At the March meeting of the Washington Parish School Board, student groups from each of the four parish high schools were on hand to share some accomplishments. First, Franklinton High School Principal Shane Smith introduced Nate Murray, Jobs for American Graduates (JAG) teacher. Murray's students recently attended a state competition and placed first in the Think Tank Competition and Creative Decision Making. The Think Tank group created a product, fishing lures and baits called "RIP'N LIPS", and "sold" it to the judges. They will be competing in Orlando, Florida at the national convention in the summer. The Creative Decision students were given a problem and had to develop a solution in thirty minutes. They too placed first and will also be competing at nationals in Orlando this summer.
Mt. Hermon High School Principal Lee Bond first introduced Darcey Lorrigan, an honor student with a 4.0 who has been accepted into the SELU Scholars Showcase Program. Lorrigan is also involved in many other school extracurricular activities. Next Bond presented Beta Club Students who for the first time ever qualified for national convention in Louisville, Kentucky this summer with eight winners at the state level. They placed 4th in the book battle, placed in recycled art and won first place in the pin competition. Jessica Spears received a Golden Ticket Premier Performer and will be in the opening musical number at national convention.
Pine High School Principal Ramona Thomas presented the schools Junior Beta Club members who qualified for national convention's Group Talent and two Golden Ticket recipients Presly Phillips and Halle Seal. Next was the school's Show Choir who placed first at state convention, and they gave a short performance for the board members and guests. The Senior Beta Club placed second at state in Group Talent and had two Golden Tickets as well, Seth Williams and Jaelyn Walker. Jaelyn Walker performed a song from the performance. In total the group received 11 awards and will be competing in Louisville, Kentucky this summer.
Additionally, Ms. Thomas introduced the Pine High School Robotics Team which won 2nd at the Robotics state convention. They demonstrated their robot and the various activities it can be programmed to complete. This team will go two the World Convention in Dallas, Texas this summer as well.
Finally, Varnado High School Principal Dr. Latricia Warren and teacher Amber Burge presented awards to senior Zamoryion Washington for being a "Brilliant Mind." He has currently been accepted to 49 colleges and has been offered approximately $600,000 in academic scholarships. Mrs. Burge recognized the six students who qualified for State Literary Rally from the 40 VHS students who competed. She noted that they raised enough funds in a mere three weeks to travel to State Rally and compete. Three of these students placed at the state level. Ja'Maya Dalcour placed second in Agriscience III and Vivian Hogard placed third in Agriscience II for VHS's division.
All four high schools' groups will be fundraising for their respective trips to National and World Conventions. Anyone interested in assisting may contact the schools for more information.
Franklinton High School JAG students are shown above. Photos of students from other schools follow on era-leader.com
