Serving Argyle, Bartonville, Copper Canyon, Corral City, Double Oak, Flower Mound, Highland Village, Lantana and Robson Ranch
March 2016
Creating an Environment for Success By Lyn Rejahl Pry, Editor
Liberty Upper School Vice Principal Blair McCullough will help launch the new Warrior Learning Center.
Students with learning differences will soon have a new place to grow and thrive in southern Denton County. Liberty Christian School in Argyle will be accepting applications for a new “Warrior Learning Center” on Monday, March 21, for the 2016–2017 school year. The center will have space for 30 elementary-aged students with specific learning differences, as well as high functioning autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Rodney Haire, president of Liberty, said that he wants to meet the needs of families who desire an exemplary private
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By Noelle M. Hood, Contributing Writer
The foyer-hall leading into the Marcus High School gymsized band room is covered with impressive posters recruiting student musicians for famous music schools and summer camps nationwide. This is a tribute to the commitment of peppy Band Director Amanda Drinkwater. A three-year resident of Highland Village with husband Robert Myers, Madame-the-Director first discovered her musical legs at age 3, by picking out tunes by ear on the living room organ. “My grandmother noticed what I was doing, and insisted my mother find a piano teacher,” said Drinkwater. That was in the small town of Thibodaux, La., an elevated spot close to the Atchafalaya swamplands southwest of New Orleans. “I grew up in an incredibly empowering household and was privileged to be part of a large extended family,” she said. “My dear parents, as a matter of fact, were childhood next-door neighbors. Dad was a decorated army helicopter pilot in Viet Nam after having married his best girl-next-door and worked for the same offshore oil company as his father and brothers for the duration of his professional career. My mother is the very definition of a beautiful southern belle, a consummate homemaker,
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Photo by Helen’s Photography
Band Director Amanda Drinkwater followed her passion for music and racks up awards for Marcus High School.
caretaker and daily inspiration to all who know her. Mom and Dad married young, but were extraordinary parents who made it clear they wanted and expected the very best in life for me and my See DRINKWATER on Page A23
Seniors Program Keeps Life in Balance By Mark Miller, Contributing Writer
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Drinkwater Sets the Tone
See SCHOOL on Page A22
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Photo by Richard Wade
Local seniors cut a rug at last year’s 2nd Time Prom.
A decade ago, when Candy Wade was helping her father during and after his final stages of pancreatic cancer, she was unaware of people and places to assist her. Having just retired from more than 30-years as an elementary school teacher in both her native Michigan and the Lewisville ISD, she was looking for a new way to put her Master’s degree in Education to good use. So, she started Home Helpers, an in-home care company that now employs about 50 people, including many retired teachers. Her business caught the attention of Doni Green from the Area Agency on Aging, who told her about the growing concern with senior citizens falling. The former Flower Mound and current Highland Village resident quickly learned why the Center for Disease Control has declared this a national epidemic: - 33-percent of people age 65 and older-- and 50-percent age See BALANCE on Page A13