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| Betsy Stahler Fallon '94 ~ recipient of the St. Philippine Duchesne Outstanding Alumna Award |
The Induction Ceremony began with a warm welcome by Woodlands Academy Alumnae Association President, Marni Soderland Mans, '90 and then fellow WAAA Board members: Pat Colbert, '69; Kamy Moorman Daddono '80 and Molly Keating '95 distributed AASH Passports to Forty-Two young ladies who now become part of their local alumna association, as well as, National (AASH) and International (AMASC) Sacred Heart Alum Associations.
Junior Class President Anne Kotlarz, offered the following tribute "Sisterhood…. by being a part of the Woodlands
community, we have been given the grandest sisterhood a young woman can have.
This sisterhood started the day we walked into Woodlands freshman year, and
will continue for the rest of our lives. Seniors, after today you will have the
support of one of the most profound alumnae associations. We have been
fortunate enough to hear from numerous alumnae in previous years and each
alumna evokes awe and gives us a glimpse of what we all dream to become in the
future. The alumnae are also perfect examples of how our Woodlands experiences
and the Sacred Heart Network will guide us for the rest of our lives."
Above top right photo: Past Philippine Duchesne Outstanding Alumna Award recipients M. Julie McKinley, '74 (2012) and Helen Bruns Ryan, '50 (2009) joined Betsy in front of the Triptych of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat by Mother Margaret Mary Nealis.
From the WAAA website -
Betsy Stahler Fallon
graduated from Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart in 1994 and went on to St.
Norbert College in Wisconsin and received her Master’s Degree from St. Xavier
University in 2005. Betsy lives with her husband, Sean in Chicago. She has
taught for nine years in an all-boy classroom at Sheridan Road and was
nominated for a Golden Apple in 2011.
Betsy has dedicated herself to Woodlands
Academy by serving on the Woodlands Academy Alumnae Association Board for seven
years. During her years of dedication to the Alumnae Board, Betsy organized and
launched an Alumnae Networking event for young professional alums to connect in
Chicago. This event gathered alums in the heart of the city in the middle of
February to support each other and Woodlands. This is now an annual event which
continues to reconnect Woodlands alums to their Alma Mater. Betsy’s enthusiasm
to gather Woodlands alums on campus, in her home, for dinner downtown, at Conge
or Reunion is an example of her love of the Sacred Heart mission. Betsy is
passionate about single-sex education and speaks nationally and in Canada at
workshops about the best strategies for “reaching the male brain in the
classroom.”
Betsy has dedicated herself to additional philanthropic activities
at Sheridan Road. She has a hands on approach to getting her students involved
in service. Her attitude of “many hands make light work” allows her students to
understand that though they are young they can make a world of difference. She
has her first graders bring in toys they no longer play with to donate to local
shelters. Her students also work together to bring in supplies and make lunches
for the homeless in the Roger’s Park neighborhood of Chicago.
Betsy’s
dedication and commitment to Sacred Heart specifically exemplifies the second
and third of the goals and criteria of the Sacred Heart “a deep respect for
intellectual values” and “a social awareness which impels to action."
Betsy currently teaches first grade at Hardey Prep. Betsy said that she and her first grade boys begin each day with the following prayer ~
Dear God,
Today I will do my best to...love you,have fun learning,help others,be a good friendand make wise choices.
To read more of Betsy's inspiring remarks upon receiving the Philippine Duchesne Outstanding Alumnae Award - click here
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