Student Organizations

The intramural sports program includes various sports activities throughout the school year. The objectives are to foster Christian fellowship in a non-academic setting, encourage physical fitness for all students, and provide an opportunity for participation in sports. The club supports the American Heart Association with activities held throughout the year. All students are
eligible to participate.

Membership is open to all students who want to enjoy movement while keeping in shape. Members meet once weekly for a workout that includes stretching and toning, low impact aerobics, light weight lifting, and specific group exercises. The goal of the Fitness Club is to promote fitness; however, the emphasis is also on having a good time.

The advanced/regatta team will compete regionally against other high school teams. Practices are scheduled depending on the availability of the Southern Yacht Club. The Southern Yacht Club supplies 420 class boats for the team to use. Coast Guard-approved personal floatation devices are provided by MCA.

The hand bell ensemble will be open to all students through an audition process held at the beginning of the school year. The performances will include, but not be limited to, Mass and the semi-annual choir concerts. Additional ventures might be scheduled depending on the program’s abilities. The repertoire will be mainly sacred music appropriate for the performance settings.

Carmelettes is a dance team that performs at statewide and national competitions, Holy Cross football games, Mardi Gras parades, charitable events, and school-sponsored events.

The Carmelettes dance team provides an opportunity for Mount Carmel Academy students to display their talents and experience the fun, dedication, and endurance of working as a unit. The girls are taught the values of dance, leadership and character. Members are chosen in the spring for the following year’s team. First-year members must try out at the end of their first season and be selected in order to remain a member of the team.

Celebration is a liturgical choir whose purpose is to serve as music ministers for Eucharistic Celebrations and other occasions of worship. Auditions are held for opportunities to serve as cantors and soloists.

Instrumentalists are welcome to join this group. They are expected to practice on their own and be prepared for rehearsals.

The purpose of Game Squad Cheerleaders and Cub Mascots are to promote school spirit and good sportsmanship.

The Game Squad Cheerleaders and Cub Mascots participate in the following activities:

• Volleyball and basketball games
• Open House
• Pep Rallies
• Elementary/middle school dance workshop
• Mount Carmel Academy’s Summer Camp
• Exploration MCA
• Mardi Gras parades (approximately four)

Cub Mascots participate in Breakfast with St. Nick, the Easter Eggstravaganza, Spring Fling, and St. Michael’s Easter Egg Hunt.

Game Squad Cheerleaders and Mascots participate in at least one service project. Tryouts for cheerleaders and mascots are held in the spring. With the exception of fourth year returning members, all members must try out.

The purpose of the Competition Cheerleading Squad is to promote camaraderie and athleticism through team bonding and competition. The team works together to improve their skills and talent as a team. They work on one routine and continue to increase the difficulty level of that routine for most of the year. 

Competition Cheerleaders participate in the following: 

• Five competitions (including Nationals in Orlando, Florida every other year)
• Open House
• Service project
• One pep rally 
• Summer camp 

Tryouts for the Competition team are held in the spring. Each member must try out every year with the exception of third-year returning members.

Chorale is a select choir compromised of approximately 40 students from grades 9-12. Membership is by audition only. Auditions are made by appointment.

Students may choose to either enroll in the Chorale class (either .5 or 1 credit) or meet for after school rehearsals, which are held from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Students in the class will periodically be required to attend after school rehearsal.

Performances: Chorale performs at music festivals, various community events, and District and State LMEA festivals.

All performances and rehearsals are mandatory.

The purpose of the Cubettes dance team is to perform at eighth grade sporting events, pep rallies, Open House, and other activities; to participate in competitions; and to take part in service projects.

Echoes is a journalism club which publishes regularly on its website, echoesofcarmel.org, with a goal to successfully cover important school-related events as well as relevant national and international issues that occur during the academic year at Mount Carmel Academy.

Practical experience in journalism provides a variety of benefits. Learning writing, photography, and news analysis skills prepares students to be intelligent consumers of news. Those skills, along with experience working on the club website, foster student interest in pursuing paid positions at university news publications or in long-term journalism careers.

All members are required to participate in service projects and fundraisers.

Membership is open to all students who enjoy singing. New members will be accepted for the first two months of each semester.

Performances: In addition to the end-of-semester concert, Encore is invited to sing at special events such as Catholic Schools Week, Celebration in the Oaks, and other community events.

Instrumental Ensemble is MCA's orchestral group, consisting of string, woodwind, and brass players grades 8-12. Membership is open to all MCA students regardless of skill level. Simultaneous participation in Mount Carmel's instrumental private lesson program is highly encouraged. Ensemble performs at concerts, masses, and miscellaneous school functions such as Open House and Spotlight on the Arts. Repertoire is primarily focused on Baroque, Classical, and Romantic styles, with occasional Pops pieces from movie soundtracks and popular music.

Rhythm is a dance team that performs at statewide and national competitions, Mardi Gras parades, charitable events, and school-sponsored events.

Rhythm is a dance team which provides an opportunity for Mount Carmel Academy students to express their love and talent for dance. Membership also provides an opportunity for the development of leadership and group dynamic skills.

Members are chosen in the spring for the following year’s team. First-year members must try out at the end of their first season and be selected in order to remain a member of the team.

Students participate in city, state, and national tournaments. Events include poetry/prose interpretation, humorous and dramatic interpretation, duo reading, duet acting, student oratory, declamation, extemporaneous and impromptu speaking, student congress, and debate. Active membership requires participation in a minimum of three tournaments each year, in addition to the national qualifying tournament. Members also gain experience hosting their own tournament once each school year.

Tournaments are held at various schools throughout the city and take place on some Friday evenings as well as all day on Saturday, with an average of one tournament per month between October and March.

Students who wish to better their skills and confidence in public speaking would make excellent members of this team. Participation in the Speech and Debate team on a high school résumé is favorably considered by universities and employers. 

Members of the Theatre Club, Shinto Tori Kabuki, which means God's Gateway to the Theatre, study the art of play production. This organization participates in activities of the International Thespian Society and stages dramatic and musical productions. Members gain hands-on experience in set, lighting, costumes, makeup, sound design, and construction. Members study acting through characterization, movement, and voice. Members have opportunities to write, direct, and choreograph their own productions.

WMCA members produce a live broadcast each week using Mount Carmel Academy's state-of-the-art television studio. It is a student led broadcast giving students full access to filming, editing and producing a live show to the entire student body. Students learn real world studio skills.

An Ambassador is a student who has a genuine love and dedication to Mount Carmel Academy. She is selected to represent Mount Carmel Academy at Admission events such as Open House, Application Day, new student interviews, Exploration MCA, new student orientation meetings and Cub Connection. Ambassadors also serve as hostesses for special Mount Carmel Academy events.

Selection is based upon the quality and content of the applicant’s
questionnaire, service to Mount Carmel Academy and teacher
recommendations. The selection process is in April and approximately 80
Juniors and Seniors are selected. Students must try out each year to serve as
an Ambassador. These students are expected to act as role models for other
students as well as to prospective students.

Campus Ministry provides additional opportunities for students to grow in their personal relationship with Jesus by encouraging devotion to Our Blessed Mother Mary through prayerful meetings, monthly rosaries on campus, monthly meetings, planning and presenting special prayer services for the student body, and planning and presenting prayer services/retreats for local Catholic elementary schools.

The CLC is a Christian service learning organization specifically dedicated to teaching students how to serve others by doing the works of social justice. Activities are apostolic in nature and include regular meetings. Projects for service learning include making sandwiches for the homeless, Christmas gift-giving, the annual mission drive, and various other activities serving those in our community who are in need. Hours spent in service may be credited toward requirements for each student’s apostolic hours commitment at Mount Carmel Academy provided the service follows the criteria set by that program.

Key Club is a global service organization and is sponsored by Dawnbusters-Kiwanis. The club is designed to promote the growth of each member through community involvement and service to the home, school, and community. Hours spent in service may be credited towards requirements for each student's apostolic hour commitment at Mount Carmel Academy provided the service is an approved apostolic hours activity. In order to be inducted into this club, the member must complete approximately 22 service hours and 10 donation requirements at least one week before the induction ceremony.

MCCAD is dedicated to promoting a drug-free environment in and out of school, to increasing the awareness of the dangers of alcohol and drug use, and to encourage every student to have a positive self image. MCCADD is an officially registered chapter of SADD and is aligned with the SADD mission: “To provide students with the best prevention and intervention tools possible to deal with the issues of underage drinking, other drug use, impaired driving, and other destructive decisions.”

MCCADD is responsible for planning and implementing Red Ribbon Week activities at Mont Carmel Academy. MCCADD also plans activities for MCCADD week in the second semester.

MCCADD’s Service Learning Project is MCCADD-on-Wheels, which involves student-led teams of MCCADD members visiting elementary and middle schools in the New Orleans area and providing an informative program that includes skits, music, informational speeches, and PowerPoint presentations of facts, statistics, and personal testimony for the younger students on a variety of topics, such as self-image/self-esteem, handling “peer pressure,” and the dangers of smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, depression, bullying/cyberbullying, and youth violence.

MCCADD members learn how to work as a team and to speak in public. Many of our members will become lifelong advocates for positive behaviors. Through their work with MCCADD-on-Wheels, students learn the importance of taking a stand against negative influences, the need to share the message with others, and the importance of working as a team to create positive change.

The eighth grade Service Club’s mission is to offer the opportunity for students to become involved with our school doing a variety of activities around campus. Students will serve the school by doing acts of service each Wednesday after school. Each week, there will be a different service project for the students to complete.

This club supports and protects the dignity of all human life. Members embrace a deeper desire to advocate and promote the dignity of their womanhood as they work to create a revolution of purity. Prayer is an essential part of this club. Rosaries are said every 2nd and 4th Tuesday during lunch. Members may also have the opportunity to attend the March for Life Pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. at their own expense in January and/or participate in the annual prom fashion show.

Students in the chess club learn to play one of the oldest strategy board games in human history. Chess teaches essential critical thinking skills like evaluation, planning, and logic. Members of the Chess Club will learn essentials of the game and will be given the opportunity to compete in tournaments. No previous experience or knowledge is required. Rules and basics, up through expert-level strategies, will be taught.

The members of Eco Cubs are dedicated to protecting the health of our earth and all its inhabitants. We consider the gift of creation a gift from God and take seriously our responsibility to care for and cultivate it. This is why the goal of our club is to create a culture of stewardship in our school and surrounding community. Among the many ways we do this are by sponsoring recycling drives, informing ourselves of environmental issues, participating in community service projects, educating elementary school children, and encouraging lifestyles of simplicity that help ensure our natural resources are bountiful for all. 

Enigma is another word for puzzle or mystery. The Enigma club helps develop its members logical thinking skills through a variety of activities, including learning how to solve a Rubik's Cube, playing strategy board games and video games, solving other types of mysteries and puzzles. The club has board game days monthly and a trip to a live-action Mystery Escape Room Puzzle each semester.

The Entrepreneurship Program works to educate our students about entrepreneurship as a possible career direction. The goal of this program is to have students recognize characteristics and practices of successful entrepreneurs, develop and evaluate an entrepreneurial idea of their own, and demonstrate business-planning skills for venture start-ups, marketing, financing, management, and ethical decision-making. Through program activities, trips and guest speakers, students will be afforded a hands-on experience with the opportunity to submit their entrepreneurial business ideas for a chance to win a scholarship.

The Junior Achievement program educates students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs.  Participation in the program helps prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to generate wealth and effectively manage it, how to create jobs, which make their communities more robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace.  Students put these lessons into action and learn the value of contributing to their communities.

The Lagniappe Club offers a little of this and a little of that. You love to fish? We can do that. You want to dive into the world of social media? Let's try it. Are you a fashion lover? We can talk about it. Do you want to help those in need? Let's do it. You want to explore something else? That's why it's called Lagniappe. This club is designed for exploration—exploring all areas of life and learning new valuable lessons and skills along the way.

The Movie Club is for all students who love movies of all kinds. The club hosts various activities including movie showings, costume contests, festivals, and more.

The purpose of the club is to better understand and embrace different cultures from around the world and within our city through social events and community activities. Members will help coordinate and plan for Multicultural Week, be able to participate in the Racial Harmony Mass, participate in the Martin Luther King Day of Service, be eligible to participate in the Unity through Understanding Workshop, participate in Unity Day, and participate in other community events that promote leadership and unity.

P.A.W.S. provides students the opportunity to fulfill their responsibility to be loving stewards over God's creatures. Members will provide the necessary services to keep the facility at Animal Rescue of New Orleans sanitary and safe and the animals healthy and happy through participating in projects that assist the shelter, including pet adoption events.

The Spirit Club provides students an opportunity to support the school and to learn the joy of sharing in all Mount Carmel Academy activities. During the year, Spirit Sparklers from each club maintain attendance records at various Mount Carmel Academy functions and award spirit stars to the grade level and/or club with the best attendance.