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February 5, 2026What began as one robotics team at Mount Saint Mary in 2009 has grown into a large four-team department. The need for growth has clearly been established.
The Mount robotics department, headed by Jessica Thompson, currently has its four teams ranked Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 9 in the state. In Thompson’s four years, Robotics has gone to state twice.
The competition begins in September with the “Kick Off.” The teams are presented with a problem and they have to brainstorm how to solve it. From there they come up with a computer-aided design and work all season to solve the problem.
Jack Ranck, a senior, talked about how robotics has helped him in life.
“Robotics tries to teach you how to work around other people to do your best,” he said. “Not to make other people do worse.
“The teams rotate and it teaches you to work with all different types of people. It’s definitely helped me at work as well. I don’t work with the same coworkers or see the same kinds of customers so robotics has helped me learn to work with others.”
“Every competition is different, every day is different. No team is weaker than the other. Everyone is equal and builds themselves up as a team.”
New band clubs
This school year the new music teacher, Cullen Smith, has been bringing new life to the department by sponsoring new music clubs. Two opportunities for students to be involved musically without having to be in a music class has been created with the clubs: Modern Band Club and Jazz Club.
The Modern Band Club allows students to learn to play guitar, bass guitar, piano and drums. The club is designed to be accessible to both seasoned student musicians and total beginners.
“In modern band, students are encouraged to perform at a level which they are comfortably able to perform at,” Smith said, “while still being encouraged to try and grow as much as possible with music making.”
Any student with a positive attitude and access to an instrument is welcome to join. The Modern Band Club meets from 3-3:30 p.m. every Thursday in the music room.
The Jazz Club is for students who want to learn the art and skill of performing jazz music. Smith said his goal with the Jazz Club is to get students to perform with the basketball band and learn and perform jazz for the spring concert.
“Jazz music has a rich history and many different elements that are very different from your traditional band or orchestra music,” Smith said. “As someone who learned to be a better classical player through learning jazz music, I felt it was important to start a jazz club for our music students or anybody that could play an instrument/sing that isn’t currently enrolled in any music class.”
The Jazz Club meets from 3-3:30 p.m. Fridays in the music room.
Smith wants to work on rebuilding the music program at Mount Saint Mary. Many fine arts departments at schools have faced a dramatic decline due to the pandemic and haven’t quite recovered.
“I want people to know they’re welcome to participate in the music program at Mount Saint Mary because it’s just as much their space as it is mine,” Smith said.
Magic at The Mount Gala
Each year, Mount Saint Mary hosts a Gala to raise money for its students. This year’s denim and diamonds themed gala was held on Feb. 7, an opportunity for members of the MSM community to join together for an evening of music, alumni and sponsor appreciation and good company.
“The first Magic at the Mount was hosted in the MSM auditorium with spaghetti as the main course made by parents and teachers,” said Elle Muzny, the school’s director of admissions.
This has now turned into one of the largest fundraising events at the school. The event has live and silent auctions. In years past, the live auction items included vacations, sporting event tickets and even a puppy. The items for the silent auction are donated from members of The Mount community. Some sports teams donate items or baskets for the auction. In previous years the baseball team auctioned off the first pitch at one of its games.
“One of the highlights of the evening is truly seeing our community come together to raise money for such a special place. A place that has been loved for 122 years,” Muzny said. “It’s definitely something many of us look forward to every year!”
Photo: Mount St. Mary Catholic High School robotics team. Photo provided.