The Woodlands School News, Info and Sports News

Two Seniors Headed to New York City to Accept Silver Medal Awards for Art Portfolios - Two seniors were selected as one of three from the state of Texas, and 85 worldwide, to earn gold or silver awards at the national adjudication level of the art portion of The Scholastic & Art Writing Awards. Annie Hsiao and Stephanie Camstra, along with their mothers and instructor Bob Mosier, will travel to Carnegie Hall on June 4 to accept their silver awards.

Thirteen Cooper student artists were awarded the highest level of recognition, a Gold Key, in the Regional at-large level of The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards that is administered nationally by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, Inc. and included 144,000 pieces submitted by students around the world.

Gold keys were awarded to Megan Mak in photography; Stephanie Camstra, Annie Hsiao, James May and Malika Guram for art portfolios; Jeff Carnrite, Marcus Minton, Daniel Niggemann, Tim Cousins and Alex Valderrama in sculpture; Sara

Whitewide in ceramics; and Chelsea Rundell and Suzanne Varughese in mixed media.

Hsiao and Camstra went on to receive recognition at the national level of adjudication in the competition. In the art portfolio category, five students were awarded a gold medal and 80 were awarded silver nationwide. Portfolios must contain eight examples of work to demonstrate their concentration and an additional eight to demonstrate breadth of work.

Hsaio, who has attended Cooper since first grade, used a technique introduced by artist Toots Zynsky to create a portfolio of colorful, delicate and intricate glass stringer bowls. Camstra ’s sculptures incorporate steel and painted plywood and her concentration shows a modern interpretation of sacred cups. Hsiao plans to study history and art as a pre-med major at Rice University and Camstra will study biomedical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Both students plan to pursue the study of art in addition to their major courses of study.

Oak Ridge HS Theater Celebrates Memorial Day - Oak Ridge High School Theatre Department presented A Piece of My Heart to honor the women who participated in the Vietnam War.

Director Connie Godwin and the six girls featured in the show spent a day with Maj. Richard Davis, owner of Spring Army Surplus, who helped to not only outfit the show, but provided insight into a war that took place before the students were born.

Davis joined the U.S. Army when he was 17 and volunteered to go to Vietnam at age 19. He served with the First Battalion Second Infantry Division and did long range reconnaissance. While not now connected with any veteran’s organization, Davis appears in numerous films shot all over the country providing his own military outfits and weapons from the French and Indian War to the war in Iraq. He has appeared in Mel Gibson’s The Patriot, Two for Texas, The Alamo, as well as student films, films for the Military Channel and a rap video.

A Piece of My Heart begins and ends at the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., an emotional site for the veterans. Davis ’ recollections, experiences and answers to questions from the students were amazingly similar to the play, even down to the very words he used.

Monica Karlins Wins National Dance Competition - Monica Karlins, a freshman at The Woodlands College Park High School, won her first runner up trophy as dance soloist at the National Finals for the American Dance/Drill Team School at North Texas State University in Denton.

Representing Dance Dynamics in The Woodlands, Monica joined 124 individuals from Japan and several other U.S. states to compete for a title in this year ’s national dance competition.

Cooper Team Invites Area Groups to Play in Community Quiz Bowl Competition - The John Cooper School Varsity Quiz Bowl Team raised funds to compete in the national competition by sponsoring a Community Quiz Bowl Challenge.

Members of the community were encouraged to form four-member teams and join in a morning of friendly Quiz Bowl competition. The entry fee paid by each team will go toward expenses for the team ’s trip to Nationals in Chicago. Varsity and junior varsity team members wrote the questions and ran Cooper’s community tournament.

“They are writing questions that will be challenging, but also accessible to someone new to Quiz Bowl, ”said faculty sponsor Shannon Hill. “The emphasis is on having a good time; last year we could hear players laughing through the whole building. ”

Habitat Director Joins Cooper Community for Celebration
of 10th Consecutive Habitat House - Students, faculty, staff, parents and friends celebrated the school’s founder, John Cooper, and the house built in his name, “The House That John Built X,” at John Cooper Day ceremonies.

Dave Daniels, regional development director for Habitat for Humanity International, was a special guest to celebrate the completion of the 10th consecutive Habitat for Humanity home built as an annual school-wide project.

On John Cooper Day each year, a “golden hammer” is passed from the student project chairs of the just completed house to the students who will spearhead construction of the next home.

A reception was held to celebrate Cooper’s

student-led, schoolwide commitment to building homes in the community in conjunction with Montgomery County Habitat.