4/19/24 - Friday Forget-Me-Nots by Jim Silcott

Photo Caption: Eighth Graders at Mount Vernon on Washington DC Trip.

Dear Our Lady of Peace Family,

On April 9, as part of my job working at the Columbus Crew games, I had the privilege of watching the United States Women’s National Soccer Team against the Canadian National Team for the championship of the She Believes Tournament. Participants in the tournament were the United States, Brazil, Japan, and Canada.

This final match was for the championship of the She Believes Cup. Although there were fewer fans for the first matchup of Japan and Brazil, which was won by the Japanese team in overtime penalty kicks, by the time of the final match, Lower.com Field was almost at capacity. It helped that the weather was perfect that evening.

It helped even more that there are few chances to watch national teams in action here in Columbus.

Although I did not see any official statistics of who attended that evening, of the 19,000+ fans gathered there, I estimate at least 65%, if not more, were females. Young elementary school soccer teams (including ours from Our Lady of Peace), high school, and college teams (many wearing their club or school kits), and families were in attendance. All ages were represented from young babies wearing noise-reducing headphones, to senior citizens and everyone in between.

Besides the soccer uniforms in the crowd, red, white, and blue were the dominant colors on clothes, scarves and even faces. Both the Canadian National Anthem and our own was played, but the singing for The Star-Spangled Banner was enthusiastically sung by the crowd.

There are times, when national teams are participating in international events, that politics creeps and sometimes overwhelms what should only be a healthy, fervent battle among athletes at the top of their game. One only has to look at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and the old East German judges who only gave high scores to Soviet-aligned countries. This night, the women played soccer and both teams played it magnificently well.

The score was nil-nil until five minutes before the half when Canada scored the first goal from right outside the box. Even though the crowd was mostly rooting for the Americans, there were enough in attendance cheering for our neighbors to the north to make an appreciable roar.

Four minutes into the second period, the US ladies tied the score with another long kick that sneaked its way into the corner of the net. In the sixty-eighth minute, they took the lead when Sophia Smith, who had scored the first goal, drove almost to the net when she overpowered Canada’s keeper for the goal.

By the eighty-fourth minute in a ninety-minute competition, the United States fans were feeling comfortable when one of the Canadian players was interfered with in the penalty box. The penalty kick was good, the score was tied, and the end of regulation time found the score 2-2.

The US prevailed in overtime penalty kicks, which are some of the most dramatic moments in sports. The cup belonged to the United States women.

Just a few days before, the Iowa women’s basketball team, led by all-time college scorer Caitlin Clark, was defeated by the South Carolina Gamecocks in a contest that had more viewership than the men’s championship.

Female athletic competition has come a long way since my mother played high school girls’ basketball in the 1940s, when the game was half-court, and no dribbling was allowed! They have come a long way since then on every level.

As a lifelong educator of both young men and women, I see what the emergence of women’s sports has done to help shape role models for our young ladies. Yes, some stars, just like male athletes, have been controversial in their politics. But the females, in particular, the young ladies who I saw that night at the soccer match, were inspired, I think, to be confident in who they are and challenged to be the best version of themselves.

We tell our students in Our Lady of Peace that each one of us is gifted in a unique way to contribute to the building of God’s Kingdom. Let us show our children, both boys and girls, examples of how their dreams can be achieved for their own self-worth and the glory of their Creator.

Third Quarter Honor Roll



Congratulations to our third through eighth graders who achieved honor roll status for the third quarter. Parents and these students are invited to a donut breakfast on Monday, April 22 at 8:15am in the cafeteria.

Summa Cum Laude: Grade 8- Emmanuel-Valentine Atabong, Gigi Cotter, Jack Curtis, Selome Gebregziabher, Emily Goshe, Malorie Hopson, Nora Leonard, Julien McElroy, Peyton Nelson, Elle Schirack, Daniel Tibua-Mensah. Grade 7- Eloise Barcus, Elise DeFilippo, Jacob DeFilippo, Cameron Martin, Charlotte Phelan, Jack Reardon. Grade 6- Finn Leary, Emily Brehm, Owen Fortkamp, Jack Nelson.

High Honors: Grade 8- Dominic Davoli, Catharine Falcoski, Ava Koah, Mya McBride, Chloe McNally, Dami Olubowale, Sydney Potts, Campbell Retzke, Juna Sivillo, Amanda Smith, Joseph Vamboi, Mason Wayt. Grade 7- Mason Blair, Kaityln Bloomberg, Catherine Marmion, Micah Neil, Jayden Nelson, Annie Nordstrom, Sam Sweeney, Emmanuel Tibua-Mensah. Grade 6- Leannan Belding, Vivian Clark, Madison Sickels.

Honor Roll: Grade 8- Milan Alexander, Elise Chalfant, Adam Crissinger, Brandon Hernandez, Francesca Pedro, Myah McGee, Orianna Strickland. Grade 7- Stella Arkon, Emme Bennett, Padmore Berko, Aurelius Coursen, Ari Cousar, Miles Favara, Imani Mukuria, Liam Smith, Mikayla Steele. Grade 6- Abby Blair, Aiden Crabtree, Evelyn Haag, Beryl Mensah, Angel Morales, Colin O’Hara, Audrey Smith, Jack Williams.

Effort Role: Grade 8: Chance Bittner. Grade 7- Gloria Coichy. Grade 6- Kennedi Palmer.

Jim Silcott