St. Elizabeth student places in essay contest
WILMINGTON – St. Elizabeth junior Jacob Rice is the second-place winner in this year’s Memphis Belle essay contest, the school has announced. The contest, which began this year, is sponsored by Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tenn.
The Memphis Belle is the nickname of a B-17F airplane that was flown for 25 missions during World War II. It was named after the girlfriend pilot Robert K. Morgan, Margaret Polk, who lived in Memphis. The question asked in this year’s essay contest was “To what extent did the Memphis Belle, its crew and the story of its namesake, Margaret Polk, affect Americans’ attitudes towards the war, thus making it important to preserve the aircraft and its story?”
Rice will receive a $500 award.
Easton student named National Merit Scholar
Allison Wetherbee, a senior at Ss. Peter and Paul High School in Easton, Md., has been named a National Merit Scholar in the corporate-sponsored round of awards, the first of several that will be announced over the next few months. Wetherbee’s award is sponsored by CACI International Inc., which provides professional services primarily for the federal government.
Corporate sponsors provide scholarships for National Merit Scholarship finalists who are children of their employees, residents of the community they serve or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.
Most of the awards are renewable for up to four years and range from $500 to $10,000 per year. Others provide a single payment.
Wetherbee’s probable career field is listed as biomedical engineering.
Archmere senior wins voice competition
Claire Caverly, a senior at Archmere Academy, was the winner of the Music Teachers National Association Senior Voice Competition, which was held in Las Vegas in March. Caverly earned the right to compete after winning the eastern regional division.
For her efforts, Caverly received a cash prize and performed in a winners’ concert with her piano accompanist, Christine McCloskey. She has been studying for the last year and a half under Mary Ellen Schauber.
This was the latest accolade for Caverly. She has won awards from both the Delaware chapter and the eastern regional student auditions sponsored by the National Association of Teachers in Singing, and she is a member of both the all-state chorus and Archmere’s Mastersingers. She also performs with the Archmere campus ministry and the theater program.
St. John the Beloved groups shine at Villanova
Two performing groups from St. John the Beloved School traveled to the National Catholic Band Festival at Villanova University on April 18, and both – the Advanced Band and the Advanced String Trio – received a rating of “superior,” the highest possible, according to band director Ray DiVirgilio.
Students are judged on intonation, balance and how well they interpret the score. St. John the Beloved was the only school from Delaware to participate. This was the fourth year the band has gone to the event.
