NCHS Proudly Announces Three 2007 Merit Scholarship Competition Semifinalists

Nolan Catholic High School administration, faculty, and staff proudly announce that three members of the Class of 2007 have been selected as Semifinalists in the 2007 Merit Scholarship Competition.

Seniors (l to r) Christopher McCauley, Richard J. Bowling, and Eric G. Stradley are among 16,000 Semifinalists in the 52nd Annual competition. They now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,200 Merit Scholarship® awards, worth $33 million, that will be offered in the spring of 2007.

For more information on the competition, visit the National Merit Scholarship Corporation website at: www.nationalmerit.org.

NCHS Salutes Two Outstanding Students with Nominations for the Wendy’s High School Heisman Award

Nolan Catholic High School seniors Sydney Riegel and Nick Coates have been honored with a nomination for the prestigious Wendy’s High School Heisman Award. The program, awarded in conjunction with the collegiate Heisman, celebrates the achievements of the nation’s top high school seniors in and out the classroom.

Nolan Catholic school officials nominated these two promising leaders for their academic aptitude, athletic talent and exceptional commitment to their school and communities.

“These students are the future community leaders,” said Archie Griffin, the only two-time winner of the prestigious Heisman Memorial Trophy and Wendy’s High School Heisman program spokesperson. “It gives me great pride to see young people strive for excellence on and off the field.”

Created in 1994, the Wendy’s High School Heisman program, has been celebrating youth excellence for 13 years. The program consists of five phases – Nomination, State Finalists, State Winners, National Finalists and National Winners. Entries are initially evaluated by ACT Assessment during the State Finalist and State Winner phases and the passed on to a distinguished panel of judges.

NCHS Students Become Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas

This past spring, Nolan Catholic High School students become Big Brothers and Big Sisters to students at Meadowbrook Elementary School in east Fort Worth. The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas is to enrich, encourage, and empower children to reach their highest potential through safe, positive one-to-one mentoring relationships.

Thanks to the leadership of Mr. Jerry Reis and his son, junior Patrick Reis, 27 Nolan Catholic students were trained and began working as “Bigs”, as volunteers are known as, with their “Littles”, the Meadowbrook students, for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Nolan Catholic looks forward to continuing its support of this fine organization and is grateful to families, such as the Reis family, for their leadership at Nolan and in the community.

NCHS Juniors Participate in the Ulster Project

Nolan Catholic High School juniors Patrick Hennessey and Matthew Houk were among 2 of 16 American teens that participated in the Ulster Project this past summer. Hennessey and Houk, along with 16 Northern Irish teens, were part of a collaboration to bring Protestant and Catholic teens together for a month to learn unity, tolerance and respect for each others religion.

Patrick, a Catholic, hosted Peter McLoughlin from Belfast and Matthew hosted Jack Armstong, a Protestant also from Belfast. The teens enjoyed a month a team building activities and events, and participated in the City Arlington 4th of July Parade.

NCHS Student Thomas B. Russell Receives National Honor

Nolan Catholic High School senior Thomas B. Russell has been selected for membership to the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS).

The society recognizes the top scholars in the nation and invites only those who have achieved superior academic excellence.

Membership in NSHSS entitles qualified students to enjoy a wide variety of benefits, including scholarship opportunities, academic competitions, free events, member-only resources, publications, participation in programs offered by educational partners, online forums, personalized recognition items, and publicity honors.

Please Support Project Graduation

You can help in two ways:

• Cell Phone and Ink Jet Cartridge Recycling for Project Graduation - This is a very profitable fundraiser supporting our end of year party for graduating seniors. Collection bins are located in the Main Office and Dean's Office. Please spread the word to friends and colleagues. Be sure to remove your SIM card before turning in your phone and enclose printer cartridges in ziplock bags.

• Individual or Corporate Sponsorships – Please contact Pat Pierret (817) 275-4363, Brenda Tibbets (817) 784-6948 or Kim Battes (817) 299- 0791.

NCHS Daily Bulletins

The Nolan Catholic Daily Bulletin is available everyday on Ed-Line. Parents, please be sure to view this bulletin on a daily basis for important information related to your child and their activities.

The Bulletin also has information as to daily and weekly activities throughout the campus that might be of interest to you and/or your child.

The NCHS administration encourages you to actively view the Bulletin on a daily basis.

Class of 2006 Share Their Bounty

Every year the parents of Nolan Catholic seniors hold Project Graduation, usually on the night of graduation, that lasts all night. Many activities are planned and the budgeting for the funds raised is always a balancing act between spending too much and spending too little. Funds are raised throughout the year (see above) and the anticipated (again a guess) shortfall is usually charged to the seniors.

This year was different.

When all was said and done, there was still money left over and the Class of 2006 overwhelmingly voted to donate the money to two projects. The chosen recipients were the school in Costa Rica where many had visited with Dr. Kuban and Cook Children's Hospital in honor of their classmate T.K. Cocjin, who had been a patient there.

The final amount was $750 to each organization!

The parents and teachers of this class should be proud that these students get it. They understand the power of giving back and were pleased to do so. It is hoped that future classes will follow this lead and if they find themselves with extra funds, they decide to share their bounty with others.

Way to go Class of 2006!

A special thanks goes to Mary Ann Kleuser and Brenda Gilb for their contributions to Project Graduation 2006.

Mardi Gras 2007

Mark your calendars and make plans to attend Nolan Catholic’s 26th Annual Mardi Gras! This year’s event will be held at the Tarrant County Convention Center on February 10, 2007. The chairs this year are Jerry and Kerry Reis.

The next meeting is scheduled for 6:00pm in the Library on Wednesday, Sept. 27.

5th Annual NCHS Golf Tournament

This year's tourney is scheduled for Columbus Day, Mon., Oct. 9, 2006. The tournament will be held at The Links at WaterChase followed by an evening of fun and a catfish dinner. If you don't play golf, we can always use sponsors for the coaches or brothers.

Contact Mark Absher for info on the golf tournament.
Mark@SusanHoll ar.com

Homecoming 2006

The Vikings made Homecoming 2006 a successful one by beating the Polytechnic Parrots 46-0 Friday, September 15 at Doskocil Stadium. The Vikings dominated play throughout the game and run their record to 2-1 thus far in the season.

Planned Giving

A bequest is one of the simplest ways to make a charitable gift; however, statistics tell us that only 4 out of 10 Americans across all age groups have current wills. Do you have a will...a current will? Have you remembered NCHS in your will?

For more information, please contact:

Connie R. Brown, Director of Institutional Advancement/Development at NCHS (817)457-2920 ext. 1559 conniebrown@nolancatholichs.org

Pat Miller, Associate Director of Development Catholic Foundation of North Texas, Diocese of Fort Worth (817)560-2452 ext. 116 pmiller@fwdioc.org.