Every year, students at the Academy of the Holy Cross are required to write an essay for the John Carroll Essay Contest, hosted by the Archdiocese of Washington. Fifteen winners are selected by judges, and winners receive a monetary prize that can go towards paying for their tuition.

“The John Carroll Essay Contest was a contest that we participated in school-wide,” freshman theology teacher Mary DeBroeck explained. She continued, “Every year they give us a topic to consider, and this year it was ‘The Saints of the Future.’”

Sophomore theology teacher, Mary Martino, added “It gives students a chance to write about their faith and every year it is a different theme.”

Ten of the fifteen winners of the contest came from AHC, with Sophomore Kayla Conroy coming in second place overall. Juniors Elizabeth Downey and Valerie Kuzma came in third place. Additionally, seven Tartans of various grade levels won honorable mention awards.

Kayla Conroy remarked, “I was very surprised when I realized I won. My dad came in over spring break and he told me he got a letter from John Carroll. He read the letter out loud and I was really surprised, I wasn’t expecting it.”

DeBroeck shared, “I was definitely surprised by how many of our students won. The last few years we haven’t had any freshman winners so that was really amazing.” She continued, “It made me really proud as the freshman teacher.”

Going into next year, Conroy mentioned, “I think I might want to push myself a little bit harder, knowing that I have the ability to do well.”