LaRue County Bridge Mar 2011

MARCH 2011 [THE LARUE COUNTY BRIDGE]


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MARCH 2011

LCHS Speech Regional Champs – After 20+ Years

Over the past weekends the LCHS Speech team has enjoyed quite a bit of success both

nationally and in the state. Over the weekend of January 29-31, several varsity speech students

traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to compete in the 2011 Barkley Forum at Emory University. On

February 5, the team competed

in the Kentucky High School

Speech League Regional

Tournament and brought home

the school’s first regional

championship in over 20 years.

The team qualified 30 entries to

compete at state, which is 12

more than last year, and 16

more than the year before.

“Certainly this is the strongest

overall team that LaRue County

has probably ever fielded,” says Katy Blair Cecil, the LCHS head coach. “We are strong in

several events, including the acting and the speaking categories. I am very excited about this

win, and I am looking forward to seeing what this incredible group of students will accomplish

at the state tournament as well as at the national level tournaments we have left this season.”

At the Barkley Forum,

a by invitation only

tournament, three LCHS

students distinguished

themselves once again as

some of the best in the entire

nation at what they do.

“These are names you have


seen I the paper over and over again over the past two years,” says Cecil, “and they are not

done, yet. We still have plenty of opportunities for them to bring national attention to LCHS.”

Ian Mather placed 4th overall in Prose/Poetry at the tournament and also advanced to the

quarterfinals in Dramatic Interp. Timmy Gibson also advance to the finals of Prose/Poetry along

with Mather and placed 5th overall. Jeshua Logsdon advanced to semifinals, and according to

Cecil, missed finals by only one point to end up 7th place overall. “We were so disappointed

that Jeshua missed it by that small of a margin, it would have been pretty exciting to have three

of the six in finals at a huge national tournament be from LaRue County, but all in all, I guess I

can’t complain about 4th, 5th, and 7th!” Cecil said.

As a team, LCHS has been dominating in speech all over the state and has brought home

several national accolades as well, and this weekend they won their first regional tournament in

over 20 years. Competing against several schools from Hardin, Jefferson, Nelson, Oldham, and

other counties, LaRue County brought home six individual regional championships, and two

runner-up titles. Regional Champions include: Jeshua Logsdon and Angelia Whitlock in Duo

Interp; James Reding in Extemp; Maegan Davis in Oratory; Ian Mather in Poetry; Timmy Gibson

in Prose; and Curtis Milby in Storytelling. Runners-up include: Andrew Skaggs in Extemp; and

Jake Lutze and Josh Jones in Duo Interp. In addition to those eight entries the team also

qualified 22 others to compete at the KHSSL State Championships on the campus of Western

Kentucky

University in

March. “I

can’t tell you

how thrilled

I am with

these

results.

These

students

continue to

impress and

amaze me

on a weekly

basis,” says

Cecil, “My only regret is that I am losing ten amazing senior competitors this year, but the

results of the junior division tournament are encouraging for our future!” Cecil is referring to

the 2nd place win at regionals that the middle school speech team brought home this weekend

as well.


The LCMS team, coached by Libby Sears Blair, qualified seven entries to state and also

boasts two regional championships and a regional runner-up. Maddie Lee was the regional

champ in Poetry, and the team of Caitlin Lewis/Allyson Hutchins won Improv Duo. Breea

Kirkpatrick, who travels with LCMS and is coached by Blair, but competes for Abraham Lincoln,

was the runner-up in Prose. Cecil looks to these students to continue the winning trend that

the high school team has started in the past few years. “I am very excited about what the

future holds for LCHS speech. We have some amazing freshmen right now, Libby is sending me

some incredible kids next year, and our little league speech program keeps generating interest

and excitement about competitive speech in LaRue County. I think you will be reading more

and more about our program and our achievements in the months and years to come!”

The LaRue County High School Cheerleaders Finished Fifth in the

KAPOS State-At-Large Cheerleading Competition Saturday

LaRue County High School cheerleaders front from left, Olivia Dulak, Niccole Carter, Abby Sullivan, Gabby Garcia, Brigitte Skaggs, Erin Duvall;

middle, Coach Renee Wright, Emily Armes, Calea Tharp, Rachel Armes, Grace Armes, Mallory Skaggs, Whitney Heath, Haley Dragoo, Meredith

Lindsey, Coach Tara Wooden, Coach Megan Willard; back, Ally Hutchins, Shelbi Brooks, Whitney McDowell and Taylor Dawson.

The cheerleaders of Larue County High competed on February 19th, in the KAPOS State-

At-Large competition. This competition featured regional champions from across the state and

was held at Western Kentucky University’s Diddle Arena.


LaRue placed 5th in the state out of 16 squads in the Large Division, a step up from last

year when they got 6th. Some squads in their division included national finalists Dunbar and

Henry Clay, as well as national semi-finalist Daviess County.

The only other LCHS cheerleading squad to place in the top five was in 2000, in the girls’

varsity co-ed. Along with the 2001 squad placing 6th.

Placing in the top five of the state was a great accomplishment for the squad and they

hope to continue improving their placement each year. Congrats LCHS Cheerleaders!

LaRue Middle Claims Kentucky State Beta Office

The annual Kentucky State Beta Convention took place in Louisville at the Galt House Hotel and

the Kentucky International Convention Center on February 24th and 25th. There were over

4,000 students in attendance at the convention. Students from all four LaRue County schools

were represented at the state convention this year.

LaRue County Middle had a record, 101 students attend the convention. The National Beta

Club is the oldest and largest academic organization for teens in America. The organization

promotes leadership, student service projects and academic endeavors.

LaRue Middle participated in numerous events at

the convention. Students also launched a Scooby

Doo based campaign to

elect Maddie Lee as a

state officer. Students

performed their

campaign skit on stage at

the convention center

and worked during the


convention to secure the votes necessary for a state victory.

The school was successful in getting Maddie Lee elected as the new state Chaplin. Students

elected as state officers serve a one year term in office. They will travel across the nation as

ambassadors for Kentucky on the national level.

Maddie is currently slated to attend the Mississippi state convention in March, the Louisiana

state convention in May and the South Carolina Broyhill Leadership Academy in July. She will

represent not only LaRue County Schools but, the entire state of Kentucky in her role as the

newly elected state Chaplin. The school also took a sixth place state rank in the songfest

competition. Teresa Lee and Allison McDowell serve as sponsors for the Beta Club at LCMS.

Young Authors at LCMS

Students on the sixth grade Kids.Com team at LaRue County Middle School recently created a

feature article in their social studies class. Students were able to choose any topic that they

had studied in social studies. The articles could include a wide variety of issues, concepts, and

topics dealing with world physical or cultural geography. Students used the writing process

learned in language arts class to construct their articles. They worked laboriously from

prewriting to publishing. Once finished, their work was reviewed by a panel of judges. The

judges selected three to four articles from each of the four social studies classes to be

published in the community paper. Hopefully, you have enjoyed the articles and will continue

to enjoy some of the remaining articles. Special thanks to Linda Ireland and the LaRue County

Herald News.

Back Row: Hunter Pearman, Celeste Menard, Seth Newby, Devin Walter, Sidney Canada, Jacob Davis

Front Row: Zachary Cooper, Cole Constant, Cameron Hensley, Jacob Cecil, Hannah Keith

Inset: Paige Noe

(L to R: Brian Anderson, Celeste Menard, Maddie

Lee, Delaina White, Turner Cottrill, Josh Adams)


Magnolia Bank Essay Winners

This past year,

students on the LaRue

County Middle School

6th grade Kids.Com

team participated in

the fourth annual

Magnolia Bank

“Preparing for

Success” essay

contest. The essay

question asked

students to answer in

250 words or less:

what might make a

great career and how

do you plan to achieve that career. Students completed the essay using the writing process in

their home room reading class. Nine students were chosen as winners from the team. Winners

received a t-shirt, a free pizza party at Mr. Gatti’s, and a $100 savings bond.

LCMS Future Problem Solving Team

&

Individual Assessment Students bound for State Governors Cup!!

The LaRue County Middle School Future Problem Solving Team placed 2nd in Regional

competition on Saturday, February 5th, 2011 and are bound for State competition Saturday,

March 12th in Lexington. The team members are Kylie Rogers, Cody McDowell, Caitlin Lewis,

and Shayne Wathen. The team is coached by Doris Jean Holleran.

Individual students who place in the top 5 on assessment tests in different subject areas at

Regional

competition also

progress to State

competition.

LaRue County

Middle School is

proud to have

four students who

will also compete

at the State level

in Governors Cup

Back Row: Cindney Neagle, Hunter Pearman, Alexa Herrin, Airyl Heath, Brittany Blair, Seth Newby

Front Row: Thomas Christian, Jacob Davis, Celeste Menard, Lindsey Shelton


competition on March 13th in Lexington.

Aaron Elswick placed 2nd in Math, Andrew Coy placed 3rd in Arts & Humanities, Matt

Underwood placed 4th in Arts & Humanities, and Ripley Lucas placed 5th in Language Arts.

At the Regional competition, LCMS received the 4th place trophy by having the 4th highest

accumulated point total of the 17 area schools in our Region. Good luck to these students as

they compete in State competition!

Mrs. Ray and Ms. Becky’s Class Discover Beauty and the Beast

Bob and Janie Carrithers,

Grandparents of Kindergarten

student Allie Blair, visited Mrs.

Ray and Becky’s classroom.

They shared the classic story,

Beauty and the Beast, focusing

on understanding characters’

feelings in a story. Mrs.

Carrithers used different heart

objects to describe what to

look for throughout the story

such as a golden heart,

wooden heart, or a tender

heart. The students realized

that the Beast’s heart changed

throughout the book and

made the connection to the

various types of hearts one may have.

After the story Mr. Carrithers sang Wooden Heart by Elvis Presley and other

favorites of the students.


3rd

– 5th

Valentine Dance

To help out two very

needy causes, the

Hodgenville Family

Resource Center and

the Hawks for Hope Mini

Relay for Life Coordinator

organized a dance for 3rd-

5th grade. Students

were taught dances from

the HES Dance Club

(coordinated by Yvonne

Fay). Each grade had a

hula-hoop contest and

students were allowed

to play games and

win prizes. One grade at

a time was also given

refreshments in the cafeteria at which time they could also get their face painted. Students had

a fun-filled afternoon and helped to raise over $1,600.00. A Big “THANK YOU” goes to the

volunteers who helped to make this a wonderful afternoon for our 3rd-5th grade students.

“Skatetime” A Success at HES

Hodgenville

Elementary 3rd – 5th

grade students just

completed a five day

unit of “Skatetime”,

which is a program

that brings skates into

schools. The $8 cost

per student, which

provided five days of

skating, was covered

through parents who

paid for their own child

and several who

sponsored others who

needed assistance.


The result was a great skating experience that generated tremendous improvement and tons of

fun. Students progressed at their

own comfort and skill level

throughout the unit. Several

students advanced from simply

standing on gym mats to more

advanced skating such as

traveling independently on the

floor, crossing over on corners,

generating backward movement,

and forward limbo tricks. Special

thanks go out to all who made

financial donations and to Sheena

Brown, Patti Gentry, and Sandra

Lafollette for giving their time to

assist in various ways.

ALES Students Serve As Assembly Pages

When fourth grader Jake Walters made

the annual fourth grade trip to Frankfort to

learn more about the state’s government, he

knew immediately that he wanted to be a

page for the General Assembly. He began

talking with his teacher, Allison McDowell,

about the opportunity and she and School

Manager Kathy Ross set a plan in motion.

Along the way, fifth grader Harrison Hynes,

who has always been interested in politics,

joined the team to make the trip to Frankfort

to be a page.

Newly elected State Representative Michael Meredith

made the day possible for the boys on February 17.

Accompanied by Mrs. Ross, Jake and Harrison served as

personal pages for Meredith and Rep. Stan Lee from

Fayette County. They heard bills discussed and actually


voted on the outcome of four bills as the representatives let the boys cast their votes. Jake, as

Rep. Stan Lee, cast one of two desenting votes for House Bill 463 dealing with the criminal

justice system in regards to drug rehabilitation versus prison. Harrison, on the other hand as

Rep. Meredith, cast his vote for the legislation.

Climbing the Ladder to Success

Alex Matherly, second grader at Abraham Lincoln

Elementary, is adding his name to the Addition Facts

Mastery poster that hangs in the school’s cafeteria.

Students who master their facts have the opportunity

to climb the ladder to add their name to the list. Alex is

being recognized during his lunch time while his peers cheer him on. Alex is hoping to master

his subtraction facts so that he can climb the ladder once again.

Award Winner

LaRue County Board of Education

Superintendent - Sam Sanders

Board Members

Price Smith - Board Chairman

Dick Greenwell - Vice Chairman

Norbert Skees - Member

Ronnie Chelf - Member

Michael Hornback – Member

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LaRue County Bridge Mar 2011

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