Three Montgomery Catholic Athletes Sign National Letters of Intent

Three Montgomery Catholic athletes signed National Letters of Intent to play collegiate sports during a special ceremony held in the school library on April 29.

Josh Clark and Steven Esmont both signed to play baseball with Faulkner University. Faulkner is a NAIA Division I school which competes with the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC). Josh is the son of Jill and Jeff Clark. Steven is the son of Cariann and Chang Esmont.

Thomas Sutton signed to play golf with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). UAB is an NCAA Division I school which competes with Conference USA. Thomas is the son of Bill and Liz Sutton.

To view photos of the event, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MontgomeryCatholic/AthleticLettersOfIntentSigningCeremony#

Johnson Awarded YMCA Youth Leg Outstanding Press Award

Ashley Johnson received the YMCA Youth Legislature Outstanding Press Award and was elected the Editor for 2009-10.

As a member of the "Tomorrow TODAY" staff, Johnson worked very hard at the YMCA Youth Legislature conference in getting the news and pictures to press. Several of her articles can be viewed at http://www.alyig.org/ and on the blog http://www.alyig.org/blog/.

Johnson has been an active member of Montgomery Catholic's Government Club for more than three years and looks forward to her senior year with the YMCA's Youth in Government Programs. Ashley is the daughter of Feagin and Shirley Johnson of Pike Road.

Catholic Claims Middle School Tournament Title

The Catholic Knights are champions of the middle school soccer tournament hosted at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School last weekend.

The Knights completed a highly successful season (11-4-2) with the tournament championship. In the tournament, Catholic defeated Wacoochee (Smiths Station) 2-0, tied Thompson (Alabaster) 1-1 and defeated Auburn 3-0.

Thompson finished second in the tournament. In other tournament matches, Thompson and Auburn tied 0-0, Auburn and Wacoochee tied 1-1 and Thompson defeated Wacoochee 3-0.

Chung Lee scored five goals and John Arnold scored once and had three assists to earn All-Tournament honors for the Knights. In Catholic’s victory over Wacoochee, Arnold scored unassisted on a corner kick to put the match out of reach late after a scoreless first half.

Against Thompson, Lee scored the Knights’ only goal on a perfect assist off the head of Timothy McOmber in the first half. Thompson scored late to tie the match and create a three-team race for the title.

After Thompson’s victory over Wacoochee, the title remained in doubt until the final match between Auburn and Catholic. The first half was evenly played as both goalkeepers were challenged repeatedly. Catholic’s David Babb and Sara Parker applied the pressure on the Tiger defense along with James Sherman, who placed repeated shots on goal from long range.

Lee provided a 1-0 halftime lead with his first goal of the game. The Knights dominated the second half with the strong midfield rotation of Ryan Norris, Matt Pouncey, Connor Preston, Clay Ronan, and Greg Hunkins allowing Catholic to press the attack with Caden Been and Chad DuBois.

Lee cracked the Auburn defense twice in the second half to complete the scoring. The strong field leadership of Will Littleton and Sterling Anderson throughout the weekend was a key to clinching the championship.

Goalkeeper Sam McLaughlin and the stubborn Catholic defense including Michael Moussali, Stacey Walton, and Alex Castanza tallied two shutouts and gave up only a single goal in the three matches.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition featuring the Jordan family airs April 26th on ABC-32

Don't miss the Jordan family's story on Sunday, April 26th for the Extreme Makeover Home Edition on ABC-32 at 7:00 p.m.

Brady & Monica Jordan's oldest grandchild, Miles, is a sophomore at our school.

Miles' teammates on our Varsity Boys Basketball team, our Varsity Cheerleaders, and our Marching Band took part in demolition day and our entire sophomore class was on hand for the big reveal!

To see pictures from demo day, go here: http://family.webshots.com/album/570161606wuoexb

To see pictures from the new home reveal, go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MontgomeryCatholic/JordanFamilyRevealEMHE#

To read a full story about EMHE in The Montgomery Advertiser, click here: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20090414/NEWS/90414039

To read about the show, click here: http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome/index?pn=index&cmp=emhe_ddhome

Montgomery Catholic Students Thrive at 61st annual YMCA Youth Legistlature

Members of the MCPS Government Club participated in the 61st Annual YMCA Alabama Youth Legislature Conference that was held on April 3 – 5, with our own Roscoe Anderson, Youth Governor, presiding over the events.

Attending with Roscoe were Austin Barranco (House Floor Leader), Barbara Bradley, D’Jara Britton (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court), Jacob Burke, Lora Burke, Matthew Copeland (Cabinet, Communications Director), Michael D’Argenio, Autumn Guillot, Rebecca Hails, Ashley Johnson (Press), Kevin Norris, Cameron Powell, Cleo Smith (Cabinet, Senior Counsel), Caroline Starr (Cabinet, Department of Corrections), Joseph Sutton (Chaplain, First Year Chamber), Constance Taylor (Lobbyist), and Thomas Visco (Secretary of State).

Many bills were brought before the House and Senate chambers for debate, and Governor Anderson actually signed 15 bills into law, including First Year Bill 36, written by Delegates Kevin Norris and Cameron Powell, requiring that all swimming pools in the State be enclosed by a 5-foot fence.

Each one of our students had a successful weekend, and several were recognized at the Awards Ceremony. Kevin Norris and Cameron Powell were given Outstanding Statesman awards. Others were honored by being invited to attend the Council on National Affairs (CONA) to be held this summer in Black Mountain, NC. Those invited include Roscoe Anderson, Austin Barranco, D’Jara Britton and Thomas Visco, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Award, which provides the recipient with free registration to CONA. D’Jara Britton, who mounted a successful campaign, was elected to serve next year as Lieutenant Governor.

The Junior Youth Legislature Conference, held on Friday, April 3, was equally as exciting. Attending were Sterling Anderson, Elena D’Argenio, Chad DuBois (Floor Leader), Gabriela Hayes, Jordan Heymann, Zach Hulcher, Megan Karst, Megan Lewis, Daria McCracken, David Norris, Taylor Pitters, Jack Starr, Maggie Starr, Sarah Talbot. Delegates Zach Hulcher and David Norris were named Outstanding Statesman.

Special thanks go to Susan Starr, Caitlin Cameron, Jessica Stanfield and Daniel Bowen. Pictured is Alabama Youth Governor and Montgomery Catholic senior Roscoe Anderson just before addressing the Chamber at the 61st Annual YMCA Youth Legislature Program.

St. Bede Second Graders Find Out Who is "The Strongest One"

Second grade students in Mrs. Melissa Macchia's class at Montgomery Catholic's St. Bede Campus performed the play "The Strongest One" by Joseph Bruchac. Each student had a role to play in the production from props to characters. The performance was flawless and received a standing ovation!

Pictured: The Little Red Ants, Josie Reynolds, Nicholas Bowden, John Kuenzli, and Melody Taylor, prove they are "The Strongest Ones" at St. Bede.

To view pictures from the play "The Strongest One", click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MontgomeryCatholic/TheStrongestOneSecondGrade#

Montgomery Catholic Students Participate in World Math Day 2009

Montgomery Catholic students united with students and schools from around the world to set a new world record! This year's event, held on March 4, 2009, had a total of 2,001,570 participants in 204 countries, who answered 452,681,681 questions in 48 hours!

The students play against each other in mental arithmetic games. Students are captivated by the fact that they are playing in real time. Each game lasts for 60 seconds and students can play as many games as they wish. The questions are appropriately leveled for different ages and abilities and is open to school aged private individuals and homeschoolers.

The inaugural World Math Day competition began in 2007.

Pictured: Montgomery Catholic fifth grader James Warner Cleghorn participates in World Math Day at St. Bede.

McClure Awarded Archbishop Lipscomb Service Award

Montgomery Catholic senior Brianna McClure was awarded the Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb Service Award at the annual Archdiocesan Catholic Youth Conference (ACYC) held at the Embassy Suites in Montgomery.

Two awards, one male and one female, were given from 13 nominees from parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Mobile. McClure was selected as the female recipient for her service work with Church of the Holy Spirit and Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School, which includes Catholic Heart Work Camp, C2 Leadership Team, Life Teen, Vacation Bible School, United Way, Project Uganda, Seniors to Seniors, Breakfast with Santa and the Easter Bunny to name just a few of her many services.

Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi, Archbishop of Mobile, conferred the awards at the annual ACYC conference.

Pictured: Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb Service Award recipient Brianna McClure with Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi.

Below, Brianna McClure and her family pose with Archbishop Thomas Rodi after McClure received the Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb Service Award at the Archdiocesan Catholic Youth Conference. l to r: Brittany McClure Bradley, Josh Bradley, Brianna, Bryan McClure, Archbishop Rodi, Bobby McClure and Bonnie McClure.

Families Express Artistic Side with Family Art Night at St. Bede

Montgomery Catholic's St. Bede Fine Arts Department hosted a special night of fun with Lenten Family Art Night. The event was a special night for families to create beautiful mosaic crosses together during Lent. There was a variety of crosses to choose from and embellish with paints and jewels in all of the colors of the rainbow. Following the art event, everyone was invited to participate in the St. Bede Pizza Night at Stevie B's Pizza.

Pictured: Kindergarten student Abraham Preston displays the beautiful crosses he created at St. Bede's Family Art Night.

To view photos of the event, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MontgomeryCatholic/FamilyArtNight#

Catholic Hosting JV Soccer Tournament; Proceeds To Go To Coach Redmond

Montgomery Catholic is hosting a JV boys soccer tournament today and Saturday with teams from Trinity, Saint James and Elmore County visiting the Knights -- all in an effort to raise money for varsity boys soccer Coach Robbie Redmond, who was seriously injured in an auto accident March 21.

The tournament kicks off at 5:30 tonight with Trinity taking on Elmore County. Then the Knights play Saint James at 7:15. On Saturday, Catholic goes against Trinity at 9 a.m. followed by Elmore County vs. Saint James at 10:45. The tournament concludes Saturday afternoon when Saint James clashes with Trinity at 1:30 and Catholic meets Elmore County at 3:15.

All gate proceeds will be donated to the Robbie Redmond Fund, which has been set up at Regions Bank. There will be additional donation points around the athletic complex during the tournament. Anyone wishing to make a donation to the fund can do so at any Regions Bank location.

Admission for the tournament is $5 per session. A tournament pass good for all three sessions is available Friday at the gate for $12. Knight Passes are not valid for this tournament.

Wesley Lyle of The Montgomery Advertiser wrote an article about Coach Redmond and this weekend's event. You can read it here: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20090403/SPORTS03/904030313/1002/sports