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Runnels Weekly E-Newsletter
from Head of School Marcia Mackay
Dear Runnels Family,
In this week's Friday Focus: Enrollment tuition is waived if you re-enroll by Wednesday, February 1; Homecoming Queen and Court; Junior Beta Induction; D.A.R.E. Graduation; All-Parish Honor Orchestra; Music Week at Preschool; Contraction Surgery; Hero Spotlight; Kudos and Thank Yous; Friendly Reminders;
Weekly Photo Album; and Athletic Corner.
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Raider Royalty
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The 2017 Runnels Homecoming Court.
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Runnels alum Kim Lam (left) was on hand to crown the 2017 Homecoming Queen Micah Danos.
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Senior Micah Danos was named queen of the 2017 Runnels Homecoming Court at a special assembly held in the beautifully renovated Gladys Hague Runnels Theatre this afternoon, following a week of "Midnight in Paris" spirit-filled activities and events. On hand to present the crown to Micah was last year's queen, Kim Lam, now a freshman at Tulane.
At the assembly, the junior and senior high cheerleaders performed cheers and dances, the girls varsity, and the boys junior varsity and varsity basketball teams were introduced, and the eighth grade was recognized for winning the Door Decorating Contest. In addition, Michael Stevenson, Margaret Campbell, Tyler Robbins and Bella Hathorne were named "Best of the Best Spirit Participants."
Homecoming sponsor and former Runnels Homecoming Queen, circa 1996, Michelle Middlebrook, presented the members of the court: Senior maids -- Jena Bordelon escorted by Jared LaBonne, Micah Danos escorted by sophomore Daniel Mayeaux, Blair LeBleu escorted by Henry Forgey, and McKenzie Mayeaux escorted by Nathan Fairley; Junior maids -- Jourdan Milton escorted by Parker Rhinehart, and McKenna Tregre escorted by Austin Stansbury; Sophomore maids -- Emma Tooraen escorted by her brother, senior Jack Tooraen, and Micah Roper' escorted by senior Adam Howe; and Freshman maids -- Savannah McNeal escorted by sophomore Peter Lukinovich, and Talia Tooraen escorted by her brother, seventh grader Drake Tooraen.
We sincerely thank the sophomore class, its officers,
 Maddie Sutton, president; Emma Tooraen, vice president; and representatives Kayla Evans and Rachel Wehbe, and Mrs. Middlebrook for planning and organizing this year's festivities. We also send a huge thank you to the varsity cheerleaders and their coach and sponsor, Sherry Wilks; Eiffel Tower engineers, Kayla Evans, Isabel Booty and Daniel Mayeaux of the Technical Theatre class; maker of our new official Runnels Spirit Stick, Laura Roark; and helpers Dana Schlotterer, Rhonda Tucker, Neena McLain, Lety Ellsworth.
Homecoming excitement continues tonight in the beautifully restored and named Catalano Gym. We'll have three back-to-back basketball games and an encore presentation of the queen and her court.
The Homecoming dance, with a "Midnight in Paris" theme, is Saturday, Jan. 28 from 7:00-10:00 in the Catalano Gym.
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Junior Beta Club Welcomes 30 New Members
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Newly inducted members of the Junior Beta Club.
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The Junior Beta Club formally inducted 30 new members into its ranks at a candlelight ceremony held in the Gladys Hague Runnels Theatre on Jan. 27. The organization promotes academic excellence, leadership and community service. To be eligible, students must have at least a 3.0 GPA.
Congratulations to new members (
Grade 6) Sadie Alello, Sarah Burleigh, Emma Collett, Christopher Cox, Michaela DeSimone, Sarah Golda, Ali Guerin, Ethan Ho, Alex Frederic, Alan Lam, Eli Latiolais, John Latona, Brooke Parsons, Lucy Reeves, Madeline Reonas, Evan Shaneyfelt, Zeena Shammout, Meredith Taliaferro and Cassidy Wartelle; (
Grade 7)
Omar Badawi, Ashley Belcher, Thomas Betancur, Shep Butner, Lindsey Huynh, Ava Kadi, Zayne Mondujano, Reese Seymour and Brock Toney; and (
Grade 8)
Caroline Collins and Kaylee Mancuso.
Conducting the ceremony were club officers Madisan Milam, president; Joshua Freeman, vice president; Jacob Schmidt, secretary; and Nina Woodward, treasurer. The sponsors of the Junior Beta Club are Christine Pousson, John Baird and Caroline Hader.
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Bang the Drum, Pluck the Harp and Shake the Maracas!
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Runnels alumna Sarah Burke shares a song with preschoolers during Music Week.
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Tunes filled the air at the preschool this week as students enjoyed a special line up of activities and guests for Music Week. The youngsters made maracas in art class and tried their hands at playing tambourines, drums, a guitar and even a harp. They also assembled a snack that resembled piano keys from sugar wafers and chocolate candies and played music and movement games.
Among the guest musicians was Runnels alumna Sarah Burke (Class of 2012), who now operates a preschool music program at a local music studio.
After leaving Runnels, Sarah said she toured with a band in the U.S. and Canada for two years. Later, as a preschool music teacher in New Orleans, she became interested in after-school music programs. "I was teaching music at three different schools and had more than 300 students between the ages of six months and nine years," she said. Last spring, she returned to Baton Rouge where she now operates a preschool program out of locally owned Baton Rouge Music Studios. (For more information: www.brmusicstudios.com.)
Also sharing their musical talents with our students were harpist Rebecca Todaro, Runnels dad and guitarist David Chisham, and drum aficionado and former Runnels parent, Chip Alcon.
Click here for more photos
(special thanks to the preschool for sending in all of these fabulous photos!)
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Essay Winners Honored at D.A.R.E. Graduation
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With Capt. Randy Aguillard are grade section winners of the D.A.R.E. essay contest, (from left) Harrison White, Andrew Page, Sela Basso and Emmy Scott. |
The fifth grade class at Runnels celebrated the successful completion of the semester long Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program with a graduation ceremony held in the Gladys Hague Runnels Theater on Jan. 23. Officiating was Capt. Randy Aguillard of the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, who has served as our D.A.R.E. instructor for more than 20 years.
The Upper Elementary Chorus and our new elementary vocal club,
Nothing but Treble, got the celebration underway with a performance of the D.A.R.E. song, "I Will Dare," directed by Johnice Thoms. Fifth grader Ali Ismail gave a short welcome address, Caleb Johnston presented the flag, and Ryan Aymond, Chloe Bueche, Ben Hader and Mikalyn Shay appeared as D.A.R.E. Decision Makers.
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Overall D.A.R.E essay contest winner Gavin Oram receives his medal from Capt. Aguillard.
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The overall D.A.R.E. essay winner was Gavin Oram, who received the D.A.R.E. medal and a handshake from Capt. Aguillard. Grade section essay winners were Sela Basso, Harrison White, Andrew Page and Emmy Scott. Their essays were read during the assembly, and each winning essayist was awarded a D.A.R.E. pin and certificate.
The program concluded with the presentation of D.A.R.E. certificates and t-shirts to all of the graduates by fifth-grade social studies teacher Cheyenne Davis and Capt. Aguillard.
The D.A.R.E. program helps students recognize the consequences of drug use and gives them some practice in developing techniques for resisting peer pressure to use illegal substances. The course offers practical advice on how to identify and diffuse stressors, avoid violence, develop self-esteem, and identify positive role models.
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All-Parish Honors Orchestra
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All-Parish Honors Orchestra members include (front row, from left) Madeline Reonas, Ali Guerin, Ryan Roper', Farzeen Wahid, Ashley Belcher; (back row) Brooke Parsons, Emily Schacht, Hannah Landry and Connor Porthouse. |
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Nine students from our strings program have been chosen to perform with the All-Parish Honors Orchestra.
Congratulations to violinists Ashley Belcher, Ali Guerin and Madeline Reonas; viola players Hannah Landry, Ryan Roper' and Emily Schacht; and cellists Brooke Parsons and Connor Porthouse. Their music instructors at Runnels are Jennifer and Dan Cassin.
The All-Parish Honors Orchestra concert will be held at Baton Rouge Magnet High School on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 2:00 p.m.
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Kiera Slaton helps Arthur Ullo with his surgical mask before performing "contraction surgery" in second grade English. |
To sharpen their grammatical skills, students in Mrs. Hader's second grade English classes performed a little surgery in class this week. Dressed up like extras from Grey's Anatomy, they operated on words requiring the removal of letters and the addition of punctuation marks to form contractions. They snipped out the surplus letters in the word "cannot" and added an apostrophe to make the contraction "can't" and did similar surgeries to form "didn't" from "do not," "won't" from "will not" and "I'll" from "I will.
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2017-2018 RE-ENROLLMENT
Wednesday, Feb. 1 is the last day to re-enroll for the 2017/2018 school year with
enrollment tuition fully waived and your space at Runnels guaranteed!
Re-enrollment Tuition ($250 for Preschool; $500 for Grades K-3; $750 for Grades 4-12) is fully waived and space for your student(s) reserved if you re-enroll by Wednesday, February 1. If you need a duplicate copy of your re-enrollment packet or if you have any questions about re-enrollment, please call the Business Office at 225-215-5706 (extension: 013) or visit us in McMath Hall on the main campus.
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Helping Hands and Hearts...Runnels harp instructor, Dr. Gabriela Werries,
and Rebecca Todaro, who founded the Runnels Harp Program, reached out to professional associates and organizations recently to see if they might be able to help replace music lost in the flood. The harp program's music library was completely destroyed.
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Rebecca Todaro (left) and Dr. Gabriela Werries
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The New Orleans C
hapter of the American Harp Association responded to Dr. Werries' request by donating two boxes of wonderful harp music for which we are deeply grateful. Dr. Werries' students sent lovely notes and cards to the American Harp Association thanking them for the gift.
Mrs. Todaro also received a positive response when she asked Michelle Abbott, owner of Vanderbilt Harp Music, about possibly donating sheet music to the harp students at Runnels. "
Vanderbilt owns a publishing company as well as dealing music from other publishers; my hope was that Michelle Abbott would be able to send seconds or overstock," explained Mrs. Todaro.
"Michelle jumped at the chance to send music for the kids. She asked for a complete list of the repertoire the students were playing; I gave the information that I knew of; and she sent a large box media mail over the Christmas holidays. There were up to six copies of some ensemble standards. With a focus on repertoire that includes lever harps and playing together as an ensemble, the gift would be valued at more than $500 retail," Mrs. Todaro added. (Thank you notes to Michelle Abbott at Vanderbilt Music Company can be posted on Facebook at @vanderbiltmusicco.)
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Clockwise from top left: Dana Kahn, Michelle Smith, Zeb Tate and Aubrey Francois display the new books and t-shirts. |
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Skippyjon Is Back on the Shelf
Kids, both young and old, love the picture book series Skippyjon Jones. The stories center around a mischievous Siamese cat who thinks he's a Chihuahua!
Unfortunately, all of Skippyjon Jones library books were lost in the flood. In an effort to round up replacements, Runnels mom Dana Kahn contacted Judy Schachner, the author of this series, last fall.
This week, we received a package with nine Skippyjon Jones books and four logo t-shirts. Our sincere appreciation goes to Ms. Schachner and Mrs. Kahn for helping to rebuild our library.
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Kudos and Thank You
Tail Wagging Good Time
Girl Scouts in Troop 10164 recently volunteered at the Friends of the Animals (FOTA) Dog Adoption House. FOTA gives a second chance to unwanted or surrendered pets in Baton Rouge through their rescue and re-homing efforts. Scouts Madeline Reonas, Emma Collett and Sarah Burleigh spent time at FOTA playing ball, going on walks and giving lots of snuggles and love to rescue animals.
Surgical Supplies
A big thanks goes to Jennifer Belcher, mother of Jack (2nd grade) and Ashley (7th grade), for donating surgical supplies for the "Contraction Surgery" in Ms. Hader's second grade English class.
Alumni News
Congratulations to Elizabeth Lockhart and Clay Hyde, members of the Runnels Class of 2012, for being named Dean's Scholars (top 25 percent) for the fall 2016 semester at the LSU Law School.
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Friendly Reminders
Jan. 28:
Homecoming Dance ("Midnight in Paris") in the Catalano Gym, 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Feb. 1: Last Day to
Re-Enroll at Runnels with Tuition Enrollment Fully Waived and Your Space Reserved.
Feb. 4:
Mini-Cheer Clinic.
(Participants will perform cheers they learn at the clinic at the girls high school basketball game on
Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.)
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USED BOOK SALE IN OUR LIBRARIES
Feb. 6 - 10:
Gigantic
Used Book Sale in the Elementary Library and Junior and Senior High Library (Book Sale Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.), with special "Private Preview Day" for Runnels School families on Saturday, Feb. 4 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
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Feb. 17 - 19:
The Importance of Being Earnest, Gladys Hague Runnels Theatre, 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18 and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19.
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This week's photo album includes: Life Science Anatomy Lesson, Elementary Yoga, Algebra Rope Project, AP Chemistry Lab, Astronomy Games in 5th Grade Science, and more!
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UNDEFEATED DISTRICT CHAMPS!
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The Lady Raiders and Coach Angie Mitchell celebrate their 6-0 victory against CLA, which brought them the District crown. The team is still undefeated -- for two seasons in a row! A big thank you to Melanie Hyatt for the team photo.
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GIRLS SOCCER
In a shut-out (6-0) against CLA last night, the Lady Raiders nailed down the game, season, and the District title. Ally Garrity scored three goals. Molly Johnson, Lainee Alfonso and Avery Hamachek each scored a goal. Anna Manning had a shut out. According to Head Coach Angie Mitchell, Runnels has not been scored against in district play for the last two consecutive seasons!
Congratulations to Coach Mitchell and our amazing Lady Raiders!
In district play earlier in the week,
the team bested
Dunham, 7-0, with Ally Garrity contributing four goals, Kaylen Howe, two, and AnnaClaire Courville, one. Goalie Avery Hamachek also was on her game, helping make this another sweep for Runnels.
Wednesday evening the team celebrated Senior Night with another win against Dunham, 5-0.
Ally Garrity scored 3 goals and Molly Johnson and Anna Kadi each scored one. The shut out was a collective effort by Avery Hamachek, Ally Garrity and Abby Courville.
The girls play a non-district game against Walker on Monday.
The playoff seedings will be out
Tuesday
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BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL
Practice is underway as our teams get ready to Play Ball!
BOYS BASKETBALL - RAIDERS RULE IN FIRST "HOME" GAME
The Raiders defeated Lee High 76-63 in their first game in our newly restored gym. Head Coach Ben Young reports that the Raiders never trailed in the game. Ryan Carrier led with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Cade Tate threw in 20 points, and Conner Raines scored 17 points and 7 rebounds. Paul Lukinovich had 8 points and 13 rebounds. The varsity boys team is now 13-12 on the year.
BOWLING
Wednesday's match brought victory and a new a personal best! Runnels secured 26 of the 27 points to win the match. Senior Marisa Russo led the high games with her personal best of 164. Alex Matthews scored a 161, followed by Seth Miller with a 124. Matthews secured high series with a 455.
BOYS SOCCER
Last night, the boys soccer team claimed a victory against West Feliciana, 5-4.
This is the 4th win this week for the Raiders. With three games left in the regular season, the team is hoping to make the playoffs.
Save the date: Senior Night for the boys varsity soccer team is Tuesday, Jan. 31
at Burbank FIELD #4. Come on out and support the Raiders as they play against St. Charles Catholic that night. This year's seniors are Adam Howe, Nathan Fairley, Dean Campbell, and Joseph Armoney.
TENNIS
Last weekend, the varsity tennis team competed in both singles and doubles at the YMCA's High School Kickoff Tennis Tournament held Jan. 21-22 at the Southside YMCA. "The team dealt with some bad weather, extreme wind, and a lot of waiting," reports Coach Kathrin Sieberth, "but ultimately played some amazing tennis!"
Runnels made a clean sweep as the winners and runners-up in both Girls Beginner Singles and Doubles. Catherine Bonaventure won the Girls Singles Beginner Category, with Rachel Wehbe taking the Runner-Up Medal. Rachel teamed up with Madeleine Alessi to win the gold medal in the Girls Beginner Doubles, while Anna Claire Pousson and Catherine Bonaventure brought home the Runner-Up Medal.
In the boys division, Daniel Mayeaux won the Intermediate Consolation bracket as did Kyle Sieberth, in the Advanced category.
INDOOR TRACK
Last Saturday at the LSU High School Indoor Classic, the Raiders dropped time and improved their marks and rankings in Division 2 (classes 3A and below). "The 4x800 of Ryan Roper', Annie Fink, Kaylen Howe and Micah Roper is ranked 9th," said Head Coach Julie Fink. "They raced to a new time of 11:35, an improvement of 17 seconds." The boys 4x800m (Sam Matthews, Dean Campbell, Adam Howe and Nathan Fairley) finished in 9:27 and are now ranked 5th. Sam Matthews and Annie Fink improved their 3200m times and rankings. Sam finished in 10:32 and is now ranked 11th, and Annie finished in 13:06 and is now ranked 14th. The Last Chance Indoor Qualifier is at LSU on Feb. 4.
JUNIOR HIGH HIGHLIGHTS
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7th Grade Tournament Champs!
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Boys Basketball
It was a championship weekend for our junior high boys basketball teams. All three teams made it to the championship playoffs in the St. Jean Vianney Tournament on Sunday. The still undefeated 7th grade team brought home the first- place trophy after defeating St. Alfonsus, the AAU Titans, St. Jean Vianney. The 6th grade team beat St. Louis King of France and St. Alphonsus, with their only loss to the AAU Titans (a travel team) to finish second. The 8th grade team beat Our Lady of Mercy, St. Louis King of France, the AAU Titans with one loss to St. Jean Vianney and also finished second. Awesome job, Raiders!!
The St. Thomas Moore tournament began last night with the 6th grade bringing home a win against the home team. The 8th grade beat Sacred Heart in overtime (Wesley Stevenson hit 5 three pointers and Nik Horton made two free throws to seal the game).
The 7th graders will face off against St. Jude on Friday at 5:50 p.m.
Athletic Photo Album
(special thanks to Kim Courville and Kathrin Sieberth for the wonderful photos!)
SPORTS THIS WEEKEND
Varsity Boys Soccer vs. Hannan at Burbank - 6:00 p.m.
Jr. High Boys Basketball Tournament at St. Thomas Moore - 7th grade at 5:50 p.m.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28
JV Boys Basketball Tournament at St. Michaels - 8:30 a.m and 10:50 a.m.
Jr. High Boys Basketball Tournament at St. Thomas Moore
6th grade at 11:10 a.m. / 7th grade TBD / 8th grade at TBD
Indoor Track & Field Meet at McNeese State University
SUNDAY, JANUARY 29
JV Boys Basketball Tournament at St. Michaels
Jr. High Boys Basketball Tournament at St. Thomas Moore
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17255 South Harrell's Ferry Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70816
225-751-2192 |
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PRESCHOOL THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL
