S. Kerry Handal: The Right Fit
by Meg Ginnetty
Kerry Handal ’81, C.S.J., always knew that she wanted to do something different with her life. “I wanted to work with kids, and I wanted to do it in a religious setting,” she said.
Having attended St. Brendan’s High School and St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn, S. Kerry was fortunate to come into close contact with the Sisters of St. Joseph, whom she soon recognized as “the women I wanted to live my life with.”
Ironically, S. Kerry did not begin her undergraduate education at St. Joseph’s — she spent the first five days of her freshman year at Fordham University before she “knew that it wasn’t for me.” Her mother had graduated from SJC in 1951 and on a Monday morning – almost 30 years later — S. Kerry “withdrew from Fordham at 9 a.m. — and started St. Joseph’s at 1 p.m.”
St. Joseph’s had been the right fit for her mother and it certainly seemed the same for S. Kerry, who said she “had joined the [women’s] basketball team before I left the property that morning.”
After graduating from St. Joseph’s in 1981 with a degree in child study and a minor in psychology, S. Kerry began her vocation in 1982 and took her final religious vows in 1989. She noted that the sisters from the College in particular helped to “instill in me the wonderful values of being a religious professional.”
S. Kerry’s career has been a harmonizing blend of teaching, mission work and administrative positions. She served faithfully as principal of Our Lady of Providence in Central Islip for seven years before moving to the Academy of St. Joseph in Brentwood in 2005, where she worked as development director for a year and a half before stepping in to fulfill the duties of principal. She brought the academy through the very difficult closing process in 2009.
"The hardest thing is saying goodbye to the kids,” S. Kerry said. “To reassure them that we love them, we care about them and [make sure] that their next placements are adequate.”
While the closing of the academy was heartrending, to say the least, S. Kerry dedicated herself to making sure that as many juniors as possible were able to complete their time at the academy and to supporting her freshmen and sophomore students through their transition to other academic institutions. She noted how her alma mater, St. Joseph’s College, stepped in to ease the process, particularly President S. Elizabeth A. Hill, C.S.J., J.D. and Provost S. Loretta McGrann, C.S.J., Ph.D.
"Sister Elizabeth and Sister Loretta responded immediately and made special provisions for our juniors to take courses at the College” S. Kerry said, noting that approximately 14 students from the academy will be matriculating into SJC this fall. “The College opened their arms to the girls.”
The College always has a special place in her heart and she has returned the favor by opening her arms to SJC’s students, teachers and programs. (At least 12 members of her staff at Our Lady of Providence are graduates of the College.) She also strives to live the school’s motto of Esse non videri – “to be, not to seem” through her daily interactions as a Sister of St. Joseph.
"One of my sayings is, as both a sister of and a graduate of the college, I try to incorporate both aspects of both models,” S. Kerry said. “To be, not to seem … to incorporate the pieces of the community: love, unity and reconciliation.”