Mustang News
February 2018
Public Ed Strong - Friendswood Teachers Go Above & Beyond
Administration
Counselors' Corner
FHS Buzz
Academic Decathlon
The Friendswood High School Academic Decathlon placed 3rd overall in the team competition of 6A schools in Texas. The team won 17 individual medals scoring 50,050 points setting a new team record and earned $4,500 dollars in scholarships after competing in San Antonio February 23-25.
The Academic Decathlon is a ten-event scholastic competition for teams of high school students. Each high school enters a team of nine students: 3 “A” or Honor students, 3 “B” or Scholastic students, and 3 “C” or Varsity students.
- Honors team members include Audrey Isaak, Adrian Boehnke, and Sarah Thomas. Scholastic team members include Aidan Hernandez, Thomas Mataro, and Ben Lewis.
- Varsity team members include Aidan Mattiuzzo, Benjamin Parker, and Nolan King.
- In Honors Division, Boehnke placed first in Language and Literature, second in Interview and third in Social Science. Isaak was second in Music, third in Math, Language and Literature. Thomas was second in Science and Music, third in Math, and Language and Literature.
- In the Scholastics Division, Hernandez, second in Music and Science. Mataro was third in Science. Lewis placed third in Speech.
- In the Varsity Division, King placed first in Interview. Parker earned first in Economics and second in Math.
- Coaches are Elizabeth Woodley, Fred Lewis and Renae Simons.
“Students really learn who they are when they participate in Academic Decathlon,” said Simons. This year is Simons twenty-fourth year to coach FHS AD team. “They learn that true success comes from hard work and sacrifice. I have witnessed changed lives due to participation in AD.”
At FHS, the Academic Decathlon is an elective course that receives one credit.
Based on the model of the athletic decathlon, the Academic Decathlon requires participants to prepare for ten academic events. Like the athletic contest, the Academic Decathlon does not permit participants to specialize but rather the Academic Decathlon encourages academic versatility by requiring students to prepare for all ten events. The Academic Decathlon stresses educational opportunity and academic excellence.
The Academic Decathlon was first created by Dr. Robert Peterson, former Superintendent of Schools in Orange County, California. Firmly believing that everyone’s learning potential can be maximized through competitive challenge, Dr. Peterson set in motion the contest that has since come to be recognized as the most prestigious high school academic team competition in the United States.
Area HOSA Conference Results
The Area HOSA conference was held on Friday, February 16th and Saturday, February 17th. We had a total of 25 students compete and 11 are advancing to the Texas State HOSA conference.
Below are the students who have advanced to the Texas State HOSA conference, their place and event. If you see them, please congratulate them.
- Health Career Display—Marissa Bachynsky and Mikhaila Bachynsky (2nd place)
- Job Seeking Skills—Michelle Cherian (1st place)
- Medical Innovation-Existing—Faith Perry, Isabella Hoang, Shannon McGill (3rd place)
- Medical Spelling—Katherine Johnson (2nd place)
- Prepared Speaking—Elizabeth Chong (1st place)
- Researched Writing and Speaking—Pradhitha Boppana (1st place)
- Sports Medicine—Pumarie Madden (2nd place)
- Sports Medicine—Annalese Mattiuzzo (1st place)
The following students advanced to the State HOSA conference based on their online testing score. Please congratulate them.
- Pathophysiology—Madeline Jordan (2nd place)
- Dental Terminology—Alison Tang (1st place)
- Pharmacology—Tammy Hoang (1st place)
Total advancing to States: 14
The individuals below placed 5th and are 2nd alternates for the State HOSA conference.
- Extemporaneous Poster—Tanvi Gupta (5th place)
- Public Service Announcement—Linh Van, Sia Ramchandran, Vi Cao, Christine Chacko, Emily Yiu
The following student placed 4th on the online testing and is an alternate for the State HOSA conference.
- Nutrition—Ethan Bui (4th place)
UIL Accounting
Congratulations to the following students for an outstanding representation of FHS at the UIL Needville Invitational competing in Accounting. A four member team took first place on Saturday with a score of 996 points. Second place was 255 points.
Here are the individuals with their individual placement.
- 1st place -- Hunter Hall
- 2nd place -- Garrett Adam
- 4th place -- Tina Li
- 5th place -- Jeet Walia
UIL Computer Applications
- Thomas Kidd - 5th place
- Neelesh Gupta - 6th place
State Cyber Patriot Results
Cyber Patriot is the National Youth Cyber Education Program sponsored by the Air Force. This competition puts teams of high school students in a position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. In the rounds of competition, teams are given a set of virtual images that represent operating systems and are tasked with finding cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the images and “hardening” the system (i.e., getting rid of potential threats to a computer system therefore getting rid of potential hackers) while maintaining critical services in a six hour period.
This is an excellent competition for our students to participate in since it is a “real world” experience. It was a great learning experience for all of them. The teams were able to collaborate with each other within their own teams while experiencing threats that could potentially attack their own computer systems. They had to figure out how to alleviate those threats to make the computer system more viable. Teams were in competition with each other, so there was no sharing of knowledge between teams.
We are very proud of these students since this was the inaugural year of participating in this particular competition. The students had a vague idea of what to expect when we went through a practice round, but did not expect to learn so much real world experiences throughout the competitions. Congratulations to three of our CyberPatriot teams that placed in the Virtual State meet held on January 20th, 2018 in the Computer Science Computer Lab.
2nd place team in the State:
- Austin Pitts
- Cameron Brunt
- Mark Del Valle
- Oliver Olsen
- Noah Geno
4th place team in the State:
- Edwin Daniel
- Cristian Alvarez-Hernandez
- Ben Kuo
- Nick Ess
- Alec Perry
6th place team in the State:
- Jaden Walker
- Aaron Walker
- Pardis Zohari
- Kendal Wiggins
- Dante Terminella
SkillsUSA District - Criminal Justice
Congratulations to the students who placed and qualified to compete at the SkillsUSA State Conference in April:
- Zada Saenz (Jr.) - 3rd in Job Skills Demonstration
- Joshua Schrader (Jr) - 3rd in Prepared Speech
- Zachary Cook (Sr) and Julian Monroig (Jr) - 3rd in Felony Traffic Stop
- Michelle Richardson (Sr), Nicholas Divirgilio (Jr), and Mitchell Morgan (Jr) - 3rd in Crime Scene Investigation
Texas City Speech Meet Results
February 3 the FHS Forensics competed at Texas City HS. We finished 4th out of 33 school in Sweepstakes.
Individual winners were:
- Elizabeth Chong--3rd place Championship Oratory and 4th place Championship Foreign Extemp.
- Michelle Cherian--7th place Championship Domestic Extemp & 8th place Championship Congressional Debate
- Jose Camacho--4th place Championship Poetry
- Kyle Flick--5th place Championship Congressional Debate
Novice Events:
- The teams of Ashley Brueggeman & Mikayla Mullin and Tyler Mitchell & Antonio Graffagnino closed out the finals of Novice Public Forum Debate and tied for 1st place.
- Husnain Ali--2nd place Novice LD Debate
- Mikayla Mullin--2nd place Novice Extemp
- Rachel Moore--5th place Novice Poetry
Skills USA State Qualifiers
The following students who qualified for the SkillsUSA state contest. They competed in events over two weekends 2/3 at ACC and 2/10 at San Jacinto to advance to the state contest being held April 5-8 in Corpus Christi.
Broadcast News Production
- 1st - Libbey Dean, Zack Dodson, Mallory Ferazzi, Austin Petrovics
- 2nd - Amanda Archer, Katie Mulloy, Kelsea Newton, Kylie Trotti
- 3rd - Nathan Lawrence, Lauren Milsaps, Tyler Radigan, Sam Smith
TV/Video Production
- 1st - Aiden Anderson & Ashley Giles
- 3rd - Lily DeVillez, Amya Henry
Pin Design
- 1st - Kelly Greenwood
- 2nd - Maddie Scott
- 3rd - Hannah Gilbert
Advertising Design
- 1st - Jonathan Hatfield
- 2nd - Braeden Long
- 3rd - Genevieve Gregg
Job Interview
- 4th - Bella Guminey
- Ashley Giles was also selected to serve our SkillsUSA district as a district officer next school year.
NSDA Academic All Americans
Two FHS Forensic Students have been awarded the National Speech and Debate Association Academic All American Award!
This distinguished award recognizes students who have completed at least five semesters of high school; earned the degree of Superior Distinction in the Forensic National Honor Society (a total of 750 or more merit points); achieved rigorous criteria for GPA and/or test score requirements; and demonstrated outstanding character and leadership.
Congratulations to Elizabeth Chong and J.C. Mills.
FCCLA SUCCESS AT REGIONALS
Our FCCLA students attended the Regional Competition in Galveston this past weekend. We had 15 students place and those students will be advancing to State in April.
- Ashley Adams
- Raigen Brabham
- Journey Foster
- Tammy Hoang
- Sophie Hoang
- Sooin Lim
- Sara Mccoy
- Shelby Mckinney
- Josh Nichols
- Milana Ramkissoon
- Preetina Ramkissoon
- Ruben Rubalcava
- Autumn Trotti
- Raina Trotti
- Donna Vo
Faculty Showmanship Showdown Results
Market Hogs
- 1st Melissa Victorick and Cole Gordon
- 2nd Jennifer Sicuro and Darby Easterday
Market Lambs and Goats
- 1st Nathan Roher and Sydney Turner
- 2nd Jill Hunter and Jaclyn Torres
Breeding Beef Heifers
- 1st Casey Devers and Gracie Kempken
- 2nd Bobby Blankenship and Cortni Cox
You can see videos of the classes on our Facebook page: https://m.facebook.com/FriendswoodFFA/
If you weren’t able to make it or would like to visit again, our community open house will be on Saturday, March 31st 10am-2pm
February Livestock Show Results
Please congratulate the following for their success at the following livestock shows the last couple of weeks!
San Antonio Livestock Show
Cattle
- Gracie Kempken 3rd
- Haley Bratton 8th
- Mackenzie Jeter 13th
- Jessica Rogers 8th
- Kain Kennedy 6th
- Natale Pate 7th
- Emily Pate 10th
- Brianne Wharton 9th
Breeding Gilt
- Ashley Cox 5th
Market Barrow
- Hunter Kimmel
San Angelo Livestock Show
- Cortni Cox
GCFR Showmanship Showdown
Market Goat
- Sydney Turner 1st
- Kody Wooten 6th
- Tristan Spellmeyer 7th
- Maxim Annarino 9th
Sr. Heifers
- Gracie Kempken 2nd
- Jessica Rogers 5th
Jr. Heifers
- Cornti Cox 1st
Jr. Steers
- Cortni Cox 3rd
Sub Jr. Heifers
- Natalie Pate 2nd
Academics
Science and Engineering Fair of Houston
Students participated on Saturday, February 24 in the annual Science and Engineering Fair of Houston held at the University of Houston. The students were great representatives of Friendswood High School and we are very proud of all of them.
Two students, Aly Knowles and Anushka Jetly, advanced to the final round of judging yesterday. These students will be advancing to the state science fair at the end of March and were being considered, yesterday, for the highest fair awards.
We travel back to the University of Houston next Saturday, March 3 for the award ceremony and the announcement of all of the state qualifiers, the International fair qualifiers and many awards from special awarding agencies. Stay tuned for results.
Athletics
FHS State Swim and Diving Results
The Mustang Swim and Dive team sent 6 athletes to compete in the 2018 6A Texas State Swim and Dive Meet this past month at the University of Texas in Austin . Ninety-one schools from 8 regions all over Texas sent their top swimmers to compete at this meet . To make it to the state meet swimmers must place 1st or 2nd in their event at the regional meets. 24 swimmers qualify in each event.
The preliminary rounds of swimming were on Friday with the top sixteen fastest times advancing to the finals on Saturday. Swimmers finishing in the 1-8th spot qualify for the A final and swimmers finishing 9th-16th swim a consolation final and 8 swimmers are eliminated.
The Mustang Boys Team of Max Hardt, Peyton Davis, Josh Haffelder and Thomas McHenry swam in the 200 Yard Medley Relay finishing in 18th place.
In the 200 Yard Individual Medley, Olivia Theall swam a time of 2:06.16 placing her in 14th place and Max Hardt swam in the boys 200 Yard Individual Medley also placing him in 14th with a time of 1:53.42 sending both Mustangs to the consolation final for this event. Olivia swam in the 100 yard Butterfly, finishing prelims in 5th place with a time of 54.19 and on to Saturday’s A final. Max swam in the 100 Yard Breaststroke and finished in 21st place with a time of 58.79.
Lily Ellis, in her first State meet appearance in diving finished in 18th place and sophomore diver Gabriel Costa also finished his first State diving appearance in 18th place.
Both Theall and Hardt competed in the 200 Individual Medley. Theall finished in 11th place with a time of 2:05.40 and Hardt finished in 12th place with a time of 1:53.33.
Theall competed in the A final in the 100 Yard Girl’s Butterfly and finished 4th in the State with a time of 53.94.
The swim coaches at FHS are John Little and Steven Haffelder.
Signing Day
- Joel Borman (Boys Lacrosse at Mars Hill University)
- Priya Ponia (Basketball at Centenary College in Louisiana)
- Jake Yurachek (Football at Colorado University)
- Kyle Harner (Soccer at Florida Southern University)
- Thomas McHenry (Swim at Florida Institute of Technology)
- Luke Adams (Boys Lacrosse at Elmhurst.)
- Nick Swaney (Football at A&M Commerce)
- Max Yarbrough (Football at University of Louisiana Lafayette)
- Reid Nickerson (Football at Yale University)
- Wyatt Hall (Football at Davidson College)
- Ben Redding (Football at SMU).
Mustang Wrestling District Results
This is the time of year your Mustang Wrestlers work so hard for and that is the road to the state tournament. It all started this past weekend with the district meet. FHS could not be more proud of these wrestlers. Out of 14 weight class we had 11 podium finishes and qualifying 7 to move on to the regional tournament. Their outstanding individual efforts gave us an over all Team Score placing us in 2nd place behind Houston Westside.
- At 106 lbs Pino Lauro, Freshman 6th place
- At 113 lbs Zachary Aune, Sophomore, 3rd place regional qualifier
- At 120 lbs Bowdy Jarvis, Sophomore 4th place regional qualifier
- At 126 lbs Andrew LittleJohn, Senior 6th place
- At 132 lbs Chase Cole, Senior District CHAMPION, regional qualifier
- At 138 lbs Dylan Gustafoson, Senior 2nd regional qualifier
- At 160 lbs Ian Wright, Junior 2nd place regional qualifier
- At 170 lbs Manuel Elizondo, Junior 2nd place regional qualifier
- At 182 lbs Brodey Beckman, Senior District CHAMPION regional qualifier
- At 195 lbs Ryan Aaomdt, Sophomore 6th place
- Heavy Weight Vicente Castillo, Freshman 5th place
For the girls he had two regional qualifiers
- AT 138 lbs Dora Martinez Sophomore 3rd place, regional qualifier along with wining her 10th varsity match earning her Varsity letter.
- At 148 lbs Michyla Saenz Sophomore 4th place, regional qualifier
The JV boys team is not a full team yet they pulled off Second place over all at the JV tournament with:
- At 171 lbs Atticus Pearcy 3rd place
- At 182 lbs Garrent Yount 2nd place
- At 182 lbs Jackson Stephens 1st place
- Heavy Weight Ryan Peplenski 2nd place
Congratulations to our wrestlers!
Friendswood Athletic Update
Fine Arts
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Choir UIL Solo & Ensemble Results
SOLO AND ENSEMBLE RESULTS
On Saturday, Feb. 24, FHS Choir students participated in the UIL Solo and Ensemble Contest held at Angleton HS. Eighty-two (82) students earned Division One-Superior medals for their efforts.
Congratulations to the following:
Class One Solo, Division One-Superior rating (50):
Ashley Adams, Sydney Antill, Abby Barone, Marcela Barton, Mitchell Bauer, Maddie Bender, Anjanette Carlisle, Alessia Castillo, Claire Clauson, Jonah Cloyd, William Clyburn, Julia Curry, Craig Davenport, Michael Donovan, Lily Ellis, Samuel Gerlach, Isabella Giovannini, Taylor Greny, Brittany Harris, Madeline Hill, Kyle Holcomb, Brooke Humlicek, Ashlyn Killian, Jamie Laurents, Kaylee Mathews, Anna McHenry, Christopher Mendez, Emily Mesa, Emily Montalvo, Isabella Morrison, Aidan O'Donnell, Haley Permenter, Kara Permenter, Tyler Phelps, Katie Rodriguez-Keklak, Lea Sharp, Garrett Shelton, Ashley Smith, Alyssa Snyder, Rhianna Spong, Jeremiah Stubblefield, Alison Tang, Macey Tannos, Emily Ulsh, Donnie Vance, Jacob Vegas, Madyson Walker, Kenzie Weddel, Presley Wilson, Trevor Wilson
Class Two Solo, Division One-Superior rating (27):
Amanda Archer, Lauren Ballard, Olivia Beken, Allie Bishop, Kacie Bridwell, Taylor Campbell, Austin Cloyd, Caitlin Cordero, Rachel Eberhardt, Jada Foster, Sadie Gilbreath, Jorge Gonzalez, Ross Hall, Anicka Hranitzky, Philip Lu, Jake Martin, Thomas Massey, Megen Mechem, Brianna Mullen, Tommy Rabalais, Madison Reyes, Victoria Robles, Zach Sharp, Sydney Skinner, Meredith Thompson, Emily Vu, Hayden West
Class Three Solo, Division One-Superior rating (5):
Grant Anderson, Magnolia Jenny, Brenna Kettle, Sara Martin, Rebecca Throop
Again, congratulations to these outstanding singers.
Friendswood High School’s completed it 50th-Anniversary Production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame this month and packed the house! Audiences raved about the production. Congratulations to the cast, crew, and directors for a job well done!
Visual Art Scholastic Event
Rodeo Art Awards
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo art judges took eight pieces of art from students in Friendswood ISD, to be put on display during rodeo days in Houston.
The selections were part of a juried art show that took place at NRG in mid- January where they examined elementary through secondary works from the FISD campuses.
Eight pieces were awarded various ribbons and will be on exhibit in the Hayloft Gallery at NRG Stadium from February 27- March 18, 2018.
Four FHS students had work that was awarded. Freshman, Grace Dundee received Best of Show with Gold Medals being given to Freshman (picture above), Mary Kate Velek, and Sophomore Blake Bryant. A Special Merit Award was given to Junior Violet Terekhina. FHS Art teachers include Jan Nemitz, Mary Wise, and Mandy Harris at FHS.
The eight rodeo artists from FISD were honored with Celebration of Excellence Awards at the Feb. 12 school board meeting.
Substitute of the Month
Congratulations to Marilyn Martinez, our February 2018 Substitute Teacher of the Month! Thank you for all that you do!
FHS wants to give a special thanks to all of our substitute teachers. Substitutes make a difference everyday for our students. They are committed to making a seamless bridge in the classroom environment when our teachers have to miss. They do a very important job and do it with Mustang Pride! Thanks to our Subs for all they do for our students!
Alumni News
FHS grad Garrett Cragin set a PR in the high jump for the Texas A&M Aggie Track Squad.
Garrett was able to clear 7'1 3/4 to medal at the SEC indoor Championships.