Student Standouts: Ford ’26, Sixth-Grade Community Service, Varsity Boys Lacrosse, and Varsity Track & Field
Congratulations to this week’s standouts below. Way to go #RamNation! And as always, if you have a story to share, please email weeklynews@micds.org.
Senior Receives Brightman Award from Elementary School
At the City Academy celebration for their Class of 2026, MICDS senior Andrew Ford ’26 received the Brightman Award. The Brightman Award is an annual honor given to City Academy alumni graduating from high school. It recognizes exceptional community leadership, civic service, and a strong commitment to giving back to others. Recipients also receive a college scholarship to support their higher education. Andrew will be attending DePaul University in the fall. Congratulations, Andrew!
Penny Wars Student Fundraiser Benefits St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
During Winter Term, students enrolled in grade-level choice had the option to read, watch anime, chill, or help around campus. Many students chose to help around campus, which gave rise to the idea of a community service fundraising effort: Penny Wars. Penny Wars is a popular fundraising challenge in which the goal is to collect the most points to win a nominal prize, with teams sabotaging one another by adding silver coins that subtract from their opponents’ scores, all with the larger aim of raising funds for a charitable organization or other endeavor.
During a brainstorming session, Kaleb Belle ’32 brought the idea to the table after participating in a similar event at his previous school. Classmates Dylan Yalamanchili ’32, Cameron French ’32, Drew Samson ’32, and Darian Day ’32 jumped on board and, along with the help of Middle School English Teacher Kelly Walsh, made quick work of assigning roles and duties for accounting, logistics, marketing, and community outreach.
For the two-week challenge, the team implemented several strategies to increase student participation and to ramp up the competitive spirit, such as Sabotage Tuesdays and Double Down Wednesday. The students counted coins daily, tabulating by advisory, then added the results to the whiteboard and to a Google spreadsheet that tallied daily results and the running total.
In the end, the students raised $775.89 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Ms. Walsh contacted St. Jude about the fundraiser, and they were overjoyed at the effort and shared information with the students about how a gift like theirs gets put to work.
Did you know?
- $750 covers a patient’s use of a temporary motorized scooter while healing
- $500 covers the cost of five sickle cell transition packets
- $250 covers just one day of oxygen for a patient
- $50 covers 13 IV bags
The students wrote a letter that will accompany the check that said, “We collected this money so that we can donate to you guys because we feel like no kid should ever have to suffer from cancer or any other harsh illnesses. We hope our contribution makes a difference in the lives of those who need it most.”
Thank you, Kaleb, Dylan, Cameron, Drew, and DJ, for your dedication to serving those in need and having fun while doing it! Thank you to all who contributed!
Boys Lacrosse Wins State Championship for 14th Year
The MICDS Boys Lacrosse Team earned its 11th state title in the last 12 years, and 14th state title overall, on Friday, May 22 when they played against Chaminade at Missouri Baptist University’s Spartan Field at 7 p.m. It was an 11-7 victory for the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 2 boys championship game. Check out a recap of the game by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which highlights Justin Bishop ’27 for scoring four goals. It also highlights Steele Crissman ’26 for being named Most Valuable Player for the Class 2 Championship. Crissman earned that title for scoring two goals and making many assists.
The championship game meant a lot to Ben Williams ’26, who relished playing in the final game against his sophomore brother Jake, the starting goalie for Chaminade. Watch this video by First Alert 4, which covers this special game for the Williams family!
Way to go, Rams!
Student-Athlete State Qualifiers at Track & Field Sectionals
Congratulations to Justyce Sanders ’27 who qualified for State in the 200-meter dash, the 400-meter dash, and the 800-meter dash at the MSHSAA Class 4 and 5 Sectionals earlier this week. Additionally, the Girls 4×800-meter race—with Morgan Macam ’26, Blaike Borders ’28, Narya Phatak ’26, and Veronika Landrum ’29—is bound for State as well with a qualifying time of 9:33.8. The same four track stars also qualified for state in the 4×400-meter relay.
In Boys Track & Field, our State qualifiers include Miles Coleman ’26 in the Shot Put, Muhammed Murphy ’26 in the High Jump, and Henry Rohan ’26 in the 100-meter dash. Go Rams!