What’s recently happened:
Marquette Catholic High School (MQTT) staff and students have returned to school as of April 11 after a two-week spring break.
Many students and staff went on MQTT’s hosted WWII-themed Europe trip. On this historical trip, they visited significant landmarks related to WWII, including London, Normandy, Paris, and Berlin.
Upon returning to campus, MQTT Theology Teacher Amanda Boyd took a group of students to Ivy Tech Community College’s Valparaiso campus to join the Rotary Club and learn of their take on Human Trafficking on April 14.
Rotary Club is an international organization of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian services to promote goodwill and tranquility throughout the world.
Through this organization, students were able to listen to nine different presenters speak on the heavy subject in an appropriate and respectful manner, all while remaining thorough.
Lunch was provided to the students, as well as a brief tour of the Ivy Tech campus.
After lunch break, all students returned to the auditorium and broke off into seven groups to participate in interactive group discussions with students from different schools. This allowed students to meet new peers and form new ideas, concepts, and theories about human trafficking.
At the end, one or two students from each group presented a summary of their groups discussion to the audience.
What’s coming up:
MQTT’s juniors and seniors are preparing for this year's prom.
Prom is being held on Saturday, May 14, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Barrelhouse at Zorn. The theme is Chicago City Lights.
There will be a red carpet grand march to introduce the students. Seniors will be introduced along with their chosen college and intended major.
Dinner will be provided from Sweet Lou’s Catering as well as a DJ, photo booth, and t-shirts. MQTT is moving forward and no longer allowing COVID-19 to hold the students back from different opportunities.
In other news, the semester is closing in. Teachers are beginning to speak of finals and seniors are taking their next step with National Decision Day on May 1.
Seniors will be taking their photos with their cap and gown on Thursday, April 21. MQTT students will also be attending mass that day.
Staff spotlight:
Casey Martin is MQTT’s former history teacher and current principal. Martin has been working at MQTT for seven years. He was a teacher in the social studies department for five and a half years, before he stepped up to the role of the principal as of three semesters ago.
Martin went on the WWII Europe Trip for Spring Break. However, it wasn’t his first time out of the country, as his first traveling abroad experience was to New Zealand where he lived and worked for a year.
“I also taught for almost a year in Beijing, China shortly after New Zealand. I’ve taken much smaller trips to places like Iceland, Korea, and Taiwan over the years as well,” said Martin.
The Europe trip impacted Martin tremendously, not only as a former U.S. History teacher, but also as the grandson of a WWII Army Air Force veteran.
Sitting in a classroom, speaking on a subject, and showing pictures or videos on that subject is nowhere near the same as getting to visit the places you’re speaking about. The trip brought the subject to life.
Martin’s favorite part of the trip was early on when they stopped briefly at a memorial in London for WWII Airmen. As mentioned before, his grandfather was a member of a B-17 bomber crew, so seeing the memorial of the servicemen like his grandfather made the trip real and the realization of all he was going to learn about this deadly war from an entirely different perspective hit at this moment.
“I hope our students developed a deeper appreciation for the significance of WWII and its impact on the world as we know it. It shaped the globe in ways that no other war has and I hope that standing in the places that our history books talk about gave them that perspective," said Martin. "The people who won that war were no older than our students, and it is through their courage alone that we are able to enjoy the freedoms we have and visit places like these."
When asked if he would recommend studying or traveling abroad to a student, Martin said "absolutely!" He believes that getting a global perspective is a fundamental element to MQTT’s mission as a school.
He truly believes that each and every student could benefit from travel. He advises students to be kind, observant, and make an effort to immerse themselves in cultural experiences. One can use this advice outside of studying abroad, too.
Seniors can use this advice for their upcoming new experiences with college. Be open-minded and willing to learn new things from new people.
“Traveling can be uncomfortable at times, but challenging yourself to embrace new experiences is one of the greatest opportunities for personal growth we can find,” said Martin. “I walked away with memories that will last a lifetime and followed the footsteps of America’s Greatest Generation. It was truly an indescribable experience.”
Student Spotlight:
Senior Ava Zientarski plans on attending Indiana University in Bloomington in the fall of 2022. She will major in English and minor in secondary studies to help her towards being a high school English teacher.
Zientarski also attended the Europe trip. She has traveled abroad before; in fact, she went to Spain her freshman year at MQTT and stayed with a host family and attended school there.
This experience allowed her to be more comfortable with traveling on the Europe trip as it prepared her a bit more for what to expect.
Zientarski wasn’t originally supposed to go on this trip. She was supposed to go on the Australia and New Zealand trip last year, but because of COVID, it was canceled.
Luckily, she was able to transfer her credits over to the WWII trip instead. She wasn’t disappointed, though, for she loves history and traveling and has always wanted to visit Europe for an extended period of time. The trip fit her perfectly!
When asked what her favorite part of the trip was, Zientarski shared how it was when they visited the Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden Salt Mines.
“We got to wear coveralls and take a tiny train through small tunnels into the mountain where the mines were. We also got to go down slides that took us deeper into the mines. It was just a super cool and fun experience,” said Zientarski.
She also admitted that her favorite part overall was being able to spend time with her friends; the trip helped strengthen their bond. She was also able to not only reconnect with old friends, but make new ones too.
The trip helped her learn how to connect with people that she normally wouldn’t talk or interact with. It opened her eyes to new people and possibilities. It made her see that she’s not that different from everyone else than she thought she was.
“If you’re ever given the chance to travel or study abroad, I’d highly recommend it! It is a life-changing experience and you’ll have so much fun. Even if a change of scenery and culture scares you, you will likely embrace it and have fun in the end. Going out of the country or studying abroad teaches so much about interacting in the world and it teaches you to appreciate changes and differences,” said Zientarski.