Dozens of Over the Mountain high school students are among the more than 16,000 students nationwide named as 2023 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. Vestavia Hills High School has 21 seniors who were named semifinalists, the most from any individual school in the state.The semifinalists entered the competition by taking the preliminary SAT/National Merit … [Read more...]

By Anne RuisiWhen last year in his native South Africa Alex Fokkens heard about an opportunity to head the music department at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, he didn’t hesitate to apply.“This job is exactly what I was looking for,” said the Hoover resident, who got the job and arrived in Birmingham a year ago this month. “I always enjoyed working with young … [Read more...]

By Anne RuisiColeman’s Cats, the children in teacher Andrea Coleman’s second grade classroom at Vestavia Hills Elementary School West, might take their nickname from felines, but their hearts belong to a four-legged black lab named for a legendary wizard at King Arthur’s court.“On a scale of 1 to 100, I’d say he’s a 100,” one of those students, Reese Olvey, 7, said … [Read more...]

By Anne RuisiOnly one high school in the greater Birmingham area can boast a Heisman Trophy winner, a Nobel Prize recipient and a veteran Vatican diplomat among its graduates. That school, John Carroll Catholic High, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.John Carroll, which also is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its move to Lakeshore Parkway from its … [Read more...]

By Anne RuisiIt wasn’t a good time to get a job in physics when William LaCasse finished his Ph.D. in 1972. With few opportunities in the field, he accepted what he thought would be a temporary job at Indian Springs School that fall.Five decades later, LaCasse, 78, is about to start his 51st year of teaching in the classroom when Indian Springs reopens Aug. 12 for the … [Read more...]