Student Standouts & Faculty Feature for January 27, 2023

Student Standouts: Ray ’23, Science Olympiad, Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, Ice Hockey, and Wrestling

Faculty Feature: Bey

 

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.

Ray '23 Makes Big River All-Metro Cross Country Team Fourth Year in a Row

Julia Ray ’23 was recognized on January 22 at the Big River All-Metro Cross Country Team Banquet. She made the 2022 Big River All-Metro Cross Country First Team and was joined at the banquet by MICDS Girls Head Cross Country Coach Jim Lohr. This is the fourth straight year that Julia was selected to the All-Metro team. Athletes are selected based on their season’s accomplishments, their head-to-head finishes, and their placement/time at the past fall’s State meet. Congratulations, Julia!

Science Olympiad Team Members Earn Many Individual Placements

Last Saturday, the MICDS Science Olympiad team had a blast competing at the regional level. Team members placed in several individual events:

  • Bridge: 5th place for the team of Evelyn Lui ’23 and Maggie Johnson ’23
  • Dynamic Planet: 4th place for the team of Nicole Dai ’23 and Nithya Reddy ’23 and 1st place for Celia Swiston ’26.
  • Forestry: 4th place for the team of Harper Carnahan ’26 and Narya Phatak ’26 and 2nd place for the team of Nina Bhayani ’25 and Tina Yang ’23.
  • Green Generation: 3rd place for the team of Nicole Dai and Nithya Reddy.
  • Scrambler: 3rd place for the team of Evelyn Lui and Nikitha Ada ’23.
  • Trajectory: 5th place for the team of Bowen Zhao ’25 and Hale Foster ’25.
  • Write It Do It: 4th place for the team of Nicole Dai and Penny Chen ’23.

Swiston’s first-place finish in Dynamic Planet qualifies her to compete in that event at the state Science Olympiad competition on April 1. Way to go, Rams!

Boys Basketball Defeats McCluer and Fort Zumwalt North

In Boys Basketball news, the Rams beat McCluer 60-34 on Monday with top scorers Brandon Clemens ’26 (15 points), Marcus Coleman ’23 (12 points), and Jason Klutho ’23 (10 points) cementing the win. The Rams also defeated Fort Zumwalt North 54-32 on Wednesday. Top scorers were Coleman with 17 points and Clemens with 14. Next up, MICDS plays Rock Bridge on Friday. Go Rams!

Girls Basketball Rallies to Earn Win

The Girls Basketball team rallied from behind to earn a win against Lindbergh on Monday, 48-42. Genesis Starks ’24 scored 18 points and Binta Fall ’23 scored 12. Way to go, Rams!

Hockey Rams Declared Mid-States Central Division Champs

In Scoops with Danny Mac, the MICDS Ice Hockey team was highlighted last Friday for an incredible season with a 13-2-3 record in the Mid-States Hockey Association Central Division. Last Monday, the team had a 3-1 win over Northwest with goals scored by Ameer Hajji ’24, Henry Cordes ’24, and Harry Kohler ’23. Goalie Miles Jensen ’25 had 12 saves.

On January 24, the Rams officially became the Mid-States Central Division Champions of the 2022-23 season. Congratulations, Rams!

Wrestling Successes: All-Conference First Team, Second Team, and Honorable Mentions

Congratulations to Rams Varsity Wrestling for a great Metro League Conference Meet. Due to a tiebreaker, the Rams ended up Meet Runners-Up. Way to go, Rams!

Also, out of eight wrestlers, MICDS landed five First Team All-Conference wrestlers and one Second Team All-Conference wrestler as well as two Honorable Mentions!

First Team:

  • Jaxon Abernathy ’26
  • Brian Schlafly ’24
  • Lachlan Murray ’24
  • Max Charnond ’25
  • Grant Nicholson ’24

Second Team:

  • Ben Petersen ’26

Honorable Mention:

  • David Osborn ’24
  • Grayson Marks ’23

In other Wrestling team news, Abernathy took 6th and Marks 9th at the Eric Lewis Invitational. Charnond also placed. The Rams finished 17th out of 32 teams. Go Rams!

Faculty Feature: Changa Bey Presents at the People of Color Conference

Our very own Changa Bey, Upper School History Teacher, presented in the fall at the 2022 National Association of Independent Schools‘ People of Color Conference (PoCC). „My presentation was entitled ‚Leveraging the Diversity of Your Faculty and Staff: Using Religion to Have Critical Conversations Around Race and Politics,“ said Bey. This was his second time presenting at the conference. „The session focused on the Teachers Talk program that I have been working on for the last few years. This program aims to bring faculty and staff from diverse subjects and backgrounds to talk with or hold conversations in front of students in connection to what students are working on in that particular history or social sciences class.“ It’s no surprise that Bey’s session was well-attended and the reviews were positive. „It was great to get that appreciation and recognition from fellow educators. Also, the ideas and programs presented seemed to resonate with the audience as I have had multiple requests to present at other schools and review similar programs at other institutions.“

Bey has been conducting Teacher Talks in MICDS classes for three years. „The conversations started in World Religions with bringing in teachers of various faiths and having conversations about controversial topics such as Zionism, Evangelicalism, and Jihad. I have also conducted these talks in U.S. History around the War on Terror,“ he said. „Most recently, I had a Teacher Talk in History of Civil Rights where students, faculty, and staff watched the documentary 13th and then held a conversation afterward. This semester, we plan to conduct Teacher Talks in World Religions again and, in addition, History & Film as well as African History.“

The People of Color Conference’s mission „is to provide a safe space for leadership, professional development, and networking for people of color and allies of all backgrounds in independent schools.“ PoCC offers seminars, a master class, and more than 100 workshops on diverse topics relevant to people of color in independent schools.

Additionally, Bey got accepted into the National Humanities Center’s Teaching African American Studies Winter Institute. According to the National Humanities Center website, „this program will provide an immersive, hands-on learning experience to better understand the approaches and historical perspectives required to create and teach African American studies. Each day’s sessions will include readings and viewings, primary source analysis, and expert scholarship from NHC Fellows.“ Congratulations, Mr. Bey!