Mustang News
October 2019
Administration
Mustang Talk - Mr. Griffon's Monthly Podcast
Out of the Blue
Click here to check out the October 18th edition of the Out of the Blue FISD newsletter.
Mustang Matters - Know What We Know!
MCS Streaming News
FHS Buzz
Pepper Smith Retires After 50 Amazing Years in Education!
When she had children, her and her husband moved to Friendswood to raise their family. Smith said she knew Friendswood High School was special from the time she walked through the door. “I loved high school when I was a teenager, and when I came to Friendswood, the same kind of energy, the same kind of involvement was here, and so I just stayed for 44 years,” she said.
Through four decades at FHS, Smith has taught many students who are now fellow teachers and administrators such as Superintendent Thad Roher, FHS Principal Mark Griffon, Executive Director of the Friendswood ISD Education Foundation Ashley Adair and Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction Diane Myers.
Through all of the memories – school-related and otherwise – Smith decided to retire once the 2019-2020 school year ends.“It’s time,” she said. “I still like coming here and doing the things I’m doing here, and I don’t want to teach until I don’t.”
Through 50 years of living out her dream of being a teacher, Smith has touched thousands of lives and the foundation she helped lay in Friendswood ISD will certainly impact many generations of students to come.
Read the article in Galveston news here.
Or watch the ABC 13 News Story here.
Recycling Club
CONGRATULATIONS to Art Teacher Mary Wise, Nurses Sandy Mertel and Rose Baglio, Science Teacher Megan Marshall, Science Teacher Rebecca Clark, and their fantastic students for capturing FHS Recycling Honors this month!
Student Recyclers of the Week are senior Koby Jackman, junior Mitchell Litvinov, junior Eric Li, and sophomore Vijay Chaudhari. These students are an inspiration to us all!
Wondering why the sad faces in the pictures below? The coveted Recycling Trophy has gone missing! The search for the trophy thief has been a caper full of mystery and misdirection. Let's hope the Trophy is returned to it's rightful place soon!
Thank you ALL for participating in yet another year of RECYCLING the FHS way! Together we DO make a difference!
Association of Space Explorers Presentation at FHS
Three astronauts and cosmonauts visited Friendswood ISD campuses on Wednesday, Oct. 16 as a part of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) Community Day. The ASE is an international nonprofit professional group and educational organization that strives to brings together astronaut/cosmonaut delegates from all over the world for educational purposes. The group currently has approximately 400 astronauts and cosmonauts from 38 nations. FISD had the pleasure of hosting three of these space explorers.
Colonel Kenneth Cameron and Lieutenant Colonel Alesksandar Aleksandrov visited Bales, Cline and Friendswood High School while Colonel John Fabian visited Westwood, Friendswood Junior High and Windsong. Cameron is a retired American naval aviator, test pilot, engineer, U.S. Marine Corps officer, and NASA astronaut. A veteran of three space flights, Cameron has logged over 561 hours in space. Aleksandrov is a retired Bulgarian Air Force officer and research cosmonaut. He is the second Bulgarian to have flown to space. On June 7, 1988, Aleksandrov launched aboard TM-5 and spent just under 10 days in space. Fabian is a former NASA astronaut, Air Force officer, and director who flew two Space Shuttle missions and worked on the development of the Shuttle’s robotic arm. Fabian later led the Air Force’s space operations.
A special moment during the visit occurred at Friendswood High School after Aleksandrov’s translator had to leave. Because Aleksandrov could not speak English, the presentation may not have been able to go on, but FHS senior Masha Larina who speaks Russian was able to step in and translate for him. Those watching called the situation “amazing.”
FHS Celebrates Homecoming 2019!
The Friendswood High School Mustangs battled the Hightower High School Hurricanes during their Homecoming game on Friday, Oct. 25 at Henry Winston Stadium. The Mustangs reigned victorious in a 21-2 win.
During halftime, Homecoming candidates were escorted onto the field. The Homecoming Queen candidates were Ofelia Asemota, Shannon McGill and Anna McHenry. Deegan Gause, crown bearer, along with his mother Shannon Anders Gause, FHS 2000 Homecoming Queen, and 2018 Homecoming Queen Sallianne Roher, presented Ofelia Asemota with the crown and a bouquet of roses after she was announced as the winner.
The FHS Football Sweetheart candidates included Isabella Guminey, MacKenzie Muecke and Samantha Page. Caroline Velek, FHS 2018 Homecoming Sweetheart, presented MacKenzie Muecke with a bouquet of roses after she was announced as the winner.
Trophy and flower bearers included Daniela Kerker, daughter of Juliana Cruz Kerker; Ellie Swaty, daughter of Ashley Boatwright Swaty; Micah Chester, daughter of Rachel Brizendine Chester; Anna Hancock, daughter of Lauren Sone Hancock; and Penny Toler, daughter of Jake Toler. The parents named are all members of the FHS 2000 graduating class which was honored that night.
Friendswood Special Olympics Team Wins Big!
The Friendswood Special Olympics Mustang Swim Team had a successful season this year that included the Gulf Coast Area 22 competition in Sugar Land, the Greater Houston Area 4 competition and the State Competition. Between the three events, team won 68 gold medals, 37 silver medals, 10 bronze medals and 9 ribbons.
The group included 17 athletes and seven unified athletes who practiced all summer for the three Fall competitions. The athletes this year were Hailey Anslow, Madison Becker, Hayden Baker, Arabella Burdeaux, Aidan Bynum, Caden Clickner, Audrey Crues, Johnny DeSha, Dominic Dattillo, Warren Dunphy-Miller, Nathan Ellisor, Noah Hall, Kristopher House, Faith Lampard, Aleissia Shutts, Victoria Slater, Andy Wang. The unified athletes included Abbie Bynum, Jasper House, Gabriel Hall, Brooke Hubenak, Kaylee Odom, Marshall Odom, and Erin Volker
The team also had an enormous amount of support from 25 volunteers: Cooper Barden, Kaley Barden, Sean Bocek, Caden Cupisz, Tatum Dattilo, Olivia Esbeck, Mia Escobedo, Samantha Herrera, Rakel Hutchinson, Edi Jakob, Katelyn Jury, Jentry King, John Lampard, Abigail Lowman, Taylor Madeksho, Miles Mataya, Lilly Migl, Ishan Pendayala, Kate Pike, Jocelyn Rupp, Julia Rupp, Thomas Sinclair, Sydney Svahn, David Szklarvk-Traipe, Sarah Szklarvk-Traipe.
The Head Coach was Lydia Harrington and the Head of Delegation was Lin Huang. Volunteer coaches were Dee Bynum, Eileen Crues, Kathy House, and Kellie Odom.
Safety Update
Counseling
Counseling Center Updates
Academics
Academic Decathlon
The Academic Decathlon team competed in their first practice meet of the season on Saturday at Morton Ranch HS. They placed fourth team overall out of a group of 18 6A schools, and won many individual medals at the meet. Megna Panchbhavi placed as the highest scorer at the entire meet and across the state.
Coaches are Adam Brown, Renae Simons, and Elizabeth Woodley.
FHS Spanish Students Teach Bales' Spanish Club Members
Every Friday this school year, select Friendswood High School seniors are working with 140 Bales Intermediate students to teach them the basics of the Spanish language in the Bales’ Spanish Club. The partnership is the result of a new Board-approved class at the high school called Spanish Seminar. For FHS students to be a part of the class, they must be a senior who has either passed the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam or scored in the mid-to-advanced range on the ACTFL Foreign Language exam. The students are expected to create a database of lesson plans, brainstorm fresh ideas, and then teach the youngsters in a way that is easy for them to understand.
D’Ann Hervada is teaching the seminar and played a major role in partnering with Bales Principal and former FHS Spanish teacher JT Patton to get the Spanish Club started at the intermediate campus. Hervada said the main goals she has for the program is to share the high school students’ love for Spanish with the students at Bales while teaching them basic Spanish during a 40-minute lesson once per week.
Hervada said she believes the partnership is beneficial for all groups involved. “Innovative and authentic learning is occurring for both student sets,” she stated. “One of the highlights of this endeavor is that the Bales students who have prior experience in Spanish are quickly identified to volunteer and model conversations and pronunciation for the rest of the class. They become star students. The seniors in this program are students who are very involved in many programs at FHS and the younger students probably recognize them and have admiration for them as they are and have been the faces of FHS and my hope is that they want to be bilingual, just like them.”
CTE Spotlight: Culinary Arts Program of Study
Culinary Arts is a CTE class at FHS where students get hands on experience in the kitchen. Students start by taking Introduction to Culinary Arts. In this 1-credit course, students learn about careers in the industry, working in a restaurant, kitchen equipment, and receive hands on experience while learning basic cooking skills. These students can then advance to Culinary Arts I. In Culinary Arts I (2-credit class) students are in the kitchen more frequently and are beginning to apply their culinary knowledge. Students work through different units of food preparation. Each unit has hands on cooking labs that students complete in the FHS Culinary Arts Commercial Kitchen.
The next level in the pathway is Practicum in Culinary I. In this class students are still practicing cooking techniques but at a higher skill level. These students also have the option during the second semester to do an unpaid internship during their class time. The internship is three days a week at a local restaurant. All Culinary Arts & Practicum in Culinary Arts students also get restaurant experience with the large variety of teacher lunches and caterings they do for the district throughout the year. These students host “Cafe Blue” at least once a month. Cafe Blue is our culinary restaurant on campus. For Cafe Blue, a menu is set and then sent to the FHS staff to place an order. Cafe Blue typically serves around 80 staff members. These advanced culinary students also cater different events for FISD. This is a great program of study for students interested in Culinary Arts!
Fine Arts
Marching Band Katy Contest Success
The directors of the Mustang Band are Greg Dick, Brett Nelson, Julio Sanchez, Stephanie Chavez, Angie Puebla, and Jason Abbott.
Marching Band Also Qualified for UIL State Competition
The marching band earned all first division ratings at UIL Region Contest. The band then won the UIL E Area Marching contest thus qualifying for the UIL State Contest. The UIL State contest is held every two years. The Friendswood Band has now qualified for state 10 times in a row since 2001, a finalist six times never finishing below 5th, and has earned three Silver Medals.
Speech and Debate Bellaire Tournament Results
Debate Events:
Julian Gonzalez and Thomas Basciano-1st place in Policy Debate.
Sophie Kester and Sebastian Gutierrez-4th place in Policy Debate.
Julian Gonzalez-2nd in speaker points in Policy Debate
Thomas Basciano-3rd in speaker points in Policy Debate
Sebastian Gutierrez-8th Novice Student Congress
Kayla Molina-tied for 9th Novice Lincoln Douglas
Speech Events:
Liliana Molis-5th place Foreign Extemp
Matthew Wilson-1st place Novice Extemp
Sebastian Gutierrez-2nd place Novice Extemp
Grace Bilnoski-4th place Novice Extemp
Christine Chacko, Ava Bourg, and Rachel Barrett-tied for 7th Novice Extemp
Grace Bilnoski-2nd place Novice Impromptu
Christine Chacko-3rd place Novice Impromptu
Ava Bourg-6th place Novice Oratory
Taylor Campbell-3rd place Senior Prose
Taylor Campbell-3rd in Dramatic Interp
Taylor Campbell-5th Senior Poetry
Elaina Moss-tied for 7th Senior Poetry
Emma Heintz-4th Informative
Christine Chacko-5th Informative
Husnain Ali-tied for 7th Informative
Another notable achievement is that not a single Friendswood team in debate had a losing record.
Choir Competes in Region and Concert Choir Auditions
On Saturday October 19th, the Friendswood Choirs competed in the Region and Concert Choir auditions at Clear Lake High School.
Region Auditions
Region Mixed Choir
41 FHS singers auditioned at the Region Audition, the second level of a long string of four highly challenging auditions. The women's rooms had 50 singers audition, the men approximately 40, and the top 18 were selected from each room to advance to the third level, the Pre-Area Audition, that will be held on Saturday, December 7th at Clear Falls High School. The following 24 singers have advanced to that round:
Soprano 1: Brooke Humlicek (4), Sydney Skinner (8), Taylor Greny (10), Allie Bishop (14), Elizabeth Worrell (17)
Soprano 2: Molly Ellard (4), Maddie Bender (7), Anna McHenry (12), Taylor Cottrell (18)
Alto 1: Gabi McGregor (9), Kaylee Mathews (10), Katie Rodriguez-Keklak (11)
Alto 2: Ashlyn Killian (2), Ashley Adams (4), Kacie Bridwell (5)
Tenor 1: Ross Hall (16)
Tenor 2: Tristan Hobratschk (12), Austin Cloyd (14)
Bass 1: Philip Lu (1), Zachary Sharp (3), Jeremiah Stubblefield (6), Coleson Dorsett (14)
Bass 2: Connor Adams (3), Ashton Whittington (15)
Members of the Mixed Choir and alternates to the Pre-Area Audition include: Blake Carlisle, Skyler Cloyd, & Caitlin Cordero
Region Treble Choir
In addition, the following 9 students were named to the Region Treble Choir:
Soprano 1: Bailey Cloyd, Greta Kehres, Maris Morgan, Ainsley Whittington
Soprano 2: Brittany Harris, Lindsey Soltis
Alto 1: Rachel Eberhardt, Mia Killian
Alto 2: Sarah Saintelus
Concert Choir Auditions
47 FHS singers auditioned at the Concert Choir Audition. This is a single level audition, and they will perform at the Region Clinic and Concert along with the Region Mixed and Treble Choirs later this month. 39 singers have been placed into the Concert Choir:
Soprano (Zone 1): Taylor Campbell (1), Mallory Migl (4), Meagan Wolf (5), Chelsea Buoy (11), Emily Camacho (13), Hannah McCord (15), Alexa Conlon (21), Ashley Campbell (22), Rebecca Throop (24)
Soprano (Zone 2): Adrienne Christensen (2), Tori McGill (8), Kennedy Freyer (9), Katrina Martin-Jiminez (14), Lisa Adolf (15), Ella Murray (16), Madison Ressler (20), Claire Mayfield (21), Katie Jones (25)
Alto: Ava Black (5), Presten Baumer (10), Brianna Cottrell (14), Bella Aguilera (17), Emma Murray (22), Amaya Bergman (26), Ray Denson (30), Miriam Ghaly (32), Laurel Cianciolo (34), Olivia Beken (36), Promise Galloway (37)
Tenor/Bass: Kai Kinder (6), Dagan Ray (8), Paul Konyha (10), Dechlan Stopher (20), Jeremy McDowell (23), Nicolas Fantasia (25), Zander Saavedra (34), Josiah Strickland (37), Daniel Freshour (38), Lam Duong (39)
Friendswood will have 66 singers representing the school at the Region Concert on November 9th at Blocker Middle School. Congratulations to all of these fine singers!
Athletics
Team Tennis Playoff Run
The varsity tennis team defended its district title and advanced to the playoffs. The first round (Bi-District) was played against Port Arthur Memorial at Deer Park. The team then defeated Angleton 17-0 to win the Area round of the team playoffs.
The playoffs begin with 128 teams, and after 2 rounds there were 32 teams still standing (8 in each region). The varsity tennis team continued its run in the state playoffs with a victory against a very good team, knocking off Foster 10-2. With that win, the team advanced to the Regional Semifinals against Georgetown.
The varsity tennis team wrapped up its fall season with a disappointing loss in the Regional Semifinals. Thanks to everyone who supported this team in the classroom and on the court!
Cross Country
FHS XC went on to win all five district championships for the second straight year. Athletes must place in the top 15 to get a medal. Teams are only allowed to run 7 in the varsity divisions. With that said, FHS had 43 total runners achieve an individual medal (out of 59 total opportunities). FHS had 7 varsity boys in the top ten and 5 varsity girls in the top 11.
Catherine Sims was the individual district champion at the varsity level. FHS XC top boy was Eli Karg (2nd place varsity boys), FHS also had the winner in the JV Boys race (Jacob Bradley), the runner-up in the JV girls race (Carleigh Williams) and the winner in the freshman boys race (Alex Amaya).
The varsity teams then advanced to the regional meet in Huntsville on October 28th. The boys finished in 5th place, and didn't qualify for the state meet in Round Rock. The top four teams qualify and the boys missed it by only 7 points (What does that mean? It means that Marble Falls ran an average time of 17:30.20 and FHS ran an average time of 17:30.50). With the only program that boasted two sophomores in the top 30, the team will be back and ready for next season!
The boys team included:
Ronan O'Donnell
Eli Karg
Carlos Henriquez
Brycen Jones
Dean Galloway
Thomas Kidd
Preston Hoover
Banks Brashier
Jacob Bradley
The girls finished 7th as a team and also didn't qualify for the state meet. The girls were about 14 seconds back on average for qualifying, but they did improve by 91 seconds on average from just 7 weeks prior.
The girls team included:
Catherine Sims
Kyla Zalit
Alex Linden
Callie Farrar
Grace Etzel
Isabella Palermo
Emily Yiu
Carleigh Williams
Taylor Munro
Senior Catherine Sims and sophomore Ronan O'Donnell were able to advance individually and will run at state on November 9th. Thank you to everyone that supported our kids throughout this season.
Cheerleading Places 2nd at UCA Regional Competition
The UIL/UCA squad (composed of Varsity, JV, and 2 Freshmen) competed at the UCA Regional competition at Seven Lakes High School. The squad placed 2nd in the Super Large Game Day Division out of 11 teams.
Coach Yee, Coach Crosson, and Coach Stryk are extremely proud of these girls and are ready to continue to put in work before the UIL state competition in January.
Swim and Dive Team Host the FISD Spring Kickoff Meet
The Friendswood Mustang Swim and Dive Team kicked off the season by hosting the FISD Sprint Kickoff Meet at the Friendswood Natatorium. The Mustangs competed against Clear Creek, Clear Lake, Clear Springs, Clear Brook, Pearland, Alvin and Clear Falls High Schools. The Friendswood Girls’ Team won the meet with a total score of 599 points. The Friendswood Boys’ Team place 4th with a total score of 217.50.
The top three place finishes for the Mustangs in each event are below:
Girls 100 Yard Medley Relay
1st place – Lezli Sisung, Leah Givens, Abigail Nelson and Olivia Theall
3rd -place- Peyton Becker, Anna McHenry, Mara White and Bella Allen
Boys 100 Yard Medley Relay
3rd place – Trey Gurry, Max Hardt, Todd Sisung and Nathan Haney
Girls 50 Yard Freestyle
1st place- Olivia Theall
2nd place- Lezli Sisung
Girls 50 Yard Backstroke
1st Place – Lezli Sisung
2nd Place- Olivia Theall
3rd Place – Abigail Nelson
Girls 100 Yard Freestyle
1st place – Lezli Sisung and Olivia Theall (Tie Score)
Girls 50 Yard Breastroke
1st place – Olivia Theall
2nd place – Peyton Becker
3rd place – Leah Givens
Boys 50 Yard Breaststroke
2nd place- Max Hardt
Girls 50 Yard Butterfly
1st place- Olivia Theall
2nd place- Lezli Sisung
3rd place- Abigail Nelson
Boys 50 Yard Butterfly
3rd place – Max Hardt
Girls 100 Yard Freestyle Relay
1st place- Lezli Sisung, Leah Givens, Abigail Nelson and Olivia Theall
Seniors and Team Captains:
Trey Gurry, Anna McHenry, Olivia Theall and Max Hardt
The Mustang Swim and Dive Team is coached by Head Coach Craig Sikkema and Varsity Assistant Monica Whitsett.