F E A S T  O F  S T .  A N G E L A

Joan Bristol, Vice President of  Student Services (left) and Helen Wolf, Director of Campus Ministry (right) pose with Student Service Recognition Program recipient Edna Johnson Sneed, a sophomore at the School of New Resources Co-op City Campus.

About The Student Service Recognition Program
Three students from The College of New Rochelle were recipients of the Student Service Recognition Program. This program is a national award sponsored by Ursuline Educational Services. UES is a collaborative effort of Ursuline congregations to carry their educational traditions into a new millennium. In the spirit of Saint Angela Merici, the organization fosters education based on Gospel values. It promotes the preservation and development of the Ursuline charism and mission in Ursuline-sponsored schools and other educational settings.The requirement for this award is that each recipient must have completed a specific act of service in the previous academic year. Only one of the three CNR recipients could be present, but the societal contributions of all three are so outstanding that we take just a moment to share them with you as we celebrate the Feast of St. Angela Merici.

Juanita Wallace
GS Guidance and Counseling Program
Her service was completed at the Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Faith Assembly of God, both in Poughkeepsie, New York.

For the past 5 years, Ms. Wallace has served on the Board of Directors for the Child Abuse Prevention Center of Dutchess County. The Center serves approximately 5,000 children a year who are victims of child abuse and/or neglect and conducts Child Abuse Prevention Education programs in elementary schools throughout Dutchess County.  It is as a model for other agencies of its kind in New York State. 

Ms. Wallace’s service extends to her church community and in outreach to children of the inner city (Poughkeepsie, NY). Juanita Wallace served as a “Sidewalk Sunday School” Teacher, an inner-city ministry of her church community, the Faith Assembly of God. In this program, classes are held on Saturdays within apartment complexes. In addition to instruction in the faith, the 35-40 students involved receive breakfast and lunch to provide proper nutrition over the weekends. Ms. Wallace assists with “Little Peoples’ Church,” a childcare ministry for 3 and 4 year old children offered once a month during services at the Faith Assembly.

Nikia Burt
School of Arts & Sciences ’07
Her service was completed during the Rural Plunge to the West Virginia Appalachians with Campus Ministry at The College of New Rochelle. The Rural Plunge to Naugatuck West Virginia was held during the week of spring break in 2006. Nikia raked leaves, split firewood, burned garbage, cleared brush for pasture, painted and cleaned out a greenhouse, and dug a ditch so the rainwater would not stand in the road. These acts were committed for desperately poor residents of a rural mountain community. Without her assistance, these residents - many of whom are elderly and alone – would have to try and endure the cold spring months without firewood for heat, or cleared land to plant needed vegetables for sustenance. She also helped the community of Catholic nuns who run a mission on the mountain for their neighbors by cleaning the children’s classrooms of Big Laurel Learning Center for their summer camp programs.

In addition, Nikia has served as a Peer Minister with Campus Ministry for three years, ministering to her peers on a daily basis. She was instrumental in the formation of our Overnight Student Retreats for the past two years, and she just returned from the International Plunge to Mexico where she helped build a house in a week for a family in Matamoros.

Edna Johnson Sneed
School of New Resources, Coop City Campus
Her service was completed at Gifted Life Ministries on Lenox Avenue in NYC . Edna is a beloved member of the Coop City campus, admired by peers and instructors alike. While attending school full time with a special interest in counseling, and juggling the many duties of parent and grandparent, Edna provided spiritual counseling in the form of guidance and intercessory prayer in her role as an ordained minister with Gifted Life Ministries. She networked with other ministries for resources in order to assist members of Gifted Life who are seeking spiritual solutions to challenging life issues. This is a daily ministry for Edna, and a successful one. This May, three ministry candidates will be ordained.

We applaud Edna, as well as Nikia and Juanita in absencia, for their outstanding efforts to make this world a better place. This is the spirit of service advocated by Angela and her Company of Women. And this is the spirit of SERVIAM that is The College of New Rochelle. Congratulations!