Photo by Dane Anderson

Westlake High School class president Steven Wilbanks, left, and Arnab Chatergee, student co-chair of the Wi-Fi Vision Committee, give Eanes school board members a real-life account of the effectiveness of iPads in school life during a meeting last week as WHS assistant principals, from left, Steve Ramsey and Stephen Shands and Principal Linda Rawlings look on.

Eanes school board members approved a change in the scope of a bond projects list and combined projects to make them more attractive to the contractors who bid on them during a Jan. 25 meeting.
Board members unanimously approved scope changes on nine bond projects, most of which provide HVAC renovations to district campuses. The projects also cover special education renovations at West Ridge Middle School and Valley View Elementary School, the fire alarm system at the Ninth Grade Center and a Life Skills kitchen at Westlake High School.
The changes were largely due to the difference between early project estimates and the actual bids the district is receiving from contractors. Some project bids came in over budget and some under. All projects considered, the district will wind up spending an additional $203,000, a relatively minor increase out of the $54 million bond approved by voters last year.
“What we really had in the budget last May was concept ideas,” said Nola Wellman, district superintendent. “Now we have to go out and get those bid out. The variance is to be expected because of that, because they were strictly concept estimates.”
Any bond project with a cost that fluctuates more than 20 percent above or below budgeted estimates must have the approval of the school board. The nine projects approved during the Friday meeting also had the stamp of approval of the district Bond Oversight Committee.
“The committee determined these scope changes to be reasonable and in the best long-term interest of the district,” said BOC vice chair Mike Salas.
Some of the projects have significant changes in their planned scope. The cost of the HVAC system at Eanes Elementary School will more than double, increasing from $528,500 to $1.1 million. District executive director of facility management Les Reddin told BOC members in a meeting last week that the district expanded the design plan of that project after hearing from campus teachers that the air conditioning and heating worked in some classrooms and not in others.
The project cost for a kitchen for the Life Skills class at Westlake High dropped $260,000 after the district found existing space that already had the needed infrastructure, Reddin said.
The BOC recommended that the district combine renovation work at The Learning Center, an alternative learning campus at the high school, and The Alternative Education Program, a district disciplinary campus. Reddin said the two campuses are close in proximity and can be handled by one contractor. The BOC also recommended allowing the district to combine HVAC projects at West Ridge Middle School and nearby Barton Creek Elementary School for the same reason.
Teachers, students, parents and Principal Linda Rawlings enthusiastically told board members that the district’s Wi-Fi pilot program, which put 1,600 iPads in the hands of the high school’s seniors and some juniors this year, was a dramatic success.
“We’ve talked a lot about the need for us to make sure that our kids have the 21st century skills they need for learning,” Rawlings said. “It’s 2012, and our schools still look in some places in the country like they did 100 years ago. How do we prepare our kids to make sure our nation is regarded as the top global leader?”
She said the Wi-Fi program at the high school was a great way for students to begin to achieve those goals.
In a survey conducted at the high school, students said the new iPads helped motivate them and made classroom material much more engaging. They said the technology allowed them to better communicate with each other and their teachers.
“Having iPads has revolutionized the way students view school,” said Arnab Chatergee, student co-chair of the Wi-Fi Vision Committee that helped bring the iPads to the high school. “It really is about allowing students to become the architects of their own education.”

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Photo by Esther Robards Forbes

Westlake Choir students will put on their makeup, strap on their dancing shoes and hit the stage of the Performing Arts Center Friday as they bring the two-time Tony award winning “Damn Yankees” to life.
“At first, I didn’t know what the musical was,” said Ryan Conant, a senior who plays Joe Boyd in the production. I had never heard of ‘Damn Yankees.’ I read a bit more about it and realized that it would be a really fun musical.”
“Damn Yankees,” first brought to Broadway in 1955 and revived in 1994, may be a bit obscure for most teens and is not on the usual list of high school musicals, said director Jenn Goodner.
“I’ve actually always really wanted to do this show because it has some really exciting numbers and lots of good dancing, but it’s a show that doesn’t get done all that much because high schools don’t usually have such a large pool of boys to choose from,” Goodner said. “And there are a lot of male parts because it’s a show about baseball. Because we have the luxury of having so many talented boys, we decided that we would go ahead and do this show.”
“Damn Yankees” is a modern twist on the tale of Faust, with the  main character, Joe Boyd, making a deal with the Devil to become a young ball player for the Washington Senators so they can finally beat those Yankees.
Set in the 1950s, the costume department has gone all-out with the classic clothes and the cast has been working non-stop since before Christmas. With only four and half weeks to rehearse, the time table can seem a little brutal, but cast members say they’ll be ready to go.
“It’s a lot of awesome singing and a lot of awesome dancing and it’s going to be just fantastic,” said Trey Slack, a senior who is playing Joe Hardy.
Many of the leads this year are seniors who have been dreaming of their moment in the spotlight since they were younger, watching casts of the past at Westlake High.
“I’ve just always loved doing choir and singing,” Conant said. “Ever since I was a freshman, I’ve watched the leads and wanted to be one of them.”
A few have been bitten by the performance bug and plan to continue their work in theater after graduation.
“I love to sing, and I love to dance, and musical theater is what I want to do in the future,” said Megan Kelly who is playing the iconic Lola in the production. “I plan to major in musical theater.”
But for tomorrow night, the cast will set aside their anxiety and their dreams of the future to put on the best show they can.

“The kids continually surprise you on how amazing they are and how much work they put into their characters,” Goodner said of her cast. “It means so much how hard they work and how much they care.”
Performances of “Damn Yankees” will be held Feb. 2-4 at 7:30 p.m. in Westlake High School Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $15.
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Photo by Ed Allen

Westlake soccer players, from left, Sharad Sood and James Baker, drive the ball to goal during a 2001 game at Westlake High School.

James Baker and Sharad Sood met in the sixth grade on a club soccer team – one tall, blonde and intimidating, the other with dark hair, a brilliant smile and lightning speed.
The team’s best players, Sood scored the goals, and Baker got the ball to him. The two became best friends, eventually playing an integral part on the Westlake High School soccer team.
“We hit it off immediately and were always cracking jokes with each other,” Baker said. “Throughout middle school, we were pretty inseparable.”
Baker’s parents taught in the Eanes school district. His mom, Mary Ann, taught second grade at Cedar Creek Elementary School for many years, and his dad, Dale, is teaching his 37th year of art classes at WHS this year. Now their son, a 200l WHS graduate, coaches soccer and teaches language arts at his alma mater. No one has a better understanding of what makes the school district great.
“Even as a small child, [I understood that] the teachers were delivering the message that success is possible for anyone,” Baker said. “Having adults in your life, be it parents or teachers, that push you to be successful is what sets this district apart.”
Life at high school was good for the two soccer heroes. They had a lot of friends. Even as a teenager, Sood had a wonderful outlook on life, Baker said.
“You never saw the guy unhappy or mad,” Baker said. “He was friends with everyone, and every relationship was special to him. He had nicknames for all of his friends, and everyone smiled as soon as they heard him yelling it down the hallway. It was impossible not to be drawn to him.”
From 1997-2001, Sood and Baker starred for the Westlake soccer team. They won first team All-District awards, and Sood set the record for career goals scored in his senior year.
The two friends kept in touch in college, but, as it usually happens, both got busy with different things. Sood was still engrossed in soccer. Baker became a kicker for the University of Texas football team and helped the team win the Rose Bowl against Michigan in 2004. The last time Baker saw Sood was in the fall of 2010, when Baker invited his old friend to his wedding to fellow Westlake coach and English teacher Ashley Grayson.  Tragically, Sood was killed a week later in a car accident.
Baker met with Sood’s parents after his death and realized that they felt a strong emotional link to the time their son had spent on the Westlake soccer team. They wanted to honor him in a way that would last. The three came up with a plan to fund a scholarship and institute the Sharad Sood Memorial Soccer Tournament. Last year, eight teams took part in the first tournament. This year, the tournament doubled to 16 teams that played at Westlake’s Chap stadium on Jan 20.
“Last year’s [Westlake] JVA team won the inaugural tournament,” Baker said. “The goal is to make the tournament the premier JV tournament in the state, and I feel like, based on the past two years, we are well on our way.”
Baker is a popular coach at Westlake.
“He is one of the most outstanding role models either of my boys have ever had,” said Corinne Cargnoni, one of Baker’s team parents. “He does something to make all of the boys feel respected and an important part of the team.  He motivates them to care about each other and to play with a ‘we’ mentality instead of ‘me.’”
Baker takes his charge with new crops of Westlake students very seriously.
“I feel like athletics offers opportunities for students to grow, both as athletes and people,” he said. “By sharing my knowledge with new generations, it gives me the chance to give back to the community that gave so much to me. The Westlake soccer program meant so much to me and players like Sharad, that having the ability to be part of the program and give that experience to players is more than I could have hoped for.”
Amid all the success in his life, Baker takes the time to reflect on his friend and the lessons they learned together.
“What I appreciated most about Sharad was that he did everything the best he could possibly do it; he took nothing for granted and made everyone he came in contact with better,” Baker said. “For me, the most important thing is to make a difference in the student athletes I am lucky enough to come into contact with. Life is hard, and things aren’t always fair, but you can always make sure to be a positive in the lives of those you encounter. Being friends with Sharad helped teach me that.”

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Photo by Dane Anderson

Maggie Zidar takes a crack at repairing a broken heart with the assistance of Magnus Nelson during an exhibit by cardiologist Dr. Frank Zidar and surgeon Dr. Stephen Settle at the Bridge Point Science Day Friday.

BELOW: Cait McCann from the Austin Parks and Recreation Department shows a reptilian friend to cautiously interested Grace Byram during “Wild about Wildlife,” part of the Bridge Point Science Day exhibits Friday.

Bridge Point Elementary School held its 15th annual Science Day Friday, with 43 interactive science exhibits bolstered by more than 200 volunteers and professionals in cool scientific fields.

“Starting as a bunch of arm-twisted teachers and some willing parents in the fall of 1997, the first Science Day committee organized the event,” said Principal Brad Wirht. “Over the years, Science Day has morphed from teacher-led sessions to the current expo, which includes experts, scientists, enthusiasts, teachers and middle school, high school and college students. All demonstrate interesting and exciting applications of science. The day is many parts demonstration, hands-on and participation for the students while also acting as an idea incubator for careers.”

It was hard to find an unengaged face Friday morning, as students prepared to set off to the first of three events they chose in which to participate.

Presentations included everything from a helicopter pilot complete with his helicopter to a heart surgeon who brought his own[deer] hearts to two young women from the Austin Parks and Recreation Department who came equipped with Madagascan hissing cockroaches, a giant orange snake and, for the less adventurous touchers, a turtle. There was a dentist, a pharmacist, gaming gurus, geologists, surgeons, electrical engineers, physicists, space scientists and a plethora of other science-oriented brainiacs eager to add to the fun.

The kids weren’t just having the time of their lives; they were also learning.

Fifth-grader P.J. Myer took a break from his inspection of Blake Byram’s helicopter to offer a recap.

“You understand that the fuel in this helicopter doesn’t ignite,” P.J. said. “Even if it gets struck by lightning, nothing happens.”

“That’s because, like when it crashes, the fuel tank disengages,” added his friend, Will Janek.

Back in the building in a room filled with high-tech medical instruments and a half a dozen fresh deer hearts, Riley Schatz was sewing darned impressive stitches with steady concentration in her very real laboratory specimen. She was decidedly less green than the boy standing next to her.

“I liked seeing a real heart and being able to put a needle in it and fix it,” she said later.

Interventional cardiologist Dr. Frank Zidar and vascular surgeon Dr. Stephen Settle teamed up to bring the working exhibit they titled “How to Fix a Broken Heart” to the school. This year makes Settle’s ninth showing Bridge Point students what a heart looks and feels like. He started when his oldest daughter was in third grade; now his youngest is a third-grader at the school. Everyone reacts differently to, but he has only had one fainter over the years, he said.

“This day is harder than a day in surgery,” he said. “When I’m operating, I’m in a room on my game. These guys take a lot of energy and ask a lot of questions. They’ll catch you snoozing.”

AP&R employees Debbie McElwaine and Cait McCann didn’t get many takers for petting their first exhibit, the giant Madagascan hissing cockroaches, but by the time the giant snake made its way around the group, courage was warming up. By the time the final exhibit, a turtle, made the rounds, it was hard to keep eager hands under control.

It was the first time Kate Roggi had ever had the opportunity to hold a turtle.

“It was, well, I can’t really describe it,” she said. “You have to touch it yourself. I’d like to hold one again for a lot longer.”

As the final third set of exhibit visits came to a conclusion, the students seemed to have their excitement well under control as they marched into the remainder of a normal school day. As a group of younger students walked down the hallway, one girl patted her friend on the back.

“Don’t worry, we get to do it again next year,” she said as they disappeared around a corner.
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Courtesy of Open Arms

TOP: Westlake High School students, from left, Catherine Anne and Rebecca Prideaux, organized a T-shirt drive that brought in more than 1,500 shirts for use as recyclable material by Open Arms, a business that supports refugee women. ABOVE: From left, Iraqi refugee Raya Thanoon, Sudanese refugee Flora Lado and Gabonese refugee Odile Moukissi sift through donated T-shirt material they will use to create new clothing and toys for retail sale through the social organization Open Arms.

Two Westlake High School students made the national news earlier this month by organizing a T-shirt collection drive to support Open Arms, an Austin-based organization that benefits refugee women.

Catherine Anne Prideaux, a WHS senior and her sister, Rebecca, a junior, have collected more than 1,500 T-shirts in their efforts to provide recycled material to women seeking asylum from as far away as Bhutan and southern Sudan. The women, who work for the social organization Open Arms, use the material to make scarves and skirts. The sale of the popular refashioned clothing provides them a living wage.

The WHS T-shirt drive only lasted two days from Jan. 10-12, yet it attracted the attention of Channel One News, a satellite news program designed for teens. Catherine Anne was a little surprised by the success.

“I was expecting about 1,000 [shirts] and didn’t didn’t fully realize how many shirts we had until we unloaded everything into our garage to start washing and folding,’ she said. “People anonymously dropped trash bags full of shirts on our front porch; the Student Council donated boxes and boxes of shirts; and students walked into their classrooms and dumped armfuls of old T-shirts in the collection bins.”

Austinite Leslie Beasley founded Open Arms in 2008 with a team of women interested in helping refugee women escape the trap of minimum-wage poverty by finding a way to earn a living wage in Austin. The organization employs refugees to create one-of-a-kind products from repurposed T-shirts. The clothing and other items are sold online and to retailers throughout the U.S.

Beasley spent volunteer time in a refugee camp in Uganda in 2010. She was hit hard by the stories she heard from women, who she said have suffered such tremendous loss and so much violation of their human rights. When she returned to Austin, she discovered there was a large, “invisible” population of refugee families in Austin.

“No one was aware of them at all,” she said. “I began to talk to people I knew about the problems refugees face here in Austin, and they were all surprised. There was a total lack of awareness.”

Beasley began helping the refugee community by registering their children for schools. She saw kids from low-income housing living in poverty. Parents were working two or three minimum-wage jobs, trying to keep afloat.

“They were working so much, their children were basically growing up unsupervised,” Beasley said. “Parents couldn’t help with homework, and the language barrier was so strong. It was a trap – a poverty trap.”

The refugee women she met were eager to work, they just needed a chance for adequate pay that would allow their families to thrive and make a better life, she said.

“I saw a strong spirit of optimism,” Beasley said. “I saw people who wanted to do whatever it took to make a future for their children. I was seeing that desire, but no options.”

Open Arms is set up to provide that chance for a better future, and to do it in an earth-friendly way by turning throw-away clothing into things people want. The idea has caught on. Beasley just returned from her first trip to the Dallas clothing market Monday, where she was looking for retailers interested in buying her clothing products at wholesale. She found receptive and interested buyers.

“Retailers are expressing that customers are beginning to ask for products that they know the background on; they enjoy products with a bigger story,” she said. “They want to be good global citizens. We wanted to show the business community that you can do business differently. You can be a part of solving global issues and still be a viable business.”

With their T-shirt drive, the Prideaux sisters have done more than provide raw material for Open Arms to turn into viable products. They have drawn attention to the organization and the plight of the women who work there.

“They are out there talking about it,” Beasley said. “That awareness is a big part of our purpose. It’s a big part of changing lives.”

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]]> http://westlakepicayune.com/2012/01/27/t-shirt-drive-by-students-helps-refugees-earn-living-wage/feed/ 0 http://westlakepicayune.com/2012/01/27/science-leads-the-way-at-bridge-point-elementary-school/ http://westlakepicayune.com/2012/01/27/science-leads-the-way-at-bridge-point-elementary-school/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:00:28 +0000 Dane Anderson http://westlakepicayune.com/?p=15982 Maggie Zidar takes a crack at repairing a broken heart during Bridge Point Elementary School Science Day Friday morning.

Bridge Point Elementary School held its 15^th annual Science Day Friday, with 43 interactive science exhibits bolstered by more than 200 volunteers and professionals in cool scientific fields.

“Starting as a bunch of arm-twisted teachers and some willing parents in the fall of 1997, the first Science Day committee organized the event,” said Principal Brad Wirht. “Over the years Science Day has morphed from teacher-led sessions to the current expo, which includes experts, scientists, enthusiasts, teachers and middle school, high school and college students.  All demonstrate interesting and exciting applications of science.  The day is many parts demonstration, hands-on and participation for the students while also acting as an idea incubator for careers.”

It was hard to find an unengaged face Friday morning, as students prepared to set off to the first of three events they chose in which to participate. From a helicopter pilot complete with his helicopter to a heart surgeon who brought his own[deer] hearts to two young women from the Austin Parks and Recreation Department who came equipped with Madagascan hissing cockroaches, a giant orange snake and, for the less adventurous touchers, a turtle. There was a dentist, a pharmacist, gaming gurus, geologists, surgeons, electrical engineers, physicists, space scientists and a plethora of other science-oriented brainiacs eager to add to the fun.

The kids weren’t just having the time of their lives, they were learning.

Fifth-grader P.J. Myer took a break from his inspection of Blake Byram’s helicopter to offer a recap.

“You understand that the fuel in this helicopter doesn’t ignite,” P.J. said. “Even if it gets struck by lightning, nothing happens.”

“That’s because, like when it crashes, the fuel tank disengages,” added his friend, Will Janek.

Back in the building in a room filled with high-tech medical instruments and a half a dozen fresh deer hearts, Riley Schatz was sewing darned impressive stitches with steady concentration in her very real laboratory specimen. She was decidedly less green than the boy standing next to her.

“I liked seeing a real heart and being able to put a needle in it and fix it,” she said later.

Interventional cardiologist Dr. Frank  Zidar and vascular surgeon Dr. Stephen Settle teamed up to bring the working exhibit they titled “How to Fix a Broken Heart” to the school. This year makes Settle’s ninth showing Bridge Point students what a heart looks and feels like. He started when his oldest daughter was in third grade; now his youngest is a third grader at the school. Everyone reacts differently, but he has only had one fainter over the years, he said.

“This day is harder than a day in surgery,” he said. “When I’m operating, I’m in a room on my game. These guys take a lot of energy and ask a lot of questions. They’ll catch you snoozing.”

AP&R employees Debbie McElwaine and Cait McCann didn’t get many takers for petting their first exhibits, the giant Madagascan hissing cockroaches, but by the time the giant snake made its way around the group, courage was warming up. When the final exhibit, a turtle, made the rounds, it was hard to keep eager hands under control.

It was the first time Kate Roggi had ever had the opportunity to hold a turtle.

“It was, well, I can’t really describe it,” she said. “You have to touch it yourself. I’d like to hold one again for a lot longer.”

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Eanes school district superintendent Nola Wellman walks through the interior of the new Adult Transition Services program building with Ground Force Building Systems’ Educational business development director Brad Laughlin. The ATS program helps young adults with special needs develop vocational and independent living skills during their transition from post-high school to the real world.

The Eanes school board Bond Oversight Committee met Jan. 17 to review scope changes district on projects that district executive director of facility management Les Reddin recommended to board members during a meeting Jan. 25.

BOC members gave their unanimous approval to combine two projects covering renovations to The Learning Center and the Alternative Education Program buildings into one project to make them more attractive to contractors. The buildings sit adjacent to each other near the Tennis Center on Westbank Drive across from the Ninth Grade Center. The TLC and AEP projects were estimated at $333,000 apiece in the 2011 bond proposal, but Reddin said the costs for the 9,000 square-foot TLC building will far outweigh the cost of renovating the 1,500 square-foot AEP structure. Reddin estimated the new bid on the combined TLC/AEP project to be in the neighborhood of $745,000, roughly $85,000 higher than expected.

The BOC also approved the district’s idea to combine HVAC projects at adjacent West Ridge Middle School and Barton Creek Elementary School. Independently, construction costs for the two projects were originally estimated at $6.6 million, but the new combined bid saves the district $1.3 million at $5.3 million. District assistant superintendent of business services Larry Keiser said the extra money will be reallocated to other projects.

“We will have changes with fees and that sort of thing as projects go up and down, but there are still some dollars in there that we may be able to use on other energy projects,” Keiser said.

The BOC approved scope changes for nine additional 2011 bond projects recommended by Keiser and Reddin. All told, cost for the nine projects has risen $302,630.

“When the items were listed on the bonds, these were not actual designs as much as they are concepts,” Keiser said. “These were estimates based on what it would cost roughly to do this. Once you start doing the designing, it’s kind of like when you use a camera where you focus it and it comes into sharper focus. When the meetings actually take place with the architects and staff, they change. They go up or down.”

A large part of discussion during the BOC meeting centered on a $558,640 cost increase for a HVAC/Energy project at Eanes Elementary School. The project was included in the 2011 bond at $528,500 to replace heating and air conditioning units. Reddin said the cost increase came from a complete design system change that would provide better indoor air quality and improved noise levels.

“I know people can be critical of spending too much money before a bond to do design and estimates,” said BOC member Coralie Pledger. “I know that you have to balance money paid and estimates. This seems like a pretty big swing.”

Asked by Pledger if he felt good about his estimating process, Reddin replied that he could get better estimates by paying for the process prior to bond approval, but that the district doesn’t follow that policy.

“I could spend a half million dollars and go draw up the next bond program and bid it all out and come up with the numbers, but [the district] doesn’t want to do it that way. We can’t afford to do that.”

Keiser later agreed with Reddin’s assessment.

“I think we made the best estimates we could within the constraints that we had,” he said. “Once the actual designing gets done, there can be some pretty good swings. If we had funds to hire a whole lot of design stuff beforehand, maybe the numbers would be more accurate. But if for some reason the project got delayed or the bond didn’t get passed, that estimate would be out of whack, and you would have to redo it then.”

BOC member Bryan Noteboom also expressed concern with the EES cost increase.

“If we spend half a million dollars, we get better air and less noise?” he asked. “Clearly, there was something more.”

When Noteboom asked if the additional $500,000 spent on the HVAC system at EES would lock the district into a future renovation of the campus, Reddin said the money could take a dent out of the cost of renovating the oldest of the district’s campuses.

“HVAC and mechanical/electrical are two big numbers in any kind of renovation project,” Reddin said, adding that he couldn’t predict the district’s future decisions regarding the EES campus. “This goes a long way in that direction. Maybe it would allow you to do a cheaper renovation. “

The approved project scope changes also included a $260,160 reduction in cost of the Life Skills Kitchen project at Westlake High School. Reddin said the district had located a space that already had the infrastructure for the project.

The BOC also approved a district recommendation that the school board approve budget amendments moving funds for the combined TLC/AEP and WRMS/BCES projects and moving funds from projects that come in under budget for use in projects that come in over budgeted estimates.

The next BOC meeting is scheduled for Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. in the Eanes Administration Building, 601 Camp Craft Road.

Visit the Picayune’s website at www.westlakepicayune for an update on that the Tuesday board meeting.

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Board members unanimously approved scope changes on nine bond projects, most of which provide HVAC renovations to district campuses. The projects also cover special education renovations at West Ridge Middle School and Valley View Elementary School, the fire alarm system at the Ninth Grade Center and a Life Skills kitchen at Westlake High School.

The changes were largely due to the difference between early project estimates and the actual bids the district is receiving from contractors. Some project bids came in over budget and some under. All projects considered, the district will wind up spending an additional $203,000, a relatively minor increase out of the $54 million bond approved by voters last year.

“What we really had in the budget last May was concept ideas,” said Nola Wellman, district superintendent. “Now we have to go out and get those bid out. The variance is to be expected because of that, because they were strictly concept estimates.”

Any bond project whose cost fluctuates more than 20 percent above or below budgeted estimates has to have the approval of the school board. The nine projects approved during the Friday meeting also had the stamp of approval of the district Bond Oversight Committee.

“The committee determined these scope changes to be reasonable and in the best long-term interest of the district,” said BOC vice chair Mike Salas.

Some of the projects have significant changes in their planned scope. The cost of the HVAC system at Eanes Elementary School will more than double, increasing from $528,500 to $1.1 million. District Executive Director of Facility Management Les Reddin told BOC members in a meeting last week that the district expanded the design plan of that project after hearing from campus teachers that the air conditioning and heating worked in some classrooms and not in others.

The project cost for a kitchen for the Life Skills class at Westlake High dropped $260,000 after the district found existing space that already had the needed infrastructure, Reddin said.

The BOC recommended that the district combine renovation work at The Learning Center, an alternative learning campus at the high school, and The Alternative Education Program, a district disciplinary campus. Reddin said the two campuses are close in proximity and can be handled by one contractor. The BOC also recommended allowing the district to combine HVAC projects at West Ridge Middle School and nearby Barton Creek Elementary School for the same reason.

Teachers, students, parents and Principal Linda Rawlings enthusiastically told board members that the district’s WiFi pilot program, which put 1,600 iPads in the hands of the high school’s seniors and some juniors this year, was a dramatic success.

“We’ve talked a lot about the need for us to make sure that our kids have the 21^st skills they need for learning,” Rawlings said. “It’s 2012 and our schools still look in some places in the country like they did 100 years ago. How do we prepare our kids to make sure our nation is regarded as the top global leader?”

She said the WiFi program at the high school was a great way for students to begin to achieve those goals.

In a survey conducted at the high school, students said the new iPads helped motivate them and made classroom material much more engaging. They said the technology allowed them to better communicate with each other and their teachers.

“Having iPads has revolutionized the way students view school,” said Arnab Chatergee, co-chair of the WiFi Vision Committee that helped bring the iPads to the high school. “It really is about allowing students to become the architects of their own education.”

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Photo by Nimai Malle

Underwriters for the 2011 JamFest, from left, James Mays and Randy Kunik, put the fun in fundraising for the Eanes Education Foundation at Antone’s last year.

The fourth-annual JamFest, the music-laden fundraiser for the Eanes Education Foundation, hits Antone’s Saturday from noon-4 p.m. with a packed schedule of young talent, including two dozen students from the Eanes school district.

JamFest is the brainchild of Westbank orthodontist Randy Kunik, a former EEF board member who is underwriting the event this year. Kunik said he knew the idea would be a winner for the local community and local schools.

“[It’s] a student band showcase that encourages student musicians and provides a high profile performance venue that is also a benefit for our outstanding Eanes schools,” he said.

Ten bands will form the line-up: Electric Silk, The Austeens, The Others, Playing with Fire, Unsocialized, The Little Galaxy, The Old Theatre Guild, Lithium Sun, Retribution and Jester’s Court. Eanes students participating include: Phil Smith, Thomas Denning, Tim Smith, Juan De Haro, Dave North, Devin North, Cody Ross, Ben Baron, Grace Krakow, Olivia Field, Madeline Silvestro, Enrique Sanchez, Brett Wilson, Sophia Werkenthin, Zoe Ashton, Hanna Jinks, Rohit Srinivasan, Benjamin Hines, Tre Pham, Paulo Lugo, Michael Mullen, Cade Bandera, Emily Weller and Roy Fenner.

West Ridge Middle School eighth-grader Dave North plays lead guitar for the band Retribution, which has been together for a year. He started playing guitar at six and writing songs when he was 10. He said his band was excited to earn one of those high-profile spots in the showcase through audition.

“Our band has been looking forward to [this] for a long time,” he said. “We love to jam and get the audience to jam with us, especially if it’s for a good cause and especially if it’s at Antone’s.”

Dave’s brother, Devin, is a Westlake High School sophomore and the bassist leader of the band Jester’s Court. He and the band’s drummer, Ben Baron, have been playing together for two years. Guitarist Cody Ross and vocalist Grace Krakow joined the band last year. Devin said he became interested in music through the school district’s orchestra program.

“With more funding from events such as this, the district’s vast music programs can continue to grow and flourish,” he said.

Olivia Field, WRMS seventh-grader and guitarist for Austeens echoes that sentiment.

“EEF is important to us because [it allows us] to hire more teachers,” she said.

Last year, EEF provided $1.19 million to the Eanes school district. The organization hopes to provide a similar amount to fund excellence in local schools this year, said executive director Wally Moore.

“Gifts to the Eanes Education Foundation help our outstanding Eanes schools perform well beyond what the state defines as an adequate public school education, and it is our Eanes schools that provide much of the glue that makes the Eanes area such a great place to live and work,” Kunik said. “That funding is even more important now, as the State is increasingly unable or unwilling to fund our public schools at levels that prepare our students to be successful at the next level.”

Antone’s is located at 213 West Fifth St. Donations to EEF will be accepted at the door during JamFest performances.

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Photo by Shea Wendlandt

Juniors listen intently to the presentation given about professional development.

By Jessica Stenglein
Special to the Picayune

On Jan. 18, Westlake High School juniors spent their morning in the Performing Arts Center at the 10th annual Junior Career Day.

Unlike previous years, the format of career day was changed, and the juniors were divided into three groups of 200 students to listen to the three presentations.

“We decided to change the format of career day to better benefit our juniors,” WHS Guidance Committee member Daniela Knight said. “We felt that giving them a broad overview of careers at this point in their lives was better than the narrow glimpses we had given them in the past. Most juniors don’t have concrete ideas about career choices. Our ‘new-and-improved’ Junior Career Day allowed them to view a variety of professions.”

Juniors spent an hour in each session, which included a lesson on professional development, a panel discussion about engineering, business and law and a panel discussion about health professions, the arts and education.

“I liked the session for fine arts, education and medicine the best because it was a wider range of occupations [than the other sessions], and I really enjoyed those speakers’ stories,” junior Anika Hattangadi said.

The lesson on professional development was the newest session added to Junior Career Day. During this presentation, juniors learned about how to act in a professional setting.

“Hopefully, the greatest benefit to students has been the broader view of career choices,” Knight said. In [the professional development] session, students were educated about professional dress, conduct and communications. We realized that during our senior career day, where we send seniors out to various workplaces in the community for a morning to observe, there was a huge disconnect in how to communicate with a professional and also how to dress in a professional setting. Many of our seniors felt that ‘nice’ flip-flops were appropriate footwear. As a committee, we hope that we have now helped our juniors better understand how to conduct themselves next year in a professional setting.”

Junior Career Day was planned by the Guidance Committee, which is made up of 80 moms of WHS students and involved a lot of hard work to organize all of the presentations.

“With such a large group, most of us have contacts in the business community through jobs we have held, jobs our husbands currently hold or through other activities,” Knight said. “Using these connections, we were able to find our presenters for Junior Career Day.”

“I thought it was really nice of all the moms to put in all the work that goes into organizing an event like that,” junior Hattie Hazen said.

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