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BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 1
Bellaire High School Today
Volume 7 Number 4 March 8, 2013
Stories in this Issue
- News and General Interest
o Yearbook Hosts Mock Hunger Games
o Students Rewarded for Perfect Attendance
o Band Performs in All-City
o State of the Schools Address
- Foreign Language Competitions and Awards
o Russian Classes Score High on National Test
- Sports Profiles
o Football: National Signing Day
- Student Profiles
o Nicolas Monzon Excels in Choir
- Club Profiles
o Bellaire Belles Dance in HISD Competition
o eMotion Dance Montage
o Business Professionals of America (BPA) Competes at State Level
o Muslim Student Association (MSA) Holds Donation Drive
o Italian National Honor Society
- Teacher Profiles
o AP World History Teacher Sponsors Spring Break Trip
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 2
NEWS AND GENERAL INTEREST
Yearbook Hosts Mock Hunger Games
By Zach Beery
“Ready, set, go! Hunger Games begins!” senior yearbook editor Sarah Nguyen said to start off
the first mock Hunger Games. The event was held for a two page layout for the 2012-2013
yearbook, The Carillon.
Although the mock Hunger Games was not exactly like the book, there were 24 contestants
ranging from freshmen to seniors, who had eight stations to complete. These stations were made
to test a skill that a tribute used in the book. Contestants were paired randomly. The stations
varied from tributes where the contestants had to put makeup on each other to look like they
were part of the Capitol City, to tasting berries blindfolded and guessing the types. Some other
tasks were matching flags, hitting a target with a Frisbee, completing a tight rope course and
finding a hidden pin, all while trying to escape a hunter.
The stations were run by members of clubs which related to the stations like Ultimate Frisbee
running the target station. Senior Joaquin Dias, the winner of the mock Hunger Games, explains
the difficulties he experienced on the tracks.
“The hardest task was running around the track with a backpack full of books,” Diaz said. “It
took all my strength to run around the track.”
Teammates Diaz and senior Aubrey McCreary won the mock Hunger Games by completing all
the tasks first.
“I was so proud of Joaquin and myself,” McCreary said. “We both did our part in each task. I felt
sick at the beginning but I pushed through it.”
All the contestants showed enthusiasm for the competition by dressing the part and playing hard.
The yearbook staff hopes to have created a new tradition.
Photos of this event will be coming in the May 2013 issue of the Carillon.
Students Rewarded for Perfect Attendance
By Sophie Daily
As a reward, PTO and staff awarded students with perfect attendance the opportunity to win
numerous prizes including an iPad, an iPod shuffle and gift cards. Students with perfect
attendance gathered in the auditorium during lunch on Jan. 10 to watch the raffle take place.
Students eagerly sat waiting as Principal Michael McDonough read the ballots. The winner of
the iPad, Andrea Casillas, was chosen first.
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 3
Senior Willis Nguy accepts his award of Skullcandy headphones
for his fall semester perfect attendance.
Photo by Alex Luckey
Cardinal Band members pose together after their All-City Band
performance in the HISD competition.
Photo by Claire Fisher
Although an iPad could not be
awarded to everyone with perfect
attendance, the students remaining in
the auditorium still had hopes of
winning more prizes, like iPod
shuffles, Skullcandy headphones and
gift cards. McDonough pulled junior
Nga Huynh and sophomore Jeishlyn
Duran, the winners for the iPod
shuffle.
Students remained excited as
McDonough announced four
winners of Skullcandy headphones:
freshman Yasenia Lopez Orosko,
junior Jonathan Barnes, senior Willis
Nguy and junior Annie Vu. After the
winners claimed the prize,
McDonough began announcing the gift card winners: senior Jenessi Ceron Anuario, freshman
Jeanny Nguyen, junior Matias Kopinsky, freshman Ismael Carreon, senior Liang Ren, junior
Alexander Caplan, sophomore Baongan Nguyen Chuor and junior Ali Basheer Al Rawi.
Due to time constraints, McDonough asked the remaining 25 students to write their name on
another ballot. The remaining gift cards would be raffled to the students that attended the
drawing and delivered to them the next day.
Band Performs in All-City
By Claire Fisher
On Jan. 26, 12 Mighty Cardinal
Band members participated in
HISD’s High School All-City
Band competition. The students
were asked to perform pieces
selected for the TMEA Region
23 All-Region Band in front of
judges as preparation for the All-
Region auditions.
“I have always done All-City
because being able to perform
the region music in front of
judges before the actual audition
helps calm my nerves,” band
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 4
Terry Grier answers questions for the reporters about
his plans for HISD. Photo by Holly Sutherland.
president and senior Matthew Cummings said.
Cummings, a trumpet player, was second chair at All-City which contained students from
Bellaire, Reagan, Lamar, Waltrip and Westside. All the band members that auditioned were
selected for the competition.
“I was amazed that we all made it because we were up against all of HISD,” Cummings said.
The band performed the following songs: “The Genius of Ray Charles”, “Ride”, “March
Grandiose” and “Gallop.” Students were directed by the recently retired Waltrip High School
director, Charlie Stephens. Stephens was recognized for his 45 years of teaching in HISD.
State of the Schools Address
By Holly Sutherland
On Friday, Feb. 1, Superintendent Terry
Grier addressed approximately 2,000
HISD principals and staff at the annual
State of the Schools address held at the
Hilton Americas Hotel. Grier strongly
emphasized the need for modern
campuses and appropriate technology as
necessary to push students to be
successful in the 21st century. Grier looks
forward to a school district that has
embarked on a road guiding students to
become the next generation of leaders.
"[In the future,] every student has a
laptop that can be taken home so learning
doesn't stop at the schoolhouse door,”
Grier said.
HISD has experienced great growth in the
past year, with student achievements
reaching record highs and being named a
finalist for the Broad Prize for Urban
Education. Grier intends to take this
growth and expand it into plans to give
every student the tools necessary to make
them contributors to society after
graduation.
"There's more to be done," Grier said. "Our focus is becoming great all over. It's a powerful
mindset that's being embedded in every facet of our district."
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 5
In the past three years, the district has seen a 45 percent increase in the number of students
passing Advanced-Placement exams and earning college credit. Grier believes that by changing
technology to a crucial component of the curriculum, it will change the way teachers teach and
ultimately, the way students learn.
"We'll make sure they learn the skills that complement technology so they aren't replaced by
technology," Grier explained. "The tools of technology are no longer a luxury; they are a
necessity if HISD is going to do its part in ensuring that Houston has the fuel to drive its
economic engine."
The district has big plans to rebuild and redirect curriculum for the better while molding students
into successful leaders of society.
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 6
FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMPETITIONS AND AWARDS
Russian Classes Score High in National Test
By Stephen Proler
Congratulations to the Russian language students on their recent success in this year’s National
Test of Written Russian. The results have once again proved that Bellaire has won more medals
in the competition than any other school in the nation. Students won in the categories of Gold,
Silver, Bronze and Honorable Mention. What makes the Bellaire Russian program unique is that
in other Russian programs, people don’t compete until their second year of taking Russian.
However because of the strong Russian program the first year students are competing against
second years from other schools, and they are winning. Bellaire has broken a record as the school
that has won the most records in this particular Russian Essay competition.
For the complete list of the names of participants and winners, please see the following link:
2012 Russian Essay Winners
Gold Medalists Silver Medalists
Artemyeva, Yulia Andrade, Chloe
Gladkaya, Valeria Bolden-scott, Jalin
Iglesias, Jennifer Dickerson, Tavaria
Kass, Naomi Didyk, Elizabeth
Veum, Simone Gold, Katherine
Wright, Jannah Greenwood, Jarren
Yusuf, Idris Hale, Alexa
Harris, Aaron
Herrera, Alondra
Jenkins, Everett
Kurhanska, Yulia
Lapadula, Olivia
Nemirovskaya, Irina
Ngo, Thu
Okoro, Deborah
Ouda, Athmar
Plaks, David
Qamar, Hafsa
Raines, Zettie
Sandler, Nicole
Shulyak, Isabela
Underwood, Megan
Uzman, Seth
Vasquez, George
Vingoe, Kristen
Yusuf, Amin
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 7
(left to right) Freshman Yuriya Kurharska, sophomore Nicole Sandler, sophomore
Alexa Hale, sophomore Idris Yusuf and junior Irina Nemirovskaya take prizes from
the Russian Essay Compeition. Photo by Alex Luckey
Gold Medalist Naomi Kass
wins big for Bellaire. Photo by
Maryam Nabhani
(left to right) Senior Rachel Millender, junior Yulia Artemyeva, senior Katherine Gold, senior Amir
Yusuf, junior Nazlia Yunus, senior Emily Battles, junior Rachel Kuehn, senior Alexander Aceres,
junior Rachel Kuehn, sophomore Jarren Greenwood and junior Timothy Shields place as Russian
Essay Winners. Photo by Holly Sutherland.
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 8
(left to right) Senior offensive line Charles Sanders, senior running back Denzell Evans,
senior offensive line Dwayne Johnson and senior wide receiver Devin Lauderdale
officially commit to a college as Head Coach Trey Sissom speaks on the players’ success.
Photo by Alex Luckey
SPORTS PROFILES
Football: National Signing Day
By Amanda Taylor
Congratulations to Bellaire Football Players on their successful Feb. 6 signing to commit to
playing football for a college or university next year. Senior offensive line Charles Sanders
signed to Navarro College, senior running back Denzell Evans to University of Arkansas, senior
offensive line Dwayne Johnson to Nebraska University and senior wide receiver Devin
Lauderdale to Texas Tech.
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 9
Junior Nick Monzon practices his choir
piece before competing at All State. Photo
by Kyle Somers
STUDENT PROFILES
Nicolas Monzon Excels in Choir
By Manlin Yao
Junior Nicolas Monzon, a member of the choir, has been selected for the All-State Men’s Choir.
To be selected, Monzon had to be in the top 3% of the state and will participate in the All-State
Conference in February.
Q: What does it take to qualify for the All-State's Men Choir?
A: To qualify for the choir, I had to go through four rounds of auditions. Each audition became
progressively more competitive and difficult.
Q: How competitive was the conference?
A: The conference began with little competition because the first two rounds mainly weed out
the people who know their music and the ones who don't know their music. The last two rounds
were extremely competitive. It's a tremendous honor to have made the All-State Men’s Choir.
Q: How does it feel to be selected for the All-
State's Men Choir?
A: To have made the choir feels amazing, larger
than life. It's actually pretty unbelievable; I still
haven't grasped it fully yet. I can barely contain
my excitement for this upcoming week!
Q: What things do you look forward to at the
All-State conference?
A: At the conference, I look forward to meeting
the best singers in all of Texas, which happens to
be the most competitive state for this competition
which means I’ll be honored enough to sing with
the best of the best.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish as a part
of the choir?
A: As part of the choir, I hope to make music, to
make music more beautiful than any type of
music I've made before. Music really is my life.
Q: What do you expect to achieve or take
away from the choir?
A: I hope to become a better singer and learn
from all the other singers that will be
attending. There’s always room for
improvement. I hope to make friendships that will
hopefully last after the conference.
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 10
Bellaire Belles pose with their several trophies after performing. Photo
courtesy of Bellaire Belles
Q: How will this experience of being in the All-State Choir affect your singing abilities?
A: I hope it will affect my singing abilities in a good way. I not only want to see different styles
of musicality and also use them to better myself, but hopefully I could take away new leadership
skills. I cannot articulate how valuable that would be for me as the tenor section leader.
Q: Do you have any further aspirations and goals after participating in the choir?
A: After this year, my only aspirations are to lead my section well during UIL and to be in the
All-State Mixed Choir next year.
Bellaire Belles Dance in HISD Competition
By Laure Cundiff
Congratulations to the Bellaire Belles Dance Team on their winning the Super Sweepstakes in
the HISD Dance Competition on Jan. 26. Junior Hannah Davis, the captain of the varsity and
junior varsity team, won third runner up for her solo routines. The varsity team won the highest
points award in Varsity Jazz and Kick Routines. The junior varsity team won highest points for
a routine in the hip hop category. All of these awards did not come without hard work. Senior
Kristen Schulze, colonel of the team, describes the team’s efforts.
“We started learning our
dances in November,”
Schulze said. “At one
point, about two weeks
before the competition,
officers were staying at
practice until 7 p.m. to
clean each dance and make
sure each was uniform,
with the moves executed
correctly. The day of the
competition we were
basically dancing from 7
a.m. to 9:30 p.m. It takes
a lot of work, but the
rewarding results make
[the hard work] worth it.”
The Belles will be
competing in the
upcoming regional
competition as well as
nationals in Hawaii.
Senior Lindsey McCaleb,
social officer and varsity
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 11
eMotion Dance Company’s modern department poses before the Arabian Nights
performance during the dance montage. Photo courtesy of eMotion Dance
Company
dancer, comments on her high hopes for those results.
“I think we will do even better at regionals and nationals because we have time before these
competitions, and we will use the time to continue to work hard and perfect the dances,”
McCaleb said.
CLUB PROFILES
eMotion Dance Montage
By Daniela Carlock
Friday, Jan. 25 the eMotion Dance Company of Bellaire High School hosted a dance montage
consisting of several elementary schools, middle schools and high schools in the Houston
community. eMotion also performed an original dance from its latest show “Storybook”
choreographed by junior and officer, May Zhong.
The theme of the
dance was
“Arabian Nights,”
and the eMotion
girls were dressed
in full belly
dancing attire
including red
tops, pants and
skirts with jingles.
“It was a nice
experience,”
Zhong said. “I
had a chance to
see what other
teachers and
fellow
choreographers
had to offer.”
The dance
montage was
organized by dance teacher and eMotion sponsor, Sanja Korman. The objective of this event was
to give dance teams at various schools a chance to show what they are working on and to learn
about other dancers in the community.
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 12
The donations are packaged to be sent off
to where they are needed. Photo courtesy
of Helping Hands for Relief and
Development
BPA on a Path to Success
By Amanda Taylor
Congratulations to the entire Business Professionals of America (BPA) student participants in
this year’s Regional Leadership Contest
held on Jan. 26.
The club has 37 students advancing to the
state competition which will be held in
Houston on Feb. 27 to 29.
1st Place in Advanced Accounting – Junior
Sharon Wen
1st Place in Payroll Accounting –
Sophomore Kurt Warren
1st Place in Fundamental Spreadsheet
Applications – Sophomore Sophia Cen
3rd
Place in Advanced Spreadsheet
Applications – Junior Henry Zhang
3rd
Place in Banking and Finance – Senior
Alex Mo
Muslim Student Association (MSA) Holds
Donation Drive
By Alison Elberger
The Muslim Student Association (MSA)
participated in a drive that began on Dec. 14. The
MSA is a club that does their part to help Muslim
communities as well as any community in crisis
around the world. The students in MSA brought
various clothing items, blankets, shoes, hygienic
products and baby products to support the people
suffering in the Syrian War with the help of an
organization called Helping Hands for Relief and
Development.
Helping Hands is a worldwide organization that
will pick up and send charitable donations
anywhere in the world. The MSA took their
Seniors Lamar Richards and Kendyll Kessler stand proudly as they display some of the
approximately 100 medals won at Regionals.
Photo by Bridget Ritter
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 13
The new members eagerly wait to be inducted to
the Italian Honor Society. Photo courtesy of Ann
Romero.
donations to a truck brought to them by Helping Hands. Each member loaded their donation onto
the truck that would then take the donations to Syria.
Most of these donations were delivered to the children suffering from the Syrian war. The items
are being sent to refugees and Syrians that have been harmed because of the war that has
displaced 2.5 million Syrians and has killed 600,000 people. Helping Hands will be sending one
more box of donations to Syria.
Italian National Honor Society
By Cari Bonilla
Questa è la mia promessa e il mio giuramento. This commitment statement initiated members
into the Italian National Honor Society (INHS) on Jan. 23.
Senior Jacky Garcia, the treasurer of INHS, joined the other officers and INHS sponsor Maria
Gloria Borsa for the annual induction of excelling Italian students.
“We inducted 13 members this year into INHS,” Garcia said. “We held the induction in the
school library with the students, current members and parents.”
Garcia stresses the role of INHS members in the community and as peers at school.
“We require that our members tutor lower levels
of Italian students,” Garcia said. “We strongly
encourage volunteering at Italian related events,
such as those hosted by the Italian Cultural
Community Center.”
Garcia, who has been an active member of INHS
for two years, takes her experience from the club
and the class into the future.
“I've studied Italian since seventh grade,” Garcia
said. “It's one of the things that I've been
committed to for the longest time, so it's kind of
natural for me to be inclined to want to help
others and become more involved with the
language and culture. I also just genuinely love
the language and plan on studying it during
college.”
BHS Today Volume 7 Issue 4 March 2013 Page 14
Ms. Nocca, sponsor of the European Spring Break Trip, will travel to both
London and Paris this March. Photo by Kirkland Schuessler
TEACHER
PROFILES
AP World History
Teacher Sponsors
Europe Spring Break
Trip
By Elaine Shen
AP World History and
AP European History
teacher Kathryn Nocca
is sponsoring a trip of
about 24 students to
Europe over spring
break this year. The trip
includes staying in
London for four days
and ending in Paris for
the last three days. The
traveling students will
visit many iconic tourist locations, like the Windsor Castle in London and the Louvre in Paris.
A full time tour director will accompany the group throughout the trip. There are optional
excursions as well, such as visiting the Palace of Versailles, Oxford and Stratford University.
Senior Katherine Gold is excited to walk the steps of her history book.
“I want to see the conquest of Napoleon, where he’s buried or his little villa in France,” Gold
said. “I want to look through the London Eye with a different perspective through a camera.”
After thinking of walking through history, Gold also anticipates the different foods choices that
each location will have to offer.
“I would like to gain a sense of trying to be a Brit and tasting Sheppard’s Pie,” Gold said. “We
are also planning a day under the Eiffel Tower with bread, meat and cheese, like a picnic.”