Grand Ledge High School teacher Matinga Ragatz, a 2000 Master in the Art of Teaching student from Marygrove College, was named Michigan’s 2010 Teacher of the Year. Read more.

Amber Stephens, a senior at Marian High School in Bloomfield Hills, was recently awarded a Presidential Scholarship from Marygrove College.  Amber, the daughter of Anita and Albert Stephens of Southfield, hopes to be a pre-med major with a minor in Spanish. The award, which is offered to high school seniors each spring, is renewable for four years, and includes full tuition as well as all fees, books, and supplies.

To qualify for the Presidential Scholarship, candidates need a minimum 3.70 grade point average, along with three letters of recommendation, and an essay that answers the question, “How does your leadership experience align with the three Cs of Marygrove College: competence, commitment, and compassion?”

Read more: Marygrove welcomes new Presidential Scholarship recipient

To hear Jessica Knott and Darrius Washington sing is to hear the voices of angels. And fortunately, these angelic sounds will carry themselves all the way to Italy this summer, thanks to an opportunity for Knott and Washington to perform in the 2010 Vocal Program at the Amalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival in Amalfi, Italy, July 14 – 26, which was funded, in part, by a generous donation from an anonymous Marygrove alumni donor.

They were selected to perform in a summer opera production of Mozart's “The Magic Flute” as well as additional solo performances in select opera scenes—an incredible honor, as there were an unexpectedly high number of applicants this year, making the normally complex audition review process even more selective than usual. Washington will perform the roles of Armored Man/Priest and Knott will perform the role of 2^nd Spirit.

Read more: Two Marygrove Students Cast in Opera