Student Achievements

ARTISTIC

A junior won third place in the Second Congressional District's Art Competition at Chesterfield Art Gallery; her work will be on display at the Saks County Library on Chesterfield Parkway for a year. She also received a scholarship for the painting program at Washington University this summer.

A senior was special guest artist at a Night on Broadway - the Apollos Fall Concert at the Missouri Athletic Club. She performed "Broadway Baby" and brought the house down.

ACADEMIC

A senior was named a 2008 Presidential Scholar semi-finalist; she is one of 10 in Missouri and one of 560 semifinalists nationally.

A senior received first prize at the Alliance Francaise Essay Contest. She competed against the most proficient high school students in the St. Louis area.

A junior was nominated for the National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Awards in Writing, 2008. A senior received outstanding research paper from Pfizer-Solutia Students and Teachers as Research Scientists (STARS). Her paper was titled, "Effects of Ethanol Concentration, Surface Properties and Confinement on Lipid Tubule Growth." She received the outstanding paper in the area of engineering/computer science for the Solutia Award for Excellence in Research.

A junior traveled to Colegio San Jose (a Jesuit mixed boarding school) in Villafranco de los Barros, Badajoz, Spain to participate in a Spanish language camp run by St. Louis University Madrid called Operacion Ingles 2007. She was the only participant from St. Louis and was one of approximately 100 participants, most of whom were Spaniards. The Spanish students are immersed in English and the Americans are immersed in Spanish. The teachers are students at Saint Louis University Madrid and are from all over the world. Students lived on campus for three weeks and also participated in sports, art and dancing, and took excursions on the weekends, including Seville.

A senior was recognized for superior performance in writing by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the English Department was recognized for excellence in its instructional program. She was one of 595 high school seniors nation-wide, and one of only 17 in Missouri, honored for writing.

A senior helped with DNA and genetic research on fish at SLU in the Biology Department for Dr. Richard Mayden, chair of the SLU Biology Department. She also volunteered at Barnes Hospital with a research project by Dr. Nancy Cibulka, "Improving Dental Health in Pregnant Women with a Nurse-Directed Educational Program."

LEADERSHIP

A junior has been competitively selected to attend both the US Air Force Academy Summer Seminar in Colorado Springs, CO, and the US Naval Academy Summer Seminar in Annapolis, MD. The week-long summer seminars are designed to provide a realistic picture of academy life to high school juniors who are considering a professional military career. She will attend university-level classes taught by the academy faculty, meet cadets and staff, and learn about the academic, military, and athletic programs offered at the service academies.

Nine girls attended the Executive Branch Leadership Institute in Jefferson City, MO. Every one of them created a proposal that addressed an issue currently facing the state of Missouri. A sophomore was on the team from MoDOT that took first place. Another sophomore was on the Mental Health team which took third, and a junior was recognized for Individual Achievement for her work with DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education).

A sophomore participated in a week-long session of the Congressional Youth Leadership Council in Washington, DC, this summer.

A junior received the first annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Model of Justice Award on Jan. 20. Archbishop Burke presented the awards at the reception following the commemorative Mass.

SERVICE AND SPIRITUALITY

Five seniors participated in a Thespian Service Project at Marion Middle School. Marion is a private all-girls school serving the underprivileged. The school's goal is to empower the young women to take control of their lives and to prepare them for a more rigorous academic environment in the St. Louis private high schools. The girls instituted projects that created team building among Marion students.

A senior and participants in Camp deSales spearheaded a special holiday project at Viz: making HUGS blankets for children in hospitals. This project is one of the largest in HUGS history - the Viz girls made 415 fleece blankets. Three Viz girls took the fleece (almost $4000 worth) donated by Toni Pagano (founder of HUGS) and HUGS and cut the fringe ahead of time. On Nov. 28-30 during homeroom, all of the girls in the Upper School finished the blankets and blessed them with a simple prayer. A small group of girls drove the finished blankets to Children's Hospital where they were included in the Christmas boxes given to the patients.

Three juniors were honored for their essays on the mission of the Annual Catholic Appeal. Each received a scholarship at a ceremony with Archbishop Burke.

CLC members hosted "Give Hunger the Boot" on Valentine's Day. Students brought a donation or two cans of food and enjoyed the chance to wear their boots. The event raised $215 for the St. Patrick's Center Key Player program.

The Teen Variety Club at Viz presented Jan Albus, executive director of Variety of St. Louis, with a check for $1000. The club raised the money through the Visitation Carnival and other extra functions during the school year.