Prayer for the Beatification of Catherine McAuley
Loving God, you chose Catherine McAuley for the service of your people who are poor, sick and uneducated. You inspired her to found the Sisters of Mercy that these good works might endure. Give to each of us a portion of her compassionate spirit and ardent desire to serve your suffering people.
Bless all our undertakings and grant that union and charity may always thrive among us. Graciously hear our prayer for Catherine, and by granting the favors we ask through her intercession, hasten the day when her sanctity will be celebrated by all the church. Amen.
School Updates
Catholic Schools Week
Our theme for the week is Mercy Education is Universal. We are really focusing on Mercy's global connection. Each day is focused on a particular country where a Mercy school is located. A few facts will be read about that country and/or that particular Mercy school over the morning announcements. In addition, throughout the week, we will be posting photos of a cardboard cutout of Catherine McAuley placed around Omaha, and it will be a competition for the girls to find out where the picture was taken. ("Where in Omaha is Catherine McAuley?" instead of "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?")
Monday's country is Ireland. Students get a free dress down day in orange, white, and green: the colors of Ireland's flag. At the kickoff assembly - we play a trivia game. Then, we dance an Irish jig to the "Just Dance" Irish Meadow Dance together - student body and staff! We will hide pots of gold around the school and whoever finds them, gets to keep the candy.
Tuesday's country is Honduras. The free dress down day colors are blue and white. Students can visit the Media Center to color flags from the different countries where Mercy schools are located. Flags will be displayed, and each flag colored will earn the student their name in a drawing for a prize.
Wednesday will celebrate Jamaica. Students dress down in black, green, and yellow for free. We will play music during each passing period.
Thursday's country is Australia. Students dress down in red, white, and blue, but must bring in a donation to the Open Door Mission to participate in the dress down day. Socks, hats, gloves, underwear, etc. will be collected and donated.
Friday's focus will be on our favorite Mercy school right at 48th and Woolworth! Students dress in blue and gold (or other Mercy spirit wear) for free. Classes 1-8 will be held in the morning. Staff serve the students pancakes for lunch after 8th period. Then, students will participate in a special activity that will test their knowledge and international prowess.
Great times are sure to be had to celebrate our Catholic Mercy Schools around the world.
VOTE FOR MERCY!
The Superstar Contest has begun! Get the word out to your staff, parents, alumni, and the rest of your community. Voting is open for two weeks, and closes on February 10th. On February 13th, we will announce our 10 winners of the Superstar Catholic Schools Contest for 2023.
Visit our Superstar Contest page to vote: spiritcatholicradio.com/superstar2023
Prizes include:
An interview with our Spirit Mornings show hosts to tell us more about your school
Prayer cards for each student
$1,000 worth of on-air recorded announcements to promote your school however you choose
Banners to display inside and outside your school
A visit from Spirit Catholic Radio
Bragging rights and a trophy (of course)
Art Awards
Some very talented Mercy artists won 14 awards in the Nebraska State Scholastic Competition! Receiving Honorable Mentions are: Margaret Bencker, Abbey Micek, Grace Swoboda, Jo Torneten, Ann Wilson and Sarah Ronayne. Sarah earned 2 Honorable Mentions. Silver keys were awarded to Jo Torneten and Gracie Murphy. Mercy's FIVE Gold Key winners include: Emily Caniglia (photography), Reese Drake (photography), Sofia Sheikh (photography), Suli Nungaray (painting), and Bella Earl (photography). All Gold Key art will go on to competition at Nationals with results announced in March.
You can view these amazing works in the Media Center before they will be on exhibit at the OPS Teachers Administration Building in March. Congratulations Monarchs! 
Freshman wins award at MLK competition
Raelyn Barton competed and won 3rd place in the Spoken Word: Living the Dream portion of the 5th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. "Living the Dream competition.
Check her out at the 43:23 mark of this YouTube video.
Fellow Alumna named new Assistant Principal
Please join us in welcoming (back!) Dr. Kim Oliver. She will serve as the next Assistant Principal, starting this fall. She succeeds Holly McCoy who is retiring after serving Mercy High School for 45 years. We're very grateful for Ms. McCoy's tireless efforts for the sake of our school and extremely excited to have Dr. Oliver join our administration.
Join Us in Prayer
We remember these alumnae who recently passed:
Camilla Cullen Hamsa SJ ’52
Patricia Zauner Paulsen ’56
Sylvia Capazo Robino ’63
Beverly Florick Bidhendi ’68
Claudia M. Perdue ’70
Rita M. Brey ’71
If we have omitted anyone from this list, please contact our Database Coordinator, Naomi Chambers, at chambersn@mercyhigh.org or 402.553.9424.
Join us on February 11, 2023, at 9:15 a.m. for the Mother McAuley Prayer Circle. We will begin by saying the Rosary. Coffee and conversation to follow.