This newsletter from St. Andrew Catholic School provides updates from staff, students, and alumni. It summarizes the retirement of former principal Mrs. Halasz and introduces the new principal Mrs. Wilfong. It highlights student accomplishments and school events from the past year including a science fair, heritage week, and first communion. Biographies are provided for new teachers joining the staff.

1. Catholic School
faith ~ love ~ learning
2015-2016 NEWSLETTER
Community
is at the heart
of
Catholic
Education
Thank You Mrs. Halasz

2. Dear St. Andrew School Families,
Greetings from your former principal! Retirement is wonderful, but I do miss my St. Andrew family.
Dedicated colleagues, supportive parents and most of all the children, made my 26 years at St. Andrew
School a true joy. I believe there are few professions in this world as satisfying as that of an educator.
Watching and guiding children as they learn about God’s amazing world and their place within it, is truly
a meaningful privilege!
On my return visits to school, I have found things to be humming along nicely under Debbie Wilfong’s
leadership. She is effectively planning for the present and future needs of our school and making some
fine changes. I couldn’t be happier with the direction in which she is guiding St. Andrew School.
I am also energized by the progress on the construction of our Catholic high school. How wonderful it will be to have a distinctly
Catholic option for our children upon graduation from St. Andrew School! Kudos to Fr. Jim and the Board for their tireless work to
make this dream a reality.
I am sincerely thankful to everyone for my lovely retirement celebrations. I still look back upon that time with wonder and
gratitude. I continue to be overwhelmed by your generosity.
Finally, retirement has allowed more time for personal prayer…..I assure you that St. Andrew families are on my list. May God
continue to bless each of you!
Sincerely,
Molly Halasz
From Our PrincipalFrom Our Principal
From Our PrincipalFrom Our Principal
Dear St. Andrew,
I am excited and privileged to be serving you in the role of Principal. As our fearless leader
for 26 years, Mrs. Halasz certainly left this school in excellent shape! We have a fantastic
team of faculty and staff and it is an honor to work with them. We are all most excited about
the upcoming school year! Faculty, staff, parents and students will continue to work together to fulfill our Mission.
Together we will continue to grow our academic programs and increase our Catholic identity. We will also pilot new
programs that will encourage the differentiation of learning. Determining specific learning needs for our students will
continue to encourage an environment where every child is known and loved. Thank you for this exciting opportunity,
I look forward to serving this beloved community.
Debbie Wilfong

3. 2015 GRADUATES
May The Lord BeWithYou

4. Our Student Council has been hard at work this year! The entire student body,
faculty and staff have been enjoying a one day per month, N.U.T. day:
No Uniform Today day! With the dollar donation from each student we have
been able to sponsor Gabriel, a nine year old student from the Philippines.
Every year, as a culminating activity to the Heritage unit in our reading series, fifth-grade stu-
dents, with lots of parental help, compile information from various sources and learn about
one side of their family history. It's fascinating to the students to look into the past and find
information about where their family came from, why and where they settled in the US, and
how they came to Myrtle Beach. They may find out that they have an interesting (maybe
even famous) ancestor and come to realize why certain customs are followed in their fami-
ly. Each day, several students share their information with the class, which often includes
many photos, family trees, letters, and legal documents. To end the week, students may
bring in a dish from their country of origin, and many get a taste of a new and delicious
food. The class gains an appreciation of how many different cultures have blended together
into America's 'melting pot'.
( We share our projects during the last week of January - Catholic Schools week)
Duke TIP
Scholars
Every other year our 7th and 8th graders have an opportunity to participate in
a Science Fair held in our very own CLC. Students begin working on their
projects through the steps of the Scientific Method early in the school year.
The project requires the students to research a topic, conduct an experiment
on the topic, and write up a research paper that contains the results of the experiment.
Our Science Fair is judged by members of our local community who have
a background in the field of science. Last year we were fortunate to have
two professors from the CCU science department as well as a former Gifted
and Talented teacher from the Horry County School System.
Our winner last year was Nicholas Andrews. Danny Saad placed 2nd and Carly DeSantis 3rd.
Honorable Mention was taken by Amy Leak, Myia Brumfield, Elana Jones.
JoLynn Prochaska
Middle School Science Teacher
Eighth Grade Home Room
SCIENCE FAIR
Mrs. Sedota, Anna Phillips, Sarah Greenlee, Blake Wiggins, Claire McCaffrey, Victoria Morrell, Eva
Patenaude, Mrs. Plecha, Izabella Shavitz, Natalie Andrews, Lane Westerlund, Molly Rion, Amy Leak.
Keller Hollingsworth, Julia DeSalvo, Tommy Riga
Congratulations
Heritage Week
The Designation is based on
outstanding 2015 SAT or ACT scores

5. Family Fellowship Fun
Pelican Game
Beach
Our First Holy Communion
Holy Week

6. Meet our New Teachers
At the beginning of this school year we welcomed Ms. Anna Lauren Meeks as our middle school Spanish
teacher. She is a highly energetic teacher who graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelor’s
Degree in Spanish and International Trade. She taught Spanish
for the Horry County School system for 3 years at Carolina
Forest High as well as at the Academy for Arts Science and
Technology. She was with us for half a year and then went on an
international mission trip where she could bring her faith and
help to many in need around the world.
Her mission trip will bring her all over
Africa. Please follow her on her blog at
annalaurenmeeks.theworldrace.org
We are proud of her work and wish her
all the best!
I was born in Tandil Argentina, and lived there till I was 10. My family still lives in Argentina so borrowing a cup of sugar from mom is
a little tricky. When I was 10 we moved to British Columbia, Canada and I spent the next 10 years learning English and freezing to
death. I went to St. Mary's College in North Carolina for two years and, then finished up at the College of Charleston. I majored in
Spanish literature, cute boys (just kidding) and taught Spanish conversation classes. I also met my better half and married him. While
he studied medicine, I worked with the Hispanic community at Our Lady of Mercy Community Outreach Center in Johns Island. I
taught ESL, translated for the Hispanic community, and helped with fundraising and special events. I was offered a job as a medical
interpreter at MUSC (Medical University of South Carolina), and could not pass up the chance to
work close to my hubby while still helping out with the Hispanic community. I worked at MUSC
until we moved to Oklahoma. We spent four years in OK, while Alex did
his orthopedic residency, we moved to Charlotte for one year, and then made a permanent move
to MB. We have since had two adorable children and are proud to be part of the St. Andrew
family!!!
Mrs. Pappas
Middle School Spanish
Teacher
Ms. Meeks
Middle School Spanish
Hola! I was born and raised in the beautiful Mexico City, it is one of the largest cities in the world with 25 plus million people just in the
city! I am married to Tim Papa, he is an engineer, and we have one child, his name is Ben. He is in first grade here at St. Andrew Catholic
School. All my education was in Catholic, bilingual schools, I am a kindergarten teacher and I have masters in Education. I was the principal
of my own Preschool - Kindergarten in Mexico. We served children from Preschool 1, 2 and 3, and Kindergartners, and I couldn't done that
without my parents help! I had to get a second job to support the first years of my school, so I joined EF International Education, where I
was able to travel, to learn and practice my English during the summers while I was in elementary and high school. EF International Educa-
tion has language schools all over the world, and they believe, as well as I do that immersion is the best way to learn a language and the
culture of the place. I started working with EF, first as a chaperone of groups from Mexico that were traveling to USA, Canada, England,
then I was a tour guide with the same company. Years and several positions later, I was in charge of The International Language Schools
Program and that gave me the great opportunity to travel all over the world. They moved me to head-
quarters for North America that is located in Boston, MA. I finished my career with EF and then I joined
Head Start, I was the manager of the Migrant Head Start Program in Western Kentucky. Being bilingual
Spanish-English has opened the doors and has been giving me so many great and unique opportuni-
ties. My goal as a Spanish Teacher is to plant a seed in our students so that will grow and they will
experience a life-long love of Spanish and other languages and cultures.
I am very excited to have the opportunity to teach Kindergarten at St. Andrew Catholic School! I
attended the University of South Carolina, and earned both my Bachelor's and Master's degrees
there. We are proud Gamecocks! This is my tenth year of teaching, and I previously taught Kin-
dergarten in public school. My husband, Stephen, and I recently moved from Lexington, SC to
the Myrtle Beach area. We have three children: Bella, Will, and Joseph. Bella attends first grade at
St. Andrew. We are so pleased to have the opportunity to send her to a Catholic school, and I
am overjoyed to be able to live out my Catholic faith by teaching kindergarten
at St. Andrew. I look forward to a year of living, learning, and loving Jesus with
our class!
Mrs. Kosydar
Kindergarten Teacher
I am so happy and thankful to be teaching at St. Andrew Catholic School. I know firsthand the blessings
and benefits of a Catholic education through my own children attending St. Andrew. My husband Chris
and I are blessed with a twenty-two year old son and a nineteen year old daughter. I love my Catholic
faith and I have a passion for teaching. I am originally from Norcross, Georgia and received my Bache-
lor of Science degree in Upper Elementary Education from Georgia Southern University. I have taught
in Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina and South Carolina. I love seeing children
grow in their faith and helping them to reach their highest academic potential.Mrs. Crowl
3rd Grade Teacher
Mrs. Papa
Elementary School Spanish
Teacher

7. Girls Basketball
Team
Cheerleading
Squads
Golf Team

8. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic High School Groundbreaking.
On Saturday, November 7, with 75 supporters of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic High School in attendance, Robert E.
Guglielmone, the Bishop of Charleston, blessed our building site on Carolina Forest Blvd. The Groundbreaking inaugu-
rated our project to construct the first phase of our school, a 15,400 sq. ft. building. During the ceremony our first
Principal, Mr. Theodore “Ted” Hanes, signed his employment contract. Mr. Hanes currently serves as Vice-Principal of
Elk County Catholic High School in St. Marys, PA. and his tenure at Seton will begin in mid-January 2016. The project is
funded by the many parishioners and friends of our Horry and Georgetown County Parishes and also grant-making
foundations. Harrington Construction Company of Myrtle Beach has been named as the General Contractor to build
the school. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic High School will open its doors in August 2016 to our first 9th
grade class.
Each year an additional grade will be added until the full four – year program is attained. For more information, call
843-839-2245 or go to our website: www.setonhighschoolsc.org.
Tea with Mom
In May the first graders put on a Mother’s Tea Party
for the moms. Each child read a special report
about their mom on the stage. The mom’s wore
spring hats for the occasion and we even sang a
beautiful song. It was a tear jerker for sure! We
ended our special day with cookies and juice.
In a few weeks we will be having Donuts For Dads
which will honor the dad’s in a similar way.

9. The 32nd
annual Taste of the Town will go down in history as the first ever event requiring a
last minute date change due to the catastrophic floods that hit South Carolina. The Octo-
ber 2015 storm was one of the most prolific rainfall events in the modern history of the
United States. The TOT team did not panic and quickly rearranged all the details to make
what could have been a disaster - a huge feat. The date was moved to Thursday, Novem-
ber 6th
at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. This year’s event was a tremendous suc-
cess and will be recorded as one of our most profitable years ever! We would like to thank
our sponsors, volunteers and parish for their support. Also a great big thank you to our
restaurants as this event would not be possible without them. When dining at one of these
establishments, please give them your thanks for their generous support of our largest
fundraiser. See our complete list of sponsors, restaurants and winners at TOTMB.COM
and mark your calendar for Tuesday, October 18, our next Taste of the Town.

10. In the Fall 50 of our 7th and 8th graders went to beautiful Camp Kanuga in Henderson-
ville, NC. During our 3 day and 2 night stay we had the opportunity to observe pond
and mountain ecology, learn about the rock cycle, and discuss the importance of water-
sheds. The outdoor classroom experience was top notch. Students were also chal-
lenged to step outside of their comfort zones and try a high ropes course where they
had to face some fears and learn to work together. We are thankful for our chaperones
and parents who made the trip possible. Special thanks to our vice principal, Mrs. Sedota
and Coach Rollings for also being willing to spend the night with our middle schoolers
and get us home safely.
Mrs. Prochaska

11. Girls Basketball Team
Cheerleading
Squads
Soccer Team Girls Volleyball Team
Jr. Boys Basketball Team
Sr. Boys Basketball Team

12. St. Andrew Catholic School Honor Code
As a student of St.Andrew Catholic School:
I pledge to be an example of Christ to all those around
me through both my words and actions.
I pledge to respect and show kindness and consideration
to my fellow students and teachers.
I pledge to use honesty in all situations.
I pledge to always work to the best of my ability.
I will put God and honor above all.
3601 North Kings Highway
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
843-448-6062(office) 843-626-8644(fax)
www.standrewschoolmb.com
St. Andrew Catholic School