Montgomery Catholic Names Michael Curry As Head Basketball Coach

Coach Michael Curry

Montgomery Catholic is proud to announce Michael Curry as the new Head Coach for Varsity Boys Basketball. “We are thrilled to welcome Coach Curry to our Montgomery Catholic family,” said Anne Ceasar, President of Montgomery Catholic. “He brings a wealth of experience to our basketball program and we know that he will continue its momentum. We look forward to our new coach being in our new gym!”

Coach Curry was equally enthusiastic about joining the coaching staff.  “I am so excited to be joining the Montgomery Catholic family. This is truly an honor and I look forward to building on the strong foundation that has been laid in this program. I would like to thank Mrs. Ceasar, Principal Castanza and AD Veres for giving me this opportunity to lead the boys basketball program here at Montgomery Catholic.”

Curry comes to Catholic with a long history of high school and collegiate basketball coaching. He spent the past 5 seasons with the Alabama State University Hornets as an assistant men’s basketball coach. Prior to this, he served as an assistant coach for seven seasons at Troy University where he was instrumental in bringing home the Trojans' first-ever Sun Belt regular season title in 2010.

In 2002, Curry started his college coaching career at Okaloosa-Walton after four seasons as head basketball coach at Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery. Six of his high school players received college basketball scholarships and one was named Metro Montgomery 6A player of the year.

"We are so excited to welcome Coach Curry to our Montgomery Catholic family," said Athletic Director Daniel Veres. "We took some time to ensure we had the right fit for our program, and we believe Mike is the perfect fit. Personally, I'm excited for all of the student athletes to meet him. I believe they will be blown away by who he is as a coach and by how well he will connect with them as a mentor and leader."

Born into an Air Force family, Curry and his four siblings moved all over the world before settling in Selma, Alabama where his father, CMsgt. Thomas Curry, taught RCIA classes at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Selma following his retirement.  A 1989 Selma High School graduate, Curry played basketball and ran track. As a senior, he was voted Most Valuable Player and finished third in the state high jump. He played basketball at Chattahoochee Valley Community College and at Georgia Southwestern College before earning a Bachelor of Science in physical education from Alabama State University in 1996.

Montgomery Catholic is looking forward to the upcoming season with Coach Curry and the new facility that will house his teams. Construction is ongoing for a 31,000 square foot gymnasium with stadium seating and capacity for 800. The gym will have two regulation basketball courts, a weight room, concession area, offices, locker rooms and conference rooms. The new gym is projected to open in 2019.

Montgomery Catholic Teacher Mindy Walski Selected To Participate In Advanced Placement Program Reading

A teacher from Montgomery Catholic was selected to lead a team of scorers for Advanced Placement (AP) tests by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Mindy Walski, a teacher at the Montgomery Catholic High School campus, has worked as an AP Reader for ETS since 2017 and was selected to be a Scoring Leader for the AP Computer Science Principles exam this year.

Mrs. Walski traveled to Kansas City, MO in June and supervised a team of 8 readers to ensure that tests were scored quickly and that all scores were consistent with the rigorous scoring rubric. The AP Computer Science Principles exam consists of performance tasks that students complete throughout the academic year and an end-of-course exam. The Readers are responsible for evaluating the performance tasks which students can create in a variety of formats, ranging from programming languages like C++ and Java to app-development platforms like Snap! and Firebase. Many colleges and universities accept high AP test scores as college credit and often enable students to place into higher-level classes in that field of study.

Mrs. Walski has worked at Montgomery Catholic since 2012. In addition to being the Media Specialist, she teaches AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles, and Honors Statistics. She is also the coach for the CyberPatriot team. Montgomery Catholic is extremely proud to have great educators like Mrs. Walski on our faculty.

The College Board released the following press release to announce Mrs. Walski's participation in AP  test scoring:

NEW YORK – Mindy Walski was selected to participate in the College Board’s Annual AP Reading in Computer Science Principles. Each June, AP teachers and college faculty members from around the world gather in the United States to evaluate and score the free-response sections of the AP Exams.

AP Readers are high school and college educators who represent many of the world’s leading academic institutions. The AP Reading is a unique forum in which an academic dialogue between educators is both fostered and encouraged. “The Reading draws upon the talents of some of the finest teachers and professors that the world has to offer,” said Trevor Packer, Senior Vice President, AP and Instruction at the College Board. “It fosters professionalism, allows for the exchange of ideas, and strengthens the commitment to students and to teaching. We are very grateful for the contributions of talented educators like Mindy Walski.”

The Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) enables willing and academically prepared students to pursue college-level studies – with the opportunity to earn college credit, advanced placement or both – while still in high school. Through AP courses in 38 subjects, each culminating in a rigorous exam, students learn to analyze complex problems, construct solid arguments, and see many sides of an issue – skills that prepare them for college and beyond. Research indicates that students who score a 3 or higher on an AP Exam typically experience greater academic success in college and are more likely to earn a college degree than non-AP students.