2011 - 2012 Awards & Highlights

Valedictorian and Salutatorian Finalists

CONGRATULATIONS to these stellar seniors who were finalists for the ultimate recognition of Valedictorian and Salutatorian: Emily Rabahy; Kelly Redmond; Cortney McKay; Olivia Cholewa; Christin Samona; Katherine Koehler; Jaclyn Wilke; Elaina Weber; Monica Shammas; Mary Sheena; Lilliana Haddad; Mary Haapala.

This distinction considers not only academic record but also leadership, service, and extracurricular involvement. Staff and the senior class provided valuable input and each candidate responded to a series of questions and was interviewed by members of Administration. The top honors go to Valedictorian Kelly Redmond and Salutatorians Lilliana Haddad and Elaina Weber who will take the stage to speak at graduation. The Mercy Administrative Team will be holding a Catherine McAuley Tea celebration in honor of all the finalists on May 3.

Sweet student poetry! Congratulations to the following students whose poems have merited the following recognitions.

Michigan Youth Arts Festival Distinguished Scholar of the Arts Allie Atsalis Christin Samona Grace Drabicki Lindsey Tartaglia Lilliana Haddad

Charles Crupi Memorial Poetry Contest Sponsored by Albion College Allie Atsalis Kellie Brue Celeste Haddad

Live Poets Society of New Jersey Publication Selection Poems of Faith and Inspiration Kellie Brue

 

Rainbow Recognition Awards - What an honor! The Farmington Multicultural Multiracial Community Council Rainbow Recognition Award Honorees are: Mrs. Judi Griggs-Dennis; Taylor Barrow; Colette Berg; Kendall Dixon; Taylor Gordon; Elizabeth Jenkins; Cortney McKay; Mimi Norwood.

Erin Pienta '12, editor-in-chief of Newsprint, was recognized in the Oakland County Schools Excellent in Education Awards. She is one of 20+ seniors from area high schools to be honored and was featured in the Oakland Press.

Madison Denomme was featured in the April edition of Mash magazine and spoke out against bullying.

Marisa Jonna '13 competed in the National Federation of Music Clubs competition last month and received the highest rating of "Superior" for her performances in the Piano Solo event.

Rachel Mack, Julianne Williams, and Genevieve Chiara of Mercy’s Art Department won awards at the annual Farmington Area Arts Commission Student Art Competition. Rachel won second place ($75) in the two-dimensional category for her color pencil drawing titled, “Ski Mask.” Julianne won second place ($75) in the photography category for her photo titled, “Teal Tie.” Genevieve won an Honorable Mention ($25) for her pencil self-portrait drawing titled, “Genevieve.” The winning art was displayed at the Festival of the Arts at the Costick Center from April 19 - April 21 and will also be displayed at Miller’s Art Supply through May 25.

Well done! Congratulations to the members of the Forensics Team who earned top medals and will advance to the Grand National Tournament over Memorial Weekend in Baltimore, Maryland:

Oral Interpretation Annie Griffin Dani Abboud	Oratorical Declamation Lindsay HiserBridget CarlsonAmelia Fanelli	Dramatic Duo Shanyn Rapson and Sarah Kmiecik Gina D'Agostini and Gina CozzolinoAlicia Finnorn and Eileen Pawlik
Original Oratory Kelly RedmondEllen LezotteJessica Montgomery	Dramatic Performance Haley FoxMaggie Malaney Jaclyn Godwin

Heart of Mercy

If the love of God really reigns in your heart, it will quickly show itself in the exterior. ~ Catherine McAuley

Mercy High School has bestowed the prestigious Heart of Mercy Award for the past 18 years on a student and staff member who devotedly live out the Mercy values of Human Dignity, Service, Justice, Mercy, and Option for the Poor. Congratulations and thank you to the 2012 awardees Mrs. Trish Brown (Counselor), Ms. Jonell Linskey (Dean of Student Affairs), and Meredith Clark '12. You are an inspiration to everyone, every day at Mercy!

More college committments! Elana Lamping committed to play volleyball at LaSalle University. Carlee Jackson committed to swim at Florida Atlantic University. Ally Shrader committed to play Lacrosse at University of Detroit Mercy. Go Marlins!

March for Life

A group of Mercy girls, along with students, parents and teachers from other schools in the surrounding area, took an overnight bus ride to Washington D.C. to attend the 39th "March for Life" at the end of January. They first stopped at the Archdiocese of Washington "Rally For Life" and then participated in the biggest "March for Life" ever. Before heading back to the bus for the overnight ride home, they met with Congressman Thaddeus McCotter. The "March for Life" is the largest and longest annual gathering in the history of the United States. About 400,000 (and growing) gather annually in Washington, D.C. in support of life and against abortion. The March for Life began in 1974, on the first anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. In addition, over 100,000 gather around the nation in various cities. Thank you for living out the Mercy value of Human Dignity.

State Solo and Ensemble - The following vocal students received Superior Rating ratings at MSVMA Solo & Ensemble in January and will be advancing to STATE Solo and Ensemble: Marissa Maino '15; Gina Mazziotti '15; Maggie Malaney '13; and Veronica Battersby '12. The MERCYAIRES received a rating of Excellent and will also be advancing to STATE Solo and Ensemble in the large ensemble category. Instrumental students, Cristina Petrella '13 (violin) and Theresa Walle '15 (cello) received a top rating at MSBOA District Solo and Ensemble and will be advancing to STATES. Good luck Mercy Musicians!

Finalists in the 2012 Competition for National Merit Scholarships

Colette Berg

Elizabeth Eagle

Elaina Weber

Finalists in the 2012 National Achievement Scholarship Program

Kellie Brue

DTE Solar Panel Roof at Mercy

Mercy High School is the first private high school to participate in SolarCurrents and houses the largest roof mounted facility in the state of Michigan. The 400-kilowatt, $2.5 million photovoltaic system installed uses 125,000 square feet of roof on the high school. The solar array will be owned, installed, operated and maintained by DTE Energy. Read more here.

ART ACCOLADES

Scholastic Art Awards

Celeste Gonzalez	Caroline Patterson	Halie Zulch

Congratulations to the 11 students from Mercy’s Art Department who won 13 awards in this year’s Regional Scholastic Art Awards competition. Special congratulations to Celeste Gonzalez and Halie Zulch. Their photography portfolios made finalist status and will compete in New York City for talent scholarships. Also, special recognition to Celeste Gonzalez and Caroline Patterson for winning gold keys in the individual photo contest. Their pieces will also compete in New York for national awards. CLICK HERE to see more photos of award-winning artwork.

The College for Creative Studies sponsors the Southeastern Michigan Art Region, which receives over 4,000 works of art and almost 300 portfolios from students in Wayne and Oakland Counties. The works are adjudicated and selected for Certificates, Silver Keys and Gold Key Awards, American Vision Nominations and Best of Show Portfolios. The exhibit and ceremony are held annually at the College for Creative Studies. Gold Key work is forwarded digitally to the Alliance for national judging. Winning entries will be on display in the exhibit at the College for Creative Studies, which will opened February 11th. The exhibit will continue through Friday, March 2, 2012, in the Walter B Ford II Building, 9:00 – 5:00 Monday – Friday, noon – 5:00 Saturday and Sunday.

Heather Smith '12 was announced as a Finalist for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar Athlete Award for the 2011 - 2012 school year.

Way to study!CLICK HERE to view all the super students who madehonor roll for first semester fall 2011.

Jenna Lerg '15 was named to PrepVolleyball.com's Frosh 59 list representing the Top 59 Freshmen varsity volleyball achievements and players in the U.S.

Big cheers to theMercy High Girls Basketball team on their selection as one of Michigan's Top 100 Boys/Girls Basketball Sportsmanship Award winners! This prestigious award is earned by high school basketball teams that have exhibited extraordinary sportsmanship conduct during the award year. The award is determined by a Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan panel of judges.

FantasticFORENSICS - The Forensics team is taking all the top places at their tournaments. CLICK HERE to check out some of the winners.

POET MASTERS

Congratulations to seniorsMONICA SHAMMAS andSHANNON LEMMER who were just named winners in this year's poetry writing contest sponsored by the LIVE POETS SOCIETY OF NEW JERSEY. Both students will have their work published in that group's annual anthology.

Teacher Feature

Lynn Waldsmith who teaches English, Journalism, and is the NEWSPRINT student paper Adviser was featured in the quarterly publication entitled STET that is produced by the Michigan Inter Scholastic Press Association. It is a wonderful Q and A that details Lynn's background, her expertise, and the wonderful work she does with Mercy ournalism students. CLICK HERE to read.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Way to go Mercy Swim and Dive CoachShannon Dunworth. He received two very notable recognitions:MISCA Division I Swim Coach of the Year and2011 NFHS Coaches Association National Coach of the Year!!

Maddy Doyle Gatorade Player of the Year

The awards just keep coming for volleyball standout Maddy Doyle '12. In its 27th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPNHS, announcedMaddy as its 2011-12 Gatorade Michigan Volleyball Player of the Year. The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes her as Michigan's best high school volleyball player. She is also now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award announced later in December. The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by ESPNHS and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport. As part of Maddy's honor, The Gatorade Company will send a trophy and banner within the next few weeks to Mercy High School to be formally presented to Maddy. Congratulations to Maddy, all the coaches and the entire vollebyall team! Mercy is so proud of you!

SWIMMING & DIVING MHSAA DIVISION 1 STATE CHAMPIONS!

WOW, THEY DID IT AGAIN! FIVE State Championships in a row for the outstanding Mercy Swimming and Diving Team. Go Mercy!

STUDENT SUCCESSES . . . APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE!

Congratulations to Katelyn Kulesa and Audrey Cords who won two of the three monetary prizes offered in theRichard Benvenuto Poetry Competition sponsored by Center for Poetry at Michigan State University. These girls were honored at a reception in Lansing and given their awards by the contest's judge, Michigan poet, Jack Ridl.

Freshwomen Gina Mazziotti, Anna Julien, and Elon Pendleton were invited to be part of theMichigan School Vocal Music Association's STATE Middle School Honor Choir and will join other singers from the state of Michigan for a performance at the Michigan Music Educator's Conference in Grand Rapids in January.

The newly elected officers for the Class of 2015are: President Taylor Babcock; Vice President Julia Swoish; Secretary Abby Rosler; Treasurer Julia McAree; Class Rep Anna Kiafoulis.

SO MANY SIGNINGS!

There are a number of athletes who are in the process of signing or have recently signed National Letters of Intent to play a sport in college. Congrats to these MERCY MARLINS:

Meghan Cleary - VOLLEYBALL at Northwood University

Maddy Doyle - VOLLEYBALL at George Washington University, DC

Kayce Nieto - SOFTBALL at University of Utah

Emily Orrico - DIVING at the University of Michigan

Semifinalists in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Competition

Seniors Colette Berg, Elizabeth Eagle, and Elaina Weber were named Semifinalists in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Competition. These academically talented seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition to earn a Merit Scholar title. About 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of US high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. To become a Finalist, a Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test. National Merit Scholarship winners of 2012 will be announced beginning in April. Good luck, girls!

Commended Students in the 2012 National Merit Program

Senior Ellen Lezotte was named a Commended Student in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program. Commended Students are recognized for the expetional academic promise demonstrated by their outstanding performance on the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) and place among the top five percent.

Semifinalists in the 2012 National Achievement Scholarship Program

SeniorsKellie Brue and Imani Gunn were named Semifinalists in the 2012 National Achievement Scholarship program, an academic competition for Black American high school students. Some 160,000 high school juniors who took the PSAT/National Merit Test last year requested consideration in this achivement program and of that number only 10% were selected.They may continue to compete for Finalist status and the possibliity of earning an achievement scholarship.

Outstanding Participants in the 2012 National Achievement Scholarship Program

Cherima Chungag and Mimi Norwood were named Outstanding Participants in the 2012 National Achivement Scholarship Program, an academic competition for Black American high school students who took the PSAT/National Merit Test as juniors last year. These girls scored in the top 3% of more than 160,000 students. Their names are sent to 1,500 colleges and universities across teh country in recognition of their academic success.

AP SCHOLARS-2011

129 students took 165 AP exams in May 2011. Highlights: English Lit & Comp: 88% scored 3 or better; U.S. Gov't & Politics: 91% scored 3 or better; U.S. History: 50% scored 4 or better; Macroeconomics 100% scored a 4. We salute these girls who have earned the honorary distinction of AP SCHOLAR in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the AP Exams.