St. Mark Students Win Silver at Reach For the Top Junior Nationals

2 min read July 17, 2024

For the second consecutive year, the St. Mark High School Reach for the Top team has finished in second place at the Junior Nationals.

The program was started last year by St Mark teacher Britney Castleman, when she was in her first year at the school.

The six members of the St. Mark team are Milo Cheung, Isaac Bogle, Declan Faloon, Sophia Tang, Terrence Tang and Madison Zwetko. Four players were returning from last year. They are thrilled to get a second banner to hang on the wall at the school.

The St. Mark students had to beat three other teams from Ontario high schools to earn a spot in the nationals.

St. Mark received a second banner courtesy of their Reach for the Top team.

in round robin play, St. Mark beat Queen Charlotte from PEI 350-110, École Lansdowne from Manitoba 290-190, and Tempo School from Alberta 340-150. In the quarterfinals, St. Mark defeated Maplehurst Middle School from New Brunswick 280-150 and the semi finals won against Choice School for Gifted Children from British Columbia 320-160. St. Mark lost in the finals to the other Ontario team, Charles Howitt Public School of Richmond Hill.

Reach for the Top s divided into three different divisions. The Junior division is for Grades 7-8, Intermediate is Grades 9-10, and Senior is for Grades 11-12.

“St. Mark has a lot of great extra curricular programs, especially for a smaller school,” Castleman said of starting the program last year. “When I found out there was no Reach for the Top team, I thought it was an opportunity to put a team together and create something special for the students.”

Casselman put the word out at the school that they were looking for students interesting in joining the club and forming a team. She was surprised with the reaction.

“There was no interest at all from the high school students,” she said. “All of the students interested were from Grades 7 and 8.”

In their first year competing, St. Mark earned a trip to the Nationals and finished second to a school from Alberta. This year, the team went to the finals again, earning a second banner for the school.

Featured Image: Teacher Britney Castleman and her St. Mark Reach for the Top team won silver for the second straight year at the Junior Nationals.