Congratulations to Marissa Dalton! Marissa competed in the state bowling tournament in Nashville finishing with a tie for 1 st place in her division for team bowling, 3 rd place with all Games Handicapped, and 2 nd place in singles. Way to go, Marissa! St. Mary s School students Emily Corbett, Victoria Corbett, Ilse Dale, Sophie Sherlock, Maggie Trent, and Bethany Walsh were selected to participate in the 2017 Tennessee Treble Honor Choir. The Tennessee Treble Honor Choir is an auditioned choir made up of 130 150 of the best 5th and 6th grade students from schools throughout the state of Tennessee. Each student submitted a solo audition recording of her or him singing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in the keys of F and A Flat. A committee of music educators from across the state adjudicates the auditions listening for pitch accuracy, tone quality, diction, ability to use chest and head registers, and phrasing. The Treble Choir performed at the Tennessee Music Education Association Professional Development Conference held April 5 th 8 th at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville. These talented groups of young singers sang in multiple languages and were exposed to a variety of musical instruments. Repertoire at this year s concert included: Laughing and Singing, a Traditional Round, I Never Ate a Cloud by B. Wayne Bisbee, Pie Jesu arranged by Mary Lynn Lightfoot, On the Back of an Eagle by Nancy Telfer, La Violette and Salangadu from Acadian Folk Songs arranged by Susan Brumfield, and Dixieland Sound arranged by Don Besig and Nancy Price. The Latin piece Pie Jesu was written in memory of the children who perished in the April, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing. During the Acadian Folk Songs, the choir sang in French, and members of the ensemble were given the opportunity to accompany the group on Orff xylophones, tree chimes, hand drums, triangles, and other percussion instruments. During the final song Dixieland Sound, the choir was accompanied by a Dixieland jazz ensemble including a trumpet, trombone, soprano saxophone, and drum set.
The sixty-first annual statewide High School Mathematics Contest was held on April 11, 2017 at various testing centers across the state. The Tennessee Mathematics Teachers Association sponsors the annual contest in six divisions: Algebra I/Integrated I, Geometry/Integrated II, Algebra II/Integrated III, Statistics, Pre-Calculus and Calculus/Advanced Topics. Four St. Mary s students completed the Algebra I test at Roane State Community College in Harriman. Anna Kasemir placed 1 st, Sydney Mesmer placed 5 th, Sarah Tackett placed 7 th and Marissa Dalton placed 8 th. Congratulations to our students! St. Mary s 8th grade students, Molly Deinhart, Anthony Filigenzi, and Genevieve Krass, competed on Saturday, April 29, 2017 in the State You Be The Chemist Challenge. We are pleased to announce that both Anthony and Molly advanced to the quarterfinals (top 15) and that Anthony continued to the semifinals and finished in fourth place overall for the state. The You Be The Chemist Challenge is sponsored by the Chemical Educational Foundation (CEF), a nationally recognized non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing science education. CEF s fastest growing program is the You Be The Chemist Challenge (Challenge). The Challenge is an exciting academic contest that uses the drama of competition to encourage grade 5 8 students to explore important chemistry concepts, scientific discoveries, and laboratory safety. Think spelling bees or quiz bowls but with science questions! The Challenge operates on three competitive levels: local, state, and national. Top Local Challenge competitors advance to State Challenge competitions, and one winner from each State Challenge advances to the National Challenge held each June in Philadelphia, PA. CEF creates the educational content, industry and community members organize and/or sponsor the events, and educators reinforce science concepts with all of their students through the supplemental study materials.
St. Mary s students performed in the annual Spring Musical under the guidance of Mrs. Villaverde -SMS Music teacher and Mrs. Shor-SMS orchestra teacher. We are so proud of their performance on stage during our Spring Musical and Grandparents Day! The singing was delightful and hearing the students play the various instruments from violin to hand chimes, to xylophones, was wonderful. How impressive to know that the students are musicians as well as composers!
Congratulations to our 2 nd graders that received their First Communion on April 23, 2017. What a blessed day for everyone. Daniel Varnell, the Choral Director at Knoxville Catholic High School invited students from all of the diocesan foundation schools to sing with the high school choral groups during their Spring Concert. The piece that the students sang with the KCHS choral group was Bonse Aba which is an African folk song that loosely translates: "Those that sing have the right to be called the children of God." The only accompanying instruments included a hand drum (treble drum), djembe (bass drum), and shaker, which added authentic flavor and opportunities for improvisation. The vocal portions involved repetition and call-and-response style. Included in the picture are current St. Mary s students along with alumni from SMS. Row 1: Kayla Kupsch (7 th grade), Alyssa Shedlock (5 th grade), Charlotte Daigle (KCHS), Anna Kasemir (8 th grade), Row 2: Raine Moore (KCHS), Grace Santonato (KCHS), Kate Cacapardo (KCHS), Laura Aird KCHS), Elizabeth Brands (7 th grade)
Gayle Larson Collins recently visited St. Mary s School when she travelled to Tennessee. The Larson family was long-time parishioners of St. Mary s Parish and school in the 1950s through 1963 when they relocated out of state. Mrs. Collins had completed through 4 th grade in 1963 when her family moved. Mrs. Marsha Sega and Mrs. Cathy Lowden shared fond memories over lunch before providing a tour of the campus. The day concluded with a visit to Greenfield to visit family friend and St. Mary s parishioner, Marty Rom. Sister Marie Blanchette enjoyed sharing in the stories of St. Mary s Parish from years ago. We are so glad to hear from our former students and friends of St. Mary s! Thank you to our amazing volunteers! St. Mary s School is grateful for all the hours of dedicated involvement in so many different volunteer roles. As a gesture of thanks, a Volunteer Reception was hosted at Old Towne Inn in Oak Ridge on Thursday, April 27 th. The evening included wonderful food and conversation in a spectacular location! We could not do it without our dedicated volunteers!!