Content strategist John Gonzalez and Principal Tony Fischer co-host West Catholic Live, a show about all the great things happening at West Catholic High School.

Season 2, Episode 26 begins with Weekly Chatter, our news segment about West Catholic HS.… followed by a Sports heavy show as West Catholic enjoys increible success this winter season.

We also acknowledge West Catholic’s Concert Band, which performed Feb. 24 at the Michigan School Band & Orchestra Association’s Festival and - for the sixth straight year - received straight 1s (superior rating). Read more about it at grwestcatholic.org.

Weekly Chatter

Cinderella: Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella opens next week with five performances (March 8-11) at the Aquinas College Performing Arts Center. Theater director Justina Ouellette is so excited for everyone to see this show. Tickets are available on our website at grwestcatholic.org/theatre.

TICKETS ARE GOING FAST!

Show Dates:

• Wednesday, March 8 @ 7 p.m.
• Thursday, March 9 @ 7 p.m.
• Friday, March 10 @ 7 p.m.
• Saturday, March 11 @ 2 p.m. AND 7 p.m.

Parent Teacher Conferences: They are from 3:30-7 p.m. Thursday, March 9. Parents should receive email to sign up before the end of the week.

Parent Guild: Is hosting a roundtable discussion entitled "Exploring College Options from a Catholic Lens." It takes place on Tuesday, March 7 from 6:45-8:15 p.m. in the MAK Board Room. All parents welcome to attend. Questions? Email us at parentguild@grwestcatholic.org

St. Mary's Food Drive: It is Friday, March 10. Students who bring in 10 items or more can earn a dress-down day. More details to follow in Households.

Junior Class Apparel Sale: This sale is open to all and benefits the junior class who put on an AMAZING prom every year! This year, we have beanies, trucker hats, slouchy sweatshirts, and many more affordable options than usual. Talk to a member of the junior class for order information or use the form in Monday’s upcoming Weekly Chatter. Deadline March 15.

WC Strategic Plan: As you may know, West Catholic is currently working to develop a new strategic plan that will launch in the fall of 2023. It is our goal to hear from a wide variety of groups within our community as we build our 20-year dream together. We encourage you to be part of our strategic plan and share your insights for the future of West Catholic by completing a short survey in the Weekly Chatter.

On this week’s show…

Students from in Mr Dudas’ Broadcasting class, who are prepping for another season of the student-run WCTV, interview athletes from various sports teams.

• Reporter Ellie Bies talks to a member of our Ski team, Joey Flickinger.
• Reporter Cadence Dykstra talks to a member of our Bowling team, Kayla VanLinden.
• And reporter Karlie Kurlenda turns things around on Cadence, one of five finalists for Michigan's Miss Basketball, and interviews her about the team's incredible season.

More sporting news....

Competitive Cheer:

• Conference Champions – back-to-back

Wrestling:

• Aniah Tan, Emerson Whitcell, and Jessica Martinez are our girls wrestlers who all qualified for the State meet. Jessica Martinez finished 1st overall in her region, Aniah Tan finished 2nd, and Emerson finished 3rd.
• Cole Karasinski and Noah Abram also qualified for state thanks to their regional performances. Cole finished 1st as the overall region champ and Noah took 3rd in his weight class.
• Cole is currently undefeated on the season and won his 150th career match during the regionals. He has took 1st place overall champion honors for the conference, district, and region. He is now a 4x state qualifier in his career.
• Wrestlers will leave Thursday to head to Detroit's Ford Field.

Girls Hoops:

• Ladies finished the season 21-0 as the unbeaten conference champions. The girls are currently ranked #1 in the state for their division and Detroit Free Press has them #1 regardless of division.
• Girls play Wednesday at 5:30pm vs. Forest Hills Eastern. A win over the Hawks would put them into the District Final vs. the winner of Sparta and Catholic Central.

Girls Bowling:

• Girls won the team conference title.
• Girls also won the regional title as a team and qualified for team state which takes place Friday.
• Senior Kayla Van Linden was also named the overall regional bowling champion. She will Bowl Saturday for the individual state finals.
• Additional girls to qualify for the individual states includes Ashley Van Linden, Mylee Dykstra, and Amber Whitson.

Hockey:

• GR Christian Co-Op Hockey won their fist playoff game last Friday night over Hudsonville 5-0. Our own Danny Groszkiewics had a goal and 2 assists on the night with Landon Smith also scoring a goal.
• Boys take on Byron Center Wednesday night at 7:30 at Georgetown Ice Arena.
• This season the team also won their first conference title in over ten years.

Boys Basketball:

• Freshman Connor Olszewski was named All-Conference honorable mention for Boys basketball.

This show aired on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

West Catholic Live airs every Wednesday on West Catholic's Facebook page and YouTube Channel.

Look for updates and more content on the school's Social Media channels.

West Catholic Live is a production of West Catholic High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Our President and CEO is Jill Annable. Our Principal is Tony Fischer. Megan Pittman is our athletic director.

Our Mission: To form Disciples of Christ through a dynamic, excellence-driven Catholic Education. Learn more at grwestcatholic.org.