CHARLOTTE — During graduation May 29, Charlotte Catholic High School presented the 2020 Verbesey Award for Excellence in Education to Beth Acitelli.
Acitelli serves as the high school’s director of school technology. This past school year, she was instrumental behind the scenes as CCHS shifted to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Principal Kurt Telford, “Her extraordinary response to the COVID-19 crisis has brought to light the full extent of her brilliance. She led the faculty at Charlotte Catholic to transition seamlessly to distance learning, implementing new software programs for faculty and students. With patience and kindness, she worked tirelessly to assist anyone in need of help so that teachers could continue to teach and students could continue to learn.”
“Beth is someone who has always done so much behind the scenes to make everything run more smoothly,” added faculty member JoAnne Winters.
The annual award pays tribute to Tess Verbesey, who, along with her husband, was a beloved member of the high school community for nearly 50 years.
Verbesey served as a guidance counselor for 13 years at CCHS, during the 1970s and 1980s.
Originally from Goa, India, Verbesey earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Bombay, and earned graduate degrees from the University of Leuven in Belgium and from UNC-Charlotte. She served as a high school principal in India before coming to North Carolina. At CCHS she was known for her kindness, wisdom and fashionable attire. The Verbeseys were noted patrons of the arts and many charities, and together they enjoyed traveling the world.
Verbesey died last February, aged 92. Her husband received countless messages from her former students all over the world – many from her time as principal in India, and many from faculty and alumni of CCHS. He said she was truly loved, because she herself loved others so genuinely.
In 2007, the Verbeseys established the annual Award for Excellence in Education, and Verbesey herself wrote the criteria for the award, which included having a record of “contagious enthusiasm” for classroom teaching, stimulate extraordinary accomplishments in students according to their abilities, build students’ desire to learn, and treat students with dignity and respect. She specified that juniors and seniors would nominate teachers for the honor, which includes an award of $10,000.
— Sally McArdle
BMHS Fine Arts Day goes online
KERNERSVILLE — The COVID-19 pandemic prompted many traditional end-of-school year events to go online this year, including Bishop McGuinness High School’s 15th annual Fine Arts Day.
Students involved in art, computer science, drama and music programs at the school showcased their work in “Picking up the Pieces,” a virtual exhibit accessed online through a special website.
“When the theme was chosen back in the fall, the committee was thinking of our work with the Center for Creative Leadership, and our Bishop Leads initiative,” said Dr. Alan Hirsch, Bishop McGuinness’ music teacher and one of the organizers who helped post the content to the website.
“There was a specific activity where we had to actually pick up pieces and put them together to get to our goal. Now the theme has taken on such a different meaning, a deeper meaning…we are all working together to pick up the pieces of our lives, our school, due to circumstances beyond our control,” he said.
Principal Tracy Shaw noted that, at first, students “were disappointed that Fine Arts Day was not going to be able to happen in the traditional sense, but once they began working on it, they were able to get even more creative with their projects. They ended up really enjoying the process and the final project.”
BMHS junior Jack Foley said, “Missing out on Fine Arts Day was definitely one of the biggest disappointments when school got canceled, but the virtual Fine Arts Day honestly made up for it.
“It was incredible seeing the videos I made for guitar ensemble and orchestra come together, and Dr. Hirsh did a phenomenal job editing all the audio. All of the art projects and cooking videos were super fun as well, so the virtual Fine Arts Day definitely made up for not being able to do it in person.”
“In essence, the virtual format brought us closer together,” Shaw said. “Each song, piece of art, piece of writing, took on more meaning. Unlike other years when we were able to participate face to face, we were able to revisit the site over and over, and enjoy the performances as many times as we wanted to.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
