Woodson Academy students win $1,000 from Laura’s in Motion contest

Awards/honors

▪ Jordan Duncan and Jordan Lewis, both juniors at Carter G. Woodson Academy, have been awarded a $1,000 grant through the “Laura’s in Motion” video contest, which promotes childhood health through fitness and education.

The students, guided by teacher Melanie Trowel, created a video describing why fitness is important and why they needed the money to buy sports equipment for their school. The check, presented by representatives from Lexington-based Laura’s Lean Beef, will go toward exercise equipment and an InBody machine, which analyzes body composition. View the winning video here.

▪ After competitive auditions, the Kentucky Music Educators Association chose dozens of high school musicians for 2017 all-state honors. The students will rehearse with guest conductors and perform during the association’s statewide conference next month in Louisville. The following participants are from Fayette County Public Schools.

Jazz Ensemble 1 (performing at 7 p.m. Feb. 10 in the Galt House ballroom)

Henry Clay: Tristan Taylor, tenor saxophone; Tyler Rosenkrantz, trumpet; James Gooding, drums

Lafayette: David Vest, trumpet; Landon Feese, guitar; Thomas Kikuchi, drums

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Juan Gonzalez, alto saxophone

Jazz Ensemble 2

Bryan Station: Ethan Rushing, trumpet

Henry Clay: Noah Beckett, baritone saxophone; Jordan Bell, trombone; Braeden Young, bass trombone

Lafayette: Ethan Ferguson, trumpet; Vanessa Meliksetyan, piano

All-State Commonwealth Strings (performing at 3 p.m. Feb. 11 in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts)

Bryan Station: Karishma Srinivasan, violin; Faith Buede, violin; Isabella Hunter; viola; Brendley Nathaniel, viola; Logan Florence, cello

Henry Clay: Chancellor Lewis, violin; Tobias Cox, violin

Lafayette: Leila Abou-Jaoude, violin; Samantha Beach, violin; Eve Blackburn, violin; Madison Jones, violin; Olivia Kramer, violin; Isaac Martin, violin; Oliva Peppiatt, violin; Aaron Choate, viola; Julian Little, viola; Robby Neff, viola; Laney Ruth, viola; Andrew Wachal, viola; Anna Watrous, cello; Eli Dreyer, double bass; Olivia Spaulding, double bass

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Katrina Baniak, violin; Rehan Ghanta, violin; Megan Guan, violin; Kelly Chen, violin; Jenna Kim, violin; Celina Luo, violin; Vaaragie Subramaniam, violin; Amy Wang, violin; Saiprasad Naidu, viola; Jared Taylor, viola; Helen Pang, cello

Tates Creek: Leah Preston, cello

All-State Symphony Orchestra (performing at 4 p.m. Feb. 11 in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center)

Bryan Station: Madeline Farrar, violin; Anna Claire Wright, violin; Chris Copley, violin; Sidney Bibbs, viola; Rachel Mooney, viola; Caleb Robinson, viola; Simone Bibbs, cello; Russell Scaife, cello; Ellie Stevens, cello; Griffin Farrar, double bass

Henry Clay: Olivia Ault, violin: Viviana Guerrero, oboe

Lafayette: Amber Adins, violin; William Arnold, violin; Sydney Carter, violin; Michelle Choi, violin; Evan Johnson, violin; Delaney Rayens, violin; Miranda Rojas, violin; Ella Webster, violin; Joseph Yates, violin; Deborah Han, viola; Anna Jeoung, viola; Joe Mattingly, cello; Nathan Tantasook, cello; Zoe SirLouis, bassoon

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Dina Birioukova, violin; Jina Park, violin; Maxwell Qiu, violin; Yoon Cho, violin; Erik Han, violin; David Ma, violin; Jeffrey Shen, viola; James Brandewie, cello; Hannah Wang, cello

Tates Creek: Natalie Fowler, violin

All-State Concert Band (performing at 1 p.m. Feb. 11 in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center)

Bryan Station: Asia Thomas, French horn

Lafayette: Meredith Hinkle, flute; Matthew Mitchell, bassoon; Bethany Boggs, clarinet; Karlee Caswell, clarinet; Dustin Voss, trumpet; Madeline Savage, French horn; Tyler Conn, French horn; Carson Crovo, trombone; Austin Booth, trombone; Matt DeRossett, bass trombone; Wyatt Tharpe, tuba

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Ellen Danford, trombone; Jack Warren, percussion

Tates Creek: Kaitlin Robertson, flute

All-State Symphonic Band (performing at 2 p.m. Feb. 11 in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center)

Henry Clay: Katie Demos, flute; Luke Cave, clarinet; Regan Cox, trumpet

Lafayette: Shannon James, flute; Julia Crandall, flute; Angelina Pius, oboe; Ashley James, bass clarinet; Quinn Heltzel, trumpet; Hope Bennett, French horn; Rachel Booth, French horn; Britton Fugazzi, trombone; Austin Lancaster, trombone; Josh Andreatta, euphonium; Michael Haymes, tuba; Ben Henault, timpani

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Oliva Zastro, clarinet; Emily Cooper, clarinet; Matthew Goodrich, clarinet; Ashley Su, flute

Tates Creek: Kathleen West, flute

▪ Krishna Vyas, a graduate of Pikeville High School and the University of Kentucky, is pursuing residency training in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Vyas graduated summa cum laude and with honors with a bachelor’s of science in biology from UK in 2009, then pursued a master’s of health sciences in microbiology and immunology and international health from the Johns Hopkins University in 2010. Vyas completed his M.D. and Ph.D with honors at the UK College of Medicine in 2016. His research focused on adipose-derived stem cells, fat grafting and breast reconstruction. Vyas is the son of urologist S.A. Vyas and Sandra Vyas of Forest Hills.

▪ Tates Creek High School finished as overall runner-up and placed second in future problem-solving in the Thoroughbred Academic League, which includes nine area public and private schools. In the season-ending tournament on Jan. 10, both of Henry Clay’s teams won the quick recall competition.

Several students from Fayette County Public Schools ranked in the individuals’ top 5 based on written assessments, which began in September.

Varsity division

Language arts: 1. Augustine Carlson, Henry Clay

Math: T2. Joonyoung Park, Henry Clay; 4. Maia Taffe, Henry Clay; 5. Rachel Harries, Tates Creek;

Science: 3. Thomas Ensor, Tates Creek; 4. Joonyoung Park, Henry Clay;

Social studies: 4. Danica Moon, Tates Creek.

Junior varsity

Language arts: 1. Eden AlQahtani, Tates Creek; T3. Elia Zonio, Tates Creek

Arts and humanities: 1. Indana Fauzi, Henry Clay; 2. Eden AlQahtani, Tates Creek; T5. Luke Campbell, Tates Creek

Composition: 2. Madison Dresler, Tates Creek; 3. Kamron Spivey, Tates Creek

Social studies: 4. Jacob Asbury, Tates Creek

Math: 3. Martin Werner, Henry Clay; 4. Ifrah Hammad, Henry Clay

▪ Rachel Knoebel, a junior public relations major at Eastern Kentucky University, recently accepted an internship in the Washington office of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul for Spring 2017.

Knoebel, of Florence, applied for and received internship offers from both Paul and Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Over the past three years, Knoebel has been an orientation leader for the EKU Office of Admissions, a Colonel Camp leader, a First Year Courses peer mentor, and Super Crew leader for the Big E Welcome. She was president of Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society and is currently a member of Alpha Omicron Pi, where she serves as recording secretary.

▪ Veterans Park Elementary music teacher Johnnie Bishop has earned National Board Certification and brings the total to 200 teachers throughout Fayette County Public Schools, including these eight already-certified teachers who joined the district in the 2016-17 school year:

Heidi Anderson, Locust Trace AgriScience Center; Amy Baker, Northern Elementary; Molly Franklin, Wellington Elementary; Kimberly Hayes, Russell Cave Elementary; Allison Hensley, Henry Clay High School; Myranda Peterson, Russell Cave Elementary; Kirsten Roberts, Russell Cave Elementary; and Melissa Sheets, William Wells Brown Elementary.

Personnel news

▪ Rusty Watkins has been appointed interim coordinator of student services at Campbellsville University. Watkins will maintain his current duties as coordinator of summer camps and conferences and will assume the role of coordinating a leadership committee for student life. He will report to Donna Hedgepath, vice president for academic affairs.

▪ Shane Garrison, dean of online education at Campbellsville University, has been named vice president for enrollment services. Garrison has been employed at Campbellsville University since 2008. In addition to serving as dean of online education since 2015, he is also an associate professor of educational ministries in the School of Theology.

Miscellaneous

▪ Troy and Michelle Ellis have given $50,000 to the newly established EKU Diversity Non-Endowed Fund, the largest gift EKU has ever received for diversity and minority initiatives.

Troy Ellis, who grew up in a single-parent home in Louisville, earned a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from EKU in 1987. Today, he is executive vice president for supply chain with Domino’s.

The fund supports EKU’s efforts to foster a diverse campus and to support and enable the recruitment, retention and graduation rates of EKU’s diverse student populations.

▪ The Curious Edge Foundation and Jimmy John’s have partnered to help Scott County High School juniors receive support on the ACT College Admissions Test. All juniors at Scott County High School were given a practice ACT exam and will receive a specific item analysis, which will tell them where they had deficiencies on the exam. This knowledge can help them improve on future ACT tests, including the one each junior in Kentucky will take in the spring. For more information, go to Facebook.com/curiousedge or call 859-899-3343.

▪ Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass has donated $500 to the Environmental Health Science Club at EKU. The club will use the donation to help support its annual symposium, to be held this year on March 29; to send students to the National Environmental Health Association Annual Education Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich.; and for environmental public health marketing and education.

This story was originally published January 23, 2017 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Woodson Academy students win $1,000 from Laura’s in Motion contest."