St. Mary’s School students had the option of participating in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Essay Competition. Conducted nationwide, the Patriot’s Pen is a VFW-sponsored youth essay competition that gives students an opportunity to write essays expressing their views on an annual patriotic theme. This year’s Patriot’s Pen essay asked students to describe “The America I Believe In….” Students were asked to think hard about the America they believe in and, in 300 – 400 words, articulate what makes our nation unique and great. We are so impressed with the sentiments shared by our students and proudly announce that Genevieve Robinson’s essay won first place. In her essay, Genevieve wrote, “We have a country in which our differences are celebrated instead of discouraged. Our different talents can be utilized to build a better, stronger nation.” Commander Mickey Vickery, U.S. Army Infantry visited Mrs. Sasser’s 7th grade class to present the certificate along with a $100.00 check. Winners from the local competitions are submitted to the district and potentially the national level. Good Luck, Genevieve!

The St. Mary’s School girls varsity volleyball team recently competed in the Knoxville Independent School League (KISL) small-school tournament and beat Apostolic Christian Academy to win the championship at the Knoxville Christian School’s gym, in a winner-take-all match.  This is the school’s fourth consecutive season and tournament championship.
Individual Awards were received by St. Mary’s students – Paige Halcrow won MVP & All-Season, Kelli Ann Corbett won All-Season and All-Tournament, and Caroline Elliott won All-Tournament.
St. Mary’s won the regular season with a 9-1 record, under the leadership of all new coaches.  Head Coach, Angie Goodwyn along with Assistant Coaches, Kendall Doogan and Dennis Urban joined together to guide and inspire this group of Lady Crusaders.  The two top-seeded teams in the tournament advanced to the finals and would not disappoint in the title match.  St. Mary’s and Apostolic showed off their fundamental volleyball skills in a loud and intense best-of-three-sets match.  To get there, St. Mary’s defeated Webb School in the quarterfinals and Knoxville Christian School in the semifinals.
Apostolic raced out to a 1-set lead, winning that first set by a wide margin, 25-15.  St. Mary’s girls refused to give in, and squeaked out a physically-draining 25-23 second set win.  During that second set, it was extremely tight; Apostolic looked like they had the second set in hand, but St. Mary’s upped its intensity level, and reeled off the last four points to win the set.  The third set would prove to be the difference, as St. Mary’s outlasted Apostolic to win the third set 15-10.
“The girls worked very hard this season, my number one goal was to make sure they could all consistently serve and pass well, knowing that if the game was close our girls pull out a win. I couldn’t be happier winning my first season and tournament as head coach,” said Angie Goodwyn.
Assistant Coach, Kendall Doogan commented, “During the championship game all of their hard work and determination came together for a heart-stopping match against ACA.  I am so proud of the girls.  They stayed positive and focused on their goals.  They were gracious winners.  I am wholeheartedly looking forward to next season!”

We are pleased to announce that St. Mary’s School students Elizabeth Brands, Sophie Sherlock, and Gabriella Wilkerson were selected to participate in the 2016 TN Treble Honor Choir.  The singers sang under the direction of Dr. Derrick Fox, assistant professor of choral music education and choral conducting in the Ithaca College School of Music.  The Tennessee Music Educators Association commissioned a piece to be performed at the conference opening concert and ceremonies.  The piece entitled “Honeybees” was composed by Andrea Ramsey. Dr. Ramsey attended the conference and rehearsed with the choir as well as attended the choir’s premier performance of her composition.
The Tennessee Treble Honor Choir is an auditioned choir made up of 130 – 150 of the best 5th and 6th grade students from schools throughout the state of Tennessee.  Each student submitted a solo audition recording of her or him singing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” in the keys of F and A Flat.  A committee of music educators from across the state adjudicated the auditions listening for pitch accuracy, tone quality, diction, ability to use chest and head registers, and phrasing.  The Treble Choir performed at the Tennessee Music Education Association Professional Development Conference held April 13-14 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville.
St. Mary’s Students also participated in the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Southern Division Honor Choir in Chattanooga March 9-11.
Marigrace Tidwell (8^th grade) was 1 of 8 students chosen to sing in the Junior High/Middle School Honor Choir from the state of TN and THE ONLY singer from East Tennessee.  The JHMS Choir was comprised of 140 singers.  Marigrace sang under Dr. Judy Bowers, a master teacher who truly understands MS/JH kids!  She is Professor of Choral Music Education at Florida State University.   Marigrace also had the opportunity to meet the composer David Brunner as he visited their Friday rehearsal.  He listened to them perform his piece “Cantate Domino”, participated in a question and answer session with the ensemble, and hand signed each singer’s “Cantate Domino” octavo!
Anna Kasemir (7^th grade) was 1 of 18 students chosen to sing in the Treble Honor Choir from TN and 1 of 2 from East TN.  The Treble Honor Choir was comprised of 134 singers.   Anna Kasemir sang under Tom Shelton, a composer-conductor, and sang, “Alleluia,” a piece composed by Mr. Shelton for the ACDA Southern Division Convention  Tom Shelton is an Assistant Professor of Sacred Music at Westminster Choir College where he focuses on children’s and youth music.
St Mary’s School participated in the East Tennessee Vocal Association Honor Choir Event held on November 20-21 in Chattanooga, TN.  This year’s All-East Junior High/Middle School Honor Choir was made up of over 275 advanced 7th & 8th grade vocal students from 29 schools throughout East Tennessee.
Students learned and memorized their voice part on five pieces of music prior to attending the honors chorus. This year’s conductor was Deborah Dunne Sousa, Director of Music at the Episcopal School of Knoxville and Lecturer in Music Education at the University of Tennessee, where she teaches courses in elementary and middle school vocal music methods, supervises field experience and oversees student teachers and interns in elementary and middle school vocal music education.  Congratulations to our 7th and 8th grade students.  Left to Right: Mrs. Carol Villaverde- SMS Music Teacher, McKenna Garibay, Sydney Mesmer, Marigrace Tidwell, Paige Halcrow,  Molly Deinhart, Ethan Sherlock, Joshua Harris, Ian Kilevori, & Anna Kasemir (Not Pictured).