Montgomery Catholic Students Offer Scares and Treats at Zoo Boo

About 30 students from the Montgomery Catholic Key Club took time out of one of their busy October weekends to volunteer at the Montgomery Zoo and Mann Wildlife Learning Museum annual Zoo Boo. Zoo Boo runs for 3 weekends every October and requires around 120 volunteers each night. The Key Club has participated in this event for the past 10 years, and it is a great way for the students to be involved in the community while having a lot of fun. The students dressed in costumes, painted faces, ran games, and of course, handed out plenty of treats to the visitors.

“They had a great time making memories together and serving the community,” said faculty sponsor Jeanene Crenshaw. “It's a great way for students to see what a huge undertaking an event like this is, and hopefully they will remain involved in community service after they graduate. Plus, it's just great fun!”

The students enjoyed this opportunity to give back to their community. "Having never done it before, I was really excited to participate behind the scenes of a beloved attraction,” said junior Clare Wilson. “I'm really glad I participated in this Halloween tradition and I'm looking forward to next year."

Sophomore Ines Gonzalez-Ansaldi agreed. “Volunteering at Zoo Boo was such a great experience and I had so much fun helping out. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to go and help out our community!"

Montgomery Catholic Senior Jimmiah Fenderson Competes in DYW Competition

Montgomery Catholic senior Jimmiah Fenderson has beauty, brains, and talent, and it’s helping her to pave a path to college. She participated in Montgomery’s Distinguished Young Women Program with 14 other senior girls from Montgomery. They all competed to become the next Distinguished Young Woman of Montgomery County who would then advance to the state competition.

This program, formerly known as Junior Miss, encourages high school senior girls to exhibit a variety of personal and professional competencies. Contestants had to exercise professional skills, which included writing an essay, being interviewed, and speaking in front of a large audience. They demonstrated physical fitness through a choreographed aerobic dance routine. Finally, every contestant showed off a special talent, which gave the audience insight into each girl’s unique personality.

Jimmiah, who aspires to become a pediatrician, came out on top in two categories. She won the physical fitness portion, thanks to her conditioning as a student athlete, and she also won the “Self Expression” extemporaneous public speaking category. Each contestant was given the same prompt shortly before the program began that had to be answered in front of the audience: “What advice has shaped who you are today?” Jimmiah’s answer was short and inspiring: “There are two types of people in this world: those who make excuses, and those who find a way.” She went on to say that labels do not define a person, nor do they limit their capabilities, and that she writes her own book and forges her own path. While she did not win the overall competition, she was awarded $21,000 in scholarship money because of her performance. Jimmiah has not yet decided on the college she will attend in the fall, but doors are opening for her in all directions.

2018 Homecoming Court

Montgomery Catholic is proud to present our 2018 Homecoming Court!

Pictured (from L to R): Freshmen Hart Yost and Patrick Ryan; Juniors Megan Bourke and Morris Carmichael; Seniors Claire Mills, Drew Smith, Homecoming Queen Zy'Keria King, Homecoming King CJ Person, Ellie Talbot, Grant Walker, Isabelle Cochran, and Luke Voorhies; and Sophomores Alanna Aiken and Raz Chandler

Montgomery Catholic Marching Band Puts On Superior Show

The Montgomery Catholic Marching Knights took their show on the road and competed in the Trussville Marching Invitational hosted by Hewitt-Trussville High School. The 2018 season’s “Dawn To Dusk” show includes selections that take the listener on a musical journey from the bright early morning to the shade of the evening.

The Marching Knights received Superior ratings in every category, including drum major, percussion, color guard, and overall band. The band was awarded 1A Best-In-Class color guard, Best-In-Class drum major, and Best-In-Class Overall Band. With a score of 98/100, Johnny Guevara received the highest score of any drum major at the competition, including those in classes 1A through 4A.

Montgomery Catholic RoboKnights Battle at the Beach

Space Bob Ross took a recent trip to the beach, but it wasn’t to dip its servos into the surf. Instead, it was piloted by the Montgomery Catholic RoboKnights robotics team at the Vex Robotics Bots on the Beach competition in Gulf Shores. The 5-person Space Bob Ross team includes Arthur Murray, Aidan Cochran, Hunter Vaccaro, Chris Lathram, and Catherine Aaron. Each member has a different area of expertise, including designing, programming, building, documenting, and driving.

Each robotics team builds a robot capable of completing certain tasks to earn points. This year’s game, “Turning Point”, has several different challenges. There are several caps with one blue side and one red side. The robot can flip the cap to its team’s color to earn points or pick up the cap and place it onto a stand for additional points. There are 3 stands with 3 flags of different heights. The robot can push the bottom flag to its color to earn points, or it can throw a ball at the upper two flags to earn additional points. There is also a platform with two different heights where the robot can park at the end of the round. Parking on the higher platform earns more points. The first 15 seconds of the round allow the robot to complete tasks autonomously, and the remainder of the round is driver-controlled.

The performance of the Space Bob Ross team earned them a spot in the upcoming state competition and they are currently ranked 28^th in the world for skills. Although this was a successful trip, the RoboKnights are working hard to improve their performance as the competition only gets harder as the season progresses. Montgomery Catholic will host a Vex Robotics competition on November 3.