Irish Insights: BMCHS winds down with tests, art and more

With the school year coming to a close, students showcased their talents and hard work through art, dance and academics, celebrating a year of creativity, achievement and community.

Young students produce art
Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School hosted families from across the Oklahoma City areas May 3 at the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City Fine Arts Expo.

The exposition welcomed students from first through 12th grade, offering art displays, musical and speech performances and competition.

Olivia Donovan, a fourth-grade student at Saint John Nepomuk Catholic School, drew a “geode with lines and patterns in the background” for her second year entering the elementary competition.

“It makes me feel good and it makes me feel like I can express myself,” Donovan said.
In addition, senior Cori Seymour entered her art into the 12th grade competition earning an honorable mention for her piece titled “unloveable.” Though Seymour entered the contest, she believes that art is about more than competition.

“It's just about making something and resonating with other people," Seymour said.

Father Buettner celebrates final school Mass
In Father Rick Stansberry’s absence, Father Brian Buettner celebrated the final all-school Mass of the 2024-2025 school year. Father Buettner, a McGuinness chaplain from 2013 to 2015, said it felt “awesome” to return to the school. 

“Obviously a lot of students have changed, but it's really cool to see a lot of the faculty that were here whenever I was here, and to see just the changes of even the chapel and everything,” Father Buettner said. “There are a lot of things that have stayed the same, which is really cool.”

Father Buettner now serves as pastor of Saint Thomas More Catholic Church at the University of Oklahoma. 

DanceVisions puts on final showcase
On May 3, the DanceVisions team held its final showcase of the year titled “Ignite.” 
Senior Olivia Pefferman, a four-year DV dancer, said the showcase aimed to “bring energy and build (the) team to something big.” 

“We wanted our show to be big and crazy and be representative of where we want to go as a team,” Pefferman said. “We want to ignite the fire within our team.”

As a senior, Pefferman said she was proud of her team in all the forms it took throughout her four years.

“It was crazy, because I've been through many eras of that team, and I've seen us beyond many different things, but our show was 27 dances long, with nine dancers, which is insanely difficult,” Pefferman said.

Students take on AP exams
The end of the school year brings the daunting challenge of studying for and taking AP exams. This year 185 McGuinness students took 764 AP exams across 26 subjects. The exams were offered digitally for the first time.

Junior Courtney Lomoro said she prepared for her three AP exams beginning in April through practice problems and prompts online as well as her own notes. This year, Lomoro took the AP psychology, AP English language and composition and AP U.S. history exams.
“I think that this time of year is really stressful, because there's AP tests, and then immediately following that, there's finals,” Lomoro said.

Scholars honored
In celebration of student accomplishment, the school held a ceremony honoring the academic and class-related accomplishments. During the ceremony, students were awarded medals and certificates based on their accomplishments for best or second-best in their respective class.

Junior Molly Taylor was awarded a medal for her involvement in the yearbook class. Last year, Taylor won the certificate.

“It feels way better to win the medal,” she said, “because I feel like I'm being appreciated for all the work that I did this year because I did a lot of work on the yearbook.”

Sophomore Finley Cataldi claimed an award for leadership in her role as a school ambassador. In her role, Cataldi helps run school events and serve the Bishop McGuinness community under the guidance of Ambassador Adviser Courtney Mullinix.

“It feels pretty good because there's a lot of people that do it, including upperclassmen, and it feels good to know that Mrs. (Mullinix) trusts me and respects me enough to give me the award as a sophomore,” Cataldi said.

Katherine Menz is a junior at Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School.

Photo: (Above) Senior Cori Seymour stood next to her painting titled “unloveable.” 

Fourth grade student Olivia Donovan stood by her drawing of a geode. She attends St. John Nepomuk Catholic School in Yukon. Photos Kate Menz/Sooner Catholic