Haywood High School Principal Robert Mitchell and his staff and Career and Technical Director Rhonda Thompson and her staff express great appreciation to the school’s office staff members for their hard work and dedication. Working in the main office are (from top left, standing) Margie Hooper, Karen German and (seated) Gail Barden. Lee Ann McNinch (top right picture) is another member of the administrative staff as is Suzie Farmer (bottom left). In the Career and Technical office, Jan Lein and Freda Goodwin keep things running smoothly (bottom right).

HHS choirs entertain out in the community

The Haywood High School Show Choir, Concert Choir and Girls Ensemble went out into the community to entertain Monday, April 23, much to the delight of their audiences, including the kids at Anderson Early Childhood Center. Another stop they made was at Sugar Creek Retirement Center where the residents thoroughly enjoyed their songs and dances. Leading the choirs is Mrs. Michelle Tillman, who teaches choir at HHS.
 

Youth Leadership class members meet governor

The Haywood Youth Leadership Class of 2006-07 has completed its year of leadership training. Members of the class, all Haywood High School juniors, were chosen by their teachers and have been attending different training sessions each month since last September. Class members, pictured with Gov. Phil Bredsen during their recent trip to the State Capitol, are Alex Edwards, Morgan Dennis, Savannah German, Amy Olmedo, Adam Marlar, Maggie Gardner, Brett Stoots, Ricky Taylor, Melanie Dennis and Robert Callery. Alan Callery of InSouth Bank and Ken Hall of Brownsville Baptist Church accompanied the group to Nashville. The Youth Leadership Program is sponsored by the Brownsville-Haywood County Chamber of Commerce.
 

HHS educators lead Tennessee Academic Decathlon

 Three veteran Haywood High School educators, (from left) George Norvell, Gail Chapman and Glynn Bridgewater, are in positions of leadership in the Tennessee Academic Decathlon.

Three veteran Haywood high School educators are in positions of leadership in the Tennessee Academic Decathlon, an organization that promotes challenging academic competition for high school students across the state. The Tennessee Academic Decathlon (TAD) is part of the United States Academic Decathlon USAD), which sponsors contests throughout the nation. Mrs. Gail Chapman, Miss Glynn Bridgewater, and Mr. George Norvell are part of the organization’s executive leadership.

Mrs. Chapman has recently assumed the position of Chairperson of the TAD Board of Directors. In her twelfth year at HHS, she teaches French and serves as the announcer of the West Tennessee Academic Decathlon Super Quiz competition and at the regional banquet. As chairperson, she will direct board meetings and make executive decisions about competition procedures.

Miss Bridgewater has served as the TAD secretary-treasurer since the inception of the program in 1985. In addition to teaching English, serving as the director of the HHS Writing Center, and coaching the local Decathlon team, she communicates regularly with all TAD board members, coaches, and principals. She also coordinates all TAD financial affairs.

Named the 1999 Brownsville-Haywood Educator of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Norvell, who is chairperson of the HHS Language Arts Department, serves on the TAD Board of Directors. He has also coached the local Decathlon team for 21 consecutive years.

The HHS Academic Decathlon program has been recognized as a Center of Excellence by the National Council of Teachers of English. Further, Dollar General Stores has funded a scholarship program through the TAD, in which the highest scoring senior on each team at state competition receives a $1,000 scholarship to the college of his/her choice.

The Tennessee Academic Decathlon is a viable, non-profit organization, which enables students to develop academic strength, effective communication skills, time-management skills, and focused self-discipline. Academic decathletes regularly excel in both high school and college, and they become active citizens in their communities.

The USAD thematic focus of study changes yearly, and the focus of the 2008 contest will be the U. S. Civil War. Students are currently enrolling in the Academic Decathlon class at HHS and are plotting their strategies for another challenging year of competition.

HHS names Girl State representatives

Amy Olmedo and Shanel Crawford-Harris have been selected to represent Haywood High School at Volunteer Girls State, a program for Tennessee junior girls aimed at promoting education and awareness of American history, Tennessee history and citizenship. Girls will be able to attend lectures and informational sessions on current events, politics and history. The students will be assigned to one of 12 cities and will participate in the political process of a city, county and state. The American Legion’s Ladies Auxiliary sponsors Volunteer Girls State, and the sponsor of the Brownsville representatives is Haywood High School. Girls State will be held at Middle Tennessee State University the week of May 27 through June 2, 2007.

 

Ricky Taylor makes All State

Haywood High School basketball Tomcat Ricky Taylor was recently named to the Tennessee All-State Basketball Team by the Tennessee Sports Writers’ Association. Taylor averaged more than 25 points per game during the 2006-2007-basketball season.

Haywood High School head basketball coach Winston Varnado had high praises for Taylor, calling him a “special” player when he talked with States-Graphic reporter David Sills.

“Taylor brought an unquantifiable element of leadership to the team,” Varnado said, adding that he thought Taylor will be the next player from Haywood to make it big. “He’s got the right attitude. He’s got the grades. He’s just 100 percent. He is a student first. He’s a great kid. Well, let me take that back, he’s a great kid first, he’s a great young man … then he’s a great student. And he works so hard at improving his game. He is not settling for the best … he wants to be better than the best.”

Taylor is a junior at Haywood High School and the son of Ricky and Kimble Taylor.

HHS JROTC announces award winners at annual banquet

Air Force Junior ROTC unit TN-944 at Haywood High School held its annual honors banquet in the school cafeteria on April 5. The following cadets received honors:

Kimberly Turner-Freshman Outstanding Cadet
Iman McGhee-Reserve Officer Association Award
Dennis Tyus-Sons of the American Revolution Award
Alexis Kent-Veterans of Foreign Wars Award
Taumesha Bledsoe-Senior Outstanding Cadet
Josh Edmundson-Air Force Association Award
Shanel Crawford Harris-Junior Outstanding Cadet
David Merriweather-Daedalian Award
Kanesha Bond-American Legion Scholastic Award
Chakeya Bowen-National Sojourners Award
Ashley Byars-Tuskegee Airman Award
Lakeshia Brown-American Veterans Award
Sheri Rucker-Military Officer Association Award
Calunetta Williams-Daughters of the American Revolution Award
Shadow Treadway-Graduating Senior Award
Brittany Warren-Military Order of World Wars Award
Dana Hendrix-Air Force Sergeants Association Award
Nycoria Wilson-Military Order of World Wars Award
Brittany Anderson-Graduating Senior Award
Andrea Gaters-Graduating Senior Award
Cameo Jones-National Sojourners Award
Wiletta Pirtle-Order of the Purple Heart Award
Trevor Trotter-Graduating Senior Award
Nicholas Adams-Sophomore Outstanding Cadet
Miguel Cobb-Scottish Rite Award
Harold Watson- Tuskegee Airman Award
 

HHS students learn from “Mock Crash”

Haywood High School students experienced a dose of reality on Thursday, April 5, when they witnessed a “Mock Crash” on campus as part of an effort for local law enforcement to send the message, “Don’t drink and drive.”

Brownsville Police Department Office Barry Diebold led the organization of the annual event with the help of other local emergency personnel, including the fire department, ambulance authority and Wings helicopter medical transport service. Also in on the event were Allison Byrum’s drama students, members of the HHS Health Occupations club, and the Haywood County Youth Coalition. This is the seventh year for the event.

Following the dramatization of a multiple fatality wreck caused by a drunk driver, HHS seniors gathered in the school’s library to hear Dave Brown, meteorologist for Channel 5 in Memphis, tell about the loss of his daughter and grandchildren in a drunk-driving crash 10 years ago. His message held the attention of everyone in the room. Brown has been a guest speaker at the HHS Mock Crash event every year since its inception.

“The message,” said Officer Diebold, “is to let students know that if they choose to consumer alcohol, then they must find a safe alternative to driving a vehicle.” This event will be followed in several weeks by a hands-on opportunity for students to operate a DUI simulated vehicle on the school’s parking lot. These activities are planned each year before the school prom date.

The HHS drama students will travel to Trenton this month to perform at the high school’s mock crash event there.
 

Brownsville Rotary sponsors Interact Club

Members of HHS Interact Club Board of Directors are Inman Mcgree, Ladrecus Shepherd, Jessica Brooks, Trista Rivers, Holly Siler and Kelsey Collins. Elected to serve as officers of Interact this year are Tiffani Hicks, president; Chelsea Funderburk, vice-president; and Candace Brown, secretary. HHS teacher Sharon Carr (left, front) is the sponsor of the club. Brownsville Rotary President George Tyree (center) praised the group for their participation in the Rotary-sponsored Interact Club.

The president of the Brownsville Rotary Club, George Tyree, has announced that the club has formally recognized and will sponsor the Interact Club at Haywood High School.

As a service and social club for young people ages 14-18, Interact derives its name from “International” and “Action,” which reflects the nature of the organization that exists in 110 countries and promotes active service both at home and abroad. With almost 200,000 members and 8,600 clubs worldwide, Interact provides a powerful force for youthful enthusiasm and energetic service.

The Rotary Club extended a special thanks to the administration at Haywood High School and to Sharon Carr who volunteered to mentor the program and become a Rotarian. “It was her enthusiasm, leadership, and volunteer spirit that brought this organization to life,” Tyree said
 

HHS Soccer Tomcats on a winning roll

The HHS Tomcat soccer team kept their unblemished season record (now 3-0) intact Tuesday afternoon, March 26, with an 8-1 win over Jackson South Side in a match played at Brownsville’ s East Side field.

Roberto Gonzales scored three goals to lead the Tomcats in scoring. Brian Castro scored two goals and had three assists. Ediri Aggreh scored two goals and Alan Olmedo scored one. Miguel Castro had one assist.

Leonel Godinez played in goal in the first half and shut out the visiting Hawks from South Side. In his first appearance in goal, Alan Olmedo performed well and had a shutout going until the Hawks scored with less than 30 seconds remaining in the match.

“We played well, especially in the first half,” said HHS Soccer Coach Steve Svebakken. “We scored on three of four corner kicks in the first half and I was really pleased about that. We haven’t been scoring many goals on corner kicks.
The soccer team has 14 more matches in regular season play.

Lady Softball Cats sweep Orlando tourney, continue winning

Members of the HHS Softball team are Melanie Dennis, Morgan Dennis, Maggie Gardner, Caitlin Garrett, Jessica Hendrix, Chardee Henley, Brittany Holmes, Anna Overton, Megan Perry, Trista Rivers, Chelsea Shaw, Whitley Sullivan, Rachel Summerlin and Leah Taylor. Chanda Franks is head coach, and Matthew Shearon is her assistant.

The record-setting pace established by this year’s Haywood Lady Tomcats continued the week of March 19 with a four-game series sweep at the Disney World Softball Tournament. The sweep brings the Lady Cats record to 14-2 and leaves them riding a 12-game winning streak.

The Lady Cats have defeated Liberty Technical, Jackson Christian School, Fayette-Ware, Cordova, Martin Westview, Dyer County, Crockett County and Brighton in season play, and defeated Newark Academy (New Jersey), Benjamin Russell (Alabama), Christian Academy of Knoxville, and Murfreesboro Siegel in Orlando. Some of the wins at home were in a HHS-sponsored tournament that the hosts won.

Coach Chanda Franks is very proud of her team’s performance. “We were especially happy about that win over Siegel (in the Orlando tourney). Not only are they ranked nationally (34th in the nation), but they had just finished a tournament where they finished third out of 62 teams. We played them very well,” she told States-Graphic reporter David Sills.

“We had a big time. As far as I know, the kids loved it. It was a once in a lifetime experience. We probably will not get a chance to play on those fields again,” she added.

The team has 18 more games before District 14-AA play begins on May 3.
 

HHS Biology Club does some spring-cleaning

Members of the Haywood High School Biology Club covered the Haywood High School campus in pairs and in groups on Saturday, March 17, continuing their clean-up project at the school.

Their work included raking leaves, picking up trash, and even a little landscaping maintenance, such as trimming hedges. Kavin Carr and Brian Ivey, biology teachers at Haywood High School, are faculty sponsors in charge of the project.

According to the teachers, there are several benefits for the students. The students are not only improving the appearance of the campus but also getting hands-on education in environmental science. Carr said the students are learning new definitions of trash. “Some students don’t really consider things such as candy wrappers and cigarette butts as trash,” Carr said, “but after these experiences, they can see the impact.”

There was also an incentive to the students for cleaning up the campus on such a cold dreary Saturday morning. The students were gaining points for a field trip to the Memphis Zoo Wednesday, March 28. The Biology Club actually started their cleanup project in the spring of 2006 and about 100 students from grades 10-12 have been involved in the current project.

As the students were completing their assignment, Carr said he would like to do some landscaping with the students and is certainly open to any ideas from the community. He can be reached at Haywood High School Monday through Friday during school hours at 772-1845.
 

Haywood High School FCCLA members win big at District competition

FCCLA members competed at the District STAR Events competition on February 27. STAR Events (Students Taking Action with Recognition) projects reflect a variety of youth concerns, including teen pregnancy, parenting, family relations, community service, peer pressure, financial literacy, nutrition and fitness, teen violence prevention and career exploration. Haywood High School hosts these events each year.

Haywood students who placed in the district contest and will advance to the state competition are:

Melissa Powell, Tiera Walker, and Teresa Covington – Bronze Medal
Kayla Booker and Francine Ballard – Silver Medal
Ashley Tyler and Charlene Barrow – Silver Medal
Andrew Perry and Brittany Siler – Silver Medal

Some students received medals but did not advance to state:
Tyrone Fisher – Silver Medal
Kaitlyn Morris – Silver Medal
Chasity Scott – Silver Medal
Jody Geirman and Erica Wallace – Bronze Medal
Leslie Rowe and Kristen Killen – Silver Medal
 

FCCLA Students Save Pennies for Children

Members of Mrs. Shaunda Brittain’s Family and Consumer Sciences classes in the Haywood High Career and Technical School saved their change for the Carl Perkins Center. At a recent event, Tyrone Fisher, president of the FCCLA Chapter gave Mrs. Linda Burns, director of the local Carl Perkins Center, a $100 bill. Members worked to collect extra change for the donation to the center.