Christopher Currere will be joining a select group of athletes in Greece during the summer.

The St. Andrew Church parishioner is one of just four athletes from Georgia to be part of Team USA at the Special Olympics World Summer Games. He also serves his Roswell parish by being an usher and is a member of the Knights of Columbus. As a hobby, he takes photographs.

But his sports skills are making him an international athlete. He is to walk into the Olympic Stadium as one of 7,500 athletes from 185 countries at the competition.

Currere is competing in power lifting. And before the games begin, he along with the other athletes will recite their oath: “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” You can read his story at www.currere.info.

A round of applause, please, for faculty, staff and students at Blessed Trinity High School, Roswell; St. Pius X High School, Atlanta; Marist School, Atlanta; and Our Lady of Mercy High School, Fayetteville.

The four schools made top grades in the January 2011 Atlanta magazine when the monthly publication came out with its annual list of standout high schools. And here’s a happy coincidence—the magazine ranking came out in the month celebrating Catholic Schools Week.

The magazine awarded top all-around schools recognition to 16 schools, among them, Blessed Trinity, St. Pius X and Marist.

“We have been on the list before, but it’s one of those that you can’t be listed on too often. Our mission statement speaks of ‘forming the whole person in the image of Christ,’ and so we’re always pleased when the sum total—or, at least, a representative variety—of what we’re trying to do with young people comes up for notice,” said Marist Father Joel Konzen, the principal of Marist School.

“The same mission statement makes reference to five ways or areas in which the school seeks to deliver a top-notch education, so the ‘all-around’ is some welcome recognition that we are serving students and families in the full range of important components,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Blessed Trinity Principal Frank Moore said, “It is always affirming to a school to have an entity outside of our system recognize the work that we do for the young people in our charge. To be recognized by Atlanta magazine as one of the top all-around high schools in the metro area is a great honor. It is a tribute to the dedication of the teachers, coaches, and especially the students—all the folks who make Blessed Trinity one of the very best.”

The magazine compared course offerings, facilities, extracurricular activities and awards for private high schools. But only Marist got a special mention in the “quirky club” category. And that was for its knitting club. Students Katie Buckis, Joannna Lu and Candice Lee are pictured tangled in yarn. One of the club’s ongoing projects is making squares for chemotherapy patients.

In the sports department, Our Lady of Mercy High School was listed among top achievers. No doubt the award was helped by the outstanding season of the Bobcats football team.

Edward Bentley, a member of the Marist Class of 1997, was ordained to the priesthood Dec. 24, 2010, by Cardinal Velasio De Paolis. The ordination of 61 new Legion of Christ priests took place in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, Italy. Cardinal De Paolis is the papal delegate appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to govern the order.

Father Bentley, who is 31, attended Our Lady of the Assumption Elementary School and Marist School for middle and high school. Among his accomplishments, he played on a number of sports teams and became an Eagle Scout. After graduating from high school, he attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for two years as a history major before hearing the call to the priesthood.

He joined the Legionaries of Christ in 1999 and two years later he made his first profession in Germany. Father Bentley earned degrees in philosophy in 2004 and in theology in 2010 at the Pontifical Regina Apostolorum College in Rome. Between his philosophical and theological studies, Father Bentley spent three years doing youth work in Denver. He is currently working with high school and college students in Mexico City.

Of his experience since 1999, Father Bentley says, “My 11 years of seminary life have been the greatest adventure of my life. Christ has been with me through it all and helped me to continue to push forward. May He give me the grace to ‘Never quit!’ and one day hear the words, ‘Welcome, good and faithful servant.’”

Crowds filled the gym at Blessed Trinity High School Jan. 8 for its annual alumni basketball games as the Titans took on the Therrell Panthers.

The fans got a lesson on self-sacrifice of a different sort.

His parents, Joe and Joanne Fleming, were presented with an award from the Marine Corps Color Guard, along with a photo of Scott from the school.

All proceeds from the evening go toward the Scott Fleming Memorial Scholarship Fund recently established at the school. It has raised $10,000 so far, with hopes to raise another $20,000 for it to be endowed. The family designated that future recipients demonstrate qualities of strong academics, leadership and overall involvement in the school. It will also be need-based.