November 1992 News Update broadcast on OWL TV

Good evening, I'm Melanie Miller, and this is the North Central High School news update for the month of November.

North Central High celebrated Red Ribbon Week during the week of October 26-30. The theme for this year was "The Choice For me, Drug Free". The activities were planned by Miss Linda Haynes and the SAPE Club.

The first activity took place on Monday, October 26, when Mr. Roland Arceneaux, a drug task force member from La Place, Louisiana, with the help of Elijah Sam and Kenneth Stoot, got everyone's attention with a stunning performance.

Tuesday the students tied red ribbons on the classroom doors, the office, and cars. Wednesday Rev. Admond Pointer gave a very enlightening and heartwarming talk on drugs and alcohol. This concluded our activities for Red Ribbon Week.

This year North Central High principal Mr. Milton Ambres has decided to select one teacher each month as teacher of the month. The criteria for selecting the teacher of the month are quality of instruction, the number of referrals that the teacher has, number of days absent, the learning environment of the classroom and teacher planning and preparation. Finally, Mr. Ambres said that the teachers who are selected are doing things above and beyond the call of duty.

Mrs. Patricia Woods was selected as teacher of the month for the month of September at North Central High School. Mrs. Woods was named the outstanding teacher of mathematics at NCHS by the Louisiana Association of Teachers of Mathematics. Also, she has been selected by her students to be listed in Who's Who Among American High School Teachers . Mrs. Woods is a dedicated teacher whose professionalism and concern for her students go beyond duty. She is involved in several professional organizations, but in spite of her busy schedule, she always has time for her students. Currently, she has her students involved in a class project to raise money to take them on field trips and to purchase supplies for the classroom and for the school. We are proud of Mrs. Woods' accomplishments and offer her our congratulations.

Mrs. Augusta Rideau was selected teacher of the month for the month of October. Mrs. Rideau, who is an A.R.E.P. teacher here at the school, was said to have gone out of her way for her students. She was praised highly for all of the work that she has done over the past few months with her A.R.E.P class. We also offer our congradulations to her for her outstanding accomplishments.

Mr. Ambres also recognizes one of our support personnel each month. Each worker is judged on knowledge of his or her job description and willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty. Also considered is the worker's attitude toward other staff members and towards the children. Chosen for the month of September was Marion Benford, a lunchroom worker, and Raymond Williams, a custodian was selected for the month of October.

Voila Angela Mitchell avec a la nouvelle francais.

This year our French teacher, Mademoiselle Humblet, has two educational trips planned for the French students. In March, her students will participate in the Tri-Parish Foreign Language Festival at LSUE.

There students will have the opportunity to meet other French speaking students from two other parishes. They will be competing in both poetry and prose contests.

Secondly, students will attend the annual festival International de Lafayette, held in Lafayette in the spring of 1993.

We French students greatly appreciate Mmslle Humblet's effort in getting her students involved in out of class French activities.

Recently, Ms. Rose Sam, our counselor was interviewed about her job. Even though she has a very busy schedule she still took time out to answer a few questions. The first question she was asked was , of course, about her job and how it came to be. She got down to the point and simply said "consolidation of schools." She also added that the first school she taught at was Sunset High. As the conversation grew she was asked What contributions does she make to the students at North Central? She answered," I make the students feel better about themselves and help them make important decisions about education after high school."The most important statement was," I help students prepare to become better citizens." Mrs. Sam also stated ," The most important aspect of my job is me helping students solve their problems." We are happy to have Mrs. Sam as our counselor and urge her to keep up the good work!!!

The Upward Bound program here at North Central is off to a very good start. New instructors for this year are Mr. Paul Martel, an English teacher at North Central and Mr. Percy Jordon who teaches math at O.H.S. Upward Bound is a program concerned with helping students to get into college. It prepares them in the subject areas in which they are weakest. To find out these weak areas students are cross tested. The program also helps students who are poor test takers to help them build up their test scores. Mainly the program is concerned with those students who have the ability to do, but at the same time, do not have the proper finances. The program opens doors to the students so that they will be able to go to college.

This week is American Education Week The theme for this year is America's School's. Take a New Look. Activities were planned for each day of the week. Sunday was Church of your choice. Students were encouraged to attend the church of their choice. On Monday we held a flag raising ceremony where to get things under way Kim Lee gave facts about the flags, Mr. Porche played " America" on the piano, Myron Williams played "Taps" on his trumpet, and Patricia Lamb sang the national anthem. On Tuesday the Film "Stand and Deliver" was broadcast to our students in their homeroom classes and a poster contest was held. On Wednesday an essay contest was held. Thursday we had an assembly and open house for parents and students that began at 11:15 and lasted until the closing of school. At the assembly Mrs. Hendrix's speech and drama class and second hour English 4 class put on a one act play which was entitled Wilbur Takes His Medicine. The Pentecostal Church of Melville's Ensemble were our guest performers. Friday was Have it Your Way Day. Teachers provided various activities and students chose from them. Saturday is Read a book day. Each student is encouraged to go to the library to checkout a book and read it.

Now here's Angela Mitchell with a sports update.

According to an article in the Opelousas Daily World, North Central's Football team keeps getting better and better. On October 30, the Hurricanes earned their fourth win of the season against East Beureguard by a score of 34-16. Coach Bobby Jack Fontenot said that this was probably the best game of the season. On November 6, North Central defeated OC 54-38, ending the season with a 5-2 record for the year. Assistant football coach, Jeff David, commented that North Central, a football team that is only in its second year, has become an outstanding team. Mr. Ambres our principal also commends our team for having such a successful season.

Now moving on to basketball, the sport that is going to be in the spotlight for the next few months. We went to the head coaches of the girls and boys teams and asked them about theier expectations.

First Coach Clarence Fontenot, the boys head coach, was interviewed. When asked "What do you expect your basketball team to be like in this upcoming year?" he responded , "I would be very disappointed if North Central didn't win the district championship. Those are high expectations, but I do expect us to be better than last year. Herbert Fontenot is going to give us more experience at the post position. We also have another outstanding addition, Isaac Powells, who will adequately replace Shawn Morrison in the forward position."

North Central still has Curley Johnson, basketball's 1991-92 MVP, who is returning for his senior year. Coach Fontenot feels that Elijah Sam will be the top point guard in our district.

In closing, he said that anything less than first in district, he would be disappointed as a coach.

Next we interviewed Ms. Linda Haynes, the girls head coach.

When asked about her expectations of the Lady Hurricanes this basketball season, she stated that the 1992-93 basketball season is going to be very challenging for the NCHS girls. With four starters graduating last year it's going to be left up to Melanie Miller, Lori Foster, and Leslie Thierry to make things happen on and off the court. The team has potential and a strong desire to work hard. In closing she commented each game will bring a trend of strong defense and hopefully a lot of wins for the Lady Hurricanes.

Tuesday night North Central played their first basketball game of the season against Ville Platte High. The boys' Varsity team obtained their first win with a score of 106 to 46. Curley Johnson was the leading scorer with 26 points.

The girls Varsity team also won by a score of 58 to 51. Melanie Miller was the leading scorer with 32 points.

Obviously this season is off to a great start.

We have two announcements First-North Central High will hold a special PTO meeting on Monday, December 7th at six PM. Special presentations will be made by Art class, Speech and Drama class, Publications class and refresshments will be provided by Home Ec class.

Second-North Central High Bingo will be held on Monday,November 23rd at the old Howard Brothers store and on every other Monday night after this.

In our closing comments North Central Principal Milton Ambres said that North Central is becoming one of the better schools in the parish. He said that the reason is because the number of suspensions at our school are down, and students' behavior is really a whole lot better than it was last year. He attributes this to the dedication and hard working teachers at North Central High, and he wants to commend them and congratulate them for a job well done. Mr. Ambres together with the faculty and staff at North Central High would like to express thanks to everyone who has helped in some way to make our school better. We wish every one a Happy Thanksgiving and a happy and safe holiday.