Montgomery Student Spotlights August 2022

The Saint James choir, under the leadership of Dr. Sallye York was invited to perform at the Annual Gathering of Remembrance. This event is held at the Alabama Department of Archives and History and is sponsored by the Alabama Holocaust Commission. The students performed a song written by Inge Auerbacher, a Holocaust survivor who was the keynote speaker. Saint James choir members Hamilton Cunningham, Paul Kreischer, and Jalen Trammer lit candles in honor of the Holocaust victims and survivors during the ceremony.

Also in attendance at the Remembrance Ceremony was the Saint James 8^th grade class. The students studied the Holocaust and its impact through History class with Mrs. Venna Everett. The Advanced English class also studied The Diary of Anne Frank with English teacher, Miss Annie Ramsey.

The students had visited the Rosa Parks Museum and landmarks earlier in the day.

Saint James School is proud to announce its high school students who placed at the AISA State Art Competition on Tuesday, May 10th at Faulkner University. Eight Saint James high school students competed. Among those high school students, three received awards and two received Best in Show for their division.

In 1^st place were Matthew Ohliger for Photography, Natalie Magee for Drawing Non-Color, and Mae Puckett for Drawing Color.

Best in High School (10-12) was awarded to Natalie Magee with her Non-Color Drawing.

Best in Middle School (7-9) was awarded to Mae Puckett with her Color Drawing

Montgomery Catholic High School teachers, Sinead Turner and Mindy Walski, spent the beginning of their summer working as Exam Readers for the AP/College Board exams. Mrs. Turner teaches AP Language and Composition and American Literature and Composition II at MCPS. She was a Reader for the AP English Language and Composition Exam. Mrs. Walski teaches AP Computer Science Principles, Computer Science A, and Honors Statistics at MCPS. She served as a Table Leader for the AP Computer Science Principles exam.

There were 535,000 AP English Language exams, with 3 essays each, coming to a total of 1.6 million essays that needed to be scored. This year there were about 3000 high school and college instructors who read the AP English Language exams. Around 1/3 of the scorers were in Tampa and the other 2/3 read from home this year from June 10-16.

Around 100,000 students took the AP Computer Science exam. Some scorers were in Kansas City and others read from home from June 2-8 scoring exams for 8 hours a day.

In order to be chosen to score AP exams, you have to have taught the course for at least three years and you have to submit an application for approval. Mrs. Walski has scored since the inception of AP Computer Science Principles in 2016, and Mrs. Turner has scored since 2019.

Saint James School is proud to announce that five of its students earned the prestigious Global Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish. Two students of the Class of 2022 earned this honor after completing Spanish 4. Three additional students also earned this title after completing Spanish 3. According to Spanish instructor, Mrs. Rhea Grate, these students worked very hard to achieve this level of language fluency.

All five students earned the Functional Fluency status.  Graduates in the class of 2022 who earned this distinction are Emma Sherlin, Nicholas Hakala, Emily Headley, and Muskan Patel. Emma and Nicholas completed Spanish 4, while Emily and Muskan completed Spanish 3 at Saint James. Rising senior Taylor Potts also earned this distinction after completing Spanish 3.

According to The Global Biliteracy Seal website, “In a global society where intercultural communication has become increasingly important, the Global Seal provides a unique and recognizable certification of language skills. The Global Seal of Biliteracy provides a universally consistent and inclusive micro-credential to increase opportunity for bilinguals from middle school through adulthood. It is our hope that those with language proficiency will credential their skills at one of our three certification levels and then continue to grow their skills in order to ‘Level Up’.”

Saint James School is proud to announce its Middle School Art winners in the AISA District 5 competition. All first-place winners will go to the State AISA competition for further judging on May 10.

First place winners included Chloe Song in Printmaking, Davie Hipp in Mixed Media, and Kaleigh Soto in Non-color Drawing. Students who placed second were MaryEllis Killough in Printmaking and Kaleigh Soto in 3-D Arts. Third place was awarded to Nandita Nagarad in Non-color Drawing.

Saint James also held its school arts competition with a number of students winning various categories. Best in Show was awarded to Davie Hipp. First place was awarded to Grace Yu, and second place went to Bridget Shaffer. Third place was awarded to Chloe Song. Honorable Mentions were given to Keira Thompson and Emilee Alexander.

All of these students are taught by Mrs. Bethany Davis.

Congratulations to Elly Robinson (9th grader) and Amy Treloar (senior) who won Regional Titles for Miss Inspire Teen and Miss Inspire Senior respectively, and they are both Online Photogenic Winners for Nationals.

Elly and Amy will be presented with their awards at the Inspire Nationals in Savannah, Ga. Inspire is a Christian based national dance competition. They will both be attending a week-long conference and master classes at the end of June in Savannah, Ga.

Saint James School is proud to recognize sixteen students who placed at the state ACTE Technology Fair. This annual competition is sponsored by the Alabama Consortium for Technology in Education. Saint James School offers technology education at all grade levels Pre-K2 through 12^th grades.

The categories of the contest include Animation, Digital Game Design, Multimedia, Productivity Design, Robotics, Video Production, and Computer Programming.

In the Elementary School division, the following students placed in his/her category. In Animation Level I, Peyton Stewart placed first. In Digital Game Design Level II, Sean Woessner won 1^st place. In Multimedia Level II, Yeriel Kim won 1^st  place, and Manraj Singh placed second. For Productivity Design, in Level I Keagan Cantrell won 1^st place, and in Level II Molly Phillips placed third. In Robotics Level I, Kent Whigham placed third. For the category of Video Production, in Level I Miller Groce placed third, and in Level II Molly Philips was awarded 1^st place and Will Roark was awarded 3^rd place.

In the Middle School division, the following students earned awards in his/her category. In Animation Level II, Emily Trock was awarded 1^st place. In Computer Programming Level II, Nathaniel Sherbine won 2^nd place.  In Video Production Level III, Elley Goff was awarded 1^st place.

At the High School level, Jaeah Lee and Junseo Oh won 1^st place in Digital Game Design Level IV. Additionally, Selina Sun won 1^st place in Multimedia Level V.

Congratulations to Chappell Hill from Trinity School who was named the Henry Meader Award winner. This scholarship is presented annually to the rising senior with the highest GPA in the class.

State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey stopped by Bear Exploration Center to help honor longtime Principal Elizabeth Hill, who is retiring after 36 years with MPS, 23 of which were as principal of Bear.

Mackey unveiled a plaque dedicating Bear’s Outdoor Classroom to Hill. The outdoor learning environment was one of Hill’s signature accomplishments during her time at the school.

Bear teachers also took part in the dedication, with third-grade teachers donating a birdbath in her name and fourth-grade teachers donating a wind sculpture.

Mackey, whose own son attended Bear, touted the STEM-centered elementary school as one of the best in the state.

Trinity hosted a football camp for elementary boys. The boys had a blast learning all the drills, visiting the new weight room and working with the varsity players. The camp concluded with a fun time on the water slide!

Montgomery Academy fifth graders enjoyed an overnight field trip to the Alabama 4-H Science School on the Coosa River. Students participated in five learning activities including a team-building initiatives class and a deeper look into the lives of reptiles and amphibians. Students enjoyed cheering each other on as they climbed the rock wall and pulled classmates (and teachers!) to the highest point on the big swing!

Evangel Christian Academy recently named the school’s 2022 Mr. and Miss ECA during the High School Awards Day ceremony.  Kysha McNeely and Aaron McNeil, Jr. were chosen for this distinguished honor. The two seniors were chosen by the faculty and student body. Kysha and Aaron were chosen because of their Christian testimonies as well as their academic and leadership skills.

Madame recently took a group of students to France. This trip is the highlight of the year for French students!

Saint James School is proud of its student-athletes who will be competing as a part of Alabama All-Stars Week, July 18-22. Six members of the Class of 2023 were selected in his/her individual sport. All of them will play as a part of the South team in the particular sport.

In tennis, Trojans #1 tennis player Cristobal (Toba) Rios will play as part of the Boys South Team. Saint James School varsity girls basketball player KK Hall will play as a part of one of the two 15 member South teams. KK was honored as a 1000-point player during the regular season. In Cross Country, Hannah Richardson will compete at Gateway Park. Trojan out-fielder Clint Shores was chosen for the baseball match-up, and in soccer, Dylan Stokes will participate as one of seven local athletes named to the South boys soccer team. Kendal Wright made the South girls soccer team.

Saint James varsity girls soccer coach Charlie Brightwell has been chosen as one of the coaches for the South girls team.

The Presidential Leadership Institute (PLI) is hosted each summer by York University in York, Nebraska in conjunction with Strata Leadership out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Students from Alabama Christian Academy apply to be a part of this experience and then interview with both faculty sponsors and administration to be chosen.

The week is an intensive study on leadership to help grow student leaders and give them tools to help them make a positive impact on their schools. Throughout the week, students hear from CEOs, college professors, administrators, influential figures, military and government leaders, and business professionals from all over the country. These leaders share their experiences from a Biblical worldview.

While students are there, they work on a project to bring back to their school. Students work on this presentation all week and present it in a “TED” talk style on Friday afternoon. ACA students also worked with other students from other schools around the country to make small daily presentations to recap and share their biggest takeaways.

At the Friday night awards, students are honored for the outstanding character they have shown throughout the week. ACA senior Garrett Davie was awarded the Howard Todd Servant Leadership Award for PLI students who best demonstrate leadership and character. This is a 4-year full tuition scholarship to York University. This was a great honor, and he plans to attend in the fall of 2023 to pursue a degree in Criminal Justice.  ACA students that participated include Grady Roberts, Amelia Nichols, Gracie Page, Garrett Davie, Cole Barsukoff, and Mandy Gregory.

Trinity Junior Varsity and Varsity dance team attended UDA camp at Mississippi State. The team brought home multiple awards from the Leadership award, Superior Trophy to 11 girls receiving All- American. Three seniors: Noah Brock, Camilla Loard and Carrison Wilson were offered the opportunity to try out for UDA staff for next summer. Kenzie McClelland and Molly Katherine Chandler both received the Pin it Forward Award.

Mayor Reed and the Montgomery City Council honored the Trinity State Championship baseball team.

Macon East Academy has been named a Blue Ribbon School for the 2021-22 school year! The AISA Blue Ribbon Award program is sponsored by the AISA to recognize member schools with outstanding educational programs. Blue ribbon schools exemplify excellence in scholastic achievement, professional learning, student involvement and community interaction. Shoutout to our faculty, staff, and families for continuing to provide quality education to our students.

Montgomery Catholic summer camps began during the last week of May, and have been going strong ever since! Students have participated in Wrestling, Soccer, Basketball, Robotics, Volleyball, Baseball, Jr. Engineers, Softball, and Art camps throughout the month of June.

We are excited to offer specialty camps in addition to all of our athletic camps. Students have the opportunity to attend Math and Literacy camps, Jr. Engineering camp, Robotics, and Fine Art camps. Many of these camps are all geared towards students who love to learn and create. From using Geometry to build creative structures to creating paper rockets and acrylic paintings, these camps help teach students how to create and innovate.