Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 75

Greensburg 1 WS-MMm Seton Hill commencement speaker will drive her Jag to the gig V. :5. mm VW.H. Campbell Jr.Post-Gazette Kathleen Ferry, left, and Clara Halvorsen put the finishing touches on punch that will be served to people who toured Franklin Regional High School during a rededication ceremony Saturday. The school district spent $20.6 million on a complete renovation of the school.

Franklin Regional schools around the world is not as glamorous as it sounds, a typical week for her might consist of meetings in all parts of the world. She is now finishing up work in Australia and Taiwan. Boerio is "absolutely amazed" she was chosen as Seton Hill's commencement speaker. "I can't imagine how they ever picked my name," Boerio said in a telephone interview from her office in England. And she is "excited about the chance to come back to campus." She's not certain what she'll tell Seton Hill's newest graduates, but said she will probably borrow from a popular Jaguar television commercial, which shows flashbacks of a young woman's reaction to her first look at a Jaguar.

"It's kind of like my experiences, looking back and ahead," Boerio said. Boerio wants to give good advice to the class. Usually she writes her speech on the plane a few hours before addressing a crowd, "but I'm really working hard on this one," she said. "I hope to share how to be persistent without being pushy," Boerio said. "In the business world more often than not, when a man raises his voice, it's acceptable behavior.

But it's not viewed as such if a woman cries or shows emotion," Boerio said. According to senior class President Marie Burns, Boerio was the top choice of the Class of 2000. "We are enthusiastic and excited about Bibiana's acceptance, both as alumna and role model," Burns said. "It wasn't too long ago that she was in our shoes, experiencing the same anxieties that we are feeling," Burns said. Seton Hill's 82nd commencement ceremony starts at 11 am in Sullivan Hall.

Boerio will also receive an honorary degree, Doctor of Laws. Saturday will not be the first time she was singled out by Seton Hill. In 1995 she returned for her class's 20-year reunion and was presented with a Distinguished Alumna Leadership Award. She shared it with her twin, Juliana Boerio-Goates, Ph.D, a professor of chemistry at Brigham Young University. Melissa Schofield is a free-lance writer.

1 By Melissa Schofield OK, it's everybody's fantasy: You return to your alma mater in glory and driving a flashy sports car. The commencement speaker Saturday at Seton Hill College will do just that. Bibiana Boerio, Class of 1975, returns to her alma mater as guest speaker for the Class of 2000 and role model for a generation of young women. Oh, yeah, she'll arrive in her Jag. Boerio, 46, is chief financial officer for Jaguar Cars Ltd, a Ford Motor Co.

subsidiary. Her career in finance and management has taken her to a number of continents and has gained her recognition as the most powerful woman in the British motor manufacturing industry. Things were a lot different for Boerio growing up in Deny Township in the 1950s through 1970s, the daughter of a stay-at-home mom and a father who worked at Ken-nametal Industries. "My dad James Boerio would fix his own cars and would never even think of asking me or my twin sister, Juliana, to help," Boerio recalled. Now she is fond of reminding him that she's the one he should have asked to get under the hood.

Boerio earned a bachelor's degree in home economics at Seton Hill, where she was class valedictorian, and then a master's degree in business administration at the University of Pittsburgh. She started working for Ford in Michigan right after college graduation and served as assistant controller of Ford Motor Credit manager of the North American Audit Staff, controller of Ford's Glass Division and marketing manager for the Northeastern United States. Boerio agrees that life is good. And, being honored by her college alma mater is "not just the icing on the cake, it's the sprinkles on top." Boerio lives in Compton Verney, Warwickshire, England, in a two-story brick "typically English home" situated on the grounds of an old British country home that has manicured grounds, a conservatory and a goldfish pond. She enjoys gardening, playing tennis, touring the countryside and golf.

She is especially looking forward to a return to the states and her family of two brothers, two sisters and a number of nieces and nephews. Although she says traveling Renovations make new high school 'state of the art' "It's what these kids deserve. There's an extraordinary amount of talent here." Cheryl Sero, parent, on the new band room By Laurie Bailey After two years of "dust, sweat and tears" Franklin Regional's new high school "the community's building" is official. Saturday, several hundred administrators, teachers, students, board members and residents gathered in the high school's new auditorium for a rededication ceremony. The event also marked the completion of a five-year restructuring project, Superintendent Roseann Nyiri said.

At a final cost of $20.6 million, the renovated high school facility boasts 22 new classrooms, a new cafe-style cafeteria and food service facility, a new music wing, gymnasium and additional labs for technical education. Overall space in the high school was increased from 130,900 square feet to 216,000 square feet. Representing the high school faculty, James McLaughlin told the audience "this is the community's building, and we expect to use it as such." He added that when "these students, your children, our clients" leave the facility, they will be prepared to compete internationally with their The hallway areas are more spacious a feature that makes handling equipment such as uniforms, instruments and flags much easier when preparing for football games and parades. Five years ago, a restructuring committee made up of 25 students, parents, teachers and administrators recommended some of the changes seen Saturday. The committee also pushed for a new restructuring that made kindergarten through grade five the elementary grades, grades six through eight the middle school and grades nine through 12 the high school.

That change occurred with the start of the 1999-2000 school year. Laurie Bailey is a free-lance writer. peers. Following the ceremony, National Honor Society students were on hand to assist visitors on tours. One, Joy Billings, a senior, was particularly enthusiastic about the new television studio, which has been operational for several months.

She demonstrated how, with the flick of a switch, shows produced in the high school could be transmitted to homes, via the Murrysville cable channel. Parent Cheryl Sero said the superior acoustics in the new band room and auditorium were well worth the temporary dust and noise. "It's what these kids deserve," she said. "There's an extraordinary amount of talent here." Home Shopping's 'fairy godmother' brings the fantasy to Greensburg goner," Kirk said. Her company was conceived 20 years ago when Kirk, then a 32-year-old single mother and soap opera actress, began to market rhinestone hair ornaments that sister Helen had made.

Blooming-dale's bought them as fast as the Kirks could make them at their kitchen table. The current collection contains about 3,000 items, and annual sales are "in the millions," according to Kirk, who refuses to be more specific. "My mission," she said, "is to spread the magic." Deborah Weisberg is a free-lance writer. with Jenniefer, but we couldn't get reception in here," she said. "She was soooo disappointed.

She kept asking me, 'What's she What is the woman behind the ball gown really like? "She's a real person, not a phony," said devotee Carol Roberts of McKeesport, who wore a Folly brooch made in the shape of a miniature swimming pond, as a talisman. Roberts jangled her knights in shining armor charm bracelet and fingered the dream angel pendant. Kirk says her enchantment with fairies started when she was 5 years old. "I saw Peter Pan and when Tin-kerbell came on stage, I was a No mistake, it was an afternoon for the ladies. Only a half-dozen men were in the crowd.

One of them, Richard Jordan, a South Side window maker, admitted. "I'm just along for the ride," pointing to his wife and Folly fan, Melanie. "I'd rather be watching the Penguins." "Jenniefer's the most wonderful person," Joann Brooks, a medical technologist from West Virginia, said as she displayed a heart bracelet she had just purchased to add to the six pieces she was already wearing. "Her jewelry is a tangible reminder that dreams can come true if you believe in yourself." Brooks is one of 55,000 followers whom Aghabekian estimates are on a mailing list for the company's ever-expanding inventory of jewelry and home products, manufactured in Providence, R.I., by Kirk, sisters Helen and Elizabeth and brother George. There are Kirk's Folly cruises, for those who "share an adoration of the collection," Aghabekian explained.

And there's a "Fantasy Ball" scheduled for Providence in June. "I'm here because I needed a fix," Carol Logsdon, a nurse, said. Holly Hronyetz of Penn Hills purchased a rhinestone-paved Pegasus pin for her "QVC queen" mother who lives in Texas. "I brought my cell phone with me and tried to get her on the line and bring them back to their youth." "You get to be princess for a day," Kirk told her followers. The so-called fairy godmother of the shopping networks held center stage as a half dozen helpers, elaborately dressed as a cross between Cinderella and her fairy godmother, milled about the room.

Sometimes even the shoppers dress up. Joyce Marker, a court reporter from Greensburg, wore a frothy gown with a gold lame bodice as daughter Jordan Mayback, 7, danced about in white leotards and maribou. "I love this," said Marker, whose face was dusted with glitter. "People come up to me all the time and ask me where I got my jewelry." FAIRY FROM PAGE EAST-10 glitz," Aghabekian pointed out. "I love sparkle," Peggy Heasley, a teacher from Irwin, said.

"You put it on and you're having fun and feeling feminine," Heasley said. "They're turned on by the fantasy," Aghabekian said of the women who had purchased tickets for Sunday's "Enchanted Forest Fairyland Celebration," hosted by Shalimar Bazaar, a Greensburg boutique and one of scores of shops nationwide that carry Kirk's collection. "Our customer base is middle America, ladies about 25 to 75," Aghabekian said. "We appeal to their creative side mm mmm mmisi Renovations could cost $105 million Our doctors take the time to listen, If your doctor doesn't take the time to listen or give you an explanation that you can understand, it's time to change to Mercy Primary Care. Scull and Stewartsville until the final stage of the total renovation package.

To prevent these Phase Three schools from being shortchanged, Watson advised the school board to look at what can be cut from Phase One renovations, and what should be added that had not been originally considered. Some new costs the board is considering include $545,000 for construction of a small gym at the high school, in addition to two other gymnasiums to be added in a nigh school sports complex. Air conditioning throughout the high school would add $770,000, while a fitness center and LGI, or large group instruction room, will cost another $500,000. The school board next meets at 8 p.m. Monday in the Middle School West auditorium.

Pat Wilson is a free-lance writer. Mercy Family Health Center East Penn Center, Building Two NORW1N FROM PAGE EAST-1 0 Watson wants to revise how schools are phased into the renovations timetable. "Under Phase One, we should renovate the senior high and continue with land acquisition," he said. "And, we must also move forward with a new through four elementary school." The new elementary schoor would be built on the Shaw School property, leaving the current building in use until the new one is completed. At that stage, pupils from Hill-crest Elementary will join Shaw pupils in the new school, in order to begin Phase Two renovations to Hillcrest.

That's when two more projects will be undertaken simultaneously. Hillcrest will be converted into an intermediate school for grades five and six. Meanwhile, either another new elementary school will be built on land the district owns on Guffy Road, or Hartford Heights Elementary will be renovated. The suggested revision reorganizes Phase Three to target Middle School West for conversion to grades seven and eight, holding 4 fest Wilkins Township For a referral to a Mercy Primary Care physician, call MercyLink at 1-800-232-5660. Works better than a remote, and you wont lose it in the couch cushions.

TV Week, every Sunday in the PG. You deserve more than just health care. You deserve Mercy. Mercy www.nK.Tcylink.urn.