Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School honored their top high school students at the annual Academic Awards Ceremony held in the Dolly Barranco Activity Center on May 6, 2019. MCPS President Mrs. Anne Ceasar commenced the evening by presenting the 23rd annual Charles T. Harbin Distinguished Service Award to Mr. and Mrs. Pat (class of 1989) and Casie McGinn, recognizing their years of volunteer service to the school.
Following the Harbin Award, scholarships for the 2019-2020 academic year were presented. Mrs. Patti M. Smith, daughter of Norma Mungenast, presented four students with the Norma Mungenast Scholarship: Nona Nicole Johnson, DJ Carter, Myles Butler, and Melanie Montes. Mr. Scott Skoneki, brother of Carole Skoneki Clark, presented the Carole Skoneki Clark Endowed Scholarship to William Michael Noell. Mrs. Sally Hodges, daughter of Sally Evans Hodges, presented the Sally Evans Hodges Memorial Scholarship to Emma Garrison. Mr. Charlie Anderson and Mr. Mathew Bednarz presented two students with the JJ Bednarz, Sr. Memorial Scholarship: Nona Nicole Johnson and Grant Smith. Mrs. Ceasar presented Myles Butler with the Helen Faircloth Gross & Charles J. “C.J.” Gross Scholarship and Lanie Doyle with the Ann and Harold Paige Scholarship. Mr. Justin Castanza, principal of the MCPS middle and high school campuses, presented Melanie Montes with the Frye, Arban, Ortega Scholarship. Finally, Mr. Austin Barranco presented Arthur Murray with the inaugural 2009 Juston Martin Scholarship.
Honor cords were then presented by Mrs. Elizabeth Harbin and Mrs. Jeanene Crenshaw to graduating seniors in the Student Government Association, Science Honor Society, and Key Club. Mrs. Crenshaw also presented the Key Club Distinguished Service awards to students who consistently serve their community through the Key Club. Mr. John Petters presented the American Mathematics Competition awards.
Next, the department awards were presented by the head teachers to distinguished students in each subject. Mr. Rick Aaron presented the awards in math to Isabelle Cochran, Sofie Izer, Emma Garrison, and Lily Bachl. In science, Mrs. Crenshaw presented awards to Jonah Gier, Charlie O’Donnell, James Saliba, and Will Noell. Mrs. Stefanie Nelson awarded the social studies awards to Manny Caceres, Michael Hodges, Angela Gier, and Evan Firman. In theology, Mr. Tom Riello presented awards to Zoe Rutland, Annie Bach, Sofie Izer, Cody Galloway, and Jake Talbot. Mrs. Kerri Moore presented the awards in English to Annie Bach, Clare Wilson, Angela Gier, and Theron Dudley. In foreign language, Mr. Kidd Qu gave the Mandarin Chinese award to Kathleen Madden, Mrs. Moore gave the Latin award to Jonah Gier, and Ms. Fatima Fuenmayor gave the Spanish award to Maddie Losik and Evan Firman. Mrs. Kate Berry presented the drama award to Clare Wilson and the chorus award to Lily Bachl. Mr. Alex Johnson presented Johnny Guevara and Ricky Treloar with the band award. In art, Mrs. Heather Talbot presented the award to Sofie Izer.
The students with the top grade point averages were recognized next. In the freshman class, several students tied for the top GPA: Catherine Aaron, Lily Bachl, Sadie Bartels, Evan Firman, Angeles Gonzalez-Ansaldi, Zach Izer, Layne Jordan, Chris Lathram, Will Noell, and Julienne Pharrams. In the sophomore class, the highest GPA honors went to Devan DeRamus, Emma Garrison, James Saliba, and Harrison Skala. Clare Wilson topped out the junior class, and senior Reagan Herbek has the highest GPA for the class of 2019.
New to 2019 were the President’s List and the Principal’s List. Students recognized on the President’s List achieved a 4.0 or higher GPA. This included 30 seniors, 31 juniors, 21 sophomores, and 19 freshmen. The Principal’s List recognized students who earned between a 3.8 to 4.0 GPA and included 7 seniors, 8 juniors, 15 sophomores, and 10 freshmen. Freshman Lily Bachl was awarded the Joe Arban Perfect Attendance Award.
The evening culminated with three of the highest awards given at Montgomery Catholic: Leader of the Year, the Ideal Montgomery Catholic Graduate Award, and the Sister Martha Belke Servant Leader Award. The nominees for these three honors were Mitchell Aaron, Annie Bach, Anna Catherine Barranco, Isabelle Cochran, Katie Galvin, Zoe Rutland, Byron Simmons, and Melody Taylor.
The Leader of the Year award was presented to Isabelle Cochran. In addition to being on the President’s List, holding several AHSAA state championship titles in track and cross country, and being named the female winner of the 2019 Jimmy Hitchcock Award, Isabelle serves in a number of leadership roles both in school and in the community and is an active member of the Holy Spirit parish. She has served as the president of the Spirit Club and Key Club, vice president of National Honor Society, and team captain of the cross country team, track and field team, and Capitol Track & Field Club. She is a member of Mu Alpha Theta, the Pro-Life Club, and Young Women’s Leadership. Isabelle was recognized by the National Center for Women & Information Technology with the Aspirations in Computing award and attended Alabama Governor’s School. She has volunteered countless hours to local service and faith organizations. She is the daughter of Col. and Mrs. Shawn and Karen Cochran of Montgomery.
The Ideal Montgomery Catholic Graduate award was given to Katie Galvin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael and Lynn Galvin of Montgomery. A scholar-athlete, Katie is on the President’s List and holds several AHSAA state championship titles in track and cross country. She has many leadership roles in school clubs and honor societies at MCPS, including National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Key Club, and Young Women’s Leadership. She is very active in her faith life both at school and in the community and is an active participant of the Montgomery Area Perpetual Adoration Chapel and the Montgomery Catholic Rosary Club. Katie has devoted much of her time to helping service organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, Breakfast for Babies, Zoo Boo, EAT South, and has served as a volunteer for the Panama City Beach hurricane relief efforts.
The Sister Martha Belke Servant Leader Award was presented to Zoe Rutland, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Chris and Tina Rutland of Montgomery. Zoe has always been an active leader at Montgomery Catholic and currently serves as the president of the Student Government Association and is a core team member of the Pro-Life Club. She is a member of National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Spirit Club, and Young Women’s Leadership. She was an ambassador for the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) Conference. She has devoted countless volunteer hours to organizations around Montgomery including the YMCA, Crisis Pregnancy Center, Children’s Center of Montgomery, and St. Bede Day Care. Highly regarded among her classmates, Zoe has also been on the Homecoming Court and been voted Most Outgoing and Class Favorite by her peers.
Montgomery Catholic is proud to recognize of all of our high-achieving students who exemplify faith, excellence, and service every day.
