Jul 28, 2016
by Alexis Martin
Tuesday, February 9th was the end of the Mardi Gras season. There were five Krewe parades scheduled to be in Baton Rouge, Louisiana: January 30 Krewe of Mystique and Krewe of Orion, January 31 Krewe of Mutts, February 5 Krewe of Southdowns, and February 6 Krewe of Spanish Town. An interesting fact about the Krewe of Mystique is that they are the oldest parading Mardi Gras Krewe. The Krewe of Orion is known for bringing one of a kind entertainment, family oriented fun, public service, and economic stimulation to the Baton Rouge community. The Krewe of Mutts has CAAWS volunteers elect a dog to be king, queen, prince, and princess of the parade every year. In the parade includes dogs of people who sign up to be in the parade. There is also usually the spectator’s dogs on the sidelines watching the parade as well. The 2016 theme for the Krewe of Southdowns was “Under the Big Top”. The new judges for the 2016 parade, Krewe of Spanish Town, are Whitney Vann, Laken Boudreaux, Gerald Woods, and Tom Sylvest. We hope you visited the Krewe’s parade routes and celebrated Mardi Gras!
Jul 28, 2016
by Alexis Martin
Woodlawn High School students have a lot of spirit and it was represented by the students and the teacher’s involvement in spirit week. On Tuesday we had “Tune Tuesday.” This allowed students to dress up as their favorite cartoon characters. We had many different characters roaming the hallways such as Superman, Minnie Mouse, and Pikachu. More students participated on this day than any other. On Wednesday we had “Wild Wednesday.” This was the day where students could dress up as either an animal or wear an animal print shirt, scarf, skirt, etc. The following day was called “Turnt up Thursday.” Students were able to wear a pair of jeans with their homecoming shirts. Students wore the Homecoming shirt on Thursday this year because Woodlawn High School’s Homecoming football game was on that night instead of Friday night. Our final spirit week theme was “Fifties Friday.” Students were told that they could dress up as if they were in the fifties. For example, female students could wear a poodle skirt because that was what people wore in the fifties. All in all, we had a very successful week, as our spirit was well demonstrated. Go Panthers!
Jul 14, 2016
by Rebecca Aguilar
Woodlawn’s Pro-start is starting a vegetable garden. It is the first time Chef Oubre and his students will have a vegetable garden at Woodlawn High.
Pro-Start is working to keep this garden year round; that means they are going to replant the garden two, three, or more times a year. Right now, winter vegetables are going to be planted; this includes cabbage, broccoli, carrots, pole beans, collard greens, etc. Most of the plants typically take 6-8 weeks to grow, and if the weather stays good, it is more likely the first vegetables are going to be ready for late November.
So what are they going to do with these vegetables? Chef Oubre is planning to incorporate them into the class. The students who are involved with Pro-Start are going to be able to take some vegetables home and cook something during the weekend. Chef Oubre said this will only happen if no one tries to steal or damage the vegetables, and if they actually grow.
If you are asking yourself how Chef Oubre is able to do this, Angello’s landscaping company is donating wood, a special soil mixture that helps vegetables grow, and other materials. It is very important because what Chef Oubre is trying to do is let students go outside the classroom and have ownership of something. He hopes students are going to be able to try new things, try something healthy, because what students usually eat is junk food and candy.
The students right now are getting ready to start a real meal diet, which is a diet based on fresh vegetables and meat; they are also getting ready for the Hot Food Competition. This competition is in March, where if the students win 1st place, are going to win a scholarship of $40,000 dollars per person, but each team can only have four students and one adult. One part is the Hot Food Competition where the students have to cook and the second part is in a restaurant; if the students win the state competition in March, they get to go to Dallas for the national competition. The vegetables grown in the garden will help support their practice for this competition. Good luck with the vegetable garden and the competition!
Jul 14, 2016
by Sarah Hayden
This year’s Beta Club has really taken off thanks to the sponsors Mrs. Fentress and Ms. Ortego; they want to bring the club up by really focusing on making the students give back to the community and building leadership amongst students.
When Beta Club started, any student could join as long as they had a 2.5 GPA, but now the club is looking to raise that standard, even though the National Beta Club does not require a set GPA. The club is already starting their volunteer activity with the ALS Walk to Remember. They are also putting on a canned food drive this Thanksgiving. One new event Beta Club is looking forward to is going to the State Convention in Lafayette. This will be the first time Woodlawn’s Beta Club has ever been to this event. Mrs. Fentress says that the biggest goal for the club is to grow and become the type of club Beta should be. When people look at coming to Woodlawn, they should look to Beta club being one of those contributing factors of why they want to come. Beta club also has officers who help make decisions and guide the club. The president of the club is Hayden LeBlanc, the vice president is Melissa Grant, and Jarielle Johnson is the secretary.
The best part of Beta Club this year is the sense of belonging to a club and teamwork. Beta Club is very accepting of each other and wants to help build people up. They get to put themselves in other people’s positions and see how lucky they are to have what they have and look to help others in their community.
Jul 14, 2016
by Mya Kremin
Several new classes have been added to our school this year. Two of the classes are AP Government and Politics and Newspaper. These courses provide a different pace and offer different materials to fit the students’ academic performance. The newly added AP course is a college course that prepares students for college. If students pass the AP test at the end of the year, then they do not have to take that particular course in college. In Newspaper, students write about events happening in school.
The 10th grade Civics/Government and Politics teacher, Mrs. Smoorenburg, otherwise known as Ms.Smoo, said she is stressed about the addition of AP, but she is happy to teach it. The advice she has for her students to pass: study, read, review, and participate. “You have to put forth effort out of class and at home with your notes and books.” An AP course is a college course and that is how she treats it. “Professors don’t baby you. They expect that if they told you to get 15 books for the class and they never reference any in class, you are still responsible for it on the test.” Ms. Smoo highly encourages students to take AP courses, but only if they are willing to put in the work. She stated, “Only those who have a good work ethic and put in the work every day” should elect to take an AP course. It takes hard work and dedication to pass. If students are thinking about taking an AP course next year, then they better hit the books and remember that hard work pays off in the end.
Newspaper is taught by Ms. Rozier, who is also an advanced English teacher. Students receive a topic, write about it, and then get published to the Woodlawn website. This course allows students to express their view points and their thoughts about Woodlawn happenings and beyond. These topics might include any upcoming Woodlawn events, a review, a creative piece such as a poem, or an interview with a student or faculty member. The newspaper allows the student body to know about upcoming events, or details about events they might have missed. The students in newspaper say they are excited for the year and hope to publish papers people enjoy reading.
