Monthly Archives: January 2020

2020 MSM Basketball Homecoming Court Announced

For the Mount St. Mary community, this year’s Catholic Schools Week included a fun-filled homecoming pep rally on Friday, January 31. The celebration featured performances from the MSM cheerleading squads and the Rockettes, an entertaining skit by the seniors, recognition of the Belles basketball, bowling and swimming teams, and an exciting lip sync battle between the freshmen and junior Student Council members. The pep rally concluded with the announcement of this year’s Basketball Homecoming Court.

Front row (L to R): Catherine Althoff ’20, Kaitlin Tarini ’20, and Yaritza Hernandez ’20

Back row (L to R): Blayke Schneider ’21, Sarah Cate Lay ’21, Emma Obert ’20, Sophie Mammarelli ’20, and Lauren Evita ’20

The theme for the upcoming Basketball Homecoming Spirit Week, which will be held February 18-21, was also revealed: Mount Olympics, Go for Gold! The basketball homecoming game is set for Tuesday, February 18, in the McAuley Center. Come cheer on the Belles as they take on the Charging Wildcats of North Little Rock. The Homecoming Court will be presented, and this year’s Homecoming Queen will be announced, during a brief ceremony at 5:30 p.m. before the game.

Congratulations to our 2020 Mount St. Mary Basketball Homecoming Court, and best of luck to our winter sports teams as they finish out their seasons over the coming weeks. Go Belles!

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.

Mount students spend a week in nation’s capital

A group of eight Mount St. Mary students spent the week of January 19-25 in Washington, D.C., experiencing the institutions and iconic sites that embody our nation’s past and present through the Close Up experiential learning program.

Highlights of the group’s week-long adventure in the nation’s capital included visiting the U.S. Capitol, Supreme Court Building, Library of Congress, FBI Headquarters, International Spy Museum, Arlington National Cemetery and Holocaust Memorial Museum. In addition to touring landmark buildings and famous monuments and memorials, the students were able to participate in debates and a Mock Congress, discuss current issues with participating students from other states, witness public demonstrations firsthand, and visit their Congressmen’s offices. The timing of this year’s trip also provided the unique opportunity to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on MLK Day.

“I enjoyed meeting new people from all around the country through Close Up, and I learned so much while visiting all of the museums, monuments and memorials that make Washington, D.C., as important as it is,” senior Vivian Marrero said. “It has definitely changed my outlook on politics and civic engagement forever.”

This year the group also enjoyed the special privilege of visiting with several Mount St. Mary alumnae currently residing in the D.C. area. Liz Beadle ’09, a director at The Glover Park Group, helped organize the meeting at the strategic communications and government relations firm’s Washington office. The time together gave students the opportunity to hear about different professions in the nation’s capital and learn about what it’s like living there.

“I really liked meeting some of the alumnae who live and work in Washington, D.C., or the surrounding area,” sophomore Josie Landrum said. “It was cool to hear how each alumna got to D.C., and it showed me that living there might be something I’d be interested in one day.”

This is the 11th year Mount St. Mary Academy has participated in Close Up. Using the nation’s capital as a “living classroom,” the experience-based program seeks to inform, inspire and empower young people to become actively engaged citizens. Since 1971, it has served more than 900,000 students and teachers from schools around the country through its civic education programs and classroom resources.

Senior Golf Belle signs with Division II Reddies

A group of family, teammates, friends and coaches joined together in the McAuley Center on Thursday, Jan. 23, to celebrate a member of the Golf Belles for committing to play at the collegiate level. Senior Lauren Loeb signed her letter of intent with Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, becoming this year’s first student-athlete from the Mount St. Mary Class of 2020 with plans to continue playing her sport in college next fall.

Lauren began playing golf with a set of plastic clubs in her backyard when she was just four years old. By age seven, she was playing competitively in tournaments. “I have played in so many tournaments since then, I’ve lost count,” she said. “I love this sport and would not trade it for anything.”

The second place finisher in the 2019 6A State Golf Tournament, Lauren has enjoyed a successful career as a Belle. She earned All-Conference and All-State honors all four years of high school in addition to being named to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s All Arkansas Preps girls golf team for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. Lauren’s performance at this year’s state tournament also qualified her for the Arkansas State Golf Association’s High School Overall Championship on October 17, where she shot a 79 and finished third among the best high school golfers in the state.

“The past four years at Mount have been absolutely amazing,” Lauren said. “Team bonding is a very important quality to have on any team, no matter the sport. I have had so much fun being a part of the Golf Belles, and I have made friends with girls I will never forget.”

Lauren also credits her time at Mount with preparing her for college. “MSM has taught me how to balance my academics with my sport and, thus, be successful in both,” she said. “It has also given me the opportunity to enhance my work ethic and responsibilities on and off the course.”

According to Lauren, several factors went into her college decision process. “It has been a dream of mine since I was little to play college golf,” she said. “I wanted to go to a college that offered a great education, was relatively close to home, offered the majors I was interested in and had an excellent golf program.” Lauren, who is interested in majoring in marketing or hospitality/event planning, said Henderson State filled all these needs.

“I am blessed to have the opportunity to play college golf at Henderson State,” Lauren said. “I am very excited about my future team and what can be accomplished on and off the course there.”

Lauren’s older sister, Taylor Loeb ’16, is currently completing her final season on the Reddies women’s golf team at Henderson State. This 2017 article in Arkansas Catholic details the sisters’ background and success in the sport.

MSM senior earns perfect ACT score

For the second year in a row, Mount St. Mary Academy’s graduating class will include at least one student with a perfect ACT score. Isabella “Bella” Boyd, a senior at Mount St. Mary Academy, earned the highest possible composite score of 36 after taking the curriculum-based achievement exam in September.

Bella discovered the feat upon waking up unexpectedly during the evening the scores were scheduled to be released. “I had woken up in the middle of the night and decided I would check the scores while I was awake,” she said. “I was very tired, but obviously thrilled.”

This was the second time Bella had taken the ACT test. She earned a 34 on her first attempt and, though happy with the result, decided to take the test again to see if she could improve her score. “Thank goodness I did,” she said.

According to a press release from ACT, fewer than half of one percent of students who take the ACT earn a top score. In the U.S. graduating class of 2019, only 4,879 out of nearly 1.8 million students who took the ACT scored a 36. Two students from last year’s graduating class at Mount St. Mary Academy, Anna Kate Manchester and Audrey Cummins, were part of that small group.

The ACT consists of tests in English, mathematics, reading and science, each scored on a scale of 1-36. A student’s composite score is the average of the four test scores.

In a letter recognizing this exceptional achievement, ACT CEO Marten Roorda said, “Your achievement on the ACT is significant and rare. Your exceptional scores will provide any college or university with ample evidence of your readiness for the academic rigors that lie ahead.”

Bella, who was also named a National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalist in September, plans to study mechanical or material engineering in college. She has already applied to several schools including Boston University, Duke University, Lehigh University and Washington University in St. Louis.

Her advice for students still planning to take the ACT is to prepare and trust your gut. “Take a few practice tests beforehand and use process of elimination when picking your answers,” Bella said. “Also, your first guess is usually correct, so don’t second-guess yourself.”

Click here to view the story THV11 aired on January 15 that featured Bella and her accomplishment.

Two MSM students win in inaugural art competition

Two Mount St. Mary students were recently chosen as winning artists in the inaugural Historic Cane Hill Art Competition and Exhibition. Senior Audrey Caruthers’s pen and ink piece, The Natural State, won the second-place Juror’s Prize and a $1,000 cash award. Junior Caroline Gunderman received one of two $75 Awards of Excellence for her pencil drawing, Wisdom. The winning artists were announced during an awards ceremony in Fayetteville on Saturday, December 14.

Of the 52 pieces of artwork accepted into the competition from high school students across the state, 10 were pieces created by students at Mount St. Mary Academy. In addition to Audrey and Caroline, seniors Ireland McNally, Merritt Sage and Maria Thomas also had artwork selected for the competition and resulting exhibition. The exhibition features work from 30 Arkansas high school students and is scheduled to run through January 18 in The Museum Gallery at Historic Cane Hill near Fayetteville.

The students’ success in this new competition failed to surprise their art teachers at Mount. “We have such an incredibly talented group of students, and I am always so impressed by their ability and concepts,” Marianne Nolley, MSM art teacher, said. “I am very proud of Audrey and Caroline, especially, and look forward to seeing all of the ways in which they will continue to use their talent and thoughtfulness.”

MSM art teacher Jenny Holder agreed, calling Audrey an “artistic powerhouse that produces thoughtful, dynamic work that is way above the norm for this level.” She also described Caroline as “extremely talented,” explaining that she was able to skip from Studio Art I to Honors Studio Art III and is now one of the top in that class, skill-wise.

Historic Cane Hill, Inc., a non-profit organization based in the art-friendly community of Cane Hill in Northwest Arkansas, hosted the event as a way to celebrate the talents of the state’s young artists. Arkansas students in grades 10th-12th were invited to enter the competition, which awards a one-year, full-tuition scholarship to the University of Arkansas School of Art as well as six additional cash prizes totaling $2,000. Jurors included representatives from Historic Cane Hill, the University of Arkansas School of Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville and the Community Creative Center in Fayetteville.