Speech Team Honored

This year, the Mount Michael speech team received a plaque from the National Forensic League, which is an honor society that recognizes students in speech and debate.  The Mount Michael team was recognized with the Leading Chapter Award, the highest honor that a team can receive, given to one school in each district for their level of participation and success in speech competition.  The Mount Michael Benedictine chapter of the National Forensic League was founded in 1963 and has added 48 new members since 2008.

Knights Garner Medals at U.S. History College Bowl at UNO; Team places 3rd

This past Saturday the Knights competed in the 1^st United States History College Bowl at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Students completed an AP US History practice exam consisting of multiple choice questions, free-response essays and a DBQ essay.

15 Mount Michael students won medals.

·       Matt Bohnhoff and Alex Hynes received medals for scoring in the top 10 of the multiple choice section

·       Collin Donahue, Brian Kim and Cameron Engel received bronze medals in essay writing

·       Matt Bohnhoff, Danny Pavlik and Robin Britt received bronze medals for DBQ writing

·       Eun Woo Jee, Thomas Kalil and Peter Xu received silver medals in DBQ writing

·       Kevin Jewell received a silver medal in essay writing

·       Rowan Gruber received a gold medal in essay writing

·       Jacob Eyth and Andy Johannes received gold medals in DBQ writing

·       And the team of Jackson Taylor, Rowan Gruber, Thomas Kalil, Cameron Engel, Alex Hynes and Jacob Eyth finished in 3^rd place in the overall team competition

Steier receives prestigious TOYO Teens award.

Mount Michael senior Jimmy Steier has been selected as one of Omaha’s ten TOYA Teens.

The TOYO Teens award is based on the prestigious Ten Outstanding Young Omahans (TOYO) awards that began over 80 years ago in Omaha. TOYO Teens was created in 2004 because the Omaha Jaycees wanted to expand the effort to recognize teens who contribute to their community through volunteerism. Applicants must be individuals between the ages of 13 and 19 that are making a difference in the Omaha community through volunteerism and community action.

Jimmy volunteers a the Heart Ministry Center which offers low-income individuals a multitude of services including a food pantry, clothing closet, medical and dental care and outreach programs.

The director of the Heart Ministry Center said “Jimmy has assisted with the Center’s youth mentoring program. This program serves children in Omaha, who frequently go to bed hungry and may not know where they will sleep each night. Most recently, Jimmy and his younger brother Mick completed a ropes course with the boys from our mentoring program. Throughout the day Jimmy repeatedly encouraged the boys as they occasionally struggled to complete the various obstacles as well as to spend time simply talking with them. I also saw Jimmy quietly offer some of his lunch to one of the boys that frequently has no food to eat at home.

An awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 5, 2013, at 3:00 p.m. at Village Pointe Shopping Center Amphitheatre, located near 168 & Dodge.

New York Alumni Gathering April 2013

Front Row:  Steve Tamisiea, ’86, Colman Lynch, ’01, Erick Crawford, ’00, Andy Jewell, ’08, Michael Duce, ‘12

Back Row:  Paul Wolters, ’84, Mark Lanspa, ’80, Abbot Michael Liebl, O.S.B., ’68, Walt Bahr, ’87, Matt Mahony, ’92, Jon Blue, ’94, David McTaggart, ’94 and Josh Hankins, ’11.

With Spouses and Friends

Knights Make A Good Showing at World Championship

Josh Bloomquist, Paul Kujawa, and David Bastian

At the Vex Robotics World Championship The Mount Michael team (Sleepless Knights) did very well. There were 420 High School teams in five divisions. Sleepless Knights finished 12th in their divisional qualification. They went on to the Elimination portion of the tournament where they lost in the Semi-Finals to the eventual champions.

Paul Kujawa and Josh Bloomquist were the members of Sleepless Knights who could make the trip to California to compete. Unable to make the trip was David Bastian.