CLASS Notes

Blake Mellgren ’03 graduated from St. Mary’s as a charter class member in 2003 and attended Santa Margarita Catholic High School. For the last seven years, he has been the owner and Executive Chef of the Craft House in Dana Point. Craft House opened in March 2016 with a focus on local sourcing, sustainable seafood and a commitment to the craft of making delicious food and drinks.

Blake’s love for cooking began at a young age. In middle school, while his friends talked about what they did during the weekend, Blake described the meals he’d prepared for his family. He began working in the restaurant business at age 16, starting as a host and busboy at Mangia Bene in Laguna Niguel. He later worked at Savannah Steak and Chop House. He began working in the kitchen at the famed Chez Melange in Redondo Beach and graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2011 with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing. He worked in New York for a few years, enrolled in the International Culinary Center and completed courses in Restaurant Management. These courses gave him deep insight into all aspects he would need to become a restauranteur. In March 2016, Blake realized his dream of opening his own place, the Craft House in Dana Point. Make sure you say hi next time you are at the Craft House.

Daniel Katzman ’14 graduated from Santa Margarita Catholic High School in 2018 and LSU in May of 2022 with an Agricultural Business Finance degree and a minor in Business Administration. He loved his college years in the South, but he knew he wanted to return home to start his career and be around family. He works in finance at New York Life out of the Newport Beach office. He works with a wide variety of clients doing holistic, comprehensive financial planning. He is a member of the Mission Viejo Activities Committee, a team mentor for Spirit League, an Ambassador for the Mission Viejo Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Mission Viejo Yacht Club. Katzman states, “I love my career because it allows me to help people achieve their goals and be a helping hand to the community.”

Courtney Rodriguez ’15 graduates from Baylor University this May with a degree in Sociology and minors in Child & Family Studies and Spanish. One of her favorite parts of college has been spending summers overseas in places like Dubai and India. She will travel to South Korea this summer and spend another summer overseas on a mission internship. After returning to Texas, Courtney will step into a full-time administrative job at her church overseeing church initiatives, facilities and missions. In college, she developed passions for people, religion, world cultures and social issues and plans to continue pursuing these passions.

Libby Katzman ’16 is a junior at Columbia University, where she studies Chemical Engineering with a concentration in Climate, Energy and Environmental Solutions. She currently works in a lab doing research on energy storage devices, including lithium-ion batteries, and she will be in Germany this summer doing similar research at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Outside of the lab, she spends her time with the Columbia Women’s Wrestling Club team and Ecoreps, Columbia’s largest sustainability group. Libby is very grateful for the learning opportunities she had available at St. Mary’s and for the people who supported her.

Tatum Tatch ’18 graduated from Santa Margarita Catholic High School in May 2022. She achieved a full IB diploma, a GPA of 4.7 and was awarded Magna Cum Laude. At SMCHS, she played soccer for three years and ran track for one year. She was a four-year Model United Nations team member and National Honors Society recipient. After graduation, she moved to Madrid, Spain, to brush up on her Spanish at a total immersion Spanish school. She just began her first semester at the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University, where she is rushing into the sorority Sigma Kappa.

Kendall Memoly ’19 from Santa Margarita Catholic High School, has committed to Colorado College for women’s soccer. Kendall is the cocaptain for the Santa Margarita varsity team and is a starting center attacking midfielder. She received the All Trinity League Honorable Mention last season. Kendall plays club soccer for the So Cal Blues ECNL team and is her club’s team captain. Additionally, Kendall was the junior varsity MVP in her first season playing soccer at Santa Margarita. She participated in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy during her freshman year, which precluded her from being able to play for the Eagles soccer team. During that time, Kendall played basketball for Santa Margarita, was named team MVP and received the Eagle Award for her contributions. Kendall is a four-year scholar-athlete in the classroom and maintains a 4.1 GPA.

Minka Martinez ’19 from St. Margaret’s Episcopal High School has committed to study and play lacrosse at NCAA Division I Penn State University in University Park, Penn. Minka, a four-year starter in lacrosse for the Tartans, was an All-CIF and All-Orange County award winner in 2022. At the club level, Minka has played for Victory, Mad Dog and Renegade lacrosse clubs. Minka has volunteered her time with Special Camp and as a coach for Renegade Lacrosse Club.

Angelina Moschetti ’19 from Santa Margarita Catholic High School has committed to the University of Colorado (Boulder) for women’s soccer. Angelina is a four-year varsity starter as an outside back. During her standout career for the Eagles, Angelina earned second-team All-Trinity League and first-team All-Trinity League honors while being recognized as both the SMCHS defensive player of the year and Trinity League, defensive player of the year. Angelina has been a member of one of the top club teams in the nation, helping the squad to a national championship in 2021 and reaching another national final in 2019. Additionally, Angelina keyed her club to two Washington state championships and a CalSouth championship in California. She was named to the ECNL All-Southwest Conference second team for her efforts in 2021. Angelina maintains a 4.05 GPA in the classroom.

Jake Tatch ’21 is currently a sophomore at JSerra Catholic High School. He is excelling academically and making many new friends. He just completed his second season on the Boys’ Varsity Soccer team. As a freshman, Jake was a crucial contributor in the playoffs, and JSerra made it to the finals of Division 1, Southern Section CIF, losing in penalties to Servite High School. This year was different. He was a starter for the whole season, and his team had a dream season. JSerra Boys’ Soccer won the Trinity League, Division 1 Southern Section CIF and the State Regional Championship; his team finished the season ranked #1 in the nation. He will continue his studies at JSerra while returning to club soccer with the Pateadores ECNL Academy. He will then travel to Porto, Portugal, this spring with a scout for a showcase tournament.

Olivia Le left St. Mary’s in Grade 7 to attend the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA). Now a sophomore at OCSA, Olivia has won the California Poetry Ourselves competition with an original poem she submitted as part of the state’s Poetry Out Loud contest. In addition, Olivia has made it through the first two rounds of the recitation portion of the competition and is a Poetry Out Loud finalist. Olivia won the right to compete at the state level by winning the county’s regional Poetry Out Loud competition, co-produced by ArtsOC and the Orange County Department of Education.

Heidi Galloway, St. Mary’s Language Acquisition Teacher—French, was invited by Olivia to a Poetry Slam held at OCSA. Ms. Galloway states, “To launch a night of amazing poetry, Olivia recited her original poem My American Alphabet, exploring the conflict between growing up speaking English (the American alphabet), but never really learning Vietnamese, the language of her heritage. Olivia shines as a thinker and a communicator.” Galloway continues, “In grade six, Olivia stood out as a committed student of Language and Literature and a highly talented writer. She actively sought feedback and experimented with new techniques and creative approaches to writing structure. She fell in love with poetry. As her teacher, it was my privilege to encourage her reading and writing; now she excels in both.”

Special Thank You

St. Mary’s wants to thank Angie Yogaratnam ‘16 for speaking at the 2023 St. Mary’s Gala. Angie introduced the Fund-a-Need for the Gala, which was the St. Mary’s Scholar Program, by sharing about her St. Mary’s experience. She referenced many teachers and how they shaped her academic and life journey. After a standing ovation for Angie, we raised an incredible $220,000 during the Funda-Need for the St. Mary’s Scholar Program. The Scholar Program provides full-tuition scholarships to qualified students for all three Middle School years. Through this funding, not only will the lives of these children and their families be changed, but our St. Mary’s community will be changed for the better.

Holiday Events for Alumni & Parents of Alumni

Thank you to the over 25 alumni who attended our annual Alumni Holiday Party at Stadium Brewery in Aliso Viejo. It was wonderful to spend time with friends and celebrate the season together. The alumni enjoyed sitting down to dinner with fellow alums and teachers. We also hosted our second annual holiday event for Parents of Alumni in early December. It was wonderful to have so many parents of alumni join us for a festive holiday event in the IB Hub. We plan on hosting additional Parents of Alumni events, like a wine tasting night, so stay tuned.

Father Ernest D. Sillers Legacy Award

Our entire student body gathered on Friday, March 24, for our annual Tribute to Leadership Assembly at Coast Hills Church. The assembly culminated with naming Lacey DiNicola as the 2023 Father Ernest D. Sillers Legacy Award winner. The Legacy Award honors a Grade 8 student who demonstrates and represents the highest standards of St. Mary’s Four Aces of Leadership through their involvement in school, local organizations and the community. We were honored to have previous Legacy Award alumni winners attend the assembly. (pictured left to right).

Alex Gonzalez ‘10, Sidney Morales ‘20, Lacey DiNicola ‘23 winner, Luke Fridle ‘22, and Devin Walsh ‘13

Five-Year Reunion This Summer: JULY 9, 2023

This summer, we look forward to hosting a Five-Year Reunion for the Class of 2018. This will be a wonderful opportunity to get together and reconnect with old friends and faculty. Join your classmates and teachers for lunch at the Stadium Brewery in Aliso Viejo at 1 p.m. We will offer a school tour at 3 p.m. for those interested.

Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Continue Their Model United Nations Involvement in High School and College

St. Mary’s Alumni Leads First Original Student

Written and Produced Musical At JSerra

St. Mary’s alumni and current JSerra Catholic High School senior Haley Kirchhoff ‘19 wrote and produced an original, full-length musical. The JSerra Theater Company performed the musical during a five-show run in January. The musical, ‘Caught in the Thorns,’ is a murder-mystery set in an 1820’s French opera company and is the first-ever student-written, composed and directed show at JSerra. Haley worked with fellow St. Mary’s alumni Trinity Lee ‘20, who directed the musical, taking the idea from page to stage. In addition, other St. Mary’s alumni were heavily involved in the production, including Stage Manager Ashley Moro ‘20, Assistant Stage Manager Logan Mickelsen ‘20 and Actor Ruth Wu ‘20 (Pictured left to right: Ruth, Logan, Trinity, Haley and Ashley)

St. Mary’s student delegation to the February 25 Model United Nations (MUN) Conference at Laguna Hills High School was greeted by St. Mary’s alumni and former St. Mary’s MUN students. These included Marcus Vlok ’20 and Calvin Howard ‘20, juniors at Crean Lutheran High School, and Darius Mahjoob ’19, a Santa Margarita Catholic High School senior. The alumni are sophisticated delegates and team members for their high schools, all having participated with MUN for years at St. Mary’s. Leyton Breese ‘18 graduated from Santa Margarita Catholic High School and is now a freshman at UCLA, where he helps lead UCLA’s Model United Nations (MUN) program. In November, UCLA hosted a MUN Conference, and Leyton was there to greet the delegation from St. Mary’s. A big THANK YOU to Leyton for his effort in hosting this fabulous conference and for graciously welcoming our Falcons.

For the 2022-2023 school year, the St. Mary’s Fund has raised a remarkable $894,000 for our students and programs, with this number continuing to grow. We are grateful to our community of supporters—parents, faculty, alumni and grandparents.

Every gift to the St. Mary’s Fund is meaningful. It supports our strategic plan, provides professional development opportunities and introduces new programming and experiences. It allows school leaders to say YES to new ideas. St. Mary’s Fund’s contributions are used immediately to provide impact where needed, enhancing the St. Mary’s experience.

Below are a few examples of how gifts have impacted the St. Mary’s student experience and various aspects of school life.

Program Enhancements

• The Fund supports programs like Middle School Intersession, allowing us to offer unique local and international opportunities.

• The Lower School implemented a new Passport Program at the beginning of the school year to outline clear social and emotional behavioral expectations for the students.

• The Fund supports the Sillers’ Seeds Garden, used schoolwide, enhancing the curriculum and providing produce for the Green Family Commons.

• Thanks to the Fund, we formed the Discovery Program in Middle School, a robust offering of classes where teachers can continue cultivating our students’ hearts and minds and building passion, interest, knowledge and skills.

Professional Development and Additional Faculty

• Thanks to the Fund, we hired additional Instructional Assistants (IAs) for each Grade 4 and Grade 5 class. Every grade, Early Preschool through Grade 5, has a full-time dedicated IA.

• The St. Mary’s Fund supports professional development for our beloved teachers.

• Our entire Middle School team attended a two-day IB training class over the summer, and this spring our Lower School lead teachers received additional IB training.

• We added a new Design Teacher to the Innovation Department to support its growing program.

Technology Upgrades

• This year, we added a second Innovation Lab to supplement the growing Design Programme.

• We purchased a new laser cutter for our Innovation Lab.

• We purchased a new software platform, Toddle for Middle School to implement a more robust IB grading system.

If you have yet to give, it is not too late. Every gift matters and helps us achieve our 100% parent participation goal. You can pledge now and have until May to fulfill that pledge.

Make your gift at www.smaa.org/give.

Make A World Of Difference

Arts Program

• We have enhanced and added new offerings to the Arts Programme, including Media Arts and Dance.

• This year we added new performances to the Performing Arts Program in all grades.

• We introduced a new annual Winter Market, which showcases many of our Arts programs, including the holiday performance.

• The Arts Department will host a Film Festival in June.

Safety and Facilities Improvements

• We added shade structures outside the K, Grade 2 and Grade 4 classrooms. The system provides shade to the classrooms and allows greater outdoor space utilization.

• The Fund provided a no-climb fence along the back property line and additional campus lighting for increased security.

• We added a new media arts room to support our newly enhanced Media Arts Programme in Middle School.

Supporting our Youngest Falcons

• Thanks to the Fund, our EEP has benefited from an enhanced social-emotional curriculum, including a growing library.

• During Halloween, each EEP classroom was “booed” by another teacher, resulting in getting items from the teachers’ wish lists — such as games, Lincoln Logs, magnetic cubes and much more.

• Thanks to the SMF, the EEP playground has a reading area with appropriate-sized seating and furniture and a stage equipped with musical instruments and a karaoke machine — loved by all students.

• The EEP program has a teacher dedicated to helping students with fine motor skills. The Fund provided professional development for this role and supplies needed to work with the students.