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Thursday, July 14, 2016 • 25

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

MBHS Cheerleaders Win Top Honors at National Competition

The Mountain Brook High School cheerleaders were awarded high honors at the Universal Cheerleaders Association Cheer Camp, held at the Beach Club Resort in Gulf Shores June 1-4. The team placed first in both the cheer competition and the overall game day competition and placed second in the extreme routine competition. The team also received the Traditions Award, which is given to the team that shows outstanding leadership and spirit. In addition, eight senior cheerleaders were selected as All-American Cheerleaders. The seniors awarded All-American were Gunter Crommelin, Frances Gaut, Glenn Haas, Celie Harris, Kathryne Letzer, Virginia Limbaugh, El McMillan and Sally Neal. Members of the 2016-2017

Rehab Reality by Jeff Butler

Everybody Has Jokes Dean; Caroline Dickens; Elizabeth Leitner; Caroline Pugh; Maggie Mills Rose; Lucy Smith; and Mary Alison Turner. Members of the sophomore team are Anna Rose Alexander; Julia Baddley; Mallie Bradford; Emilie

MBHS senior/junior cheerleading team are: Crommelin, captain; Tricia Davis; Gaut; Haas; Harris; Letzer; Limbaugh; McMillan, captain; Maggie McPherson, captain; Neal; Lealis Schilleci; Allie Sirkin, captain; Kathleen Beall; Elly Curtis; Alex Ann

Over the Mountain students who have received scholarships include: Daniel Stanton of Oak Mountain High School, Dorothy Plante of Spain Park High School and Andrew Wallace of Briarwood Chirstian School. Stanton plans to major in general engineering at the University of Michigan, Plante will study civil engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Wallace will study general engineering at UAB.

OLS Students Learn from Experiments, Presentations in Math and Science Day

LPMS Presents Donation to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Liberty Park Middle School students recently presented $5,216 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The money was raised throughout the school year through several initiatives including a Pennies for

Liberty Park Middle School students recently presented $5,216 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Geologist Megan DiGiorgio served as one of the volunteers participating in Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School’s Math and Science Enrichment Day.

SouthWest Water Company Presents Scholarships to Recent Area Grads

Patients coin drive, sponsored by the school’s Friends of Rachel club. The drive acted as a fundraising competition, pitting each grade against each other to see who could raise the most. Students deposited pennies into their own grade’s accounts, each cent earning the grade one point. As a twist, the children could donate money to the other grades and the amount would be subtracted from the competition’s accounts. In addition, the Friends of Rachel sold T-shirts to raise money for LLS. To boost fundraising, school guidance counselor Tre’ Munger volunteered to shave his head when the $5,000 goal was met. On the day that the school met the goal, an assembly was held for students, faculty and staff to watch Munger have his head shaved by a student.

Photos special to the Journal

Students at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School spent the conclusion of the school year participating in the annual math and science enrichment day. The event included presentations by experts and volunteers from the community who shared their knowledge in creative ways with the children. Speakers included local professionals such as Dr. Doug Moellering, UAB assistant professor in nutrition sciences; Jason Williams, chemist; Andrew Schaefers, scientist; and Megan DiGiorgio, geologist. Following a special concert performance by the OLS school choir, students spent the day attending breakout sessions and presentations. Children joined in on educational and interactive lessons and experiments to engage them in aspects of math and science. Lessons included games, crafts and experiments that touched on topics such as geology, physics, biology, chemistry, engineering and math.

Brown; Elise Druhot; Brice England; Catherine Haas; Lucie Kline; Vale Lightfoot; Lillian Perkins; Hadley Rosenthal; Molly Simpson; Isabelle Quiggle; and Britt Ware. The team is coached by Shane Martin and Kristina Noto. ❖

SouthWest Water Company, a Shelby County company that owns and operates the area’s water treatment and reclamation facilities, recently presented cash scholarships of $1,000 to graduating high school students throughout Shelby County who plan to make engineering their main course of study in college. Scholarship recipients are high school seniors who have been accepted to attend an accredited four-year college or university with the intent to major in environmental science, environmental engineering or general engineering. According to company officials, the recipients have demonstrated academic achievements during their high school careers and exemplary records of community service and extracurricular activities. “As a company that is charged with protecting the world’s most valuable resource, we feel responsible for encouraging the next generation of leaders in our field,” said SouthWest Water Company managing director Craig Sorensen. “We are very pleased to announce this year’s outstanding recipients.”

Harry Chandler, of SouthWest Water Company, presents a SWWC scholarship to Daniel Stanton, Oak Mountain High School.

Craig Sorensen, managing director of SouthWest Water Company, presents a SWWC scholarship to Andrew Wallace, Briarwood Christian School.

Sobriety. The word just sounds ominous, doesn’t it? It represents the end of all things fun. You might as well become a nun or a monk. Right?

Wrong. In fact, I believe the exact opposite. Being sober doesn’t mean you have to stop being happy or having fun. Here’s a little secret: life is actually more fun without drugs or alcohol. Drugs and alcohol numb us. Emotions are blocked. Reality gets skewed. Up becomes down. Left becomes right. You become a slave to whatever substance started as an escape for you. Think of college football with out beer or bourbon. Think of boating without a cooler and margaritas. When you are more concerned with making sure you have the substances to have fun doing something than actually just enjoying doing something... that’s the problem. You know what else? I remember everything I do now. There are no blank spots in my memory. I have said a number of times that if I weren’t having fun sober, I wouldn’t be sober. Trust me. I live and love and laugh way more now than I ever did when I was drinking and drugging. In fact, I’m typing this as I sit in a condo in the French Quarter of New Orleans. I’m literally surrounded by bacchanalian excess for blocks in every direction yet I’m sober and happy. God has jokes, but I’m no longer the butt of them. Call us when you want to stop being the punchline.You don’t have to stop laughing. You do get to stop being laughed at, however.

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