School news from around the archdiocese

Mary Norris and Connor Maher, seventh graders at St. Joseph School in Cockeysville, won first place at the Maryland/South Delaware District, Zone 6 Optimist Oratorical Contest in Cockeysville April 9.

Seventh-grader Paige Taranto and eighth-grader Ian Moore were the first runners up in the contest. Students presented original speeches about the theme, “Why My Voice is Important.”

Eighth-graders at St. Joseph School in Cockeysville participated in the Catholic Math League contest, a national math competition for Catholic school students.

They were among more than 1,000 students from across the U.S. who competed in the Algebra 1 division and completed four tests throughout the year. Fifteen St. Joseph students ranked in the top 100 and three scored in the top 40.

“These young men and women are excellent role models for the younger students in the school,” said Terrance Golden, St. Joseph’s principal, in a statement. “They have worked hard to earn these honors, along with their parents and teachers. We are very proud of them.”

Advanced middle school math classes at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Ellicott City also participated in Catholic Math League contests.

OLPH sixth-grader Andrew Sontag placed first in the Northeast Division and second in the U.S. in the National Catholic Math League’s pre-algebra contest. He also won the first-place trophy in the competitive Northeast Division 4, among 116 students.  

Sixth-grader Colleen Roche placed 14th nationally and fourth in Division 4.

“I’ve loved math since I was little,” Andrew said in a statement. “I love it because there is only one answer to a math problem. You either get it right or you get it wrong, there is no gray area or in-between. This achievement means so much to me.”

Skylar Johnson, an eighth-grader at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School who was named a Carson Scholar, received a medal from renowned pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson at the 17th annual Maryland Awards Banquet April 7, according to information from the Ellicott City school.

“When I got to the ceremony, I was surrounded by people who were intelligent, kind and loving,” Skylar said in a statement. “As I looked around, I realized that I was one of them, part of a group that’s going to make a difference in the world.”

Through the Carson Scholars Fund, scholarships are awarded to students who embrace high levels of academic excellence and community service, according to information from the nonprofit’s website.

Eighth graders at Trinity School in Ellicott City have been awarded more than $300,000 in scholarships from Catholic high schools in the Baltimore metropolitan area, including Loyola Blakefield in Towson and The Seton Keough High School in Baltimore.

The recipients, who will be high school freshmen this fall, follow: Noah Adams, Jacqueline Blair, Kes Johnson, Cilatli Butler, Jack Cumming, Nikolas Opet, Maggie Maguire, Christopher Karpovich, Ian Chalk, Jonathan Wichers, Kathryn Harvey, Magdelena MacDonald, Diana Reed and Anchal Skukla.

Archbishop Spalding High School’s rookie robotics team recently earned the creativity, highest rookie seed and rookie all-star awards at the Chesapeake Regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition April 13-14 at the Baltimore Convention Center.

The competition featured 64 teams of students and technical mentors from Washington, D.C. and 11 states, including Maryland, vying for honors and recognition that reward design excellence, competitive play, sportsmanship and high-impact partnerships between schools, businesses and communities, according to information from FIRST.

The Severn school’s team was among those that earned a spot to the championship in St. Louis April 25-27.

Nicholas Bullis, a junior at Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, is the national video winner of the 2012-13 First Freedom Student Competition.

He will receive a $2,500 award.

Bullis is one of nearly 2,000 students from schools across the U.S., including American students from as far away as Kenya and Nepal, who participated this year, according to information from Calvert Hall. The students examined the historical and present-day relevance of religious freedom and presented their evaluation in an essay or video.

This year’s topic introduced students to George Washington’s letter to the Jewish congregation in Newport, R.I., where he addressed a new standard for religious freedom and religious equality for citizens of the country, according to information from Calvert Hall. Students identified the religious liberty principles espoused in the document, researched and assessed how well the U.S. has lived up to Washington’s ideal.

The competition is hosted by the First Freedom Center, a Richmond, Va.,-based nonprofit that works to advance the fundamental human rights of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, according to information from the organization’s website.

Click here to watch Bullis’ video.

Kathleen Cullen has been named director of finance at The John Carroll School in Bel Air, effective April 22, according to information from John Carroll.

Since 2004, Cullen has served as associate director of finance at St. Paul’s School for Girls in Brooklandville, according to information from John Carroll. At St. Paul’s, Cullen was integral in strategic and day-to-day financial management, handled the monthly budget reporting system, general ledger system of accounts and developed and managed a $10 million annual budget, among other duties.