Monthly Archives: November 2019

Yes we CAN: Robin Hood Days celebrates record-breaking year

Thanks to a few creative can-collecting activities and some friendly class competition, Mount St. Mary Academy’s annual Robin Hood Days canned food drive recently collected more cans and cash equivalent than ever before in its 45-year history: 63,328! This year’s total beat last year’s record-breaking amount (53,090) by more than 10,000 cans. The student-led schoolwide drive benefits local organizations that provide holiday meals for Arkansas families in need.

“I seriously could not be more proud to be a part of Mount and the school’s efforts to serve others,” said Sarah Johnson ’20, MSM student body president and four-year student council member. “It has been an honor to be able to participate in Robin Hood Days with such an extraordinary group of girls, and I am beyond proud to know that our efforts will help feed others in the community.”

Over the four weeks leading up to Thanksgiving break, students collected cans from family, friends and neighbors in addition to holding fundraisers like “We CAN Wednesday,” “Beans for Jeans” and “Free Dress Friday” spirit days. As extra incentive, students were also promised early dismissal days for meeting their individual class goals as well as beating last year’s record. Each grade level ultimately surpassed its individual goal of 8,750 cans and cash equivalent four days before the drive concluded on Friday, November 22. This year’s winning class was the senior class, who more than doubled their individual goal by collecting an astounding 21,343 cans. The freshman class came in second with 14,280 cans.

“I am incredibly proud of our girls this year; they always outdo themselves in generosity, hard work and creativity,” Noël Gieringer, MSM English teacher and student council sponsor, said. “I see this whole canned food drive as an example of our Mercy Value of excellence, along with our concern for the poor.”

For nearly 50 years, Robin Hood Days has helped provide food and monetary donations to local organizations, including Arkansas Foodbank, Helping Hand of Greater Little Rock, Rice Depot, Union Rescue Mission, Jericho Way, Our House, OXFAM and Catholic Social Services, among others. It is estimated that more than 1 million canned goods have been collected by Mount St. Mary Academy since the event began in 1974.

“While we are all so fortunate here at Mount, we still need to give back to the community, which is something Mount has been teaching us since day one of freshman year,” Sarah said. “We get an opportunity to be the physical embodiment of Jesus and live out his mission to serve others. It is something really beautiful to watch and experience.”

View photos of Mount St. Mary students helping load donated canned goods into the vehicles of this year’s benefiting organizations at https://flic.kr/s/aHsmJxkhzM.

Mount St. Mary Academy, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, develops young women with a moral and intellectual foundation rooted in Catholic tradition. Mercy-minded and college-prepared, our students meet the future with wisdom, compassion and integrity.

Houndstooth Hustle participants brave the cold to support MSM

Despite fairly chilly temperatures at the time of its start, more than 100 runners and walkers of all ages – and a couple pets, too – participated in Mount St. Mary Academy’s annual Houndstooth Hustle 5K race on Saturday, November 9. This was the fourth year for the family-friendly event, which features a challenging, yet beautiful 3.1-mile course through the historic Hillcrest neighborhood surrounding the campus.

Thank you to all of the race participants, volunteers and sponsors for making the 2019 Houndstooth Hustle a success! Proceeds support the programs and services at Mount St. Mary Academy.

2019 Sponsors

Gold Sponsor: CHI St. Vincent

Purple Sponsors: Krebs Brothers Restaurant Store, Oak Forest Cleaners, Wendy and Dr. Ray Parker, Rose Law Firm, Stone Bank and Vondran Orthodontics

Holy Ghost Sponsors: Dean Dental Solutions, Eckart Volleyball and Landmark CPAs

More photos at https://flic.kr/s/aHsmJoEXLw.

Career Day inspires students, introduces variety of professions

Nearly 50 MSM alumnae from near and far shared useful advice and details about their career paths with current students at Mount St. Mary Academy’s annual Career Day on Thursday, November 14. Students attended up to two sessions where they were able to hear from and ask questions of panels of alumnae representing various fields: the arts, business, communications, education, engineering, finance, healthcare, information technology, law, non-profits, public service, religious life and the sciences.

First organized in 2015, Career Day is a collaborative effort of the Alumnae Office and Counseling staff. It represents one of the many ways that Mount St. Mary Academy encourages its students to explore their interests and passions as an extension of their academic program and, in the process, better understand themselves, their community and the world.

We appreciate all of the talented alumnae who volunteered their time as panel speakers this year – including those who participated via video conference from California, Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin and even France. You are an inspiration to our young women and such wonderful representatives of your alma mater!

MSM Arts Department’s 2019 musical enjoys successful run

The Mount St. Mary Academy Arts Department’s latest production, Once Upon a Mattress, proved to be a hit! More than 700 guests attended the musical comedy, which ran November 1-4 at Catholic High School’s Auditorium. Led by MSM’s speech and drama teacher, Jenny Moses, and choral director, Chelsea Allman, nearly 90 students were involved in the family-friendly show. The creative and hardworking cast and crew, which included a handful of students from Catholic High School as well as two homeschooled students, handled every detail in bringing the fairy tale of the Princess and the Pea to life. This included set design and construction, publicity and community outreach, and costume design and makeup in addition to the spectacular singing and acting by the 35-member cast.

“This is one of my favorite shows we’ve done simply because the cast was truly one of the most cohesive with which I’ve ever worked,” Ms. Moses said. “But we also did some pretty amazing things with the set, which was huge, and so much of that is student led and created. It’s just really cool to continue to watch our cast and crew grow over the years.”

Ms. Allman added that this year’s group was also one of the most dedicated and hardworking. “I love it when cast members have taken it upon themselves to learn their songs and lines outside of rehearsal. It shows how disciplined and proactive they are,” she said. “The leads of the show, in particular, showed so much dedication. Often in rehearsals, I was able to thank them for making my job easy.”

At the end of the final performance on Monday, Nov. 4, Holly Marr ’20 was recognized as this season’s recipient of the Jennifer Boccarossa Spirit of the Show Award. Named after the school’s alumna and former choral director who passed away in 2013, the award honors students who possess a passion for musical theatre, sense of fun and adventure, and willingness to work hard to make the show a success – all qualities for which Jennifer is celebrated and remembered.

Ms. Moses said Holly was incredibly involved in this year’s production and showed excellent leadership qualities as stage manager. “What really makes her stand out is her maturity level, attention to detail and the ability to manage both of those without making people hate her,” Ms. Moses laughed. Ms. Allman agreed, noting that Holly was “a great leader, always had a smile on her face and made a huge contribution to the success of the show.” Holly also served as stage manager in last year’s production of The Addams Family.

Save the date for the MSM Arts Department’s final event of 2019. The Concert Belles and Harmony Belles will present their annual Christmas Concert on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 7:00 p.m. at Catholic High School’s Auditorium.

Cross Country Belles run season’s final race

The Cross Country team finished their season on Saturday, November 9, at the 6A State Championship Meet at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs. Eight Belles participated in final 5000 meter run of the year.

“We had five new runners on the team this year, so the girls learned a lot about themselves and how far they could push,” Coach Rachel McLemore said of the young team’s progress over the course of the two-month-long season. “Everyone was able to set personal goals, and they worked really hard to meet them. We saw almost everyone on the team hit a PR on several occasions this year.”

According to Coach McLemore, Fran Edwards ’21 entered the season with the goal of making All-Conference. Fran ended up finishing sixth overall out of more than 100 runners at the 6A Central Conference Cross Country Meet in Fort Smith on October 26. Her 23:22.28 time earned her All-Conference honors.

“She came to every practice to work hard and really led by example,” Coach McLemore said.

Congrats on a great season, Cross Country Belles and Coach McLemore!

Season marked with success for Volley Belles, first year coaches

After three months of hard work and dedication, and competing in more than 20 games, the Volley Belles ended their season with a tough three-set loss to Fayetteville at the 6A State Tournament in Cabot on October 29. The team finished sixth in the 6A Central Conference with an overall record of 14-11-1. They were 6-8 in conference play.

This was the first year for Head Coach Jorge Martinez and Freshman Head Coach and Varsity Assistant Jessica Crow. Despite the season ending sooner than they’d hoped, the Volley Belles had a lot to celebrate.

“We made the Gold Bracket at every tournament we competed in, including Spikefest, the Lady Cat Tournament in Conway and the Fort Smith Invitational,” Coach Martinez said. “We also had signature wins over North Little Rock and Bentonville West this year.”

Individually, several players were recognized for their play. Millie Allgood ’22, Lauren Marendt ’20 and Maddie Walters ’20 were awarded All-Conference honors. Millie was also named an All-Star at the State Tournament. Additionally, Coach Martinez was selected to serve as the conference’s All-Star Coach next summer.

“Coach Crow and I both feel like solid groundwork for future success was laid this season,” Coach Martinez said. “We can’t wait for next season to begin.”

Congrats to the Volley Belles and their coaches for an exciting season!