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Four members of the Carroll High School Class of 2022 added their names to the list of Patriots who earned recognition in the National Merit Scholarship program.

Vivian Dao, Claire LaMelle, Shannon McIntyre, and Max Weitz were named Commended Students by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) and received a Letter of Commendation in honor of this accomplishment.  The NMSC honored approximately 34,000 high school seniors nationwide with this distinction, and these students placed in the top 50,000 of students who entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship competition by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

Including these four students, Carroll High School has educated 109 Patriots who earned distinction as National Merit Scholarship Finalists, Semifinalists, or Commended Students since 2008.

"Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success," the NMSC said in a release.  "These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of education excellence in our nation.  We hope that this recognition will help broaden their education opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success."

Three groups of Carroll students are joining the fight against blood cancers and vying for the title of Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Student of the Year by raising funds for life-saving research.

LLS, the world's largest nonprofit fighting blood cancer, awards the title of Student(s) of the Year to the candidate or co-candidates in each community who raises the most funds during the competition.  These Carroll students have seen the impact of blood cancers firsthand and are participating in the fundraising initiative to put an end to these diseases.

Brooke Grieshop '22

I decided to run for Student of the Year through the LLS in honor of my mom, Ellen Mason Grieshop, and my grandma, Marilyn Hohm Grieshop.  Within the past two years, I have suffered through two events that have changed my outlook on cancer entirely.  A few months ago, during this crazy COVID time, my grandma was diagnosed with lung cancer.  After having many scans done, the doctors had determined that the cancer had traveled to her brain in many areas.  She was in the process of battling cancer when she contracted COVID, and this lead to her passing.  At that moment, I saw how cancer can take a loved one away from you.  I saw first hand how cancer has a drastic impact on the patients and the family as a whole.  Almost two years ago my mom was killed in a tragic car accident, which caused her to go into a coma and lose her life nine days later. This showed me how tomorrow isn't promised and how thankful we need to be for our family.  My mom lived in constant fear of becoming the next cancer patient, as she lost both her parents before the age of eighteen due to cancer.  I am convinced that God took my mom away to save her from having to go through the battle that is cancer and saving me from seeing her like that, as she once saw her own parents.  If I reach 50,000 dollars, I can name a research grant after these two wonderful women.  Let's put an end to cancer. Thank you!

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McKenna Lange '23, Paxton Clark '23, and Hannah Wagner '23

We encourage you to join us in supporting LLS by making a donation to our fundraising campaign. By donating to LLS, you support the many facets of LLS’s mission work from investing in groundbreaking research, providing education and support to patients, and advocating at the state and federal level for legislation to help those living with cancer. Our appreciation for your support cannot be overstated — each and every dollar donated to LLS brings us closer to our goal to end blood cancer and makes an impact for cancer patients and their families.

As a global leader in the fight to end cancer, LLS is committed to doing more for blood cancer patients and families than any organization in the world. LLS’s signature fundraising campaigns drive critical support for its mission, including a nearly $1.3 billion investment in cutting edge cancer research worldwide since it was founded in 1949. Since the 1960s, survival rates for many blood cancer patients have doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled.

Every facet of LLS’s mission – research, education and support, and policy and advocacy – work in harmony to put blood cancer patients and their families first. LLS has helped millions impacted by cancer throughout its more than 70-year history, even funding breakthrough blood cancer research to advance lifesaving treatments and cures that is now helping patients with other cancers and diseases. That is why at LLS we say that beating cancer is in our blood.

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Bailee Bolton '24

Hello, I’m Bailee Bolton, and I'm running for Student of the Year.  My goal this year is to raise at least $10,000, and with your help, I can!  I’m in this campaign because I watched a friend of mine go through leukemia, and it was so tough to watch his family struggle and try their best.  I also just want to run for this amazing campaign since it is such an amazing cause and helps millions around the world.  I want to be part of the difference we are going to make!

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Editor's Note: The full version of this story appears in the February 2021 issue of the Catholic Telegraph Magazine.  Visit their website to read the entire story.

Sam Wittmann is not a typical high school junior. He’s an exceptional artist who has drawn the connection between his art and his faith, thanks to a class assignment.

“The project was a study of drawing hands from life,” explained Renee Merland, chair of the visual arts department at Carroll High School in Dayton. “Students used their own hands as their reference and chose one object to hold in their hand that was symbolic or meaningful to their life.”

The result was an assortment of artwork featuring childhood toys or small stuffed animals – even favorite foods and beverages made the cut. Against the backdrop of typical teenage memories, Wittmann’s work, a color pencil drawing of his right hand holding a rosary, showed profound depth, both artistically and spiritually.