Mount St. Mary Academy was blessed to award 25 scholarships totaling more than $70,000 to students during its annual Underclass Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, May 12, in the McAuley Center Gymnasium. Dozens of additional academic honors were also awarded and celebrated. The school’s various academic departments honored students’ accomplishments in the classroom, and participation and achievement in clubs, organizations, and other activities such as Student Council, yearbook, newspaper, and the fine and performing arts were recognized, as well.
During the ceremony, Scott Pursley was recognized as this year’s recipient of the Bailey Family Distinguished Teaching Award for exhibiting overall excellence in teaching during the 2025-2026 school year. Capt. Pursley, who received the prestigious Stephens Award during his first year at Mount in 2022, instructs many of the school’s AP and honors-level science classes and also coaches its robotics team. Additionally, Jamie Groat, director of communications and marketing, was honored with the inaugural Staff Award for Mercy Excellence, which was created to recognize a non-teaching staff member who truly embodies the Mercy values.
Congratulations to all of our outstanding students for their academic accomplishments, especially this year’s scholarship recipients (in order of appearance during event):
McAuley Achievement Award: Emerson Chambers ’27, Ava Foley ’28, Emerson Martin ’28, Reese Reynolds ’27, Addison Varisco ’27 and Madelyn Wilson ’28
Sr. Deborah Troillett, RSM ’73 Endowed Scholarship: Aida Hernandez ’27
Mary Drake Scholarship: Amelia Green ’28
Spirit of ’95 Scholarship: Lilly Bethell ’27
Class of 2009 SISTER Scholarship: Ella Horton ’27
Sandra Gueydan Hickey ’66 Scholarship: Chiwendu Kwelle ’27
Alana Wolfe Memorial Scholarship: Katie Callahan ’27
Wells Pre-Engineering Scholarship: Danica Sauter ’27
Judith Wrappe Scholarship: Maggie Gangluff ’27, Mia Hunt ’27, Dafnee Luna ’27, Olivia Pannell ’27 and Camila Rodríguez-Ávila ’27
Jennifer Boccarossa Music Scholarship: Isabella Guzman ’28
Evelyn J. Coulter Thomas ’30 Scholarship: Mollie Windel ’28 (for music), Ellie Jennings ’27 (for dance) and Taylor Stroud ’27 (for fine literature)
Bella Brown “THINK” Scholarship: Mary Owens ’27
Annalisa “Magdalena” McClendon Travel Grant: Brynley Miller ’27
Melissa Ma ’98 Endowed Scholarship: Rachel Dam ’27, Brynley Miller ’27 and Marie Moellers ’27
We also wish to thank the many donors who have so graciously created these endowed scholarships to assist students, many who were in attendance to help present the awards to this year’s deserving recipients.
