Anne Ceasar Named President for Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School

Anne Ceasar, principal of the elementary and middle school campuses at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School (MCPS), was recently named the school’s new president in an announcement by MCPS School Board President Brett Wilkinson.

Ceasar was unanimously nominated by the Board and was approved by Most Reverend Oscar H. Lipscomb, Archbishop of Mobile.

“I’m honored to be in this position,” said Ceasar. “My relationship with Montgomery Catholic began as a teacher at Our Lady Queen of Mercy, then as a parent with my three children. I have served as a member of the school board and then as president of the school board.

“Being a part of opening the Middle School in 2004 and working with the tremendous faculty at St. Bede this year, I am humbled to be a part of our great school. I’m extremely honored to be able to take the next step with such a wonderful group of talented students, devoted faculty, and dedicated parents.

“It is not about the person, it’s about the institution and carrying out the legacy of the Sisters of Loretto, Fr. Pat Delahunty, Dr. Tom Doyle, Sr. Martha Belke, and Mr. Faustin Weber. I relish the tradition and embrace the growth that lies ahead for our school,” said Ceasar. The first task for Ceasar as president of MCPS will be to hire her replacement as principal for the Middle School.

Gwen Byrd, superintendent of education for the Archdiocese of Mobile, expressed delight with Ceasar’s appointment.

“Anne is a deeply-rooted spiritual woman who is truly following her call to serve. She is a collaborative person with a vision who knows how to work with others to carry it out. Anne will continue leading our Catholic community into the future,” said Byrd.

Ceasar and her husband, Rod, have been married for 35 years and are active members of Church of the Holy Spirit in Montgomery. Their three children, Leah, Tony, and Rachel, are all graduates of Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School.

Montgomery Catholic's Yost Earns Eagle Scout Designation

Montgomery Catholic eighth grade student AustinYost earned the designation of Eagle Scout during a Court-of-Honor ceremony conducted at Aldersgate United Methodist Church on Tuesday March 25, 2008, where he was formally recognized as an Eagle Scout by his Troop and given his Eagle Scout medal.

Austin began as a Tiger Cub Scout in 1st grade and earned the “Arrow of Light” award in Cub Scouts, the highest rank possible. He has been a Boy Scout since age 10 and earned the Eagle Scout rank last November at age 13, which is the Boy Scouts highest rank.

Only about 4% of all Boy Scouts reach the rank of Eagle Scout. The average age of a Boy Scout earning the rank of Eagle Scout is nearly 17 years old. It took great determination from Austin to reach Eagle at 13.

Austin Yost completed his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project on Saturday Oct 13, 2007. The project consisted of 15 mobile benches to be used for the Pike Road Arts and Crafts Fair. Through fundraising efforts, Austin obtained the necessary finances for this project from the Pike Road Civic Club and the Pike Road Community Club.

The service project required approximately 200 man-hours to complete. This included planning, fundraising, developing design drawings, purchasing materials, cutting materials and assembly of benches. Austin had many volunteers including Scouts, Scout adult leaders, neighborhood friends and family to help with the project.

The benches seat a total of 75 people and really fill an important need for the Arts and Crafts Fair. In the past, there has been limited seating, so the benches will give fair-goers a nice place to rest their feet during lunch or when they view the popular Kelly Bartlett Conservancy’s Birds of Prey Show. Also, each bench has a different plaque mounted on it. These plaques represent the points of the Boy Scout Law such as – BE TRUSTWORTHY, BE LOYAL, BE HELPFUL, BE FRIENDLY, etc.

Austin Yost is the son of Glenn and Susan Yost.

Pictured: Montgomery Catholic's Austin Yost and his mother, Susan Whatley Yost, at his Eagle Scout Court-of-Honor Ceremony.

Montgomery Catholic Students Artwork Selected for Exhibition at MMFA

Three Montgomery Catholic students' artwork has been selected for inclusion in the "You, Hue, and Babar" exhibition at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art. Over 300 pieces of student artwork were submitted from fifteen schools in the River Region.

Montgomery Catholic senior Mary Sullivan, juniors Lauren Gore and Caroline Starr's artwork will be on display in the ARTWORKS Corridor of the Montgomery Musuem of Fine Art through June 1, 2008. Montgomery Catholic's art instructor is Ms. Joane Grant.

For the exhibit "You, Hue, and Babar," students mimicked a portrait from the MMFA permanent collection incorporating the Museum's artistic duck, Hue, into the art.

On Thursday, March 27th, the students, their families, and their art instructors were invited to the opening gala for "You, Hue, and Babar," "Portrait Photographs by Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002)" and "Babar's Museum of Art."

Pictured above: Montgomery Catholic junior Caroline Starr poses by her artwork on display at the opening of "You, Hue, and Babar" at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art.

By: Mary Sullivan

By: Lauren Gore

Last Call for Cookies!

Girls Scouts from Troop 469 spent the afternoon selling their last boxes of Girl Scout cookies in the Halcyon neighborhood.

Montgomery Catholic students Maggie Starr, Barbara Bradley, and Evan LaBarge drove around East Montgomery in a golf cart decorated with their troop flag and lots of ribbon as they sold the last cookies of the season.

Girl Scout Troop 469 is led by Jean Bradley and Ann Schaum.

Newmeyer Tops 100 Career Goals

Montgomery Catholic soccer player Colin Newmeyer scored his 100th and 101st career soccer goals in a match against LAMP on Wednesday, March 16.

Varsity Soccer Coach Timmy McCormack presented Colin with a game ball before the Knights home game against Trinity to commemorate this milestone on Tuesday, March 25, 2008.

Colin has become only the fifth male player in state history and the second Montgomery Catholic soccer player in as many years to reach over 100 career goals. He has signed to play soccer with an NCAA Division II school, Tusculum College, in the fall.

Wesley Lyle of The Montgomery Advertiser wrote a nice article on Colin's accomplishment published in the March 28th issue. To read it, click here: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080328/SPORTS03/803280317/1002/SPORTS

Pictured above, Montgomery Catholic senior Colin Newmeyer holds the game ball commemorating his 100th career goal with Varsity Coach Timmy McCormack and his parents Brian & Kristi Newmeyer.

Kindergarten Donates to Montgomery Humane Society

As one of their Lenten Service Projects, kindergarten students at Montgomery Catholic's St. Bede Campus collected donations for the Montgomery Humane Society.

The students and their families donated over 200 pounds of dog food, many bags of shredded paper for puppy kennel beds, bleach, food bowls, kitty litter, and copier paper and supplies for the shelter office. Students also made hand-crafted blankets for the animals to keep warm with at the shelter.

Montgomery Humane Society's Humane Educator, Mary Hughes, accepted the donations from the kindergarten students during a special assembly on Thursday, March 20. Physical Education teacher Ms. Marty Grissett brought along her newly adopted dog to show the students a real success story of the abandoned animals at the shelter.

To view pictures from the assembly, click here: http://family.webshots.com/album/562894607XxvOsB

Montgomery Catholic Students Give Back to Community

by Anne Hails

Manual labor isn't what most students look forward to when they return after spring break, but that's exactly what many high school students from Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School did upon returning to school.

"Today was a great day for Montgomery Catholic on our first community service day," said SGA president Gabby Moore, one of six students who delivered meals for Meals on Wheels.

"We helped gather and deliver food to the elderly and those less mobile. To see the gratitude they felt for simply delivering food left a lasting impression that there is no better feeling than when you are serving others. Today was a great day."

Over 300 students and faculty members spent the morning working at 18 locations around the River Region doing various jobs such as cleaning up Remount Cemetery, working with children at the Children's' Center, and dredging out old spring beds at Camp Grandview and Camp Chandler.

The locations were arranged through the Volunteer and Information Center of Montgomery which matches groups and individuals to volunteer opportunities in the River Region. Among those organizations were Alabama Wildlife Federation, National Kidney Foundation, Gift of Life, Nellie Burge Community Center, Resurrection Catholic Missions, Salvation Army, Meals on Wheels, YMCA Camp Grandview, American Red Cross, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Catholic Social Services, Children's Center, Family Sunshine Center, Remount Cemetery, Britton YMCA, Montgomery Zoo, MANE Equestrian Center, and YMCA Camp Chandler.

"I think it was stupendous," said high school principal Sue Vaughn, who coordinated most of the day. "All the sleepless nights I had were for nothing. The students worked so hard and were so enthusiastic about lending a hand in the community. I could not be more proud of our young people."

Ms. Vaughn said this Lenten Season Service Project, a combined effort of students, faculty, parents, and administration, "instills in students a sense of service which fulfills our mission of the Catholic faith."

Parent volunteer Gaylon McAlpine stopped by the office following the day of service just to say how much he enjoyed the day. "It was so much fun for me to get outside and work side by side with the students, getting to know them better. Neither of my children were at the same location with me and it was such a wonderful opportunity to see our young people work so hard for the benefit of others. They were hard workers, having fun, and really funny people at the same time. It was a great day not only for the students, but for the adults as well. I look forward to next year's day of service."

For more information about community volunteer opportunities, contact Anne Hails at the Volunteer and Information Center, (334) 264-4636, extension 1.

Pictured above: senior Madison Ortega poses with children at the Nellie Burge Community Center.

To view photos from the day, click here: http://family.webshots.com/album/562886619DYLEsI

Two Montgomery Catholic Students Recite Pledge at State House

Tucker Wilkinson and Will Thacker, two fifth grade students at Montgomery Catholic's St. Bede Campus, opened the general session of the House of Representatives with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance on Tuesday, March 4, 2008. Will and Tucker were the guest of Representative Locy Baker of Abbeville.

"Getting to be on the floor of the House of Representatives and to meet so many important people was really exciting!" said Will Thacker and Tucker Wilkinson. "I wasn't nervous at all. It was a lot of fun," added Tucker.

Tucker Wilkinson is the son of Brett and Lesley Wilkinson. Will Thacker is the son of Billy and Lynda Thacker.

Pictured: Tucker Wilkinson and Will Thacker in the House of Representative chambers.

PICE Hosts Middle School Career Day

Partners in Catholic Education (PICE) hosted their annual Middle School Career Day at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School on Friday, February 29. Speakers from many professions presented information about their area of expertise with the students.

Children's clothing designer Judy Barranco and jewelry designer Chris Bowen spoke to the students about elements of design in their craft and small business ownership. Justing Castanza '01 and Mariangela Sullivan shared their teaching background with the students. Tim McCormack '02 and Christi Hurd described what it is like working as a coach and physical therapist with athletes. Mike Barranco '80 and Johnny Flowers spoke about accounting, the stock market, and financial planning. Bill Schaum described his experiences behind the camera in television, mass media, and film. Sally VanPatten and Montgomery County Sheriff DT Marshall spoke with the students about law enforcement.

Each of the speakers were paired with a similar field to present information in each of the classrooms. The students were divided into six small groups which rotated through each of the speaker's sessions.

Career Day is sponsored each spring by Partners in Catholic Education.

Pictured: Mr. Mike Barranco '80 explains the stock market to students at Montgomery Catholic's Middle School Career Day.

Seventh Grader Zack Hulcher Serves as House Page

Montgomery Catholic 7th grader Zack Hulcher served as a page in the House of Representatives for Rep. James Thomas of Camden during the week of March 3-7th.

"I have really enjoyed getting to see the state legislative process first hand as a page and the inter-workings of state government," commented Zack on his experience.

Zack is the son of Richard and Vickie Hulcher.

Four Montgomery Catholic Students Perform in ADT’s Cinderella and more!

Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School is proud to have four students who performed with the Alabama Dance Theater (ADT) production Cinderella and more! February 29, March 1, and 2 at the Davis Theatre in downtown Montgomery. Junior Company members Shannon Boswell and Brooke Searcy, Apprentice Montana Sadler, and Madison Searcy performed various roles in the production.

Shannon Boswell, a senior at Montgomery Catholic, has been a member of ADT since 2004 and played the roles of Jester and Servant in Cinderella. Shannon has attended the Alabama Ballet with scholarship, accepted to the Nashville Ballet, and has been accepted into the dance program at the University of Alabama this fall. Shannon is the daughter of Willie and Sheila Boswell.

Brooke Searcy, a sophomore at Montgomery Catholic, has been an ADT member since 2006 and played the role of Step-sister in Cinderella. Brooke has attended International Ballet Competition School, LDT Summer Festivals, and Dance Arts Summer Intensives. Brooke is the daughter of Brian and Penny Searcy.

Montana Sadler, an eighth grade student at Montgomery Catholic, is a new member of Alabama Dance Theater. She played one of the Hours roles in Cinderella. Montana is the daughter of Becky Sadler.

Madison Searcy, a fourth grade student at Montgomery Catholic, played the role of one of the mice in Cinderella. Madison is the sister of Brooke and daughter of Brian and Penny Searcy.

Pictured: Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School students Madison Searcy, Montana Sadler (seated), Shannon Boswell, and Brooke Searcy who performed in Alabama Dance Theater’s Cinderella and more! at the Davis Theatre.