2010 Mariner News Articles
Congratulations Class of 2010
5/28/10
On Sunday, May 23rd, Monsignor Torgerson and Fr. Tim celebrated Baccalaureate Mass with the class of 2010, SMCHS faculty, and the families of our graduates. A variety of school and community organization-sponsored scholarships were announced and celebrated after Mass. It is the tradition to hold the graduation awards ceremony following the Baccalaureate Mass because it is an honor for SMCHS to publicly congratulate the stellar achievements of our young adults in the presence of the people who have encouraged, inspired, motivated, and educated the recipients.
St. Monica award recipients were presented with a plaque, medal, and/or check and will have the honor of having their names added to the series of perpetual plaques in the Mariner Hall of Fame. The students honored were determined through a careful selection process that took into consideration a variety of qualities such as scholastic ability, integrity, athleticism, leadership, and commitment to the community. Following Baccalaureate Mass and awards ceremony, seniors and their families gathered for a small reception hosted by the freshman class.
In front of friends and family, SMCHS seniors were presented as graduates of the school on Thursday, May 27th on the LMU campus, as green and gold graduation caps flew into the air.
Please join us in praying for the continued success of our newest graduates. Congratulations Mariners!
SMCHS Distinguished Speaker Series Welcomes Marcellus Wiley ‘92 and Barbara Alexander
2/23/10
Marcellus Wiley ‘92, former NFL defensive end and three time NFL Pro Bowler, and Barbara Alexander, first cousin of civil rights activist Rosa Parks, visited the St. Monica Catholic High School campus on Monday, February 22 as part of the Mariner Distinguished Speaker Series. With the entire school community gathered in St. Monica Church, both Mr. Wiley and Mrs. Alexander spoke to students about the constant need to persevere, especially in the most difficult of times.
Following a historical synopsis of Rosa Parks’ Life, Mrs. Alexander recounted various family events with Rosa Parks and her caring demeanor with everything she did. “Rosa Parks always emphasized dignity, pride, courage and responsibility” Mrs. Alexander told students. Following her presentation, Mrs. Alexander invited students to look at some of the relics from Rosa Parks’ life on various tables set-up for display.
Marcellus Wiley spoke to students about the importance of developing a strong foundation while in high school in order to allow for dreams to come to fruition. Mr. Wiley talked about his time at St. Monica and how his sacrifices and hard work led him to not only succeed athletically through football, but academically as well, having attended Columbia University. Mr. Wiley also encouraged students to become dynamic and balanced individuals, utilizing all the resources and guidance around them.
The St. Monica Catholic High School community thanks Marcellus Wiley and Barbara Alexander for taking the time to visit us and share their great insights.
St. Monica Girls Soccer Defeats Cantwell, Wins League Title
2/12/10
Congratulations to the Camino Real League Champion Girls' Varsity Soccer team who defeated Cantwell yesterday 5-0. Sophomore Taylor Dorris led the scoring with 2 goals, while feshman Daisy Gonzalez, and seniors Sarah Salarkia and Sandy Olguin had a goal each. Senior Jessica Centeno had her 10th shut out of the season in goal.
The girls finished league undefeated with a record of 7-0-1. Congratulations Girls' Varsity soccer! Good luck in playoffs!!
St. Monica Boys Basketball Captures League Championship
2/11/10
The St. Monica Boys Basketball team defeated the Mary Star Stars last night 55-48, securing the Camino Real League championship in the process and a potential top league seed once CIF-SS playoffs begin.
SMCHS boys basketball players pose for a picture following their victory over Mary Star on Wednesday night
The boys basketball team has played strong all season, boasting a 17-9 record overall and a 9-1 record in league. The Mariners, currently ranked 11th in the latest CIF-SS poll, needed a victory in their last game to ensure that a league championship would be brought home. Earlier in the season, the Mariners lost an overtime game to LaSalle high school at home, a loss that would later be avenged during the second meeting between both teams. With the victory on Wednesday, the Mariners are guaranteed at least a share of the league title with LaSalle and a potential top league seed once CIF-SS playoffs begin next week.
Congratulations to Coach Depa and the boys basketball team for a great effort in league play. Good luck in the playoffs!
St. Monica Brings Home Academic Decathlon Victory
2/8/10
The St. Monica Catholic High School decathlon team recently participated in the 2010 Southern California Private Schools Academic Decathlon held at Bishop Alemany High School. After two weekends of competition, the SMCHS Decathlon team was awarded the Division Overall and Super Quiz Championships.
Led by SMCHS teacher and decathlon coach Jeremy Nelson, the SMCHS Decathlon team consisted of 9 students who devoted countless hours to study the content relevant to this years theme – The French Revolution. Team members voluntarily met each morning at 7:00 to practice speeches, essay writing, and interview. Day one of this year’s decathlon took place on January 30th and consisted of the subjective tests, essay, speech and interview. Day two of the competition took place on Saturday, February 6th and consisted of the objective tests, including the public super quiz, team dinner, awards ceremony and celebration. Even in the face of fierce competition at this year’s event, the St. Monica decathletes persevered and displayed pride, self-confidence, and true sportsmanship. Along with the Division Championship and Division Super Quiz Championship, each of the decathletes were awarded individual medals in the various subject areas. By the end of the night, the team had won a combined 49 medals. Of the twenty eight total teams, St. Monica came in 8th overall, potentially moving St. Monica Catholic High School to a higher division for next year’s competition.
Congratulations to Coach Nelson, Nghia-Piotr Le, Kara Yasui, Leila Ehsan, Stephanie Gusman, Anna Brewer, Adrian Santiago, Ken Robertson-Brown, Vincent Flores, and Maria Cristales for their tremendous effort and accomplishments!
SMCHS Community Celebrates Catholic Schools Week
2/3/10
This week the St. Monica parish and its schools are celebrating Catholic Schools Week. The SMCHS community has worked diligently in planning appreciation days to honor and thank members of our community who continually make a difference and help make Catholic education a great investment.
St. Monica students visit St. Sebastian Parish during Catholic Schools Week
Principal Thom Gasper kicked of the Catholic Schools Week celebration by addressing parishioners at Sunday mass and discussing how St. Monica Catholic High School provides an education that goes beyond four years of schooling. On Monday, the SMCHS community thanked all SMCHS parents for their incredible support as part of Parents Appreciation Day. Students wrote notes to their parents thanking them for the sacrifices they make to make a St. Monica education possible. On Tuesday, students thanked St. Monica donors through phone calls made to alumni donors of the past few years. These calls helped to thank the alumni who continue to help make a St. Monica education affordble. On Wednesday, students from all grade levels participated in Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day in honor of teachers and staff that continue provide a great education. Thursday will serve as an opportunity for the students to be thanked for their great efforts as part of Student Appreciation Day. Finally, SMCHS will honor and appreciate parish priests and religious is the west Los Angeles area on Priest and Religious Appreciation Day.
We wish to thank everyone who continues to assist in numerous ways that allow St. Monica Catholic High School to provide an education that pays “Dividends for Life”
St. Monica Schools Announce New President
1/29/2010
Thom Gasper, principal of St. Monica Catholic High School for the past 5 years, has been selected to fill the new position of Schools President at St. Monica, effective July 1, 2010. "This important role has come to fruition in the best time for our schools" Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson wrote in a letter to parents of both schools. "They are currently very strong in their admissions, academics, and spirituality, and will further benefit from having a President to support our two schools in these and other ways".
Thom Gasper has been employed with St. Monica Catholic High School for 16 years. He has earned a bachelors degree, masters degree in Catholic school administration, and teaching credential from the University of Notre Dame and Loyola Marymount University, respectively. Mr. Gasper has worked with the Archdiocese on advisory councils, visiting teams, and WASC teams to improve other schools, especially those with low enrollments. Mr. Gasper and his family have also been active members of St. Monica parish for 18 years.
Upon Mr. Gasper’s acceptance of this position, a search for a new principal for St. Monica Catholic High School was immediately set into motion, and is currently underway.
We wish Mr. Gasper continued success as he assumes the first President's role in our schools' history. Congratulations Mr. Gasper!
2009 Mariner News Articles
Mariners Designated as AP Scholars by College Board
St. Monica Catholic High School is very proud to announce that 30 (more than 20%) of its graduates of the class of 2009 received passing scores on AP exams, qualifying them for college credit. Among those 30 were 8 seniors who will be designated as AP Scholars by the College Board for successfully passing at least 3 AP exams. The College Board’s AP Program offers students the opportunity to take challenging college-level courses while still in high school and to receive college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on AP exams. Students took AP exams in May of 2009 after completing challenging college-level courses at their respective high schools. Less than 20% of the more than approximately 1.5 million high school students in more than 16,000 secondary schools worldwide who took AP exams performed at a sufficiently high level to merit the recognition of AP Scholar.
Congratulations to the following members of the class of 2009 who successfully passed the indicated number of AP exams in the areas of Biology, Calculus, English, Government, History, and/or Spanish and will be attending the universities listed:
Jonathan Cagliata (5) UCLA
Carrie Hodge (5) USC
Anthony Jondreau (3) Syracuse
Kathleen (Katie) Moriarty (3) Occidental
Khyrysta Renteria (3) UC San Diego
Kara Ruane (3) UC Berkeley
Hector Santiesteban (5) Loyola Marymount
Robert Wilkinson (5) UCLA
Congratulations, Mariners! We are equally as proud of the efforts of our teachers in preparing our students for their AP exams. St. Monica Catholic High School remains committed to providing its students with the skills and support necessary to succeed at the college level and beyond.
St. Monica Celebrates the Class of 2009
On May 28th, on the campus of Loyola Marymount University, the St. Monica class of 2009 graduated in front of hundreds of parents, alumni, and friends in attendance. Along with speeches from principal Thom Gasper and Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson, valedictorian Robert Wilkinson and salutatorian Carrie Hodge spoke of the manner in which involvement in SMCHS activities brought out the best in themselves and in their classmates. Robert, captain of the league champion cross-country team, will be attending UCLA in the Fall. Carrie, president of the SMCHS Black Cultural Society, was accepted at several selective universities including Brown, Columbia, and NYU. She opted to accept the Trustee’s Scholarship at USC, which will pay for her tuition and living expenses for 4 years.
Following the awarding of diplomas, the graduation festivities continued with a reception for families and friends and a fun-filled evening for St. Monica's newest graduates at Disneyland's Grad-Nite.
Congratulations to all St. Monica graduates for a great four years!
Mariner science curriculum comes to life!
The SMCHS Honors Biology classes and their instructor Mr. Bill Wengeler recently traveled to Joshua Tree National Park. While camping there, students took part in a rock climbing class, assisted with an on-going dendrochronology (study of the aging of trees) project, and learned about some of the adaptations that suit plants and animals to the desert environment.
The National Park Service recently discovered that some trees, including the Joshua Tree itself, are much older than previously believed. Contributing their efforts to the dendrochronology project, students learned field techniques in a classroom setting before venturing out into the field to conduct research that will be included in the Park Service’s long-term study. While in the field, students used GPS units to determine the location and elevation of their subject trees then took various measurements of the park’s native trees. Students also examined some of the adaptations exhibited by plants and animals to life in a desert by learning about root systems designed to maximize water uptake, various mechanisms employed by plants to retain moisture, and the burrowing and nocturnal habits of desert fauna.
The SMCHS science department sponsors several trips aimed at bringing the curriculum to life. High school-aged parish youth are invited to join our Mariner scientists in next year’s trip to Costa Rica from April 5 - 9, 2010. If interested, please contact Mr. Bill Wengeler at wwengeler@stmonicahs.net prior to June 1st.