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A web crossroads for the Order of Preachers
CSOCD 60 theme is: “Inclusive and resilient recovery from COVID-19 for sustainable livelihoods, well-being and dignity for all: eradicating poverty and hunger in all its forms and dimensions to achieve the 2030 Agenda.” be held from February 7-16, 2022.
This week at the UN, the Commission on Social Development begins. The Civil Society Forum working group will kick off its FORUM with an Orientation on Friday, February 4.. The CSOCD working group has an excellent relationship with the Commission and its director, so much so that on the Commission website the Working group is highlighted with its agenda as well as that of the Commission that It will officially begin February 7th through the 16.. Each year a different theme related to the Sustainable Development Goals is announced. The focus this year’s theme is eradicating poverty and hunger in all its forms. It is a timely theme considering the impact that the pandemic has had on food security and poverty worldwide.
Each commission is made up of a Bureau. Its role is the preparations for and in ensuring a successful outcome of the commission. Bureau members for this session are:
| Chair | H.E. Ms. María del Carmen Squeff | Argentina |
| Vice-Chairpersons | Mr. Stefano Guerra | Portugal |
| Ms. Hellen M. Chifwaila (Designate) | Zambia | |
| Mr. Jiakun Guo (Designate) | China | |
| Ms. Iwona Lula (Designate) | Poland |
The Secretary-General of the UN, Antonio Guterres offers a report each year.
We learned that almost 108 million people were pushed into extreme poverty in 2021 because of the pandemic. Those living in poverty which is ($1.90 per day) was raised to 711 million (as of June 2021). The undernourished increased worldwide. Food insecurity increased by 30.4 per cent (2.4 billion people, an increase of 318 million from 2019). Please read the GA’s report and his six recommendations. He is hopeful that Agenda 2030 will still be met.
In addition to the Secretary-General ‘s report, Civil Society produces a declaration. This declaration is what we as civil society see is needed to end poverty, hunger and other issues in the following years.
We invite you to share the Declaration in your networks! All signatures received by NGOs and individuals around the world will be shared with Governments and the United Nations at the opening of the 60th session of the Commission for Social Development on February 7th, 2022. Click here to view the Civil Society Declaration | Sign in support of the Civil Society Declaration 2022!
The Declaration proposes the following recommendations:
The Civil Society Declaration contains a ten-point Call to Action. The Call to Action is creative and doable. Here are some of the proponents of the document:
Please read the Declaration and sign it. The more signatures we have from people like you and me the more importance it takes on. We need your affirmation.
One more thing to assist you to follow along during the CSocD60. The Justice Coalition of Religious (JCOR) developed a guide that contains the schedules of the UN events, Civil Society Forum, slides, links to the UN website as well as social media. It’s an all-inclusive guide to this Commission. Please take advantage of it. It is an excellent tool. JCOR is made up of twenty religious’ congregations. The Dominican Leadership Conference is among the JCOR members.
I look forward to seeing you here at the CSOCD 60.
St. Mary’s Dominican High School assistant principal Dennis Panepinto is recipient of the 2022 Louisiana Track and Field Coaches Association (LTFCA) Lifetime Achievement Award. The honoree is also Dominican’s director of COVID-19: Compliance and Logistics.
Introducing Panepinto at the awards ceremony, Drew Haro, the head cross country coach and assistant track coach at Brother Martin High School in New Orleans, said he knows the honoree not only as a coaching colleague but as a mentor and friend. “I first met Dennis Panepinto, or Coach P, as he’s known to many, in 1999 when I was a 9th-grader at Brother Martin. It was then that I joined his cross country team along with well over 100 other members. You might think you’d get lost in a team that size, but I can tell you that Coach P had the best way of making every runner on his team feel like he was the best runner out there,” he said. “Maybe this was the key to his teams winning 11 city championships, seven district championships, four state championships, and finishing state runner-up seven times all in 5A competition. or maybe the key was the simple phrase that he told his runners before leaving them at the start line prior to the start of each race, ‘Run fast’.”
When Panepinto took over Brother Martin’s cross country program in 1990, they finished in the top two at the state cross country meet 11 out of 17 times. Additionally, his teams never finished out of the top five. This top five streak is held today by Brother Martin as the team finished 4th this past season extending the streak to 33 years in a row. In 1995, Dennis took over the track program at Brother Martin and as head track coach, his teams won two district championships and four region championships qualifying numerous athletes to the state championship each year.
“For a coaching career that began as early as his 7th-grade year when he assisted his brother-in-law, Dennis has always maintained his connection to cross country and track and field,” noted Haro. “He even found time to volunteer at Brother Martin while he was still a student at Southeastern Louisiana University. And while his coaching stops have included jobs at Jesuit High School, Brother Martin High School, and most recently Dominican High School, Coach P’s contributions to our sports also extends to his meet management experience.”
Since 2007 when Panepinto started his own timing company, Crescent City Timing, he has either timed, officiated, or directed cross country and track meets every year in some fashion including Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and USA Track & Field (USATF) meets. Currently, he serves as an assistant to the meet director at the Louisiana Governor’s Games as well as the LHSAA state cross country meet, and head referee at the LHSAA state track and field meet. This past cross country season, when several coaches in the New Orleans area were challenged to find additional competitions for some of their younger runners, Panepinto was willing to step up and host meets himself on short notice just to give them chance to race.
“He’s always had the best interest of the kids at heart,” Haro said. “And while all of these achievements and contributions are noteworthy and important, I’d argue that his most significant impact on the sports of cross country and track and field are in the lives of others he’s either worked with or coached who themselves have taken up the torch for coaching.”
LTFCA is an organization made up of professional coaches from the college, high school, junior high school, and club ranks dedicated to the advancement of the sports of track and field and cross country. It promotes the opportunity for participation for all athletes and will nurture the growth of the sports. LTFCA recognizes the achievements of its member coaches with an awards presentation held annually at the LTFCA clinic. The LTFCA also recognizes the achievements of the student athletes through its All State programs in Cross Country and Outdoor Track & Field. A “Lifetime Achievement Award” is also presented annually to deserving individuals during a luncheon held at the annual clinic.
St. Mary’s Dominican High School science teacher Crissy Giacona has been selected as a Louisiana Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Teacher (LSTA) of the Year for 2021. She is one of three educators honored with this designation. The LSTA presents the annual Outstanding Science Teacher of the Year Awards to one science teacher at each level (elementary, middle, and secondary) who has demonstrated exemplary science teaching.
In 2013, the year Giacona joined Dominican’s faculty, she started the school’s robotics programs. To date, Dominican has participated in more than 20 events and competitions that involve FIRST LEGO League (FLL), Vex, and FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC). In 2016 she started Domini-Science Saturday that offers Domini-Science fun to girls in grades fourth to seventh who collaborate with Dominican students and faculty, conducting experiments and exploring the wonders of science.
In one of the letters of recommendation for Giacona, Dominican sophomore Meredith Kononchek wrote, “She is first and foremost an outstanding educator. While some teachers expect their students to understand the material immediately, Mrs. Giacona takes the time to verify that each of her students grasps the new concept before advancing to the next topic. She masterfully does this by incorporating humor in her employment of both visual and tactile aids to ensure that each student is actively engaged in the lesson. Equally important is her unbridled enthusiasm for ‘all things robotic’ as moderator of the Robotics teams.”
The LSTA Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award includes a $400 cash award to be used in the classroom or to defray expenses to participate in a state, regional or national science teachers’ professional development.
St. Mary’s Dominican High School seniors Elizabeth Mobley (Metairie), Kaylie Nguyen (Harahan), and Maeve Storm (Gretna) are among over 5,000 candidates in the 2022 United States Presidential Scholars Program. Mobley is the daughter of Deborah and John W. Mobley, Jr. Nguyen is the daughter of Dr. Linda Thi Cao and Dr. Phuong Ngoc Nguyen. Storm is the daughter of Cathy and David Storm. Inclusion in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program is one of the highest honors bestowed upon graduating high school seniors. Scholars are selected on the basis of their exceptional score on the ACT and/or SAT. Other criteria that will be considered are superior academic and artistic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character and involvement in community and school activities.
The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 by Executive Order of the President to recognize some of our nation’s most distinguished graduating seniors for their accomplish-ments in many areas: academic success, leadership, and service to school and community. It was expanded in 1979 to recognize students demonstrating exceptional scholarship and talent in the visual, creative, and performing arts. In 2015, the program was expanded once again to recognize students who demonstrate ability and accomplishment in career and technical fields. Approximately 600 candidates are named semifinalists. In April, up to 161 U.S. Presidential Scholars are chosen from among that year’s senior class, representing excellence in education and the promise of greatness in America’s youth. Scholars are invited to Washington, DC in June for the National Recognition Program, featuring various events and enrichment activities and culminating in the presentation of the Presidential Scholars Medallion during a White House-sponsored ceremony.
USA
A web crossroads for the Order of Preachers
