SCHOOLS & CAMPUS Jul 2009: The Woodlands School News, Info and Sports News

Local Students Intern With MCUW- Montgomery County United Way is working with a group of future leaders as volunteer interns this summer. While the interns are learning about MCUW, staff members are also getting impressions from the interns regarding social marketing and community involvement.

Cooper Chapter of Music Honor Society Inducts Students - The Tri-M (Modern Music Masters) Honor Society inducted four student musicians and a faculty member into The John Cooper School chapter of the international honor society for secondary music students. Sophomores Graham Browning, Chris Demetriades and Jordan Dewbre and junior Marc Huet, as well as faculty member Steve Sandifer were inducted at a ceremony.

Boyd Selected as Upper School Teacher of the Year - English teacher Carolyn Boyd was awarded the honor of 2009 Upper School Teacher of the Year at The John Cooper School. She was selected for this honor by members of the senior class.

Boyd has served in the field of education for 37 years; 10 as a librarian and 27 as a teacher. She has been at Cooper for 10 years and currently teaches junior English and speech in addition to serving as faculty advisor for the International Club.

St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School’s Eighth-grade Graduating Class - Members of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School’s eighth-grade graduating class of 2009 are: Christine Aubert, Sarah Bennett, Steven Bernard, Caden Buckley, Jacob Burks, Chris Calhoun, Kendall Daniels, Sergio David, Nate Devlin, Jenaya Ferguson, Matthew Flanagan, Marc Forestier, Jessica Gooch, Rachael Gooch, Aaron Graeve, Gabriela Guerrero, Nick Hackett, Racquel Haub, Elijah Hodges, Landon Howes, Travis Hunter, Blake Juszczak, Stephanie Lamotta, Tyler Lawrence, Brian Moleres, Caitlin Monks, Carah Nunez, Joe Primavera, Victoria Rodriguez, CJ Seeman, Luke Shappard, Martha Todd, Al Wagner, Thomas Wheeler and Heather Williams.

Valedictorians from 1994 and 2009 Relay Similar Messages of Personal Growth - At The John Cooper School’s commencement, the 2009 valedictorian was followed at the podium by an alumna who was the school ’s very first valedictorian in May 1994.

Elizabeth Metts, who attended Cooper since fifth grade, was the valedictorian for the Class of 2009. She was a member of the school ’s

yearbook staff for four years, serving as managing editor during her senior year. She has been an active member of the school ’s Habitat for Humanity homebuilding project and Interact Club and has served as a grade level representative on Cooper ’s Honor Council.

Elizabeth will attend Princeton University in the fall and plans to study history, pursuing either art history and/or European history.

Dr. Alejandra Garcia-Mitchell, Cooper’s first valedictorian, returned to campus to speak to the current graduating class. Upon graduating from Cooper, Dr. Garcia-Mitchell attended Rice University, and in 1998 was awarded both a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biochemistry. In 2003, she completed the requirements for a Doctor of Medicine degree from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. Dr. Garcia-Mitchell completed her training in general surgery in 2006 and in plastic surgery in 2008.

First-Graders Donate to Interfaith. - Each year, first-grade students at David Elementary participate in Citizenship in Action. This year, the students from seven first-grade classes set a new record when they presented a check to Interfaith of The Woodlands ’ Food Pantry for $2,018.42.

The students raised the money as part of their study of economics and volunteerism. Each first-grade teacher donated one dollar to each participating student. These students were inducted into the C.I.A. with the charge that they were to make their money grow on behalf of others. The students used their dollars as seed money to develop projects that would raise money for Interfaith ’s Food Pantry.

For several weeks, students developed and carried out projects that included everything from selling lemonade, popsicles and cookies, making pot holders, hosting car washes and exchanging nickels for dollars.