Sister Symphorosa Imbori wants to tell the world about the great education she got in Hoboken and Jersey City.
Imbori, one of three honorees at Sts. Peter & Paul’s 2016 Gratitude Gala last week on April 28 at the Chart House in Weehawken, said, “I always thought of America as a land of opportunity. But, I never could have dreamed of all the opportunities that would be offered to me, a lowly Sister of the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary, from Tanzania. Having an American education is the most valuable thing that I will take back to Tanzania.”
Besides Imbori, the Catholic community of Ss. Peter & Paul also honored Dean of Seton Hall University School of Law Kathleen Boozang, who took the helm in July 2015, and Matthew McGrath, Hoboken Catholic Academy principal since 2013.
“We are grateful for their contributions and through them we honor so many more.” – Karen Imbach
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“Education is a foundation for our community because it touches every individual: we all remember mentors, teachers and professors who helped us become who we are,” said Karen Imbach, chair of the Gratitude Gala. “Dean Kathleen Boozang, Sister Symphorosa Imbori and Matthew McGrath are all examples of what it means to undertake the responsibility of education and tirelessly work to serve the new generations.”
Paying it forward
Imbori took her first vow in July 1994 and in the year 2000 became a nun. After earning a Bachelors Degree of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from Mount Marty College in South Dakota in 2013, she came to New Jersey that very fall to pursue her master’s in education at St. Peter’s University.
From then until last May, besides studying, Imbori volunteered at the Hoboken Catholic Academy in Hoboken, where she assisted with middle school education surrounding religion, English, and language arts.
She will soon head back to Tanzania, a country on the outskirts of Africa in the east, populated by vast wildlands chiefly made up of the Serengeti National Park. She was raised and bred in the northern Arusha region.
At the ceremony, she said she plans to “use [her newly-acquired] knowledge to teach many young people in my country so that together, in solidarity, we shall achieve our goal of improving the quality of our life as God-given dignity.”
Extraordinary educators
McGrath, born and raised in Jersey City, has made his presence known in his community.
Throughout the course of his life the St. Peter’s College graduate, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education, taught at St. Joseph School, Thomas Jefferson Middle School (in Rockaway Borough) and Public School 8. He later received a Masters of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education from Jersey City State College and soon began his administrative career as an assistant principal at Lounsberry Hollow Middle School in Vernon Township.
“From there he moved on to The Parsippany-Troy Hills Schools where he served for ten years as an elementary school principal and eleven years as the district’s director of personnel,” according to the Gratitude Gala organizers in a biography of McGrath online.
During his tenure in Parsippany, McGrath earned a Masters of Education from Columbia University, was recognized by the Parsippany Rotary with their Outstanding Educator Award, and received a Dodge Foundation Principals’ Fellowship Grant.
“It was an incredible honor to be recognized by the Catholic community of Ss. Peter and Paul at their Gratitude Gala last week for the work I do at Hoboken Catholic Academy,” said McGrath in a statement to The Reporter after the gala. “Since becoming principal at HCA three years ago I have been blessed to work with a dedicated staff, kind and supportive parents and wonderful children. I consider the award I received to be validation of the hard work and dedication of our entire school community.”
School of Law Dean Kathleen Boozang is not just an educator but an innovator.
“She brought expertise in the areas of health and hospital law and nonprofit governance and applied her knowledge to launch Seton Hall Law’s internationally-renowned Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law and Policy, which has been ranked among the top 10 in US News & World Report for the past nineteen years,” say gala organizers.
Harking back to 2004, Boozang developed professional training at the university for a range of disciplines, including life sciences and financial industries.
“I am moved that the community of Ss. Peter and Paul chose to include me among such esteemed fellow Gratitude Gala honorees,” said Boozang on Wednesday. “As a resident of Hoboken, a member of SPP and a long-time admirer of Monsignor Bob Meyer, I am well aware of the SPP’s hard work in making our surrounding community a better place for all, especially the underserved, and I am grateful for the Church’s devotion to its sacred mission.”
Boozang, the founding member of the Board of the New Jersey City Law and Empowerment Project (NJLEEP) attended Boston College, then Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, where she was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served as the managing editor of the Law Quarterly.
She received her LLM from Yale Law School.
Speaking on the awardees, Gratitude Gala Chair Imbach said, “We are grateful for their contributions and through them we honor so many more.”
Steven Rodas can be reached at srodas@hudsonreporter.com.