The students at St. Mary School have many opportunities to get involved in extra curricular activities. From scouts, to choir, band, CYO athletics and our chapter of the National Junior Honor Society; there truly is a niche for every student. 

Altar Servers

Students in Grades 5-8 are welcome to serve as altar servers for St. Peter Parish.  Altar Servers assist the priests during services at St. Peter Church, including Sunday and Weekday Masses, Funerals and Weddings.  In addition to students from St. Mary School, St. Peter’s Altar Server Ministry also includes students from St. Peter’s Religious Education Program and local high schools.  Anyone wishing to become a server must be enrolled in St. Mary School, St. Peter Religious Education, or another local Catholic school.  Registration and training for new servers takes place in the Fall of each year with servers making a one year commitment to serve in the parish.

Art Club

St. Mary School Art Club is open to all students in grades 4-8.  The Art Club provides members with open studio time to develop individual art interests. Members are also encouraged to come with ideas for ways to share their talents. In the past we have painted and dressed scarecrows for the St. Peter Community Garden, made Christmas cards for Nursing home residents and painted rocks for our Living Stations of the Cross.

Beginning Band

Beginning band is an ensemble for students who have not played a band instrument before, or for those who would like to try a new instrument. Our focus is on beginning tone production, note reading, and basic music theory.  Parents of band members furnish the instruments for their students, and many families opt to rent instruments from local businesses. 

Chess Club

The Chess Club is open to all students from 4th to 6th Grade regardless of skill level. Even if someone has no previous experience in playing chess, it does not matter because he/she will learn the "Pierce Method" and will master the moves in no time at all! Experienced players will learn to sharpen their skills.  As Chess Club comes to a close members are given the opportunity to compete at their grade level in a chess tournament.

Children's Choir

Students in Grades 2-8 are welcome to participate in the St. Peter Parish Children's Choir. Students meet weekly for rehearsal and sing at all-school Masses. Religious Education students from St. Peter Parish are invited to join the Choir as well. Both groups rehearse separately but sing as one Choir at 4:00 Mass two Saturdays a month. 

Concert Band

Concert band is an ensemble for any student with one or more years of band experience.  This group focuses on improving their playing range, more difficult rhythms, and. playing concert music of varying styles.  All of this is in preparation for an upcoming year-end concert.  Parents of band members furnish the instruments for their students, and many families opt to rent instruments from local businesses. 

Cub Scouts

Cub Scout Pack 71 is teaching tomorrow's leaders today - and we are having a blast doing it! We offer Scouting programs for those in Kindergarten through 5th grades which set the bar higher than all the rest. Our scouts will tell you what fun they have building and racing their own cars at our annual pinewood derby race held in March as well as having great adventures on our yearly campouts and field trips. We travel to destinations in Michigan that offer both educational and exciting programs like none other. Our pack meetings are held on the last Monday of each month and always have a ton of fun!

CYO Athletics

The following CYO sporting teams are available to St. Mary School students:

5th-8th Grade Girls: Soccer, Volleyball, Basketball, Softball, Co-ed Bowling

5th-8th Grade Boys: Soccer, Basketball, Baseball,  Co-ed Bowling

Additionally, Grades 1st-4th Graders are invited to participate in Co-Ed Indoor Soccer, and Instructional League Basketball is open for boys and girls in 3rd and 4th Grade. 

Forensics Team

Our Forensics Team is open to students from 5th - 8th grade.  Forensics is a program for students who enjoy public speaking and acting.  Students are assigned a reading piece from a wide variety of categories ranging from drama to humor to poetry.  Students practice intensely, memorizing their piece over the course of three months.  Students then compete with other schools around the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Forensics/CSI Club

Forensics/CSI Club is open to all 7^th and 8^th graders. The students learn the processes, techniques, and skills to solve mysteries! Students will learn how detectives think and how they process evidence through engaging, hands-on approaches. Students learn to dust, lift, and read fingerprints, as well as how to carefully assess a scene, gather evidence and clues, and many other processes!

Girl Scouts of the USA

Girls Scouts of the USA is open to all girls in kindergarten through 8th grade. They usually meet after school and hold meetings twice a month, days and times vary. St. Mary School Girl Scouts have fun learning about nature, becoming physically fit and preparing for future roles as professionals in the arts, sciences, business, and perhaps most importantly, to be active citizens outside of the home. They participate in many activities that give back to the community. For girls today, anything is possible! There is no doubt that with our volunteer leaders, the support of the school, and the St. Peter Parish family, the potential of these girls (and all its students) will be developed and they will make a difference in the world!

Newspaper Club

Each month the Newspaper Club designs a newspaper for the students and staff of St. Mary School. Students design the newspaper using Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Word, and Paint.  Newspaper Club is open to St. Mary students in Grades 4-8. The club usually runs from October to May. If you enjoy working with computers, being creative, and having fun, the Newspaper Club is for you!

Student Council

St. Mary School Student Council is a member of Michigan Student Council Association. The Student Council body includes representatives from 5th Grade through 8th Grade. Officers are elected in the 8th Grade. The focus of student council is to provide the students with opportunities to develop leadership skills, organize character and team building activities, and to promote St. Mary school spirit during spirit week.

National Junior Honor Society - St. Mary Chapter

Purpose

The purpose of the Saint Mary Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service, to promote leadership, to develop character and to encourage citizenship in the students of St. Mary School. Our Saint Mary chapter meets monthly to plan and carry out activities that support this purpose.

Activities

This school year the members of our chapter have been busy discussing our new chapter and bylaws which will be adopted after being approved by the membership. In the past we have not had a specific chapter constitution, but have followed the National Junior Honor Society constitution. Our new constitution complies with the National Junior Honor Society constitution and our school policies. It delineates, more specifically, how our St. Mary Chapter is run and contains a few small revisions in the criteria and selection process that will go into effect this school year. It is hoped that the changes will result in a selection process that is understandable and fair for all NJHS candidates and their parents.

Our NJHS members run a weekly after school tutoring program for struggling students in grades two through five. Younger students who struggle are referred to the program by their classroom teacher. The NJHS tutoring coordinators then match each struggling student with an NJHS member that tutors them in Reading, Math, Social Studies, or Science.

Membership

Membership in the St. Mary chapter of the NJHS is an honor bestowed upon a student by the faculty. Selection for membership is based on outstanding scholarship, leadership, service, character, and citizenship. Once selected, members have the responsibility to continue to demonstrate these qualities.

To be eligible for membership the student must be a member of the second semester of the sixth grade, seventh grade or eighth grade at St. Mary School. Candidates must have been in attendance at St. Mary School the equivalent of one semester. Selection for membership is by a majority vote of the Faculty Council, a committee of five faculty members appointed by the principal.

The minimum standard for scholarship shall be

• a cumulative scholastic average of at least 92% with no rounding in all academic subject areas and a cumulative scholastic average of 92% with no rounding in all specials. All grades from the beginning of sixth grade are averaged.

The minimum standard for character is

• all conduct and effort report card grades in the 1-2 (B- and above all quarters of 6-8 grade) range.
• an outstanding record of conduct and behavior with regard to school and community rules, guidelines, and policies.

Following the first semester, all sixth and seventh grade students who meet the minimum standards for scholarship and character will be considered eligible candidates. To assist the Faculty Council in making membership decisions, eligible candidates will be invited to fill out an Activity Form and to complete an in-school essay. Leadership experience and service must be listed on a candidate's Activity Form and/or essay to be eligible for selection to the NJHS. Students who submit their Activity Forms and essays on time will be considered for possible selection.

The faculty will evaluate eligible candidates in the areas of leadership, citizenship and character using a Faculty Evaluation Form provided by the chapter advisor. Faculty shall rate the candidates with whom they have had professional interaction on a scale of 1-4, where 1=low/poor, 2=below average, 3=good, and 4=high/outstanding. For any rating of poor or below average, it is necessary for faculty to provide an additional comment that speaks to the professional rationale for this low rating or examples of the poor performance which led to the rating.

The Faculty Council shall review the Student Activity Form, the in-school essay and faculty evaluations in order to determine membership. Prior to notification of any candidates, the chapter adviser shall review with the principal the results of the Faculty Council’s deliberations. The decision of the Faculty Council will be considered final upon approval of the principal. All candidates that were considered for membership will be notified in writing of the Faculty Council's decision. Selected students become members when inducted at a special ceremony.