The Woodlands Lifestyles and Homes magazine Jan 2010: School News in The Woodlands

The Woodlands HS Theater Students Cast in Texas All-State Show - More than 100 high school actors from across the state, including seven from The Woodlands High School theater department, auditioned for the Thespian All-State show at the Texas Thespian State Festival. Five were cast in Our Town by Thornton Wilder.

Students will rehearse at various schools throughout the state during the year. Sponsored by the Texas Thespian Society, the cast will not only rehearse the play but will take Master Classes presented by professional directors and university professors as well as participate in a week-long drama camp at Texas A &M Corpus Christi in June.

Juniors Allison McKinney, Vic Shuttee, Ryan Breuer and Will Rogers, and sophomore Cecily Breaux will be part of the ensemble of actors. The production cast will audition for a slot on the main stage at the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Neb. The Woodlands HS Theater has been chosen to perform four times on the main stage at the national event.

College Park Choir Holds Military Salute - The Woodlands College Park Choir held its annual Military Salute dinner and show. The Military Salute is sponsored by the Cavalier Choir Booster Club and “is the event the students look forward to the most,” according to Choir Director Beckie Moody. The rousing show featured a mix of classic Broadway tunes and patriotic songs and was capped off with a salute to each military branch.

Woodlands Prep Students Learn About Skeletal System - Second-graders in Susan Postus’ class at The Woodlands Preparatory School finished a unit of inquiry called, “All About Me.” During this Primary Years Unit, the students memorized over 40 parts of the body, including parts of the skeletal and circulatory systems.

The Woodlands HS Alum’s Digital Wind Chime on Display at Dallas Museum of Art - Justin Pierce, a 2005 graduate of The Woodlands HS and a senior at the University of North Texas, has an interactive piece of art on display at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Justin created a Digital Wind Chime, which takes the concept of a regular wind chime and uses computer wizardry to replace the output with digital music and gives the device a bit of a personality. Wind impacts the movement and expression of the wind chime. The more wind present, the more excited the Digital Wind Chime becomes –resulting in more cheerful melodies.

Justin’s piece will be on display in the DMA’s Center for Creative Connections (C3) through January. Justin will graduate from UNT in the Spring of 2010 with an Bachelor of Science in New Media Art with a minor in Japanese. View Justin ’s work on his blog: blog.dfyb.net/.

The Woodlands High School Theater Wins First Speech Tournament - The Woodlands High School theater department competed in its first state qualifying speech and debate tournament of the year, and dominated the duet acting event with four of the eight teams in finals coming from the school.

The four teams advancing to the finals round won points towards qualifying for Texas Forensic Association State Contest to be held in March. The actors competed in Duet Acting, Humorous Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation.

The Troupe won first in Duet Acting finals with the team of Keith Hale and Tyler Lewis. Vic Shuttee and Gwenn Rosendale placed fourth; Kristen Jacobson and Joe Dougherty placed fifth; and Will Rogers and Jessica Trinque placed eighth. All are on their way to qualifying for state.

The troupe also placed competitors in finals with Katlin Newman placing first in Novice Dramatic and Will Rogers receiving fourth in Humorous. The
competitive acting team is coached by Carlen Gilseth, Connie Sue Godwin, Tammy McClanahan and Tim Jackubek. Sandra Erlandson also coaches duet scenes.

Dr. Ann Snyder, president and CEO of Interfaith; Robert Reyes and Jeff Barnett with Interfaith; Judy Mills, teacher at Bush Elementary; and students Emily Bishop, Taylor Royal, Sarah McDowell, James McDowell, Emma Hutton, Owen Brain and Jared Coker.

Bush Elementary Collects Food for Interfaith - Students from Bush Elementary donated more than 1,980 pounds of non-perishable food to Interfaith of The Woodlands. Student Emily Bishop said, “It made us feel good because for the people who have no food, we were able to give our food to them. ”

Dr. Ann Snyder, president and CEO of Interfaith, expressed her sincere gratitude to the children for all their efforts. “The students at Bush Elementary are extremely generous and their donation provided many, many families with food. ”

Ride Elementary Donates Food to Interfaith - Students from Sally K. Ride Elementary collected food for the Interfaith of The Woodlands Food Pantry. This year, the students delivered approximately 200 pounds of food to help individuals and families during the holiday season.

Student Council Loads Up Salvation Army Truck With Gifts for Others - Lower School students at The John Cooper School and their families gathered gifts for the Montgomery County Salvation Army “Giving Tree” throughout the first part of December.

On Dec. 11, members of Cooper’s Lower School Student Council helped representatives from the Salvation Army load their truck with the gifts. The annual service project is coordinated each year by Lower School Administrative Assistant Margie Koehl. In addition to gifts for children, teens and senior citizens, the drive collected gifts for citizens with disabilities.

Tara Dalton Named Rower of the Year - Tara Dalton, a junior at The Woodlands High School and member of the Rowing Club of the Woodlands Juniors Crew, was named Rower of the Year by the Rowing Club of The Woodlands.

Tara has won gold medals in Varsity quad boats, singles and with boat mate Marjorie Ferrone in the women’s junior double. Tara also serves as a junior representative to the RCTW board, assists in the club ’s Learn to Row classes, and always goes the extra mile volunteering for the juniors ’ community service work.

Scouts Donate Food and Clothing - Nathan Goelzer and Eric Menees, local scouts working toward their Eagle badge, completed projects for Interfaith of The Woodlands.

Leading his troop, Nathan collected more than 1,340 pounds of food for the Food Pantry. As part of his responsibility, he and several troop members sorted and stocked the shelves with food.

Eric took a difference approach and held a “Jeans for Teens” junior boys jeans drive. He collected, sorted, tagged, packed and donated more than 400 pairs of junior boys and mens jeans for resale at the Interfaith Hand Me Up Shop.