Good News: Week of Jan 20, 2022

Beaumont student named Texas All-State Musician

Jan. 8, more than 70,000 students initially entered the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) All-State competitive process in Tyler, vying for selection to perform in Texas All-State Music Ensemble. Of the under 2,000 students selected to participate, Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School Band member Claire Ren is one.

All-State performances will be held as part of the annual TMEA Clinic/Convention on Feb. 9–12, where more than 30,000 people from Texas and around the world are expected to attend over 275 workshops, 100 performances, and visit over 1,200 exhibit booths at this nation’s largest music educators convention.

Ren’s performance will take place with the Texas All-State ATSSB Concert Band in San Antonio on Saturday, Feb. 12, at the Henry B. González Convention Center.

For the All-State concert schedule and conductor information, visit the Performances section of www.tmea.org/convention.

School board appreciation

The Nederland ISD School Board was recognized at the Monday, Jan. 17, board meeting in honor of School Board Recognition Month.

“Our school board members are selfless volunteers who spend long hours working to ensure all of our students have the opportunity to learn and grow,” Superintendent Dr. Stuart Kieschnick said. “Celebrating School Board Recognition Month is one way to say thanks for all they do. We encourage our school community to take a moment and tell school board members ‘thank you’.”

The Nederland ISD school board is responsible for an annual budget of $50 million, as well as an estimated 5,000 students, close to 700 employees, and eight campuses.

Board members serving Nederland ISD are President, Nicholas Phillips; Vice-President, Micah Mosley; Secretary, Roya Scott; Trustee, Jerry Albanese; Trustee, Kay DeCuir; Trustee, Suzanne Isom; and Trustee, Tonya Mitchell.

“School boards are essential to a strong public education system,” Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) Executive Director Dan Troxell said. “They provide the local governance and oversight that makes it possible for school districts to serve students, including establishing a strategic plan, adopting policies, approving a budget and selecting and evaluating a superintendent. It’s fitting that we celebrate them in January as their leadership is key to the success of every school district in Texas.”

Learn more about school board service at tasb.org.

Tickets on sale
now for Mardi Gras

Event organizers are urging revelers to plan now for the city of Beaumont Mardi Gras celebration in February. Currently on sale is admission to the Sunday, Feb. 27, Jazz Brunch taking place at the downtown Event Centre, 700 Crockett St.

All tickets include entry into Mardi Gras Southeast Texas, brunch provided by Rao’s Bakery and Cafe, and two drink tickets. Mardi Gras Southeast Texas Jazz Brunch will feature live music by the Jimmy Simmons Band.

Doors open at 11 a.m., and the event lasts through 1 p.m. General admission tickets are $30 each, and a reserved table for eight is $300. Tickets are available for purchase at ticketmaster.com or at the Beaumont Civic Center Box Office, 701 Main St. during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Students of today,
leaders of tomorrow

The Rotary Club of Beaumont sponsored 10 high school juniors and seniors to attend the District 5910 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) weekend Jan. 7-9 at Pineywoods Baptist Encampment in Woodlake, Texas. Early College High School junior Montreal Lewis was awarded the role of RYLA 2023 Counselor, sponsored by Rotary International District 5910.

“RYLA was amazing and I got more and more excited as the weekend approached. Many of the exercises involved trusting people I had just met,” Lewis explained. “I had to trust people to catch me from a four-foot ledge in the Trust Fall event. With the Mountain Top exercise, we had to trust each other and collaborate as a team; it showed us how good it is to work together.”

This was the first year that BISD’s Early College High School had students attending and the first for a student to be picked as a returning counselor.

“It was exciting to be chosen and I cannot wait to return,” Lewis said. “The counselors really set the bar high this year, so it will be fun and challenging to come up with new ways to encourage students next year.”

Beaumont ISD students that were awarded a scholarship include Consuelito De Luna, Lexi Lewis, and Ashlyn Popillion from Beaumont United High School; Mia Guzman, Montreal Lewis, and Isaac Torres from Early College High School; and Sam Marchand and Cristina Marquez-Pereda from West Brook High School.

Go green thumb

The McFaddin-Ward House is inviting the community to hear author and gardening expert Randy Lemmon discuss regional gardening practices at a lecture scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 27, at 6:30 p.m. in the Visitor Center Lecture Hall, 1906 Calder Ave. in Beaumont.

Lemmon is well known in Southeast Texas through his Garden Line program on KTRH radio in Houston. For over 25 years, and with 1.4 million listeners, he has guided Southeast Texans on the best gardening practices for our area. Author of popular gardening books such as Gulf Coast Gardening, Golfer’s Guide to Gardening, and New Decade Gardening: A Gulf Coast Guide, Lemmon offers help to those with and without green thumbs.

Lectures are free and open to the public. Doors open at 6 p.m. Note that the date of this lecture has moved from Jan. 13 to Jan. 27.

For more information, visit mcfaddin-ward.org or call (409) 832-2134.

MLK Day honors

The MLK Jr. Support Group, founded by Hargie Faye Savoy from Port Arthur, honored local men and women who embody the message of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the annual celebration of the Civil Rights leader’s birth on Jan. 17.

Among those heralded for their service to Southeast Texas in the spirit of King’s dream, the Man of the Year was named in Dr. Levy Barnes Sr. and the Woman of the Year was named in Yolanda Avery. Other tributes included retirement wishes for retiring State Representative Joe Deshotel and Constable Eddie Collins, as well as the memoriam of Eddie Fowler and Barbara Jacket.