GIRL SCOUTS OF RAINBOW STARS SERVICE UNIT ATTENDS NATIONAL CONVENTION – Rainbow Stars Service Unit played a vital part in the 2011 National Council Session/52nd Convention. With 100 years to celebrate and a new century ahead, the 2011 National Council Session surprised, inspired, informed and energized everyone. Katherine Rickert and Elizabeth Sullivan served as delegates at the convention, while Poonam Vaidya and Shama Tajani were on the planning board for the Girl Scout Leadership Institute. Jean Granier lent her skills to sew vintage uniforms. Many adults and girls volunteered and participated in the closing and opening ceremonies.

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KEMPNER BREAKS ANNUAL BLOOD DRIVE RECORD – For the fourth consecutive year, Kempner High School’s Health Science Technology II Program students have broken Fort Bend County records for collecting the most units of blood during its annual Blood Drive benefiting St. Luke’s Hospital. This year, the Kempner students, staff and parents reached a new record harvest for blood donations by collecting 442 units of blood during an eight-hour period. That’s 55.25 units of blood per hour.

The annual blood drive is directed by Dr. Jeff Ricken, Health Science Technology II Program instructor. Together, Ricken and program officers Greg Jackson, Stephanie Huyhn, Jill Palmer, Roshan George, Santiago Garcia and Pauline Nguyen lead a successful campaign with food for donors, free T-shirts and music.

For the past three years, the students have been recognized with the White House Silver Eagle Award — the highest level of civic service honor that can be earned by young adults in our country. In honor of this year’s achievement, the students will be honored by the city of Sugar Land Mayor and City Council members in May.

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FOSTER HS RETAINS ENERGYQUEST CROWN – Foster High School’s EnergyQuest team competed against 23 other Houston area high schools and won EnergyQuest 2011, a fast-paced quiz game that tests students’ knowledge of the global energy industry. This is only the second year for the competition, hosted by the World Affairs Council of Houston, and Foster has earned the title both times.

Students competed in four rounds — Sources and Security, Technology and Transportation, Economics and Geography and Energy in the News. There were 20 questions in each round. The victory earned $500 for Foster.

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ISMAILI CUB SCOUT PACK EARNS GOLD AWARD – Ismaili Cub Scout Pack 797 earned a Gold Award at the Fall camp 2011. They were awarded by Cub World at Camp Strake for being the Best Campers for the season in Discipline, Activities, Parent support and Cleanliness.

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FOSTER HIGH FFA COMPETES IN KATY – Foster High School FFA competed in the District 7 FFA Leadership Development Contest in November. The Public Relations Team placed third for its FFA Presentation, which was a mock school board committee. The team is comprised of Claire Owen, Kiara Henry, Nolle Hein and Brandon Mee.

Sarah McCullen placed third in the FFA Creed Contest. She recited five paragraphs of the FFA creed and answered questions, and was then scored on her public speaking. Natalie Parsons placed fifth in the Job Interview Contest. She completed a full resume, answered interview questions in front of a corporate panel, and completed a follow up letter.

Foster FFA was represented by 34 students including a Senior Skills team, Junior and Senior Chapter Conducting teams, and a Radio Broadcasting team.

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SUGAR LAND YOUTH RAISE MONEY FOR LIVING WATER - The youth group at Sugar Land Baptist Church took on the challenge to save children without clean drinking water three years ago. The first year, students were able to raise $10,000 — enough to build one well. The second year students raised enough for two wells. The students participated by giving individual donations, doing class projects to raise money, and through a musical program and auction.

Each student also participated in a H2O project where they only drank water for one week. The money they saved by not drinking sodas or other drinks was donated to Living Water. In addition, they gave donations for the excess they have in their lives during advent through a project entitled, The Advent Conspiracy. Each student was asked to daily look at the blessings in their lives and donate a set amount based on the number of items they were blessed with by God. Students presented Living Water, Inc. with a check for $22,000 — enough to build several water wells — and the hope is to raise enough for even more wells.

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TWO FORT BEND ISD MIDDLE SCHOOLS JOIN EFFORTS IN VOLLEYPINK PROJECT – Crockett Middle School and Sugar Land Middle School came together to help promote Breast Cancer Awareness with their first VolleyPink Project, which was held during their October volleyball match. The project was spearheaded by volleyball coaches Debbie Cooper of Sugar Land Middle School and Joshua McClain of Crockett Middle School.

Prior to the game, the volleyball players from each campus collected donations to support breast cancer awareness. Each donation was represented on a pink volleyball, die-cut shape that was hung in the gym at each school. Supporters were also asked to wear pink during the match to honor individuals who have been affected by breast cancer.

With support from team players, the coaching staffs and school communities, the teams collected more than $600. The money was  presented to the Fort Bend Junior Service League, which helps support local cancer patients through the American Cancer Association.

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EXCHANGE CLUB OF SUGAR LAND HONORS YOUTH OF MONTH – The Exchange Club of Fort Bend presented the Youth of the Month Award at its weekly meeting held in October. 

Receiving the award in November were Jillian Ross, Clements High School; and Wesley Yu, Kempner High School.

Youth of the Month winners in October were Austin Killam, Elkins High School; Anne Wells, Stephen F. Austin High School; and Andy Dao, George Bush High School.

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READING JH PRESENTS CHECK TO KOMEN FOUNDATION – Reading Junior High students and staff sold pink “Longhorns for the Cure” shirts to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Principal Juan Nava presented a check for $3,672 to the organization.

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ELEVEN FCST SWIMMERS FINISH IN USA SWIMMING NATIONAL TOP 10- Each year, USA Swimming publishes a list of the previous season’s top 10 fastest times in the country for each age group/event for 11-18-year-olds. The most recent list has 11 FCST swimmers making the list, with two swimmers ranked as the top in the nation for their age group.

Alicia Finnigan and Simone Manuel finished first in the country for their respective events. Alicia finished first in the 12-year-old girls 200 Butterfly for the long course season with a time of 2:20.82. Simone finished first in the 14-year-old girls 50 Free and 100 Free for both the short course and long course season. Simone’s short course times were 22.75 (50 Free) and 49.08 (100 Free), while her long course times were 26.27 (50 Free) and 56.34 (100 Free).

Rounding out the National Top 10 are: Kile Carriger, Eegan Groome, Jordan Hancock, Romy Landeck, Maddie Locus, Asia Quentin, Skylar Smith, Bryanna Vasquez and Kyle Yu.

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LEXINGTON CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DEDICATES “TREE OF LIFE” – Lexington Creek Elementary School held a “Tree of Life” ribbon cutting ceremony to recognize the efforts of Life Skills students and their teacher Michael Biasini, to help beautify their campus, and leave a living monument to LCE students.

Joining the Life Skills students and staff were Lucretia DeFlora, principal at Lexington Creek Elementary; Fort Bend ISD board members Sonal Bhuchar and Bruce Albright; Dr. Timothy Jenney, Fort Bend ISD superintendent; Robin J. Elackatt, city of Missouri City council member; Anthony Maroulis, city of Missouri City Parks board member; Dr. Dawn Carlson, director, Fort Bend ISD Special Education Services; and Jason Elliott and Amy Oaks, The Home Depot – Missouri City.

The “Tree of Life” was planted in the school’s back parking lot. It is named after Life Skills students Paul, Mishal, Lauren, Russell, Stewart, Jacob, Arar, Xan, Daniel and Josiah. The tree also carries their classroom theme: “Lexington Creek is a place where you play, learn and grow.”

“The Tree of Life is dedicated to the 600 girls and boys who come to Lexington Creek each day, the thousands who have attended the school in the past, and those who will attend in the future,” said Michael Biasini, Life Skills teacher. “Throughout the years, the tree will grow stronger branches to represent the many directions in which students will grow during their lifetime.”

The tree-planting project began with the Life Skills students taking a community-based instructional trip to The Home Depot – Missouri City. Daryle Ryan, store manager, led the students on a tour of the store and helped them select supplies for the project. Master gardener Leslie Smith and his wife, Elaine, also helped the students select the type of tree and flowers that would grow well in the designated area of their school. With assistance from LCE Special Education aides Shayna Burgess and Maria Moreno, each student also painted a cement garden block to place in the flower bed surrounding the tree.

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CLEMENTS HS CADET OF THE MONTH – William P. Clements NJROTC Unit selected Cadet Riley Haggerton as the October Cadet of the Month. Cadet Haggerton is a ninth-grade student, which classifies her as a Naval Science I student.  She set a goal to achieve the recognition as Cadet of the Month shortly after watching her classmate receive the honor in September. She researched all the requirements and far exceeded all the expectations. She has learned all the required knowledge (chain of command, orders to the sentry, etc.), and when in uniform she emulates a recruiting poster picture. Additionally, Cadet Haggerton is a member of the Unarmed Drill, and the Female Color Guard Teams.

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CLEMENTS HS NJROTC CELEBRATES NAVY AND MARINE CORPS BIRTHDAY - Clements Cadets held its traditional cake cutting ceremony in recognition of the 236th birthday of the Navy and Marine Corps. The cadets marched on color, presented the cake, read both Navy and Marine Corps birthday messages from the secretary of the Navy and the commandant of the Marine Corps, cut the cake, and traditionally gave the first piece to the guest of honor, D. F. “Rick” Miller, retired U. S. Navy captain. The second piece was given to the oldest cadet in the unit, Cadet Evan Juneau, who passed it to the youngest cadet in the unit, Cadet Bradford Maxwell. This tradition signifies the passing on of knowledge from the oldest to the youngest cadet.

Capt. Miller spoke about the many benefits of a program like this, emphasizing that it prepares these students to be future leaders. He stressed the importance of humility and integrity as key attributes of a good leader.

Also in attendance were retired Col. Jimmie Mitchell, USMC; Rhonda McWilliams, Fort Bend ISD assistant superintendent; Kenneth Gregorski, Clements principal; local Navy recruiters and many families and friends.

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FORT BEND ISD ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS CELEBRATE 50TH DAY OF SCHOOL – Several Fort Bend ISD elementary schools celebrated the 50th day of school with fun activities for students and staff. At Lantern Lane and Townewest elementary schools, students and staff dressed in ’50s attire including poodle skirts, ponytails, jeans and white T-shirts to mark the occasion. Students in the primary grade levels also took part in classroom math activities that focused on counting 50 small items.

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CAMPBELL ELEMENTARY KIDS FOR KINDNESS CLUB MEMBERS COLLECT BOOKS FOR FIRE VICTIMS – Campbell Elementary Kids for Kindness Club members collected $215 and 254 books for Bastrop fire victims. Collections were given out in three increments: September, November and December. In addition, the club also collected $1,510 for the Houston Zoo Cougar Exhibit.

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MATH NIGHT A FAVORITE EVENT AT BLUE RIDGE ELEMENTARY – The fall semester is a favorite time of year for students and staff at Blue Ridge Elementary School because of the school’s annual Math Night. This year’s event invited students to dress in fun costumes and enjoy math challenges designed for grades K-6. Teachers and administrators also dressed in themed costumes to welcome students and lead them in various math activities. Students who successfully completed the math challenges were rewarded with treats throughout the night.

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LAMAR CISD’S PROJECT L.E.A.R.N. HIGHLIGHTED BY BUSH FOUNDATION – Lamar CISD’s Project L.E.A.R.N. (Let’s Eliminate At-Risk Needs) is featured in a new brochure from The Barbara Bush Texas Fund for Family Literacy. Project L.E.A.R.N. is highlighted as a Profile in Success and as a 2011 Grant Recipient that “changes lives.”

Parents in Project L.E.A.R.N. are able to increase their literacy levels and learn how to become involved in their children’s education. At the same time, the children receive homework assistance, tutoring or developmental child care.

Project L.E.A.R.N. has earned three consecutive $50,000 implementation grants from the first lady’s Family Literacy Initiative for Texas, which is part of the Barbara Bush Texas Fund for Family Literacy. Launched in 1996 by Laura Bush, the initiative has awarded nearly $4.4 million to create or expand 159 family literacy programs in Texas. The grants are administered by The Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning at Texas A&M University.

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COMMONWEALTH ELEMENTARY STUDENTS EXCEL IN NATIONAL MATH CONTEST – Commonwealth Elementary students excelled in the Fall 2011 Grade 5 Noetic Learning Mathematics Contest. Nine students earned “National Honor Roll” medals for scoring in the top 10 percent of participating students in the country. Three students — Ryan Harris, Kevin Jin, and Eric Wu — earned the distinction of being the winners of their team by scoring the highest score at Commonwealth Elementary.

Each student received a “Team Winner” medal in recognition of this achievement. The purpose of the contest is to stimulate an interest in math and inspire students to excel in math.

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TEENS VOLUNTEER AT TREES ACROSS SUGAR LAND EVENT – Keep Sugar Land Beautiful held its sixth Trees Across Sugar Land in November with support from the city of Sugar Land, Huitt-Zollars, TXU Energy, Native Land Design, Living Earth and Whole Foods Market. Members of the Fort Bend Teen Service League, Dulles Green, Austin High School, and various adult volunteers planted and mulched 200 five-gallon native hardwoods.

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BOY SCOUTS VISIT DEW HOUSE – Scanlan Oaks Elementary Wolf Pack 1402 enjoyed a tour of the DeWalt Heritage Center. The Scouts were thrilled to see that their music teacher, Jaci Elliott, won prizes with her DeWalt Heritage Center photo contest entries. After the boys asked many questions throughout the house, they enjoyed the very loud tones of the Dew brothers’ bell.

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ACT COUNCIL COMMENDS LAMAR CHS FOR PREPARING STUDENTS FOR COLLEGE – The Texas ACT Council recognized Lamar Consolidated High School for academic improvement by awarding the campus with a 2011 College Readiness Award.

Only 10 percent of Texas high schools will receive this recognition, which is based on “a significant increase in its ACT Composite score over the past five years, while at the same time increasing or maintaining the number of students taking the ACT Assessment.”

The ACT is a curriculum-based achievement test that is aligned to the Texas curriculum. Colleges use the results of the test to measure if students are ready to do college-level academic work.

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FCST SWIMMER ATTENDS USA SWIMMING NATIONAL SELECT CAMP – Jordan Hancock, a member of the First Colony Swim Team, was selected by USA Swimming to attend its National Select Camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. USA Swimming brings 60 of the top USA Swimming member athletes in the nation for a once-in-a-lifetime camp experience. Swimmers are selected from the SWIMS database of top times. During the camp, swimmers learn about post race recovery, drug and supplement rules, psychological training skills, nutrition, race strategy and more. In addition, FCST’s Head Coach Allison Beebe was selected as head coach for the women’s team.