CURRENT MYP TEAM MEMBERS
Nan Adams
Nan has been an active member of the MYP (both a teen & team member) for over 30 years. She is a member of the Christian Awakening & Cursillo programs.
Jean (Bena) Pedri
Jean a certified teacher employed by the NYC Board of Education. She is a former teen in the MYP. She is married to her husband, Dave, & mother to Shannon & Jane.
Cathy Bischoff Weinbaum
Cathy is a certified social worker, currently employed by Catholic Charities. She is a mother of three. She is an active member of St. Kevin’s Church. Cathy is a former MYP teen.
Dina DePaola
Dina is a certified teacher & graduate of Queens College. She is a Program Director for the Greater Ridgewood Youth Council. She was an active member for the Young Adult Christian Awakening Program at St. Paul’s Center.
John Fodera
With his family, John manages Fodera Foods in Flushing, NY. He is a graduate of Queens College where he was an active member of their Newmann Club. He is a former member of the Boys & Young Adult Christian Awakening programs at St. Paul’s Center.
Kerin (Carty) Kriegsman
Kerin is a certified special education teacher & employed by the NYC Board of Education . She is a former MYP teen. Kerin is married, a mom & a member of St. Kevin’s parish.
Mary Leavens
Mary is a former MYP teen. She is a graduate of Queensborough Community College. She is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration. She is a member of Holy Trinity Church in Whitestone, NY.
Tom Leavens
I have been actively involved in Youth Ministry since 1981, starting as a Team Member for the Christian Awakening Program for the Diocese of Brooklyn. Since August 1984, I have been blessed to be a part of the MYP. I have met some of my closest friends from the Program, specifically my wife, Kathy.
Kathy and I have been married for twenty six years and have four children (Connor, Aidan, Ryan & Mary). I live in Beechhurst, NY and am part of Holy Trinity Parish. I am the President of the Board for St. Paul’s Cursillo & Retreat Programs, Inc., as well as Director of the Young Adult Christian Awakening Program and member of the Men’s Cursillo Program at St. Paul’s Center.
What I’m most proud of in my life are the things that I am active in: my family, my faith and my community. The MYP strengthens all of these things for me.
Gary McComiskey
I was a teen in the MYP during my years at Archbishop Molloy High School (1994-98, before it went co-ed), and the Module helped me grow both emotionally and spiritually more than I could ever express. When I was asked in 2001 to join many of the same people who helped me grow so much in their very important work, I leapt at the chance to give back, both to the Team and to the teenagers who we are blessed to be able to help. Outside of the Program, I work at HBO doing A/V support. I am Daddy to a beautiful little girl and wed to a beautiful big girl and fellow Team member. You’ll really have to twist my arm to find out which one, though. (Ow ow ow I need that) Okay, it’s Jen!
Megan McComiskey
Megan is a graduate of Queens College, where she is currently employed. She has been a church cantor for several churches in the Diocese of Brooklyn. She is a former MYP teen.
Diana Roach
I’m a 1987 St. Francis Prep graduate. I was also a member of the MYP during high school and during junior high & elementary school. My mom & dad, Joe & Irene, were part of the original team that began the Moudle Youth Program over 30 years ago.
I currently work at Showtime Television, in the Creative Services department. My title is Production Manager. I work with creative folks who come up with great ideas on how to promote a certain film or series on Showtime . It’s a fun job. I travel a little, sometimes meet famous people and make television.
I love the MYP very much. It is an imperative part of my spiritual life. I enjoy being with the teens in the program more than they will ever know. And as long as no one asks me to stop I will continue telling silly stories about my life and try to help them understand that we all struggle, but it’s worth it.
Irene Roach
Irene is a founding member of the MYP. She is an active member of St. Mel’s Church. She is a certified social worker. Irene is married to Joe, a mother of three and grandmother to four.
FORMER MYP TEAM MEMBERS/SPECIAL RESOURCES
Christina DePaola
Christina is a certified speech therapist and graduate of St. John’s University. She is a former team member for the Young Adult Christian Awakening Program at St. Paul’s Center. She is married and a mother of two.
Andrea DiBello
I am a graduate of St. Francis Prep High School. I worked as a teacher at Community Learning Center Preschool while I earned my degree in Elementary Education at C.W. Post.
I gladly accepted the opportunity to be a part of the Module Team after being a teen in the MYP throughout my four years of high school. Being a part of this team was my chance to give to other teenagers all the love, support and friendships the MYP had given me as a teenager. Yet, working with these teens and being a part of the MYP gave me so much more than I was able to give in return. That is the wonderful thing about this incredible group of people.
Ben Fabrizi
Ben is a retired certified electrician (Local 3). He is married and a father of two. He is an active member of Our Lady of Fatima Church. He has been a successful actor/director/producer of community theater is Queens for over 30 years.
Mike Fletcher
I am a graduate of Holy Cross High School. The class of 1985. I made my first Module Day in February 1985. I wish I knew about this program before my senior year.
I was asked to be on the Team in 1988. It was an Honor for me. I found it amazing that the team comes from all walks of life. I was a retail manager. Some Team members are teachers, secretaries, nurses, business consultants, etc.
I have watched the Team, teens and the entire program grow and blossom. Many of them I have forged close relationships with. All of them I am proud to say are my friends. Hence our theme song, “You’ve Got A Friend” by James Taylor.
Laurie Hallick
Laurie is a certified teacher & graduate of St. John’s University. She is employed by the NYC Board of Education currently, but taught at St. Luke’s School for a number of years. She was involved with the Young Adult Christian Awakening Program at St. Paul’s Center. She is married and a mother to two.
Katy Hurtubise
Katy is a former MYP teen. Katy joined the long list of Hurtubise family members who have been involved in the MYP, particularly her parents, Tom & Karen.
Doris Iskaros
I have been a part of the Module Youth Program since May 1978. I was a junior at Francis Lewis High School at that time and made my first “Day” – Courage to Be Day. I will never forget the extraordinary feeling I had coming home from that first day – the first time I can recall experiencing the Holy Spirit in my life. One reason I have continued to work as a team leader over the past 20 years is to share this same experience with other teens.
I live in St. Anastasia’s parish with my husband and our three children. Before taking time to stay at home and raise a family I worked as a real estate appraiser for a NYC lending institution, and prior to that as an elementary school teacher in NYC. I see myself as the perennial volunteer and have been involved in various aspects of parish life (lector, song leader, choir, homeless shelter worker, Family Mass planning, CCD teacher) since I was a teenager.
On a MYP Day I might be most visible at Mass playing guitar and leading our team and teens in song.
For many years I have spent the better part of each spring working on the recruiting committee for the MYP. Our focus is to speak to the graduating 8th graders from our participating parishes and invite them to our program once they have entered high school. Though I don’t run the committee at the present time I still enjoy visiting the classes each spring and telling them about the MYP. The difficulty has and always will be trying to describe the good feeling I get from the MYP events I attend. Think about the most loving hug you have ever received and then times that by 7. Now put it into words. Not easy to do, but wouldn’t you want everyone you meet to experience that same great feeling of God’s love and acceptance?
I see that as my role on this team and thank God for all the wonderful young men and women He has brought into my life.
Rich Krauland
Rich is a former MYP teen. He is active in his German club, particularly performing/dancing/competing both locally & nationally.
Joe Leone
Joe is a former MYP teen. He is a graduate of St. Joseph’s College. He is an active member of St. Mel’s Church.
PJ Macari
I have been a member of the MYP from 1985-1989 as a Teen and since 1994 as a member of the Team. From the first moment I walked into my first day as a freshman in St Mels, I knew that this was a place I could see myself for a very long time. My aunt and uncle Taz and Kathy were members of the Team in the early 1980s and my sister Carolyn helped bring the Module beyond Flushing into other areas in Queens like Bayside and Fresh Meadows in the mid-80s so I am carrying on their legacies with my work today.
I am a graduate of Holy Cross High School and Queens College. Currently, I am involved in the information upkeep on this website as well as interviewing and locating many of the over one thousand MYP alumni from the first 30 years for a book on the history of this program which I hope to have completed by the end of this year. I do other non-Module related things, too. Really, I do!
Jen McComiskey
Jen is a certified teacher and graduate of St. John’s University. She is a teacher at Holy Family School in Fresh Meadows, NY. She is married to Gary and a mom to their daughter, Julia.
Nicole Perkins
Nicole is a former MYP teen. She is a certified accountant & a graduate of Hofstra University. Nicole’s parents, Sue & Steve, were actively involved in the MYP since it’s inception. Nicole is married and a mother of two.
Joe Roach
Grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, through public schools 170 and 201, Jesuit high school and college (Brooklyn Prep and Fordham). Taught English in NYC public schools (every borough but Staten Island), interrupted by USArmy in peacetime Europe and wedding to Irene (3 children). Assistant Principal in Brownsville/East Flatbush for 22 years. Teaching theology at St John’s University since 1989.
A founding team member of MYP, following two years of facilitating St Mel’s high school CCD and the Xaverian Brothers retreat program in Flushing.
For thirty years I’ve been thankful that (most) teens trust us when we say that making Catholicism a larger part of your life will make you happier!
Rosie Surace
I have had the privilege of being on both sides of the MYP – one being a teen (from 1995-1998) in the program and the other, a team member (since 2003). I graduated from The Mary Louis Academy and St. Joseph’s College where I obtained a B.A. in Regular Ed/Special Ed. and had an area of concentration in sociology. I am now a full-time special education teacher and am also a catechist in St. Kevin’s Parish. I was so sad to leave this wonderful program full of such happy and spiritual people. Thankfully, after a year of coaxing from Tommy, I was back with the MYP. It was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. I have gotten so much out of this program… from the MYP team who work so hard to plan a “day” to the talks, meditations, prayer services, and masses. I want to be able to share those experiences and create new ones with the teens in our program.
Ed Tracey
Ed is a father & former MYP teen who joined the team in 2010. By profession, he is a successful stand-up comedian that has appeared across the country.