OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL
Thursday, October 3, 2019 • 29
SCHOOLS
Task Masters
This year, about 16,000 students nationally have been recognized as National Merit Scholar Semifinalists. That accounts for about 1% of the 1.5 million students who took the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corp. More than 75 of those students attend schools in the Over the Mountain area. The National Merit Finalists will be announced in spring and are eligible for more than $31 million in scholarship offers.
Photos courtesy schools
OTM Schools Recognize 2019 National Merit Scholar Semifinalists
MOUNTAIN BROOK HIGH SCHOOL Lillian Balogh, Alex Bebenek, Walter Berry, Connor Bowen, Ella Grace Bowers, John Butrus, Virginia Cobbs, Samuel Cox, Lewis Fischer, Arthur Foster, Virginia Gardner, Benjamin Harris, Chloe Kinderman, Stephen Malone, Lily Plowden, Tate Record, Pavel Shirley, Mabry Smyer, Amy Taliaferro, Jane Turner and Mark Waller.
highlighted were several annual fundraising events and an overall 450% increase in funding for the foundation; SeedLab, an innovation program that grants funds for teachers to take on challenges in their classrooms and schools; an emphasis on drug awareness by students and parents; partnerships that increased awareness of the foundation; and candidate election forums to educate residents about education issues. The foundation will be conducting a search to find a new executive director. “It is our priority to find the best individual to lead, while still supporting our teachers and our schools,” said McClinton.
VHEW’s Confessore Earns Kodály Education Certification
HOMEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL From left: Graham Harrison, Catherine Grill, John Robert Wallace and Cooper McRae.
VESTAVIA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL Mallory Barry, Laura Reed Cunningham, Kyuna Kim, Robert Laughlin, Jack Lin, Eileen Liu, Isabella Lloyd, Shane Mackey, Caroline Magee, Jacob Moore, Andrew Precise, Ben Reynolds, Robby Turner, David Wang and Amanda Wilson.
BRIARWOOD CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: Matthew Earnest and Tyler Jahraus.
HOOVER HIGH SCHOOL Front, from left: Thanushri Srikantha, Emma Farnlacher, Josephine Kim and Hannah Osborn. Back: Benjamin Phillips, Harsh Srinvasan, Abhinav Gullapalli and Hudson Keller.
THE ALTAMONT SCHOOL From left: Shawn Goyal, Sameer Sultan, Ahad Bashir and Wilson Tynes.
SPAIN PARK HIGH SCHOOL: Front, from left: Natalie Plourde, Janna Ren and Madeleine Taylor. Back: Amaar Ebrahim, Waters Hudson, Alex Laney and Marcus Mudano.
INDIAN SPRINGS SCHOOL From left: Emma Wang, Rebecca House, Ryan Standaert and MaryElla Woolf Not pictured
ALABAMA SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS From left: Eesha Banerjee, Richard RoucoCrenshaw and Emily Willford.
JOHN CARROLL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL: Haoze Tang. OAK MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL: Matthew Bray, Elizabeth Camp, Neil Furman, Patrick Guffey, Gideon Lombardo, Gregory McCallum, Dylan Moore, Joshua Scherer and Rilyn Todd.
Hoover Schools Foundation Executive Director Resigns, Search Begins for Replacement
Janet Turner is resigning from her position as executive director of the Hoover City Schools Foundation effective Oct. 31. Turner in a statement said she had resigned after four years in the job to pursue new challenges. “While turning the page to a new chapter creates a mix of emotions for me, I’m excited about my next chapter as an entrepreneur and college planner. In this new role,” Turner said in the statement. “I will be able to continue in the work that has become so important to me: helping students learn and grow and reach new heights.” Steve McClinton, president of the foundation’s board of directors, said in the statement that Turner has had many “significant accomplishments” during her time with the foundation. “Since 2015, Janet has played a critical role in the development and success of the foundation, and while we will miss her and her leadership, we wish her the best of luck in her new endeavor as an entrepreneur and college planning counselor,” McClinton said in the statement. Among her accomplishments
Trudye Confessore, music teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary West, recently completed training in a nationally renowned music education program. This summer, Confessore completed Level III training at the University of Montevallo’s Kodály Institute to become a certified Kodály educator. There are fewer than a dozen certified Kodály educators in Alabama, according to Dr. Becky Halliday, director of the University of Montevallo’s Kodály Institute. The Kodály Concept is based on the teaching practices of Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály, a prominent musician in the early 20th century who believed that music could be used to develop a person’s intellectual and emotional personality. “This approach begins with the singing voice, utilizing culturally relevant musical material to teach concepts such as rhythm, melody, form and expression,” Halliday said. The process to gain Kodály certification takes three years. Training in the Kodály concept includes study in choir and conducting, research of folk music and curriculum development strategies.
OLS’ Dent Attends National Forum
Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School seventh-grader Gabriel Dent joined other outstanding middle school students from across the country in the National Youth Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C. According to a release, the week-long academic development program provided Dent Gabriel Dent the opportunity to participate in leadership focus groups and role-play different political scenarios. Students also broke into small groups to develop a “Voices of Change” project. The project involved developing action plans that would effect change within the students’ communities.