Notable Schools
Published May 24, 2012
Students at Christ the King School dedicated a time capsule on Friday, May 11, that won’t be opened until they are much, much older.
Each class contributed to the capsule, from photos of the kindergarten play and items related to first Communion from second-graders to memories of dances from the seventh-graders.
The eighth-grade contribution to the capsule was titled: “Everything 8th Grade.” Items included photos of their retreat and their senior privilege outdoor lunch tables. The girls included a pair of saddle shoes and the boys added a gym uniform, along with tubes of lip balm for the eighth-graders of 2037 to try.
The time capsule, created for the school’s 75th anniversary, is a 12-cubic-foot safe that depicts the school’s mascot, Rex. The artwork was designed and painted by artist Kevin Whitlark and his eighth-grade daughter, Kate.
The time capsule will be kept in the front office of the school so that all students and families will remember the closing and look forward to the opening celebration for the school’s centennial anniversary 25 years from now.
Retiring principal Peggy Warner received a bird bath from students. It was a gift from the Middle School Student Council and the National Junior Honor Society. Warner has been principal for 23 years. And since the principal was born on the Feast of the Holy Rosary, Oct. 7, the school community prayed the rosary with her and used the joyful mysteries for reflection.
Benches given to the school were from the 2012 graduating class. They will be placed under the administration windows where the eighth-graders wait each morning for friends and for the morning bell to begin their school day.
Michael Beno, of Marietta, received one of the 10 Founders Medals for the 2012 graduating class from Vanderbilt University. It is given to graduating seniors who rank top in their school.
He graduated from the university’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development with a bachelor of science in early childhood education.
Beno will be teaching first grade at an inner city Nashville school, the same one where he did his student teaching, and taught religious education at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville.
He is the son of Sarah Beno, IT manager at St. Joseph Church in Marietta, and Mark Beno, the director of operations at Our Lady of Mercy High School, Fayetteville. He grew up in St. Joseph Parish.
The third-grade team from Holy Spirit Preparatory School, Atlanta, made up of Thomas Markwalter, Paydn Devine, Veronica Agrippina and Patrick Radosta, won the “Battle of the Books” competition on May 10 at Queen of Angels School, Roswell.
The annual competition encourages reading, comprehension and retention of information in this competitive “battle” among the Catholic schools in the Atlanta metro area.
Linda Ehlers, media specialist at Holy Spirit Preparatory Lower School, said, “The team, once selected to participate in the finals, used their recess time to prepare, rereading all of the books. They are very deserving of the win as they worked very hard. We are proud of them.”
The Chi-Rho Award is presented to the eighth-grader who, in the judgment of the St. Pius X High School faculty, possesses qualities of faith, determination, caring and integrity, which are needed to pursue their education to the best of their ability. A student is chosen from each Catholic school.
They are: St. Joseph School, Marietta, Maggie Pierson; St. Catherine of Siena School, Kennesaw, Annie Dempsey; St. Thomas More School, Decatur, Anna Jones; St. Joseph School, Athens, Elizabeth Carolyn Allen; Immaculate Heart of Mary School, Atlanta, Hannah Kerry; St. Peter Claver Regional School, Christopher Johnson; Our Lady of the Assumption School, Atlanta, Isabelle Lennon; Holy Redeemer School, Johns Creek, Jack Ardnt; Christ the King School, Atlanta, Khristian DeCastro; St. Jude the Apostle School, Atlanta, Cristina Angela Bleacher; St. John Neumann Regional School, Lilburn, Khloé Starling; Our Lady of Victory School, Tyrone, Victor Holness; Queen of Angels School, Roswell, Nicholas Zimmer; St. John the Evangelist School, Hapeville, Anna Wilczynski; St. Mary’s School, Rome, Dylan J. Paracka; Notre Dame Academy, Duluth, Chelsea Rushworth.
Immaculate Heart of Mary School, Atlanta, was awarded the designation “No Place for Hate” by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for the second year in a row. Ira Genser, ADL representative, presented the award to James Lee, principal, and Angela Walsh, school counselor, during a student assembly on April 26.
Other Catholic schools receiving the designation in 2012 were: St. Thomas More School, Decatur; St. Jude the Apostle School, Atlanta; and St. Mary’s School, Rome.
Students at St. Jude the Apostle School took a field trip to the High Museum, Atlanta, to portray an artist whose works were displayed at the art museum.
At the invitation of Lisa Hooten, director of education at the High, the class portrayed artists featured in the High’s exhibit, “From Picasso to Warhol.”
The “artists” were frozen in place until a button at their station was pushed, causing them to come to life and give a brief biography. The field trip came about after Hooten saw how St. Jude’s third-grade teachers created such a program at the Atlanta Catholic school the last few years.
“Artists” who were at the High included: Rafael Celedon as Alexander Calder; Ben Hamrick as Constantin Brancusi; Calle Hutchinson and Caroline Oliver, both as Louise Bourgeois; Michael Carbonara as Marcel Duchamp; Shaun Gutmann as Giorgio de Chirico; Mitchell Owen as Pablo Picasso; Will Cooper as Jackson Pollock; Amelia Bielskias Henri Matisse; William Weltich and John Treanor, both as Jasper Johns; Hayden Maulding and Gianna Zamutto, both as Joan Miró; Marc Weick and Ben Kingsfield, both as Fernand Léger; and Christian Mudd as Andy Warhol.
The Blazers LEGO robotics team, made up of 10 St. Catherine of Siena School students, competed in Florida recently at the world invitational. They took home first place. There were 61 teams from about 15 countries competing.
The students from the Kennesaw Catholic school, five girls and five boys from seventh and eighth grade, performed research to solve a problem in the food safety industry, generating a “super sticker” that would notify food suppliers and consumers when food becomes contaminated with harmful bacteria.
They also built and programmed a LEGO robot to traverse an obstacle course and perform missions. They were judged on their research solution, robot design and performance, and teamwork. The team is sponsored by several businesses, the Georgia STEM Education Alliance and community donations.