Fort Bend Lifestyles and Homes Magazine Mar 2010: Fort Bend County School News

Girl Scouts Visit Fabergé Exhibit - Several Girl Scouts from Rainbow Star Service Unit discovered the spectacular masterpieces of Carl Faberg é, a legendary jeweler who is still celebrated for his inventive design and meticulous craftsmanship at The Houston Museum of Natural Science exhibition Fabergé: Imperial Jeweler to the Tsars. When the girls first arrived at the exhibit, they were expecting to only see Imperial Easter Eggs created for the Russian Royal family. But to their surprise, the House of Fabergé created amazing fashioned jewelry and luxurious gifts for many ruling families of Europe. Of course, the diamond tiara created for Empress Josephine was the girls ’ favorite.

FCST National Athletes at Olympic Training Center - First Colony Swim Team members spent part of their Christmas break at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Twenty-three swimmers were selected to attend a week-long training trip that involved rigorous workouts and educational classes taught by members of the USA Swimming staff. Every year, USA Swimming selects the Top Club teams from around the country to experience training at their top-notch facilities. This was FCST ’s third year in a row to be selected.

Several FCST swimmers in attendance are currently ranked in the Top 20 nationally with USA Swimming. These swimmers include: 13-year-olds Simone Manuel, Kaitlyn Swinney and Madison Varisco; 15-year-olds Jordan Hancock, Romy Landeck and Kyle Yu; and 16-year-old Madeline Locus.

FCST Swimmers in attendance were: Eric Ahrns, Meaghan Connolly, Clement Dulac, Daniel Graviss, Eegan Groome, Kirsten Groome, Jordan Hancock, Sydney Hodges, Christopher Kalmbach, Riley Kmiecik, Romy Landeck, Lindsey Leist, Maddie Locus, Colleen Lord, Simone Manuel, Antoine Marc, Justin Morey, Guy Stovall, Kaitlyn Swinney, Madison Varisco, Christy Wolterman, Erin Yeager and Kyle Yu.

Andrew Walquist Earns Eagle Scout Honor - After a long history with the Scouting program, Andrew Walquist with Boy Scout Troop 1656, chartered through the Knights of Columbus at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Richmond, earned the Eagle Scout rank. This is Boy Scouts of America ’s highest honor.

Andrew began his scouting career in Cub Scouts in 2001, when he joined Pack 1680. After his Arrow of Light ceremony he crossed over and joined Boy Scout Troop 1656 in 2004. He has held several positions of leadership including Patrol Leader, Librarian and Troop Guide. As a Scout, Andrew has earned 31 merit badges and also has been elected and inducted into the Order of the Arrow, Scouting ’s Camping Honor Society.

His Eagle project was to help beautify the area in front of the Administration Building at Faith United Methodist Church in Rosenberg. He removed some existing overgrown bushes, replacing them with a variety of trees, plants and flowers. To further enhance the landscaping, he added a teakwood bench along with some decorative stepping stones and an iron cross. His project was recognized by the city of Rosenberg ’s Image Committee with an award from the city council.

Andrew is a junior at Travis High School. His commitment to helping others began at a young age. He wanted to help children with cancer and set up a lemonade stand along with his twin brother, Brandon. They raised enough money to purchase over 100 new books that were donated to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for the children ’s cancer center wing. They were recognized by both M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and The American Legion for their efforts.

Andrew is the son of Fran and Mark Walquist of Richmond.

Campbell Elementary’s Health Nuts Take Cause to Great Day Houston - Lamar CISD’s Campbell Elementary was recently featured on KHOU’s Great Day Houston with Deborah Duncan. Faculty members Gloria Kyle, school nurse Cindy Burns and Debbie Nesbitt were on the program to discuss Campbell’s Health Nuts employee health program. Campbell student Emma Kastens was also on hand to quiz the audience with health questions.

Health Nuts is a support group that meets weekly to discuss healthy lifestyle habits. With the assistance of the Memorial Hermann Sugar Land UHealth program, the after-school meetings include health professionals who share information about fitness and establishing good healthy habits.

(L-R) Cindy Burns, R.N. (Campbell’s school nurse), Gloria Kyle (instructional coordinator), Debbie Nesbitt (teacher), Deborah Duncan (host of Great Day Houston), Emma Kastens (Campbell student), Lisa Kastens (parent and Campbell’s Yoga instructor) and Janet Brucker, R.N. (educational specialist with Memorial Hermann Sugar Land) on the set of Great Day Houston.

G-T Students Complete Brochure Project - Students in Chris Abbott’s Gifted and Talented Reading and English class at Navarro Middle School took time to show off their home town, completing a tri-fold brochure outlining important points of Richmond, Rosenberg and Navarro Middle School. The brochures were sent to friends and relatives around the United States, along with a request for postcards to be sent in return to the students.

Fort Bend Baptist Academy Raises $4,448 for Haiti Relief Fund - In just three days, students at Fort Bend Baptist Academy were able to raise $4,448 to contribute to the Haiti Relief Fund. The earthquake ’s destruction and the humanitarian efforts needed to assist Haitians were the topics of discussions at all grade levels from elementary to high school.

“Students deposited change and dollar bills in large water bottles during lunch over a three-day period, and raised even more money than they thought possible, ” said Pam Jacobsen, FBBA director of public relations. “Founder’s Bank in Sugar Land generously provided the Cash Cow change counter to help us with the almost $1,400 in pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters that we collected. We were able to send a total of $4,448 to World Vision ’s Haiti Relief Fund; World Vision has about 800 workers permanently in Haiti and so could be immediately hands-on in the relief efforts.”

Lamar Mustang Band Competes at 2009 Alamo Bowl - The Lamar Mustang Band was one of 12 high school bands chosen to perform en masse at the 2009 Alamo Bowl halftime show and the only high school band to perform during the pregame show.

The Mustang Band—the only band from Texas to compete—placed first in every category in the large band division. The band swept all of the large division caption awards: Outstanding Marching, Outstanding Music, Outstanding Percussion, Outstanding Drum Majors, Outstanding Colorguard and Outstanding General Effect.

It was also awarded Overall Outstanding Band for the contest, which means it had the highest score of all the bands of all sizes.

Fort Bend Senior Jasmin Reeves Named Top Teen - The Humble Intercontinental Chapter of Top Teen of America held its Blue and Silver Ball in November, crowning Missouri City native Jasmin Reeves the new Miss Top Teen queen. HIC-Top Teens is dedicated to preparing teens for future through community service activities. Jasmin is the daughter of Zachary and Delois Reeves. She plans on attending Lamar University to study Medical Science.

Area Student Selected to Perform with All-State Choir - Kelli Valdez, a member of FBISD’s Kempner High School choir, performed with the Texas All-State Choir in San Antonio, in February as part of the 2010 Texas Music Educators Association Convention. She was chosen for this honor by competing through several levels of auditions across the state beginning in the fall of 2009. All-State is the highest honor a Texas music student can receive. Kelli sings at school under the direction of Pamela Hal. She is the daughter of Mike and Monica Valdez.

BSA Troop 731 Honors Austin Comer and Ryan Lord - A special Eagle Court of Honor was held at St Laurence Catholic Church to recognize Austin Comer and Ryan Lord of Troop 731 for earning Eagle Rank, Scouting’s highest youth rank, on Jan. 9.

Don Rakoski was master of ceremonies. Special presentations were made by current Scoutmaster Truitt Smith, former Scoutmaster Larry West, former Scoutmaster and Current Thunderwolf District Chairman David Van Kleeck, and Troop 731 Advancements Chair Rhea Scadden.

To reach the rank of Eagle, a scout has to progress through all of the lower ranks, accumulate at least 21 merit badges, including 12 required badges, camp a number of days, perform a number of service hours, and then design, manage, and complete a service project for a non-BSA organization.

Austin, now a freshman at The University of Texas in Austin, son of David and Laura Comer, joined BSA Troop 731 in March 2002. He completed a total of 29 merit badges, served the community with numerous service hours, and had a number of leadership positions in the troop. His Eagle project was to refurbish four butterfly gardens at Highlands Elementary in Sugar Land and make one of them more accessible to the special needs students.

Ryan, currently a junior at Strake Jesuit, son of Paul and Lori Lord, joined BSA Troop 731 in October 2003. He completed 21 merit badges, served the community with numerous service hours, and had a number of leadership positions in the troop. His Eagle project was to construct a mobile lost-and-found box and two bookshelves for Settlers Way Elementary.

Plaques from the Exchange Club of Sugar Land, chartering organization for the troop, were presented to each of the scouts to recognize their accomplishments.