On this episode of the Post Podcast, Thomas More Prep-Marian principal Chad Meitner shares information about the upcoming high school graduation as the end of the year approaches.
Transcript:
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James Bell
Thomas More Prep-Marian is getting ready for their graduation, principal Chad Meitner stops by to share with us some of the details on this episode of the Post Podcast.
Chad Meitner
It's the end of the year craziness. But yeah, nothing out of the ordinary. We have our last days of school, the 18th of May is our last day at TMP, Marian. But actually the seniors get out May 16. Couple days hopefully will bonus for them. Junior High gets out May 17. One day early. So yeah, it's starting to get to that last week.
James Bell
Very cool. And we're gonna talk a lot about that. Before we get there, though, last time, or maybe it was two weeks ago. I know either way, though. The ACE auction wrapped up. And from what you were telling me just right before we went on, it went really well this year, right?
Chad Meitner
Oh, yeah, it goes, it goes well, every year and this year was no exception. And it's, you know, within a lot of economic factors that we all hear a lot about we there's always a question mark, how's it going? How well will it do this year compared to past years? And, you know, we're still getting in bills and donations. So we don't have final numbers. But it's, it's really looking good. And it could possibly be one of the best ever, which is exciting.
James Bell
Yeah, I love to hear that. And I, as I already mentioned to you just a little bit ago, before we got on Erin, we were talking to Sarah earlier in charitable giving right now is is kind of a hard thing for people to do. So it's amazing to hear that people stepped up and really helped out the Catholic school during that HBase auction, because that's one of your big fundraisers for the year, right? Yes, it's
Chad Meitner
for our operations for any capital needs. You know, that's how we have to tackle it. And so for people who've always been so generous, near and far, we just continue to have to just say thank you with humble gratitude, because it's a great school, it's a great asset for our community. And it wouldn't be possible without so many people pitching in what they can, you know, some give a little, some give a lot, but it all helps us achieve our mission.
James Bell
Absolutely. So as we mentioned, we're gonna talk a little bit about the year we got, well, gosh, you say, what was it the 16th?
Chad Meitner
Yeah, for the SR 16. Like, one week away?
James Bell
Yeah. What so how's it how's the year went this year,
Chad Meitner
it's been a great year. I mean, of course, it's been a more normal year than the last two, because we've just been able to go about our business without any anything the out of the ordinary particularly. And so this senior class, who's a class who's seen, you know, the, they were sophomores when they lost their their spring like every other student did in the spring of 2020. And then they were part of last year where it was masks for most of the school year. And so this year, it was kind of coming out from all that and more of a celebratory feel, which is good because teenagers tend to not always be the most positive optimistic personalities. And so for them to be so grateful and thankful and take advantage of the opportunities they had is refreshing because we as adults know that you need to be thankful to appreciate those gifts that you're given to make life more enjoyable. So yeah, one week left and well there's a lot to squeeze in and that week, but the graduation will be May 22. So basically a week from this coming Sunday, and they we have to do finals they have to do we have award ceremonies, not just for the seniors but for all junior high and underclassmen students as well coming up this week and concerts and and of course spring sports don't stop they're still rolling all the way through till even Memorial Day weekend. So busy, busy time.
James Bell
You know, I I'm curious. And Pardon my ignorance. Everyone knows I'm not much of a sports fan. I wonder what sports you know, the day you have down there at TMP during the spring? I know baseball is probably one of them. Right? Basically,
Chad Meitner
we have quite a few for school our size, which is which is great for our kids, because you can come to a small school and get engaged in a lot of different ways. And that's I think that's part of the recipe of our success is that the kids almost have to get involved in that pushes them to to better themselves and get out of their comfort zone. But yeah, sports got baseball, softball, we do have a girl soccer. We have boys golf in the spring girls golf in the fall. We have track and field. What am I missing? I think that was everything. So lots of different activities in junior high they have track and field where basically entire student body goes out. Always, school days when we have Junior High track meets is interesting because you only have about 30 kids left in school and the rest of them are at the track meet. But again, those those keep the kids busy and gives them a little reprieve when they can get outside when the weather cooperates and get away from the schoolwork a little bit and just be with the friends and working out and being outside.
James Bell
No, absolutely. Yeah, and that's exactly this year. So it's just been so rough because of the weather has been crazy unpredictable. It's always unpredictable out here but it's been even this year, even a little bit more.
Chad Meitner
I feel like the wind even for Kansas right I think the wind has been even a little above average for us this time of year and early on. It was really windy but dry. but it was still so windy that we had to postpone a lot of events. And then we did start to get some rain, which was much needed. And we're thankful for that. But those that rain did also postpone some events. So we're going to, we're trying to squeeze them in as much as we can here this these last weeks is if they weren't busy enough. But it's good. That's what the what helps us wrap up this school year and style is that everybody can have these these opportunities to show what they can do and have a good finish to the school year. And this graduating class, this the class of 2022 is every year, it's interesting, because each class has their own personality. Well, this class it was, the word that pops to mind is just work ethic hard work this, these kids work extremely hard. And, you know, I look at just the academic is one metric of that this class has just under half of the students have a 96% or higher GPA. That's the equivalent of a 4.0. So when you almost have half of your class, get a 4.0. That, that shell that tells you a lot about how hard they work, because academics is not all about how smart you are. It's about organized. It's about good parenting. It's about our curriculum at TMP, Marian. And it's about how hard these kids work. So we're I'm excited to celebrate the class of 2022. Because of a lot of things, in their, their willingness to work hard is one of them.
James Bell
Yeah, that's incredible. And especially considering what you mentioned a little bit ago, everything that that class had to deal with, over the last four years to build come. That's, it's, it's incredible. I can't even imagine, like how proud everybody is of that group.
Chad Meitner
Yeah. And to think, well, maybe there's a big drop off, the very worst GPA is 82%, which that comes out to over 3.0. So, you know, you could argue maybe grade inflation, but you know, these are the same teachers we've had for quite a few years, these teachers care about kids, but they're not going to let kids just pass on by with gaps in their understanding or gaps in their, their study skills. So, you know, I said it's combination of the curriculum, good parenting, and then just great work ethic. And it's, it's fun to see see him have success and hope that translates into success after high school.
James Bell
Absolutely. You know, and for those kiddos that are wrapping up the year, they got to come back I imagine this time of year, they're thinking about all of those things that they accomplished and got out of their way. And then but also thinking about that break. And then what comes up next year as well.
Chad Meitner
Yeah, everyone thinks about the break. And that's our theme this year has been finished strong, particularly for the seniors, because they're the ones that get the senior itis and you know, they've got the most to feel like celebrating. But everybody too. It's like, okay, we've got a week. But that doesn't mean we're done. And you know, a lot of times you get students say, well, well, gosh, there's only like three days left? Can we just not have school, we're not doing as much as we usually do. And it's like, well, there's got to be a last day at some point, no matter when that date is you're going to come up to it thinking can't we just finish. So you've got to get to the finish line. And you know, finishing strong is, is what you will be most proud of a couple of weeks down the road than if you just skip the last couple of days and don't do your work. And then you spend the whole summer looking at how you dropped the ball there at the end. And we don't want that we want them to enjoy their break. And how do you do that you finish strong so that you can really enjoy the break and be proud of what you've accomplished?
James Bell
Absolutely. Again, you want to share those dates, the graduations coming up. I've already forgotten. Yeah,
Chad Meitner
that's may 22. It's Sunday, May 22. The Baccalaureate mass, which is a big part of our graduation ceremony is that Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, and that is at 2pm, on the 22nd. And then we have graduation in the Fieldhouse at 4pm. Two hours later. So everyone is of course invited if you have a graduate or know the families of a graduate, come to the field house and celebrate with us. And there's parties all the weekend before Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the of the weekend. And then we'll have project graduation, which is our safe party site for our seniors. That night of graduation, the 22nd. And we'll have activities and games, they're going to be over at the fort, big shout out to the fort for helping us host our seniors on that night. And we'll keep them busy all the way till two o'clock in the morning. And after that weekend, even an 18 year old will be exhausted. I'm pretty much guarantee that
James Bell
absolutely. But well any other last thoughts or anything else you wanna hit on before we go?
Chad Meitner
No, just you know, again, it's it's such a privilege to be in this community that supports Catholic education and education in general. And we're so we're so excited to be finishing up the year but please come out. If you can't do an awards night. We have the concert, the band concerts, the choir sings and then we have awards after that. So It's a nice evening of just celebrating all the students accomplishments from academics from faith formation to leadership, sports, all those things. It's a great time of year tiring, but it's it's worth celebrating. These kids have done amazing things and we all should be proud of
James Bell
Thomas More Prep-Marian is getting ready for their graduation, principal Chad Meitner stops by to share with us some of the details on this episode of the Post Podcast.
Chad Meitner
It's the end of the year craziness. But yeah, nothing out of the ordinary. We have our last days of school, the 18th of May is our last day at TMP, Marian. But actually the seniors get out May 16. Couple days hopefully will bonus for them. Junior High gets out May 17. One day early. So yeah, it's starting to get to that last week.
James Bell
Very cool. And we're gonna talk a lot about that. Before we get there, though, last time, or maybe it was two weeks ago. I know either way, though. The ACE auction wrapped up. And from what you were telling me just right before we went on, it went really well this year, right?
Chad Meitner
Oh, yeah, it goes, it goes well, every year and this year was no exception. And it's, you know, within a lot of economic factors that we all hear a lot about we there's always a question mark, how's it going? How well will it do this year compared to past years? And, you know, we're still getting in bills and donations. So we don't have final numbers. But it's, it's really looking good. And it could possibly be one of the best ever, which is exciting.
James Bell
Yeah, I love to hear that. And I, as I already mentioned to you just a little bit ago, before we got on Erin, we were talking to Sarah earlier in charitable giving right now is is kind of a hard thing for people to do. So it's amazing to hear that people stepped up and really helped out the Catholic school during that HBase auction, because that's one of your big fundraisers for the year, right? Yes, it's
Chad Meitner
for our operations for any capital needs. You know, that's how we have to tackle it. And so for people who've always been so generous, near and far, we just continue to have to just say thank you with humble gratitude, because it's a great school, it's a great asset for our community. And it wouldn't be possible without so many people pitching in what they can, you know, some give a little, some give a lot, but it all helps us achieve our mission.
James Bell
Absolutely. So as we mentioned, we're gonna talk a little bit about the year we got, well, gosh, you say, what was it the 16th?
Chad Meitner
Yeah, for the SR 16. Like, one week away?
James Bell
Yeah. What so how's it how's the year went this year,
Chad Meitner
it's been a great year. I mean, of course, it's been a more normal year than the last two, because we've just been able to go about our business without any anything the out of the ordinary particularly. And so this senior class, who's a class who's seen, you know, the, they were sophomores when they lost their their spring like every other student did in the spring of 2020. And then they were part of last year where it was masks for most of the school year. And so this year, it was kind of coming out from all that and more of a celebratory feel, which is good because teenagers tend to not always be the most positive optimistic personalities. And so for them to be so grateful and thankful and take advantage of the opportunities they had is refreshing because we as adults know that you need to be thankful to appreciate those gifts that you're given to make life more enjoyable. So yeah, one week left and well there's a lot to squeeze in and that week, but the graduation will be May 22. So basically a week from this coming Sunday, and they we have to do finals they have to do we have award ceremonies, not just for the seniors but for all junior high and underclassmen students as well coming up this week and concerts and and of course spring sports don't stop they're still rolling all the way through till even Memorial Day weekend. So busy, busy time.
James Bell
You know, I I'm curious. And Pardon my ignorance. Everyone knows I'm not much of a sports fan. I wonder what sports you know, the day you have down there at TMP during the spring? I know baseball is probably one of them. Right? Basically,
Chad Meitner
we have quite a few for school our size, which is which is great for our kids, because you can come to a small school and get engaged in a lot of different ways. And that's I think that's part of the recipe of our success is that the kids almost have to get involved in that pushes them to to better themselves and get out of their comfort zone. But yeah, sports got baseball, softball, we do have a girl soccer. We have boys golf in the spring girls golf in the fall. We have track and field. What am I missing? I think that was everything. So lots of different activities in junior high they have track and field where basically entire student body goes out. Always, school days when we have Junior High track meets is interesting because you only have about 30 kids left in school and the rest of them are at the track meet. But again, those those keep the kids busy and gives them a little reprieve when they can get outside when the weather cooperates and get away from the schoolwork a little bit and just be with the friends and working out and being outside.
James Bell
No, absolutely. Yeah, and that's exactly this year. So it's just been so rough because of the weather has been crazy unpredictable. It's always unpredictable out here but it's been even this year, even a little bit more.
Chad Meitner
I feel like the wind even for Kansas right I think the wind has been even a little above average for us this time of year and early on. It was really windy but dry. but it was still so windy that we had to postpone a lot of events. And then we did start to get some rain, which was much needed. And we're thankful for that. But those that rain did also postpone some events. So we're going to, we're trying to squeeze them in as much as we can here this these last weeks is if they weren't busy enough. But it's good. That's what the what helps us wrap up this school year and style is that everybody can have these these opportunities to show what they can do and have a good finish to the school year. And this graduating class, this the class of 2022 is every year, it's interesting, because each class has their own personality. Well, this class it was, the word that pops to mind is just work ethic hard work this, these kids work extremely hard. And, you know, I look at just the academic is one metric of that this class has just under half of the students have a 96% or higher GPA. That's the equivalent of a 4.0. So when you almost have half of your class, get a 4.0. That, that shell that tells you a lot about how hard they work, because academics is not all about how smart you are. It's about organized. It's about good parenting. It's about our curriculum at TMP, Marian. And it's about how hard these kids work. So we're I'm excited to celebrate the class of 2022. Because of a lot of things, in their, their willingness to work hard is one of them.
James Bell
Yeah, that's incredible. And especially considering what you mentioned a little bit ago, everything that that class had to deal with, over the last four years to build come. That's, it's, it's incredible. I can't even imagine, like how proud everybody is of that group.
Chad Meitner
Yeah. And to think, well, maybe there's a big drop off, the very worst GPA is 82%, which that comes out to over 3.0. So, you know, you could argue maybe grade inflation, but you know, these are the same teachers we've had for quite a few years, these teachers care about kids, but they're not going to let kids just pass on by with gaps in their understanding or gaps in their, their study skills. So, you know, I said it's combination of the curriculum, good parenting, and then just great work ethic. And it's, it's fun to see see him have success and hope that translates into success after high school.
James Bell
Absolutely. You know, and for those kiddos that are wrapping up the year, they got to come back I imagine this time of year, they're thinking about all of those things that they accomplished and got out of their way. And then but also thinking about that break. And then what comes up next year as well.
Chad Meitner
Yeah, everyone thinks about the break. And that's our theme this year has been finished strong, particularly for the seniors, because they're the ones that get the senior itis and you know, they've got the most to feel like celebrating. But everybody too. It's like, okay, we've got a week. But that doesn't mean we're done. And you know, a lot of times you get students say, well, well, gosh, there's only like three days left? Can we just not have school, we're not doing as much as we usually do. And it's like, well, there's got to be a last day at some point, no matter when that date is you're going to come up to it thinking can't we just finish. So you've got to get to the finish line. And you know, finishing strong is, is what you will be most proud of a couple of weeks down the road than if you just skip the last couple of days and don't do your work. And then you spend the whole summer looking at how you dropped the ball there at the end. And we don't want that we want them to enjoy their break. And how do you do that you finish strong so that you can really enjoy the break and be proud of what you've accomplished?
James Bell
Absolutely. Again, you want to share those dates, the graduations coming up. I've already forgotten. Yeah,
Chad Meitner
that's may 22. It's Sunday, May 22. The Baccalaureate mass, which is a big part of our graduation ceremony is that Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, and that is at 2pm, on the 22nd. And then we have graduation in the Fieldhouse at 4pm. Two hours later. So everyone is of course invited if you have a graduate or know the families of a graduate, come to the field house and celebrate with us. And there's parties all the weekend before Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the of the weekend. And then we'll have project graduation, which is our safe party site for our seniors. That night of graduation, the 22nd. And we'll have activities and games, they're going to be over at the fort, big shout out to the fort for helping us host our seniors on that night. And we'll keep them busy all the way till two o'clock in the morning. And after that weekend, even an 18 year old will be exhausted. I'm pretty much guarantee that
James Bell
absolutely. But well any other last thoughts or anything else you wanna hit on before we go?
Chad Meitner
No, just you know, again, it's it's such a privilege to be in this community that supports Catholic education and education in general. And we're so we're so excited to be finishing up the year but please come out. If you can't do an awards night. We have the concert, the band concerts, the choir sings and then we have awards after that. So It's a nice evening of just celebrating all the students accomplishments from academics from faith formation to leadership, sports, all those things. It's a great time of year tiring, but it's it's worth celebrating. These kids have done amazing things and we all should be proud of
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