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Tomball Memorial High School Silver Stars Captain Rachel Stephenson, junior (front, left); Tomball High School Cougar Charms Major Karley Emmott, senior (front, right); (second row, from left) Silver Stars Lieutenant Maddie Gray, junior; and Cougar Charms Captain Hannah Valentin, junior, performed together during the 32nd Annual Patriotic Show, which was held during halftime of the inaugural football game between the Tomball Cougars and the Tomball Memorial Wildcats.  Approximately 1,500 students in choir, drill team, cheerleading, band, JROTC, LOTC, and Student Council from Tomball High School, Tomball Memorial High School, Tomball Junior High, and Willow Wood Junior High performed honoring veterans who served in the United States Armed Forces.   

The sounds and smells of goats, pigs, turkeys, cows and other farm animals will fill the air this weekend, as students from both Tomball high schools diligently prepare for the annual Tomball Future Farmers of America (FFA) project sale and show.
This year brings the 37th incarnation of the event, which allows FFA members to show and hopefully sell the animals they spent all year raising, feeding and caring for. The event will be held Jan. 25 and 26 at the Tomball ISD Project Center, at 30330 Quinn Rd.
"It gives kids the opportunity to become involved in FFA and teaches them a lot about responsibility and handling money," said Jimmy Vaculin, former Tomball FFA teacher and president of the Tomball High School FFA Booster Club.
Vaculin said the program also helps students build friendships and teaches them how to be a part of an organization.
'They develop camaraderie with one another," he said.
Tomball Memorial FFA Booster Club President Lesley Chronister agreed and said the students look forward all year to the show.
"It's a huge deal," she said. "The kids raise their animals all throughout the year with this show as the goal."
The show and its live auction provide funds for both schools FFA programs, as well as a majority of the funds for the Tomball FFA college scholarship program.
"The kids are able to get a lot of the money back they spent raising the animals and a lot of the funds go directly towards the scholarship fund for seniors," Chronister said.
Last year the show brought in more than $500,000 for the program and scholarship fund and the group hopes to do at least that this year.
Chronister's son Colby said that FFA has taught him lessons he will be able to carry throughout his life.
"I wanted to raise animals because I thought it would be fun, but doing this has taught me responsibility, how to care for an animal and motivated me to keep my grades up so I can show my animals," he said.
Colby Chronister said the show is not only hard work, but fun as well.
"It's fun meeting all the new people and the competition it brings, as well as seeing everyone else's projects." he said.
The show's schedule for Jan. 25 includes rabbits being shown at 11 a.m., followed by broilers at 1 p.m., with turkeys to follow, then market swine at 4 p.m. On Jan. 26 market lambs will be shown at 8 a.m. and market steers at 10:30 a.m. The Buyer's Barbecue will be open from 3:30-5 p.m., with the live auction to immediately follow.
For more information visit www.tomballffa.net.

Members of the Tomball High School Student Council rewarded area police officers, firefighters and EMS workers for their dedication, by providing a free lunch for them Jan. 30. Students called it the Food for Courage campaign.

"We started this five years ago with a Cookies for Courage campaign and it evolved into serving an entire meal," said student council advisor Billie Ann Dio. "It's a way of giving back and a good way for the students to see the true heroes of the community."

The students served beef stew, rice, salad, bread and desserts. The desserts were made by the students, while the staff of the Tomball High School cafeteria helped make the rest of the meal.

"It's a great blessing for me to be able to do something like this," said student council President Anna Liu. "A lot of people my age don't get to contribute to their community. I get a lot out of giving back. I love getting to show them gratitude for all that they do for us."

Student Matthew Pallini agreed with Liu.

"It's very comforting to help the people who help us," he said.

Cpt. Daniel Hancock of Northwest EMS said recognition and appreciation like this makes the job worthwhile.

"We don't work for thank you's, we do this because we love to help, but something like this is very nice and motivational," he said.

Tomball Police Cpt. Rick Grassi said that seeing the area youth come together like this gives him hope for the future.

"It's wonderful to see the youth leaders of the community showing their appreciation for the men and women of public safety," he said. "Seeing these kids reach out to recognize us inspires me and I hope that we inspire them to help others as well."

Tomball High School (THS) senior Christi Gamble showed her lamb, Luna, at the 37th Annual Tomball ISD FFA Project Show. This was Gamble's second year to raise a lamb. She was one of 275 Tomball ISD students showing chickens, turkeys, lambs, rabbits, swine, and steers. The live auction brought in a total of $313,500. Grand champion results were Rabbits - freshman Bailey Wargo, Tomball Memorial, $3,500; Broiler - junior Casey Smith, Tomball, $2,800; Turkey -  senior Megan Vaculin, Tomball, $4,500; Lamb - senior Stephanie Ludwig, Tomball, $5,000; Swine - senior Landon Folkerts, Tomball, $14,000; Steer - sophomore Kathryn Lewandowski, Tomball, $27,000. Reserve champion results were Rabbits - freshman John Leibham, Tomball, $3,000; Broiler - junior Thomas Reeves, Tomball, $6,500; Turkey - senior Chase Johnson, Tomball, $5,000; Lamb - senior Austin Boggs, Tomball, $5,000; Swine - junior Sydney Breaux, Tomball, $22,000 and Steer - junior Shayla Arvizu, Tomball, $19,000.

The top two graduates for the 2013 senior class at Tomball High School have many things in common – extracurricular activities, grades, friends and they both attribute their success to one thing – hard work.

Rachel Mai and Amy Shaklovitz have been named as the top performers in their senior class of nearly 700 graduates. The pair are involved in numerous activities at the school, as well as in the community.

Mai and Shaklovitz sat down for an interview recently and here are their responses.

Q: What are your plans for college?
Amy: "I am going to Texas A&M.  I'll be a general engineering major and after I complete my basics, I'm going to switch to petroleum engineering."  
Rachel: "I am planning to go to the University of Houston and I'll be classified as a biology major.  Hopefully, I'll be done with everything in three years and then I'm going to apply to dental school – the UT dental branch in Houston."

Q: What activities did you participate in while at Tomball?
Amy: "All four years I played volleyball and golf my freshman year.  I did tennis my sophomore, junior, and senior years. I've been in National Honor Society, Student Council, Mu Alpha Theta (math honor society), Senior Girls and Spanish Honor Society."  
Rachel: "I've been in Student Council and I've participated in Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) for three years. I really enjoy HOSA because I want to work in the medical field.  I've also been in National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta. I also volunteer at a Vietnamese school in Houston."   

Q: What advice would you give to younger students?
Amy: "I would tell them it's important to start early and keep up with your work."
Rachel: "I would tell them to have good time management and know how to use your time wisely and balance your school work and activities after school. I would also say to stay drug free and have fun." 

Q: What will you take with you as you graduate from high school?
Amy: "The friendships.  Being on teams in school I have made good friends and I know I'll keep up with them in college. Being on a team you really get to know each other and you get close."
Rachel: "Definitely, prom was memorable. Hanging out with friends at prom and project prom was great. It was magical like a dream come true." 

Nearly 700 seniors took part in the Tomball High School Commencement Ceremony at Reed Arena. Pictured are (from left) Katri Sofjan, Mason Lanch, Andrew Ellison, Gabriella Ertl, Sarah McDaniel and Kaili Birkner (background) Collectively, Tomball High School's Class of 2013 received $4.9 million in scholarship money from various foundations, organizations, colleges, and universities.

They told themselves all year they were supposed to do this.

Yet, after the final out was recorded and the Tomball Cougars were officially the Texas Class 4A state baseball champions, the emotions were still overwhelming. Pitcher Robert Dugger raised his hands in the air and let out a loud scream, while others rushed to mob him near the pitcher's mound.

Tomball defeated Wichita Falls Rider and Corpus Christi Moody in the state tournament last weekend to bring home Tomball's first championship trophy.
After starting the season on a 22-game winning streak, winning a district title and cruising through the playoffs with just one loss, the season culminated with a trip to Round Rock and the state tournament.

First up the Cougars faced an experienced Wichita Falls Rider team and coach Doug Rush went to his senior leader Nick Banks on the mound.

Starting for just the second time all season, Banks pitched all seven innings, while striking out 10 batters.

It didn't look good at the beginning for Banks, as Rider loaded the bases with just one out. A squeeze play by Rider backfired, as Banks fielded the bunt and tossed it to catcher Casey Smith for a force play, before ending the threat with a strikeout.

Banks then provided himself some offensive support, as he jacked a solo home run over the right field fence to give Tomball an early 1-0 lead.

Rider would fight back in the third inning; however, as they touched Banks for two runs and grabbed the lead.

The Cougars then did what they have done all year – put together the big inning. They plated four runners and grabbed a 5-2 lead.

From there it was a pitcher's duel, as neither team would plate another runner. Banks recorded the final out and Tomball was headed to the title game.

The Cougars faced Corpus Christi Moody in the championship and sent their ace, Robert Dugger, to the mound.

However, Dugger began his night on the base paths in electric fashion.

After the Cougars had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks to an RBI single by Eric Dunbar, Dugger stepped to the plate. He laced a line drive right at the Moody left fielder, who tried to dive and make a play. The ball skipped past the fielder and rolled to the outfield fence. Dugger would race around the bases for an inside-the-park three-run homer, giving himself a 4-0 cushion before throwing a pitch.

Dugger would struggle a bit to open the bottom half of the inning, as he allowed back-to-back singles from Moody hitters. Dugger would stay low in the strike zone with his next pitch, however and induced a ground ball to third baseman Robbie Gillen, who started the inning ending double play.

Dugger would cruise through the middle innings, until Moody scored their only run in the bottom of the sixth.

Dugger headed to the mound in the bottom of the seventh, needing three outs to help the Cougars earn the title.

He started the frame with a walk, but immediately induced two groundouts, leaving one out for all the marbles.

In dramatic fashion Digger struck out the Moody batsman swinging for the final out and prepared for the forthcoming dog pile at the pitcher's mound.

At long last, the Cougars were state champs.

Finally.

Tomball High School will hold its annual football Homecoming Parade Oct. 24, at 6:30 p.m. The parade will start at Tomball Intermediate School and proceed down Main Street to the Tomball Depot Plaza. Following the parade a pep rally will be held at the Depot. The homecoming Dukes and Duchesses and the Homecoming King will be announced. The Tomball Cougars play their homecoming contest Friday, Oct. 26 versus Ridge Point High School at 7 p.m. The queen will be announced at halftime.

Tomball High School has received the 2012 College Readiness Award from the Texas ACT Council for increasing the number of students taking the ACT Assessment over the past five years and significantly increasing the level of achievement and college readiness.

"It is an honor for our campus to be recognized," Greg Quinn, principal of Tomball High School, said.  "We have encouraged students to take more rigorous coursework, which has resulted in an increase in the number of students taking the ACT.  They're prepared and they're performing well.  We're very proud of them." 

The Texas ACT Council is comprised of secondary and postsecondary educators who advise ACT, Inc. on the utilization of ACT programs and services in Texas schools and colleges. 

Karen Pennell, assistant vice president and ACT southwest regional manager, explained that the Texas ACT Council wanted to recognize Texas high schools that have made significant strides in increasing the college and career readiness of their graduates as demonstrated by an increase in their ACT scores over the past five years. 

"This can only happen as a result of the efforts of the faculty and staff and the dedication of Tomball High School students and parents as they focus on raising the level of academic readiness for all students," Pennell said.

Only 170 high schools in Texas were honored for this accomplishment, which represents only nine percent of all Texas high schools. 

The Tomball High School STAGE theater department will perform the Tony Award winning musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" Nov. 15-17. Performances will be held at 7 p.m. all days, with a special matinee performance Nov. 17 at 2:30 p.m., at the Tomball High School Auditorium, 30330 Quinn Rd. Tickets are $10. For information, or to purchase tickets online, visit www.tomball
stage.org.