Awards and Accolades-5444
Published July 19, 2013
Below is a list of recent accomplishments by Williamson County students and staff in the areas of academics, athletics and the arts. They are listed in alphabetical order according to school.
WCS Fine Arts Teachers Attend TN Arts Academy
A number of Williamson County teachers were selected to attend this year's Tennessee Arts Academy. The Academy is recognized as one of the nation's premier programs for professional development in arts education.
The WCS educators were among the approximately 250 teachers who participated. The advanced curriculum, cutting-edge methodology and unique philosophical perspective offered at the academy attract a diverse and enthusiastic group of K-12 educators from across the state.
The academy sessions are held on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville. Participants are grouped according to their specific teaching assignment, which includes visual art, music or theatre courses.
Franklin High Dance Team Shows Off Moves at UDA Camp
The Franklin High School Dance Team recently attended and competed at the Universal Dance Association Camp at the University of Tennessee-Martin. The team received the highest ranking of the Superior Trophy and placed second place overall for the home routine. The team was also recognized by UDA with the team full-out award and the super spirit stick award.
Four FHS dancers were selected as UDA All-Americans including Maggie Smith, McKenzie Babb, Abby Helper and Holly Folks. Every member of the team received a blue ribbon for her skills.
The dance members are Maggie Smith, McKenzie Babb, Abby Helper, Holly Folks, Hannah Lagoski, Alyssa Arnold, Amelia Smith, Haley Baker, Katie Kronk, Emma Clifton, Jordan Thompson, Abby Gleason, Cameryn Dargie, Lizzie Theriot and Samantha Faber. The team is coached by Kirstin Hawk.
Page High Graduate Receives $160,000 Scholarship
Page High School Class of 2013 Graduate George Owen has chosen to enroll at Louisiana State University as an Stamps Leadership Scholar.
The value of the Stamps Leadership Scholarship for four years at LSU is approximately $160,000, including enrichment funds for international travel, research internships and outdoor leadership experiences. George was chosen for his leadership, scholarship, perseverance, service and innovation.
The Stamps Family Charitable Foundation supports merit scholarships at 35 partner universities and colleges across the country. This year, over 500,000 applications were reviewed at these schools for consideration as Stamps Leadership Scholars. From these applications, approximately 170 students were selected.
The new recipients, whose combined scholarships are valued at almost $24 million, join almost 400 Stamps Leadership Scholars and alumni as beneficiaries of these generous merit awards. Stamps Leadership Scholars gather every other year for the National Convention, with the next one planned for Atlanta, Georgia, in the spring of 2015.
George plans to major in Middle Eastern Studies and Economics. He is the son of Paul and Charlotte Owen.
Page High Students Show Off Tech-Savvy Skills at National Conference
Eight students with the Page High School Technology Student Association chapter attended the annual national conference in Orlando June 28-July 2.
More than 5,500 students and educators throughout the United States, Turkey and Germany were in attendance with students competing in more than 60 events.
All eight Page High students were named finalists.
Manufacturing Prototype – 9th – Team event – Chase Moon, Carson Stafford, Brock Bolton, Grant Santilli, Jacob Albert
Structural Engineering – 6th – On-site event – Caroline Hill and Austin Kiger
Transportation Modeling – 9th - Wilson Cochrane
Page High Entrepreneurs Wins Gold Medal at National Conference
Page High School students Molly Hinesley and Abbey Hill competed in the entrepreneurship competition at this year's FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Nashville.
With nearly 8,000 students in attendance, they placed second in the southern region which earned them a gold medal.
Molly and Abbey were also chosen to film their presentation for a future "how to" video to be produced by the FCCLA national office.
Woodland Students Earn Honors at National Forensic Tournament
The Woodland Middle School Forensic Team recently returned from the National Speech and Debate Tournament with top honors. The tournament was sponsored by the National Junior Forensic League and was attended by over 90 schools from across the nation.
Woodland was one of only three middle school teams from Tennessee to attend. Students who qualified to be on the award-winning team were Bailee Wilson, Megan Gunthert, Claire Gallagher, Elise Reimschisel, Noah Syverson, Macie Atwood, Natalie Tooley, Hatty King and Lauren Haynes.
Students competed in short form speech and dramatic event categories over three days of competition, with Head Coach Margaret Hall and Assistant Coach Paige Hall.
Those moving on to quarterfinals (top 24 in the Nation) were Elise Reimschisel in Poetry and Prose Interpretation; Noah Syverson in Prose Interpretation; Natalie Tooley in Declamation and Dramatic Interpretation; Hatty King and Lauren Haynes in Duo Interpretation; Claire Gallagher in Original Oratory and Impromptu Speaking; and Macie Atwood in Prose Interpretation and Humorous Interpretation.
After more tense competition, the following students were named top 12 in the nation as semi-finalists: Elise Reimschisel in Prose, Natalie Tooley in Declamation, Hatty King and Lauren Haynes in Duo Interpretation, Claire Gallagher in Impromptu Speaking and Macie Atwood in Prose.
Macie Atwood continued on into finals and placed fifth overall in Prose Interpretation, with her piece about a sibling with a disability called In Jesse's Shoes.
Woodland 8th Grader Scores 30 on ACT Test
Woodland Middle School rising eighth grader Natalie Joseph was recently recognized for her performance on the ACT test.
At the age of 12, Natalie took the standard ACT test and achieved a composite score of 30, higher than 95 percent of high school students in the country and 97 percent of students in Tennessee. The test was facilitated by the Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP), which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving academically gifted and talented youth.
All Duke TIP students who scored at or higher than the 90 percentile in at least one section of the ACT or SAT were invited to a grand recognition ceremony at Duke University on May 20 and a local ceremony at Vanderbilt University. Natalie received several medals for her accomplishment.
Hot Shots Recognized at National Jumprope Contest
The Hot Shots Jumprope team recently competed at the USA National Jumprope Competition. Comprised of numerous WCS students, the Hots Shots Jump Rope team regularly competes at events across the nation.
The USA National Jumprope Competition was held last month in Long Beach, California, and featured 675 competitors from 27 states. The Hots Shots jumpers who won awards include:
- Cara Moyers - 10th place in 30 second speed jumping
- Graham Wynn - 9th place in 30 second speed jumping and 10th place in 1 minute speed jumping and single rope freestyle routine
- William Pogue - 4th place in 30 second speed jumping, 9th in 1 minute speed jumping and single rope freestyle routine, and 10th place in 3 minute speed jumping
- McCallie Miller - received 10th place in 30 second speed jumping
- Anna Lapre and Cara Moyers - received 5th place in a pairs freestyle routine
- Anna Lapre - won a bronze medal for her single rope freestyle routine