Three Teams in the Playoffs
This video is a tribute to our girls basketball team in general, and, at the end, to our seniors in particular. Bill Clark, father of freshman MJ Clark and the same gentleman who made the March for Life video, is back at it again. If you can watch this video with a dry eye, you're made of stern stuff.
Photos from boys basketball and chess are below.
Earlier this week, we promised you a sports update. Here we go:
On Tuesday, the boys basketball team reached the Penn-Jersey Athletic Association semifinals. We lost by seven points. But it felt closer than that. It was hard fought, the best game of the season. Five seniors are graduating, and this team leaves a historic legacy. These young men started their team from scratch three years ago, enabling a boom in MSC sports.
On Wednesday, the chess team brought home a trophy, second place in the PJAA chess tournament. Two of our players placed in the top ten. This was the team's first year as full members of the league. Every one of our players returns for next year and the future is bright.
On Thursday, the girls basketball team reached the PJAA divisional championship. We lost by just three points, 41-38. In only their second year as a team, our ladies were 10-2 in their division, their only losses coming from the eventual champions. Our team graduates three seniors - see the tribute video above - but several key players return next year.
Martin Saints is obviously not a "sports school" or a "jock school." We're proud to be a Catholic school, a classical school. But nevertheless, in three short years, our teams established themselves as competitors. Congratulations, players and coaches! Special thanks to Dr. Dan Donnelly, our athletic director, and Ms. Mary Grace Mangano, our assistant athletic director, for constant unsung work behind the scenes that enables all of it.
Our school motto is "the glory of God is man fully alive." "Fully alive" most definitely includes the thrill of being young and fit, competing in the arena. "Fully alive" most definitely includes disciplined practice with your team, growing in virtue and pursuing excellence. "Fully alive" most definitely includes the joy of gathering as a community to watch and cheer, the adrenaline of a closely fought contest.
Sometimes when a family with an eighth grader is considering Martin Saints for high school, they hesitate over our small size. They hesitate because they have in mind a certain stereotype of an American high school. To which we say - don't let the stereotypes trap you. Come build something with us. Come be a big fish in a small pond. Small is beautiful. Come have fun. Come be fully alive.
Truly, the experience of building and growing a school is a feature, not a bug, of a Martin Saints education. In this day and age, it is feature - something to savor and appreciate - for a teenager to be part of building something faithful, civilized, and excellent.
In the video above, senior Ruth Roberts says "Martin Saints is not just a school. It's a whole way of life. It's a whole way of giving yourself to the community, to the academics, to the spiritual experience. And it's so rewarding. So keep going - even when it's hard! The joy, and the love. I feel like I've found a home that I'm so grateful for and don't deserve."
That is service learning. That is growing in excellence and virtue. Your student and your family can be a part of it, because there is room for you here. You are invited to our next open house on Sunday, February 22, at noon. More details and RSVP here. All parents, middle schoolers, and friends are warmly welcome.
We also have a special day coming up, just for seventh graders, on Tuesday, March 10th. Lunch is on us, and 7th grade visitors can follow our students through a typical day, as well as enjoy a few special activities just for them. Details and RSVP here.
Sports still not your thing? We're performing Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in March. More about that later, but again, everyone is invited and tickets quietly went on sale yesterday. Details here.
