St. Mary's Winter Athletics is underway with 113 student-athletes practicing hard and preparing for their first contests.

On any given day at St. Mary’s Academy, one might wander through the halls and catch a glimpse of guest speakers talking with students about everything from topics relating to their careers or experiences, to prospective collaborative opportunities.  Many times, this speaker is an alumna from St. Mary’s Academy.

Kathy Briggs, lead instructor for St. Mary’s music department is used to the big stage— leading the award-winning Marian Singers to the White House, directing some of the highest performing students in the state to national competitions, and chaperoning SMA’s aspiring musicians to musical concerts around the world – so when something impresses her, it has to be just as big. That’s why last month, when the opportunity arose to go to Los Angeles to see global star, Julie Andrews, talk about her new book entitled Homework, she knew it was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

Once again, St. Mary’s Academy held Hands Full of Heart (HFOH), an event that allows seniors to leave their studies behind for a day to focus on giving back to local communities and service organizations. HFOH has taken place for over two decades and no matter how many years go by, the event’s mission always remains the same. “Hands Full of Heart is an opportunity for students to go out and connect with people who are different than they are. We want students to push out of their comfort zones so they can understand what it’s like to participate in social justice work,” said SMA’s service coordinator and alumna, Caitlin Whitty ’08.  “It puts our Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM) core values into focus. It helps us live our values as a community while showing students why we are an SNJM school in this one event that’s dedicated to justice and service to those who may be poor and marginalized,” Caitlin added.

From SMA's Varsity Soccer team making it to the 2nd round of playoffs after locking down a win against #8 ranked Sunset Apollo's, to Cross Country's Fiona Lenth's road to the State meet in Eugene, we have you covered with fall sports highlights.

Congratulations to alumna Lauren Yanase '19, for winning the Girl Scout Gold Documentary Award. Her documentary titled Shikata Ga Nai: An Inconvenient American, follows the story of the Kato family during World War II as Japanese Americans along the West Coast were being forcefully relocated into internment camps. 

Among the newest members of St. Mary’s Academy faculty and staff this year is algebra and geometry teacher, Quincy Robinson, who is a former musician, theologian, and current self-taught mathematician. 

While summer means a break from school for St. Mary’s students, it doesn’t mean a break from pursuing their interests and passions. From opportunities in the Portland metro area to programs across the country and abroad, our students took advantage of the summer months to participate in activities that enriched their lives and left them with memories for a lifetime. In our first edition of “In Their Own Words”, students describe what some of those experiences were like.
 

At the beginning of October, some of the returning and new Beta Blues robotics team members took last year’s robot to a small off-season competition, called Girls Gen, and had an outstanding performance. At the end of qualifying play, they were chosen to an alliance that went on to earn second place.

Ashley Spitzer Peterson, graduate of St. Mary’s Academy’s class of 1998, can officially mark herself in the “game-changers, move-makers and forces of nature” category. That’s because last winter Ashley was chosen from a pool of over 300 nominees as an award recipient for Portland Business Journal’s 2019 Forty Under 40. The list, recognized for years as an astounding accomplishment, showcases Portland’s most influential professionals, including local CEO’s, founders, directors and presidents, all under the age of forty.

It took seconds for Mya to hear her name announced as Rose Festival Queen, but years Mya spent dreaming of that very moment.

This past June, Mya Brazile ’19 won Portland Rose City Festival Queen among fourteen other nominees from local high schools, making her the sixth student from St. Mary’s Academy to be crowned Queen. “I am happy that I could give St. Mary’s another Queen. Their love and support through all of this has been nothing short of amazing,” Mya said.

With the upcoming school year around the corner, we are excited to welcome a number of new faculty & staff members to the St. Mary’s Academy community.  We have no doubt that their unique talents, perspectives and backgrounds will be a tremendous addition to our team, and we look forward to the positive impact they will have on our current and future students.

Hearns, Executive Director and Director of Coaching at BCSA, along with her colleagues, opened the doors at Bridge City Soccer in 2019 with the goal of creating a soccer program that is fundamentally different than anything else in the marketplace.  “It’s a program just for girls,” she says, “with a focus on player development no matter your current ability or level.  And, for Bridge City, player development does not just equal performance on the field.  We seek to develop the whole person first, and then the player.”

St. Mary’s Academy had their strongest showing at Portland State University’s 29th Annual Young Historian’s Conference, with eight SMA senior student presenters including the 1st place winner, whose paper analyzed Victor Hugo le Grand’s work and its effectiveness in shaping an unfavorable view of Napolean III, who would be forever defined as “Napoléon le Petit”.

Read how golf, lacrosse, track & field and tennis ended their seasons and which St. Mary's student-athletes have committed to competing in college.

166 graduating seniors took the stage on June 1 for the Class of 2019 St. Mary's Academy commencement but it was guest speaker, Mariah Scott, who blew away the crowd with a raw, candid and inspirational speech that will be embedded in the students' memories for years to come.

A closer look into the 2019 graduating class by the numbers and a gallery of photos taken at this year's commencement.

Laughter, connections, support and tears of joy filled the air inside the Oregon Convention Center’s Portland ballroom for St. Mary’s Academy’s 31^st Annual Auction. Towards the end of the evening, St. Mary’s Academy President, Christina Friedhoff, proudly announced the silent and live auction event met the goal of one million dollars.

The stated mission of St Mary’s Academy’s UNITE Day reads “By implementing a day committed to equity and inclusion, we strive to promote cultural relevancy, identify and eliminate microaggressions and discrimination, remind ourselves of the necessity of environmental conservation, and inspire positive change as we refocus the lens of social justice on our own community,” but in the words of senior Madeleine Adriance, UNITE Day student director, UNITE is about telling stories.