Highlander Happenings - Woodlands High School

The Woodlands High School
Highlander Happenings
February 16 – February 28, 2015
FROM THE COUNSELORS' CORNER: Pre-Registration for next year has begun! Please ask your
child for the information sheet, course selection form and teacher advisements they received on BLITZ
day. You and your child make the final decision on the courses selected for this next school year and we
do hope you will take into consideration the advisements of this year's teachers.
Current 9th grade students will return their signed course selection sheets to their World Geography
teacher on February 20th. Senior campus students will submit their course selection sheets to their
Science teacher on February 17th. Counselors on both campuses will be meeting individually with
students over the next month or two to discuss the courses and levels selected, as well as discuss the
student 4 year plans which are submitted in Naviance.
There will be a parent help night at the senior campus cafeteria on Feb. 19th from 4-7 p.m. for anyone
needing more individual help completing the forms. Even though you have submitted your registration
forms, changes can be made if you have corrections or changes until MAY 8th.
AFTER MAY 8TH there will be no changes on the courses selected for the 2015-16 school year. The
master schedule and teacher hiring is based upon the courses the students tell us NOW that they would
like to take. We know they will be more successful in the courses that they are interested in and we try
during this process to provide the guidance and suggestions based upon demonstrated work ethic, grades
and interests from this school year.
PLEASE CHOOSE CAREFULLY AND WISELY. Please consider total work load and the number of
advanced level courses you are taking as well as outside commitments and the fact there are only 24 hours
in each day. After May 8th we are not able to change the courses or levels that you have requested for this
next school year.
On the school website and Counselor's Corner there are PowerPoint presentations that have voice overs
which detail the registration process, dual credit information and a selection of informative elective
course videos. Please refer to these for more information and do not hesitate to contact your counselor.
We appreciate your patience in our response time, but rest assured, we will respond to your emails and
phone calls after the student have been released for the day.
COLLEGE AND CAREER NEWS
TWHS College Fair Day is here! On Tuesday, February 17th we will have 20 colleges represented in the
cafeteria during all lunches (11am-1pm). The colleges want to meet students - sophomores, juniors, and
seniors. Please remind your student to stop by their tables.
JUNIORS - As part of College Fair, the Class of 2016 can participate in one of two Q&A sessions with
the colleges. The first session runs from 10-10:45am and the second session starts at 1:00pm. Juniors
must sign up on Family Connection under College Visits to attend.
Seniors, FAFSA help is available Tuesday night (Feb. 17th) at Oak Ridge High School starting at
6:00pm. FAFSA help will be offered at TWHS on Thursday, February 19th from 10am-1pm in the
College and Career Center. Seniors and/or senior parents can come with their FAFSA filing questions,
and a FAFSA expert will be here to assist you. No appointments necessary.
Seniors, these scholarships are due in February. For a complete list of available scholarships, including
application information, go to Family Connection under the Colleges tab in Scholarship List.
George and Mary Josephine Hamman (2/20)
Montgomery County Fair Association (2/23)
Houston Livestock and Rodeo (2/23)
Conroe Service League (2/27)
CISD Education Foundation (2/28)
TWHS BLOOD DRIVE: On February 5, 2015 TWHS hosted a blood drive for the MD Anderson Blood
Bank. We collected 378 units of blood. This is the third largest total in the 19 years we have been
helping MD Anderson. Thanks to all of the students, staff and parents who gave the gift of life.
THE SCHOLASTIC ARTS AND WRITING AWARDS: With 90 years of history behind them, the
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards has grown to be the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious
recognition initiative for creative teens and the largest source of scholarships for young artists and writers.
This year, TWHS had 44 visual art entries and 3 senior portfolio entries. Please congratulate the following
students for their recognition at the Southwest Region-At-Large level. The gold key recipients will go on
to compete at the national level.
Sophomores:
Ava Bramlett: "Reflection"-- Gold Key
Juniors:
Daniel Kestenbaum: "Yelly"--Silver Key
"Rent"--Honorable Mention
Seniors:
Hannah Austin: "Bubblegum Pop"--Silver Key
"Twisted"--Honorable Mention
Alyssa Drew: "Wonder"-- Gold Key
"An Interest Formed"-- Honorable Mention
"Self Principle"--Honorable Mention
Martha Ortiz Salas: "Let Us Heal the World"--Silver Key
"Let's Try It"--Honorable Mention
"Run Away"--Honorable Mention
Zane Wang: "Cat, Yarn, and I"--Gold Key
Sidney Ylagan: "Alice"--Gold Key
"Life of a Taxi Driver"--Gold Key
"Self"--Silver Key
"What Time Is It"--Silver Key
"Blueprint"--Silver Key
"Categorize Your Chaos" (Sr. Portfolio)--Gold Key
GERMAN NEWS: Congratulations to the following 15 German students who excelled (placing 1st – 5th)
at this past weekend’s Regional Competition against 26 schools and have advanced and have been invited
to represent our school at the Texas State German Contest at Texas State University in San Marcos on
Saturday, February 28:
Eric Bessera: Grammar Level I and Vocabulary Level 1
Mauricio Montes: German Conversation Level 1
Conner Kozak: Culture of Germany speaking countries Level 1
Andrew Schnell: Culture of Germany speaking countries Level 1
Kendal May and Kathiana Rodriguez: Duet Acting Level 1
Kathiana Rodriguez: Digital Logo Design
Anna Strickland: Research Paper
Folk Dancing: Christina Barkmann, Mitch Donoughue, Lexi Kokines, Jack Lambert, Sebastian
Marquinez, Katherine Phythian, Kate Scott, Kate Trumann
The following students impressively placed in the top 10 in Regionals:
Julie Hazen: Club Album and Sight Reading Level 3
Max Edwards: Poetry Memory Level 1
Avery Bott: Spelling Level 1
Kathiana Rodriguez: Poetry Memory Level 1
Christina Barkmann: Vocal Solo
Kate Truman: Vocabulary Level 1
Alexa Helzer: Prose Reading Level 1
Morgan Wiggins: Traditional Gingerbread House Design and Construction
Our Pass Auf Novice team (History/Geography/Famous People/etc.):
Andrew Schnell, Jack Lambert, Conner Kozak
Our Scavenger Hunt team: Morgan Wiggins and Andrew Schnell
Sebastian Marquinez: Nontraditional Gingerbread House Design and Construction
Due to such wonderful outcomes from all students in attendance, our school was awarded the title:
“Rookie School of the Year”!
SOCCER: On February 7, the Girls and Boys Soccer Teams visited Boys and Girls Country in Hockley,
a campus community where school age children live independently from their parents or guardians. The
center houses up to 88 children and is funded solely by the community. Nearly 90 TWHS soccer athletes
engaged the young residents in a "World Cup" soccer match, played games and relay races, painted nails
and faces and had lunch together. We provided the center with heaps of gently used clothing and nearly
$1600 net in collected donations. It was a terrific day that brought joy to all of our athletes, parent
volunteers and most importantly, to those young residents at Boys and Girls Country. We are so proud of
our athletes who showed such compassion and caring towards all the youngsters! Way to go
Highlanders!!
ETHICS BOWL COMPETITION: TWHS competed in the second annual Houston High School
Ethics Bowl tournament sponsored by the Philosophy Department at Rice University on Saturday,
February 7, 2015. The Ethics Bowl focuses on civil, non-combative debate over ethical issues. Team #1
won first place in the competition and will advance to the National competition in April. Team members
included Cassie Christensen, Charles Hill, Rilee Robinson, Doug Snyder, and Sara Stein. Team #2 won
the Civility Award. Team members included Avery Aiken, Dylan George, Amal Kadri, Ke Ma, and
Nicole Steiner. Both teams performed exceptionally well. Congratulations to each member for a job well
done!
GOLF: The TWHS boys weren’t themselves on the first day of the Magnolia High Shoot-Out at High
Meadow Ranch Golf Club on Friday-Saturday, Jan. 30-31. However, the second and final day was
another story – a championship story.
Coming home with the gold medals were the TWH A Team, finishing with a total 610 (320-290).
Leading the way was tournament champion Carter Patterson’s 149 (76-73), followed by silver-medalist
Sean Foley’s 151 (79-72). Others contributing were Jacob Slay’s 155 (83-72), Adrian Castagnola’s 155
(82-73), and Jake Snortland’s 169 (84-85).
The Highlander B Team finished with a total of 649 (336-313). They were led by Steven Schmulson’s
157 (81-76), followed by Josh Drachman’s 164 (86-78), Ricardo Lopez’s 166 (87-79), Carlos Gorbena’s
166 (82-84), and Arturo Anzaldua’s 167 (87-80).
HIGHLANDER BASKETBALL: Boys Basketball clinched a State Playoff berth for the 10th
consecutive year. We beat Oak Ridge on Tuesday 50-35 at Oak Ridge. The final home game of the
season is Friday, February 13 against Summer Creek High School at 7:00pm. We travel to Kingwood for
our regular season finale on Tuesday February 17th. Playoffs will begin the following week. Our current
record is 19-10 (6-4). Thank you for your support of these student athletes and we look forward to
preparing for another playoff run.
The JV boys’ basketball team remains in the hunt for a district title by virtue of grinding out close
victories in district play. The most recent hard fought victory was last Monday when the Highlanders hit a
shot with just over 2 seconds remaining to win 46-44. The squad will play its final home game of the year
tonight when Summer Creek comes to TWHS and will wrap up the season by traveling to Kingwood on
Tuesday.
Over the last two weeks the Highlander Boy Sophomore Basketball team has had some success. They
beat College Park and Oak Ridge to put them in a position to finish the season tied for 2nd in district.
The win over Oak Ridge avenged an earlier district loss to the War Eagles and put their season records
against them at 2-1. The Sophomore team will round out the district schedule with their final home game
tonight vs. Summer Creek and at Kingwood next Tuesday. Currently the Sophomore team is 18-7 overall
and 7-3 in district.
The Freshman Boys Green Team defeated College Park last week to improve their district record to 8-1.
They boys have three games left this season and need just one win to claim the District Championship.
The final home game of the season is against Summer Creek this Friday.
The Freshmen Red Boys Basketball have an overall record of 12 - 9 and are 7 -3 in district. The Red
team beat Atascocita 56 - 44. They then played College Park and lost 46 - 54. Next district ball game
was against Oak Ridge resulting in a 28 - 42. The Red team has two more games to finish the year out.
They play this Friday at home against Summer Creek and Tuesday at Kingwood. Come out and support
your Highlanders.
LADY HIGHLANDER BASKETBALL: Girls’ Basketball ended the regular district season by
sweeping Oak Ridge. Varsity heads off into the playoffs. With their first game, next Tuesday February
17th at 7:00 pm, Tomball High School. The girls will be squaring off against Klein Collins in the BiDistrict game.
The Lady Highlander JV ended their season on Tuesday with an awesome win against Oak Ridge, 40-37.
Mattison Holt and Claire Rahlfs were the leading scorers with 8 points each. Olivia Brusuelas followed
with 7 points. Holt and Rahlfs also led in rebounds with 10 and 7 respectively. The team finished with an
overall record of 19-7. Great season girls!
The Freshmen Lady Highlanders finished their season on Tuesday with a 52-28 win over Oak Ridge.
They ended the season with a 20-5 overall record and an 11-1 district record. The Lady Highlanders
leading scorers were Amanda Maresca, averaging 19 points per game, Torri Dunn, averaging 7.6 points
per game, Madison Brast, averaging 6 points per game, and Skylar Scott, averaging 4.7 points per game.
Skylar Scott led the team with rebounding with 13 per game and Torri Dunn averaged 10 per game. The
girls had a great year and would like to thank all of you that came out and supported them this season.
CHOIR: All-State Auditions Congratulations to the 10 students from TWHS who competed in the final
round of All-State Choir Auditions on January 12. Five TWHS Choir students earned All-State Choir
membership ; Melanie Matheidas,(10), Emily Sandoval (11), Ashley Dotson (12), Chad Mourino (11),
and Hunter Higginson (9).They will travel to San Antonio in February to rehearse and perform with the
All State Choirs.
UIL Solo Contest: Over 100 students from TWHS Choirs competed in UIL Solo contest on January
30/31 at College Park High school. Every soloist competing earned a superior or excellent rating!
Charms office: Please login to our data management system www.charmsoffice.com and update your
contact information, as well as check trip balances, fees due, and credits. There is also a complete choir
calendar of events. Use the code thewoodlandschoir (all one word, all lowercase) to access your student's
information; please enter their school id number.
Chamber Choir Madrigal festival: Last spring, our Chamber Choir competed in the Madrigal and
Chamber Choir competition with 42 other choirs from around the Southwestern United States. They were
chosen by audition to perform an honor concert at the Madrigal Festival on March 6, 2015. They will
travel to San Antonio to present their concert to a multi-state audience. Congratulations on this amazing
honor!
JAPANESE NEWS: On Tuesday, February 17, a Japan trip meeting will be held for the students who
signed up to go to Japan this summer. We will meet right after school in room 230. There will be no
Japanese Club meeting.
At our Japanese Club meeting on Tuesday, February 24, we will enjoy drinking Japanese maccha. Movie
afternoon will be on Friday, February 27 in the LGI. We will be watching "Samurai Pudding", starting at
3:00 p.m.
WINTER GUARD: The Varsity Winter Guard took the title of Winter Guard International (WGI)
Houston Regional Champion on February 7 at Dekaney High School. After two stellar performances, the
ladies of the varsity guard won both prelims and finals competitions. Congratulations to the Varsity
Winter Guard for their well-executed performances and domination of their first national event!
The Varsity's production, “overThrone", was a clear favorite for audiences and judges alike, and was the
highest scoring program of the day in any classification. After four WGI regionals across the country this
past weekend, The Woodlands High School Varsity is currently ranked first in the nation. They will
compete at two more regionals on the road to WGI World Championships held in Dayton, Ohio.
The members of the 2014-2015 Varsity Winter Guard are: Katherine Barlow, Mackie Black (Captain),
Andrea Lee (Captain), Katie Schneider (Captain), Mollie Barnes, Jane Budde, Marissa Caldera
(Lieutenant), Ashtyn Davis, Bella Juan (Lieutenant), Adaeze Omekam (Historian), Parris Sandlin
(Lieutenant), Taryn Beijers, Jennie Bonilla, Mariana Castillo, Patricia DiFrancesco, Kylie Flynn, Hannah
Fuller, Ashley Gilmore, Romney Livingston, Izzy Lobdell, Caterina McConnell, Hannah Cardona, Emily
Faries, and Heather Malloy.
All winter guards will perform an exhibition in the competition gym at the main campus at 7:30p.m. on
Thursday, March 26. The Varsity performs on Feb. 21 in the WGI Austin Regional at Lehman HS in
Kyle, TX. Preliminary performance time is 2:05p.m. A full schedule is available at www.wgi.org.
Go Guard!
SPECIAL OLYMPICS: The Woodlands High School sent 4 athletes to the Special Olympics State
Bowling and Powerlifting Competition (Winter Games) in Austin. Each of the 4 athletes brought home
the GOLD!! Congrats to Bowlers Justin Dubose and Sarah Kim with 1st place finishes and Power Lifters
Kade Maires and Jake Schneider for 1st place finishes in Bench Press, Dead Lift and Combo. Way to go
Highlanders!
GRAPHIC DESIGN & ANIMATION—Justin Harder, a former TWHS graduate and art student, visited with
our Graphic Design and Animation classes to share his story and path to success. Justin is an amazing
illustrator, director, and designer who has followed his creative passion to grow his own freelance
business, Claus Studios, located in California. His creative accomplishments include artistic
contributions to the films: “The Book of Life,” “Thor: The Dark World,” “Amazing Spiderman 2,” and
“Magorium’s Emporium.” His commercial clients include: Saturday Night Live—Weekend-Update,
Ford, Virgin Hotels, ESPN, AT&T, Citi Bank, Gamestop, Hot Wheels, Starbucks, Disney, etc.
The students were totally inspired by Justin as he shared his story in an entertaining presentation about
life and following your dreams in addition to sharing the creative steps involved from start to finish in a
professional project. His humor, positive attitude and passion for art inspired our students and left a
positive impact. A big thanks to Justin for taking time to visit with the students at his alma mater! Check
out his website to get a glimpse of his amazing work (www.clausstudios.com).
BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS OF AMERICA (BPA) competed at Regional Competition at Klein Collins and
the following teams and individuals were qualifiers for state competition:
 ECONOMIC RESEARCH TEAM (Brian Busby, Taylor Phipps, Ben Sauber, and Tyler West) This was
the fourth consecutive year our Economic Research Team qualified for state. Students are assigned
an economic topic to research, report on, and discuss before a panel of business people. All of the
work is done outside of their regular course work and the competition took up an entire Saturday.
Thanks for all of your time and effort!
 BROADCAST NEWS PRODUCTION TEAM (Marcelle Baker, Bailey Bettencourt, and Kelsey Proctor)
These young ladies were state finalists for the second year in a row. They prepared a news broadcast
including an intro, two news segments, and an outro reporting on real news topics via making a
presentation to judges regarding the entire process. Great job ladies!
 FINANCIAL ANALYST TEAM (Josh Smith and Nick Palermo) This was the first team to enter this
event for TWHS, and they were Regional Finalists which the judges found amazing as neither of
them have had accounting and they were competing against students with three years of finance
courses.
 PRESENTATION MANAGEMENT (Ryan Hawkins and Alex Hawkins) Ryan and Alex’s challenge was
to create a new Special Olympic event and describe the entire process of putting on a charity event.
They did a great job and were regional finalists.
 Other regional events and participants were: Small Business Management (Greg Devlin, Andrew
Hueske, and Cortland Samford). Greg also participated in Extemporaneous Speaking.
A big thanks to all of our participants for doing an outstanding job representing TWHS!
CAREER PREP—TWHS’s CareerPrep students gained valuable insight into career choices and future
trends related to growing career areas during their visit with employment law attorney, Mike Starzyk of
Starzyk & Associates, last week. Mr. Starzyk has made annual visits with TWHS students for more than
ten years to share his success story and pertinent information regarding legal topics. Former TWHS
student, Megan McGregor Mitchell, who interned with Starzyk & Associates during high school and
college and is now an associate with the firm also visited with the seniors in CareerPrep.
TWHS SWIM & DIVE: Congratulations to the all our swimmers and divers who competed in regionals
on February 6 and 7. Our team represented the Highlanders well, with the women bringing in 202 points,
in fourth place out of twenty-two teams, and the men finishing in second with 269 points, behind Austin
Westlake with 297. Scoring for the Highlanders were: Matt Anderson: 2nd in 500 freestyle, Michaela
Dylag, 13th in 1 meter diving, Barley Fields: 8th in 500 freestyle, Reed Keen: 16th in 100 backstroke,
David Killian: 6th in 500 freestyle, 11th in 100 backstroke, Rhory Legendre: 3rd in 500 freestyle, Alex
Merrill: 5th in 100 freestyle, Payton Neff: 3rd in 200 freestyle; 3rd in 500 freestyle, Lucie Nordmann: 2nd
in 100 freestyle; 1st in 100 backstroke, John Norris: 10th in 200 freestyle; 3rd in 100 breaststroke, Nolan
Persyn: 7th in 100 butterfly, Cole Pollina: 8th in 50 freestyle; 9th in 100 freestyle, Emily Reese: 2nd in 200
IM; 3rd in 100 butterfly, Ryan Sorensen: 1st in 100 breaststroke, Dillon Walles: 3rd in 1 meter diving,
Caroline Welch: 5th in 1 meter diving, and Sammie Wright: 7th in 500 freestyle.
And in relays:
Women’s 200 yard medley relay: Lucie Nordmann, Payton Neff, Emily Reese, and Ania Gawronska –
2nd place.
Men’s 200 yard medley relay: Reed Keen, Ryan Sorensen, Nolan Persyn, and Alex Merrill – 3rd place.
Women’s 200 yard freestyle relay: Ashley Lasky, Hana Knaebel, Ania Gawronska, and Heather Clark –
13th place.
Men’s 200 yard freestyle relay: Alex Merrill, John Norris, Nolan Persyn, and Cole Pollina – 4th place
Women’s 400 yard freestyle relay: Payton Neff, Ania Gawronska, Emily Reese, and Lucie Nordmann –
4th place
Men’s 400 yard freestyle relay: Alex Merrill, John Norris, Matt Anderson, and Cole Pollina – 4th place.
Coach K presented his Hammer Down Award to Payton Neff and Ryan Sorensen.
Get ready to cheer for our state finalists as they head off to swim at UT, February 20 and 21st! GO
HIGHLANDERS! DROP THE HAMMER!
PROJECT PURPLE: Project Purple will be sponsoring a talent show on February 20th at 7:00 PM in the
auditorium on the senior campus. Tickets will be on sale during lunch and can be purchased for $5.00.
We will be raising money for The Herren Project, which is a non-profit foundation established by former
NBA basketball player, Chris Herren, that assists individuals and families struggling with addiction.
Come out for a night of fun while supporting a fabulous cause!
FBLA: On Wednesday, March 4, Grub will donate money to The Woodlands High School FBLA when
anyone mention TWHS FBLA. So support TWHS FBLA by having lunch, dinner or mid-day snack at
Grub located at Research Forest Dr. and Lakeside.
Our next meeting will be Wednesday, February 28, at 3:00 pm in Room 244 of the Senior Campus.
Members and anyone interested in FBLA may attend.
NATIONAL ENGLISH HONOR SOCIETY: NEHS is asking members, who would like to run for
office, to write a note informing the sponsors of their interests. ELECTIONS will be held, at the March
3rd meeting. The new officers will be announced and inducted at the April meeting.
Members who have NOT paid their dues will not be eligible to run for office or to attend the April
banquet. Dues are $45 and were due in September. We have extended the deadline to February 19th.
Dues are paid on line or in the Financial Office, with Mrs. Petersen.
The NEHS banquet is probably going to be held at Macaroni Grill. When the date is set, we will inform
all members.
LIBRARY NEWS: The Montgomery County Book Festival is a free event that will be held Saturday,
February 21 from 10 am until 6 pm at Lone Star College Montgomery. This one day event features
keynote speakers Ellen Hopkins and Andrew Smith plus 20+ more authors who will speak in genre
panels; a writer's workshop; a Teen Zone for teens to chat with authors; concessions; and book sales.
Visit www.montgomerycountybookfestival.com for the festival schedule and details.
PRIVATE PE SIGN UP: The window for signing up for Private PE for the 2015-2016 school year
begins in March and will close on May 1st. You must be signed up with an approved facility on or before
May 1st or you will not be able to participate in Private PE for the next school year. During individual
conferencing with your counselor, be sure to let them know your intent to sign up and if you will do a 5
hour or 15 hour a week commitment. Please contact Christy Farris if you have any questions
cfarris@conroeisd.net. If you have a facility in mind please make sure it is on the approved list. Visit
http://ci.conroeisd.net/depts/pe/ for links to sign up.
BASS FISHING TEAM: Congratulations to team Hugh Cosculluela/Eddie Yao (TWHS 11.19 lbs) &
Austin Fisher (McCullough 11.63 lbs) for winning the Waterway Open sponsored by BurgerFi! In total,
over a hundred pounds of bass were caught by angler teams. Reaction bites ruled the tournament early
but later in the day slowly worked Lake Fork soft plastics brought in the fish. Congratulations to Michael
Allen for setting an inshore record of 4.87 pound bass! Next tournament will be at Burroughs Park in
Tomball on March 7th. Last regular season inshore tournament takes on new meaning in order to qualify
for the championship! This also will be our annual "Support an Angler" program. Proceeds will benefit
local programs such as Wounded Veterans, Texas Boys Outdoors fishing trip (angler battling cancer), and
Fishing's Future. Please feel free to email twhsbassclub@gmail.com if you would like to find out further
information. Houston Area High School Fishing Conference will be represented by thirteen different
school programs on February 28th. Weigh-in will begin around 2:30 and end by 3:30 @ StowAway
Marina. Local top 25 boat teams will be competing to be in the top six for angler of the year points. The
six top qualifiers of HHFC will be invited to fish the Skeeter 6 on June 13th. In total only 24 teams will
be represented in this Texas State only invitational.
LOOKING FOR CONTESTANTS, SPECTATORS, AND JUDGES!! Coming March 6th is our
annual Poetry Slam! Friday night from 6:30 to 8:30 at TWHS, is your chance to shine!! Come present
your finest poems or stories, or judge others on theirs!! This event is free, though any donations will go
toward the publication of our literary journal, The Fife. For more details, email
fifethewoodlands@gmail.com or come by room 205 to sign up!
SCULPTURE COMPETITION: Four Woodlands H.S. students were finalists in the Houston
Livestock and Rodeo High School Sculpture Competition. Congratulations to the following students:
Kathryn Long 12th - Best in Show
Maggie Morrison-Sauer 10th - Best in Show
Marifer Pagola 11th - Gold Medal
Martha Ortiz 12th - Gold Medal
POWERLIFTING: The Highlander Powerlifting Team is preparing to host its annual meet on Saturday,
February 21, in the big gym at The Woodlands High School. Over 12 schools and many of the region’s
top lifters will be competing in what is always one of the most competitive meets in the area. Lifting at
the meet is scheduled to begin at 8:45am.
On Saturday, February 7, the powerlifting team competed in Livingston and placed 6th out of 16 teams.
Freshman AJ Ono won the 123 lb. class and set a new school record with a 200 lb. bench press. Five
other TWH lifters earned medals at the meet: Nick Provost (123 lb. class – 4th place), Zach Hawkins (148
lb. class – 4th place), Dustin Baranowski (198 lb. class – 5th place), Rene Troche-Baez (220 lb. class – 5th
place), and Aaron Hopper (275 lb. class – 5th place).
On Wednesday, February 11, the team competed at the Waller powerlifting meet. Senior Zach Hawkins
placed 2nd at the meet in the 148 lb. class and set a new school record with a 295 lb. bench press. Also
placing at the meet was Ali Jumili (198 lb. class – 5th place).
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, several TWH lifters are currently ranked in the top 15 in
the region. Current ranked lifters include: Nick Provost (114 lb. class – ranked #15), AJ Ono (123 lb.
class – ranked #4), Gavin Webster (132 lb. class – ranked #1), Grayson Brown (148 lb. class – ranked
#3), Zach Hawkins (148 lb. class – ranked #13), Dustin Baranowski (198 lb. class – ranked #14), and
Rene Troche-Baez (220 lb. class – ranked #9).
THE WOODLANDS HIGH SCHOOL FINAL EXAM EXEMPTION POLICY 2014-2015: Students
are only eligible for exemption from final exams, not midterm exams. Seniors are the only students in the
Fall semester that may be exempt from final exams for half-credit courses which have a final exam, not a
midterm, in the Fall semester. Students must maintain a 90-100 class average for the semester (18-weeks)
and have no more than 3 absences for the semester or have an 85-89 class average for the semester (18weeks) with no more than 2 absences for the semester. In addition the following criteria apply as well:
1. Seniors must meet the criteria listed above and the discipline requirement listed below. Seniors
may be exempt from all their final exams both in the Fall and Spring semesters. Seniors may not
be exempt from midterm exams in the Fall semester.
2. Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors may be exempt from all their spring final exams. Students
must meet the criteria listed above and the discipline requirement listed below. Underclassmen
are not eligible for exemptions from final exams or midterms in the Fall semester.
3. Absences include all days missed: Excused and Unexcused. Pre-approved absences, funerals,
DOC’s, and hospital stays count against exemptions.
4. School field trips, athletic events, UIL events, HCPs (health care provider - student attended
school part of the day), PREs (present), GLOs (grade level office), ECLs (election clerk), CTZs
(citizenship), NATs (naturalization), CVs (up to two College Visits) and religious holidays are
not considered absences.
5. A student granted a final exam exemption must still attend that class during the final exam
period. Failure to attend will result in a zero or an incomplete for that course.
6. Any student that has served SAC, DAEP, or OSS while enrolled in a course during the
semester of the final exam is not eligible for a final exam exemption for that particular course.
THE WOODLANDS HIGH SCHOOL ART TRUST (TWHSAT): Thank you to all the artists,
students, patrons, musicians, art lovers, volunteers, friends and supporters of Palettes & Paintings 2015!
What a wonderful success! We are so grateful for your support. Our event was successful on every level.
The palettes were fantastic. If you weren’t able to attend but would like to support our efforts by joining
our 100 Friends of Art and making a donation, please click HERE. All TWHS students were asked to
vote for their favorite artwork of the 15 finalists. Congratulations to the five artists whose work received
the most votes for 2015: Iwona Jankowski “Mottled Horses”, James Manning “American Bison”, Todd
Stevens “Packaged”, Tamara Robertson “Celeste” and John Guiney “United Skates of America.” Look
for their artworks to be hanging in our hallways soon! Thank you to all artists who submitted their work
for consideration. If you would like to know more about TWHSAT, please visit our website at
www.twhsat.org
TWHS PTO BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Are you interested in getting more involved with the PTO
next year? If so, please go to our website: www.twhspto.org to look over our list of committee chairs and
executive positions for next year. We are a fun group and are looking for new people to get involved.
There are both smaller (less time-consuming) positions as well as larger ones. Our elections will take
place at the General Membership meeting in April. Questions: please contact Dana Higginbotham at
twhspto@gmail.com
TWHS PTO STAFF APPRECIATION NEWS: Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez! We celebrated Mardi
Gras this week with a jambalaya luncheon for the staff of both campuses. We cooked jambalaya on site
and parents made white chocolate bread pudding for dessert. It was a great day. Thanks to all who
helped: Mayra Ahrens, Stephanie Armstrong, Jackie Barkmann, Vanessa Bat, Robin Beattie, Kathy
Billig, Maris Bourg, Tracy Bowling, Karen Broekstra, Andria Cain, Barb Cardinal, Molly Carlson, Ileana
Carroll, Debbie Cox, Katrina Dale, Mary Fay Dumas, Christi Dyer, Michelle Ebel, Charon Edgington,
Jan Estes, Christine Guidot, Melissa Haden, Janene Hemmen, Susie Hernandez, Thars Higginson, Kelly
Holt, Shanna Hulet, Judy Juan, Susan Kiefaber, Telindalee King, Ginger Klein, Penny Loane, Barbara
Lowery, Julie Luman, Shelly Maes, Linda Metcalf, Gigi Noguera, Missy O’Conner, Beth Palmer, Cindy
Peterson, Mellissa Petit, Connie Phenicie, Marilee Poon, Melissa Powell, Molly Renaud, Mari Rinehart,
Sandy Rivera, Diane Roush, Maria Saheb, Karen Saleh, Kathy Schneider, Colleen Schnell, Lisa Selen,
Brenda Seneca, Lynn Shortt, Robin Snyder, Michelle Spiller, Michele Strickland, Karen Terry, Melissa
Vanbiber, Nicole Walston, Lorraine Werner, Angela Winnier and Michelle Wood.
Next month is breakfast for the staff. As always, thanks from the staff appreciation committee:
Kim Brown, Susan Cosculluela, Sally Seelig, Lisa Doornik and Diana Barefield.
TWHS GRADUATION HIGHLANDERS REGISTRATION IS OPEN: Online registration is now
OPEN! Students (or parents) can register for The Main Event 2014 Graduation Highlanders all night
lock-in party. The registration fee is now $35. The fee will increase to $40 on April 1, $45 on May 1 and
will be $50 at the door. Register now, check it off of your “to do” list for your Senior! To register online,
please visit our website: www.twhsgrad.org and click on the “2015 Registration” tab. If you prefer to
register offline, you may send in a check for $35 payable to TWHS PTO. The check MUST have your
student’s name, ID # (not social security number) and say “Graduation Highlanders Registration” on it.
Please put it in an envelope marked “TWHS PTO” and drop it off at the front desk of the main campus or
mail it to school to the attention of the PTO.
GRADUATION HIGHLANDERS DONATIONS NEEDED: Do you own a business or offer a service
that would like to donate as a prize for our graduates at our Graduation Highlanders lock-in after
graduation? Monetary donations are always appreciated but we are also looking for personal training
sessions, teeth whitening, or items like sunglasses (from an optometrist), or anything you think recent
high school graduates might like. If you have something you’d like to donate, please contact us at
twhspto@gmail.com
The Woodlands High School Calendar
February 16 – February 28, 2015
Monday, February 16
STUDENT HOLIDAY
Tuesday, February 17
Green Day
Math/Science Tutorials 5:30-7:30 room 201
Boys Basketball @ Kingwood 4:00/5:30/7:00
Boys Soccer vs. Kingwood @ TWHS 3:30/5:30/7:30
Girls Soccer @ Kingwood 4:00/5:30/7:30
Golf Booster Meeting 6:30 LGI
JROTC Parent Night 7:00
Wednesday, February 18
Red Day
Thursday, February 19
Green Day
Math/Science Tutorials 5:30-7:30 room 201
FCA Meeting 7:00am LGI
Parent Registration Help Night 4:00-7:00 Senior Campus Cafeteria
Softball @ Austin Westlake Tournament TBA
Friday, February 20
Red Day
Science NHS Meeting 2:45 LGI
Project Purple Talent Show 7:00 Auditorium
Boys Soccer vs. Conroe @ TWHS 3:30/5:30/7:30
Girls Soccer @ Conroe 4:00/5:30/7:30
Swimming @ UIL State Meet @ Austin 10:00am
Wrestling @ UIL State Meet @ Garland TBA
Softball @ Austin Westlake Tournament TBA
Varsity Tennis @ Ft. Bend Tournament TBA
Saturday, February 21
Swimming @ UIL State Meet @ Austin 10:00am
Wrestling @ UIL State Meet @ Garland TBA
Softball @ Austin Westlake Tournament TBA
Varsity Tennis @ Ft. Bend Tournament TBA
Powerlifting @ TWHS Tournament TBA
Monday, February 23
Green Day
Math/Spanish Tutorials 5:30-7:30 room 201
Smash Club Meeting 2:45 room 341
Girls JV Red Soccer vs. Aldine @ TWHS 5:00
Tuesday, February 24
Red Day
Math/Science Tutorials 5:30-7:30 room 201
Project Purple Meeting 3:00 room 121
Girls Soccer vs. Atascocita @ TWHS 5:00/7:00
Boys Soccer @ Atascocita 3:30/5:30/7:30
Softball @ Conroe 4:30/6:00
JV Baseball @ College Station 7:00
Wednesday, February 25
Green Day
Thursday, February 26
Red Day
Math/Science Tutorials 5:30-7:30 room 201
Mr. Woodlands Pageant 7:00 Auditorium
Band Booster Meeting 7:30 Band Hall
Sophomore Baseball @ Ft. Bend Tournament
Varsity Softball @ TWHS Tournament TBA
Varsity Baseball @ TWHS Tournament @ McC TBA
Friday, February 27
Green Day
Varsity Tennis @ Klein Tournament TBA
Boys Soccer vs. College Park @ TWHS 3:30/5:30/7:30
Girls Soccer @ College Park 4:00/5:30/7:30
Varsity Softball @ TWHS Tournament TBA
Varsity Baseball @ TWHS Tournament @ McC TBA
Sophomore Baseball @ Ft. Bend Tournament
Saturday, February 28
Varsity Softball @ TWHS Tournament TBA
Varsity Baseball @ TWHS Tournament @ McC TBA
Sophomore Baseball @ Ft. Bend Tournament
Theatre Improv Show Murder Mystery TBA
Varsity Tennis @ Klein Tournament TBA
Boys & Girls Varsity Track @ TWHS Invitational TBA
The Conroe Independent School District (District) as an equal opportunity educational provider and employer does not
discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, or disability in educational programs or activities that it
operates or in employment matters. The District is required by Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended,
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as Board policy not to discriminate in such a manner.
For information about Title IX rights or Section 504/ADA rights, contact the Title IX Coordinator or the Section 504/ADA
coordinator at 3205 W. Davis, Conroe, Texas 77304; (936) 709-7752.