Four St. Thomas scholars championed at the 46th Annual Harvard National Forensics Tournament, the largest and most prestigious high school speech and debate tournament in the country.

Patrick Pham ‘21 placed 7th in Informative Speaking and reached the octa-finals with Gus Boettcher ‘21 in Duo Interpretation.

Luke McLane ‘22 advanced to the double octa-finals in Dramatic Interpretation.

The Eagle scholars along with Diego Ramos ‘22 all posted winning records in their respective events.

St. Thomas achieved significant distinction among 4,600 competitors from 420 high schools representing 36 states and six nations. Participants were evaluated on the validity of their arguments and presentations vying in Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, Student Congress, and a variety of individual and duo speech events.

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Nicholas Kurzy ‘20, Nicholas Chandler ‘20 and Luke Martin ‘23 led St. Thomas to the 16th annual World War II High School Quiz Bowl championship, the fourth straight team title and first-ever four-time winner in the event.

Kurzy and Chandler anchored all four victories. The in-depth competition that challenges students with WWII knowledge and team-building is hosted by The National WWII Museum in New Orleans and sponsored by the New Orleans Advocate.

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In January St. Thomas was proud to participate in the Catholic-Jewish Youth Summit at St. Agnes Academy.

Pax-Shalom-Peace served as the theme as scholars toured Catholic and Jewish places of worship, museums, galleries, and schools throughout the Houston area.

This special partnership engages scholars to reflect on their common spiritual heritage as well as the unique identities of Jews and Christians, fostering inter-religious learning, understanding, and friendship.  Faculty member Elizabeth Schaeperkoetter participated with Bruno Castilla ‘22, Snapper Pharr ’21, Ted Naeher ‘23, Jimmy Phan ‘20, and Isaac Cabello’23.

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Six St. Thomas scholar performers excelled at the Texas Private School Music Educators Association All-State ensembles.

Charles Boutte ‘20, Raphael Mamaradlo ‘21, Noah Mims ‘21, Leonardo Morales ‘21, Leo Wilson ‘21, and James Dickinson ‘23 earned exclusive recognition among the best private school choir musicians from the state. Previously in the academic year, their recorded auditions were ranked by panels of five judges and the Eagle singers received exemplary honors.

Wilson was named in the Bass 2 section for his third consecutive All-State selection while Mims captured Bass 1 distinction for the second straight year.

Boutté in Bass 2, Mamaradlo and Dickinson in Tenor 1, and Morales in Tenor 2 were saluted for the first time.

The Saturday concert was held at the Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson, Texas with conductor Dr. Pamela Elrod Huffman from Southern Methodist University.

Bravo!

Catholic. Basilian. Teaching Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge since 1900.