Media Hub

Congratulations are in order!

Kudos is the place to find exciting news about our current students, faculty, and staff. If you have an accomplishment to share, send a message (and high-resolution photo if you have one) to communications@mcdonogh.org.

• McDonogh’s Groundskeeping Team was awarded the DMV Field of the Year Award from the Mid-Atlantic Sports Field Managers Association.
• Lizzy Albertine '26, Philemon Kuo '26, Jolee X. '28, Christina Z. '29, and Helen L. '29 are 2024 MathCON finalists. Only students in the top 95th percentile or higher qualify for the National Finals in Chicago on May 11.
• Helen Luo '29 was awarded first prize for violin in the 2024 Vivaldi International Music Competition, an online competition that aims to challenge the virtuosity and artistic excellence of performers.
• Kare Coley '24 represented McDonogh with distinction and dedication as a member of the Maryland General Assembly Student Page Program. As a page during the 2024 Legislative Session, Kare gained firsthand experience of the inner workings of state government and had the opportunity to observe legislative sessions and committee meetings.
• Nitesh Cherukuri '29 won the 2024 Maryland Sweet 16 Chess Championship. He is the first winner in 10 years to have a perfect score!  
• Girls Varsity Basketball Coach  Brad Rees was named the IAAM 2024 Basketball Coach of the Year for the second time in five years. 
• Elise Cooper '25 won the 200m title at the 2024 Nike Indoor National. Watch her post-race interview.
• Chidi Onwuanibe '27 won first place in the WJZ Black History Oratory Competition. Hundreds of students from across Maryland submitted essays, and 20 finalists read to a panel of judges at Morgan State University. 
• Jonas Levy '25 and Julia Norris '25 were selected as winners of the West Point Society of Baltimore's Leadership and Ethics Conference Essay Competition in February of 2024.
• Head Athletic Trainer  Marty Sataloff received the 2024 Neil Buckley Service Award at the National Prep Wrestling championships on February 24. The honor is awarded annually to an individual for their exceptional contributions to student-athletes and the sport of wrestling.
• Isabella Sodhi '25 created an artistic rendition published in the scientific journal Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News on December 12, 2023. Her graphic depicted a 3-dimensional retinal organoid exposed to oxidative stress demonstrating marked cell death within retinal photoreceptors. 
• Greatest Good McDonogh Program Manager Artie West was awarded the 2023 Continental Memorial Award presented by the Continental Societies, Inc. Baltimore Chapter. The chapter presents the award annually to a community leader or organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth in the Baltimore community.
• Catherine Arbaugh '24, James Pitts '24, Caitlin Rapalski '24, and Elliet Walton '24 were named 2023 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. They are among some 16,000 national semifinalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. 
• Cate Arbaugh '24, Megan Winakur '24, Nina Murthi '24, Kelvin Niu '24, and Tony Liu '24 received the Global Seal of Biliteracy, an award recognizing an individual's level of proficiency in two or more languages. 
• The 2023-2024 McDonogh Model UN team, a delegation of 16 students under the leadership of Carly Green '24 (President), Jackson Smith '24 (Vice President), and Jon Salenger '24 (Secretary), competed against 800 students from 76 schools across the US and the globe at the Columbia University Model UN Conference in January of 2024. Jackson Smith '24 won the award for Best Delegate (two years in a row) as Jani Vreto, an Albanian freedom fighter, at the Congress of Berlin, in 1878. Mark Cherches '25 won the award for Best Delegate as Alvah Bessie, a Hollywood screenwriter accused of having ties to communism during the Red Scare period. Jon Salenger '24 won the award for Outstanding Delegate as Heliotrope at the Encryption Eclipse Event that dealt with the fictional scenario of hackers attacking the financial epicenters of the world. Connor May '24 won the award for Honorable Mention as Uesugi Kagekatsu, a powerful daimyo during the Battle of Sekigahara in Japan.
• Alice Margraff, Director of College Counseling, has been named a Delegate for the Potomac and Chesapeake Association for College Admission Counseling (PCACAC), a regional branch within the national organization (NACAC).