Mount St. Mary
Catholic High School

Vol. 2 / Issue 1

BE YOUR BEST ALWAYS

“I think we too are the people who, on the one hand, want to listen to Jesus, but on the other hand, at times, like to find a stick to beat others with, to condemn others. And Jesus has this message for us: mercy. I think - and I say it with humility - that this is the Lord's most powerful message: mercy.”
― Pope Francis

the mount and COVID
James Wildes III and Landon Kennedy Riggs

     Mount St. Mary's is back, but not in its original fashion. Since March 2020, Covid-19 has struck the world, sending schools to go online. As we return this fall to school, The Mount has made great efforts to adapt for this school year. Face masks and temperature checks are required, and every classroom is disinfected before and after class. Desks are separated, and social distancing is in order. There are even online students! With this adversity, The Mount still finds a way to be together as a family and make Mount St. Mary's High School a great place for students.
     Mrs. Denegri, The Mount's principal, had to make great strides over the summer to prepare the staff, parents, school, and students for a school year during this COVID school year. "There were many concerns that were heavy on my mind," said Mrs. Denegri, our Principal, "But due to an incredible staff, we've all pulled together. We could look and prioritize and then let people do their thing." With school starting up, how would the attitude of the students be on the first day back? "It's different. Naturally, it's different. In all this different way of living, we're focusing on how we can still try to make it as normal and as fun as possible." By bringing things back like athletics and drama, Mrs. Denegri hopes to make this school year as normals as can be. The administration also decided to use a platform called Canvas this year to do and turn in work. Before, teachers used Schoology, google classroom, or even had their websites. This change will make it easier for students and parents.
  The Drama Department has struggled with new adjustments because of Covid-19. The OSSAA has moved the one-act competition to the spring instead of it being in the fall. They are working hard to put on a production while social distancing and abiding by CDC guidelines. Even though there won't be a competition in the fall, they will still perform for the student body and parents. Mrs. Brown said, "Covid-19 has affected the drama department very significantly". But besides the struggle, Mrs. Brown has still pushed the drama department through. This summer, they did an abridged version of Little Mermaid, which was a hit. 

Student(s)

     As a Community and family this year has, so far, been a struggle. With the virtual option to school, it makes some classes feel smaller and not as fun sometimes. "Having social distance adds to that factor because it physically prohibits me from being close to my peers and spreading the love"-Sophomore Jane Ertl. The student life has changed, but so have the experiences of the Student-Athlete. The Mount student section is always pretty loud, but it has been challenging because of having to stay apart. The Mount, however, has still found ways to support their athletics even at away games. "I wasn't expecting to see so many people at the CCS game. It was great to see the rockets supporting even at away games," says senior James Wildes. From the Athlete's point of view, you have to play hard every play in every game. "COVID changed my student-athlete life by playing every play like it will be my last," lamented Pryce Jeffries.
 

    With having both online and in school students and a new way of teaching lesson plans, the teacher's way of doing things is vastly different. Mr. Burns, a Chemistry teacher, says, "I have to adjust with physical and online simultaneously. I have to do a mix of what I had to do last year for online-only." As a chemistry teacher,  Mr. Burns  needs to do hands-on labs. With COVID-19, it isn't easy to do the labs and even leaves out the online students. "I'm trying to figure out how to do labs. It's harder for us to do labs because we can share equipment, and we can't be so close like we would be during a regular lab." Mr. Burns also expresses some concerns he's having with Canvas, the new platform that the students will be using. Canvas is currently not set up yet for The Mount. "We are kind of catch 22, waiting on that to get done to make it easier." Mr. Burns is also informing his students about COVID-19 and all the guidelines. He wants his students to be educated and safe.

Sports

     This year has been a dramatic change with all the new rules put in place by Covid-19. With only fall sports playing right now, Athletes trying to figure out what to do to keep safe but still play. The sports atmosphere is very different from past years, from the game's preparation to the student section and the fans. The expectations, the hopes, are all changed. "On the bus and in the dugout, we have to wear a mask, and we can only sit one person to a seat," say Sophomores Sarah Gilbert and Natalie Caldwell.

In the spotlight
Miss SAntella ​
Kedon Gumerson AND LANDON KENNEDY RIGGS

     We had the opportunity to interview one of our new staff members: Spanish teacher Miss Santella.
Miss Santella is an ACE Teacher who was supposed to be a math tutor, but since God has a sense of humor, she is now the Spanish teacher. 

     What is your passion?
“My passion is teaching the youth of America.” 

     What are you most thankful for today? 
“Today, I am most thankful for the students of Spanish 1 and 2. We’re having an enjoyable day. We are celebrating Mexican Independence Day and Hispanic heritage month, and I’m thankful that I have such kind kids”.

     How do you want to be remembered?
“I want to be remembered for having great and engaging classes and caring deeply about the students and staff.”

     Be sure to click on the picture for more of this interview.

The Ambassadors
Kedon Gumerson

       Previously known as "Reps and Host," the Mount Ambassadors kick off the school year a little differently than expected. "The responsibility of Mount Ambassadors is to promote Mount St. Mary positively and be a good representative for the school," explained Mrs. Diane Wilson, sponsor.

      "My favorite thing about being a Mount Ambassador is probably to represent the school accurately and draw in new students. I like seeing the new faces and future of the Mount, as well as the new ambassadors coming in and watching them do a good job," commented James Wildes III, Senior. Things will be different this year without the ability to do in-person tours. The ambassadors will be meeting virtually  with middle schoolers over zoom. 
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    Despite all that the Mount Ambassadors might face this year, they will always strive to be the best representation the Mount can have.

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DRama Club
Kedon Gumerson

     Drama club had their first meeting on Tuesday, September 1, led by temporary officers Greiner Gumerson and Becca Smith. The club began the new school year with the largest group of attendees the club has had in years. With the inability to do club officer elections last spring due to distance learning, the club will hold their officer elections on Friday, September 11. 

     The club is for a lot more than just those in musical theater. Temporary club officer Becca Smith explains, “I’m looking forward to giving people who aren’t in theater a creative outlet. A place where they feel like they can be themselves.” That’s really what drama club is all about, being yourself and having fun with those around you.

     The Drama Club will meet monthly, usually on Fridays in the auditorium. 

New eagle Scouts

​Congratulations to Garrett Hanke and James Wildes, the two most recent Eagle Scouts at the Mount. They went to their Eagle board of reviews and were both awarded the rank. Garrett Hanke says, "I was nervous going into the interview, of course, because my whole scouting career led up to this. But at the same time, I was also confident that I would get it." Hanke's project was cleaning up the Bethany fire station and making a garden bed in front of their station sign. James Wildes' project was an outdoor Stations of the Cross at the GOLD house in Norman.

The Mount is home to several Eagle Scouts. An Eagle Scout is the highest rank Scouts can achieve. Seniors Johns Daniels and Andrew Spellman have been Eagle Scouts since their freshman year.  They both said that they enjoyed scouting and that they were in it at first for fun and learning, and now the world has opened up for them as the rank of Eagle scout looks excellent on a resume. 

Life Scout (the second-highest rank), Daniel Brown said ", It is a goal of mine to achieve my eagle rank, and I am close. I need a couple more required merit badges." Daniel also talked about the difficulties between balancing school, extracurricular activities, and scouting. Scouts usually do pretty well until high school when they lose time because of more academic challenges and things like sports. Scouts have until they turn 18 to earn their Eagle Scout rank, so it puts the pressure on their senior year.

Respect life
Kedon Gumerson

         Five Mount St. Mary students, Meah Allison, Rebekah Cleary, Suyun Chung, Greiner Gumerson, and Kedon Gumerson, decided to institute the Respect Life Club over the summer. The Respect Life Club will focus on all life issues, including abortion, mental health, racism, and immigration. 
        "The inspiration to start the club came from having conversations with people with different opinions and finding people who believe in the same things. Knowing that we had a voice and needed to fight for what we believe in." - Meah Allison, Life club president.  Having that voice is essential to the Mount community. 
         However, it is not just about otherworldly issues. It is also about focusing on our self-love. "The goal of the respect life club is to further people's respect for their classmates, as well as respect for their own life." Greiner Gumerson, life club secretary, mentioned. The students at Mount St. Mary's Catholic High School are very excited about this new club's beginning and bring the culture of life to the Rocket campus.
          The club will meet weekly on Tuesday mornings and then will host larger meetings monthly on Friday mornings.

Science National Honor Society
Eva Winkler

    Science National Honor Society is one of the honors societies offered by the Mount. Members of SNHS meet every other week at 7:30 am in room 216. Meetings often include a science-related presentation, and sometimes experiments are done. The group is also in charge of STEM day and interacting with feeder schools. They also take field trips to learn about science and get involved in the community. In the past, groups have gone to the Science Museum Oklahoma and Tinker Air Force Base.
Participating in SNHS has many benefits. Not only does it look good on a resume, but it also allows students to expand their knowledge of science and develop leadership skills. This year's participation is down as the Spring recruiting was interrupted by COVID. Currently, there are less than ten members. 
Mrs. Rex sponsors the Science National Honors Society. She oversees meetings and works with officers to organize events. Mrs. Rex is looking forward to SNHS this year. She said that her first goal is to work on recruitment and induct more members to the society. Her second goal is to be more involved with feeder schools than in the past. "Last year (involvement with feeder schools) kinda fell off. Mostly it was because of COVID. So this year, I want to get more involved with the younger kids. I'm hoping we will be able to have STEM day and other events."
This year SNHS has added a new officer position: community outreach. Junior, Sarah James holds this position. She will be working on planning STEM day and ensuring that feeder schools' involvement is more robust than in years past. When asked about her goals for this year, Sarah James answered, "I hope that we can get more involved in the community this year. I am going to try and set up more service projects and interact as much as possible with grade schools and middle schools as possible." This new position creates more opportunities for everyone in the club. There will be more interaction and more hands-on experience rather than just discussions in the classroom as in years past. 
If interested, students should look in their email for an application. Lauren Smith, the historian for SNHS, sent out an application form through email. Sophomores, Juniors, or Seniors with a weighted science GPA of 4.0 and an overall weighted GPA of 3.5 may apply.  
Photos courtesy/copyright JRC Media - ©2020.
​Used with permission.

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