Rachel Chenault, Sarah Forester and Madison Fox were awarded High Five Awards from Miracle League of Arkansas for their volunteer work with the organization over the last four years. The Chris Anderson “High Five” Scholarship was formed in 2015 in honor of Chris’ tireless dedication to the Miracle League players, their families and the volunteers. Usually, only one scholarship recipient is awarded; however, this year it was expanded to include all three girls because of each one’s amazing dedication to the kids and families at Miracle League. Rachel, Sarah and Madison each donated more than 400 hours of service, and they each received a scholarship of $2,000. The Miracle League of Arkansas encourages all Mount St. Mary Academy students to be as giving of their time as these three students and to demonstrate the same commitment to service within the community.

Congratulations to Mount St. Mary Academy history teacher Mary Logan! At a special assembly on October 17, she was presented with the Amazing Educator award by Little Rock Family for making a difference in the lives of her students.

Little Rock Family surprised the student body with the special recognition, narrowing down the identity of the award recipient by describing her as one of the department chairs at Mount St. Mary Academy who has been teaching for over 30 years and is also a Stanford Fellow of International History. Ms. Logan is also the Model United Nations team sponsor and a student travel sponsor. One of Ms. Logan’s former students nominated her for the award, inspired once again by her phenomenal teaching now that her daughter is taking a history class taught by one of her own most memorable teachers.

Along with educators from elementary school, middle school and special needs, Ms. Logan will be featured in an Amazing Educators section in the January issue of Little Rock Family. Thank you, Little Rock Family, for recognizing that outstanding teachers like Ms. Logan prepare our students for college and inspire their dreams for the future.

Two more Mount St. Mary Academy students have been honored this month for exceptional academic promise, and we couldn’t be prouder.

The 2016-17 National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP) selected Rosemarie Ochoa from the Mount St. Mary Academy Class of 2017 as a National Hispanic Scholar. Rosemarie scored in the top 2.5% on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) test among all Hispanic and Latino test-takers in the region. Established in 1983, the National Hispanic Recognition Program is a College Board program that provides national recognition of the exceptional academic achievements of Hispanic/Latino high school seniors and identifies them for post-secondary institutions. In order to be eligible, students must be at least one-quarter Hispanic/Latino, as defined by the NHRP, meet the minimum PSAT cutoff score by state, and achieve a minimum grade point average requirement.

Katie O’Malley was named a Commended Student in an announcement by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Katie joined approximately 34,000 students throughout the nation who received the distinction. Although they will not continue in the 2017 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.6 million students who entered the 2017 competition by taking the 2015 PSAT/NMSQT®.

“The young men and women being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”

We congratulate Rosemarie and Katie for the academic commitment they have demonstrated; these awards will enable them to highlight their outstanding educational achievements to top colleges and universities. They join the two Semifinalists from Mount St. Mary Academy recognized in September by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.