Happy Birthday Clifford!

Kindergarten students at Montgomery Catholic's St. Bede Campus completed a study of the work of Norman Bridwell, the author and illustrator of the Clifford books. The Clifford books were first published in 1963, which makes Clifford 47 years old.

Students in Mrs. Debbie Redden's class had a birthday party for Clifford with cookies decorated by the students. A stuffed Clifford dog visited each student in the class. Each student took Clifford home and wrote a real or make-believe story of Clifford's adventures, whcih he/she read to the class the following day.

Pictured: Montgomery Catholic kindergarten students recently held a birthday party for Clifford, who celebrated his 47th birthday in February. back row (l to r): John Tracy, Erik Azar, William Driver, Matthew Reardon, Autumn Sekerak, James Bender, and Julian Macchia. front row: Layne Jordan, Ailish Gilbert, McKinley Boyd, and Haley Gordon. Photo by Debbie Redden.

Montgomery Catholic Students Succeed at MATHCOUNTS Competition

Middle school students at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School recently participated in the 2010 MATHCOUNTS Program held at Faulkner University where they took home third place in the competition. The MATHCOUNTS competition was sponsored by the Montgomery Chapter of the Alabama Society of Professional Engineers.

The Montgomery Catholic MATHCOUNTS team meet after school each Wednesday and participate in several math-based activities, compete against each other in quick math problems, as well as building polyhedrons. Pictured: Montgomery Catholic's MATHCOUNTS team with their 3rd place competition trophy at Faulkner University (left to right) row 1: Mrs. Julie Flowers, Mandy Jones, Sean Federspill, Willie Ravelo, and C.J. Barnett. row 2: Miss Jess Stouffer, Isabel Colon, Paige Barranco, Megan Lewis, and Sophie Williams.

Montgomery Catholic Students Raise $2,838 for COPE "Bottles for Babies"

Students from Kindergarten through the twelfth grade at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School collected pocket change in baby bottles to raise money for Montgomery's COPE (Crisis Outreach for Pregnancy Emergencies) Crisis Pregnancy Center. This annual project raised $2,838 for COPE to purchase car seats, clothing, and supplies needed for women in the Montgomery area. COPE is a non-profit women's health and caring center that provides free counseling, pregnancy testing, and other services for persons facing an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. Pictured: Montgomery Catholic staff and students present a check to COPE Executive Director Lorie Mullins. L to R: Montgomery Catholic's High School Principal Fran Taylor, students Cathy Ranieri, Cole Dixon, MCPS School President Anne Ceasar with COPE Director Lorie Mullins, elementary students Katie Smith, Drew Smith, and Grant Smith, St. Bede Principal Susan Duke, St. Bede Assistant Principal Laurie Gulley,and Middle School Principal Maria Nolen.

Stone and Cotter in Third Place Matches at AHSAA 4A State Wrestling Tournament

For the first time in the school's brief wrestling history, Montgomery Catholic's Preston Stone and Corey Cotter will each bring home medals from the AHSAA 4A state wrestling tournament in Huntsville.

Stone, a senior wrestling in the 112-pound division, will go against Steven Lindsey of Fultondale Saturday morning in the third-place match. Stone, 29-11 this season, won his opening match, pinning Taylor Simmons of Leeds. He then fell to Steven Kwan of Saint James, 1-0 in a hard fought-match. Stone bounced back in the consolation bracket to defeat Carlton Jones of American Christian in an 8-1 decision.

Cotter, a junior wrestling in the 135-pound division, has a chance to avenge his only loss of the tournament. He will meet Deshler's Chandler Sartain in the third-place match. Sartain edged Cotter in a 5-3 decision early Friday.

Cotter, also 29-11 overall, then won two straight matches. He defeated Aaron Edwards of Dora 10-5, then beat Jonathan Boston of Holtville. Cotter led Boston 6-2 late in the match before Boston was disqualified.

Montgomery Catholic is in its third year of wrestling. Stone was the school's first state qualifier, earning a berth in the 2008 tournament at 103 pounds.

In addition to his wrestling success, Cotter led the Knights boys' cross country team to a fifth-place in the Class 4A state meet, finishing 7th and earned All-State honors.

Mardi Gras Monte Carlo Night a Huge Success!

Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School "let the good times roll" at their Second Annual Mardi Gras Monte Carlo Night on February 6, 2010, raising over $30,000 to benefit the school. Upon their arrival, each guest was given $1,000 of "funny money" at the welcome table to spend at their leisure at one of several stations of Texas Hold 'Em, Blackjack, Roulette, Skill Stoppers, and Craps tables. Over 250 guests enjoyed the music of The Coleman Woodson Group as they perused all of the wonderful silent auction items during the cocktail reception. Catered by The Kings Table, guests enjoyed shrimp cocktail, carved roast beef, loaded baked potato bites, delicious fruits and cheese, various desserts and their signature bread pudding.

With hundreds of beautiful items to choose from, silent auction tables were arranged all around the room from Auburn and Alabama baskets complete with football tickets, hand crafted artwork from local artists and Montgomery Catholic students, beach and lake resort vacations, stemware, wonderful wine collections, antique pieces, as well as reserved spaces at special school functions, and delightful gift basket collections. Kathy Tyner, Silent Auction Chair, and her committee did an outstanding job of securing all of the fabulous items that were highly sought after in the silent auction.

Many parents and local businesses sponsored the event. A very special thanks to Jean Bradley, Mardi Gras Monte Carlo Night Event Chair, Dee and Sandra Miles, The Battery Source, Frank Schilleci, Al Steineker and The Kings Table for all of their hard work and support, without which this event would not be possible.

Also sponsoring the event were Abacus Technology Corporation, Advanced Solutions, Inc., AmSan, Aronov Insurance, Co., Chappy's Deli, David and Jackie Jackson, Dr. Michael and Ann Karst, The Knights of Columbus-Holy Spirit, Montgomery Catholic Alumni Association, Montgomery Catholic Parent-Teacher Councils, J.J. Mottram Company, Dr. Leigh Anne Nevins, D.D.S., Olympia Sporting Goods, Partners in Catholic Education, Relief Pest Control, St. Peter's Catholic Church, St. Bede the Venerable Catholic Church, Storkland/The Name Dropper, and the Carl Whatley Family.

The evening concluded with a Live Auction of a Super Supper for six hosted at the lake home of Rod and Anne Ceasar, a wine & cheese dinner at Michael's Table in Montgomery, "That's Amore" dinner for six with Father David Carucci, and a fantastic "Go Knights" bundle of books, half-off a month's tuition, Knight Pass, and permanent parking space for athletic events.

This year's event was a wonderful evening of entertainment and fun all benefitting the school. The 3rd Annual Mardi Gras Monte Carlo Night will be Saturday, February 5, 2011. See you then!

Pictured: Trying their hand at Montgomery Catholic's 2nd Annual Mardi Gras Monte Carlo Night are Cathy Jones, Edna Sadie, Lisa and John Sadie.

To see photos, click here.

Knights are 4A Area 5 CHAMPIONS!

Montgomery Catholic's Varsity Boys Basketball team defeated cross-town and area rival Alabama Christian Academy 68-63 to claim the AHSAA 4A Area 5 Championship on Monday night in the Father Pat Delahunty Gymnasium on Catholic's Middle/High School Campus. The Knights (25-5) will host Munford in a sub-regional match on Friday night at Catholic. Tip-off at 7:00 p.m.

To see photos from the game, click here.

To read a story from The Montgomery Advertiser, click here.

Sophie Williams is Montgomery County's Top Speller!

Sophie Williams, a current eighth grade student at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School, is the top speller for Montgomery County. Sophie correctly spelled "susceptible" and "synchronous" to out-spell 26 other contestants from area schools and win the county spelling bee on Monday, February 1.

Sophie won the title and a $300 cash prize. This is the second year in a row Sophie represented Montgomery Catholic at the county bee. She will now represent Montgomery County in the state spelling bee held in Birmingham on March 6th. The state winner will go on to compete at the National Spelling Bee held in Washington, D.C. Another Montgomery Catholic student, Mary Reagan Starrett, placed third in the county spelling bee. Pictured: Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School 8th grader Sophie Williams is the Montgomery County Spelling Bee Champion.

Catholic's Davison hits 1,000 Career Points

Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School's Kenny Davison hit his 1,000th career basketball point earlier this season. Davison, a junior, has been a starting player with the Varsity team for three years. The Athletic Department honored Kenny in a special ceremony during a home basketball game. Kenny is the son of Kenneth and Janis Davison. The Knights host the AHSAA 4A, Area 5 Tournament this weekend. Pictured: Montgomery Catholic Varsity Head Boys Basketball Coach Ken Klinger and Kenny Davison.

Montgomery Catholic Celebrates 100th Day of School

Kindergarten students at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School celebrated the 100th day of school by doing everything in 100 ways. The children enjoyed a hundred item snack of trail mix and a giant cookie cake with 100 M&Ms. Each child brought in a collection of 100 things including buttons, erasers, silly bands, screws, marshmallows, pennies, candies, crayons, and many other creative things. The students read stories about the 100th day of school, made a lady bug with 100 dots, a 100 heart love bug, jumped 100 jumps, clapped 100 claps and even drew pictures of themselves of what they thought they would look like at 100 years old! The children, and teachers, enjoyed a wonderful fay of learning, counting, and fun!

Pictured: Montgomery Catholic Kindergarten students in Mrs. Redden's class with 100 of their favorite snack items. L to R standing: John Tracy, Matthew Reardon, Will Driver, McKinley Boyd, Erik Azar, James Bender, Ailish Gilbert, and Haley Gordon. L to R seated: Layne Jordan, Autumn Sekerak, Cecelia Crawford, and Julian Macchia.

Montgomery Catholic Raises $3,800 for Haitian Relief

Students from Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School held a "dress down" day for Haitian Relief and raised over $3,800 in their efforts. Students in all grades, K-12, participated in the event and gave money throughout the week to help those effected by the devastating earthquakes that rocked Haiti. Photo: First grade student Rachel Rodriguez drew this picture of her church, Church of the Holy Spirit, for the people of Haiti to let them know we are praying for them.

Montgomery Catholic Celebrates "A Day in the Life of a Middle Schooler"

Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School hosted 72 current sixth grade students from around the city for their annual "A Day in the Life of a Middle Schooler". The guests were greeted by a current middle school student who showed them around the campus, escorted them through their daily schedule, and introduced them to other students throughout the day. Middle School students look forward to "A Day in the Life" each year. Pictured: Montgomery Catholic students Kira Drayton, Tara Bourke, and Megan von Gal with their guest Anna Peoples in "A Day in the Life of a Middle Schooler".

Knights Build Momentum for Sectional Tournament

In its third year of wrestling, members of the Montgomery Catholic Junior Varsity and Varsity Wrestling teams have had outstanding performances in recent weeks. At the Barry Mask JV Wrestling Tournament in Wetumpka, JV wrestlers David Norris and Matt DeVries both placed in their weight classes, Norris placed 3rd and DeVries 4th. Varsity wrestling team member Preston Stone, a senior, finished third in the 114 weight class and junior Corey Cotter finished 4th in the 137 weight class at the Julian McPhillips Tournament at St. James.

The Knights swept the tri-match they hosted on January 27th, defeating Elmore County 28-27 and Carver High School 30-24. The Knights also won in a match against Sidney Lanier High School 30-24 on Friday night.

Montgomery Catholic's Junior Varsity Wrestling Team members are Joseph Thrash, James LaGrange, Justin Cotter, Alex Castanza, Tait Holder, Geoffrey Myers, and Matt DeVries.

Montgomery Catholic's Varsity Wrestling Team members are Preston Stone, Ricky Baldwin, Asa Keating, Corey Cotter, Connor Wright, Tim McOmber, Matt Simmons, David Norris, Aidan Gilbert, and Ethan Watkins.

The Knights will compete in the AHSAA Class 4A Sectional Tournament on February 5th and 6th at Saint James School.

Pictured: Montgomery Catholic's Preston Stone works to position his opponent in a recent match.

To view photos from this season, click here.