After a trip to Chicago, Illinois, MHS FCCLA are the proud winners of 2 GOLD medals and 1 SILVER medal.

Midlothian High School was again represented well by eight students at the National Leadership Conference in Chicago, Illinois from July 3-8, 2010. Teams qualified for national competition by placing first in their event at the state competition in April.  Members not only competed at the national meeting, but attended national youth workshops and idea events to bring back service and leadership opportunities to their communities as well. Team events were as follows:

"Flying High with Midlothian FCCLA" - GOLD MEDAL
Chapter Showcase, SR Division
Shayna Cherry
Melanie Knott

"Read ‘til You're Raggedy" - GOLD MEDAL
Chapter Service Project, OS Division
Tara Capello
Ashton Wilson

"Tickety, Tickety Tock...a Tee for Round the Clock" - SILVER MEDAL
Recycle and Redesign, SR Division
Kaitlin DeFreitas

Amber Hale, Sherry Almand, Nicole Walker and Lauren Fraga,
FCCLA Advisors wish to thank everyone for their support and encouragement of the organization and our students this past year...we look forward to this upcoming year of service as well.

The Pantheretttes have spent the first two weeks of summer at camp and came home with many awards. We are really excited about next year!! Thank you for all of your support - Have a great summer and we will see you soon!!

Officer/Council Camp - San Marcos - June 6-9
Officer Awards
Sweepstakes
Special Recognition Ribbon for Choreography Project
Most Outstanding Plaque Award for Home Routine and Final Day Performance
Grand Champions
Allisa Sears - Runner up to Miss Turns
Bri Reese - Miss Leap Finalist
Superlatives - Allisa Sears, Brittany Titus and Bri Reese

Council Awards
Most Admired Council Group - voted by the other teams at the camp
Highest Scoring Skit
Most Outstanding Plaque for Final Day Presentation
Grand Champions
Superlatives - Kaitlyn Moehlman, Rachel Nelson, Hannah Knight and Brittany Jackson

Team Camp - Blinn College in Brenham - June 14-17
Most Outstanding of the Day for Day 2 Sweepstakes
Most Outstanding Plaque for Home Routine and Camp Dance
Grand Champions
Allisa Sears - Miss Turns and Runner up to Miss ShowMaker (Highest
Individual Award given at camp)
Bri Reese - Miss Leap Finalist
Superlatives - Allisa Sears, Brittany Titus, Bri Reese, Haleigh Stewart and Chelsie Watts

Congratulations to the following Student-Athletes who signed their National Letter of Intent to play Collegiate Athletics!

Group Picture - Front Row: Preston Williamson (soccer), Chase Robertson (soccer), Kort Munoz (soccer), Amber Beacham (golf); Back Row: Kevin Ermatinger (soccer), Eric Haston (soccer), Jake Walker (soccer), Jordan England (soccer)

Be sure to check out all their interviews on Panther TV!

Congratulations to Austyn Rapp and Josh Sonnen for qualifying for the State Track Meet on May 14th!

Austyn won the Region II Girls Pole Vault Championship on May 4th in Denton to qualify for the state meet. Josh Sonnen finished as the Regional Runner-Up in Boys Vault to earn a trip to Austin.

They will both compete in Austin on Friday, May 14th. Austyn will jump at 3 pm & Josh will jump at 6 pm.

Midlothian FCCLA was represented well by 22 members April 8-10, 2010, at the State FCCLA Leadership Meeting in Dallas, Texas. The chapter brought home three state championships, two 2nd places, two 3rd places and one 6th place. State champions will be representing our state at the National FCCLA Leadership Meeting this July in Chicago, Illinois. Please join us in congratulating these students on an outstanding job!

Both Midlothian JV Golf Teams finished 3rd in the District 16-4A JV Tournament held this past Monday at Waxahachie Country Club.

The teams consisted of:

Girls (left to right)
Allison Cardwell
Sharon Reasonover
Tara Traylor
Lindsay Tropp
Brittany Stapleton

Boys (left to right)
Andrew Wallace
Anderson Messer
Dustin Mayer
Doss Allen
Nick Cornelius
Matthew Driggers
Hunter Harding (not pictured)

Pantherettes win national championship in modern and novelty
The Pantherettes attended American Dance Nationals last weekend and brought home two National titles.

Officers
Gussie Nell Davis Award for Receiving 90 and above from all judges on all routines
2nd Runner up - Lyrical
1st Runner up - Modern
2nd Runner up overall for Medium Team

Team
Gussie Nell Davis Award for Receiving 90 and above from all judges on all routines
2nd Runner up - Jazz
1st Runner up - Lyrical
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS - Modern and Novelty
4th Runner up - Academic Champions with a 3.61 Team GPA
1st Runner up overall for Medium Team

National Champion Trio - Lauren Archibald, Amanda Feilke and Allisa Sears

The Panther Pride newspaper received a prestigious national Silver Crown at the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's national convention in New York City.

The Panther Pride was one of only 55 high school newspapers nationally to receive a Crown award and one of only 10 Texas newspapers. Publications were judged on writing, editing, design, content, concept, photography, art and graphics. The award was for newspapers published during the 2008-2009 school year. It was the second Silver Crown the Panther Pride has received.

Senior Carson Bailey, who is the current editor-in-chief, was also the editor-in-chief last year. Carson along with photo editor Shannon Auvil and Entertainment Co-editors Savanna McLemore and Hannah Plante along with newspaper adviser Carol Richtsmeier attended the convention over spring break to receive the award. Richtsmeier was also a speaker at the national convention.

The Pantherette competed at Liberty HS in Frisco last weekend at the MA Dance North Texas Regional Competition and walked away with many awards.

Officers
Super Sweepstakes
Chorography for Jazz, Lyrical, Modern and Open
Top Technique
Best in Class - First Place for Medium Team
Winners Circle - 2nd out of 29 teams

Team
Super Sweepstakes
Choreography Award for Jazz, Lyrical, Modern and Novelty
Top Technique
First Place for Modern and Novelty
Winners Circle - 4th out of 29 teams

Individual
1st place Trio - Lauren Archibald, Amanda Feilke and Allisa Sears
Amanda Feilke won 3rd place for her solo out of 61 dancers

ALL 8 FCCLA TEAMS ADVANCE TO STATE!! Midlothian FCCLA was represented well by 24 members at the Region III FCCLA Leadership Meeting. The chapter brought home four 1st places, two 2nd places, one 3rd place and one 5th place and now has a Region III FCCLA Officer.

Ashley Arrant
Sarah Blank
Tara Capello
Allison Cardwell
Lindsay Carney
Shaynna Cherry
Kate DeFreitus
Jamie Dill
Macy Freels
Taylor Hampton
Shelbi Hebert
Rosalyn Kamp
Melanie Knott
Tatiana Martinez
Samantha McBride
Demarie Mendez
Kyle Mentzell
Katie Mountcastle
Chris Ramirez
Ben Ramm
Marybeth Simmons
Lindsay Tropp
Tyler Walters
Ashton Wilson

The Pantherettes swept the competition this weekend at the ShowMakers Texas State Competition. Please congratulate them on a job well done!!

Officers - TEXAS STATE CHAMPIONS for Medium Team Officers 2010
Judges Award and Sweepstakes for receiving a 90 or above from every judge on all routines
Showmanship, Choreography and Technique Award for Jazz, Modern, Contemporary and Lyrical
Precision Award for Modern, Contemporary and Lyrical
Entertainment Award for Lyrical
First Place in Jazz, Modern, Contemporary and Lyrical
Line of Champions

Team - First Runner up to Texas State Champions for Medium Team 2010
Judges Award and Sweepstakes for receiving a 90 or above from every judge on all routines
Showmanship and Choreography for Jazz, Modern, Novelty and Lyrical
Precision Award for Jazz, Modern and Novelty
Technique Award for Modern
Creative Costuming for Novelty
Jazz - 3rd Place
Novelty - First runner-up
First Place in Modern and Lyrical
Line of Champions

Individual Awards
Solo Finalist - Amanda Feilke
Trio - First Runner up - Kaitlyn Moehlman, Rachel Nelson and Brittany Titus
Trio Winner - Lauren Archibald, Amanda Feilke and Allisa Sears

Congratulations to the Panther Varsity Basketball Team!

CO-DISTRICT CHAMPS!!! The Boys' Varsity Basketball team clinched a share of the district title Tuesday night by defeating the Waco High Lions 57-44. The Panthers would like to thank the student body, teachers, administrators and community members who came out to Waco to support the team.

Bi-District Playoffs: The Panthers will take on the Mesquite Poteet Pirates in the first round of the Playoffs on Tuesday, February 23rd at Duncanville High School. Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm, and gates will be open to the public at 6:30 pm. Admission will be $5 for adults and $3 for students.

Playoff T-shirts are available!
If you are interested in purchasing a Playoff T-Shirt, they will be available beginning Friday, February 19th for $10. (Artwork: Front - Back) Shirts will be available in limited quantities, however, we can take orders until 2:00 pm on Friday afternoon, for shirts that will be delivered on Tuesday. Please visit the Athletics Department to place your order.

(Photo Courtesy of Dan Bryant Photos)

The Freshman Girls Golf team won the Rowlette Invitational held Wednesday at Town East Golf Course.

The team (left to right):
Coach Bennett
Tara Traylor
Brittany Stapleton
Lindsay Tropp
Allison Cardwell
Rebecca Malone
Sharon Reasonover
Coach Smith

MHS Athletes of the Month

Kylee Pendery is a senior student-athlete at Midlothian High School. She excels both in the classroom and on the soccer field. Kylee has been contributing to the success of the Lady Panther soccer team since her freshman season. She has been a member of three district championship teams, and this spring, looks to add number four. Head Coach, Austin Guest, says, “Kylee’s high energy play and enthusiastic leadership provide a spark to the right side of the Lady Panther midfield.” Kylee is also very creative, and has designed numerous t-shirts for tournaments hosted by MHS Soccer and next fall, she will take her artistic talents to the University of Texas in Austin. 

Senior Eric Haston will be competing in his third year as a varsity Panther for the Soccer Team. He is a constant scoring threat with his pace and determination to go to the goal. Eric earned first team all-district honors last season for the Panthers, and is currently being recruited by several schools to continue playing at the next level. Coach Austin Guest, describes Eric as, “Player with a ton of ability, who is really just starting to scratch the surface.” Eric has contributed to two district championships in his time at MHS and scored the lone goal in overtime last year to push the Panthers past Aledo in the regional quarterfinal game.

CONGRATULATIONS to the MHS debate team. The policy debate team of Ryan Clark and Akshar Ved advanced to the semi-finals and finished 4th overall in the district tournament. Our district is extremely tough in debate; the winners of our district have placed in the top 10 in the state the last 5 years.

Picture 2 - Alexis Pendergrass was tied for the top speaker of the entire tournament and after a tie breaker received 2nd which is an amazing accomplishment.

For the first time ever, the MHS Engineering Robotics Teams competed at UTA's RoPro robotics competition.  Each team had to design, build and program their robot to make its own decision in order to navigate its way through an intricate maze.  The team of Garrett Carroll, Kevin Hess, and Sarah Heitzman made it to the finals.  The team of Nolan Henley, Amanda Kline, Austin Blackburn, and Erica Gafken placed 3rd out of 18 teams.

Congratulations to our athletes that signed today (Feb. 3) on National Signing Day!!

Soccer
Alex Furr - Arkansas State
Lindsey Sisco - Middle Tennessee
Tess Viosard - University of Louisiana Lafayette
Tori Adame - Houston Baptist
Callie Bishop - University of Central Arkansas

Football
Eddie Johnson - Baylor University

MHS recognizes school board member, Cindy Williams.

Cindy Williams, MISD School Board member, is a Native Dallasite and graduated from David W. Carter High School. Mrs. Williams has an undergraduate degree from University of North Texas and a graduate degree from Dallas Baptist University. Her family has lived in Midlothian for almost 12 years. Mrs. Williams has three children, two of which graduated from Midlothian High School: Bethany (class of 2000) and Drew (class of 2006). She also has two grandchildren in Midlothian: Ty (class of 2021) and Ava (class of 2025). Mrs. Williams said that her faith has always been a big part of her life, so growing up she wanted to do some type of ministry. Early on, she dreamed of being a missionary. When asked what she likes about Midlothian, Mrs. Williams says that the open spaces and smaller schools brought them to Midlothian. Her community - friends, church, and schools - keeps them here. She likes living where you know many of the people you see around town. On reasons for becoming a school board member, Mrs. Williams says that her Christian faith and her up-bringing empasizes giving back and serving others. With a Masters degree in Organizational Management, and a love of learning, serving on a school board sounded like something that she should do. We appreciate Mrs. Williams for her efforts in helping to make Midlothian ISD a great place to learn!

MHS Senior Wins Top Speaker Award

Tori Torbert is a dedicated MHS senior competing in debate for the second year. She is the debate club president and also competes in Lincoln-Douglas debate as well as persuasive speaking. Lincoln-Douglas debate is form of debate in which one person debates one other person about various values and current issues; last year's topic centered around the economic bailouts of banks and other companies. This year's topic is focused on humans vs. environment.

Tori was awarded the very prestigious top speaker award among all of the 42 Lincoln-Douglas debaters competing. She also competed in a local Lions Club speaking contest in which she won and will be traveling to the regional level to represent Midlothian and the Midlothian Lion's Club. Her speech centered around drug use and whether it would be beneficial to legalized drugs. She had to choose a side and defend it.

Midlothian High School Athletes of the Month:

Hannah Miller is a junior guard for the Lady Panther Basketball team. She has become an integral part of the success for the Lady Panthers this season. Hannah has shown great passion and love forthe sport as she has fought hard to recover from two ACL tears while still continuing to be a leader on the team while rehabing. She has put countless hours working on strengthening her muscles so that she would be ready to comeback and contribute this season. Varsity Assistant Coach Amanda Baird says,“Hannah has a great knowledge of the game and is a constant motivator to her teammates. Her focus on defensive intensity has really raised the bar.” She has a work ethic and desire for success that is admired by both her teammates and coaches. Hannah truly knows what it means to play with heart!

Junior Dillon Wilson is the Panthers 152lb Wrestler and leads the Panthers in team points scored so far this season with 135. He has had a great wrestling season to this point; his current record sits at 24-1 with 18 pins. He has not lost a match to a District opponent and has a chance to do very well at the District and Regional meets. Dillon’s success has come because of his great desire to learn and a tremendous work ethic. Head Coach, Cody Fagan, expresses, “Dillon not only goes out and gives it all he has on the mat during his match but is his teams number one supporter when his teammates are on the mat.” Dillon is one of many multiple sport athletes at Midlothian High School, and just earned Honorable Mention accolades for the Panther Football team as their kicker. With his hard work and determination, Dillon will continue to see success as a Panther!

Congratulations to the MHS debate team. Last weekend, Dec. 12th, they competed successfully at the Creekview High School T.F.A. (Texas Forensics League) speech/debate tournament. The policy debate team of Eli Roden and Dakota Parish finished 5th and the team of Alexis and Alexandra Pendergrass finished 6th out of 22 teams. The T.F.A. debate circuit is extremely tough competition which includes many private schools such as Greenhill, St. Marks, Coppell, Highland Park and Plano schools. Next semester the team will focus on U.I.L. tournaments.

The photo left to right is: Dakota Parish; Eli Roden; Alexadra and Alexis

Results of the State FFA Leadership Development Events held in Huntsville, TX.

Midlothian FFA was 2nd in Radio, 2nd in Senior Skills, 4th in Senior Chapter Conducting, 9th in Junior Chapter Conducting, 9th in Junior Skills, and Qualifier in Junior Creed. The Midlothian FFA Chapter won 2nd in State Sweepstakes.

The Art Club and Club Japan went on a joint field trip on December 2 to downtown Dallas. They visited the Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art. They learned about the art and lifestyles of the Japanese and Chinese cultures. Before returning to school, they stopped at Toshio's Japanese Restaurant for lunch. Featured in the pictue are members from the Art Club who attended the trip.

The following students were selected to be Athlete of the Month in the December Issue of the "Together We Can!" Newsletter. Please help us congratualte these student-athletes:

Lexi Hendrix is a Freshman tennis playerfor the Panthers. In team tennis this fall, she went 13-1 in mixed doubles, playing against both boys and girls from other schools. She was selected first team all-district in mixed doubles with a record of 7-0. She finished the fall season with a 12-6 record playing at number 3. Coach Marcus Canonico describes Lexi as, “A very hard worker; she was able to step in as a freshman and helpthe Varsity Tennis team finish 3rd in district and a final state ranking of 24.”

Senior Cameron Lowman is a two year-letterman on the Varsity Cross Country and Varsity Basketball teams. As the captain of the cross country team, he led the boys to a district runner-up team finish and placed third individually. Head Cross Country Coach Cindy Williams says, “Cameron Lowman is one of those athletes you love to coach. His work ethic, commitment, and character are outstanding.” He has now made the transition to the hardwood, and is a starter for the Panther Basketball team. Coach Glenn Hartson and staff believe Cameron is a tremendous asset to the basketball team both on and off the court. “He is an outstanding student in the classroom and a leader for the basketball team. Cameron comes to practice everyday with a great attitude and work ethic. He is a teammate who is always encouraging and never complains. “ Cameron was recently selected to the All-Tournament team for his performance in the Highland Park Tournament.

Freshman, Nick Cornelius, had a hole in one at golf practice! He hit a pitching wedge on the 122 yard Par 3 Hole #4 at TangleRidge Golf Course. It was his 2nd one recorded.

The Varsity Girls Golf Team finished 1st Place & the Varsity Boys Golf Team finished 2nd Place this past weekend at the Burleson Invitational held at Hidden Creek Golf Course.

The Varsity Girls then finished second Monday at the Fossil Ridge Invitational held at Robson Ranch Golf Course in Denton.

The Varsity Boys & Girls Golf Team in the picture are:
Bottom Row left to right: Chandler Fox, Kristina Thrasher, Quinn Allen
Middle Row left to right: Taylor Chalmers, Courtney Hathorne, Amber Beacham, Brooke Emery, Shelby Rawlings, Emma Sears
Back Row: Coach Bennett, Nolan Henley, Chad Williams, Cody Taylor, Austin Odgers, Ty Brecher, Dustin Mayer, Coach Smith

This month, six MHS students will have the honor of marching and performing in the NYC Macy's Thanksgiving Parade over the holidays with the Mike Miller and Associates Dance and Cheer Performance Teams. The Pantherette representatives are Lauren Archibald, Amanda Feilke, Savannah Light and Brittany Titus. The cheer representatives are Courtney Calvery and Taylor Hampton. They will take the Big Apple City Tour, visit the Empire State Building, take a dance class from a famous NY choreographer, attend the Broadway show, "Westside Story" and see the Rocketts in the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. The dance team will open the parade and the cheerleaders will be towards the middle of the parade, so make sure you get up early to catch them on TV.

Pictured as follows: Back row Pantherettes - Brittany Titus, Lauren Archibald, Amanda Feilke and Savannah Light
Front row Cheerleaders - Taylor Hampton and Courtney Calvery

Senior, Tori Torbert advanced to the quarter-finals and then semi-finals of Lincoln-Douglas debate (value debate) to place 3rd out of 33 debaters. She argued a topic about state testing and whether it should be required for high school graduation.

The policy team of Ryan Clark and Elijah Roden, both juniors advanced to the quarter-finals with an impressive 4-0 record. The team ended up 5th out of 33 teams.

A second policy team of Akshar Ved and Dakota Parish, both sophomores also advanced to quarter-finals with a 3-1 record and ended up 6th place out of 33 teams. Each of these teams discussed policy issues to help provided social services for those people living in poverty.

"Many members of the competitive team went to debate camp this summer which gave us a 'jump start' to the year," coach Kristi Bogy stated. "All the team members work very hard every day and I was VERY impressed with these results, especially for our first tournament of this year, said Bogy.

Pictured left to right: Tori Torbert, Akshar Ved, Ryan Clark, Dakota Parish, Eijah Roden and coach/sponsor Krist Bogy

MHS students and staff participate in the School Walk for Diabetes recently.

Picture 1 - Student volunteers with Stars balloon

Picture 2 - Sophomore Danielle Jackson at face painting booth

Picture 3 - Donna Smith face painting

The Midlothian Varsity Girls Golf Team were invited to play in the NEISD Texas Shoot-Out in San Antonio on Saturday, October 10th held at Brackenridge Golf Course. The team (pictured) that finished 11th included: (left to right in picture):

Coach Bennett
Emma Sears
Taylor Chalmers
Amber Beacham
Brooke Emery
Courtney Hathorne
Shelby Rawlings
Coach Smith

Pictured from left to right:
Anthony Wells-3rd Individual 9th
Dalton Baker
Anderson Messer
Hunter Childs
Hunter Harding
Dustin Mayer-3rd Individual JV
Matthew Driggers-4th Individual 9th
Andrew Wallace
Doss Allen-1st Individual 9th
Nick Cornelius-2nd Individual 9th

The Midlothian Varsity Boys golf team got the 2009 Fall Season under way Friday & Saturday at the Bart Granger Golf Tournament held at Pecan Valley Golf Course in Fort Worth. The tournament is the largest in the United States. The format is 36 holes on Friday and 18 holes on Saturday and has 52 teams competing. The team finished in the middle of the pack but it was an honor to play in it. To show the level of the field there was 17 players under par first round and 10 under won the tournament individually.

The team in the picture from left to right was Ty Brecher, Austin Odgers, Chad Williams, Cody Taylor, Nolan Henley

Panther Pride newspaper adviser Carol Richtsmeier was named a 2009 national Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Distinguished Adviser. She was one of only four teachers nationally to earn this prestigious honor. Richtsmeier will accept her award at the November National High School Journalism convention in Washington, D.C.

In addition to being honored at the national convention, Richtsmeier along with the other three distinguished advisers will receive free subscriptions to The Wall Street, the Journal Classroom Edition, unlimited access to the Classroom Edition Web site and a daily Journal. Poynter Institute will also give the top teachers and their students access to webinars through its NewsU training project.

In addition, the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund will also provide a $500 scholarship to a Midlothian High School senior this year. The winner will be determined through a writing contest.

Winners are selected by an advisory panel made up of a newspaper editor, the current national Dow Jones Teacher of the Year, leaders of scholastic journalism organizations, the chair of the scholastic journalism division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the senior projects director for the American Society of News Editors and Fund staff. The panel weighed each teacher's service in journalism organizations, personal and publication awards, quality of their students and of the school newspaper, newsmagazine or online publication, their philosophy and approach to student press rights and ethics.

The teacher with the highest score was selected Teacher of the Year, the four teachers with the next highest scores were named Distinguished Advisers.

Read full story here

The National Scholastic Press Association awarded the Panther Pride its highest rating–an All-American rating In addition, the newspaper received four out of five marks of distinction for…

•Coverage and Content
•Writing and Editing
•Photography, Art and Graphics
•Layout and Design

"We are extremely pleased with our critique," said publications adviser Carol RIchtsmeier. "The judges affirmed what our readers know. The Panther Pride newspaper staff produces an excellent publication."

Carson Bailey, who currently serves as editor-in-chief this year, was also editor-in-chief of the national award-winning Panther Pride last year.

The MHS Debate team spent a week of their summer vacation at Cameron University for debate camp. The team consisted of; Seniors; Skyler Chastain, Amanda Kline and Tori Torbert; Juniors; Latyra Lampley, Alexis Pendergrass; Alexandra Pendergrass and Eli Roden; Sophomores, AK Ved, and Dakota Parish and Freshmen Jessica Bogy and Taylor Oliver. They spent the week learning different debate techniques, terms and issues. One of the topics this year deals with poverty in America. At the end of the week, the teams competed in a tournament. The policy debate team of Alexis and Alexandra Pendergrass won two of their 3 rounds in intermediate debate and the novice team of Ak Ved and Dakota Parish finished their division undefeated. At the end of the tournament awards were given out for various attributes such as dedication; work ethic; and knowledge of debate; Ak Ved took home one of these awards. The MHS debate team would like to thank the following sponsors: Precision 3 and Approved Health Source with additional support from Dry Cleaners Super Center of Midlothian, Smart Operating Corporation "Smartstop, and U.S. Drug Mart. The teams are coached by Kristi Bogy.

Top picture - Left to right: Tori Torbert, Alexandra Pendergrass, Alexis Pendergrass, Latyra Lampley, Eli Roden, Jessica Bogy, Dakota Parish, Taylor Oliver, AK Ved. Not pictured: Seniors 09-Skyler Chastain and Amanda Kline.