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Archdiocese of New Orleans
St. Mary’s Dominican High School has four seniors with $1 million or more in college scholarships. Their resumes are packed with honor roll, memberships to national honor societies, academic clubs, extracurricular activities and commendable community service hours.
Eliza Christovich has been offered $1 million in scholarships from the University of South Carolina-Columbia, College of Charleston, The University of Alabama, Saint Louis University, DePaul University, Florida State University, Rollins College, University of South Florida, Rhodes College, Loyola University Chicago, and Louisiana State University. Christovich is the daughter of Leigh and James Christovich of New Orleans.
Jade Mason has been offered $1 million in scholarships from Western New England University, Christian Brothers University, Howard University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Tuskegee University, Loyola University New Orleans, University of Holy Cross, Fisk University, Averett University, Alabama A&M University, Hardin-Simmons University, Florida Institute of Technology, Morgan State University, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Southern Mississippi, Baylor University, University of New Orleans, Spring Hill College, Dillard University, Jackson State University, and The Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary Louisiana State Conference. She is the daughter of Carla and Judge Omar Mason of New Orleans.
Isabelle McKnight has been offered $1.2 million in scholarships from 12 universities: Wofford College, Tulane University, Sewanee: The University of the South, Furman University, University of Arkansas, University of Alabama, Loyola University Chicago, Loyola University New Orleans, University of Mississippi, Louisiana State University, Spring Hill College, and Auburn University. McKnight is the daughter of Lacey and Frank McNight of River Ridge.
Sophia Sherwood has been offered $1 million in scholarships from University of Miami, Agnes Scott College, Sewanee: The University of the South, Rochester Institute of Technology, Furman University, Tulane University, Loyola University Chicago, Rollins College, Baylor University, and Louisiana State University. She is the daughter of Lindsay Adams and Brent Sherwood of Kenner.
Popping more pride buttons for St. Mary’s Dominican High School, is the robotics team, Dominican Ultraviolet (Team 9637). It is the first all-girls team from Louisiana to advance to the world competition after taking First Place for the Inspire Award and Third Place for the Connect Award at the Louisiana FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) Regional Championship held in Denham Springs. Dominican Robotics Coach Crissy Giacona calls winning the state competition “a huge achievement.”
Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson in 2023Photo by Brett Duke, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
Also in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, about 10 miles from St. Mary’s Dominican High School, St. Mary’s Academy alumnae, Calcea Johnson and Ne’Kiya Jackson, solved a 2,000-year-old mathematical question using trigonometry in their senior year, 2023. Over thousands of years, the Pythagorean theorem (A² + B² = C²) has been proven, but not by using trigonometry. Calcea and Ne’Kiya entered a math contest and were the only two participants to answer the bonus question. St. Mary’s contacted the American Mathematical Society and the duo presented their findings at a spring meeting in Atlanta. For their proof to be fully received as a contribution to mathematic literature, the next step is to have it accepted and published in a peer-reviewed journal so the theory can be examined.
Calcea just finished her freshman year at Louisiana State University and Ne’Kiya completed hers at Xavier University. If you want to hear them discuss their work, you can look up the CBS 60 Minutes interview aired in May 2024.
Archdiocese of Washington
At Gonzaga College High School, students in Ms. Katie Murphy’s social justice in action class and Gonzaga’s Vinco scholars took a field trip in early spring to DC Central Kitchen (founded by chef and humanitarian Jose Andres, also founder of World Central Kitchen), a nationally recognized nonprofit "community kitchen" that recycles food from around Washington, D.C., and trains unemployed adults to develop work skills while providing thousands of meals for local service agencies. The students worked in the kitchen at the new facility in Southwest D.C. Following their kitchen duties, the group met with DC Central Kitchen CEO Michael Curtin, a Gonzaga alum from the Class of 1982.
Independent Catholic School
Nerinx Hall in Webster Groves, MO, was the only Catholic school awarded the 2024 U.S. Department of Education (ED) Green Ribbon Schools Award. The Catholic University of America was awarded the Green Ribbon Schools Award for Postsecondary Sustainability. The award-winning schools were nominated by 24 states and recognized for their innovative efforts to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, improve health and wellness and offer effective sustainability education.
Nerinx is an independent Catholic school serving girls in grades 9-12. As part of the school’s sustainability plan, Nerinx created a successful composting program, installed water bottle filling stations, significantly improved the school’s ENERGY STAR rating, incorporated stormwater retention basins and renovated the 4,900-squarefoot courtyard to create a large green space with native plants.
Highlights about Nerinx’s innovative efforts, and those of the other 55 honorees, can be found on the ED website: https://www2.ed.gov/programs/green-ribbon-schools/performance.html.
