Katy Lifestyles and Home magazine Jul 2009: Katy School News

2009 Break-a-thon Drives Donation Total to Almost $25,000 for D.A.R.E. - Five years ago, Katy TaeKwonDo & Jiu-Jitsu Academy’s senior instructor and academy owner Angus Pollard acted on his long-time desire to give back to

Best of Show Winners at Katy ISD Spring Art Show - Chantelle Prejean won Best of Show at the Katy ISD Spring Art Show for the high school advanced art category. Chantelle recently graduated from Seven Lakes High School and will attend the University of North Texas.

Best of Show winners also included Lana Redman, Seven Lakes High School; Cici Xie, McMean Junior High; Reigh-Ann Landry, Bear Creek Elementary;
and Natalie Kim, Exley Elementary.

Taylor HS Music Students Receive Award of Excellence - Three Taylor High School music students, Samantha Darnell, Laura Smolik and Matthew Shaver, were recipients of the highest student honor awarded by Katy ISD, the Award of Excellence, at a banquet honoring 72 Katy ISD seniors.

The annual banquet, hosted by the Katy ISD Board of Trustees, recognized seniors who have consistently distinguished themselves in a particular area of study.

WoodCreek Jr. High Choirs Present Lights, Camera, Action, Pop Show - WoodCreek Junior High choirs presented their first annual Lights, Camera, Action, Pop Show. Directed
by Lauren Burris, the WoodCreek Junior High choirs

(L-R) Allen Barrilleaux III, Katy Youth Challenger baseball; Girl Scouts Ashley Clark, Michaela Henry, Kasey Mitchell, Samantha Fandino, Krista Tagen, Courtney Garza; Brenda Fandino, leader; and Aimee Mitchell, co-leader.

Girl Scouts Volunteer as Baseball Buddies - Girl Scout Troop 17111 of Mason Creek earned the Disability Awareness badge by volunteering as Baseball Buddies for the Katy Youth Challenger baseball league.

Challenger Baseball is designed specifically for kids with special needs.

Hailey Hedspeth Selected for Honor Society - Mayde Creek High School student Hailey Houk Hedspeth has been selected for membership in The National Honor Society of High School Scholars. The society recognizes top scholars who have achieved superior academic excellence.

Hailey has also been invited and accepted into the Who’s Who Registry of Academic Excellence (High School Division) 2008-09, National Edition. After making it into the All Region Choir, she qualified to compete in this year’s UIL competition, and received a First Division Superior rating on a Class One solo for UIL State solo ensemble competition in Austin. She has been singing solos for church, high school musicals, the Richmond/ Rosenberg Opry and The Inspire the Desire Christian Talent Show. She is a member of the Kantori Choir under the direction of Michael Madrid.

Alexander Elementary Honors Volunteer of the Year - Alexander Elementary named Krissy Garcia as the 2009 Volunteer of the Year. Garcia was congratulated by the school’s namesake, Roosevelt Alexande, at the PTA Volunteer Appreciation Brunch.

entertained the audience with a variety of acts, which included solos, duets, ensembles, dance performances, instrumentals and choir performances.

After the performances, an awards ceremony was held to recognize outstanding choir participants.

the community. Now he can say he did just that by starting what has become an annual tradition that has given nearly $25,000 to Katy ISD ’s D.A.R.E. program.

In cooperation with the academy’s C3 Booster Club, the Katy TaeKwonDo & Jiu-Jitsu Academy hosted the fifth annual Board Break-A-Thon. At this free event, the audience watched splinters fly as impressive martial arts demonstrations and exciting board breaking techniques were performed. The Katy TaeKwonDo Academy ’s students secured sponsors, at $10 per board, and cumulatively gave $4,500 to D.A.R.E. this year. One young student, Dawson Seago, raised $1,030 and broke 103 boards.

Senior Reception at James Williams Elementary - James Williams Elementary hosted a Senior Reception for former James Williams Elementary fifth-grade students. These students were joined by a few 2008 graduates, former teachers, Principal Ronnie Lee and Mrs. Williams.

(L-R, back row) Juan Villalobos, Jamal Whaley, Hakim Kennedy, Louis Martinez, Mathias Follis; (middle row) K. Zaritski, Kelvin Veals, A.J. Giroir, Courtney Terris, Krissy Cox, Jose Rico; (front row) Grayson Raines, Kandice Carter, Breousha Joseph, Alexis Davenport and Francesca Bingham.

Martha Raines HS and Opportunity Awareness Center Host Great Stories CLUB - Raines High School and the Opportunity Awareness Center library hosted a three-part reading and discussion series called the Great Stories CLUB.

From OAC teacher and library science student Kathleen Zaritski’s grant proposal, the library was one of 237 libraries nationwide receiving a grant from the American Library Association to host this series.

The Great Stories CLUB (Connecting Libraries, Underserved Teens and Books) is a book discussion program created to provide teens with an opportunity to read and discuss three theme-related books. Each title selected for the program focuses on a character who struggles with a serious challenge. As a recipient of this grant from ALA, RHS/OAC received programming resources as well as copies of the books for distribution to teen participants.

Kilpatrick Students Visit Health Museum - Kilpatrick Elementary third-graders visited the Health Museum. They were guided through an interactive tour and watched a 4-D movie.