bases covered » mark vierling
Senior Mark Vierling, 18, has kept the baseball diamond buzzing at Christian Brothers College High School, where he’s been a talked-about team member for four years. He heads to Mizzou later this year to study business on a baseball scholarship, but in the meantime, he’s been racking up distinctions as a high school player.
Mark (pictured at top) has set team records in hitting, and helped propel the Cadets to state champion honors in 2015. That year, and in 2016, he was named to the Metro Catholic Conference and has received considerable accolades from high school sports websites such as Prep Baseball Report and Perfect Game. “I’ve been playing the sport as long as I can remember,” says Mark, whose brother Matt also is a standout on the field. “I started getting serious at about age 13, traveling around the country with summer teams. I don’t know what I would do without it. I’m playing almost every day in some way, whether it’s working out or hitting a ball off the tee.”
He is known for his prowess at shortstop, but Mark also can be found at second or third base. “It’s how I stay versatile and develop other skills,” he says. “I think that will help me in college.” When he’s off the field, Mark enjoys heading to Lake of the Ozarks with family and trading his bat for a fishing pole.
giving for good»natalie guard
Natalie Guard says 2016 was the year her love of community service began. The Villa Duchesne senior, 17, ‘adopted’ a local family for a class project, but when she had a difficult time getting others involved, she decided to set an example about the importance of volunteering. “I wanted more students to understand what families like this have been through,” she says. “I wanted to open their eyes to the impact we can have on people’s lives.”
She asked for a meeting with United Way of Greater St. Louis CEO Orvin Kimbrough, who liked her idea about a new volunteer program for high school students. Known as United Way Teen, it now has a steering committee of 16 students from nine schools. “We plan events with a ‘giving back’ focus,” she notes. “We’ve collected items for the Salvation Army’s Toys for Tots program, donated prom dresses for teens in the Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition program, and organized Dine Out evenings where restaurants give part of their proceeds to the United Way.” The group also is planning a car wash fundraiser this spring.
The United Way was so impressed with Natalie’s leadership that it invited her to join the board of directors this year. “I’m the youngest person to serve on the St. Louis board,” she says. Her work has gained recognition in other circles, too. She’s received achievement awards from her school, and the Archbishop John L. May Service Award from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, among others. Natalie will attend Saint Louis University in the fall, and plans to major in business with a nonprofit focus.
talk to … nidhi bhaskar
MICDS senior Nidhi Bhaskar plans to use her own cognitive gifts to advance the field of brain science. Nidhi took home top honors at the 2017 Missouri Brain Bee neuroscience knowledge competition at Washington University, where she went up against students from 44 high schools. The local win sent her to Baltimore in March for a national Brain Bee competition. “I made a lot of new friends there, and we’re staying in touch,” she says of the trip. “Our interest in neuroscience is a journey we’re starting together.”
What are your plans after high school?
As part of my Missouri Brain Bee award, I’ve received a fellowship to do summer research in the neuroscience department at Wash. U. I’ll start at Brown University in the fall, and I plan on going to medical school. I’m interested in emergency medicine, neurology and public health.
What activities have you been involved in at MICDS?
I’ve been on the varsity tennis and track teams, and helped start a Teen CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) program here to train students as first responder volunteers. I’m also part of the Science Olympiad team, and I love studying languages.
How did you get involved with the Teen CERT program?
I got FEMA training as a certified emergency teen first responder my sophomore year, and decided we needed to bring the program to MICDS. We started it during my junior year and have trained about 40 students in the last two years. It’s been a great success.
