Throughout Lent, the Stations of the Cross are prayed on Fridays to remember Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross. Join us this afternoon at 3:20 as we prepare to enter Holy Week and contemplate the Passion of our Lord.
All middle schoolers are invited to come cheer on the SMA Lacrosse team as they take on Notre Dame de Sion on Wednesday, April 16. Come join in on the Guardian spirit! The game starts at 5:30 pm on the SMA field. We hope to see you and your friends there!
Over 100 middle schoolers joined us last weekend for our second middle school encounter night and lock-in. This night gave Diocesan middle schoolers a chance to experience some of what the SMA community system has to offer. St. Michael student ambassadors led tours around the building, ice-breaker games in the gym, and small group discussions. Fr. Sappington gave a talk on St. Josephine Bakhita and the middle schoolers heard student witnesses from Mary Salanski and Ava Pate. After adoration and praise and worship, the night concluded with free time and games.
SMA Junior, Nolan Skelsey, won bronze in the Special Olympics State Basketball Championship in St. Louis this past weekend! His team, the Lee's Summit Vipers of Doom, played in the most competitive division and worked hard for an impressive team finish. Congratulations Nolan, we're so proud of you!
Biology students got up close and personal with earthworms this week. Working in teams of 2 or 3, they dissected and identified the parts of the worm's anatomy. Discoveries included which end of the worm is the front, where the worm's internal organs are, and how the worm's digestive system works. God's creation is amazing! Although sometimes a little gross.
As part of our preparation for Easter this Lent, we had our Lenten Penance service today. After a student witness from Elizabeth Robertson, students had the opportunity to sit in adoration of Christ in the Eucharist and go to confession. It was a beautiful hour of contemplating God's goodness and His desire for us to return to Him when we fail.
Huge congratulations to Ava Pratt who has been selected to the Class 5 All-State basketball team! Ava has had an amazing season and her hard work led to a new school record of 45 points in a single game. So proud of Ava on this incredible achievement!
Say hello to the 2025-2026 SMA Community Captains! These students exemplify what it means to be a servant leader and we can't wait to see them in action next year!
Bakhita Community - Marjorie Hotop & Carly LeNeave
JPII Community - Bennett Barnthouse & Grace Lowry
Pio Community - Addy Basler & Gianna Swingle
Kolbe Community - Molly McNamara & Ella Medlin
Sign up for one of SMA’s summer camps! From football to baking, there’s something for everyone. Summer camps are exciting opportunities for youth to interact with high school coaches and players! Learn about the St. Michael the Archangel community and experience our team spirit. The full summer schedule and registration info can be found at smacatholic.org/camps
Cheer on the Guardian Gears robotics team at their competitions this weekend and next! Any 8th graders interested in high school robotics are invited to join the team for lunch during the competition. Sign up with the QR code in the photo. We hope to see you there!
The peeps came, the peeps saw, and the peeps conquered in Mrs. Draper's Latin class today. Students researched the different ranks of the Roman army and outfitted their peeps with the appropriate armor and weaponry. The peep soldiers were then lined up in formation as a (mostly) edible legion!
Lent begins tomorrow! This year we are partnering with Hallow and participating in the Pray40 challenge. Join us as we journey through St. Josemaría Escrivá’s The Way and reflect on lives devoted to Christ, including Servant of God Takashi Nagai. Discover this remarkable Japanese physician’s survival of the 1945 atomic bombing, struggles, and conversion through A Song for Nagasaki. The 40 day challenge will include guided prayers, readings, and reflections, as well as challenges to implement in your daily life. We look forward to growing closer to Christ this Lent and encourage you to do the same!
You can find out more about Hallow and Lenten prayer at https://hallow.com/lent/
After all school Mass last week, Mr. Sean Sandstrom was presented with the Outstanding Beginning Teacher Award. The Outstanding Beginning Teacher Award recognizes teachers in their first two years of service who demonstrate excellence in serving children in school districts across Missouri. Mr. Sandstrom is the dean of our Padre Pio community and teaches Algebra, Geometry, and Intro to Education Careers. He also coaches tennis and JV girls basketball. Congratulations Mr. Sandstrom!
At State Wrestling Saturday, the Guardian Wrestling team placed 5th overall with 5 podium finishers! Parker Lutz, Brody Narron, and Rowdy Narron placed 4th in their weight classes. Cole Sackett placed 2nd in his class. Landon Lane placed 1st to make him a back-to -back state champion! Let's go Guardians!
Check out this week's events. We will be having all-school Mass on Wednesday this week for Ash Wednesday and we can't wait to cheer on Guardian Basketball at Districts!
Thank you, Icon Machine Tool, for being a Platinum Level Business Alliance partner and for your continued support of St. Michael the Archangel Catholic High School.
For more information on how to become a Business Alliance partner visit, https://www.smacatholic.org/page/give.
COMING SOON! Our school has partnered with Hallow this year as a way to intentionally bring God into the lives of our students and teachers - not only in the classroom, but all the time!
Hallow is a Catholic prayer and meditation app with over 5,000 sessions to choose from. The content inside the app ranges from daily meditations, traditional prayers, Bible stories for sleep, kids and family prayers, mental health meditations, music, and so much more.
Stay tuned for more info on Hallow, how to sign up, and how to participate in the Lenten prayer challenge in the next week!
Congratulations to the SMA girls swim team,
Avery Frick, Clara Dickerson, Amelia Seelbrede, Ava Ventimiglia, and Lyla Ventimiglia for closing out a successful season at the MSHSSA State Championship this weekend. These ladies continue to make school history!
Here are some key highlights from this weekend's MSHSAA State Swim Championship.
- First time in school history for a SMA swimmer (Avery Frick) to receive top honors, in back-to-back state championships! Avery finished 2nd in the state, in both the 50 and 100 freestyle, with an incredible new PR of 52:50 in the 100 freestyle.
- First time in school history that our A relay team qualified for the final championship, with an impressive 12th place after prelims. Both the 200 & 400 free relay set new team and school records.
- Freshman Lyla Ventimiglia was the first SMA swimmer to compete at state in the individual 100 butterfly. She finished with a new PR.
- Junior Ava Ventimiglia and sophomore Amelia Seelbrede both set new PRs in their relay races.
- Junior Clara Dickerson made an impressive first showing at state, swimming the backstroke in the 200 medley relay.
Congratulations Guardians!
Join us for our fourth Encounter of the year, for a night of praise and worship music, Eucharistic Adoration, a student witness, and Confession. Join us as we experience Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist! There will be refreshments after Benediction for a brief social. The evening will begin at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, February 25th.
All are welcome!! We look forward to praying with you and for our school community. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Dempsey (rdempsey@smacatholic.org).
Congratulations to our Academic All-State athletes! The softball team was also recognized with a team honor for their team GPA of 3.705. We're so proud of our Guardians! #GuardUp
