THE WOODLANDS HS THEATER STUDENTS QUALIFY FOR STATE – The Woodlands High School theater students competed at the Klein High School State Qualifying Speech Tournament. The students made an impressive showing in the three areas they participated in: Duet Acting, Humorous Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation. A total of six students earned enough points to qualify for the Texas Forensics Association state contest in March, one of them qualifying in two events.

In Duet Acting, the students took an impressive four of the top six places: Christy Beauchemin and Rachel Schardt earned first place, Andrew Hollinger and Aaron Evans took third, Jonah Yohana and Katlin Newman earned fourth, and Casey Hale and Holly Rogers received sixth place.

In Dramatic Interpretation, TWHS also had four students who advanced to finals. Andrew Hollinger earned second place, qualifying for State in DI as well as Duet Acting. Holly Rogers took fourth, Christy Beauchemin, fifth, and Aaron Evans, sixth.

In Humorous Interpretation, students won half of the top six places. Katlin Newman took second, Gwen Jones, fourth, and Eilidh McNicol, sixth. TWHS placed third in the overall Sweepstakes for this tournament.

The Woodlands High School theater acting squad is coached by Connie Godwin, Tammy McClanahan, Carlen Gilseth and Tim Jackubek.

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WOODLANDS PREP JUNIORS WIN SPIRIT STICK COMPETITION – Woodlands Prep juniors celebrated their school spirit by dressing up as 1920s mobsters for the fall Spirit Stick competition. Their mafia-inspired apparel, along with full class participation, made them the unanimous winners of The Spirit Stick.

The Spirit Stick is a mythical wooden log painted in school colors that was mysteriously found on the grounds of WPS when the building was first constructed. The stick grows every year, along with the student’s school spirit.

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COOPER ART STUDENTS EARN TOP AWARDS - Five students from The John Cooper School were selected as First Round finalists, and three placed in the Top 10  in the Mixed Media and Painting categories of the Culture Shapers Visual Arts Contest.

Sophomore Ilianna Amador took second place in the Mixed Media category, and was awarded $2,500 for her piece, Blind. Fellow sophomore Molly Garrison placed in the Top 10 and was awarded $250 for her piece, Spiraling Cracks. Additionally, certificates were awarded to Katie Parkerson and Lauren Katerhagen as First Round finalists and to Katie Poeter, who was also recognized as a “Staff Pick.”

In the Painting category, David Davis won fourth place and $1,000 for his painting Agnosticism. With 22 entries, The John Cooper School had the most entries of all high schools from Harris, Waller, Chambers, Galveston, Brazoria, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.

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COWGIRL PEG GALLOPS INTO WOODLANDS PREP – Texan author Peggy Sundberg, known as Cowgirl Peg by her fans, came to Woodlands Prep to share her stories with students. The Cowgirl Peg book series includes six stories designed for elementary reading. Her stories deliver messages about peer pressure, making good decisions, and compassion for others as told through the eyes of horses and other animals.

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ROWING CLUB OF THE WOODLANDS JUNIORS WIN AT HEAD OF OKLAHOMA REGATTA – The Rowing Club of The Woodlands Juniors traveled to Oklahoma City to compete in the regional Head of the Oklahoma Regatta. The boy’s varsity quad, comprised of Hugo Gomez, Andrew Gomez, JD Telford and Blake Eastwick, took the top spots in three events. The boys placed fourth in the initial 4,000 meter race, with a time of 15:14, which qualified them for the 500 meter night sprint.  They came in second with a time of 1:31.

Divide and conquer was their motto for day two of the regatta, when the boys split to race two doubles in the Varsity Lightweight Double race. Hugo and JD took first in the 4,000 meter race with a time of 16:08, and Blake and Andrew came in third with a time of 16:18.

Novice rowers were top finishers as well.  Lewis Longbottom, Daniel Dalton, Austin Bae and John Puzz won first by almost a full minute in the Men’s Novice Quad 4,000 meter race with a time of 16:01. Lewis then rowed with his father Gary Longbottom, a Rowing Club of the Woodlands Masters rower, to finish first in the Parent/Child 500 meter night sprint with a time of 1:52.

More than 1,000 athletes from high schools, colleges and rowing clubs participated in the annual event. This year, the regatta was also host to the USA Rowing World Challenge, which occurs every four years in preparation for the summer Olympics. Canada, China, Germany, Italy and the U.S.A. were represented at the regatta.

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JOHN COOPER STUDENT’S PHOTO APPEARS IN NY TIMES – Angela Threadgill, a sophomore at The John Cooper School, has received accolades for a photograph she took as part of her coursework in Karen Fearon’s digital photography class last school year. Angela received a Gold Key in Art award in the 2011 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards that qualified her for judging at the national level, and was subsequently named a Gold Award winner, the highest honor given. When she attended the awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City last summer, she received a second award. Her photo was one of two “Best in Ninth Grade” awards given annually that included a $500 scholarship.

Her photo, Fashionably Late, was also featured in the Sept. 22 issue of The New York Times. The photograph (with a credit line) was used as part of a half-page ad announcing the 2012 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards that ran  in the Arts section.