Making Woodlawn High a More Environmentally Friendly Place Through a Recycling Competition

Making Woodlawn High a More Environmentally Friendly Place Through a Recycling Competition

Part of being a member in the National Honor Society is doing your part and helping out with service projects throughout the year. Last school year several students expressed an interest in wanting to help the school campus go green by getting a recycling program started. The President, Elizabeth Zhang, tried to contact different companies to see who would be willing to help us and figure out how to get started. Unfortunately, she did not have any luck. As a last ditch effort the sponsor, Ms. Brittney Fetter, contacted the Recycling Office of East Baton Rouge Parish to see if they had any ideas about how the club could get the recycling idea off the ground. Thankfully a glimmer of hope was sparked.

Richanne Caraway at the Recycling Office guided the sponsor to a representative at the Department of Environmental Services (DES) in hopes that we would be able to enter the recycling competition with the other schools in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. After discussing the idea with the DES representative Michael Lowe, the NHS club decided this was the service project for us this year. The club had an orientation meeting with Mr. Lowe so that he could explain the rules of the competition and get everyone on board. The students were excited about getting to make a difference in their school community.

Later that week, Friday October 20, 2017, the recycling bins were delivered by Republic to aid the NHS in their mission. They received four bins to help collect the recycling, and the bins were placed in different areas around campus to make it easier for the students during collection. The competition started that very next Monday morning on October 23, 2017 and they had four weeks to collect as much as possible. They asked the faculty to place a recycling bin in their classroom, to aid in the collection process. The students and the teachers were very good at making sure that the appropriate material was getting recycled; paper, plastic, cardboard, no food waste. It was decided to pick-up twice a week during both lunch shifts on Wednesday and during the beginning of 4th block on Fridays. Students volunteered to go around and collect the recycling.

Throughout the competition the club members had to keep track of how many bins were put into the recycling dumpster. With the help of the teachers, students, office staff, and the cafeteria staff the club was able to dump 111 bins of recycling. In the end it weighed over 5,000 pounds. It was amazing! Since the students met their goal of 100 carts, the whole school was able to participate in free dress for a whole week. The week after Thanksgiving break the sponsor was anxiously awaiting the news to find out who had won the whole competition. At the end of the day on November 27, 2017 the email finally came through; Congratulations to Woodlawn High School, the winner of the recycling competition! Being the winners of the competition, meant a visit from Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome. The Mayor came to the school on Monday December 11, 2017 to announce Woodlawn as the winners and to declare that December 11, 2017 is Woodlawn High School Day.

Even though the competition has ended, our goal to keep the campus green remains. The National Honor Society appreciates all the help from everyone involved and hopes for the continued support from the Woodlawn High family.

Webb Announced as Woodlawn High School’s Student of the Year

Webb Announced as Woodlawn High School’s Student of the Year

Woodlawn High School is proud to announce Alisa Webb as the 2017-2018 Woodlawn High School Student of the Year. Alisa Webb has distinguished herself as a scholar and leader at Woodlawn High School, where she is part of the Academically Gifted and Talented Music Programs. Currently ranked second in her class, she has maintained straight As every semester of high school and has taken some of the most challenging courses that Woodlawn High has to offer. Her list of achievements include being named an AP Scholar with Distinction, receiving the Tulane Book Award, and being selected to the All-Parish Honor Band.

She believes that through hard work, determination, and passion, she has been able to achieve her academic and personal goals. It was through hard work that she was selected as the first female Drum Major in over a decade at WHS this year, as well as the Team Captain of the robotics team last year. Her talent and leadership has led the band to victory in state competitions, and no football game would have been complete this year without Alisa leading the band on Friday nights. As Team Captain and Field and Pit Coordinator of the robotics team during her junior year, she helped the team qualify for a spot at the national competition last year and showed female students that they can be leaders in a male dominated field.

She is involved in multiple clubs on campus, including Beta, National Honor Society, and Key Club. Through these clubs, she is able to fulfill her passion of giving back to the community. Some of her most recent contributions were serving on the committee for the First Annual Woodlawn High Masquerade Mardi Gras Ball, promoting the district Recycling Campaign that Woodlawn High School won, visiting retirement homes to deliver Christmas cards to residents, and participating in a supply drive for hurricane flood victims this year. She has served as a face of Woodlawn High at multiple recruitment events and volunteers her time tutoring peers and mentoring future Panthers. She is also the founder and President of the Astronomy Club; the team plans to compete in the Team America Rocketry Challenge this year.

Alisa aspires to attend Princeton University next fall and to use her determination and passion to become a leader in the Aerospace Engineering field. When asked to summarize herself and her time at Woodlawn High School into one sentence, Alisa said, “Ultimately, my experiences at Woodlawn High School have significantly impacted who I am today: a motivated, artistic student leader who wants to inspire the next generation of scientists, while making advances of my own in the world.”

Honor Roll Students to be Recognized

Honor Roll Students to be Recognized

Students who showed exemplary academic efforts during the first six weeks of the 2017-2018 school year will be recognized on Friday, October 13th with an Honor Roll Breakfast in the school cafe. In addition, all Honor Roll Students will receive a free jump pass to Sky Zone Trampoline Park.

Congratulations to the following students, who have received invitations to the Honor Roll Breakfast:

Ebani Adams
Bailey Allen
Jacquelyn Ambeau
John Andorf
Jacob Andreport
Dorien Andrews
Dylan Augustus
Alison Barker
Jacob Barnes
Jordan Baudry
Travis Benbow
John Bertucci
William Boudreaux
Harrison Breland-Triche
Kieron Brown
Tiera Brown
Reilly Burke
Brennan Burleigh
Angel Caine
Evangeline Carter
Josue Casco-Rodriguez
Melissa Castillo
Larry Chase
Marcus Chialastri
Tamia Coleman
Thomas Cooper
Jaia Crossley
Briana Cutforth
Hailey Cyprian
Talbot Daniels
Core’ya Davis
Taliyah Davis
Sierra Decoux
Kyra Deggs
Makaylen Deggs
Seth Deitch
Steven Delgado
Kennedy Deschamp
Blaine Edwards
Heidi Fendalson
Anastasia Fieldings
Laila Fisher
Bryant-Paul Fontenot
Aliah Francis
Kade-Micah Gallo
Myles Gary
Yesenia Gonzalez-Loyda
Nichole Goodman
Melissa Grant
De’joun Guice
Shane Harris
Lillie Hauptman
Noah Hayes
Argueta Hernandez
Olivia Higgins
Kerrington Hill
Ken’dasha Hunt
Yacoob Hussain
Tareq Issa
Taylin Jackson
Joell Jeansonne
Saulomon John
Gabrielle Johnson
Kaleb Johnson
Kelli Johnson
Reem Kasem
Amin Khalil
Terrell Kimbeng
Joshua Kimbrough
Victoria La
Adilynn Le
Taylor Le
Hayden Leblanc
Anny Lee
Torri Lee
Grant Legaux
Debreona Leggett
Christian Lejeune
Donney Lewis
Justin Lewis
Tyler Lewis
Skyla Lockheart
Joshua London
Clayton Loup
Marlin Loveless
Hannah Luker
Bassam Mahmoud
Riley Marcella
Noelle Marion
Aimee Martin
Judah Maurer
Breanna Mayon
Madisyn McAlister
Victoria Medina
Krisna Medina-Gonzalez
Gissel Medina-Rubio
Leah Medine
Fallyn Melton
Matthew Merchant
La’Davious Mosley
Peter Ngo
Steven Nguyen
Trinh Nguyen
Ma’Kayla Odom
Carl Owens
Malhar Pandya
Gonzalez Pantaleon
Deandre Parker
Tender Pellette
Kevin Perry
Madison Rice
Carly Richard
McKensie Richard
Christian Riley
Khoi Roberts
Kyndahl Rogers
Deja Ross
Lawson Roy
Madison Ruffin
Ethan Rushing
Candice Rutledge
Keil Scott
Ragen Searcy
Marissa Segura
Selena Seitz
Joshua Serio
Jude Serio
Brent Sibley
Austin Sprunk
Joshua Stephens
Cody Stevenson
Alexas Suire
Terence Taylor
Brialle Tolliver
Hunter Trum
Tionne Valentine
Victoria Vaughn
Tyree Walker
Dalvan Weathersby
Alisa Webb
Jordan West
DeMarquis Wheeler
Taylar White
A’Daja Williams
Jada Williams
Kacie Wood
Crhistopher Woods
Taylor Woodside

Casco-Rodriguez Named 2018 National Merit Semifinalist

Casco-Rodriguez Named 2018 National Merit Semifinalist

Congratulations to WHS Senior Josue Casco-Rodriguez on being named a 2018 National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist. Josue is a student in the WHS gifted program and active in Robotics, Game Design and Powerlifting. Josue also achieved recognition as a National AP Scholar and a National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar by the College Board this year.

As a semifinalist, Josue will continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2018.

Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 230 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 190 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

Homecoming Court Nominations Available On-Line

Homecoming Court Nominations Available On-Line

The nominations for the 2017 Homecoming court are going digital!  All nominations for this year’s court will be accepted online.  There are two ways to nominate your classmates.

1) Join the Homecoming Nomination Class in Google Classroom (code r0bz5m) and complete the Google Form.

OR

2) Go to https://goo.gl/forms/t9DxFgpkNuBRWqrx1 and complete the Google form.

You must be logged into your Woodlawn High Google account to vote.   All voting will close on September 25 at 2:40pm.

Students must have a 2.5 gpa and no serious discipline issues to be considered for the court.