BRAVO!
AWTY STUDENTS COMPETE IN LOCAL CHINESE SPEECH CONTEST
On November 8, 13 Awty students including Henderson Chandler, Siyuan Chen, Adam Fields, Beatriz Gras, Samuel Harmon, Angelina Lee, Cadence Lu, Cassie Mai, Rustin Rassoli, Dylan Rodriguez, Jessica Song, Caleb Wee, and Didi Zhou competed in the 14th Greater Houston Chinese Speech Contest.
Jason Rehg, 11th grade, won 1st place in the high school non-Chinese heritage group. His topic was “Comparison Between the Chinese and American Schools”. Jessica Song, 11th grade, won 2nd place in the high school native group. In the high school non-Chinese heritage group, 11th grade students Dylan Rodriguez and Samuel Harmon won 2nd place, while 11th grade students Beatriz Gras and Andre Vega won 3rd place. Rustin Rassoli, 11th grade, received Honorable Mention.
Left to right: Beatriz Gras, Andre Vega, Dylan Rodriguez, Rustin Rassoli, Jason Rehg, and Nicole Sax
In the Middle School group, Nicole Sax, 8th grade, won 1st place with the topic “My Teacher Mr. C”. In the Middle School non-Chinese heritage group, Henderson Chandler won 2nd place and Adam Fields won Honorable Mention. In the secondary school native group, 7th grader Didi Zhou won 3rd place while 7th grader Angelina Lee received Honorable Mention.
Left to right: Adam Fields, Henderson Chandler, and Nicole Sax
Of special note: Several of Awty's Lower School students also participated in the competition, including 3rd graders Cassie Mai and Ingrid Lu, 2nd grader Siyuan Chen, and Kindergartener Cadence Lu.
Congratulations to a group of enthusiastic and talented Awty students!
YIAN WONG WINS K-12 INDIVIDUAL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
On November 14, 9th grader Yian Wong won the K-12 Individual Chess Championship, winning all of his matches at the United States Class Championship—K-12 Scholastic Tournament. The Awty Chess Team finished second overall. Congratulations to Yian and the entire Awty Chess Team!
The Awty Chess Team Celebrates their 2nd place win.
The team congratulates Yian on his win.
AWTY BAND CHAMPIONS
Since August, some of Awty's band students have been preparing for and auditioning in various competitions.
Association of Texas Small School Bands (ATSSB) All Region Jazz Band Auditions:
In October, Maxim Gurevich, Roni Midyat, Dominic Zambonini, and Benjamin Barrera participated in the All Region Jazz Band Auditions. This audition required them to perform four jazz compositions of various styles. All four students made the Region 23/27 Jazz Band and the Area Jazz Band. The audition continued even further; a recorded audition was sent to the state contest against about 400 private and public schools.
ATSSB All State Jazz Auditions Results:
- Maxim Gurevich - Alto Saxophone - 22nd place
- Benjamin Barrera - Bass Trombone - 7th Place
- Dominic Zambonini - Drums - 4th place
- Roni Midyat - Drums - 1st Place
Since Roni placed 1st in the state for jazz drumming, he will perform with the ATSSB All State Jazz Band at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention in February.
Association of Texas Small School Bands Region Band Auditions:
Several Awty students auditioned against 14 schools to gain spots in the Association of Texas Small School Band All Region Band. These students prepared two compositions each and performed seven full range scales on their instrument for a panel of judges who ranked them amongst the many students auditioning for that instrument. Only the top students placed in the Region Band. Only these top placed students of Awty's 3A Classification qualified for the Area Band. Most Upper School students who signed up to audition made either the Region Band or the Area Band. Members of the Region Band performed an impressive concert on November 14 at Bellvile High School. The High School Band was conducted by world famous educator and conductor Peter Boonshaft. The Middle School Region Band was conducted by Kenneth Griffin, a Texas award winning band director.
Middle and Upper School Region Band Results:
Middle School:
- Sebastian Peralta - Clarinet - Region Band 16th place
- Lucas Backx - Bass Clarinet - Region Band 4th place
- Katrina Sawyer - Alto Saxophone - Region Band 2nd place
- Connor Wright - String Bass - Region Band 1st place
Upper School:
- Suleyman Amjad - Bass Clarinet - 5th place - Area Band
- Stephanie MacLean - Alto Saxophone - 8th place - Area Band
- Jason Rehg - Trumpet - Region Band 8th place - Area Band
- Tom Grant - Trumpet - Region Band 10th place - Area Band
- Rhett Cai - French Horn - Region Band 8th place - Area Band
- Aliya Gosdin - French Horn - 10th place - Area Band
- Spencer Talbot - Trombone - Region Band 9th Place - Area Band
- Benjamin Barrera - Tuba - Region Band 2nd Place - Area Band
- Julien Ruzzo - Tuba - Region Band 4th Place - Area Band
- Roni Midyat - Percussion - Region Band 3rd Place - Area Band
- Dominic Zambonini - Percussion - Region Band 4th Place - Area Band
Association of Texas Small School Bands State Band Auditions:
On January 9, seven band students auditioned for the Association of Texas Small School Bands 3A All State Band at Robinson High School. This year, Awty had the highest number of students qualify for the audition, as well as some very intense individual results. Congratulations to these students!
- Benjamin Barrera – Tuba 4th place – Second Alternate
- Julian Ruzzo – Tuba 11th Place
- Suleyman Amjad – Bass Clarinet 3rd place – Second Alternate
- Stephanie MacLean – Alto Saxophone 10th place
- Spencer Talbot – Trombone 14th place
- Aliya Gosdin – French Horn 9th Place
- Dominic Zambonini – Percussion 10th Place
Congratulations to all!
LILY FRAUTSCHI MAKES ALL STATE CHOIR
In December, five Awty students auditioned in the Pre-Area round of auditions for the All-State Choir. Four singers including Lily Frautschi, Nolan Kelly, Claire Buehler, and Ashling Devins ranked high enough to advance to the Area round of auditions. Lily Frautschi and Nolan Kelly ranked first in their sections, while Claire Buehler and Ashling Devins ranked second. In early January, these four students auditioned for All State Choir in San Antonio. All four singers ranked in the top 10 for their voice parts.
Left to right: Nolan Kelly, Claire Buehler, Ashling Devins,
and Lily Frautschi
Kudos to Lily Frautschi! She ranked 1st in the Alto Section and earned membership in the TMEA All State Choir. She is the first singer from Awty to qualify for participation in the TMEA All State Choir. Lily performed with the Texas All-State Choir in San Antonio on February 13 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center as part of the 2016 Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention.
Congratulations to her and all of the singers who reached the final round of auditions!
AWTY STUDENTS JOIN HOUSTON GRAND OPERA CHILDREN'S CHORUS
Congratulations to Awty students Christopher Wolff, 6th grade, and Anastasia Morrow, 7th grade. They were both selected to be in the 2015-2016 Houston Grand Opera (HGO) Children's Chorus, which was a part of HGO's production of The Little Prince.
Left to right: Christopher Wolff and Anastasia Morrow
Christopher and Anastasia were among some 200 children who auditioned for parts in The Little Prince and Tosca operas. As part of The Little Prince's cast, they performed in ten shows and three student matinees. They learned approximately 15 songs and rehearsed anywhere from five to 20 hours a week prior to the opening night.
AWTYBOTS WINNING COMPETITIONS
AwtyBots (Awty's Robotics Club) had two separate teams competing at the Texas Vex Competition in Corpus Christi on December 5. The teams included students Alex Lloyd, Lucas Jonasch, Alex Brown, Julien Ruzzo, Julien Pham, Chelsea Liang, Maxim Gurevich, Mohammad Jafri, and Adam Ali. At the end of qualifications, the two Awty teams were ranked 1st and 2nd place! They partnered with each other (VEX is two robots vs. two robots) for the elimination rounds and won the entire competition. Together the teams put up the largest scores of the tournament in the finals.
Photos courtesy of Paul Chaguine.
On December 12, AwtyBots team members Alex Lloyd, Lucas Jonasch, Alex Brown, Julien Ruzzo, Julien Pham, Chelsea Liang, Maxim Gurevich, Mohammad Jafri, Adam Ali, and Paul Sload competed in the final Vex competition of the year in Richmond, Texas. There, the Awty teams ranked 5th and 10th out of 43 teams at the end of qualifying rounds and Awty X team picked Awty team A for the elimination round alliance. The team made it to the semifinals, where they posted their highest score (201) ever as a duo! They lost to the current best team in the WORLD in the semifinals, so overall it was a very successful event for our robotics team!
AwtyBots is sponsored by faculty members Anton Truong and Marijan Jurcic and mentored by Paul Chaguine, Harry Craig, Xavier Eldridge, and Lamar Waguespack.
Congratulations to all!
SENIOR KRISTINE DE LUNA NAMED QUESTBRIDGE SCHOLAR
Congratulations to Awty senior Kristine de Luna, who has been matched in QuestBridge’s 2015 National College Match, a program that pairs talented high school seniors with full scholarships to some of the nation’s top colleges. Kristina will attend Colby College in Maine as a QuestBridge Scholar.
LUCIA WU GOLD MEDAL WINNER AT RODEO ART COMPETITION
Congratulations to Lucia Wu, who was a gold medal winner at this year's Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo's Art Competition on January 7. Her piece will be on display at the Hayloft Gallery during the Livestock Show and Rodeo in March.
Lucia Wu's Gold Medal Winning Artwork
The following students also deserve a standing ovation for their hard work and accomplishments.
- Anahita Bordoloi, 11th grade - 1st place and in the running for Best of Show
- Zoe Willoughby - 10th grade - 1st place
- Aliya Khan - 11th grade - 1st place
- Pranay Palvadi - 9th grade - 1st place
- Stephanie Halow - 11th grade - 2nd place
- Alice Spandini - 10th grade - 2nd place
- Jessica Song - 11th grade - 2nd place
- Lauren Clark - 10th grade - 2nd place
- Nisriena Hanifa - 10th grade - 2nd place
- Jason Yao - 10th grade - 2nd place
- Bianca Rusu - 11th grade - 2nd place
- Gulara Alaskarova - 9th grade - 3rd place
Then on February 2, a few Awty art students participated in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Art Competition for three-dimensional art work. Among 400+ pieces of artwork from both private and public schools, three Awty students entered one piece each into the competition. They each placed in the competition including Sydney Arceneaux (12th grade) - 3rd place, Becca Sax (11th grade) - 2nd place, and Kaia Daniel (11th grade) - 2nd place.
Congratulations to all of these students!
AWTY TEACHERS COLLABORATE ON CHILDRENS BOOK
Congratulations to Awty's own 1st grade teacher Deborah Drummer on publishing her first childrens book, I’ve Never Been to Africa, But…
I’ve Never Been to Africa, But… takes you on an imaginative journey of the wild and free. It is a delightful, free-verse book for children of all ages about African wildlife and their typical behaviors. The inspiration behind Mrs. Drummer's book was a collection of paintings created by her aunt, Irene D'cruz. One of the paintings serves as the artwork on the book's front cover.
The animals inside this charming book come to life through the 
beautiful illustrations, which were created by Awty's Lower School art teacher Beverly Lawson.
Congratulations to both teachers on a great collaboration!
I've Never Been to Africa, But… is available for purchase on Amazon.com. It will also be available at Awty's upcoming Book Fair on March 2-4, 2016, where Mrs. Drummer will be signing copies of her book.
