Montgomery Catholic Bands Receive Superior Ratings at Alabama Bandmasters Event

Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School’s 7^th grade, 8^th grade, and high school concert bands received top marks in the Alabama Bandmasters Association Music Performance Assessment (MPA), an exhibition of middle and high school concert bands. Each ensemble is given a score based on performance of prepared selections and for sight-reading a previously unseen piece of music. This tests not only the skills and musicianship of the band members, but also the directing ability of the teachers leading the bands. For the first time in Montgomery Catholic’s history, all three bands received Superior ratings from all four judges (three stage judges and one sight-reading judge). The bands were graded on several criteria, including tone, technique, interpretation, precision, balance, and stage presence on both the prepared piece and on sight-reading.

“The students in our band are exceptional,” said Mr. Alex Johnson, Director of Bands at MCPS. “They have put in a tremendous amount of effort and dedication, and it came out in this performance. I’m very proud of them all, and I know that they are proud of themselves.”

When asked about the challenge of performing not only pieces they had rehearsed but also sight-reading new material, the students said that they felt nervous, but were ready for the challenge.

“Even though it was intimidating at first, I ended up treating sight-reading like normal band class,” said alto saxophone player Michael Algarin, eighth grade. “We’ve been playing as an ensemble for several months now, so as long as we focus and pay attention we can get through any piece of music together. We already have the skills needed to succeed.”

Junior Bobby Crawford plays trombone in the high school band and felt that sight-reading was also the most challenging part. “It really tests your musicianship, as almost anyone can spend months preparing and fine-tuning a single piece of music. Sight-reading brings out both the individual’s and the ensemble’s ability to quickly process and interpret a score they’ve never seen before and make it into music.”

The Montgomery Catholic band program is under the direction of Mr. Alex Johnson. Mrs. Kristine Johnson, who co-directs the middle and high school bands, also directs the elementary bands and teaches music classes in K4-6^th grade at both the Holy Spirit and St. Bede campuses. Construction will begin soon on a fine arts building at the middle and high school campus that will provide a new home for the band program, which has seen tremendous growth over the past decade.

Montgomery Catholic 7th Graders Celebrate Pi Day

Around the world on March 14, people celebrate the mathematical symbol Pi (π), a Greek letter which represents the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Although it can be rounded up to 3.14, which is why it's celebrated on March 14, Pi has an infinite number of non-repeating digits in its decimal form. At the Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School middle school campus, the 7th grade students had a blast celebrating Pi Day.

Students competed to see who could memorize and recite the most digits in Pi. It is a difficult challenge, as there is no pattern and there is an infinite number of digits. Alyn Mai, Darby Webb, Cooper Davis, and Alejandro Lemuz were the class winners. Next, the classes read Sir Cumference and The Dragon of Pi by Cindy Neuschwander, a book that uses humor and fun to make this concept more accessible to students. Students demonstrated their understanding of the relationship between the circumference of a circle and its diameter by completing a hands-on activity. And finally, no Pi Day could be complete without the addition of actual pie. Taking a trip down to the concession stand, the 7th graders got to enjoy a sweet conclusion to their mathematical excursion. Pi Day is a fun way to celebrate this important concept, which is used in all disciplines of mathematics and science.

Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School Heads to Worldwide Robotics Competition

VRC Team Lost in the Ross
L-R: Catherine Aaron, Chris Lathram, Aidan Cochran,
Arthur Murray, and Hunter Vaccaro

Three Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School RoboKnights robotics teams took their robots to the VEX Robotics Competition state competition early in March and competed against 60 teams from throughout the state of Alabama. The 2018-2019 VRC challenge, “Turning Point,” requires robots to perform a variety tasks to score points, including flipping caps, picking up and placing caps onto poles, toggling flags by pushing them or shooting them with plastic balls, and climbing onto platforms. It’s a complex array of tasks that requires months of planning, building, testing, and practicing to perfect. During competition, teams have two minutes to score as many points as possible, with the first 15 seconds being pre-programmed and autonomous and the remainder being driver-controlled.

Montgomery Catholic has competed at the Alabama state level every year for the past three years, and this is the first time that an MCPS team has advanced to the next level. Team Lost in the Ross, comprised of senior Hunter Vaccaro, junior Arthur Murray, sophomore Aidan Cochran, and freshmen Catherine Aaron and Chris Lathram, advanced to the final round of competition, securing them a place at the upcoming VEX Robotics World Competition. Lost in the Ross is one of 7 teams from the state of Alabama, and they will be competing among 580 top teams from around the world.

"This experience will be eye-opening,” said RoboKnights faculty advisor Vicki Petters. “We will be interacting with students from different cultures in a common goal. Our students are fine ambassadors for our school, our city and the state of Alabama."

With all the different approaches to the Turning Point challenges, there is sure to be a huge variety of robots. “I’m excited about seeing all of the other robot designs,” said Aidan Cochran. “I’ve been involved with robotics since the 7th grade, and I enjoy coming up with different ideas for each robot each year.”

Arthur Murray, who has competed in the VRC program since the 8th grade, is excited about the networking aspect of competition. “I enjoy meeting people who love doing the same thing that I do,” he said. “The thing that excites me the most about going to Worlds is that I’m going to meet the best of the best, not only from the United States but also from places like China, Chile, and Australia.”

Echoing the amount of diversity that will be seen at the VRC Worlds competition, volunteer coach Robert Russell feels that robotics helps to encourage people from all backgrounds to try something new. “You don’t have to be an athlete or mechanical genius to compete,” he said. “Whatever category you look at, robotics is represented by a wide assortment of people—age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, academic and athletic interest, etc.—and it’s only getting more diverse.”

The multi-day VEX World Championship, which includes additional competitions at the elementary and university level, will take place April 24-27 in Louisville, Kentucky. More than 1,600 teams from 30 countries will gather to compete and collaborate.