Briefs

Montgomery Catholic senior named National Merit Finalist
MONTGOMERY — Montgomery Catholic senior Harrison Skala was recently selected as a National Merit Finalist for 2021. Each year about 1.5 million high school students apply for the National Merit Scholarship Program. 
Of these applicants, 50,000 students qualify for recognition in the program and roughly 15,000 are eventually named finalists each year. 
These students must meet high academic standards in their high school coursework and PSAT testing. This spring, the National Merit Scholarship Cooperation will begin awarding scholarships to about 7,600 of the finalists.


St. Michael teacher selected for NEH summer program
Paul Saboe, a teacher at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, has been selected to participate this summer in the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute on “Freedom’s Lawmakers: Black Leadership during Reconstruction” sponsored by the Center for Innovation in Higher Education and the Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina.  
Saboe has been an active participant in the NEH summer programs, including the 2006 Summer Seminar on “Churchill in America,” the 2007 Summer Seminar on “The American South: Geography and Culture”, the 2014 Landmarks Workshop on “Abraham Lincoln and the Forging of Modern America,” and the 2017 Summer Seminar on “Muslim American Identities, Past and Present.”   
NEH summer programs are by application only and are competitive with a national applicant pool. Only 16 teachers are selected to participate in each Summer Seminar, only 25 for each Summer Institute and only 36 for each Landmarks Workshop.  
Despite the difficulty of being accepted, Mr. Saboe has been selected for a NEH workshop every summer he has applied.
For three weeks in July, Saboe will read and engage with his fellow Summer Scholars in lively discourse on a variety of primary source documents, will listen and converse with noted scholars from around the country, and will design and present a lesson plan to his fellow Summer Scholars that incorporates the seminar material into his teaching.  As part of his selection, Mr. Saboe will receive a $2,850 stipend.  
“The St. Michael History Department believes that the best approach to studying history is to learn how to be a historian, basing our understanding and analysis on evidence presented in primary source documents," Saboe said.  “This seminar will expand the documents that the St. Michael students can access, allowing a deeper understanding of the important role African-Americans played during Reconstruction.  It is also important for students to see their teachers engaging in this type of study as teachers are lifelong students and should model and embrace intellectual curiosity.” 


Mobile ACCW card party scheduled for May 4 at St. Pius X
The Mobile ACCW card party will be from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. May 4 at St. Pius X Parish's Family Life Center.
In lieu of lunch, snacks and drinks will be available for purchase. A silent auction and drawings will still be held. Card players are asked to bring card tables. Chairs will be available.
— Tickets will be mailed and may also be requested from Liz Levins at 251-604-8088 or [email protected].