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Marmion encourages both school spirit and a healthy balance
between mind and body. With these goals in mind, students are encouraged
to participate in multiple clubs and other school activities.
Art Club
The Art Club meets weekly after school. The club has frequent
joint meetings with the art club from Rosary High School.
Biology
Club
The Biology Club works mostly in the Biology Lab, taking
care of the 20 aquariums, 3 terrariums, and the Aviary. The animals include
various fish species, turtles, salamanders, lizards, cockatiels, conures
and macaws. We have just finished the construction of a two tier pond
with running waterfall with the two separate ponds connected by the rapids.
The Biology Club was responsible for petitioning area companies and securing
rocks and other building materials used in the building of this aquatic
system. The members have given up many hours of out of school time to
build the system. Finally, the Biology Club is responsible for most of
the displays found in the display cases on the second floor of the school
building. Past club members have helped me in the design and putting together
of many of the displays, that are now maintained by current club members.
Chess Team
 The
Chess team plays a 14 match season in the Upstate 8 Conference and participates
in several weekend tournaments, including the IHSA State Championship
Tournament. In 2006-07, the team went in seeded 45th out of 121 schools
and finished 45th. They had 4 wins overall and three losses. With last
year's team all graduated, they started with a brand new team this year.
None of them had ever competed at state before. This year at board 1 was
Brian Vasquez, a sophomore from Batavia; Board 2 was Areeb Yasin, a senior
from Sycamore; Board 3 was Mike Krog, a senior from Geneva; Board 4 was
Anthony Grzyb, a senior from Oswego; Board 5 was Ryan Boone, a sophomore
from Geneva; Board 6 was Alex Rindone, a sophomore from Geneva; Board
7 was Alex Densch-Giese, a senior from Big Rock; Board 8 was Eddie Leonard,
a junior from Geneva; Alternates, Pat Gannon, a sophomore from St. Charles
and Kyle Fischer, a sophomore from Geneva.
Debate
Team
The Marmion Academy Debate Team celebrated its season with
an end of the year awards ceremony on the evening of May 9, 2007, to honor
the achievements of 2006-2007. The seventeen members of the debate team
competed in a total of 268 rounds of debate, which amounts to 402 hours
of argumentation both for and against this year’s topic of National Service.
Both the Junior Varsity and Varsity squads finished the year with strong
winning records: Junior Varsity (74-40-1) & Varsity (97-55-1).
In addition to corporate success, individual debaters were
also singled out for excellence. Junior Varsity Debate Letters were awarded
to: Ryan Boone (Soph.), Andrew Canning (Jr.), Matt Jacobs (Soph.), Mike
O’Brien (Jr.), Joe Phelan (Jr.), Ryan Roth (Fr.), Gordon Scott (Jr.),
Will Parkhurst (Fr.), and Dugan Gallina (Fr.). Varsity Debate Letters
were awarded to: Quinton Champer (Sr.), Ben Fischer (Soph.), Keith Harris
(Jr.), Justin Lovelace (Jr.), Richard Peck (Jr.), Alex Rich (Jr.), Johnny
Runzel (Soph.), and Jimmy Wollwert (Soph.). Quinton Champer, our sole
graduating senior, was also recognized for his tremendous contributions
to the team over the last two years and his leadership as a Co-Captain
for the 2006-2007 season.
Awards were also given for the top Varsity and top Junior
Varsity team; they are given to the two-man team who accumulates the best
record in their division. The Top Junior Varsity Team Award was presented
to Mike O’Brien and Gordon Scott for accumulating a 21-6 record for the
season. The Top Varsity Team Award was presented to Alex Rich and Rich
Peck for accumulating a 27-9 record for the season. Also on hand at the
awards ceremony was Pat Berg, to award the Ron Berg ’59 Memorial Award
for Most Improved Debater to Mike O’Brien. The Ron Berg ’59 Memorial Award
is presented to the debater who has substantially improved over the course
of the season in win-loss record, in the eyes of his teammates, and has
shown great dedication to the betterment of his debating skills. Our students
have much to be proud of in their accomplishments, achieving great success
in only two years of competitive debate.
The team is looking forward to another excellent year –
already preparing for next year’s topic on U.S. health assistance to sub-Saharan
Africa. Next year we will continue under the student leadership of two
of our current Co-Captains, Alex Rich and Rich Peck for the Varsity squad,
and have the addition of Gordon Scott as the Captain for the Junior Varsity
squad.
Drill Team
Properly referred to as the Flannigan Rifle Military Drill
Team, this JROTC supported team competes yearly at the Masters Level at
the National High School Drill Team Competition in Daytona Beach FL the
first weekend of May. This year the Drill Team capped a spectacular season
by finishing 4th place overall and winning two 1st place titles (in Exhibition
Squad and Exhibition Platoon). For a history of the team and more information
about this year's team, visit the Flannigan Rifles
website.
Ecology
Club
Don't Throw it out - recycle it!!! The Ecology Club
busies themselves each day during activities period collecting waste paper
in the recycle baskets located in each classroom. But making Marmion more
environmentally conscience is not the only benefit. In addition to the
current recycling project at Marmion, they now collect old cell phones
and printer cartridges to earn points to purchase items for the science
department. Just bring the cell phones or used cartridges to school and
drop them off in Lab 213, or in the box outside the lab before or after
school. Check here http://www.fundingfactory.com/ETCEP/pointvalue.asp
to see if you cartridge qualifies.
French
Club
 French
Club/National French Honor Society French Club and the French National
Honor Society (NFHS) organize activities for National French Week. The
whole school is invited to participate in these events ranging from a
chocolate mousse eating contest to a Tour de France Tricycle Relay.
 They
also organize a Mardi evening of entertainment and food for parents, faculty,
and students. Lastly, French Club and NFHS organize an outing for students
to a French restaurant.
The JETS team participates in the annual WYSE-JETS state
competition. Marmion received the award for highest team score from Andrew
and David Willey.
Latin Club
 Marmion
holds an annual Latin Club Chariot Race during Student Council Week in
the spring. Teams race to capture the championship. The Latin Club also
participates in the State Latin Finals and always brings awards home to
Marmion. This year nine Marmion students qualified to compete in the Illinois
State Latin Finals on April 28. Juniors Robert Cesario, Tim Handell, Conor
McDonnell and Brian Weltzer and freshmen Joseph Burroughs, Mitchell Hymel,
Jeffrey McLean, William Parkhurst and Matthew West.
Thirty Marmion students were honored for their performance
on the National Latin Exam taken on March 5. Gold medal and Summa Cum
Laude Certificates of Merit winners are juniors Robert Cesario, Tim Handell,
Keith Harris, Thomas Hymel, Edward Leonard, Richard Peck, Gordon Scott
and Brian Weltzer; sophomores Tim Benoit, Christopher Schmalzer; and freshmen
Mitchell Hymel, Jeffrey McLean and Matthew West.
Silver medal and Maxima Cum Laude Certificates of Merit
winners are senior Charles Duncan; juniors Daniel Housh, Conor McDonnell;
and freshmen Joseph Burroughs and William Parkhurst.
Magna Cum Laude Certificate recipients are sophomores Thomas
Currie, Matthew Kramer, Nathan Mc Ginn, Jacob Moore and freshmen Stephen
Anderson, John Mason and Nicholas Searles.
Cum Laude Certificate recipients are senior Brett Hartranft
and freshmen Michael DiGiovanna, Kevin Garofalo, Jack Gunderson and Juliocaesar
Landivar.
The format of the National Latin Exam consists of 40 multiple-choice
questions on comprehension, grammar, historical background, classical
literature, mythology, derivatives, literary devices and questions based
on a short passage in Latin. The National Latin Exam is held yearly during
the second week of March, with more than 134,000 Latin students from all
fifty states and eight foreign countries including Australia, Canada,
England, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, Zimbabwe, and, for the
first time, students from Poland participating. The exam is under the
joint sponsorship of the American Classical League and the National Junior
Classical League.
Math Team
 The
Math team holds an annual Marmion Invitational Mathematics Contest. They
also participate in the ICTM High School Mathematics Contest. The 06-07
Math Team had a very successful weekend in Champaign at the ICTM State
Math Contest on April 28. The team finished in 9th place overall in Division
2A. This matches the highest finish ever for the Math Team (last achieved
twenty years ago in 1987). The team's performance at the state meet caps
off an incredibly successful season in which they placed in the top five
at every competition. Next year looks to be even better as we have a very
strong team returning. The Math Team is led by co-captains Rich Peck and
C.J. Heuman.
State Math Contest Highlights:
- The Fresh/Soph 8-Man Team (pictured above) won the state
title in their event! The team, led by sophomore Luke Friedman, includes
Jeffrey Gerold, Matt Kramer, Chris Schmalzer, Eric Schwendner, Sanjay
Prakadan, Paul Reyna, and John Mason.
- The Algebra 2 Team placed 3rd overall, led by team co-captain
Rich Peck who placed 7th individually and co-captain C.J. Heuman who placed
11th individually. Other members of the Algebra 2 team include Tom Hymel,
Matt McHugh, David Iozzo, and Graeme Quinn.
- The Fresh/Soph 2-Man Team of Jeffrey Gerold and Eric Schwendner
finished 4th. This caps an impressive season where they did not finish
below 4th in any meet for this entire season.
- The Oral Presentation Team of C.J. Heuman and Rich Peck
placed 4th in presenting the topic of "Coding Theory".
- Also, the Algebra 1 Team (led by Eric Schwendner) and
the Junior/Senior Relay Team (led by David Iozzo) placed 9th, and the
Junior/Senior 8-Man Team (led by Tom Hymel) placed 10th.
National Honor
Society
The National Honor Society (NHS) is the nation's premier
organization established to recognize outstanding high school students.
More than just an honor roll, NHS serves to honor those students who have
demonstrated excellence in the areas of Scholarship, Leadership, Service,
and Character.
·Scholarship: Students who have a cumulative grade
point average of 3.2 (on a 4.0 scale). These students are then eligible
for consideration on the basis of service, leadership, and character.
·Service: This quality is defined through the voluntary
contributions made by a student to the school or community, done without
compensation and with a positive, courteous, and enthusiastic spirit.
· Leadership: Student leaders who have an above average
leadership score are considered for selection.
· Character: The student of good character upholds
principles of morality and ethics, is cooperative, demonstrates high standards
of honesty and reliability, shows courtesy, concern and respect for others
and generally maintains a good and clean lifestyle.
With induction, a member assumes certain obligations. The
chapter must conduct a service project for the school or community, and
sees to the development of an individual service project for each member.
In addition, regular meetings of the chapter are held to conduct chapter
business and communicate with members. All active NHS chapter members
are expected to support these and other chapter activities. Members projects
include the "Adopt a Highway" project which they share with
Student Council.
Cadet
Call
The Cadet Call releases seven issues throughout the school
year. The newspaper pushes the idea of "responsible journalism."
Peer Tutors
The proactive Peer tutoring program involves students helping
other students. By organizing student tutors to assist their peers, friendships
and strong bond are created between the students from different classes
and focuses on overall academic awareness and interest within the student
body.
Pep Club
Pep Club continually strives to encourage more students to support Marmion
and Rosary athletic teams. Students from both Marmion and Rosary can be
involved in Pep Club. They work with student council and coaches to organize
pep rallies and promote athletics.
Technology
Club
Hands-on physics projects include motor race cars, rockets,
steam engines, weather stations and the annual bridge building competition.
Their focus project has been the building and development of a second
supercomputer, MUNCC2. For more information of the MUNCC2 Project visit
their website www.muncc.marmionacademy.org.
The Spanish Club participates in many activities and contests.
Weight
Lifting Club
The Weight Lifting Club is a club for those that enjoy working
out as a hobby as well as student athletes. The members help in the maintenance
of the weight room as well as the organization of weight lifting competitions
throughout the year. The weight lifting club also works at various functions
such as the Craft Show to help raise money for weight room equipment.
The organizations that the weight lifting club does work for are then
petitioned for money to be used directly in the purchasing and maintenance
of the weight room and its equipment. This year, in addition to what has
already been mentioned, the weight lifting club executive team is organizing
an all conference bench press contest. This contest will include weight
lifters from all of the conference teams. Finally, the same team is organizing
the purchasing of weight lifting club T-shirts as well as shirts given
to club members for free as they meet specific weight lifting and strength
goals.
Yearbook
The yearbook continues to evolve and experiment with format
and content thanks to digital desktop publishing.
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