18 • May 2014
Vestavia Voice
School House Liberty Park Middle hosts Lancer Court of Honor
Eighth-grade winners were Kanely Lemke, Alayna Priebe, Harrison Wood and John Marshall Williams. Seventh-grade winners were Nikki Coalburn, Megan Lawley, Jonathan Hand and Cameron Monistere. Sixth-grade winners were Grace McCarty, Arden Young, Clayton Rassmusen and Leondre Shaw. Photo courtesy of Linda Rummell.
Liberty Park Middle School recently held the 2013-2014 third nine weeks Lancer Court of Honor. Two boys and two girls are selected each nine weeks from each grade level based on leadership, citizenship and conduct. Colter Bean, a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher, was the guest speaker. Bean attended Vestavia Hills High School and Auburn University. He played in the College World Series and was named All-SEC second team in 2000. Bean still holds the Auburn team record with 108 games pitched and 106 games relieved. Bean made his major league debut with the Yankees in 2005. In 2006, Bean started the season on the Columbus Clippers. He tied the Clippers’ team record for career games pitched, when he made his 212th career appearance for Columbus as the starter in a 2-1 win. He signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta
Braves organization in 2008. In his speech to the students, he explained what it takes to make it to the major league and how to be successful in life. He said his father told him that luck is hard work and preparation. He added that people can be physically gifted in a sport but if they don’t have drive they are not going to make it. Two to three months into his career, Bean wondered if he would last. He explained that being around hardworking major league players helped him. He said when he stopped having doubts about himself he was able to have the drive and the mental strength to succeed. At the end of his speech, he said that when you are experiencing hardships in life you are building character and if you don’t like how things are going then you have to step up and change your life. -Submitted by Linda Rummel
Pizitz wins Best School at High School German Day Pizitz Middle school’s Level 1 German students earned top honors in March at the 19th annual “High School German Day.” This is a competition for Levels 1-4 German students from schools across the state and Pizitz was the only middle school competing. Pizitz students swept several categories, winning first, second and third place in both the Group Skit and Group Poetry events. Thirty-one Pizitz seventh- and eighthgraders competed, and every student earned an award in at least one event. One student, seventh-grader Chris Novellino, was named Overall Outstanding Level One Student, and Pizitz was named Best School. German at Pizitz is a unique program
that allows students to begin their study of German in the seventh grade and achieve Level 1 proficiency at the end of eighth grade. This approach gives students a head start at meeting the requirements for VHHS’s Advanced Academic Diploma which requires two levels of consecutive language study. Historically, students who begin their study of German with Frau Rogers at Pizitz are successful in Level 2 classes at the high school, and many continue on to higher levels of German study. -Submitted by Cathy Horton and Kathy Rogers
Pizitz Middle School victorious at 2014 State Scholars’ Bowl Championship The Pizitz Middle School Scholars’ Bowl team competed at Hoover High School in the 2014 Middle School State Scholars’ Bowl Tournament in February. The team emerged victorious as the state champions. The Pizitz team was awarded a $750 cash prize as well as a trophy. The tournament is an academic quiz bowl for sixth-, seventh- and eighthgraders and is sponsored by the Alabama Scholastic Challenge. Team members were: Walter Zhang
(captain), Alex Lloyd, Lyra Bailey, Nicholas Castellanos, William Zhang and Lauren Nelson. In addition, Walter Zhang earned top honors by conquering 431 competitors to earn the distinction of All-State MVP with a points-per-game average of 83. Heather and Stratton Brock are the team faculty sponsors. -Submitted by Cathy Horton, Pizitz Middle School