Campus News - 2010-2011

The regional UIL academic meet was held at Tyler Junior College in Tyler on Friday and Saturday, April 15 and 16, 2011. The One-Act Play cast and crew performed Yentl and was chosen as alternate play to the State competition. Individual awards were All-Star Cast - Carson Campbell and Zoë Zbranek; Honorable Mention All-Star Cast - Taylor Reddell; Best Technician - Tracie Van Law and Caroline Reddell.

In the literary and speaking events, those qualifying for State include: Kelli Neuman - Headline Writing 1st; Zoë Zbranak - Poetry 1st; and Carson Campbell - Prose 1st. In addition, Lanie Silcox placed 6th in Ready Writing; Alexis Flores placed 6th in Lincoln Douglas Debate, and Kyle White finished 8th in Extemporaneous Speaking.

The ECHS One-Act Play competed in the Area Competition in Huntsville on Thursday, April 7, 2011, at Huntsville High School. They performed their play, Yentl, and was chosen to advance to Regional Competition to be held in Tyler on Friday, April 15 at the Wise Auditorium at Tyler Junior College. The physical address is: Wise Auditorium, Tyler Junior College, 522 South Broadway Avenue, Tyler, TX.

Awards received at the Area competition include: Best Actress - Carson Campbell; All-Star Cast - Taylor Reddell; Honorable Mention All-Star Cast - Zoe Zbranek; Best Tech - Tracie VanLaw; and Best Tech Crew - Sadie Long, Tracie VanLaw, Ethan Hughes, Caroline Reddell, Lise-Marie Oyvik, and Bailey Smith.

The East Chambers OAP added to the academic district win by advancing in the district competition held on March 31, 2011. East Chambers' play, Yentl, was chosen as one of two plays to advance to Area. 

In addition, the following individual awards were received for outstanding performances:  Best Actor - Taylor Reddell; Best Actress - Carson Campbell; All-Star Cast - Zoe Zbranek and Kayla King; Honorable Mention - Kyle White; and Best Crew - Ethan Hughes.

Other actors and actresses include Micah Frugia, Kyle Norris, Jaxon Vanya, Ann-Katherin Muth, Jared Matlock, Spencer Glenn, Jasta Alicie, Nichole Mayeux, Emily McKnight, and Alex Spencer. Additional crew and alternates are Lise-Marie Oyvik, Caroline Reddell, Tracie VanLaw, Sadie Long, and Veronica Moncada.

Point totals for the District Academic Competition that started in January with CX Debate and concluded with OAP yesterday are: East Chambers HS - 441 points,  Buna HS - 335,  Anahuac HS - 242, Warren HS - 228, Hardin HS - 114, and Kountze HS - 113.
 

East Chambers High School is leading the district UIL Academic contest after the second day of competition with 395 points followed by Buna 303, Anahuac 230, Warren 228, Hardin 108, and Kountze 90.

Individual results from the first day's competition are as follows: Calculator - Katelyn Domingue 4th; Current Issues & Events - Jared Matlock 1st; 2nd place Team \ Nipp, Matlock, Extejt, C. Touchet; Computer Applications - Emily McKnight 2nd; Ben Wilchek 5th; Ethan Hughes 6th; 1st Place Journalism Team; Editorial Writing - Kelli Neuman 1st; Jordan Horger 3rd; Alaina Potter 4th; Feature Writing - Kelli Neuman 1st; Lesley Valastro 3rd; Headline Writing - Kelli Neuman 2nd; Sage Amin 3rd; News Writing - Kelli Neuman 1st; Literary Criticism - Taylor Thurman 5th; 2nd Place Team \ Long, McGovern, Thurman, Jaxon Vanya; Number Sense - Kyle White 6th; Science - Zoe Zbranek 2nd; Taylor Reddell 3rd; Top Physics - Taylor Reddell, Zoe Zbranek; 2nd Place Team \ Bertrand, Jackson, Kumar, Reddell, Zbranek; Social Studies - Jared Matlock 5th; Spelling & Vocabulary - Tyler Nipp 1st; Abby Walker 3rd; 1st Place Team \ Nipp, A. Walker, E. Payne, Tran.

Individual results from the second day's competition are as follows: Speech Team 1st Place; Informative Speaking - Jared Matlock 4th; Colby Touchet 5th; Lincoln Douglas Debate - Jackson Crissey 1st; Alexis Flores 3rd; Kyle Norris 5th; Persuasive Speaking - Kyle White 3rd; Ethan Hughes 5th; Poetry Interpretation - Zoe Zbranek 1st; Jaxon Vanya 6th; Prose Interpretation - Carson Campbell 1st Ready Writing - Lanie Silcox 1st.

The OAP performance will be held on Thursday, March 31.

The CX-Debate teams of Austen Gilfillian and Lesley Valastro 1st, Cody Brist and Kaleb Lavergne 2nd, and Jasta Alicie and Kyle White 5th competed at district in January, earning 27 points to begin the quest for the district championship.

East Chambers High School was represented by two CX-Debate teams at the State Tournament on the University of Texas campus in Austin on March 14-15. The teams of Austen Gilfillian and Lesley Valastro, and Cody Brist and Caleb Lavergne debated four rounds. It was the third year for Gilfillian and Valastro to reach the state tournament, and the first for Brist and Lavergne.
 

East Chambers High School began its quest for District Champs on January 26, 2011. East Chambers traveled to Warren to participate in the District CX-Debate contest. ECHS was represented with three teams consisting of Team 1: Lesley Valastro and Austen Gilfillian; Team 2: Kyle White and Jasta Alicie; and Team 3 : Cody Brist and Kaleb Lavergne. East Chambers came out on top and will advance two of its teams to State Competition in Austin, Texas, in March.

Placing fifth in the contest was the team of White and Alicie. Advancing to state and placing second was team Brist and Lavergne, and the team of Valastro and Gilfillian once again placed first and will also advance to state competition. Valastro and Gilfillian have won the district title for the third consecutive year.

The CX teams have started EC’s journey as District Champs with 27 points.

On January 22, 2011, East Chambers students competed in the Nederland Bulldog UIL Academic Meet. EC participated in the small school division that included 1A – 3A schools. Placing 2nd in Current Events and Issues was Jared Matlock. Lesley Valastro placed 3rd, and Ethan Hughes finished 7th in Computer Applications. Jackson Crissey was 5th in LD Debate, and our CX team of Cody Brist and Kaleb Lavergne placed 6th in CX Debate.

On Friday and Saturday, January 7-8, the Academic UIL students competed at H-F with 32 schools in some of the events.  In the written contests, we were divided into small school and large school. The small school contests consisted of 17 teams with 10 of the schools in the 3A division. In Journalism, Kelli Neuman placed 3rd in News Writing and 5th in Editorial Writing. Jordan Horger placed 5th in Feature Writing, and Sage Amin placed 5th in Headline Writing. Ben Wilchek received 4th in Computer Applications. Jarod Matlock placed 4th in Current Events, and Taylor Reddell placed 1st in Top Biology. In the Speaking Contests, EC students competed against all 32 schools with 27 of them being 3A and larger. In CX debate, the team of Lesley Valastro and Austen Gilfillian won their first two rounds before leaving to play basketball. Abby Parfait was 7th and Kyle Norris was 8th in LD. Zoe Zbranek received 2nd in the poetry division. 

The high school Student Council and Science Club have been teaming up to help finish the Outdoor Discovery Center behind the elementary school. Saturday, December 11th, was another workday for the two groups. This workday was successful with the installation of fifteen benches along the walkways in the Outdoor Discovery Center. These students have been working very hard to get the habitat ready to open for the rest of the students. The Outdoor Discovery Center is expected to be completed and open for learning by late January to mid-February. Other events the two groups have been working on include recycling on campus, Toys for Tots toy drive, and Christmas caroling.
 

The Buccaneers dominated the Lions in a 48-14 victory. EC Offensive Player of the Week is Dallas Gibson, and Defensive Player of the Week is Richard Boullion.

The Bucs will travel to Buna this Friday  to take on the Cougars on their home field.

View slideshow.

Selection of the 2010-2011 National Honor Society Officers was held and the results are as follows:  President - Carson Campbell; Vice President - Kelli Neuman; Corresponding Secretary - Lesley Valastro; Recording Secretary - Dallas Gibson; Historian - Lindsey McDonald; and Treasurer - Austen Gilfillian.
 

The annual Rice Festival Queen's Contest was held on Saturday, September 25, 2010, at the ECHS auditorium. The day's events began with a brunch and interview with the judges followed by the final judging where only contestants were present. The revealing and coronation of the court and queen was held with family and friends in attendance. The newly crowned queen and her court was introduced at the Texas Rice Festival main stage in the park later that evening. Carson Campbell a student at ECHS was chosen this year's queen, and Autumn Scott, also an ECHS senior, was chosen second runner up.

East Chambers High School welcomed foreign exchange students from 5 different countries for the 2010-2011 school year. The importance of cross-cultural exchange and the opportunity to learn about other countries and cultures is an invaluable opportunity for all students.
 

Pictured above are: (back row) Michal Orfin - Poland; Lovis Stricker - Germany; Eike-Tabea Kröger - Germany; and Ann-Kathrin Muth - Germany. (front row) Eduardo Meo - Brazil; Kim Tran - Germany; Camila Brito Sabatini - Argentina, and Lise-Marie Oyvik - Norway.