Fort Bend Lifestyles and Homes Magazine Feb 2010: Fort Bend County School News .

First Colony Swim Team Places at Nationals - First Colony Swim Team had eight swimmers compete in the 2009 Short Course Junior National Championships in Ohio on Dec. 10-13. The meet featured over 1,300 swimmers representing 380 teams. Out of those 380 teams, the FCST girls ’ team placed sixth while the combined team scores placed FCST 11th overall. This was the first USA Swimming Short Course Junior National competition for four of the eight FCST swimmers.

FCST had three swimmers qualify for the “A” final (Top 10). Romy Landeck placed fifth in the 200 breast with a new Gulf record time. Maddie Locus placed seventh in the 50 free, and Jordan Hancock placed seventh in the 200 fly. Three other FCST swimmers qualified for the consolation finals. Simone Manuel placed 18th in the 100 free, which was a new 13-14 girls Gulf record; Meaghan Connolly placed 23rd in the 200 free and 24th in the 100 free; and Kyle Yu placed 12th in the 100 breast and 18th in the 200 breast.

In addition to these phenomenal individual swims, the FCST relay teams were outstanding at the meet. The girls 400 Free Relay of Locus, Manuel, Connolly and Landeck finished third with a Gulf record-breaking lead off split from Locus. The girls 800 Free Relay of Erin Yeager, Hancock, Locus, and Connolly placed fourth and smashed the 15-16 Gulf record by 13 seconds and the Texas State Record by 2 seconds. The girls 400 Medley Relay of Manuel, Landeck, Locus and Connolly placed sixth, while the same relay placed 15th in the 200 Medley Relay. The girls 200 Free Relay of Connolly, Manuel, Locus and Landeck placed 14th.

Kempner Student Honored as Youth of Month - Shikha Shah was honored by The Exchange Club of Sugar Land as Youth of the Month. Shikha is currently ranked No. 36 out of 560 senior class students at Kempner. She is a member of the National Honor Society and the English Honor Society. She regularly tutors at the Kumon School helping sixth- and eighth-graders in math and English. She also volunteers at several hospitals in the area.

She plans to attend either Rice University, Trinity University or the University of Texas and pursue a career in medicine hopefully to become a surgeon.

Sartartia MS Students Compete in First LEGO League Tournament - The Science, Technology, Aerospace and Robotics Society (STARS) of Cypress hosted a First LEGO League qualifying tournament. Prior to the event, students constructed robots out of LEGO Mindstorms sets and taught them to navigate through a series of tasks. The competition featured 45 teams of 9- to 14-year-old students including three teams from Sartartia Middle School that competed for the first time. The teams ranked 16th, 39th, 40th and one team came home with second-place honors in the teamwork competition.

The FLL is part of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics program that runs worldwide. FLL competitors used LEGO Mindstorms sets and program their LEGO brain via a computer download. Teams were judged for several awards in many categories from design to innovation, and the top teams will advance to the regional tournament.

Lamar CISD Superintendent Dr. Thomas Randle, Jesse Torres, Michael Richard, Patrick Sexton, Vera Wehring, Ron Ewer, Gene Tomas, Joe Gurecky, Michael Milstead, Sam Hopkins, Mike Rice, Wyman Hopkins, Leslie Haack, Mark Wiatrek and Dave Terrall gather under the new marquee located outside of Lamar CISD ’s Traylor Stadium.

Lamar CISD Receives New Marquee - Legacy Ford Lincoln Mercury donated $50,000 to Lamar CISD for a new marquee. The marquee will be used to advertise district events. Legacy Ford Lincoln Mercury has made a five-year commitment from February 2009 through February 2014.

“Legacy Ford Lincoln Mercury strives to facilitate all communications of all departments within Lamar CISD area and benefiting our community is important to us, ” said Ron Ewer, owner of Legacy Ford Lincoln Mercury.