TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019

Both in and outside of the classroom, our students are challenged to think critically and creatively and are provided the necessary tools for future success as well as the core religious values rooted in the spirit of Mercy that will enhance their lives as well as the lives of others. Specifically, our music students develop their skills, abilities and creative talents in the classroom and through the music activities and ensembles in which they participate. They take pride in their contributions to the cultural life of their Mercy community and to the beauty and meaning of worship in school liturgies. 

Our students are fortunate to enjoy opportunities for external service-oriented activities that not only showcase their musical abilities but also enable them to share their gifts and provide assistance to those in need. The "Mercy Spirit" is not limited to the four walls of GMAHS but ingrained in our students who enthusiastically share it with others.

A Mercy education promotes unique outside activities for students which broaden traditional instruction and deepen understanding, and this ensures that our music students are exposed to quality musical experiences that bring to life what is studied in the classroom. Over the years it has been my pleasure to accompany students on field trips to live performances - concerts, recitals, operas and shows - at premier arenas such as the Kimmel Center and Academy of Music in Philadelphia, and the Metropolitan Opera and popular Broadway venues in New York City. Members of our music ensembles have also enjoyed unique opportunities to perform at prestigious venues such as the White House, the Kimmel Center, Longwood Gardens, the Pennsylvania State Capitol, and Citizens Bank Park. Our alumnae often express to me the insight gained and lasting impact that these experiences have had on their lives.

A Mercy education encourages respect and gratitude for the individual God-given gifts and talents that we all reflect and fosters and nurtures these qualities. As is the case of our student athletes and members of our various clubs and activities, our student musicians are presented with numerous opportunities to express these qualities. Whether interacting with other GMA musicians in preparation for a performance, or with musicians from other schools when participating or competing in county, state and national organizations, programs and festivals, they share their "Mercy Spirit" with others. Additionally, throughout their four-year journey, our music students gain confidence in their abilities as they become increasingly competent and realize success in their college auditions.

Our students enjoy the advantages of a first-rate private education having been exposed to the most current educational ideologies, technologies and programs, but most importantly, they will take with them the highest ideals, values, and beliefs grounded in the Mercy tradition of Catherine McAuley. Armed with these credentials, they are sure to achieve success in whatever path they choose and will forever remain a Mercy Monarch!

MERCY GIRL EFFECT

January 23rd was a morning of smiles, squeals, and delight as Gwynedd hosted a Bibbidi Bobbidi Breakfast to benefit the Mercy Girl Effect. The red and gold corridors welcomed more than 100 princes and princesses and their royal families for sweet treats, crafts, fun with friends, and the royal treatment. 

All proceeds will benefit Mercy Girl Effect's goal of rebuilding a medical clinic in Gros Morne, Haiti which was destroyed by an earthquake. Special thanks to Mrs. Cymerman, Dr. Derstine, Sr. Christi and all of the club's students who brought this magical event to life. In the words of Sr. Christi, "What all of you did was totally MERCY, totally magnificent, and totally fun! We (Catherine included) see that the endless tradition of Mercy Service is continuing uninterrupted into the third millennium."

DAR and AMERICAN HISTORY AWARDS!

The Philadelphia Chapter of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution honored students again this year who have achievements in American History, and Good Citizenship.

Katie Martone'19 received the DAR Good Citizenship Award and Victoria Borlando '19 the American History Award. The Social Studies Department chose the recipients. Katie was chosen because of her work with Ministry and Service and all of the wonderful things she does for her community. Victoria was selected because she is the President of the Herstory Club, takes every Social Studies class she can, and performed exceptionally well in every U.S. History/U.S. Government and Politics class she has taken here (AP U.S. History and AP U.S Government and Politics). She also is a founding member of our new Model UN Club.

They received their awards at a luncheon at City Tavern in Philadelphia.

 ACADEMIC BOWL CLUB

The Gwynedd Mercy Academic Bowl Club participated in the MCIU tournament on Tuesday, March 5th. To prepare, Caitlin Fitzpatrick '19 (captain), Ryan Stratton '19, Kiera Thomas '20, Ellie Keaton '21, Sahiba Tandon '21, and Alexis Kelerchian '22, met monthly with Mrs. Mitchell and Mrs. Wordeman to hone their skills for this academic competition featuring questions about literature, American history, contemporary events, science, world history, and the eclectic potpourri category encompassing music, art, sports, and pop culture.

The girls surpassed their score from last year and finished in the top 60 percent of the Catholic schools in attendance. The girls are looking forward to next year already! 

SENIOR 100 DAY CELEBRATION

The countdown to graduation has officially begun for the members of the Class of 2019! On Monday, the young ladies marked their 100th day until Commencement with an ice cream social, hosted by the Mothers' Club. As evident by the smiles on their faces, brilliance of their minds, and spirits of Mercy, there's no denying the SHE is the Future!

'SHE IS THE FUTURE' DAY

In celebration of International Women's Day on Friday, Gwynedd welcomed more than 30 esteemed Alumnae for She Is the Future Career Day. The day-long celebration was comprised of a morning Entrepreneur Panel, Breakout Sessions led by the alumnae businesswomen and industry experts, and a College Panel hosted by our collegiate alumnae – each focused on empowering our young women leaders beyond the classroom. The inspiring alumnae shared their professional experiences and wisdom from industries ranging from Entrepreneurship to Astrophysics, Neuropsychology to TV Production, Scientific Research to Fashion Design, Human Resources to Journalism.

Memorable Quotes from the day:

 "Keep with your passions and find them in your career. Believe in yourself everyday." – Sunny Timbo White '01, Founder and CEO, Xavier Creative House
"Put your fears aside and just do it." – Dera Lee '97, Founder and CEO, Dera Lee Productions
"Be open to new things. The least that will happen is that you will learn a new skill." – Christine Wiegand, Esq. '91
"Put yourself out there and get involved." – Jordan Biello '08, Sales, The Hershey Company
"Keep an open mind for everything that might come your way. Sometimes when
you least expect it, a door opens with enormous opportunity." Sue Meitner '88, P'22, President, Centennial Lending Group

TechGirlz®️ Program Held at GMA

GMAHS hosted TechGirlz®️ on Saturday, March 9th - and what a day for women in STEM it was!

TechGirlz®️ is a non-profit organization whose mission is to reduce the gender gap in areas of STEM - all participants are volunteer and participation by middle school girls is free. Caitlin Fitzpatrick '19 and Mary Conn '19, enlisted the help of Jill Dougherty '20, and ran an amazing workshop called "Remix-U: Unleashing Your Inner DJ"! They wrote and conducted the entire lesson which instructed attendees in the use of the software,"Audacity" to remix music, sound affects and loops. The TechShop covered a bit of music theory, explained music plagiarism and engaged the girls in an "unplugged" remixing activity before moving to the digital platform.

Indeed, they unleashed inner DJ's, creativity, collaboration, kindness, and the Mercy vibe!

Sr. Patti Donlin introduced the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy and had students read Blog posts on the Sisters of Mercy website.

Some of the students had this to say after reading blogs on Anti-Racism: 

"Everyone is challenged to bring love into places that have hate and exclusion in them. Many people think that they can see an end to racism in their lifetime. Silence will not help this issue, we need to use love and nonviolence to disarm the hatred from others."
-Alden Boccella '20

"I learned that even the most highly ranked clergymen still make mistakes and forget key aspects of certain topics. (White privilege in the pastoral letter Open Wide Our Hearts.) It further pushed me to learn more about racism and how important white privilege is to talk about. Racism is a very common act in today's world and this blog gave me a further insight into the church's take on it which has further helped my take on racism in the world today." ---Meaghan McGoldrick '20

AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION, AP LITERATURE and HONORS SPANISH 2

Mr. Hopkins AP Language and Composition and AP Literature classes were joined by Ms. Cimorelli's Honors Spanish 2 classes at St. Joesph's University's inaugural Linguistics Conference.

AP COMPUTER PRINCIPALS

Mrs. Connor's AP Computer Science Principles class spent part of Friday in the Robotics Shop using their coding skills to program a drone. The girls engaged in "pair programming" to write a program of their choice, while incorporating specific criteria.

MATH

Mrs. Naucodie's Math classes celebrated Black History Month by researching and writing essays on black mathematicians who have made a real difference in the world of math. They presented their essays in class.

SCIENCE

The Forensic Science classes performed blood pattern analysis in lab this week. The students interpreted bloodstains that they produced by changing velocity, release height, angle of impact, and whether an assailant is right- or left-handed. No persons or animals were harmed – the blood was fake, but the results were real!

HONORS ART STUDIO 3

Honors Art Studio 3 students spent a block period casting their faces with plaster. This is a continuation of their study of the figure as a historical genre of art. These portrait casts will be creatively transformed into contemporary masks with mixed media that represent individual expression.

Masks have played an important artistic role in the history of human sociology. Masks have existed in every culture with various spiritual, religious, celebratory, and entertaining purpose and significance. The human face is one of the most captivating subjects in art. People cannot resist looking at other people. Masks inspire thought and reflection about the self, others, and community because they represent transformation, disguise, symbolism, and emotion in visual communication.

Nell Flanigan' 19 is the artist and Ella Fall '20 is the model.

MUSIC

Voices of the Future- performance and Master Class with Metropolitan Opera mezzo, Sharon Sweet.

Chloe Thum '20, was one of 4 finalists who performed on Saturday, February 23rd. The Competition was sponsored by the Bucks County Choral Society and was held at The Conservatory, Doylestown. Each of the candidates received valuable comments from Ms. Sweet who is a voice professor at Westminster College in Princeton as well as a cash prize.

Congratulations Chloe!

ATHLETICS

VARSITY BASKETBALL

Congratulations to our Varsity Basketball Team for their 1st Round State 4A win!! The team advances to the 4A "Sweet 16" on Wednesday, March 13th!

Basketball team celebrating the D1 4A Championship with a 46-33 win over Lower Moreland on February 23rd!

Senior Captains Alyssa Martin and Carly Bachinsky celebrate the win!

SWIMMING

GWYNEDD MERCY ACADEMY CAPTURES 2ND PLACE IN DISTRICT 1 2A CHAMPIONSHIP

The Monarchs celebrated a District 1 2A Championship 2nd Place Finish at LaSalle University on March 3rd after a two day competition. 

Annie O'Dare '19 captures Swimmer of the Meet Championship Bowl! 

Monarchs will now compete in the State 2A Championship Meet held at Bucknell University on March 13th and 14th. 

SHE IS THE FUTURE.

©2019 | Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School

P.O. Box 902, 1345 Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd Valley, PA 19437

(215) 646–8815

gmahs.org

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