Oct 4, 2016
This is part two of a four part series highlighting the students named to represent Woodlawn High on the 2016 Homecoming Court. Tomorrow will be part three, in which the sophomores will be spotlighted, followed by part four on Thursday in which the freshman maid will be spotlighted.
Miracle Harris
Miracle was born here in Baton Rouge on October 15, 1999. After attending Baton Rouge Magnet High School during her freshman year, Miracle transferred to Woodlawn High. Miracle currently carries a 2.5 GPA. Miracle fondly remembers Biology with Ms. Diggs, who she says is the best teacher ever. She loved traveling on different field trips to see swamp lands and animals at the Audubon Zoo. Miracle is looking forward to all of this week’s Homecoming festivities, AB Honor Roll Ceremony, Prom, and Junior Takeover Day. She has enjoyed Coach Mosby’s Psychology class the most so far this year. When asked what the class of 2018 could do to make Woodlawn a better place, she says “Stop the drama, focus on grades instead. Contribute to the school!”
Tyler Price
Tyler was born on December 21, 1999 in Seattle, Washington. Tyler has been at Woodlawn all three years of her high school career. Her favorite memory at Woodlawn dates back to her freshman year. She loved the block party that was held on campus after the football game. So far this year, Tyler is enjoying Spanish II with Ms. Reed. Tyler is most looking forward to attending prom. Tyler says that one thing that she would love to see the class of 2018 do is “come together as a school and end all of the drama so that there are no problems on campus.”
Renee’ Robertson
Renee’ was born in New Orleans on December 9, 1999. She has been a student at Woodlawn all three of her high school years, and has maintained a 3.7 GPA. Renee’ has been a member of the cheerleading team here at Woodlawn, and recently joined the Beta Club. Her favorite memories at Woodlawn were Homecoming Spirit week and the Sadie Hawkins Dance last year. Renee’ is looking forward to ordering her class ring later this school year! Ms. Collins English class has been her favorite class this year. Renee’ says she is looking forward to the class of 2018 coming together and having fun their junior and senior years.
Oct 3, 2016
The Woodlawn High ‘Powerhouse Purple’ Marching Band will be performing its complete 2016 show after the Homecoming game versus Belaire on October 6, 2016. This will mark the first time this school year that the band has done so. The half-time show, titled ‘Vision Quest’, depicts the Native American rite of passage from childhood to adulthood of the same name. The band will perform the show in competition at the Dutchtown High School Competition on October 15, and at the McNeese State University ‘Showdown at Sundown’ competition in Lake Charles, La. on October 22.
The drum majors for this year are senior Blaine Van Stock and junior Alisa Webb. Other student leaders include Christoper Jones, Christian LeJeune, TJ Walker, Joshua Hayden, Javin Leggett, Logan Fontenot, Jay Allen, Keon Simmons, Meshak Muyaka, and Seryna White.
In other exciting news, the Woodlawn High Band Department has been awarded a $2000 grant from the Jazz and Heritage Festival Foundation of New Orleans to be used towards the purchase of a new 18 foot enclosed trailer to transport various band instruments and equipment to performances. The grant is a ‘matching funds’ type, meaning the band must now find an additional $2000 to match the Jazz and Heritage Foundation’s award. The new trailer will replace the current 14 foot trailer, which has become too small and definitely has shown its wear and tear over the years!
Oct 3, 2016
It took until the fifth week of the season, but the Woodlawn cross country team finally got to run on a dry course, and the results were spectacular. Every Woodlawn competitor turned in their best time of the season. Twelve out of the eighteen that competed turned in career bests.
The boy’s squad turned in their best team performance of the year, averaging 19:04 over the three mile course as six runners went under 20 minutes. Khidhr Al-Mustafa turned in a season and team best 17:33. Brandon Williams finished in a time of 18:29. Junior Saulomon John was the third Panther across the line with a personal record of 19:34 and was closely followed by the trio of Coby Sanchez (19:34), Darmar Galvan (19:52) and Marshall Bayles (19:53), all of which were personal records.
The boys moved up ten places over their finish in the same meet last season and are really beginning to race and compete as a team.
Coach Wallace says the key to the team’s success is no secret. “It’s hard work, nothing but hard work. As the season has progressed the boys have really embraced our weekly workout plan and are competing with each other and pushing each other in practice. That makes us run faster in practice which makes us run faster in the meets. In other words, the faster you train, the faster you race.”
The girls’ team finished five places better than their finish in 2015. They were led by a season best 22:33 performance by junior Alexis Martin. Her time was the team’s best of the year and seemed to be just the motivation the rest of the squad needed as every girl on the team ran a season best at this meet.
Junior Melissa Grant was the second Lady Panther to finish in a personal record 23:51.
After the race Grant could not control her enthusiasm for the day and for the future as she echoed the sentiment of the entire team when she commented, “Coach, I want to work harder than I ever have this upcoming week and dominate the Highland Road course next Saturday.”
Grant’s excitement and work ethic, along with the leadership of Alexis Martin and team captain Shelby Sanchez, has been a great help to the girls’ team as they continue to improve from week to week.
Freshman Aimee Martin set another personal record of 28:10, as did sophomore Alexis Aucoin, who competed in her first varsity contest. Kelli Oubre and Rayan Kaadan both set personal records in the two mile JV race. Oubre is likely to see her first varsity action next Saturday.
In the boys JV race, freshman Tyler Lewis saw his first action of the season, finishing the two mile course in 16 minutes.
The boys and girls teams will return to Highland Road Park this Saturday for the Catholic High Invitational.
Oct 3, 2016
This is part one of a four part series highlighting the students named to represent Woodlawn High on the 2016 Homecoming Court. The junior maids will be spotlighted Tuesday, followed by the sophomore maids on Wednesday, and the freshman maid on Thursday.
Nakavia Chapman
Nakavia was born in Monroe, LA on February 3, 1998. She has attended Woodlawn all four years of high school, and currently has a 3.3 GPA. She says that she enjoys participating in cheer and dance. Nakavia says that her favorite memory from Woodlawn High is of her “freshman year Homecoming game, when we won the football game 40-12 and later went to the playoffs.” She is most looking forward to graduation, and plans to attend ULM once she graduates. Nakavia says that if she could give any advice to the freshman class, it would be “to stay focused because everything will add up at the end. Make every year count.”
Monica Jackson
Monica is originally from nearby Plaquemine. She was born on February 27, 1998. A four year student at Woodlawn she currently carries a 2.8 GPA. Monica is a member of the Pantherettes and a member of the Lady Panthers soccer team. She looks back fondly upon her freshman year, when she was able to get onto the soccer field for the first time as a Lady Panther. After graduation, Monica plans to pursue a degree in psychology. Monica’s advice to the class of 2020 is “to not give up, keep pushing through the tough times, and finish strong.”
Lillian Khemmanyvong
Lillian was born on May 23, 1999 in Lafayette, LA. She has been a Panther for four years and carries a 3.5 GPA. Lily runs cross country and is one of three captains for the Lady Panther softball team. She is also on the newspaper staff, and is the Panther football team sports writer for the school website and Panther Post. Her favorite memory at Woodlawn is the Warren Easton “game when the student section tossed baby powder. The class of ’15 had the best student section at Woodlawn!” Lily plans to put her time with the Panther Post to good use, and she intends to pursue a degree in mass communication and continue as a sports journalist. Lily’s advice to the freshman class is to “Study! Study! Study! Your academics are important in high school, so don’t let yourself get too far behind.”
Kamryn Williams
Kamryn, born right here in Baton Rouge on May 25, 1999, has attended Woodlawn for the past four years and maintained a 3.6 GPA. Kamryn is the captain of the cheerleading squad at Woodlawn. Her favorite memory from her four years here are the Homecoming weeks and all of the activities that go along with it. After graduation, Kamryn plans on attending Southern University and majoring in nursing. Her advice to freshmen is “to stay focused and enjoy all four years because they go by fast.”
Sep 29, 2016
Yusra Chabayta ’18
The Lady Panthers volleyball team hosted “The Rumble in the Jungle” tournament on Friday, September 23rd at Woodlawn High School; matches started at 4:00pm, with new games beginning every 50 minutes until 8:10pm, when the last games of the night began. They continued playing matches on Saturday, September 24th, with games beginning at 8:00am. Bracket play began Saturday at 2:00 pm, with the Championship Game beginning at 7:20 pm. Games were played both days on three courts at Woodlawn High and another court at Woodlawn Middle.
Hannah Luker and Kennedi Barnes attempt a block during the Tara Tournament.
When asked before the tournament if the players were ready and excited about the tournament, Hannah Luker said, “Of course we are excited, but our tournaments are always a tough competition and allow us to challenge ourselves.”
Twenty-five teams from across Louisiana participated in the tournament. Each team was placed in a pool which contained five teams each. Teams played all of the teams in their pool and received points according to how many games they won. Once the pool games were over, the top fifteen teams from the five pools were seeded and bracket play began. The winner of The Rumble in the Jungle was determined by these games.
Woodlawn was placed in a pool with Byrd, Loranger, McDonogh 35, and St. James. The Lady Panthers finished their pool with a 3-1 record. Their first game versus Loranger was their only loss in pool play (23-25, 18-25). Woodlawn then defeated Byrd (25-22, 25-10), McDonogh 35 (25-3, 25-11), and St. James (25-18, 25-20). Winning three out of four games was enough to place Woodlawn High School as the second place team in their pool. The Lady Panthers were seeded seventh overall going into bracket play.
In bracket play, Woodlawn defeated West Feliciana in a hard fought contest by the score of 25-23 and 27-25, before falling in the second round to eventual tournament runner-up Ben Franklin. Fontainebleau High School finished the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record and walked away with the championship.
