tidings from taylor · dec. 4 winter band concert 6:30 – 7:30 pm activities for the middle dec. 5...
TRANSCRIPT
A National Blue
Ribbon, A+ school
Tidings
from Taylor A monthly newsletter brought
to you by PFTSTA Publications.
November 2014
Upcoming Dates:
Nov. 5
PFTSTA Recognized at JPPSS
Board Meeting
5 pm
Nov. 7 College Visit (UNO)
11:30 am
Library MS Fundraiser Kick-off
11:50 am
Freshmen/Senior Olympics
1:40 – 2:35 pm
Nov. 8 Cross Country at City Park
Nov. 8 -18
Library MS Fundraiser
Nov. 9
LSCLS All Girls Chess
Tournament
Haynes Academy
Nov. 10
Junior Ring Ceremony
12:30 – 1:30 pm
PFTSTA Rotolo’s Pizza Night
5 pm
Nov. 10 – 14 Bring a Stuffed Animal to
School
Nov. 11 Cross Country at St. Thomas
Aquinas - Hammond
Nov. 12
From the Principal’s Pen by Jaime Zapico
School performance scores were
released last week, and I’m very
proud to announce that Patrick Taylor
is ranked first in the district and
second in the state! We made
remarkable growth again this year.
This growth is due to the diligence of
the teachers, the students, and the
parents who work around the clock to
make sure my Taylor Tigers have
what they need to be successful!
Thank you again for all that you do!
We will be having a party on Friday,
November 21 to celebrate this huge
accomplishment. The new school
report is attached to this newsletter as
well.
Interim reports for the second nine week period will be going home on Friday,
November 14. Please ask your child for this important document. This is an excellent
indicator of how your child is doing in his/her classes. Parents can access grades any
time of the day on ECHO at http://echo.newtechnetwork.org.
Congratulations to all of the students who made first nine weeks honor roll! I hope
everyone had fun at the ceremonies and enjoyed receiving their certificates and
spirit monkeys. Please see the list of students who made the honor roll at the end of
the newsletter.
Thank you to all of the students and parents who helped us at Open House on
Thursday, October 23. We had close to 300 families visit that night. It was the
biggest open house to date, and we couldn’t have done it without your help.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am extremely thankful to be able
to work with my students, teachers, staff, and parents every day.
8th Grade Field Trip: Romeo and
Juliet
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Senior Field Trip: Renaissance
Festival
Nov. 12 – 19
Candy Grams Fundraiser for
NJHS
Nov. 13 Junior Field Trip: LSU College of
Engineering
7:30 am – 2:30 pm
Nov. 14
Grandparents’ Bake Sale
Interim Reports Sent Home
Nov. 17 - 18
State Cross Country
Championship at Northwestern
State University
Nov. 20
Art Field Trip: NOMA
Co-op Meeting
6:30 – 7:30 pm
Nov. 21 PFTSTA # 1 Celebration
11 am – 12 pm (HS)
1:45 – 2:30 pm (MS)
Nov. 22 – 30 Fall Break (Student/Employee
Holiday)
Dec. 4 Winter Band Concert
6:30 – 7:30 pm
Dec. 5 HS Winter Formal
The Ridgeway
7:30 – 10:30 pm
Dec. 6 MAO Tournament
Lafayette High
Dec. 6 - 7 LSCL Tournament
Haynes Academy
Lines from the Librarian by Elizabeth Kahn
October was a very busy month in the library. It was the first time that Taylor held a
library book fair. Thank you to all who supported the library by purchasing new
books at the book fair. With your support, the library earned a profit of $1000 and
$250 in Scholastic Dollars that were spent on new books for the library’s shelves. All
the money raised will be used to purchase new resources for the students.
Ninth grader, Kendal Irvin makes a decision on which books he wants to buy.
In the third week of October,
students visited every day
during lunch to celebrate Teen
Read Week (TRW). Members of
the high school book group
helped plan for this week long
event and helped run the
activities for the middle
schoolers. There were special
daily activities as well as
contests and games that ran
throughout the week. The goal
for TRW is get students
through the doors of the
library who normally do not
visit. We achieved our goal as
there were 50 or more middle
school students who visited the
library each day to participate.
Emily Schmidt tries to guess the number of candy bars in
the jar.
You can find loads and loads of pictures from the week on the library website here:
http://bit.ly/TRW14atPFTSTA
Hailey Parker shares the dream catcher
she made in the library.
Contact Us:
701 Churchill Parkway
Avondale, LA 70094
(504)-838-2249 – phone
(504)-436-0257 – fax
Principal – Jaime Zapico
Questions – Kathy Guzman
------
PFTSTA Web-site
pftsta.com
PFTSTA is on Twitter
twitter.com/pftsta
Jefferson Parish Public
School System Web-site
www.jppss.k12.la.us
Programming for Teen READ Week costs money for supplies and prizes, and it would
not happen without your support. The
library is gearing up for a fundraiser
just for the middle school students. It
is a special type of fund raiser where
you order now and pay later. The
profits earned from this fundraiser go
directly to
support library programs like Teen
Read Week and Teen Tech Week.
Because the students are so
conscientious, the library is benefiting
by allowing you to order in November
from the Great American Spring
Catalog, and paying later when your
items are delivered in late January.
Packets for this fundraiser will go home
with all middle school students by
November 10th and are due back in the
library on November 19th. All members
of the PFTSTA community may support
this fundraiser by shopping online.
To shop online:
Step 1 Go to gaschoolstore.com and
click “Shop Now.” There are over 1,700
quality products available.
Step 2 Use the PFTSTA Library Online
ID Number: 1479302.
Register to receive a Student Online ID
Number.
Step 3 The Student Online ID Number
will ensure your child receives credit for
the prizes for each purchase made.
Salma Heram works with her team to solve the
clues for the scavenger hunt based on the book,
Escape from Mr, Lemoncello’s Library.
If you want to purchase items for holiday gifts, order online and all items will be
shipped to you in time for gift giving.
The library has its very own Facebook page. You can visit and friend the library to
view the new series, Caught Reading in the Library. You just might see a familiar
face hanging out in the library engrossed in a good book. Friend the library here:
www.facebook.com/pftstalibrary.
High School SGA by Katie Higgins
October was a busy month for the high
school student council. They first hosted
October Cancer Awareness month. Each
Friday in October students wore a color for
a specific cancer and paid $1 to dress
down for the day. In 3 weeks, student
council collected close to $1000! All of that
money will be donated to cancer research.
Thank you to all of the students who
participated. Student council also hosted
their second pep rally of the school year.
It was a huge success! Congratulations to
the 6th grade and the seniors for winning a
paw point for showing the most spirit!
Maddie Pierce and Harrison Rosato compete in
an epic game of “Mickey Says.”
Finally, student council held spirit week. Students and faculty had a great time
wearing pajamas to school, dressing as twins, wearing wacky clothes and going back
in time with their wardrobe to different decades. It was great to see all of the school
spirit, and the student council hopes everyone enjoyed spirit week. Don’t forget that
the next big
student council
event will be the
winter formal. The
winter formal is a
semi-formal dance
for students in
grade 9-12. It will
be held Friday,
December 5th from
7:30-10:30pm at
The Ridgeway on
Metairie Rd.
Tickets will be sold
once we return
from Thanksgiving
Break. We hope to
see everyone
there!
The junior class demonstrates what a “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride”
looks like.
Middle School SGA by Angela Guthrie
What a great month for school spirit! First, the Middle
School SGA helped out with this year’s Red Ribbon
Week. Students participated in a different drug and
alcohol free themed activity each day at lunch. Some
of the activities included trying to walk backwards in a
straight line while reciting the alphabet backwards,
participating in an obstacle course, and signing a
pledge to stay drug free! It was a great week and we
were happy to see our students engage in these
experiences.
Over 200 students took the pledge to remain drug free during
red ribbon week to create this display.
As always, the Freaky Friday dance was a ton of spooky fun! Thanks go out to our
fabulous DJ, Mark Parfait, chaperoning teachers, Ms. Valence and Ms.
Grindstaff, and of course all of the parent chaperones as well. Many students
participated in the costume contest, and we had a lot of great entries. The top three
costumes were awarded, in no particular order, to 8th grader Chris Totten as Jimi
Hendrix, 8th grader Logan Barrios as the Green M&M, and 6th grader Julia Hutto
as Luna Lovegood. Our next dance will not be until next semester; watch Paw Prints
for more information as it becomes available.
Students enjoying their Freaky Friday
Dance! Pictured from left to right:
Edwin Salinas, Brandon Mitchell, Ella
Grindstaff, Daniel Taylor, Hailey
Wehrlin, Ben Richard, Nina Luong,
Ethan Leblanc Hope Bass, Neveah
Bonck, Victoria Mordica, Rachel
Wallace, and Sarah Yacoub
Costume Contest
winners! From left to
right, Chris Totten,
Logan Barrios, and
Julia Hutto.
Key Club News by Harris Dorado, Key Club Secretary
The month of October has been a very busy month for Key
Club. The events we participated in this month were the NAMI
Walk, Boo at the Zoo, and Park-A-Boo. NAMI stands for
National Alliance on Mental Illnesses. The walk was to raise
money for research and treatment of those afflicted with
mental illnesses. The Key Clubbers did this in a joint effort with HOSA club
members. The walk took place at Audubon Park on the 11th, and the members of
both clubs were stationed at the halfway point of the walk where they passed out
water and cheered for the participants.
Boo at the Zoo took place at the Audubon Zoo on the 25th. This is our annual
service activity with our sponsoring club, the Kiwanis Club of New Orleans. Members
helped run the haunted train, called the “Mombasa Express,” side by side with
Benjamin Franklin High School Key Club and the Kiwanis Club of New Orleans.
Everyone had a blast and a scary train ride topped off the evening for all the
workers.
On the other side of town in Kenner, more club members were volunteering at Park-
A-Boo held at Lafreniere Park. This event took place over the entire weekend of
October 24th-26th. It was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of North Kenner. Many Key
Clubs from across the New Orleans area (district 4) supported this event by working.
Members had a great time helping out at this fun family event.
Key Club held a fundraiser this month called Pumpkin-Grams and began making
plans for upcoming months. Remember, meetings are in the band room every Friday
during lunch. All are welcome. See you next time!
Social Studies News by Alicia Hampton
Recently the 7th grade learned about the creation of our Constitution and system of
laws. One of the toughest parts of this lesson was understanding the application of
the Constitution. To aid the students in understanding this, they participated in a
Constitution Workshop created by the U.S. National Archives. In small groups,
students were assigned various documents, such as a copy of the original draft of
the game “Monopoly” or Albert Einstein’s naturalization papers. Given these
documents, students examined each document for what it was first, using a
document analysis template. After analyzing the documents, students then looked at
one of the four pages of the Constitution and determined where in the Constitution
that particular document applied. Each group then shared their findings with the
class. Through this activity, students were able to see that the Constitution is not
just an item in a museum, but actually applicable to everyday life.
We have also been looking at citizenship. Students looked at the various ways that
someone can become a citizen of the United States which included answering
questions from the actual civics portion of the citizenship test. Students also learned
about the duties that citizens are expected to perform to help make our democracy
work.
Snow Day for Star Tigers by Linda Patrick
Star Tigers are students who have been recognized by staff members for showing
the ideal behaviors our school has established. These are represented by the
“TIGERS” letters: Thoughtful, Independent, Global thinking, Engaged in learning,
Responsible, and Serious about technology. Every Friday students are awarded with
a Spirit Monkey and group photo with Ms. Zapico if they have been named Star
Tigers that week.
There is a new reward this year for all the students who have been recognized as
Star Tigers during the quarter. They will get time off from a fourth period class to
have a snowball and relax with their peers on “Snow Day.” Our first Snow Day was
held on October 30th. It was lovely weather to be outside, and Plum St. Snowballs
provided the treats. Those named by October 10th, the last day of the first quarter,
were invited. This was over 200 students! Please see the list below.
Q1 MS Star Tigers
6
Sydney Andras
Shelby Antill
Maverick Becnel
Christian Blakely
Dexter Brooks
Ngon Bui
River Caro-Landry
Charlie Cosse
Christian Craig
Daniel Cressy
Colin Doherty
Regina Fletcher
Isabella Franchina
Kaelynn Freeman
Walker Grisbaum
Kalaya Hawkins
William Hawkins
Jack Henderson
Julia Hutto
BaJah Jackson
Jacob King
Janee Kovacs
Katie Laforge
Hermione Lam
Davion Lemon
Jazmine Lewis
Ava Lincoln
Nina Luong
Myles Mackie
Savannah Mire
Alex Nguyen
Anthony Nguyen
Kylee Ponthieux
Quentin Quarles
Austyn-Jaymes Reeme
Maximus Reese
Grant Roberts
Kenneth Savage
7
Zaynab Al Rashed
Shawn Anderson
Ava Arabie
Evan Bardwell
Hope Bass
Madison Bertucci
Blake Bonnette
Megan Dawson
Andrew Dinh
Nile Doucette
Ahmed Farhoud
Alex Fryer
Emily Gibbon
Andrew Gironda
Ella Grindstaff
Grace Hudson
Lindsey LaForge
Ethan LeBlanc
Ara Nacienceno
Ahmad Ottallah
Mackenzie Pierce
Gary Ramee
Chance Rodriguez
Colton Schnabel
Jordan Schouest
Sarah Short
Olivia Sonnier
James Westman
Victoria Wilches
Hannah Withrow
Sarah Yacoub
8
Anjelika Adraneda
Bailey Andras
Jayde Arnoult
Logan Barrios
Haley Benoit
Ahmad Bradley
Aliceon Clemmensen
Corrin Emmons
Shane Faircloth
Maddie Fryer
Molly Gaffney
Alex Gelpi
Jackson Grisbaum
Megan Harold
Rye Hazlett
Dante Herbert
Ayree Johnson
Catherine Lam
Azoria Lloyd
Tiana Malic
Elizabeth Matthews
Austin McDonnell
Jacob Morris
Lauren Morrow
Joshua Nguyen
Conner Pichoff
Hannah Porta
Zoey Prado
Betty Reyes
Maddie Salvaggio
Virginia Steinkamp
Chris Totten
Dustin Vo
Judy Vu
Stefrien Walker
Victoria Whitney
Wyatt Wittliff
Emily Schmidt
Jonathan Schowalter
Lionel Spears
Scott Sterling
Veronica Suazo
Joshua Trochez
Logan Trosclair
Sarah VanderMeulen
Brandon Vo
Erin Wallace
Thomas Watson
Hailey Wehrlin
Joneya Williams
Q1 HS Star Tigers
9
Cora Abrams
Grace Babin
Elizabeth Bundick
Dai’quan Butler
Norman Cattles
Jayla Clivens
Andrew
Demoulette
Patrick Grindstaff
Colin Hebert
Claire Hudson
Hannah Jensen
Jacob LeBlanc
Jake LeBlanc
Larry Mason
Kaitlyn McCormick
Grayce Mores
Chau Nguyen
Tran Nguyen
Eduardo
Paternostro
Marilyn Pati
Alyssa Phillips
Shelby Rees
Harry Reiner
Harrison Rosato
Ozzie Ross
Shelby Ruiz
Dominic Scheurer
Brittney Seymour
Brennan Silva
Laura Smith
Johnny Thai
Dylan Vo
10
Doanh Au
Ellie Baudoin
Michaela Brown
Kristen Clement
Harris Dorado
Marco Flores
Olivia
Gegenheimer
Jessica Laurent
Meaghan Leonard
Gavin Morrow
Isabelle Ordonez
Dennis Puente
Dareanna Roy
Maryann Yacoub
11
Justin Brown
Brandon Bui
Ty Dugas
George
Evangeloulis
Brennan Folse
Cameron Granger
Ibrahim Hamed
Tyler Hammonds
Kiara Horton
Hayley Hughes
Chase LaPrime
Tyler Libert
Justin Lightsey
Taylor Majoria
Alexandra
Miserendino
Marissa Nguyen
Mark Parfait
Joye Pate
Michael Pham
Madison Pierce
Bill Romero
Julia Rosato
Valerie Ruiz
Sam Tejeda
Rayne Torry
Dylan Vasquez
Ariel Walker
12
Warren Abadie
Quentin Andrus
Madison Berard
Rachelle Bold
Morgan Brown
Destiny Burnett
Claire Commagere
Courtney Cooper
Jawan Fox
Jonathan Griffith
Edward Johnson
Alexandra Kirkland
Kirsten LeCompte
Brittany Lehmann
Dillon Nguyen
Tyler Nguyen
Kristen Stamp
Abdullah Syed
Karla Tarr
Erionne Walker
Jazmine Wells
Senior Project Update by Janell Simpson
Seniors are preparing for Senior Project Panel scheduled for Wednesday, December
10, 2014. At that time, students will present the results of their internships to a
panel of judges from the community. Senior Project Panel is a capstone event that
assesses student mastery of 21st century skills. Students were matched with
mentors in the community according to their interests. A special thanks to Taylor
parent, Ben Dugas, for volunteering as a mentor and Ochsner Academic Outreach
for providing twenty-five mentors since 2009.
Here is a list of students and their research questions:
Ali Kirkland: What sports are associated with hip injuries?
Brittany Lehmann: What preparations for hip replacement surgery and post-
operative recovery improve patient outcomes?
Sydney Monix: What factors influence the physiological responses to opioids in the
immediate post-operative period?
Morgan Brown: What method most reliably isolates the presence of sand from
false alarms within an acoustic signal sent from an oil well during production?
Edward Johnson: What are the best data protection and recovery options for small
businesses?
Dillon Nguyen: How is water transported from a water treatment facility to a water
tower that serves two thousand people?
Rachelle Bold: How do age and gender impact a child's science inquiry skills?
Destiny Burnett: How are writing style, processes, characters, settings, and genres
affected by an author’s life prior to publication?
Courtney Cooper: How does the incidence of mass shootings change when a state
implements the Duty to Warn Law?
Madison Berard: How do variances in temperature and precipitation
affect Cyrtobagous salviniae density patterns?
Kayla Tarr: What is the effect of genetically modified mesenchymal stem cells on
the growth of mouse renal cells under stress conditions?
Seniors pictured in the top row from left to right: Morgan Brown, Rachelle Bold, Courtney
Cooper, Madison Berard, Brittany Lehmann, Edward Johnson; seated from left to right: Dillon
Nguyen, Ali Kirkland, Sydney Monix, Kayla Tarr, Destiny Burnett.
PowerSkills by Kelly Maher
The PowerSkills classes have been busy, learning about digital citizenship, as well as
creating MLA templates for their Social Studies Fair Project papers, posters,
newsletters, and mazes in Microsoft Word. Students can look forward to a variety of
projects this month, including a Stock Market Project in Excel, programming in
SCRATCH, movie making with our new iPad minis, and 3D modeling. We are very
fortunate, this year, to have access to a MakerBot Replicator 2 (3D printer),
courtesy of Max Reese’s uncle, Kevin Centanni. We 3D printed a tiny pumpkin at the
end of
October and
hope to
student
made 3D
models
soon. I can’t
thank Mr.
Centanni
enough for
this
generous
opportunity.
Max Reese
and his
uncle’s
MakerBot
Replicator 2
Our
MakerBot
jack-o-
lantern
Finally, we are looking forward to collaborating with the Computer Science
Department at the University of New Orleans (UNO). Part of this partnership will
include UNO students mentoring our students in programming a Raspberry Pi
(http://www.raspberrypi.org).
Band News by Tyler Libert, Band President and John McCloskey, Faculty Advisor
The band had an incredibly busy, but extremely fun month this October! Many
events took place, one of which was Tulane Band Day. Nineteen students marched
and played side by side with other bands in Louisiana on the field of Yulman
Stadium. Our performance was incredible! The stands roared and cheered as we
played on the field during half time. Tulane Band Day 2014 was a great day for us
all. A big thank you goes to Mr. Barry Spanier, band director of the Tulane Band.
Also, thank you to the many chaperones who made the event possible and spent
their entire day with us. Our chaperones were Maggie and Scott Grindstaff, Vincent
Silva, Dixie Marque, Marc and Stephanie Gelpi, Richard Esneault, and Elizabeth
McDade. We had so much fun we can’t wait until next fall to do it again.
The Band and Mr. McCloskey in the stands at Yulman Stadium
Interested parents and prospective students learn about the music program at open house.
Our next big band event was open house. This was our night to meet prospective
students and showcase our music program. Julia Rosato’s Beatles white board art
enthralled the prospective students on the tour through the band room. Tyler Libert,
our band president, informed visitors about band while Quint Adkins, percussion
section leader, and Jackson Nieto captivated onlookers with their jazz improvisation.
Many students who walked through the band room doors were excited to learn
about a new instrument and find out the possibilities for music study at Patrick F.
Taylor.
The band really enjoyed playing at the October 24th pep rally. Our new drum major
this year, Julia Rosato, conducted them well. This was her first public performance
as drum major. Pep rallies are always fun.
This month the band will be holding practices for our upcoming Winter Concert. The
practices this month will be full band on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
starting on Wednesday, November 5 and continuing through December 3. The
concert is December 4, 2014 at Patrick F. Taylor 6:30 pm. Everyone is invited.
Tidings from TechBytes by Ms. Kelly Maher
Digital citizenship goes beyond technology literacy to include appropriate and
responsible use of digital devices and media. Two important aspects of digital
citizenship are cyber safety and appropriate electronic communications.
Cyber Safety
Students need to learn how to keep themselves, and their devices, safe online.
Surveys of students, both here and at other schools, indicate that many students
engage in potentially unsafe behavior through use of apps such as Omegle and Kik.
Omegle is an app that allows people to text and video chat anonymously with
strangers, while Kik is mobile messaging app that is often used for inappropriate
communication. For additional information about these apps and other potentially
risky sites and apps, please visit:
Apps Most Used by Teens: Red Flag or Educational
15 Sites and Apps Kids Are Heading to Beyond Facebook
7 Dangerous Apps that Parents Need to Know About
Electronic Communication
How much is too much?
It is human nature to want to share our experiences, and technology makes it easier
than ever to do so. Sometimes this tempts us to share -- with the world -- things
that are better kept private. In helping students decide what and what not to share,
I offer them this litmus test:
Imagine that all of the people you respect (parents, grandparents, etc.) and all of
the people you feel protective of or responsible for (little brothers and sisters, etc.)
are standing over your shoulder. If you feel good about them reading what you’re
about to post or send, then it’s probably appropriate; if not, then don’t do it.
Remember, the Internet is written in pen. Post only what is true, positive, kind, and
necessary.
The Hour of Code is coming again, December 8-14.
Taylor Teachers Receive Donors Choose Funds
Three Taylor teachers received grants up to $2,000 from DonorsChoose.org. This
website allows teachers to propose wish lists that are funded by individuals,
corporations, or anonymous donors. This year three teachers designed projects
which were funded within a week! Here they are:
Ms. Maher would like to thank all who donated to her Donor's Choose project: Digital
Natives Require a Digital Classroom. The six iPad minis her class received will allow
her middle and high school students to film and edit movies including screencasts,
tutorials, and other animations. Students at all levels will also be able to take
advantage of a plethora of educational apps in order to strengthen their technology
literacy and core skills. Finally, these devices will make it possible for the web
mastering students to work on and test our school's mobile web site and extend our
coding experience by including mobile app development.
Ms. Kahn would like to thank all who donated to her Donor’s Choose project: Books
Rule in Middle School! The project for the library was called Books Rule in Middle
School, just like the middle school book group. The project received enough copies
of books for the students to read and discuss at the monthly meetings.
Ms. Klusendorf would like to thank all those that donated to her Donor’s Choose
project: Expanding Creativity through Innovation in Technology. She received a
grant to purchase a mini 3D printer. Having access to a 3D printer will enable her
students to expand their creativity, further develop their critical thinking skills, and
transport them to the forefront of technological innovation.
Congratulations to our innovative teachers!
Middle School on the Road! by Lisa Valence and Meghan Ritter
Sixth graders took two field trips in October.
The first was a trip to the zoo with their
senior sisters and brothers. Everyone had a
great time bonding! The second trip was to
Tulane’s McAlister Theater to see the
Chamber Theater’s live productions of tales
from Edgar Allen Poe and Mark Twain.
In October, seventh grade students visited the National World War II Museum to
supplement their studies of the history and literature of WWII with Mrs. Hampton
and Ms. Ritter. Prior to the trip, students read The Diary of Anne Frank, by Albert
Hackett and Frances Goodrich, a dramatic adaptation of the eponymous diary. At
the time of the trip, students were just finishing reading Farewell to Manzanaar, by
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston, a memoir about a woman’s
experiences growing up in a Japanese internment camp. After listening to a
presentation by World War II veteran Bert Stolier, introduced by Vietnam veteran
Ronnie Abboud, students headed to the Pacific Theater of Battle. They also had the
opportunity to see a special exhibit, “Beyond the Barbed Wire,” the specific focus of
which was the Japanese internment camps. Mrs. Hampton and Ms. Ritter developed
activities for students to complete to enhance their visit, including a scavenger hunt,
and oral presentation project. Ms. Ritter’s students wrote letters of thanks to the
two volunteer veterans who shared their time, stories, and knowledge. Overall, the
experience helped students to see the human side of war, and the trip was
meaningful – and fun – for students and adults alike.
7th Grade Math by Susie Klusendorf
This month in 7th grade math we wrapped up our geometry unit. We can now
transform any point, ray, line, or shape in the universe (both on and off the
coordinate plane)! We’ve now begun our study of linear equations, which we will be
working with for the rest of this semester. We’ve solved problems on dry erase
boards! We’ve written with chalk on our desks! We’ve even acted out equation
solving, casting actors and directors to play different terms and signs in our
equations. Coming up in November, we will be creating our own businesses, so that
we can place linear equations in a real world context by modeling profit equations.
We will also be designing linear stained glass to decorate our classroom windows.
Friends of PFTSTA by Patricia Morrow
Friends of Patrick F. Taylor Academy would like to extend an invitation for family and
friends to purchase tickets or sponsorships for the third Annual Gala Fundraiser
which will be held on Saturday, March 7, 2015. Why support the Gala?
All proceeds go directly to our students and faculty for the advancement of their
academic endeavors!
Great food, beverages, live music, and opportunities to win great prizes provided
with each ticket purchased!
You will receive a special spirit monkey for each ticket purchased!
Buy your tickets prior to December 19th, and your name will be entered into a
drawing to have your child’s academic fees waived for the 2015-2016 school year or
your senior’s AP fees paid for this year!
Ticket prices are $40 if purchased prior to February 13, 2015, and will be $50
thereafter.
Information about the Gala will continue to be sent via Paw Prints and Co-Op emails.
Thank you to those of you who have already purchased tickets or who have donated
items for the Gala! If you have a business or restaurant and you would like to make
a donation of food, gift cards, or items, please contact
Come join the party and help make this Taylor’s most successful Gala to date!
Taylor Athletics by Brad Womack
Athletics is in full swing. Both Middle school and Varsity volleyball, and Swimming
are wrapping up. Cross-country will be competing in the State Meet on November
17th. Soccer and basketball are starting this month. More information concerning
middle school basketball and soccer will be coming shortly.
Cross-country has recently
competed in both parish
and district meets. The girls
finished runner up in both
and the boys were 3rd in
Parish and District Champs.
The Individual parish
champion and runner up
were Edward Johnson and
Ryan Boudreaux
respectively.
Our middle school swim
team swam in the Divisional
Championship meet. Our
team scored 2nd overall
among co-ed schools. Our girls’ freestyle relay and medley relay placed 4th overall
with Emily Gibbons, Emily Kraus, Shelby Antill, and Maddie Fryer. Our boys’ free and
medley relay placed in top ten with swimmers Jack Henderson, Sam Imesis, Ari
Currera, Christian Craig, and Caleb Duhon. We also want to recognize Ava Arabie
who swam her best 50m
Butterfly and placed in the
top ten.
Great swim season!!
Congrats to all our
swimmers.
Parents, please remember
the best thing you can do to
support athletics is be there
for your children!!!
Mu Alpha Theta & Chi Alpha Mu Kay Butler and Karen Kelley
On October 30th, MAO and CAM students from 8th through 12th grades participated in
the Rocket City Math League contest. This competition required students to work on
Math problems as a team. Ms. Butler and Ms. Kelley enjoyed observing their
students cooperating to solve complex problems. Students are eagerly awaiting the
results which will arrive later this fall.
Rocket City Math League Participants:
8th Grade 9th Grade 10th Grade 11th Grade 12th Grade
Bailey Andras Jacob LeBlanc Marco Flores Alexandra Kayla Tarr
Macy Laurent Chau Nguyen Miserendino John Tran
Joshua Nguyen Abdullah Syed
Elizabeth Matthews Jonathan Griffith
Austin McDonnell
Hannah Porta
Logan Barrios
Nia Evangeloulis
Judy Vu
Alex Gelpi
Christian Otero
Zoey Prado
Donuts with Dad by Elizabeth Kahn
On October 30th, we held the inaugural Donuts with Dad event in the cafeteria.
Attendance was staggering, and dads could be found in the cafeteria, on the patio
outside the cafeteria and in the hallway. We were so glad that so many Taylor Dads
could join us. See pictures from the event below.
Olivia Gegenheimer with her dad
Christian Otero with his dad.
Honor Roll Students Middle School
PRINCIPAL
6th Grade
Shelby Antill
Maverick Becnel
Christian Blakely
Ngon Bui
Colin Doherty
Kaelynn Freeman
Julia Hutto
Janee Kovacs
Katie LaForge
Myles Mackie
Alex Nguyen
Austin Pellegrin
Kylee Ponthieux
Quentin Quarles
Grant Roberts
Omar Sarmini
Joseph Schexnayder
Jonathan Schowalter
Sarah VanderMeulen
Brandon Vo
Erin Wallace
7th Grade
Madison Bertucci
Lindsey Laforge
Ethan Leblanc
Bruce Quach
Chance Rodriguez
James Westman
8th Grade
Bailey Andras
Kathleen Dinh
Ayree Johnson
Zoey Prado
Judy Vu
A HONOR ROLL
6th Grade
Claire Anderson
Sydney Andras
Jada Arbuthnot
Olivia Austin
Ryan Bozzelle
Charlie Cosse
Christian Craig
Andre Drummond
Cameron Ducote
Regina Fletcher
Yahel Flota
Isabella Franchina
Walker Grisbaum
Samuel Imseis
Elijah King
Cole Labruzzo
7th Grade
David Abadie
Yacoub Abdelbaqi
Zaynab Al-Rashed
Shawn Anderson
Ava Arabie
Hope Bass
Charles Bass
Nikolas Birkhoff
Nevaeh Bonck
James Commagere
Jace Concepcion
Andrew Dinh
Nile Doucette
Kya Dykes
Kaitlyn Esneault
Ahmed Farhoud
Hermione Lam
Sarah Le
Davion Lemon
Trina Lewis
Ava Lincoln
Jennie Longwell
Nina Luong
Anthony Nguyen
Khoa Nguyen
Austyn-Jaymes Reeme
Nathalie Romero
Brian Sasso
Sterling Scott
Evan Scully
Veronica Suazo
Daniel Taylor
Tyler Tran
Hailey Wehrlin
Jalen Xia
Alexander Fryer
Sheila Garcia
Emily Gibbons
Andrew Gironda
Ella Grindstaff
Salma Heram
A'Maya Hill
Carl Howell
Grace Hudson
Lucky Huynh
Eduardo Jarquin
Milyn Johnson
Emily Kraus
Anthony Le
Ana Nacianceno
Ryunn Naquin
Logan Neese
Austin Nguyen
Kristian Noullet
Ahmad Ottallah
Andreas Palmer
Mackenzie Pierce
Gary Ramee
Kamryn Roane
Alisa Salame
Colton Schnabel
Sarah Short
Julian Simmons
Trevor Smith-James
Blenda Son
Olivia Sonnier
Victoria Wilches
Amaiya Williams
Hannah Withrow
Elizabeth Womack
Sarah Yacoub
B HONOR ROLL
6th Grade
Amyri Bacchus
Desmond Bourgeois
Dexter Brooks
River Caro-Landry
Ibanez Cortez
Tyler Hatch
Kalaya Hawkins
William Hawkins
7th Grade
Joshua Arnold
Evan Barthe
Blake Bonnette
Nadiya Clarke
Merrick Crosby
Roberto Diaz
Connor Folse
Branden Gantner
8th Grade
Hien Au
Keanu Bartolome
Anna Bordelon
Ahmad Bradley
Soleil Cabiran
Britini Crawford
Shane Faircloth
Jack Henderson
Gabrielle Horne
BaJah Jackson
Tyler Nesbitt
Timothy Nguyen
Troy Rigby
Raniece Rousell
Edwin Salinas
Emily Schmidt
Alex Tran
Joshua Trochez
Logan Trosclair
Thomas Watson
Joneya Williams
Raven Hillard
Paris Jackson
Victoria Mordica
William Musgrove
Naija Nelson
Suyog Pokharel
Ben Richard
Jordan Schouest
Ibrahim Wehbe
Molly Gaffney
Madison Grey
Azoria Lloyd
Jacob Morris
Sabrina Pham
Amaya Price
Benjamin Schluter
Tamia Southall
Kylea Stamps
Tyler Tran
Andrew Varuso
Stefrien Walker
Victoria Whitney
Wyatt Wittliff
Jada Woodard
Pierson Yaukey
High School
Principal
9th Grade
Claire Hudson
Kendel Irvin
Jacob Leblanc
Chau Nguyen
Tran Nguyen
Eduardo
Paternostro
Shelby Ruiz
Jose Salgado
Brittney Seymour
Johnny Thai
Catherine Wertz
10th Grade
Michaela Brown
Marco Flores
Mustafa Hamed
Henry Hazlett
Hilary Keyes
Gavin Morrow
Stefan Suazo
Mason Varuso
11th Grade
Justin Brown
Kiara Horton
Samuel Tejeda
Rayne Torry
12th Grade
Quentin Andrus
Madison Berard
Edward Johnson
Kayla Tarr
A Honor Roll
9th Grade Caudle Adkins Bilal Al-Bassisi Taylor Andras Paige Bass Elizabeth Bundick Dai`quan Butler Julian Cattles Norman Cattles Cassandra Cosby Aaliyah Edinburgh Jaime Flores
10th Grade Doanh Au Elizabeth Baudoin Kristen Clement Harris Dorado Noah French Benjamin Gagneaux Olivia Gegenheimer Rachel Indest Jessica Laurent Meaghan
11th Grade Brandon Bui Ty Dugas George Evangeloulis Baylor Evans Cameron Granger Jason Hall Ibrahim Hamed Suliman Hamed Tyler Libert Justin Lightsey Taylor Majoria Alexandra
12th Grade Warren Abadie Sarah Allred Colin Bardwell Rachelle Bold Morgan Brown Destiny Burnett Claire Commagere Courtney Cooper Jawan Fox Jonathan Griffith Alexandra Kirkland
John Grindstaff Jake Leblanc Gavin Mahl Devin Marque Kaitlyn McCormick Corianna McDonald Grayce Mores Marilyn Pati Alyssa Phillips Shelby Rees Harrison Reiner Dominic Scheurer Brennan Silva Laura Smith Taylor Tran Dylan Vo
Leonard Raeven Mataya Devin Nguyen Isabelle Ordonez Soheil Saneei Matthew Trochez Nicholas Vo Maryann Yacoub Gabrielle Young
Miserendino Marissa Nguyen Mark Parfait Joye Pate Thanh Pham Madison Pierce Valerie Ruiz Gavin Stevens Ariel Walker Terrance Williams Therald Williams
Kirsten LeCompte Brittany Lehmann Everett Magaw Sydney Monix Dillon Nguyen Tyler Nguyen Saraya Sibley Kristen Stamp John Tran Jazmine Wells
B Honor Roll
9th Grade Cora Abrams Grace Babin Hannah Barousse Austin Burroughs Ian Chacon Heather Chirinos Bryce Christian Charlie Clerk Jayla Clivens Andrew Demoulette Joel Gabourel Samantha Herman Mahree Houston Abigail Jaufre Semaj` King Cristian Lambert Ozzie Ross Divine Woodfin Kyli Young
10th Grade Michael Modica Dareana Roy
11th Grade Darian Bunch Gorium Bush Johann DeJesus Brennan Folse Chase LaPrime Drew Ordoyne William Phillips Julia Rosato Dylan Vasquez
12th Grade Abdullah Syed Da'Nesha Tally Erionne Walker
