FHS Spotlights ... is the newest edition to our website. We will continue to add our students' awards and achievements throughout the school year.
MAY 2010
Houston Grand Opera Scholarships: Two Friendswood students were awarded scholarships at the Houston Grand Opera's High School Voice Studio Graduation Recital held at Rice University on Sunday, May 16. Lizzy Conger received a $3000 scholarhip and 1st place; Catherine Goode was awarded a $1000 scholarship and 3rd place. Both young women sang extremely well and represented FHS proudly. Congratulations to Lizzy and Catherine for their outstanding achievement.
Student Maintains Perfect Attendance for 13 Years: David Aaron Alexander will graduate from Friendswood High School in Friendswood Texas this May. David, however, has accomplished something, which is very rare. This is something which only a few others have ever done and possibly he is the only one this year in the Country, maybe the world, who has done such a thing and is graduating this year. You see, David has never missed a day of school beginning with his first day of Kindergarten. Read on >>
International Science Fair: Maddy Landon competed in the International Science and Engineeering Fair in San Jose, California. More than 1600 students from over 50 countries competed at the fair this year. Maddy won 2nd place in the Environmental Sciences Category for her project on cleaning lead out of polluted water using sea shells. She also won a special award from the Patent and Trademark Office Society of America. Along with cash, scholarship, I-Tunes and computer software awards, Maddy will have an asteroid named in her honor by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory. FHS students have made their mark on Texas, the US and the World; now we can include outerspace in the list. Way to Go, Maddy!
APRIL 2010
Swimming: Melissa Watson and Lauren Lundquist have been named Academic All-American for 2010.
Choir: Congratulations to the five FHS Choirs who each earned Sweepstakes trophies at the UIL Concert and Sight-reading Contest on Thursday, April 8 at the Clarion Center, Brazosport College, in Lake Jackson. All choirs received a superior rating from the three concert and three sight-reading judges. This is the 5th consecutive year that Friendswood Choirs have earned this distinction. The choirs performing were the Varsity Women under the direction of Cecilia Kittley, and the Treble Choir Combined Men's Choir, Campus Singers Women and the Campus Singers under the direction of Janwin Overstreet-Goode.
Band: Friendswood High School Concert Band I and Symphonic Band went to UIL Concert & Sight Reading Contest recently at Pearland High School. Both bands earned all Superior Ratings from all of the judges. This is the tenth consecutive year for this to happen. FHS is the only 4A high school in the region to take three bands to contest, according to FHS Band Director Greg Dick. Concert Band I was the only third band to receive Superior Ratings at the contest out of all of the 4A and 5A schools. The FHS Wind Ensemble received all Superior Ratings at UIL Concert & Sight-Reading Contest yesterday. Combined with the Superior Rating at UIL Marching Contest back in the fall, earns the FHS Band the UIL Sweepstakes Award. This is the 10th year in a row for this accomplishment. Friendswood High School out of all of the schools at this contest was the only school where all the bands entered earned Straight "Ones" from all the judges. “Congratulations to Mr. Sanchez and Mr. Brown for their outstanding leadership,” Dick said.
FHS Bands Win at South Coast Band Festival: The FHS Bands competed in the South Coast Band Festival that was held at Four Bluff High School. Symphonic Band received all Superior Ratings and was named "Outstanding 4A 2nd Band" of the contest. Wind Ensemble received all Superior Ratings and was named "Outstanding 4A 1st Band" of the contest. Concert Band I received Excellent Ratings but had no compeition in their class. Congratulations to all of the students for their outstanding showing!
The directors are Gregory Dick, Aaron Brown, and Julio Sanchez.
The Academic Octathlon did a great job at their regional meet. The team competed against 4A and 5A schools (many of which have a year long class devoted to the competition) and still came in an amazing 5th place overall. A number of students collected individual medals (Bryan Holcomb--bronze in music; David Snowden---gold in Super Quiz, gold in Language and Literature, gold in Economics, silver in Science, silver in Art, and 1st overall in the Varsity division; Vanessa Saldana--bronze in Super Quiz). Our team also place 2nd in the team Super Quiz competition. We are very proud of these young men and women. They all did a great job. Please congratulate all the team members: Bryan Holcomb, Sarah Meyer, Doug Coppock, Catherine Macias, Vanessa Saldana, Nathan Hobley, David Snowden, Kelsey Thomas, Kimberly Hall, Stephen Hahn, and Hayley Boswell for a job well done.
FEBRUARY 2010
VASE - Visual Art Scholastic Event Winners: Forty one art students competed at Aldine High School last Saturday and walked away with 61 Gold Medals. Over 3,000 art pieces were judged from the 4 East Region. Eleven of our FHS students are advancing to state. Our State VASE winners are: Jamie Albach, Lindsay Barckholtz, Hannah Brown, Annam Butt, Jack Corpening, Emily Dirksmeyer, Jake Melgren, Shoaib Qureshi, Nathan Ritchie, Carson Stanch and Morgan Upchurch. Eleven winners is our best ever in this competition so a HUGE thanks goes to all of our artists and their fantastic accomplishments.
JANUARY 2010
BPA Members Place at Regional Competition: Please congratulate the BPA members who attended the regional competition on Saturday, 1/23 at Waltrip High School. We walked away with 5 awards. Vicky Stanley placed 1st in Advanced Spreadsheet, Collin Thurman placed 3rd in Advanced Word, David Robles placed 3rd in Fundamental Accounting, Miriah Soliz placed 3rd in Prepared Speech, Alden Howard placed 5th in Desktop Publishing and the Administration team of Christina Peck, Collin Thurman, Alden Howard and Vicky Stanley placed 6th. Everyone worked hard after school to prepare for this competition over the past 3 months. These are a great bunch of kids and I am very proud of them. Vicky Stanely, Collin Thurman and David Robles will move on to state to compete in March in Fort Worth. Sponsor is teacher Lisa Sargent.
Nine FHS Choir students were selected as members of the Texas All-State Choirs following auditions held at Deer Park High School on Saturday, January 9. The Friendswood High School Choir placed more students in the All-State Choirs than any other school, regardless of classification, at the Area F auditions. This sets a new record for All-State Choir participation for FHS.
Lizzy Conger is a 4-year All-State Choir member, an honor accorded to a very few select singers across the state. Catherine Goode, Lauren Parker and Audrey Bounds are 2-year All-State Choir members.
Congratulations to these outstanding singers.
Thirteen FHS Band students were selected as members of the Texas All-State Bands following auditions held at Alvin High School on Saturday, January 9. The Friendswood High School Band placed more students in the All-State Bands than any other school, regardless of classification, at the Area F auditions. This is the 3rd highest number of All-Staters the FHS Band has ever had.
The students selected are:
4A All-State Symphonic Band: Amy Le, Sydney Brunson - Flute; Payton Guerrettaz, Joseph Payne, Chelsea Lott, Kaitlyn Gruener - Bb Clarinet; Samantha Genzer - Contra-Bass Clarinet; Brandon Chao - Alto Saxophone; Jon Bertelsmen - Baritone Saxophone; Nathan Coronado - Euphonium; Ian Steinke - Tuba; Garrett Bynum - Percussion
5A All-State Band: Blake Disiere - Percussion
Joseph Payne is a 3-year All-State Band member. Sydney Brunson, Payton Guerrettaz and Blake Disiere are 2-year All-State Band members.
Congratulations to these outstanding musicians.
DECEMBER 2009
Congratulations Mustangs!
Friendswood High School is on the Just for the Kids List of Texas Higher Performing Schools! Just for the Kids is sponsored by the National Center for Educational Achievement. We are higher performing in Mathematics, Reading, Science, and Social Studies. You can get more information about the selection process and see the full list of higher performing schools in Texas at www.just4kids.org. Congratulations and keep up the good work!
Erin Gray is a freshman at Friendswood High School and is a gymnast at AA Gymnastics Academy. She was the Level 5 South State Champion and competed at the Level 5 Texas State Championship on Dec. 12, 2009. She is the gold medalist for Uneven Parallel Bars, Silver medalist for Floor Exercise, Bronze medalist for Balance Beam, 8th place on Vault and the Silver Medal Champion for the All Around.
FHS varsity golf team member, Corey Hayford, tied for second place at the the DICK HARMON MEMORIAL TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL GOLF TOURNAMENT held recently. At the tournament, 18 of the top Houston area teams played 27 holes in rain soaked conditions at the Redstone Tournament Course. The 18 teams were divided in two divisions with Friendswood being in Division II. Corey Hayford had a strong finish shooting a 2 under par 34 on the last 9 holes to move into a tie for second place.
NOVEMBER 2009
28 Students from Friendswood HS HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America) and NTHS (National Technical Honor Society) packed 11,880 pounds of food at The Houston Food Bank on the Monday before Thanksgiving. These boxes made for families of four will be distributed to food pantries around Houston.
Congrats to the Boys for finishing 5th at the State Cross Country Meet. This was the best showing in several years. Also a big congrats to Brandon Swindler and Ryan Teel for being named to the All-State team by placing in the top 15 at the State Meet. Brandon finished 4th and Ryan finished 12th.
Byron Randle signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Sam Houston University. Byron is a four year letterman who was MVP his sophomore year in the Pride of Texas tournament. He was on first team district and TABC all region last year, and a preseason all state guard for the 2009-10 season, according to the Bob Springers Texas basketball magazine. He averaged 14.5 points per game, 6.5 assists per game and 5.6 rebounds per game in the 2008-09 season.
Marching Band Wins Silver Medal: The Friendswood High School Marching band won the Silver Medal at the UIL AAAA State Marching Band Contest. The contest was held in the Alamodome on Nov. 2. There were 26 AAAA bands from across the state in the preliminary competition. Ten of those bands advance on to the finals that evening. This is the 5th consecutive trip to the State Marching Contest and 4th Finals appearence and 3rd Silver Medal for the the Mighty Mustang Band this decade. The students performed and extremely high level and did a fantastic job! Directors of the Band are Gregory Dick, Aaron Brown, Julio Sanchez, and Ron Barnett.
OCTOBER 2009
Mustang Cable System Open House: On Thursday, Oct. 29 MCS is hosting an Open House for students and community members. Get a behind-the-scenes tour of the 30 year-old program that broadcasts live to Friendswood High School. Each day a team of advanced video students write, produce, and broadcast an announcement show to the school. Come sit in the anchor desk and see yourself on TV! Doors open from 3:50-6 pm. Contact Meredith Wise at FHS for more information.
Please congratulate Choir Director Janwin Overstreet-Goode and Coach and Teacher Michael Lindsey for representing Friendswood High School for our Making a Difference honors. They were honored by the School Board Meeting.
JULY 2009
The Mighty Mustang Band has been selected as the TMEA 2010 4A Honor Band. This the 2nd year the Band has earned this honor.
FHS Drum Majors Recognized as Outstanding: Congratulations to our Drum Majors Joseph Payne, Cheryl Beuche and Sydney Brunson. They each earned the award for “Outstanding Overall Conductor" at the Drum Major Camp at the University of Houston. It’s a great beginning of the marching season!
Wranglerettes take first place in July 4 parade: The Friendswood High School Wranglerette Dance Team march with style in the Friendswood Fourth of July parade. The group received first place in the marching group category by a panel of judges at the parade. The Wranglerettes are busy this summer attending several dance camps to get ready for the new school year. The Wranglerettes are under the direction of Kara Baker and assistant director Ashley Caterina.
