KOUNTZE ISD

Congratulations Hayden Holland and Cole Trick!!
They qualified for the 2019 Bassmaster High School Championship at Kentucky Lake in Paris, TN in August. 

MaKayla Linn and Carsyn Herrera are State Semi-finalists in Girl's Doubles!! Great season ladies and coaches!!

Congratulations Jacob Murphy!! He attended the State Academic UIL competition in Austin for The Latino History Essay and Social Studies. He received a medal in the essay competition which will be archived at The University of Texas Libraries in The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection.

Congratulations to Brianna Arline!! She advanced to the State Track Meet in the Long Jump!! Brianna placed 4^th in the State UIL meet in the Long Jump with a jump of 17’4”!!

Our KMS Aviation Science class had a special treat!!  Acadian Ambulance Services brought out their helicopter and landed it on the practice football field and taught them about it.  A special thanks to Acadian for doing this for our students!!

Congratulations to the King's Regiment Band.  Sweepstakes again!! That's 15 out of the last 21 years!! Bobby Fife even stopped by today!! Great job students and directors!!

KHS senior Akota Kalina has had an artwork accepted into the 33rd annual Protege Competition and Exhibition at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas. His and other artworks by local senior art students were displayed at the AMSET for a month and are now part of a touring exhibition. The KHS Library will host this free public exhibition from Tuesday April 23rd through Monday April 29th. Visitors should check in at the KHS front office and sign in on the guestbook in the library.

            KHS Art students will participate in the Kirby Hill House Art Show and Contest on Friday, April 26th and Saturday, April 27th. This exhibition is free and open to the public both days from 10am to 4pm and has both an adult show/contest and student show/contest categories. For more information about the exhibition please visit www.kirbyhillhouse.com.

KHS Art Club will be hosting our 3rd annual Fine Arts Friday event in May. Be on the lookout soon for announcements advertising the times and dates of event tickets and T-shirt sales. 

Congratulations to the Girl’s Track Team!!  The following have advanced to the Regional Track Meet!!
            4x100 and 4x200 Team – Nykia Carrington, Tiyannah Hadnot, Brianna Arline, Yakerria Thrower
            200m and Long Jump – Brianna Arline
            200m – Tiyannah Hadnot

Congratulations to Carsyn Herrera and MaKayla Linn!! They won 1st place at regionals in Tennis and are headed to state May 16th.  Hunter Carter and Easton Peters placed 4th at regionals.

            Congratulations to the Tennis Team
            and Coaches Cristi and Laramie Linn!!
            
            Girl’s Doubles – 4^th in District
            Peyton McLaurin and Christie Cormier
            
            The following teams advanced to Regionals.
            

Boy’s Doubles – 1^st in District
            Hunter Carter and Easton Peters
            

Girl’s Doubles – 1^st in District
            Carsyn Herrera and Makayla Linn
            

Mixed Doubles – 2^nd in District
            Grace Allien and Jacob Murphy

Rice University’s Dr. Scott Solomon Visits Kountze High School

Dr. Scott Solomon of Rice University shared a presentation on Ants with Kountze High School students on January 22.  His biological research encompasses the Big Thicket region and was conducted in many countries throughout Latin America.

Solomon shared how ants harvest fungus from underground farms, cultivate antibiotics for medicine, use tools, manage traffic, and participate in warfare.  He compared native and invasive ant species pre and post Hurricane Harvey.  The professor shared data tracking the movement of fire ants and crazy ants into Texas and graphed their devastating impact on native species numbers.

Dr. Solomon’s visit was instigated as part of the educational outreach of the Big Thicket Natural Heritage Trust in partnership with the National Environmental Education Foundation as the groups explored educational activities for recovery and resiliency after natural disasters. As a Thicket of Diversity researcher with the Big Thicket Association, his project was performed with penalty monies from a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality enforcement action. Current funding is the result of a National Science Foundation grant.

Dr. Solomon encourages citizen science and the involvement of volunteers in support of research. He sees opportunities for future involvement by students in ant research.  He encouraged students in their study of Spanish as a second language as it helps tremendously in furthering career choices.  As an example, he shared his experiences as an exchange student to Ecuador.  Now he travels extensively.  He plans to visit Costa Rica in a couple of weeks to further his research on ants.

Submitted by: Mary Catherine Johnston

Congratulations to our DECA team!!
            Six of the eight members advanced to State!!

Abbie Martinka, Juilia Griffin, Christopher Langston, Sponsor Christina Wheless, Tiger Hopkins, Kourtlyn Tupper and Katlin Allen all advanced to State!

Congratulations to the following HLSR Art Contestants!!

Senior Valerie Weems won the Best of Show award for KHS with her piece titled “A Negative Heifer”

Freshman Piper Carlisle took home a Gold Medal with her piece titled “Fall”

And our KMS student Kori LeBlanc won a Best of Show distinction

Congratulations to Cayson Beal!! 
            He was awarded the First Team Defense award as part of the Beaumont Enterprise Super Gold Team.  He was recognized as 2nd Team Academic All State for Football 18-19.
            Cayson also entered the MedExpress Excellent Sportsmanship Essay contest and won and the Kountze Lion’s Football team will receive a $2500 donation for their display of excellent sportsmanship!

Congratulations to the High School Cheerleaders!!
            They placed 2^nd at the UCA Regional competition and received a bid to Nationals which will be held Feb. 7-11 in Orlando, FL

Ranger Max Earns Prestigious Award

From Cathy Johnston:

With pride I commend Max Harper, one of my former students and a Kountze High School graduate. I remember him as a good student and a drummer.  I have watched him over the years.  I know drummers are often unique- marching to a different beat and choosing unusual paths. For Max, the paths have been long, literally, hundreds and hundreds of miles

For the past nine years Max has been employed with the National Park Service as a Big Thicket National Preserve ranger.  He leads guided hikes for school children and the public and regularly shares his love of Big Thicket wonders, a place he calls home.  He works as an interpreter and guides trips on both land and water.  He even developed the preserve’s kayak and canoe recreation program and leads training sessions on safe boating.

On Saturday, October 13^th, Max Harper was awarded the Big Thicket Association’s Thomas Lubbert Superior Achievement Award.  The award is named for Thomas Lubbert, the Preserve’s  first superintendent from 1974-1986.  The award honors Preserve employees for outstanding performance and significant contributions to the Preserve.

Max has matured into an outstanding role model and is now an inspiring naturalist.  The Big Thicket’s marvelous treasures are often unrecognized.  Max’s message is not off beat.  His timing as an environmental educator is just right.