Great Kids, Great Families
St. Mary Parish School opened its doors in 1916 and has been providing a great education for its students ever since. The parents of St. Mary's will be contributing to this blog which will update the community on Great Kids; Great Families. Visit our web site at www.faithwebsites.com/stmaryschool.
St. Mary Alumni Kaitlin Horne Receives Outstanding Servant Leadership Award!
Last week, we received some wonderful news regarding one of our alumni, Kaitlin Horne. Kaitlin is a sophomore at UW-Whitewater. Her major is education...a major she picked back in 7th grade when she did an assignment at St. Mary's for "what do you want to be when you grow up". She picked education due to a number of teachers she had at St. Mary's that she both loved and who inspired her so much that she knew then, that teaching was the career for her!!
Kaitlin received a campus award yesterday at a ceremony held at the University. She received the "Outstanding Servant Leadership" award. She was chosen for all her philanthropic work for the American Cancer Society, including over 100 hours of volunteer work. She is the Philanthropic co-chair for her sorority Alpha Sigma and the American Cancer Society with an emphasis on breast cancer. She has organized several fund raising events throughout the year for the sorority to be involved in, as well as volunteer work at the local high school and grade schools and community. Her work also helped her sorority win the "Outstanding Chapter Excellence Award".
We are very proud of her. The faculty should also take pride in the education she received during her 8 years at St. Mary’s as well as the Christian Formation work camps she participated in. Helping others is a wonderful part of her life.
Menomonee Falls Optimist Club Sponsors St. Mary 8th Grader
Each year, the Menomonee Falls Optimist Club participates in the Optimist International Oratorical Contest, offering youth ages 9 through 18 the opportunity to present a speech with a common theme. This year’s theme, “How Optimism Helps Me Overcome Obstacles”, was elaborated on by 19 Menomonee Falls area youth, including four students from our St. Mary Parish day school. All the students presented heartfelt, passionate speeches describing how the use of optimism can assist anyone in overcoming even the most difficult challenges. From this local competition, two speakers were selected to move on to the District level and from there, two were selected to move on to the State level. Isabella Klotz, daughter of Andreas and Michelle Klotz, and member of the St. Mary Parish School Class of 2012 was one of those candidates. She and her family were treated to a night at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells as Bella prepared to share her speech at the State level along with 14 other youth from around Wisconsin. It was an energizing experience to hear each of these young leaders speak of their challenges and inspire us with their speeches. Three top winners were selected and received scholarships for $1000, $1500, and $2500 respectively. Isabella would like to encourage more students to participate in this competition next year because it is a great opportunity to work on your public speaking skills. While Bella did not place in the top three this year, she is inspired to try again next year. Bella called the experience “life changing” and is very grateful for the support and sponsorship of her teachers here at St. Mary as well as the Menomonee Falls Optimist Club. Many members of St. Mary Parish are also members of the Falls Optimist Club, whose service motto is “Friend of Youth”.
