Of Many Things

I tell the little fifth grade girls to look me in the eye, said Yliana Hernandez, a member of the Presentation Sisters who is principal of the new Nora Cronin Presentation Academy in Newburgh, N.Y. The reason? To increase self-confidence and leadership qualities among mostly Mexican girls growing up in a primarily macho culture.

I visited the school one morning after a train ride from New York City along a sun-drenched Hudson River. Views of its broad expanse were within sight all along the way through Newburgh, too, as Sister Hernandez drove me to the current location of the school in rented space in a local Presbyterian church. But we also visited the academys future permanent home, a handsome three-story Victorian brick building now under renovation. The school is named after another Presentation sister, Nora Cronin, an educator familiar with the new PresentationAcad@aol.com.

This article appears in March 10 2008.