A big pep rally closed out the Upper School swim and basketball seasons last Wednesday. Thanks to the Pep Club for all their hard work and enthusiasm.

 

See the sports articles below, and enjoy the pics . . .

 

 

 

On Saturday, January 26 the seventh grade boys' basketball team was at school, not home in bed. They eagerly waited for their partners for a basketball clinic, recently resettled refugee boys from Burma (Myanmar) and Burundi. While none of the refugee boys spoke English fluently, basketball quickly became the common language between the players.

 

Led by RHSM coaches and alumni John Drake, Conor Bentley, and Mike Elliott, the boys practiced dribbling, shooting, and passing. The refugee boys ranged in age from 10-16 and all who participated had a great time.

 

The goal of the event was to welcome the refugee boys to the community and to introduce the RHSM students to people whose refugee experiences have been the stuff of classroom studies. In the clinic, the classroom's lessons became life lessons of making friends from vastly different backgrounds and helping others while having a great time.

 

Special thanks to parents Angela Tooze and Terri McCarthy who provided lunch for all the participants.

 

For the past ten years, RHSM Middle School and Upper School students have written letters to Amnesty International prisoners of conscience and defenders of human rights. The letters are intended to let those who are unjustly imprisoned know that they are not forgotten and to put pressure on governments to release or stop the torture of these individuals. In January, we received a thank you note from one of the people to whom we wrote in December, Mehmet Desde who is imprisoned in Turkey. Rarely do we hear directly from the people to whom we write, so we wanted to share this with you:

by Rebecca Filion, 4th Grade Teacher

 

After learning about the people of Utah's First Nations, fourth graders had a visit from Lacee Harris, a member of the Ute Tribe. The students enjoyed his stories and were excited to learn, firsthand, about his experience growing up and living as a Ute.

  

 

View photos . . .

 

 

 

 

 

Refreshed from a winter break, the RHSM Debate team reeled off two straight tournaments. Chase Burton and Melissa Leeworthy showed the Montgomery Bell Academy what "southern hospitality" was all about by cordially escorting most teams out of the tournament. They finished with their fifth TOC bid!

 

We then hosted our own tournament: The RHSM Round Robin - "The Speech Masters Championship." Inspired by great tradition, 13 schools and over 100 competitors descended into the Halls of Rowland to claim an elusive green jacket (the trophies for first place). Kurt Naro and Andrew Arsht  finished in second place in novice policy and Mario Feola and Melissa brought home green jackets in varsity policy.

 

This successful event culminated with a delicious dinner banquet. Since then, the team has had great showings at Lexington, Emory, and BYU.

 

Did you know RHSM cafeterias serve only white milk (no chocolate). There is even the possibility of offering organic milk in the future.

 SPORTS

Support RHSM athletics by buying the new Booster Club sweatshirt. The middle school boys and girls athletic sweatshirts are also available. Please fill in the order form and return it to either the upper school or middle school office with your check payable to "RHSM Booster Club". Orders will be filled two to three times a week. 

 

Let's fill the stands at our athletic events with Lion pride by wearing the new RHSM hoodies.

 

Not many swimmers can boast that their entire team qualified for State, but the small yet mighty Rowland Hall-St. Mark's swim team comprised of seniors Connor Barton, Tristan Buhler, Danielle Therson, Jessa Grey; juniors Chandler Schlegel, Jesse Wood, Noah Ford and Javier Peralta; and freshmen Adrienne Murphy and Eric Albee did just that!

 

The majority of the team was sick, had been sick and/or been detained during the week leading up to the 3A State meet, held at Brigham Young University on February 1 and 2, not the most auspicious of beginnings; however, the meet began and worries began to vanish. The medley relays flew. Adrienne Murphy, Danielle Therson, Chandler Schlegel and Jessa Grey comprised the girls' relay team, and Jesse Wood, Javier Peralta, Connor Barton and Noah Ford the boys' team. Everyone was splitting best times. Individually, Connor Barton blew his personal best time away and won the 200 yard freestyle race in exciting fashion. Like a Michael Jordan or a Muhammad Ali, our swimmers put sickness and preoccupations aside--even Jesse Wood who was as green as blonde hair in chlorine willed himself to continue the momentum. Chandler Schlegel, Danielle Therson, Tristan Buhler and Jesse Wood swam personal bests or seasonal bests in the 200 individual medley. Not a bad first day of competiton for the Winged Lions!

 

Saturday continued with more of the same. Adrienne Murphy was the first to swim and improved her time in the 100 yard butterfly. Connor Barton not only repeated a victory in the 100 yard butterfly, but also swam an All -American cut with a time of 51.01, a feat that sealed for him 3A Male Swimmer of the Meet/Year, a first for a male swimmer at RHSM and a fitting end to his illustrious swimming career as a Winged Lion. He will be swimming for Colorado College next fall.

 

Chandler Schlegel, despite having been in the hospital the Friday before, faced her 500 free with smiles and positivity and pulled out the second best swim of her career. Next up were the 200 free relays. Our four girls Jessa, Danielle, Chandler and Adrienne, all swam lifetime bests and crushed their previous time by almost six seconds! The boys team of Tristan, Eric Albee, Jesse and Connor followed suit by swimming lifetime bests and winning their heat. Jesse swam a seasonal best and placed 7th in the 100 backstroke. Breastrokers Danielle, Adrienne and Noah all dropped time and Noah's lifetime best placed him 8th. Eric, Tristan, Javier and Noah finished the meet with a bang, swimming personal bests in the 400 freestyle relay.

 

As coaches, Mark Gray and I were very proud of the team and their accomplishments during the season and especially at State, where they truly swam with the heart of a lion and represented the RHSM green and white admirably. Congrats!

 

View photos . . .

 

 

The Rowland Hall-St. Mark's team went into the tournament facing the league's top two teams -- St. Joseph and Waterford. And although they were the underdog, the RHSM team gave ample notice early in the first game vs. Waterford that the Winged Lions were ready to battle to the end. 

 

The RHSM team dominated the boards throughout most of the first game to keep the contest close with their rival to the south. The girls were still within striking distance at the two-minute mark, but fell short of their goal. Their play during that game, however, reached the caliber of a tournament team.
  

They immediately played a second game against St. Joseph's, the eventual winner of the tournament. Once again, the caliber of play by the RHSM team was throttled up to tournament level. Rebounds and steals were once again the name of the game for the RHSM team. But the difference were the shots that fell for St. Joseph and didn't for RHSM.
  

This year's team consisted of: Dana Casterella, Abeni Czajkowski, McKarah Dreyfous, Katherine Edgley, Ikwo Frank, Meagan Hall, Leigh Hunt, Sydney Maves, Brighton Moreton, Rosie Phillips, Cari Sanyer, Lila Thulin, Lizzy Walje.

 

 

Just follow the convenient link at the bottom of each e-marker to forward the good news along to extended family, friends, and colleagues. Access archived E-Markers from school info/publications on the RHSM website.