What's recently happened?
Marian High School has a pretty calm February. On February 6, the school had the feast day of Blessed Maria Theresia Bonzel. February 11 was the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes.
February 15 was the Mid Winter event, where students came for a good time and some fun dancing. The theme was Winter Wonderland. February 17 was President's Day, so there was no school. However, blue team art captains are reporting to school to paint to catch up. One of the blue team art captains is working hard to recruit people.
What's coming up?
Marian High School is known for several things, but a big one is students and parents coming together to enjoy Spirit Knight. From dance to art to sports to sportsmanship, the event has it all. There are two teams, the Blue Team (last name A-K) and the White Team (last name L-Z) that compete for the win.
Spirit Knight was founded in 2017 and was adapted from Conwell-Egan High School in Philadelphia.
“We first went to Philadelphia to attend Spirit Knight at Conwell-Egan High School in 2017. Mrs. Keenan and Mrs. Keilman (sisters) are alumni there and the timing was right to consider the adoption of Spirit Knight since the Marian School Board had it on the Strategic Plan to expand student leadership opportunities. Our very first Spirit Knight was in February 2018. It was really hard to explain this new concept and get students to try it but every year it gets bigger and better,” Chris Grossnickle, organizer of Spirit Knight, said.
There's plenty of different activities for every person. There's four activities: dance, sports, art, and sportsmanship. Each activity has a captain. Then there are overall captains for each team.
“I would say that the people who participate in Spirit Knight are a great community. Everyone has high energy and wants to build school spirit. We are very competitive, but also supportive of one another,” Veronica Bwlaly, one of the Blue Team overall captains, said.
Spirit Knight is a time to come together as a community and a family. It's like a family game night for the Knights. Spirit Knight is March 29, so come out and support your team!
Staff spotlight:
Marian High School is full of wonderful and helpful staff, including Chris Grossnickle, who has worked at Marian since 2004. She started off as a cheer coach and helped out with sports for 10 years. In 2014 she switched to the development department.
One highlight of her current duties is she works by organizing Spirit Knight. She does a lot of hard work all year to get stuff together for the day of Spirit Knight. She works extremely hard to make it a great time for the student and parents. Although it can be stressful, she loves organizing Spirit Knight.
“My favorite part about Spirit Knight is helping the student leaders' vision and ideas come to life. Every single one of us has unique gifts, talents and skills. There is a way for everyone to be part of Spirit Knight and live out the mission to learn from the past, serve the present, and lead the future by unifying the student body and building lifelong community,” Grossnickle said.
In addition to organizing Spirit Knight, Grossnickle loves the Marian High School community as a whole.
“My favorite part about Marian High School is the people. ‘Once a Knight, Always a Knight, isn't just a motto - it is alive and well in the hearts of us all as we treasure the people and relationships that are part of the whole story of Marian High School . I think being connected in faith gives us a heavenly bond of family that really supersedes the typical civil educational experience,” Grossickle said.
Student spotlight:
Maddie Price is an extraordinary young lady. Price excels as quite a few things, especially photography. Price takes photos for the high school's basketball teams, and has participated in the Scholastic’s Art and Writing Competition. She loves to dedicate her time to photos. It's a great way to express herself.
“She's very good at what she does. I hope she never gives it up,” friend Maggie Jordan said.
Not only do her peers agree, but so does Price. She has no plans to quit photography.
“I love doing photography. It's something that makes me happy and makes me feel creative,” Price said.
Along with hobbies, Price enjoys most of her classes. When she's not busy she enjoys hanging out at Marian High School sporting events with her friends.