Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School recently honored their top high school students at the annual Academic Awards Ceremony held in the Dolly Barranco Activity Center. Many honors were bestowed including the most outstanding student in each subject area. These students are Barbara Bradley in Foreign Language and English, Josh Stark in Science, Joseph Sutton in Social Studies, Lexie Segrest in Theology, Joseph Sutton in the area of Performing Arts, Zach Hulcher in Mathematics, and David Norris in Technology.
The senior members of the Loretto chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) were recognized, as well as the newest members of NHS, during the ceremony. Michael Moussalli and Maddie O'Mara were recognized for their membership in the National French Honor Society.
During the course of the school year, many students participated in academic competitions and were recognized for their successes. Six students participated in the National French Contest and ranked 34th or above for students across the United States and 28th or above in the state of Alabama: Derek Kelly and Monica Poole for French I, Maddie O'Mara and Willie Ravelo in French II. Two French III students ranked both on a state and national level are Michael Moussalli and Megan Karst. Michael ranked 15th in the state and 19th in the US and Megan ranked 16th in the state and 20th in the US.
Montgomery Catholic's award winning Science Olympiad team was recognized. Certificates were given to Zach Hulcher and Maddie O'Mara for their success at the state Science Olympiad competition. Both Zach and Maddie received $11,000 renewable scholarships to Huntingdon College for their top placement in the Dynamic Planet competition.
Montgomery Catholic had 90 students who participated in the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) 10 and 12 this year. Mandy Jones, Willie Ravelo, Jinah Kim, Linda Zhang, and Forest Phillips were recognized for their top scores on the AMC.
Montgomery Catholic's Key Club members accumulated over 1,200 service hours to the Montgomery community this year. There were nine students who gave over 50 hours of their time during this school year. They were Briana Rudolph, Erin Williams, Chance Williams, Jasmine Ellington, Anna Vail Chancey, Katherine Terino, Jasmine Rush, Jarrett Mason, Sarabeth Parker, Michaela Armstrong, Dylan Craig, Andrea Hayes, and Derek Kelly.
Students who have the largest increase in their grade point averages from the first semester of the previous year to the end of the first semester of the current year are recognized as the Most Improved Students in the sophomore, junior, and senior grade levels. The most improved sophomore is Mary Grace Brown. The most improved junior is Jinah Kim. The most improved senior is Steve Brown.
Students with the highest grade point average for each high school grade level were also recognized. The most outstanding freshman is Leo Petters. The most outstanding sophomore is Maddie O'Mara. The most outstanding junior is Zach Hulcher. The most outstanding senior and the Valedictorian for the class of 2012 is Kevin Norris. Kevin was appointed to the United States Naval Academy.
Honor roll certificated for both the A and A/B honor rolls were given to those students who attained A or A/B honor roll throughout the school year for each grade level. The Joe Arban Perfect Attendance Award was given to Maddie O'Mara for her perfect attendance this year.
The evening culminated with two of the highest awards given at Montgomery Catholic: Leader of the Year and the Ideal Graduate. Mrs. Fran Taylor, high school principal, awarded the Montgomery Catholic Leader of the Year award to Barbara Bradley. Barbara has served the school in numerous leadership positions throughout her school career.
Mrs. Anne Ceasar, president, awarded the Montgomery Catholic Ideal Graduate Award to the student who embodies the overall qualities and talents of an ideal graduate. Lexie Segrest was named as the Ideal Graduate at Montgomery Catholic. Lexie has served in many leadership positions throughout her high school career.