Montgomery Catholic Hosts First "Free" Physical Exam Day for Students

More than 170 athletes and band members took advantage of Montgomery Catholic’s first "Free" Physical Exam Day on Saturday, May 21.

The process ran smoothly thanks to great planning by Patrick Wood of the Jackson Hospital Foundation and Mark Carpenter, Catholic’s athletic trainer from PT Solutions. Both have extensive experience in planning such events and generously shared their knowledge.

Montgomery Catholic would like to express its appreciation to everyone who worked to help make the event a success:
Dr. Alan Babb
Ashton Babb
Kelly Babb
Ann Berher
Mark Carpenter (PT Solutions)
Diane Castanza
Jill Clark
Mark Cotter
Rhonda Cotter
Dr. Carmelita DeJesus
Dr. Ronaldo DeJesus
Marcia Dixon
T-Michael Dougherty (PT Solutions)
Richard Hulcher
Vickie Hulcher
Alex Johnson
Ken Klinger
Nancy Kocan
Donna LoBello
Katrina Magdon
Dr. Nicholas Manzari
Mark Marus
Thereassa McDaniel
Teresa McLeod
Tara Padilla
Jean Parker
Dr. Jason Randall (So. Orth. Specialists)
Jennifer Rodopolous
Matt Rollan (PT Solutions)
Susan Ryan
Mike Shatzer
Maria Smith
Audra Starrett
Billy Thacker
Andy Tolar
Lisa Tolar
Michael Valdez
Bob Van Alst
Jennie Van Alst
Lesley Wilkinson
Julie Wood
Patrick Wood
John Wyatt

Montgomery Catholic Honors Students at Signing Ceremony

Montgomery Catholic recently honored three senior athletes – Kenny Davison, Corey Cotter and Tommy Wujcik – who are going on to play their respective sports on the college level.

The trio was recognized with a school celebration May 16 that included family members, teammates, coaches, teachers, classmates and local media members

Davison, who is Catholic’s all-time leading scorer in boys’ basketball and was the Montgomery Advertiser’s Small School Player of the Year, signed a scholarship with Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech). Florida Tech is an NCAA Division II school located in Melbourne, Fla.

Cotter, who earned all-state honors in three sports – cross county, wrestling and track – for two consecutive years, has been invited by the University of South Alabama to be a member of their cross country and track teams.

Wujcik, who played quarterback for the Knights the past two seasons, has been invited to play football at nearby Huntingdon College, which participates in NCAA’s Division III.

Davison averaged 22.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game as a senior. He finished his career with 1, 957 points. Catholic teams won 77 games in Davison’s four years on the varsity basketball team, 67 in the last three seasons under Coach Ken Klinger.

“It’s taken hard work to get to this point and it’s going to take more hard work in the future,” said Davison. “Coach Klinger has helped me understand that if you don’t work hard, you’re not going to have success.”

As a senior, Cotter finished fourth in the Class 3A cross country meet last fall, third in the 140-pound division of the Class 3A state wrestling tournament, and he won the 800-meter run at the Class 3A state track meet recently. He also joined Connor Wright, Jarrett Mason and Skip Martin to win the 4x800-meter relay at the state meet. In addition, he finished second in the 1600 and 3200.

“It took awhile after winning state for it all to sink in,” said Cotter. “It’s still sinking in that I’m going to be able to run in college. I just know that I’m going to work harder than I ever have before.”

Wujcik, an excellent athlete with a strong arm and outstanding speed, will bet an opportunity to play quarterback at Huntingdon.

“This means everything to me,” said Wujcik. “I’ve trained and worked for this opportunity, and it’s come together with Coach (Mike) Turk giving me this opportunity to play for his program.”

Middle School Students Honor the Blessed Mother with May Crowning Ceremony

Middle school students at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School recently honored the Blessed Mother's special month of May with a traditional May Crowning ceremony held in front of the Dr. Doyle Building on May 9.  Eighth grade students Paige Barranco and Leo Petters were selected as crown bearers by the middle school faculty for this year's ceremony.  Faculty members Kerri Moore and Vicki Petters sang beautiful A cappella songs as the seventh and eighth grade student body gathered in front of the school building.  The Our Lady of Grace statue used in the annual May Crowning ceremony was donated by Mary Azar and Frances Miaoulis and blessed by Bishop Toolen on April 12, 1945.  The statue was centered in front of our original school from 1945 until 1965.  The Our Lady of Grace statue was relocated to the front of our Dr. Doyle Middle School Building and rededicated by Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb on September 12, 2004.  Pictured:  Paige Barranco and Leo Petters served as middle school crown bearers during Montgomery Catholic's May Crowning ceremony.

Click here to view photos from the event.

Jasmine Rush Elected Key Club Lieutenant Governor

Jasmine Rush, a freshman at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School, has been elected Lieutenant Governor for Alabama Key Club's Division 11 for the 2011-2012 year.

An active member in her school Key Club, Rush said it has been a wonderful experience so far and is looking forward to volunteering in our community this summer. Organizations seeking volunteers are encouraged to contact Jasmine at jrush@alabamakeyclub.org.

Montgomery Catholic Named "Best in State" by Junior Engineering Technical Society

Students from Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School were awarded the “Best in State” prize in the 32st annual TEAMS high school engineering competition sponsored by the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS).  The team, which took the top 9/10 grade "Best in State" award, worked on solving the global energy “supply and demand” problem highlighted by rising gasoline prices, current events in the Middle East and the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill.  Montgomery Catholic's JETS team is sponsored by Dr. Joe Profio.

Pictured:  Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School's JETS team members (front row) Giselle Sims, Will Brunson, and Stone Miller;  (back row) Dylan Craig and Zachary Hulcher. All are sophomores, except for Mr. Brunson who is a freshman.

Montgomery Catholic Shines at National Catholic Education Association Conference

Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School was well represented at the National Catholic Education Association's (NCEA) annual conference recently held in New Orleans, Louisiana. Montgomery Catholic sent 19 members of our faculty and administration from all three campuses to NCEA, with Lee Anne Barranco and Nick Bourke presenting a seminar on our award-winning Science Olympiad program at the conference. Our Archbishop Thomas Rodi was the celebrant for the closing Mass at the NCEA conference.


Montgomery Catholic's NCEA Delegation: pictured L to R, row 1: St. Bede Principal Laurie Gulley, Middle School English and Latin teacher Kerri Moore, School President Anne Ceasar, Archbishop Thomas Rodi, Middle School Math teacher Julie Flowers, High School Principal Fran Taylor, and Sixth grade teacher Nick Bourke. Row 2: Elementary Media Specialist Lee Anne Barranco, First grade teacher Tina Rutland, Fifth grade Shelley Herbek, Middle School Principal Maria Nolen, High School Social Studies teacher Sue Terino, Elementary Technology teacher Ruth Glenboski, High School Theology chairman Tom Riello, Middle/High School Resource teacher Tina Tynan, High School Guidance Counselor Beverly Barnette, Middle School Social Studies teacher Mark McGuire, Fourth grade teacher Kerin Wood, Public Relations/Development Director Mary Kelley (behind the camera), and High School English teacher John Conway (not pictured).