Here at STA, the Academy Woman is the highest award you can receive as an STA student.
What makes this ceremony particular to us and our Catholic values is that earning this award isn’t about GPA or how many service hours a student completed. It is a deeply honoring recognition of a student who lives through Christ and loves the dear neighbor without distinction.
The first nominee, Madeline Stalker, describes how STA gave her the confidence to use her brilliant voice. Staker shares this quote by St. Teresa of Avila, a quote Staker believes represents the power she feels God’s love has:
“No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.”
Staker describes STA as the gift given to her from God to live as He has called us to do.
The second nominee, Nora Roddy, describes her experience at STA as an extraordinary home that has shaped who she is proud to be. She goes onto explain how all the women of STA inspire her every day to be her best self for STA and above all, Christ. Roddy says, “When I reflect on what this school means to me, I think about the unbreakable connections I feel with each of you, even if I don’t know your names.”
The third nominee, Lillian Ralph, Ralph knew since elementary school that she would end up at STA and was so excited to finally be a star. Ralph describes her excitement as a little girl “I grew up going to camps, Future Star nights, roaming the halls when I told my mom I was going to the bathroom. I could not wait for the day when I could put on my STA plaid, but little did I know how amazing it would be.” Her love for STA only grew from the first day and will continue to.
“Our nominees, these three young women, who every day for the past four years have given their absolute best for the better of themselves, their classmates, the dear neighbors, and their beloved school STA. All of our nominees are worthy, they all poses the qualities of Academy Woman; the highest honor a senior can receive here at STA. It takes years of love and growth to form an Academy Woman. ” Dr. Maywashington’s introduction before it was announced that Madeline Staker won the Academy Woman of the Year for the class of 2025.
