HONORS CONVOCATION 2021
We are proud to present the Honors Convocation Slideshows for the Senior Graduates Class of 2021 and Freshwomen, Sophomores and Juniors. We honor, recognize and congratulate our outstanding Mercy students for an extraordinary 2020-21 school year!
NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY
Click here to view 2021 NHS Induction members. We commend these students from the Class of 2022 for their accomplishments and welcome them into the National Honor Society!
2021 VALEDICTORIAN & SALUTATORIAN FINALISTS
We are proud to announce the Class of 2021 Valedictorian, Salutatorians and Finalists. This distinction considers not only academic record but also leadership, service and extracurricular involvement. All finalists completed an application, interviewed with the Administrative Team and received input from classmates and staff. The committee was so impressed with this esteemed group of candidates. As pioneers in schooling during COVID-19, this group inspired and lifted our spirits with their academic excellence, unique ideas, and ambitious goals.
Valedictorian
Gabrielle Pough
Salutatorians
Marium Asghar, Raquel Segars & Sophia Tesic
Finalists
Grace Combs, Clare Delaney, Emma Dismondy, Maya Goudeseune, Cassandra Gursin, Aisling Heaphy, Madeline Kenney, Kathryn Kim, Shivani Kumar, Isabella Morganti, Gabriella Mosey, Catherine Nelson, Grace Nieto, Mary Shah, Mackenzie Sullivan, Cotter Welch and Alexa Zydeck
MERCY HIGH SCHOOL EARNS COLLEGE BOARD AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE FEMALE DIVERSITY AWARD
Mercy High School Farmington Hills, MI has earned the College Board AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving high female representation in AP Computer Science Principles. Schools honored with the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award have expanded girls’ access in AP Computer Science courses.
Out of the 20,000 institutions that offer AP courses, 1,119 achieved either 50% or higher female representation in one of the two AP computer science courses or a percentage of the female computer science examinees meeting or exceeding that of the school’s female population during the 2019-2020 school year. That’s nearly 37% more than the 818 schools recognized last year. In 2020, [School Name] was one of 831 recognized in the category of AP Computer Science Principles.
2021 TEACHER OF THE YEAR MR. CHRIS JANUSCH
We are proud to announce and congratulate the Mercy 2021 Teacher of the Year and Archdiocese of Detroit Teacher of the Year MR. CHRIS JANUSCH!
Mr. Janusch is our computer science, math, and technology superhero! Here are some comments about Mr. Janusch:
- He is incredibly patient, not only when it comes to questions about the material, but also when it comes to helping staff and students with tech issues (especially over the last year)!
- Mr. Janusch is an advocate for justice and equality in the classroom and computer science field. His dedication to empowering and teaching girls about tech in a male-dominated field comes from his genuine love for the material.
- Without Mr. Janusch, I would not have realized what I now want to major in college. I would like to thank Mr. Janusch for his passion and humor in his teaching as well as his kind heart.
- He is here to help our school community provide the most cutting edge education possible to our Mercy girls, and gets excited about pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
- Time and time again, Mr. Janusch uses the same care and compassion with his first time explaining something as he does his tenth time explaining it.
- Every student that learned something virtually this year can thank Mr. Janusch for the opportunity to further their education amidst this pandemic.
SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERS MADAME CURIE AWARD
Congratulations to Alexa Zydeck '21 who received the Society of Women Engineers Madame Curie Award which recognizes an outstanding female who shows exemplary ability in math and science classes.
HONOR ROLL 2020-21
NATIONAL MERIT 2021
We are proud to congratulate senior Sophia Tesic for being named a FINALIST in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program!
COLLEGE BOARD NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICA RECOGNITION PROGRAM WINNERS 2021
CONGRATULATIONS to Raquel Segars '21 and Gabrielle Pough '21 on being selected for the College Board National African America Recognition Program! They earned this award for their remarkable academic achievements and outstanding performance on the PSAT/NMSQT. "This recognition will help colleges see the potential and power of their curiosity and commitment to learning." As National African America Recognition Program winners, the College Board will help make it easier for you to connect directly to colleges around the country.
NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY
Click here for NHS Inductees from the Class of 2021. We are proud to recognize these young women for their outstanding contributions to Mercy High School through their scholarship, leadership, character and service.
AP SCHOLARS 2020
National AP Scholar
Angela Rea '20
AP Scholar with Distinction
Brooklyne Bates '20
Charlotte Bridges '20
Reese Faunt '20
Katherine Hutter '20
Angela Rea '20
Rachel Vinarcik '20
AP Scholar with Honor
Peyton Black '20
Elizabeth Chevalier '20
Emma Engquist '20
Rachel Glowzinski '20
Genesis Gonzales '20
Madison Konja '20
Grace Kruse '20
Kathryn Mueller '20
Katherine Najor '20
Eliana Orozco '20
Chloe Pulick '20
Sofia Rodriguez '20
Vanessa Ryan '20
Isabelle Sawicki '20
Grace Shallal '20
Asha Telang '20
AP Scholar
Marium Asghar '21
Katherine Broderick '20
Julia Coffman '20
Zhane Coleman '20
Simone Cotton '20
Julia Crowley '20
Macey Earle '20
Lydia Giroux '20
Elinor Harrison '20
Lauren Krill '20
Kathryn Leonard '20 Lindsay Lukomski '21
Mary McGreevy '20
Gabriella Mosey '21
Lauren Piziali '20
Angeline Salem '21
Sofia Tesic '21
Ava Truman '20
Lydia Walsh '21
Cotter Welch '21
Elyse Zurawski '20
HONORS CONVOCATION 2020
Leadership. Service. Character. Excellence. We are proud to present the Honors Convocation Virtual Edition Slideshows for the Senior Graduates Class of 2020 and Freshwomen, Sophomores and Juniors. We honor, recognize and congratulate our outstanding Mercy students for an extraordinary 2019-2020 school year!
2020 TEACHER OF THE YEAR CHEMISTRY TEACHER MRS. COLLEEN BYRN
Some heartfelt comments received about Mrs. Byrn through the nomination process are:
- She truly lightens my day!
- Because of her, everyone in my honors chem class loves chem and most of us can’t wait to take AP next year. She makes class fun while also teaching in a way that is efficient and effective.
- Mrs. Byrn makes learning fun by creating a personal relationship with every one of her students and makes an environment where it’s ok to fail and she help you to improve. Everyday I look forward to walking into AP chem because I’m always greeted with a smile and know I will deal with a challenge that she is sure to help me through.
- Her never ending joy and excitement about chemistry makes me want to learn the subject that much more.
- Mrs. Byrn reminds me that being myself and being different is okay. She truly makes Mercy feel like home.
- I thank God that He guided me in choosing Honors Chemistry because I got to meet a woman who inspires me everyday, never fails to make me laugh, and truly cares for her students in a way that’s truly unparalleled.
- Despite E-Learning, she has continued this consistent academic and emotional support for us.
- Mrs. Byrn has truly inspired me inside and outside of the classroom to be the best version of myself. Her genuine care and compassion towards her students creates a family like atmosphere in all of her classes. She gave me courage and motivation to face my struggles rather than throw in the towel and walk away. She has believed in me in times where I doubted my own abilities.
- She taught me that grades don’t reflect my knowledge or effort. She helped me to understand that I am worth so much more than just a letter in PowerSchool. She genuinely cares about her students so much, and she never fails to show it every single day.
Mercy High School has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for 2019 - 2022 for our integration of technology across the curriculum and school life.
Apple Distinguished Schools are centers of innovation, leadership, and educational excellence that use Apple products to inspire creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. They showcase innovative uses of technology in learning, teaching, and the school environment and have documented results of academic accomplishment.
“In order to achieve this designation, Mercy needed to demonstrate a continual effort to plan, implement and evaluate transformational instruction using Apple technology. It is gratifying to have our innovative endeavors recognized in this way.”
- Larry Baker, Associate Principal & Apple Distinguished Educator
The selection of Mercy High School as an Apple Distinguished School highlights our success as an innovative and compelling learning environment that engages students and provides tangible evidence of academic accomplishment. Mercy has been an Apple Distinguished School since 2013.
Mercy teachers are Apple Teacher certified and each one is supplied with iPad and MacBook Air. Classrooms are equipped with Apple TV and most teachers utilize Apple Classroom. Teachers use interactive apps that allow students to demonstrate their learning in various ways and require projects which are enhanced and transformed by video.
All students utilize iPad and in their freshwoman year take Mercy’s active learning iExplore course which centers around projects that employ engineering principles. iExplore introduces students to STEM experiences while delivering instruction through student-centered activities that focus on problem-solving and collaboration.
Students collaborate and edit each other’s work using a variety of note taking, text, video, audio and interactive applications. Most instructional resources and assignments are available through the learning management system Schoology, which also provides integration with apps like PowerSchool and Google Drive.
“Recognition as Apple Distinguished attests to our academic excellence. A Mercy High School student’s education prepares her for college and career readiness through collaboration, complex reasoning and applied learning.”
– Patricia Sattler, Principal
At Mercy, young women have the opportunity to be technology teachers and program innovators through the iPad student tech team called the iWizards and the Robotics Team. The iWizards conduct iPad orientation for all new students, present at tech conferences, provide tech support and media production resources to the Mercy school community.
Mercy also hosts an annual Tech Talk Conference for Educators, has a Mobile APP, iMercy Multi-Touch book, Podcasts featuring Alumnae, three computer labs, a Digital MakerSpace Room, Collaborative Corner, 3-D Printer, and offers coding and AP Computer Science courses. Mercy’s technology vision and goals are to cultivate and support active and collaborative learning, nurture creativity, develop STEM curriculum, assist students in becoming adept communicators, promote global citizenship, cultivate critical thinking, and develop safe, responsible digital habits.
“We are pleased to be recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for the fourth time. Mercy strives to lead as an innovative learning community with committed educators who seek and share knowledge and wisdom.”
– Dr. Cheryl Kreger, President
NATIONAL MERIT 2020
We are proud to congratulate senior Angela Rea for being named a Semifinalist in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program!
We are proud to congratulate seniors Elyse Zurawski and Katherine Hutter for being named Commended Students in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program!
Congratulations to Genesis Gonzales '20 who earned the status of Scholar in the National Hispanic Recognition Program! She scored in the top 2.5% among Hispanic and Latino PSAT/NMSQT test takers in the region.
VALEDICTORIAN & SALUTATORIAN FINALISTS 2020
Valedictorian - Angela Rea
Salutatorian - Asha Telang
Finalists
Charlotte Bridges
Katherine Broderick
Camille Compton
Paige Dalloo
Marissa Ernat
Grace Fadool
Rachel Glowzinski
Katherine Hutter
Madison Konja
Juliana Petrucci
Natalynn Qaji
Isabelle Sawicki
Zobia Wasiullah
Elyse Zurawski