Cy-Ranch Staff Pieces Together Puzzle Challenge for the Gold

Story by Patricia Hudson Photos by Greg Andrews

While Cypress Ranch High School is well known for its high achieving students, it was staff members that put the Mustangs in the news last month. Competing against 41 other 4-person teams, Kim Andrews, Maryanne Dersch, Beth Douglass and Ruth Mason Mulligan claimed the gold medal in the Felicia Smith Jigsaw Puzzle Competition held in Missouri City. With a time of 51 minutes, the team won bragging rights for their 1st place finish. Held annually, the competition benefits the Hope for Three, an autism advocacy group in the Greater Houston area which provides resources and support to families and children living with autism spectrum disorder. Kimberly Andrews explained how the team came together. “A co-worker asked if we would be interested in competing back

(left to right) Beth Douglass, Ruth Mulligan, Kim Andrews, Maryanne Dersch in 2019. All of us are competitive and love puzzles, however none of us had ever done a puzzle competition before.” This is the team’s fourth year in the contest. In 2019, their first year of competition, the team took 2nd Place out of 38 teams. In 2020, the group moved up to 1st Place of 53 teams. With Covid, the competition was held virtually via Zoom; the team placed 4th of 62 teams in 2021. This year’s 1st place finish was especially sweet.

From www.HopeForThree.org:

Hope For Three was inspired by the plight of an amazing mother and father in Fort Bend County who experienced the triple pleasure and heartbreak of having identical triplets, all diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD or autism). Helplessly watching this family navigate the frustrating waters of maxed-out social services, excessive bureaucracy, denials by insurance companies, and indifference by society, close friends pondered their options. As a result, Hope for Three was born in April 2011. Inspired by the Montgomery triplets, Hope for Three, a local nonprofit and autism organization, was established to raise community awareness and provide resources and support, in the form of financial aid, to families with children diagnosed with ASD.