school’s dedicated coach, I was able to develop strong skills in analysis, argumentation and public speaking. My fellow teammates and I were very successful throughout all of our time debating for Sacred Heart, consistently placing in the top five of provincial and national tournaments. I placed first in many competitions and was given the opportunity to represent Canada at the World Schools Debating Championship in Stuttgart, Germany in 2004. Debating at Sacred Heart was a wonderful extracurricular activity that encouraged me to grow intellectually while working with others.
My other extracurricular experiences at Sacred Heart were similarly challenging and exciting. For three years, I participated in the Aventis Biotech Challenge, working with other students and a professional mentor over the course of many months to develop and conduct a high-level scientific experiment. In grade eleven, my partner Colleen Connolly and I placed first at the provincial level in this competition and ended up ranking second nationally. I was also a member of the choir and liturgy choir, and co-founded the Global Citizens club.
My extracurricular activities at Sacred Heart were rooted in the strong academic education that I received. By grade twelve I had taken Advanced Placement exams in English language, European History and French Language.
When I applied for university, my extracurricular and academic experiences helped me to be successful in applying to schools. The support that I received from teachers while applying to university was something that I am not sure all students in high school are fortunate enough to have, and spoke directly to the spirit of community and genuine interest that Sacred Heart teachers possess. While I received a significant scholarship to attend McGill as well as a Millennium scholarship, I ended up accepting an offer of early admission to attend Harvard University.
While at Harvard, I was prepared to excel in my history, social sciences, and French classes thanks to the education I received at Sacred Heart. Perhaps most importantly, the confidence that I developed while at Sacred Heart helped me to succeed as a leader in a university full of ambitious and intelligent people. At Harvard, I was the Vice President of the school’s first musical group dedicated to black creativity and spirituality, which is also the school’s largest multicultural organization. I served as a research assistant for a professor exploring the history of the French legal system’s treatment of the country’s Muslim citizens. I was awarded a competitive fellowship from the Center for Europe Studies to teach English in Krakow, Poland for a summer. The summer before my fourth year, I conducted thesis research in Bangalore, India with a fellowship from The South Asia Initiative at Harvard. I graduated from Harvard with Bachelor of Arts degrees, with honours, in one of the school’s most intense programs, social studies, as well as with a language citation in French.
Currently, I am a research assistant at a health policy think tank in Washington, DC.
In September 2012, I will begin law school at McGill. At Sacred Heart, few values were emphasized more than social justice. It is a value that stuck with me in university as I chose my research projects and extracurricular activities, is with me presently as I work on public health care policy, and will follow me into law school as I plan to focus on public interest and human rights law.
Neesha Rao
Massey Journalism Fellowship for 2011-2012 - Elizabeth Bowie, Class of 1998
Elizabeth Bowie, Class of 1998, has been awarded a Massey Journalism Fellowship for 2011-2012. Each year, Massey College chooses several mid-career journalists to join the College. The goal is to get out of the daily grind, and take a year to broaden her horizons in the unique and intellectual environment that is Massey College. As part of the fellowship, she has been given nine months off from CBC, and can take classes at the University of Toronto. She is part of the Massey community, which is made up of junior and senior fellows, including Michael Ignatieff, Margaret Atwood, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Julie Payette.
Elizabeth commented on her years at Sacred Heart: "My years at SHSH continue to play an enormous role in shaping my path. Sacred Heart taught me that if you work hard, show concern and courtesy for your neighbour, and dare to be true, good things can happen."
Massey Journalism Fellow 2011-2012
CBC Radio producer
Congratulations, Elizabeth, from your Sacred Heart Family!
Profile of Dr. Rohini Bannerjee, Class of '93 - current parent
It was back in 1981 that Marilyn first greeted Rohini at Sacred Heart School. After two weeks in Mrs. Jones’ Primary class, Rohini was promoted to Grade One where, at the age of 5 years, her love of the French language began in the Bilingual English-French Programme. In Junior and Senior High, Rohini was both participant and judge at the Concours d’Art Oratoire French public speaking contest. She soon became an active member of the Debating team, a team whose many successes at the Provincial level included the 1993 Saint Mary’s University High School Debating Championship whereby her winning team out-argued the Halifax Grammar School team, one of whose debaters was Karim Mukhida, her future husband! Rohini was a member of Student Council throughout Junior and Senior High School and won several School awards including the McBirney, Judith Simms Sapp, University Toronto Book Prize, Debating, Boyd Family, French award, Alumnae Award, amongst others. Along with the generosity of the Bursary Programme, Rohini held an Entrance Scholarship both in Grade 7 and Grade 9 which she maintained throughout her schooling.
Encouraged by the Social Action Programme established at Sacred Heart, Rohini avidly volunteered at the IWK both in the Outpatient Department and later as a French translator. Her interest in Women’s Health issues eventually led her to volunteer at the local Planned Parenthood Clinic. Her volunteerism earned her the title of 1992 Nova Scotian “Volunteen.”
From 1987 to 1993, Rohini worked in the After-School Programme, having been in the programme herself throughout Elementary School. It was then in Grade 10, that she began working at the Portry during the summer, a position she held for eight years. Rohini’s Portry experience continued on during the academic year throughout High School and even after Graduation as the evening Event Receptionist and also as Saturday Receptionist for the Maritime Conservatory of Music (Performing Arts) when it was initially housed at Sacred Heart. In between working at the Portry Desk, Rohini also managed the Uniform Shop for two summers.
After being granted University scholarships in Ontario, it was at Dalhousie University as a Canada Scholar that Rohini chose to pursue her BSc. When her first year French professor discovered she was a student of the late Madame Michelle Wilson, he was convinced she would study French as a career and so signed her up for the Dalhousie Aix-en-Provence, France Year Abroad Programme. She credits her love of French language to Mme Wilson, her passionate and brilliant Elementary French teacher. Despite Rohini’s pre-med path at Dalhousie with courses including Neuroanatomy and Philosophy of Biology, she chose to follow her passion for French literature and in 1997, graduated with an Advanced Double Major in Biology and French and later in 1999, completed a Masters in 19th century French literature at Dalhousie. During her time at Dalhousie, Rohini was still active at Sacred Heart, working at the Portry and volunteering first as the Treasurer, then Secretary and later as President of the Sacred Heart Alumnae. In 2000, Rohini began her Doctoral studies in French & Francophone Literature at the University of Western Ontario during which time she returned to Halifax in 2001 and married HGS 1993 Grad, Dr. Karim Mukhida (old Debating rival but later Neuroanatomy study partner!). In 2004, Rohini and Karim returned to Halifax from Toronto where she was teaching French from Grades 2-5 in the Jewish Education Board while writing her PhD thesis, and joined the Sacred Heart Faculty teaching Grade 10 Honours French. In 2005, she and Karim welcomed their first son Ishan. Doctorate in hand in 2006, Rohini landed a tenure-track position at Saint Mary’s University in the Department of Modern Languages and Classics as Assistant Professor of French Studies (International Francophone Studies) in 2007. She is also Faculty member of Asian Studies and Graduate Faculty of the Joint Master of Arts in Women and Gender Studies at SMU and MSVU. Rohini is the Faculty Advisor for the World University Service of Canada for Saint Mary’s University and was an active member of the Student Refugee Program Selection Committee. Her primary area of research is in contemporary Indian Ocean Francophone literature and Cultural Studies in particular, she focuses on the multicultural and multilingual island of Mauritius resulting in conference presentations and invited talks across Canada and the US, UK, Spain, Belgium and most recently, Mauritius. Rohini also holds a cross appointment as Assistant Professor with the Department of French Studies at Western where she has been teaching translation since 2000.
In December 2009, Rohini and Karim welcomed their second son, Vikesh and in 2013 welcomed their third son, Suvan! Balancing motherhood and her academic career has only been possible because of her husband and family’s support and in addition, to the strong work ethic she earned throughout her 12 years at Sacred Heart. She credits a long line of Sacred Heart educators for all her successes, many of whom remain Faculty to this day. Rohini looks forward to her three sons joining the Sacred Heart family as she anticipates many more Sacred Heart successes for them in the years to come.
In Grade Primary we did a project where we wrote what we wanted to be when we got older. Many of my peers wrote down doctor, vet, lawyer - and many of them are on their way to achieving those dreams. My dream was to be an Olympian. After following my sister, Talia’s (Class ’98) footsteps into sport, I wanted to be the best in the world. I never thought that this couldn’t be possible and while attending Sacred Heart that dream became an attainable goal. Training everyday while going to school became the norm for me and I fell into a relatively rigid schedule that I chose to follow. Dragging my Dad to 5:30 am practices throughout most of the Fall and Winter, it soon became a yearly routine and way of life that I loved. I started racing for Canada in the summer of Grade 10, where I raced in the 2001 Junior Championships in Curitiba, Brazil. Since that summer, I have raced in over twenty countries, collected over thirty international medals including two Gold and two Bronze Pam American Games Medals from 2003 and 2007.
In 2003, I graduated from Sacred Heart School. We had a number of lifers in our graduating class and I was one of them. However, I did not celebrate with them at our prom nor attend my own graduation. I only ended up in the grad picture by the miracle of computers. Instead of being with my peers and teachers, I was racing in Poland as part of Team Canada in the sport of Flatwater Sprint Kayaking. Years later when I graduated from St. Mary’s with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy, I would once again miss graduation for a regatta in Poland. Throughout my years at Sacred Heart, I learned how to balance school and be an athlete. I would leave for a month each spring to attend a training camp in Florida. I never once ran into trouble with teachers while I trained; they tolerated my late appearances because of my 5:00 a.m. practice schedule four times a week. Throughout University I found that I was able to communicate easily with professors in missing time and working with them from a distance. I can only attribute my ability to approach and work one on one with these professors from my time at Sacred Heart.
Olympian! Jill D'Alessio, Class of 2003
At the age of 19, I attended the Summer Olympic Games in Athens Greece competing in the K4 500m. We placed 8th overall and the Canadian Canoe/Kayak team as a whole, had its best result ever. Lining up for the Olympic final knowing that the world was watching and that I would lead my team to the finish line is a memory that will forever be etched in my mind. Every bead of sweat, every early morning wake up, every curse word uttered from pain, and every sacrifice made were all worth it just to experience each moment that Olympic summer.
Every four years I chase a new Olympic dream. I faced numerous obstacles and injury on my journey to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and did not make it. It was upon my reflection after these games that I started to assess what kind of athlete and person I was becoming. I recognized that whether it is sport, academics or life only I can control my own actions and my own effort. It becomes very easy to solely focus on an end result and ignore the individual steps it takes to get there. I returned once again to the basic steps of focusing on the little steps and reducing the stress of expectations and pressures that are created by only thinking about the result wanted. I am one year into my quest for the Olympic Games in London 2012 and I am happier and more confident in my training. I have the courage to take each step deliberately towards my dream. Sacred Heart equipped me with the tools I needed to strive for success. I value and appreciate the support I received and still receive from this close knit group.
When I come back to speak to the students about setting goals and going after their own dreams I do this because I want to give back what little I can to this community that gave and taught me so much. I was taught how to be a leader within these brick walls; if I can inspire at least one girl (or boy now) to be brave enough to be the best they can be, in any endeavor, through sharing my story and experiences then I feel as though the legacy that is created through a Sacred Heart education may be passed along to yet another generation.
Dr. Krista Donaldson Awarded an International Social Innovation Fellowship in PopTech
Dr. Krista Donaldson is a Sacred Heart alumna who is making the world a better place!
Dr. Krista Donaldson attended Sacred Heart School of Halifax from 1984 through 1988. She is currently the CEO of Design Revolution which designs and puts into production products to improve the lives of the four billion people who have incomes of less than $4 per day. She was awarded an International Social Innovation Fellowship in PopTech, an international design and social development organization. Krista is a design engineer who has worked and taught in Kenya, South Africa, Iraq and Burma. She is also a Rainer Arnhold 2010-2012 Fellow.
She considers Pictou, NS her home and spends time there each year with her husband and two children.
Krista is the author of a very successful book for high school seniors and freshmen engineers: The Engineering Student Survival Guide. She spent five years in Kenya working at Kickstart...then called ApproTech...designing and putting into production treadle pumps to irrigate crops. She trained workers for factories in Nairobi and Arusha to manufacture them. She does well in Swahili from formal training on Zanzibar and in Nairobi as Kswahili is somewhat different from street Swahili. She also worked with the single artisans making products beside the road to improve the quality and cost structure of those items. Much of the research for her PhD comes from her time in Nairobi.
Congratulations to Krista from all of us at Sacred Heart School!
Alumnae Profile - Dara MacDonald, Class of 2004
I started at Sacred Heart in Grade 7, following in the footsteps of my sister Charlotte’s very successful first few years in the Elementary School! Over the years at Sacred Heart, I benefited greatly from the commitment of its faculty to fostering critical thinking, international engagement, and personal development in their students. While at Sacred Heart School of Halifax (SHSH), I was heavily involved in the Kids Help Phone Student Ambassadors program, co-founded the Global Citizens club, and pursued Advanced Placement courses in English Composition and Spanish Language. My high school years at Sacred Heart were central to developing my love for the social sciences and humanities. I distinctly remember being pushed by Mrs. Horne to constantly ‘read more, about everything’ – a habit that has served me well in holding my own with current classmates and colleagues! I can trace my interest in international politics to Miss Scott’s ever-engaging Grade 12 History class, and my enduring curiosity for Latin American issues and the vagaries of the Spanish language to Sra. Marquez’s kind and enthusiastic encouragement in many years of Spanish classes and AP preparation. I remember my years at Sacred Heart as full of lasting friendships, intellectual excitement, and rewarding community involvement.
After graduating from the high school in 2004, I took up my university studies as a Bell Scholar at Mount Allison University, in Sackville, New Brunswick. My years at Mount Allison, for which I was exceptionally well-prepared by the kind and challenging guidance of Sacred Heart teachers, were some of the most rewarding and fun I have had yet! At MTA, I completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours with First Class Distinction) in International Relations, with Minors in Hispanic Studies and Development Studies, and was involved in several activities around campus. The interest in social action that I developed first at SHSH continued through my work as President of the WUSC local committee, the campus arm of a Canadian NGO focused on poverty, education, and refugee issues. Through this work I also served as the Conference Director for the Uniterra Atlantic Symposium 2007 (‘Education for All: Traditional Provision, Alternative Models & Development Effects’).
My involvement in student leadership at Sacred Heart also inspired me to get involved with student government at Mount Allison, serving on residence executive in my second year of studies and as Vice President Academic Affairs for the Mount Allison students’ union in my fourth year. These extracurricular activities were nicely complemented by my introduction to research work through assistantships for Dr. Rob Summerby-Murray on the project ‘Heritage as Spectacle: interpreting deindustrialised landscapes in Maritime Canada’ and Dr. Judith Weiss on the project ‘José Antonio Ramos y Aguirre: The Construction of the Cuban Intellectual’ during my last years of study. The interest in Spanish that Sra. Marquez’s classes at Sacred Heart inspired was also well served at Mount Allison, where I worked as a laboratory instructor for the Intermediate Spanish course and took a summer abroad at the Universidad de Granada, in Spain, as an advanced student of the language. I was also fortunate to experience teaching firsthand, having a chance to lecture, mark, and give exam guidance as a Purdy Crawford Teaching Intern for the Geography of the Developing World course at MTA.
In the fall of 2008, after graduating from Mount Allison, I moved to the U.K. to take up a Rhodes Scholarship at the University of Oxford. Currently, I am reading for an M.Phil. in Development Studies at St. Antony’s College, to finish in July 2010. My thesis research at Oxford has integrated growing interests in education, Latin American cultures, and childhood poverty. Entitled “Reproducing Inequality?: The Process of Secondary School Abandonment in Rural Highland Peru”, my thesis deals with the causes of secondary school dropout in rural Peruvian indigenous communities. Supervised by researchers at the Young Lives project, a 15 year study of childhood poverty in 4 countries funded by the British government, my research work has served to further broaden my understanding of poverty, social inequality, and children’s issues in Latin America. While at Oxford I have also taken advantage of the wealth of student activities available here, working as the Grants Officer for the Rhodes Scholars’ Southern African Forum (an NGO run by current scholars that funds grassroots development projects in Southern Africa) and the representative of my M.Phil. course to the academic administration. Without the early encouragement from Sacred Heart teachers and community, I would not have been able to develop the skills that brought me to Oxford, an opportunity which has been immeasurable.
After finishing my Master’s degree at Oxford in July 2012, I will be working on education issues with a development NGO or multilateral agency in Peru for the next year. After this, I plan to take up a Master’s of Public Administration in the United States, to help prepare me further for a professional career in international development focused on education policy in Latin America. I look forward to visiting the teachers and staff at Sacred Heart while stopping for a brief break in Halifax this coming summer!
Dara MacDonald, Class of 2004
Vanessa MacDonnell, Class of 1999 Profile
I am a graduate of the Class of 1999. The years I spent at Sacred Heart instilled in me a strong sense of self and of community. Being a part of this community of inspiring and intelligent women was a formative experience, one from which I continue to benefit. I often reflect upon the important role that Sacred Heart has played in preparing me, my sister Jasmine, and many young women like us, for a life of work, family, and faith.
In my final year at Sacred Heart, I served as Head Girl. I received the Birks Medal for leadership, the Governor General’s medal for highest average in the graduating class and the O’Dea Trophy for most outstanding graduate.
After graduating from Sacred Heart, I studied science as an Oland Scholar at St. Francis Xavier University. I served as a student representative on the Board of Governors and as Executive Vice-President of the student-alumni association, SALUTE-X. I also co-founded the Model United Nations Society, which gave me the opportunity to attend the 2002 Harvard National Model United Nations. I received multiple awards for community involvement while at St. FX, and graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science (Biology) with Distinction.
After completing my undergraduate degree, I pursued studies in law. Following my graduation from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, I articled at a major Toronto law firm and was called to the Ontario bar. In 2007-2008 I completed a judicial clerkship for Justice Louise Charron at the Supreme Court of Canada.
In 2008, I received a Harvard University Association in Canada scholarship to pursue graduate studies at Harvard, where my research focussed on Canadian and comparative constitutional law. After graduating from Harvard, I married Leo, a criminal lawyer and former law school classmate. I recently accepted a term faculty position at the University of New Brunswick Law School.
There is no doubt that my experiences at Sacred Heart have influenced my academic and career paths. These experiences gave me self-confidence, a drive to succeed, and a strong grounding in Catholic values. In this way, a Sacred Heart education prepared me not just for future studies, but for life.
Alumna Stars as Wendy in Peter Pan at Neptune Theatre!
The way I remember it, I decided to go to Sacred Heart for one reason and one reason alone... they produced a musical every year. Yeah, sure, they also had great academics and lovely teachers who really cared and all that... but... MUSICALS! That's what my life's been about for as long as I can remember and when I met a few Sacred Heart girls through a summer theatre camp, I knew I wanted to go to school where they did. Once I started at SHSH, the other wonderful things about the school became apparent, like the small class sizes and the teachers really knowing who I was and what was important to me. When I first arrived at Sacred Heart, there were auditions for Brigadoon and I was cast as the sultry Meg. Now, granted, I didn't understand what half of her lines meant at the time, but people laughed and the "magic" happened. Next was No, No, Nanette, followed by Guys and Dolls (in which I had to play a "Guy"... THAT was a learning experience!), and then the finale ultimo, Annie Get Your Gun, which was one of the most amazing experiences I could have asked for to round off my Sacred Heart Experience. We had so much fun and while we were rehearsing for that show, I auditioned for and got into Sheridan College's Musical Theatre Performance programme (using a monologue from Annie Get Your Gun!).
So right out of high school, I packed my bags and left for Oakville, Ontario to learn how to be a Broadway Baby. It was intense. I was in class or rehearsal 5 or 6 days a week from 8:30am to 8pm (plus rehearsing on my own after that). But I was prepared thanks to the combination of my Sacred Heart schedule and all of my after school activities, which meant that I had a pretty grueling schedule all the way through high school. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
Since graduating from Sheridan, I've been lucky enough to have played some pretty excellent roles at some wonderful theatres. Most recently I played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at the gorgeous Citadel Theatre in Edmonton and right now I'm rehearsing Wendy in Peter Pan at Neptune (and happy to be a little closer to home!).
Sacred Heart also helped to teach me a strong work ethic. In my spare time between shows, I've recorded my debut album, which I've just put on sale on my website at www.blairirwin.com (which is another project I created in between gigs!) and wrote and performed two One-Woman Shows that I produced in Toronto, where I am now based.
The Sacred Heart family encouraged me to follow my passion from the get-go and that is something that I will never forget. Because I was allowed to follow my dreams while in high school, they just grew bigger and bigger and I felt that nothing could stop me. I've been chasing those dreams ever since. Now, when someone questions my career, instead of thinking "Yeah... you're right.” The odds are tiny... maybe I should find a plan B,"I say... "Why NOT?" and that is something that no one can take away from me.
(Sarah) Blair Irwin, Class of 2001
