Dec 14, 2020
Carolina Alvarado returns as an All-District perfomer.
The Lady Panther Soccer team reached heights over the past two seasons that have not been seen in the program for many years. However, the Lady Panther knew that success would be difficult to duplicate after the losses the program has seen going into the 2020-2021 season. With half of their season behind them, the Lady Panthers are looking to find their stride in the second half of the season.
Gone from the past two seasons are Head Coach Chris Hampton. Scarlet Martinez, the two-time Division II, District IV MVP, has graduated. Five other All-District players are no longer with the Lady Panthers.
New Head Coach Luis Mendoza brings a wealth of coaching experience to the program. Coach Mendoza will look to Senior Goalkeeper Julyana Espinal to step up and replace graduating All-District Goalkeeper Tionna Hodges. Returning Juniors Seema Kawji and Carolina Alvarado were both All-District players last season. The three returning players will try to lead the Lady Panthers through their difficult schedule in the second half of the season.
Coach Mendoza will also look for three Sophomores to make significant improvements to their game in order to contribute to the Lady Panthers season. Emma Carter, Layla Shelton, and Marie Sierra will have to grow up quickly on the pitch this season.
All-District Goalkeeper Tionna Hodges is being replaced by Julyana Espinal.
The Lady Panthers have three home games left. Woodlawn is scheduled to host Brusly (December 18, 2020), De La Salle (January 11, 2021), and Livonia (January 25, 2021). The Lady Panthers will travel for both of their District matchups. They will travel to Plaquemine on January 19 for a rematch of their season opening match, in which the Lady Panthers defeated the Lady Green Devils by the score of 8-0.
The Lady Panthers will travel to Liberty on January 21. That match is set for a 3:30 pm kickoff and will likely determine the District Champion.
Dec 11, 2020
Football coaches know their teams will face adversity. They often stress that how players handle adversity on the field can be the deciding outcome in a contest. Second-year Head Coach Marcus Randall knew that this season would bring more off the field adversity to his program than normal.
Senior Lanard Harris breaks a tackle against Carroll.
After the LHSAA delayed the start of football season by over a month, the Panthers had a strong showing against Denham Springs High School in their fall scrimmage. However, the success was short lived, as their season was paused one day before their scheduled regular season opener.
“We received news on Thursday before we were set to play that we would be on a two week quarantine. The team stayed motivated, our coaches met with our players virtually, and the guys were eager to get the season started,” said Randall.
After the Panthers were shut down for that two week period, the coaching staff felt that they needed to play a game before entering play in District 5-5A. The Panthers were able to schedule Carroll High school, and had one day of practice before playing on Saturday afternoon.
This prepared the Panthers for their district opening contest against Dutchtown High, a team they had not beaten since 2005. Woodlawn was able to fight back from a half-time deficit, and rallied in the fourth quarter for a 26-24 victory.
The next week brought the St. Amant Gators to Baton Rouge. The Panthers hit their stride in the second half of the game, scoring 41 unanswered points. The final score, 48-13, put District 5-5A on notice.
Once again, the success was short lived. While preparing for East Ascension, Coach Randall and the Panthers were told on Wednesday that the season would be paused yet again. This meant that the games versus East Ascension and Catholic would be cancelled.
Sophomore Defensive Back Dawaun Harris.
“Wins over our first two district opponents were our biggest on the field achievements. Those wins were able to set us up for a big district championship showdown with Catholic High for the District Championship. We were in a great contest with the Bears, and we were edged out by a touchdown.”
The loss dropped the Panthers to the 15th seed in the LHSAA 5A playoffs. Woodlawn hosted 18th seeded East St. John on a rainy night on a terribly sloppy field. The Panthers lost a heart breaker in double overtime by the score of 35-28.
The 2020 shortened season ended with a 2-3 record for the Panthers. However, the groundwork for success was laid by the Panthers.
“Going into next season, we plan on using this off-season to get better all-around as a team. We are going to take the gains we got this season, along with the things we need to improve on, and come back next season bigger and better. We have 9 of the 11 starters on offense returning and 6 of 11 defensive players returning. We also have a lot of returning players that gained some valuable playing experience this season.”
The Panthers were led this season offensively by Sophomore Quarterback Rickie Collins, who threw for over 1400 yards in 5 games. Rickie broke the Woodlawn High record for passing yards in a single game with 465 yards. Wide Receivers Clayton Adams, Jaylen Henry, and Kyle Jones all caught multiple balls and multiple touchdowns this season. Running Back Amani Givens, along with Jayveon Haynes and Caleb Morgan, carried the load for us in the run game behind a strong Offensive Line that will return three starters.
Defensively, Woodlawn was led by a host of Panthers. Senior Linebackers Lanard Harris and Aaron Gooden, along with Junior Linebacker Mason Watson, stood out as production leaders for the Panthers defense this year.
Coach Randall summed up the Panther football season by saying, “Due to the loving brotherhood that is being formed with a great group of coaches and players, I would like to just express the love and joy I get when coming to school, practice, games, workouts, etc. We are building something special!”
Dec 10, 2020
With the powerlifting season starting this month, the Panther Powerlifters are in full swing with pre-season workouts. Coach Baronich, who is beginning his 37th year as a head powerlifting coach, is looking for his experienced lifters to set the tone for the multitude of young lifters who are expected to contribute.
Seniors Tim Bennett and Aaron Gooden, along with Juniors Matthew Sant and Mason Watson, will look to lead the boys team, which finished 7th in last year’s East Regional. Senior Christian Jones and Junior Isabella Schamber are the leading returning lifters for the girls team that finished 5th in the East Regional last year. Five lifters qualified for the LHSPLA State Meet last season before the season was shut down due to COVID-19.
Coach Baronich will depend heavily on a group of Sophomores to supplement the returning boy lifters. Devyn Jones, Keenan Griffin, Jaden Sylvester, and Willie Nunnery are four lifters that are expected to contribute to the Panthers this season.
On the girls side, Junior India Morgan will join Sophomores Victoria Alder, Lauren Earl, Marie Sierra, Kara Love, and Celine Thomas as newcomers that will help lead the Lady Panthers.
Coach Baronich says that he has high expectations for both teams.
“Expectations for the boys team is high. We are returning a lot of experience with a lot of young talent. For the girls, we are still a very young team experience-wise because of the early graduation of three regional team members this year. Christian Jones is the lone senior of the group, looking to improve on our Regional finish from last year.”
The Panthers will begin their season on the road at the Joey Chutz Invitational at Denham Springs High on January 23rd. The Panthers will also attend the St. Amant Invitational on February 6th, and will host a boys and girls Tri Meet on January 30th and February 11th, respectively.
The Panthers will return to Denham Springs for the LHSPLA Girls and Boys East Regional on February 26th and 27th, and those lifters who qualify for the State Meet will participate at Fant-Ewing Coliseum on March 19th and 20th.
Athletes who would like to join this year’s Powerlifting team can contact Coach Baronich in the gym before December 18th for information.
Dec 9, 2020
In his second year as the Head Coach of the Woodlawn Lady Panther basketball team, Coach Jonathan Kohn expects to improve.
“My expectations are to improve, as both individuals and as a team, every practice and every game. I want this to be a fun experience for my players while at the same time striving towards the goals we set forth for ourselves. Whether we win or whether we lose, it is always my goal to be playing better at the end of the season than at the beginning of the season.”
Kohn will lean on returning Sophomore Forward Regan McDowell, who was recognized as an All-District Honorable Mention player last season. Kohn will also look for leadership from returning Senior Forward Brianna Johnson, as well as Guards Quiandra Bell and Celine Thomas.
Newcomers Trinity Spears, Tralyn Riley, and Qiana Dotch are also expected to help the Lady Panthers improve from last year’s 5-22 record.
Kohn will be joined by assistant Coach Brandy Robinson-Moore, who is in her first season as an assistant at Woodlawn, and Coach Nelson Malpica, who brings years of coaching experience to the team.
Coach Kohn says that he is excited about the way the season has started for the Lady Panthers, and relishes the opportunity to compete Through seven games played this season, the Lady Panthers have nearly reached last year’s win total, notching three victories to date.
“I look forward to competing in every contest regardless of the opponent. Each team that we play this year is different and offers a new set of challenges every time we step on the court. The greatest part about basketball is that there are so many ways to be successful as a team. I am looking forward to a fun and exciting season! We have a great group of girls on this years team.”
Female students interested in joining the Lady Panther basketball team are encouraged to see Coach Kohn in the gym, or reach out to him at [email protected].
Nov 4, 2020
Mrs. Ware, Mrs. Morejon, and Mr. Acosta are very excited and proud to announce that 13.47% of our EL population are “Honor Roll Students” according to our latest report cards. These students have worked very hard to learn English, and it shows that their efforts are paying off. Congratulations to you all!
Straight A Students
Tran Phat (9th grade)
Mary Rodriguez (9th grade)
Saul Toledo (10th grade)
My Nhi Nguyen (10th grade)
Sindy Cartagena (11th grade)
Britney Umanzor (12 grade)
Ty Le (12th grade)
A-B Students
Mohammad Imtiaz (9th grade)
Costa Secondo Lual (9th grade)
Camila Rodriguez (9th grade)
Alma Rubio (10th grade)
Jenifer Fuenmayor (10th grade)
Katherin Mendez (11th grade)
Sergio Andrade (11th grade)
Thien Truong (11th grade)
Fatoumata Thian (11th grade)
Phu Tran (11th grade)
Wendy Bonilla (12th grade)
Gia Nguyen (12th grade)
We would also like to recognize the 11 students who have attained English Proficiency on the Louisiana 2020 English Language Proficiency Test. They will exit the ESL program and receive a Diploma.
Dulce Ramirez
Ne’vea Canales
Vanessa Bonilla
Franklin Velasquez
Maycol Pineda
Daniel Caballero
Katherinne Valiente
Nkengaka Ajarbwoa
Nkengaka Akamin
Radwa Darwish
Xinh Nguyen
Woodlawn ELL students have taken on a new challenge to improve and grow in their English skills by using Imagine Learning. Each week the students are assigned minutes for their homework and are given the opportunity to win small but meaningful prizes. Since we began this process, we have seen the average student use go up to more than 100% and their lesson passing rate went up to 78%. The real growth shows in their lessons passed by the curriculum area: Literacy 85%, Grammar 82%, and Oral Vocabulary 73%. This tremendous growth shows true dedication. Thank you, students, and once again congratulations for your efforts.
The winners of the weekly Imagine Learning contest thus far are: Jezer Hernandez, Edgar Serrato, Mary Rodriquez, Sander Done, and Abner Garcia.
