Multi-lingual rosary with the community (above): The Daughters of Mary Immaculate hosted their annual rosary May 27 at their convent in Richmond. Each year, the sisters invite community members to pray the rosary with them during May, the month dedicated to Mary. This year, Deacon Liem Do, who serves at Church of the Vietnamese Martyrs, Richmond, read the Gospel and gave a reflection. Each decade of the rosary was recited in a different language.
St. Mary’s Water Striders (right): A team of eighth grade students from St. Mary’s School, Richmond, was selected to participate in the 2024 NASA Drop Tower Challenge, an engineering design challenge featuring 21 teams from across the country.
The competition challenges students to build devices that float in water under normal gravity conditions, but are expelled from water when experiencing simulated microgravity. The team, called St. Mary’s Water Striders, used a hydrophobic (water repellent) coating on their device, which was dropped from the eight-story research tower at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
St. Mary’s Water Striders, which sent in three different devices, was led by eighth grader Becky Smolka.
“Our objects did not ‘leap’ off the water, but we learned a great deal about microgravity, hydrophobic and hydrophilic coatings and properties, and especially use of the engineering design cycle,” said Peter Tlusty, technology and engineering design teacher at St. Mary’s.
Cristo Rey interim president (below): On May 31, Cristo Rey Richmond High School announced that Christopher M. Carney, former chief executive officer of Bon Secours Health System, will serve as interim president effective July 1. Founding president Deacon Peter McCourt is slated to step down June 30 after seven years of service.
Carney will serve Cristo Rey while the school conducts a nationwide search for a permanent president. Peter Quinn, chairman of the school’s Board of Directors, called Carney a “proven, experienced, visionary leader” and noted his involvement with Cristo Rey over the past several years. (Photo submitted)
