NHS taps 15 new members into Loretto Chapter at Montgomery Catholic

The Loretto Chapter of the National Honor Society at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School inducted fifteen new members into their society during a school assembly today. The National Honor Society (NHS), established in 1921, is a national recognition program for students who show achievement in scholarship, leadership, service, and character. High School students are selected for membership through an application process and are selected by the faculty council. Candidates must meet the chapter's requirement for scholarship, service, leadership and character in order to be selected for membership. Continued participation in service projects and upholding the ideals of the school are required to retain membership. Members must also maintain the chapter's required cumulative grade point average.

The newly inducted members of the Montgomery Catholic National Honor Society are pictured above row 1 Rebecca Hails, Kelsey Williamson, Ariel Myers, and Grace Carl. Row 2: Katie Niel, Caroline Starr, Brieanna Feller, Brianna McClure, Alexandra Gilbert, AJ Mayhan, and Phillip Spotswood. Row 3 Charles Kaiser, Roscoe Anderson, John Robert Carter, and Michael Jones.

Seven Middle School Band Students Earn Honors at Troy University

Seven students in the Montgomery Catholic Middle School Band were honored at the Southeast United States Middle School Honor Band competition at Troy University. Named to the Gold Band were Josh Stark--1st Chair tenor Saxophone and Joseph Sutton--2nd Chair trombone. Named to the Silver Band were Alex Nola--1st Chair trumpet and Joe Hernandez--3rd Chair euphonium. Named to the Crimson Band were Kyle Hudson--horn, Zach Hulcher--clairnet, and Cathy Ranieri--flute. The Montgomery Catholic Band program is under the direction of Mr. Kerry Palmer.

Middle School Sponsors Three Families for Christmas

Students at Montgomery Catholic's Middle School sponsored three families through Catholic Social Services for Christmas. Students donated their 10-minute break snack money, ice cream money, and donated money for a "dress down" day in order to raise over $700 to purchase Christmas for three families this season. Additionally, the student body also donated 213 lbs of non-perishable food items to be shipped overseas for two deployed family members currently serving in the US Military. Pictured with the presents for Catholic Social Services are the Middle School SGA Officers President Woo Jin Lee, Chaplain Wheeler Ronan, Vice President Keenan Plate, and Secretary Aidan Gilbert.

St. Bede Science Olympiad Teams Top State Competition at the University of West Alabama

Thirty-five fourth through sixth grade students from St. Bede formed three teams competing in the State Science Olympiad Competition held at the University of West Alabama and took home First, Second and Third Place in the contest. Several teams from across central and west Alabama converged on the university campus for a weekend of science competitions. The Science Olympiad is a national non-profit organization devoted to improving the quality of science education, increasing student interest in science, and providing recognition for outstanding achievement in science education by both students and teachers. The Science Olympiad is also designed to encourage classroom teachers to explore new and challenging ways of teaching science. Students who participate in the Science Olympiad are taught advanced science through active, hands-on participation. All events involve teamwork, group planning, cooperation, and promote team spirit and good sportsmanship.

St. Bede has retained the top spot at this competition for the past several years and continues to maintain its First Place ranking again this year. The St. Bede Science Olympiad Teams are sponsored by Miss Heather Kirsch, Mr. Larry Meiers, Mrs. Lee Ann Barranco, and Mr. Nick Bourke. Fourth Grade participants were Patrick O'Mara, Mary Reagan Starrett, Wilson Miles, Jackson Byrd, Jennifer Westendorf, and Phoebe Hall. Fifth Grade participants were Mary Janet McLaughlin, Ashley Kim, Jacob Hulcher, Drew Tolar, Ali Harper, Trey Magden, DeLohn Wyatt, Mandy Jones, Andrew Bomberg, Paige Barranco, Ashley Sulzby, and Sean Federspill. Sixth Grade participants were Sam McLaughlin, Tiffany Cammacho, Michael Moussalli, Kristina Vanella, Sophie Williams, Rachael Fry, Dylan Martin, Matt Pouncey, Abby Rohde, Matt Donahue, Geoffrey Myers, Ryan Norris, Maddie O'Mara, Caden Bean, Tara Bourke, Patrick McGinn, Alex Castanza, and James Sherman.

Montgomery Catholic and Compass Bank Spread Christmas Cheer

Middle and High School art students at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School partnered with Compass Bank’s “Team Compass” charity to create and decorate 100 goodie bags which were filled with gifts for the elderly at Christmas. Team Compass distributes the gifts through the Central Alabama Consortium on Aging which serves senior citizens in the tri-county area. Each fall, middle and high students at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School decorate the bags which employees with Compass Bank fill and deliver to the Central Alabama Consortium on Aging for those in need.

Photo: Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School high school art students pose with Mr. Daniel Robinson with Compass Bank and some of the gift bags for the Central Alabama Consortium on Aging. Pictured are: Joshua Owens, Matt Lowery, Ian Sweet, Preston Stone, Cater Elliot, Justin Hughes, Emily Madore, Jimmy Dugan, Christine Held, John Terino, James Kim, Courtney Willcox, Robert Schaum, Mr. Daniel Robinson with Compass Bank, and Anthony Costa.

Cynthia Weber Named AP Scholar

Cynthia Weber, Class of 2007, has earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of her exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) Exams.

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program offers students the opportunity to take challenging college-level courses while still in high school, and to receive college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams. About 18 percent of the more than 1.4 million high school students in more than 16,000 secondary schools worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to merit the recognition of AP Scholar.

Cynthia took the AP Exams in May 2007 after completing challenging college-level courses at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School. The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students’ performance on AP Exams.

Cynthia is the daughter of Faustin and Diane Weber and is a freshman at the University of Notre Dame.

In addition to Cynthia, Thomas Herge qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. Thomas is the son of John and Donna Herge and is a freshman at Ohio State University. Erin Plate qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with grades of 3 or higher. Erin is the daughter of Jeff and Kelly Plate and is a freshman at the University of Notre Dame.