Oct 31, 2016
Juniors Autumn Hopper and Hayden Schneider have been named Commended Students in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program, Woodlawn High Principal Scott Stevens announced Friday.
“We are so proud of Autumn and Hayden for earning this prestigious honor. This recognition shows the academic strength of our Panther Nation,” said Stevens.
They received a letter of commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which conducts the program.
About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2017 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students place among the top five percent of more than 1.6 million students who entered the 2017 competition by taking the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
“The young men and women being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” said a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”
Oct 27, 2016
Woodlawn High is participating in the FAFSA Challenge! We are competing against all high schools in EBR for a chance to win fabulous graduation prizes. Our school may obtain a monthly pizza party, graduation supply vouchers from Jostens & Herff-Jones, be entered in a raffle to receive gift cards, and more. Winners are allowed to win a prize once! So, let’s go for it! Every month a new winner is announced beginning November 2016 with a grand prize in May, 2017.
In order to complete your FAFSA and participate in the FAFSA Challenge, parents and students must go to https://fafsa.ed.gov/ to complete the FAFSA form. Parents, please use your 2015 taxes according to the website.
GO PANTHERS!!! #PantherNation
Oct 27, 2016
Students work the 2015 Mock Election.
Friday and Monday, November 4th and 7th, Ms. Smoorenburg’s classes will be conducting the Woodlawn High School 2016 Mock Election. This election is open to all 10th, 11th and 12th grade students at Woodlawn. Students will be given the opportunity to vote for President of the United States, Senator of Louisiana, and the Mayor of Baton Rouge. Students will also be given the opportunity to decide on a Louisiana State Constitutional amendment concerning college tuition. Everything that students will be allowed to vote on in the mock election will be on the actual ballots on November 8th, election day. Ms. Smoorenburg’s classes ask that if your social studies classes are coming to vote, please have your permanent school ID (not a temp) ready to present to the poll workers. You must have this ID in order to vote. Results will be announced Monday, November 7th, the day before the United States will go out and vote.
2016-Woodlawn-High-School-Mock-Election-Ballot
Oct 27, 2016
Ashley Martin ’17
The Woodlawn Panthers Cross Country team traveled to City Park in New Orleans on Saturday, October 22, 2016 for the Jack Schommer Invitational. The meet included 11 new personal records for the Panthers, all of which were well-deserved and visibly fought for.
The Lady Panthers were the first to take the course. In total, there were 9 girls that ran in the race. The girls of the varsity team earned 5 of the 11 new records.
Alexis Martin (21:49), Melissa Grant (21:51; PR), and Aimee Martin (26:21) were the first three running for Woodlawn to cross the finish line. Coming in soon after were Ashton Howard (27:34; PR), Alexis Aucoin (29:59; PR), and Lily Khemmanyvong (32:04).
Aucoin was proud to have broken the 30-minute mark. Howard’s sprint at the end of her race was truly remarkable. Khemmanyvong, earning a personal record for the season, mentioned her determination to improve and her goals for the rest of the season.
Also running for Woodlawn was Rayan Kaadan (32:54; PR), Belyn Laird (39:33; PR), and Carolyn Sprague (39:33).
Kaadan and Laird finally got the chance to prove themselves this weekend by competing in their first varsity races. Sprague, fighting against pain in her knees, had Laird to rely on during the race, both finishing with respectable times.
Following the girls’ race was the boys’ varsity race. Gathering 4 new personal records, the team exhibited their definition of hard work and dedication.
Meeting, but not surpassing, his personal record, Khidir Al-Mustafa (16:52) came in 8th place in the meet, earning his second placing in the top ten since beginning cross country. Afterwards, finishing were Darmar Galvan (19:20; PR), Coby Sanchez (19:23), Saulomon John (19:27; PR), and Joshua Stephens (20:13). Running together for most of the race, they each pushed each other for personal bests. Julian Scott (21:27; PR) and Brandon Williams (21:27) also ran together.
Tyler Lewis (24:59; PR) ran in his first varsity race this weekend, surprising everyone when he finished under 25 minutes.
Competing in the Open Race were Makenzey Heughan (30:11; PR) and Lisa Wood (33:21; PR). For both of these girls, their first races went very well, and both managed to smile following the race because of this achievement.
Next weekend will be the first and only weekend off for Woodlawn’s Cross Country team. Regardless, they are continuing to work harder than ever to become a force to be reckoned with for the state meet November 15th. Regarding the rest of the season as a whole, Coach Wallace stated, “The best thing of all is that we are finally learning how to race against other schools instead of just trying to beat our personal times from the week before. We aren’t getting in shape anymore; we are in shape and battling for every position. We are in warrior mode.”
