2012 - 2013 Awards & Highlights

Congratulations to the following seniors who were selected as Valedictorian and Salutatorian Finalists:  Margaret Blake Kathleen Coerdt - Valedictorian Gabriella D'Agostini Megan George Jaclyn Godwin Christina Hadley - Salutatorian Erin Hand Jamie Jeffries Jessica LaRouere Qingya Liu Monica Mackie Candice McKay Sarah Montone Natalie Perkins Alexis Schultz Emily Schumer Maria Walawender Mary Kate Winn Student Council - The students have spoken, the ballots have been counted, and the 'vote for me' posters pulled down. Time to congratulate the new Student Council Officers for the 2013 - 14 school year - President: Bridget Carlson; Vice President: Sarah Hoffman; Secretary: Allie Gorcyca; Treasurer: Lauren Jackson. Fab FORENSICS - The Forensics Team competed in the National Qualifier at St. Mary's Prep Sat., March 23 and the following girls will advance to nationals over Memorial Day weekend. These girls will compete with over 3,000 students from 63 dioceses across the country in Philadelphia in the two-day Grand National Tournament of the National Catholic Forensic League: Oral Interpretation: 3rd Place: Alicia Finnorn 2nd Place: Sarah Kmiecik Dramatic Duo: 3rd Place: Dani Abboud and Piper Matlock 1st Place: Jaclyn Godwin and Maggie Malaney   Dramatic Performance: 3rd Place: Abrail Neely 2nd Place: Amelia Dahmer 1st Place: Amelia Fanelli Oratorical Declamation: 3rd Place: Mackenzie Zierau 2nd Place: Phoenix Dempster 1st Place: Kaela Brown Original Oratory: 3rd Place: Allie Atsalis 2nd Place: Katie Baird 1st Place: Gabriella D'Agostini Extemporaneous Speaking: 3rd Place: Kelsey Ellis 1st Place: Lana Grasser         Just Peace - Just Peace Club member Alise Wenner '14 and club moderator Ann Lusch were participants in the opening and closing prayer services at the annual Pax Christi Michigan state conference held April 20 at Mercy Center. Pax Christi is an organization that works for peace locally, nationally and globally. JCL - On Saturday, April 13, Mercy Latin students participated in the Michigan Junior Classical League State Convention, held at East Grand Rapids High School. We would like to congratulate and celebrate the following students who excelled in the JCL state academic competitions. GRATUAMUR VOBIS! You all continue to make Mercy proud! Monica Johnson ’13: 1st Place in Latin I Derivatives Jessica Ko ’15: 2nd Place in Latin I Oratory Alise Wenner ’14: 1st Place in Latin III Dramatic Oratory; 3rd Place in Latin III Derivatives Maria Walawender ’13: 1st Place in Latin IV Grammar   Isabelle Larson ’13: 3rd Place in Latin IV Grammar; 3rd Place in Latin IV Derivatives Sophie Lemisch ’13: 1st Place in Latin IV Oratory; 2nd Place in Latin IV Mythology; 2nd Place in Latin IV Vocabulary; 2nd Place in Latin IV Derivatives; 3rd Place in Latin IV Roman Culture & History Stephanie Luther ’13: 2nd Place in Latin IV Oratory; 2nd Place in Latin IV Derivatives; 2nd Place in Latin IV Grammar; 2nd Place in Latin IV Roman Culture & History; 3rd Place in Latin IV Vocabulary STATE SOLO and ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL - Mercy orchestra students received a 1 rating at the State Solo and Ensemble Festival on March 23rd. Lucy Devine received a 1 on her flute solo. Cristina Petrella and Lauren Abrahamson received a 1 on their violin duet. Kaela Gordon received a 1 on her violin solo. LEADERSHIP and SERVICE - Students from 8 different parishes were nominated by their own parish to be honored for Leadership and Service to the parish by the South Oakland Vicariate of the Archdiocese of Detroit on April 14. Six Mercy students received this honor. Meghan Fortney, St. Regis Meghan Meyers, Our Lady of Sorrows Courtney Richards, Our Lady of Sorrows Maggie Malaney, Our Lady of Sorrows Haley Fox, St. Fabian Mikayla Benton, St. Fabian There was a reception in their honor and at the Award Ceremony each student was individually introduced and honored for her accomplishments. Meghan Meyers was awarded a special Award of Excellence. Michigan Youth Arts Festival Poetry - The poetry work of four students has been recognized by the Michigan Youth Arts Festival. Erin Hand for her poem, "Books" Sydney Hembree for her poem, "At the Immigration Office" Alexis Schultz for her poem, "Cyganie" (Sig -gawn-nyeh) and Monica Mackie for her poem, "A Fall Day". All these girls will be invited to the MICHIGAN YOUTH ARTS FESTIVAL to be held in Kalamazoo in May. National Honor Society CLICK HERE to see the newly inducted members of the National Honor Society! Irish Court Queen Allison Shaw '13 is the Queen of the Court of St. Brigid. She won the scholarship pageant in February and appeared in the St. Patrick's Day Parade to represent the Irish during the March festivities. She won a $1,200 scholarship, which she will use towards her college education. She received her crown from last year's queen, another Mercy grad Megan Haapala '09.    Science Olympiad Mercy's Science Olympiad Teams competed in the Oakland County Regional Tournament at Oakland University on Saturday, March 16, 2013. The competition has 23 events students have prepared for since October. The Competitive team finished 11th out of 18 teams and earned a fourth place medal in Materials Science. The Alternate team finished 6th out of 10 teams and earned a 2nd place ribbon in Boomilever, 4th place ribbons in Astronomy and Forensics and 6th place ribbons in Circuit Lab, Elastic Launch Glider, Forestry and Thermodynamics. Competitive team members were: Gabrielle Barthel, Rachel Belans, Emily Crowley, Phoenix Dempster, Lana Grasser, Claire Lachner, Liz Lekarczyk, Qingya Liu, Sarah Schrimscher, Sydney Shuk, Rose Walsh, Alise Wenner, Adrienne Williams, Megan Yatooma, and Mackenzie Zierau. Alternate team members were: Chelsea Allen, Blair Cha, Jenna Chami, Emily Dulzo, Kelly  Eusebi, Catherine Grabowski, Kelly Jahnke, Jessica Ko, Casey Lewry, Hannah Madill, Maureen McGough, Abigail Patenaude, Caitlyn Patenaude, Analise Sala, Kay Shin, Monica Shuk, and Catherine Vaitas. Teams were co ached by Colleen McMaster Rozman and Lisa Schrimscher.

Mock Trial Team Wins Honorable Mention The Mercy Mock Trial Team took their case and objections to the Oakland County Circuit Court to compete in the State Bar Michigan’s Mock Trial Regional Competition on March 9, 2013. Their voices were heard as evidenced by the Honorable Mention trophy they brought home in their first year of competition. Mock Trial simulates a real trial where student participants play the roles of attorneys and witnesses. Team members present their side of a hypothetical case, while competing directly against another school taking the opposite position. Twenty-eight teams competed. Mercy was one of only eight recognized for their exceptional performance.  Jackie Ciaramitaro ’13 (not pictured) Kathryn Dunleavy  ’16 Jessalyn Geer  ’14 Haley Gold ’14 Nadia Hakim ’16 Gia Toler ’15 Alycia Washington ’15 Madeline Winn ’14 Mary Kate Winn ’13

Science Fair Grand Award Mackenzie Zierau '15 was one of six students to receive a Grand Award at the Science and Engineering Fair of Metropolitan Detroit (SEFMD) held March 13, 2013 at Cobo Center in Detroit. Over 1,500 students from schools in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties competed at the SEFMD. Mackenzie's project, "The Effect of GM-CSF on Classical and Alternative Activation of Macrophages" was entered in the Medicine and Health category. As one of the Grand Award winners, Mackenzie has received an all-expense paid trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) which will be held in May in Phoenix, Arizona.  She is also eligible for scholarship opportunities from several local universities. Mackenzie's teacher sponsor at Mercy is Ms. Kathy Kitzmann, chemistry teacher and c hair of the science department. Mackenzie has had a life-long interest in science and last summer submitted a request to do research in the pathology lab of Dr. Steven Kunkel at the University of Michigan. Mackenzie spent the beginning of the summer learning various lab techniques and doing background reading before she developed the idea for her project. She plans to continue her research this coming summer.

Sparty Material - By Christina Hadley, newsprintnow.net

For the first time in three years, Newsprint won the Spartan (the highest) Award from the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association (MIPA), and Lore Yearbook, which was moved from the 4th division to the 2nd division this year, earned a silver. Newsprintnow.net won the gold award. Students on both the Lore and Newsprint staff attended the MIPA awards ceremony on April 15, and were thrilled to take home many individual awards as well; including three 1st place awards, seven 2nd place awards, six 3rd place awards, and 25 honorable mentions for a total of 41 individual awards for writing, photography and design.

The Spartan Award, affectionately known as the Sparty, is the highest award that a school newspaper, yearbook, or website can receive in the state of Michigan. Publications submitted to MIPA for judging will receive either bronze, silver, gold, or a Sparty, depending on their quality. Newsprint staffers were excited that their recent change from broadsheet newspaper to tabloid paid off. Lore’s change to being judged in the division 4 category also proved successful.

“This year, the Lore was judged as a division 2 book, which was a big change compared to division 4 where we used to be,” said Laura Hatty, editor in chief of the Lore. “This meant tougher competition. When I heard about our division change, I was even more proud of the awards we received.”

MIPA also judges individual contests in many different categories from news story to illustration. Members of the Newsprint staff won, in total, 3 first place awards, 5 seconds, 4 thirds, and 19 honorable mentions. The 2012 Lore (last year’s yearbook) received one 1st place award, one 2nd place award, four 3rd place awards and five honorable mentions.

Newsprintnow.net also won several awards in the New Media competition. Newsprint was proud to accept one 2nd place and six honorable mentions in the following categories: follow-up news coverage, breaking news, enhanced story package, and photo slideshow.

Both Lore and Newsprint celebrated another successful year at the MIPA awards, and look forward to keep up their standards of excellence in the coming years. “It was a fantastic experience for the four of us who attended as well as our adviser, Mrs. Smith,” said Hatty. “Seeing Mercy Newsprint bring home the Spartan award was an experience we were so proud to witness. We are proud of our publication ‘sisters!’“

A complete list of MIPA winners can be found at the following link: http://mipamsu.org/2013-contest-results/.

MORE about LORE

The Lore staff was recently recognized with Herff Jones' Early Bird Award for submitting its yearbook pages early. This means that Mercy is mere weeks away from receiving the 2013 edition of Lore. Books will be distributed in mid-May. Any additional books will be sold for $75 on a cash only basis.

The Lore staff was also recognized for its work on the 2012 Lore "The One and Only" at the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association's Spring Conference on April 15th. This year Mercy was placed in a division with some of the largest schools in the state, so we were extremely proud of the awards we received. Taking home awards were:

Alternative Coverage: 3rd Place - Michaela Mazur (2012 graduate)
Graphics: 2nd Place - Olivia Cholewa (2012 graduate)
Portrait/Personality Photo: 3rd Place - Clarissa LeVasseur (2012 graduate)
Photo Illustration: 1st Place - Laura Hatty, 3rd Place - Erica Canavan
Academic Photo: Honorable Mention - Lilliana Haddad
Club/Performance Photo: 3rd Place - Mary Fredendall, Honorable Mention - Laura Hatty
Theme Development: Honorable Mention - Staff
Feature Presentation: Honorable Mention - Olivia Cholewa (2012 graduate)
Index: Honorable Mention - Staff

Scholastic Art Awards

Jennifer Kenner '13	Emily Schumer '13	Jordan Sutton '13

Congratulations to the 13 students from Mercy’s Art Department who won 18 awards in this year’s Regional Scholastic Art Awards competition. Special congratulations to Jennifer Kenner '13 and Jordan Sutton '13 for winning gold keys in the individual digital art and photography contests. Their pieces will also compete in New York for national awards.

The College for Creative Studies sponsors the Southeastern Michigan Art Region, which, this year, received over 5,100 works of art and 324 portfolios from students in Wayne and Oakland Counties. The works were adjudicated and selected for Honorable Mentions, 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. All Gold Key work will be judged at the national level in March.

Winning entries will be on display in the exhibit at the College for Creative Studies through Friday, March 8, 2013, in the Walter B Ford II Building, 9:00 – 5:00 Monday – Friday, noon – 5:00 Saturday and Sunday.

Student Successes . . . APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE!

CONGRATULATIONS stellar scholars! Christina Hadley '13 and Stephanie Luther '13 were named FINALISTS in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Competition.

The Mercyaires received an "Excellent" rating at the MSVMA District Solo / Ensemble competition and are advancing to the State competition on April 12. Soloists Jacqueline Welday '15 received an Excellent Rating and Jaclyn Godwin '13 a Superior Rating. The Mercyaires are: Ashley McGovern; Maggie Malaney; Julianne Wiliams; Amy Jeneroux; Charlotte Froehlich; Bridget Barrett; Hannah Gates; Elena Flores; Megan Makarewicz; Gina Mazziotti; Darby Horne; Lia Korzenewski; Paige Spender.

Orchestra received the following awards at the Solo and Ensemble Festival held at Hartland High School earlier this month. Lucy Devine, Flute Solo, Division I rating; Cristina Petrella and Lauren Abrahamson, Violin Duet, Division I rating; Shelbi Hines and Sabrina Yancey, Flute duet, Division I rating; Kaela Gordon, Violin Solo, Division I rating; Cristina Petrella, Violin Solo, Division 2 rating; Jeneva Wheeler and Threada Young, Violin duet, Division 2 rating; Nia Boone and Alia Fuqua, Cello Duet, Division 2 rating.

Powerful Poets! The following juniors and seniors had their poetry selected for publication in the 2013 edition of the Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans: Mary Kate Winn; Anjali Alangaden; Bianca Appriliano; Mary Atty; Claire Bouret; Kelsey Fischer; Alicia Finnorn; Lana Grasser; Erin Eusebi; Alexis Schultz; Jessica LaRouere; Shannon Brambs; Monica Mackie.

Way to give, Mercy! Focus: HOPE sent notification that out of 1,000 boxes given to needy families over the holidays, Mercy contributed 350 of them and we were 2nd amongst contributors, just under Ford Motor Company. Focus: HOPE was very appreciative an