ROISD students excel in competitions

RED OAK – The Red Oak ISD administration is proud of this year’s students who have repeatedly taken part in and exceled in a variety of competitions this year.

“Red Oak High School students exemplify the 4 Talons of the Hawk and recently, several students and groups have earned recognition for their hard work and grit,” said Beth Trimble, CPC, Red Oak ISD, Executive Director of Communications.

In the Fine Arts Department at Red Oak High School, art students placed at the Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) and 14 students won regional medals.

Five students were accepted into the Texas Visual Art’s Association (TVAA) student exhibition at UT-Dallas and two students advanced to state as the top 10% in the state.

Red Oak ISD elementary and middle school students competed in the UIL Competition held at Red Oak ISD in early February and a number of these students won first place in their area of competition. The ROHS UIL Academic team had several students place at the UIL meet at Glen Rose High School and the District Meet will take place March 29 and 30.

On Feb. 23, Red Oak High School teams competed in the Destination Imagination Competition in Justin. Improvers with Attitudez took first place in the Improv challenge: Heads Up! and LocoMotivators took first place in the Science challenge: Medical Mystery and these teams will be competing at the state competition on March 23 in Corpus Christi.

Additionally, ROHS senior Drew Davis earned two $1,000 scholarships from the Destination Imagination Greater Fort Worth (GFW) Region.

The Red Oak High School Cheer Squad returned from the USA Spirit Nationals on Feb. 22 with a first place in Crowd Leading Cheer. They also finished fourth place in Fight Song and fifth place in Band Chant.

“The cheer team has worked extra hard this season not only on the field and in the classroom, but also at competitions. They made it a goal to be in the top 10 at UIL and accomplished this and more at every competition,” said Arikka Harakal, ROHS Cheerleading Coach. “I am super proud of them and can’t wait to see what is in store for next season.”

The ROHS JV Colorguard came in fifth place at the North Texas Colorguard Association competition on Feb. 23, which was held at Lamar High School.

ROHS Choir UIL Solo and Ensemble Contest saw winners from Red Oak too. Choir students competed in the UIL Solo & Ensemble Contest and received superior ratings.

14 of those students will advance to the Texas State Solo & Ensemble Competition held at the University of Texas in Austin in May.

“Congratulations to the Red Oak ISD UIL teams representing grades two to eight,” said Heidi Britain, Coordinator of Advanced Academics & Professional Development. “The students earned seven first-place medals and two all-star cast awards. We are very proud of the time and hard work they put in to prepare for these events.”

FINE ARTS

Congratulations to the Red Oak High School art students who placed at the Visual Arts Scholastic Event. ROHS had 14 students win regional medals:

• Autumn Cook: Ceramics

• Bailey Gajdica: Ceramics

• Kylie Holliday: Ceramics

• Jake Valdez: Ceramics

• Mary Alice Martinez: 2D

• Faith Burns: 2D

• Leyla Galindo: 2D

• September Daniels: 2D

• Oscar Esparza: 2D

• Estavious Smith: 2D

• Cadence Jenkins: 2D

• Alyssa Starr: 2D

• Jason Coleman: 2D

• Lizbeth Vega: 2D

Five students were accepted into the Texas Visual Art’s Association student exhibition at UT-Dallas.

• Tashaud West: Ceramics

• Bailey Gajdica: Ceramics

• Bryson Douthit: Ceramics

• Estavious Smith: 2D

• Leyla Galindo: 2D

Two students advanced to state (top 10% in the state):

• Tashaud West: Ceramics

• Alyssa Starr: 2D, two pieces

UIL ACADEMIC TEAMS

Red Oak ISD elementary and middle school students competed in the UIL Competition held at Red Oak ISD in early February. Congratulations to these students who won first place in their area of competition:

• Oscar Harms, Shields Elementary: 1st Place Music Memory

• Ari Petty, Eastridge Elementary: 1st Place Maps, Graphs, and Charts

• James Cranmer, ROMS: All-Star Cast, One Act Play

• Alicia Cook and Ariana Mena, ROMS: 1st Place, Social Studies

• Gabriel Gomez, ROMS: 1st Place, Mathematics

• Ava Plunkett, ROMS: 1st Place, Impromptu Speaking

• Lauren Smith, ROMS: 1st Place, Calculators

The ROHS UIL Academic team had several students place at the UIL meet at Glen Rose High School on Feb. 23. The District Meet will take place Mar. 29-30.

• Caleb Mullins: 3rd place Math, 6th place Number Sense

• Rene Lara: 4th place Calculator Applications

• Devin Wilcox: 4th place Ready Writing

• Christina Garrett: 4th place Accounting

• Maria Sandri: 2nd place Prose Interpretation, 4th place Literary Criticism

• Jordan Mosley: 6th place Literary Criticism

• Areanna Lockwood: 5th place Extemporaneous Speaking

DESTINATION IMAGINATION

On Feb. 23, Red Oak High School teams competed in the Destination Imagination Competition in Justin.

Improvers wit Attitudez (Mohamed Abumerhi, Aviery Boone, Drew Davis, Riley McDaniel and Jana Soueid) took first place in the Improv challenge.

Heads Up! and LocoMotivators (Darian Beets, Emma Cooper, Haley Kesler, and Megan Lallemont) took first place in the Science challenge: Medical Mystery.

These teams will be competing at the state competition on Mar. 23 in Corpus Christi. Additionally, ROHS senior Drew Davis earned two $1,000 scholarships from the Destination Imagination Greater Fort Worth Region.

CHEERLEADING

The Red Oak High School Cheer Squad returned from the USA Spirit Nationals on Feb. 22 with a first place in Crowd Leading Cheer.

They also finished fourth place in Fight Song and fifth place in Band Chant.

COLORGUARD

The ROHS JV Colorguard came in fifth place at the North Texas Colorguard Association competition on Feb. 23, which was held at Lamar High School.

ROHS CHOIR UIL SOLO AND ENSEMBLE CONTEST

The following choir students competed in the UIL Solo & Ensemble Contest and received superior ratings.

The 14 students with an asterisk beside their name will advance to the Texas State Solo & Ensemble Competition held at the University of Texas in Austin in May:

• Jorge Acevedo*

• Emma Cottrell*

• Arianna Espinola*

• Jacob Foster*

• Kira Griffin*

• Evelyn Hernandez*

• Hannah Knight*

• Madie McGregor*

• Davion Mouton*

• Briannah Nelson*

• Alexandria Palacios*

• Emma Pitts*

• Katelyn Sanden*

• Emilee Thornburg*

• Avery Culpepper

• Brenna Douthit

• Saadi El-Saadi

• Dareon Johnson-White

• Cedric Lankford Jr.

• Elida Garcia