Mar 13, 2017
Woodlawn High School DECA students attended the Louisiana 2017 Career Development Conference at the Baton Rouge Radisson.
Four of Woodlawn’s most talented DECA students competed in the Marketing Internship Interview Event on the morning of March 6, 2017. After much hard work and dedication to this event, students were finally able to reap their rewards.
Raymond Vincent, a senior, took 2nd place and Elizabeth Zhang, a junior, took 3rd place. Both students are eligible to attend the National DECA Conference in Anaheim, California in April. Congratulations to both students and GOOD LUCK at nationals!
Mar 9, 2017
These kids, man. These kids.
These kids are amazing. And we didn’t recognize it. Not soon enough, at least. Not until they were almost gone. Luckily for us, Tarquin Kenner came around.
Kenner, a 24-year old paraprofessional at Woodlawn High School, brought an idea from his alma mater, Destrehan High School, to his new profession at the south Baton Rouge school. He came to coach football, but quickly saw something that so many others did not see.
He saw talent. He saw students that needed a platform. He decided to give it to them.
Kenner chose to sponsor the Culture Club. The idea came from the St. Charles Parish high school which he called home for four years. After getting permission from administration to start the club, he reached out for help. Malakah Hawkins, a social studies teacher, was up for the challenge.
With the help of Hawkins, Kenner began recruiting students.
“This was something that I decided to do based on what we did at Destrehan High. I felt that it was a positive influence on my life, and it was something that I could pass on to the younger generation,” explained Kenner. “It wasn’t easy at the beginning. Kids didn’t really want to be a part of it. ‘What’s that? What are we going to be doing?’ I heard all the excuses in the book. But then, Jeroderick bought in, and he was able to bring more people into it.”
Students perform as part of “Cypher’s Corner” during the opening of Blurred Lines.
Jeroderick Allen is an 18-year old senior at Woodlawn. Allen had been at Woodlawn since his freshman year, but had nothing to look back upon fondly. He saw Kenner’s plan as a way to change this. Allen was asked what he saw in Kenner that made him want to be a part of the Culture Club
“I saw a vision that would allow us to bring something to Woodlawn,” Allen said. “Coach brought the idea to us, and I was like, ‘Yea, it’s going to be a good move for Woodlawn, period. This club could be a positive influence on students here. It could change the way that others look at us.’ The whole vision of seeing talent come together and doing good things, that’s what I really told people about to get them involved and draw them in.”
The formation of the Culture Club was just the beginning. The group began having sporadic meetings. Kenner quickly found students that he became close to. These students are now the heart of the club.
The step teams came next. They quickly spawned from the Culture Club. The Suave Kings and the Alluring Queens, collectively known as the Royal Panthers, were born. Practices began after school in November. Lunch performances came next, followed by halftime shows at basketball games and a performance in Woodlawn’s Fine Arts program, “All the World’s a Stage.” Kenner and the Royal Panthers began thinking about their next step.
“Once the Royal Panthers began performing in public, I decided that maybe they were ready for a bigger performance. Members of the Culture Club also started coming to me about a program for Black History Month,” described Kenner.
The Suave Kings step during Blurred Lines.
Members began discussing the idea of a performance at one of the now regular meetings. The idea was brought to Mr. Stevens, Woodlawn’s principal. After he agreed to the plan, the group got to work. Blurred Lines was born.
Allen expounded on the genesis of Blurred Lines.
“Everyone brought something to the table,” he said. “The program made sense being that February was coming up. It was little bits of everybody. Ms. Hawkins and Coach Kenner brought everyone together, and the program belonged to everybody. It was a whole team.”
Sure, the Culture Club was ready to produce the show. But would this be enough? Could the students convince others to join?
“Most of us that performed today were Culture Club members, but we had to get some other students to help out with the production,” said Keon Simmons, a 17-year old senior at Woodlawn High. “Trevon (Hardnett) was one of the first we got to commit to the program.”
Simmons and other Culture Club members reached out to friends that they knew had talent.
“Everyone here has some type of talent, and we wanted to put as many people as we could into the program to show off all of our talents,” Simmons said. “We just knew we needed to put them together.”
Hardnett was approached, but was skeptical.
Kerrington Hill “proposes” to Briana Jacob as part of the Fashion Show during Blurred Lines.
“Right off the bat, I didn’t think it was going to turn into much,” Hardnett explained. “I wasn’t ecstatic about doing it. I was happy they reached out to me though. They came to me, and asked me to help, so I was happy that they gave me a chance to do something with them.”
Hardnett did not know what his contribution to the program would be. This changed one day after school, when he and Alton Morgan, another 18-year old senior, were “vibing out in class.” Simmons and Morgan had previously worked together, and knew they wanted to perform together in front of the school. It wasn’t until Morgan and Hardnett began singing that day that their performance started to come together.
“Trey and I started bouncing ideas, and he started singing this hook, and I was like, ‘Yea, I like that, I can write to that,’” explained Morgan. “We matched. So I presented the idea to Keon, and he was like, ‘We can put a band behind it.’ So we decided to do a whole live performance.”
Simmons knew exactly where to go from that point. He approached Meshak Muyaka, a 17-year old junior in the Woodlawn band. Muyaka quickly got other members of the jazz band, the Smooth Purple Groove, to join the project. Treyln Miller, a 19-year old senior, was recruited to play the drums. Brennan Burleigh, a 16-year old junior, played bass, and Cody Coleman, an 18-year old senior, played guitar. Muyaka played piano. The group was ready to perform.
Muyaka wrote the music, mainly by just listening to Morgan and Hardnett. Once he heard the melody, he says it was easy to create the chords.
At a practice, Allen heard the group performing, and says the vibe just fit. He joined the group, playing the saxophone. The chemistry was there, and it wasn’t long before Hawkins decided that this performance, which the group was calling “The Cypher’s Corner”, would open the Black History Performance.
From there, Hawkins and Kenner worked to complete the remainder of the program. Students from the Culture Club combined with artists, musicians, dancers, and others from the school to perform dances, spoken word, a monologue, a fashion show, and a one act play. In total, over fifty students performed in Blurred Lines.
“It was easy to help create this awesome program, because the students that were apart of Blurred Lines were amazing. They had so much heart and dedicated so much time to making it a success,” explained Hawkins. “I loved giving the students a platform to showcase their own original pieces.”
Students from the Fashion Show pose after the performance of Blurred Lines.
Members of the Culture Club were also quick to point out help from other students who did not perform.
“Mr. Sorenson and his theater department had a great deal of involvement. They had a huge part in putting the production on,” said Muyaka. “Grayson, Matthew, and Wesley Livingston all ran the lights and sound for the program.”
Grayson Barrett is a student in one of Woodlawn’s Theater Design and Technology sections. Matthew Jobborn and Wesley Livingston just enjoy doing light and sound as a hobby. Livingston plans on taking Theater Design next year. The students even allowed freshman Javier Allen, another student in Theater Design and Technology, to run the lights for the second half of the performances after stepping with the Alluring Queens. They were happy to help the younger student learn the ins and outs of producing lights for a production of this magnitude.
“Derwinisha Alford and Sadie Boudreaux, they did the majority of the Blurred Lines painting that was on stage,” added Morgan. “I helped with some of the painting, but they did that painting.”
The group also raved about the pictures taken by senior Krissy Danh. Danh, a transfer from Baton Rouge Magnet High School, explained that many students on campus have talents, and she was just happy that she was asked to be involved and help capture the heartfelt emotion of the performers.
Muyaka perhaps said it best when discussing the talent that came together to present Blurred Lines.
“Overall, this opened my eyes to what student on campus can do. You never know what the student next to you can do. When I first came to Woodlawn, I didn’t know he rapped, I didn’t know he rapped. When I joined the Culture Club, I learned that,” Muyaka said.
“Everyone has some type of talent,” added Danh. “Blurred Lines showed that.”
Now, we see these kids doing things. We see them making moves. And, man, are we lucky.
All pictures for this article were provided by Krissy Danh.
Mar 8, 2017
Woodlawn High School is proud to announce that they are partnering with Neighbors Federal Credit Union to offer a Woodlawn High School Mascot Card.
Neighbors continues the tradition of supporting local schools through the Mascot Card, a customized debit card program. The Mascot Card serves as a perpetual fundraiser for schools enrolled in the program. Members enjoy all the benefits of a traditional checking account with the added benefit of earning money for their school with each swipe of their Mascot Card. With every debit card purchase you make, Neighbors will make a monetary donation to Woodlawn High School.
It’s easy to begin supporting Woodlawn High School by using the Mascot Card. Current Neighbors members can visit your nearest local branch and switch your debit card to a Woodlawn High Mascot Card, or new members need to simply visit a local branch and open an account. Additional features on this account include no monthly service charges or per check fees for cardholders under 25 years of age, free online banking and bill-pay, free Audio Response service, and automatic overdraft protection is available after the cardholder is 18 years old.
Minors are also invited to open an account. In order to do this, a minor needs two forms of identification: one primary form, such as a state issued ID or driver’s license, and one secondary form, such as a school ID, social security card, or insurance card. The parent has to be joint owner on the account, so they should be with the student when opening the account. If the parents are not a member, they will need a state issued ID or driver’s license as well as a secondary form of identification.
Neighbors offers a full range of products, services and benefits to meet every banking need. Neighbors is 100% local and dedicated to personal service while still offering the best in contemporary, leading-edge technology.
For more information, please contact our office at (225) 819-2178 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. to speak with a Call Center Representative. Those interested may also apply by clicking here.
Mar 6, 2017
Ashley Martin, ’17
EBR recently hosted their first annual “Float Your Boat” challenge. The premise of the challenge was to create a boat strictly out of cardboard and packing tape to float two people for one minute. Spending around a week designing and building, Woodlawn created about six boats for the challenge.
Upon arrival to the LSU campus’ dock, Woodlawn immediately began unloading their boats and checking for any damage that may have occurred during the ride. Each team met with the judges of the event and proceeded to place their boat in the water.
Most boats were able to hold two people for one minute, leading to the second part of the challenge. Now each boat was to hold three people for one minute and add another person to be held for an extra minute until the boat sank. Woodlawn was the school that created the boat that held the most people for the longest- ten people for an extra 10.79 seconds. At the end of the event, Woodlawn was designated the Performance Award for the boat holding that magnitude for such a length of time.
Mar 6, 2017
The house was packed as families, friends and district representatives attended the arts showcase hosted by Woodlawn High School’s Fine Arts Department on Tuesday, February 21, 2017 in the WHS Auditorium. The showcase, entitled “All the World’s a Stage” after Shakespeare’s play by the same name, featured visual art displays, musical numbers, theatrical scenes and performance art pieces.
While browsing a visual arts exhibit before the show, guests were invited to enjoy jambalaya prepared by parent, Samantha Jett. The visual arts exhibit featured displays from students enrolled in Art I, Art III, AP Studio Art: 2D Design, and Talented Visual Art courses. Favorite pieces were a 3D portrait created by Art III student Abdulkhaleq Hussain and Cubism-inspired self-portrait by Talented Art student, Elijah Sykes.
The talent exhibited in the visual arts displays was echoed by an orchestra trio featuring Advanced Orchestra student, Christopher Breaud; Talented Music student, Joshua “Drew” Garon Jr.; and orchestra teacher, Ms. Falco. Drew Garon performed a solo composed by Vivaldi on the violin later in the showcase.
Talented theatre student Trinh Nguyen introduces Lost N’ Sound at All the World’s a Stage.
After a brief welcome and introduction by Talented theatre student, Trinh Nguyen, Lost N’ Sound, the WHS Pop A Cappello Choir took the floor, performing popular pieces such as Stitches by Shaun Mendez and Somebody I Used to Know by Goyte. With standout vocalists Jaylyn James and Shaun McCray singing, it was not long before the cameras were flashing and the crowd was singing along.
The Suave King Panthers, led by Jeroderick Allen Jr. and the Alluring Queens, under the direction of Nakavia Chapman, were next up on stage. The WHS Step Team really “stepped it up” for this performance with both whole group and separate team routines that captivated the audience with their in-sync movements and hand-foot coordination.
The WHS Jazz Ensemble, The Smooth Purple Groove, played equally engaging rhythms with songs such as I Feel Good by James Brown and Night and Day, arranged by EBR Talented Music teacher, Mike Esneault. Performers such as Kyle Monic, Mason Stubbs, and Brennan Burleigh took turns showing off their talent as they played jazz solos throughout the pieces. Evan Earl, Joshua Hayden, Christopher Jones, Javin Leggett, Blaine van Stock, and Invie Williams played multiple selections that showcased their talent as part of the Talented Music Ensemble, under the direction of EBR Talented Music teacher, BJ McGibney.
The showcase would not be complete without the dramatic performances of our theatre students and drama club. Members of the Theatre IV class and drama club performed in multiple scenes from classic television shows including Pet Shop, a Monty Python sketch performed by McKenzie Martin and Kennedy Sorrell and Who’s on First by Abbott and Costello, performed by Dominic Messina and Mitchell Maclean. The drama club did not forget the literary classics when Madisyn McAlister portrayed a lead role in a scene from Lord Byron’s Love Letter by Tennessee Williams.
Students who participated in All the World’s a Stage receive cheers from the crowd and pose for pictures after the performance.
In the last performance of the night, The Bully Pulpit by Dwayne Hartford, the Talented Theatre students used their skills to highlight a common concern among school age students, bullying. With comedic relief throughout the performance, they were able to portray what bullying is and how it affects those involved. The showcase concluded with a curtain call featuring the entire company with a special recognition to the key players behind the scenes, Javier Allen, John Grayson Barrett, Laila Fisher, Keveyon Franklin, Matthew Jobborn, and Caleb Massarek.
The company would like you remember that “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” and without the support of some key players, this would not be possible. The company would like to thank Mr. Sorenson for directing the arts showcase, Ms. Samantha Jett for preparing the jambalaya, Ms. Washington for capturing the performances on camera, all program sponsors for their guidance, and family and friends that attended for their support. Also, they would like to extend a special thanks to the district representatives that attended, including School Board Representative, Jill Dyason; Executive Director of High Schools, Benjamin Necaise; Director of Fine Arts, Wayne Talbot; and Supervisor of Gifted and Talented Programs, Babs Stapleton.
