{"id":1186,"date":"2017-03-28T16:45:49","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T00:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/?p=1186"},"modified":"2021-06-09T12:24:00","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T20:24:00","slug":"ode-to-sister-francine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/?p=1186","title":{"rendered":"Ode To Sister Francine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Sister Francine<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2026don\u2019t even try to say \u2018no\u2019 to Sister Francine.\u00a0 It\u2019s futile.\u00a0 Not because your knuckles might feel the old time wrath of a ruler\u2026it\u2019s \u2018cause you just can\u2019t disappoint her.\u00a0 What a skill! \u00a0\u00a0This is just who she is\u2026kind, warm, smart, fun, committed, empathetic, thoughtful and inspiring.<\/p>\n

We connected upon our very first encounter when Nancy and I attended a Connelly open house with our granddaughter, Katie (the artist formerly known as Kaitlin) who was considering a high school to attend while in the eight grade.\u00a0\u00a0 As soon as Sister spoke, I leaned over to Nancy and whispered, \u201cthat woman is from Philadelphia.\u201d\u00a0 Us Philadelphians do not have radar but rather \u2018Phillydar\u2019 and we hear it instantly.<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the presentation, Sister Francine was \u2018working the room\u2019 and no one does it better.\u00a0 As she approached and we introduced ourselves, Sister engaged directly with Kaitlin in a very warm and welcoming style.\u00a0 It was disarming as well as comforting. \u00a0At the conclusion of their exchange, I then asked, \u201cSister, do I hear Philadelphia in your voice?\u201d\u00a0 She did not answer in a way I expected but rather made a fist, tapped her heart, looked to the heavens and then responded with, \u201cI still can\u2019t believe Ryan Howard took that third strike in the NLCS game against the Giants.”\u00a0 Kaitlin then looked at her grandmother, rolled her eyes and with a smile said, \u201cwell, I guess I know where I\u2019m going to school for the next four years.\u201d<\/p>\n

While choice of schools was exclusively hers, it was the Connelly \u2018shadow day\u2019 that took Kaitlin over the top. All of us agreed that Connelly was not only a best fit, but a right fit.\u00a0 Our Connelly girls enter the ninth grade as gawky, braces wearing, anxious, unsure 13 and 14 year olds, but leave as confident, bright, inspiring young women ready to take on the rigors and fun of college life.\u00a0 Few if any prepare students as well as Connelly for that next step in the pursuit of higher education and life in general. \u00a0Upon graduation, Connelly girls are ready to lead, serve and inspire with both heart and heft.<\/p>\n

Over the past seven years, we have enjoyed a close relationship with the Connelly family of students, parents, faculty, administration, staff and alums.\u00a0 They all reflect Sister Francine\u2019s light. \u00a0It is bright, nurturing and sustaining. \u00a0\u00a0Nancy and I join everyone associated with Connelly High School in wishing Sister Francine all the best in her new leadership role with the Society and subsequent return to our native Philadelphia\u2026cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, 9th<\/sup> St market, Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, Flyers, Big 5 Basketball, Mummers Parade, Boat House Row, The Art Museum, Franklin Institute, The Barnes\u2026shall I go on?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll miss seeing you, Sister, but will certainly remain in touch when back \u2018home,\u2019 and if all else fails, remember\u2026our light is always on for you as yours is for us.<\/p>\n

With love,<\/p>\n

Nancy and Al Marino<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2026don\u2019t even try to say \u2018no\u2019 to Sister Francine.\u00a0 It\u2019s futile.\u00a0 Not because your knuckles might feel the old time wrath of a ruler\u2026it\u2019s \u2018cause you just can\u2019t disappoint her.\u00a0 What a skill! \u00a0\u00a0This is just who she is\u2026kind, warm, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-snippetz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1186"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1322,"href":"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186\/revisions\/1322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfieland.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}