Crosby, TX (November 27, 2023) - This week, the Crosby ISD Board of Trustees recognized top scholars, top athletes, and extracurricular groups this Semester.
CROSBY EDUCATION FOUNDATION
Our theme for the year is Moving Forward. We’ll start with a group that proves that each day: The Crosby Education Foundation. CEF really brings our communities together through business support. C-E-F Board members are here to present the Board of Trustees with a check for $123,000!
$123,000 is the amount raised to support innovative teaching grants, the Top 5% gala, and other student activities this year. In October, CEF surprised Innovative Teaching Grant winners with a visit from CEF Board members, CHS cheerleaders, and the CHS Pep Band. Thank you for all that you do, CEF.
RESTORATIVE PRACTICES TEAM - CROSBY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
We also want to celebrate Crosby Elementary School’s 1st through 3rd grade teachers and administration. They earned the Beginning level badge from the Texas Education Agency for their year of work on Restorative Practices. The CES team trained through Monthly Meet-Ups where they received materials, practice, and support to instruct their students in using these tools that build positive relationships and accountability. The teachers shared photos, videos and welcomed others to engage in their classroom circles during the year. Discipline data, which demonstrated a significant reduction in office referrals from fall 2022 to spring 2023, was submitted to TEA’s Restorative Practices department and the team from CES was identified to have implemented these practices with fidelity. We are proud of these educators at CES who took on a new way of engaging with students that created a respectful learning environment, provided tools to address behaviors of concern, and improved campus discipline. We would also like to thank Ms. Laura Richard, the district therapist, for spearheading the effort.
CROSBY HIGH SCHOOL BAND
Congratulations to the Big Red Machine. The Crosby High School Band set new records again this fall. They earned all Division 1 ratings at the UIL Region Marching Contest for the 12th consecutive year. That is a Crosby High School record.
The band took 1st place in Class 5A at the Galena Park ISD Marching Festival. Our Big Red Machine also advanced and performed at the UIL State Military Marching Contest at Baylor University in Waco. Mr. Knight is proud of all that you’ve accomplished and so is all of Crosby ISD. Congrats.
AP SCHOLARS & COLLEGE BOARD RECOGNITIONS
The following students were named Advanced Placement Scholars and/or recognized by the College Board in one of their National Recognition Programs.
Let’s start with the College Board recognition programs. These students must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and have scored within the top 10% of a PSAT assessment test or scored 3 or higher on an AP Exam.
Students Falisha Ards and Madison Dorsey earned the National African American Recognition Award.
The National Hispanic Recognition Award went to Paola Davila, Carmen Proctor, Vada Torres, and Miranda Valdes.
Kailey Adair, Falisha Ards, Andrew Canada, Madison Dorsey, Carmen Proctor, and Wyatt Tobey earned the National Rural and Small Town Award.
Now to the AP scholar awards.
The “AP Scholar Award” is granted to students who received scores of 3 or higher on 3 or more AP exams. The following students earned that distinction: Emma Buchanan, Jeffrey Murray, and Carmen Proctor.
The “AP Scholar with Honor” award is given to students who receive an average score of 3.25 on all AP exams taken AND scores of 3 or higher on 5 or more of these exams. The CHS recipient is Bentley Starr.
Finally, The “AP Scholar with Distinction” award is granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, AND scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. Those students are: Andrew Canada, Madison Dorsey, Ayden Edwards, and Austin Eilers.
CROSS COUNTRY
This year was an amazing year for the Crosby High School Cross Country team. Coach Barnes enjoyed every second of coaching each and every one of the student-athletes. At every meet, each athlete gave great effort and great sportsmanship. Ivan Armendarez placed at every meet and received 2nd team All District honors. Coach Barnes wants to thank each and everyone of his athletes for being coachable and respectful to him and other adults. He would also like to thank the parents for coming out to support every meet and supplying the kids with drinks and snacks.
TENNIS
The Crosby High School Tennis team and Coach Olmsted wanted to share a little about their success this fall.
The Varsity Mixed Doubles Team of senior Brendan Berry and junior Miranda Perez compiled an overall season record of 9-3-1, with a 4-3 district record and earned Honorable Mention in District.
The Varsity Boys Doubles Team #3 comprised of seniors Daniel Terrell and David Jordan (both first time tennis players) compiled a season record of 7-5.
Junior, Jorge Arauz compiled a season record of 8-6. Jorge also moved up the most on the Varsity ladder where he started the season at number 5 on the ladder and ended at number 1.
6 players also earned their Varsity letter jackets for competing on the Varsity team this year for the first time. Coach Olmsted is very proud of the efforts of all of the players that helped to contribute to helping the team improve from last year and look forward to seeing how well they perform in the upcoming Spring Tournament season.
SPORTS MEDICINE
Now to the students who you will see along the sidelines during every practice and every game or match. They are crucial to the success of our athletics program. These students involved with the Sports Medicine Program are trained in basic first aid, various taping techniques for injuries, prevention and treatment of injuries, and CPR. Thank you to these students who work behind the scenes and Coach Bennett for being there to ensure our students are safe.
FOOTBALL
Next is the Crosby Cougar Varsity Football Team. The young team showed improvement as the year went on and culminated with an impressive 61-0 victory in their last home game to send the Class of ’24 off in the right way.
Even with a late start, a challenging schedule, and only four home games, this Cougar team never backed down from adversity and continued to improve throughout the year, finishing the season by winning two of its final three games.
Not only were there players who stepped up on the field, but they also impressed in the classroom. Jonah Griffin was recognized by Ozarka as the academic player of the week before our first home game. There were also 10 varsity players who placed on the All-District Academic team: Kade Eudy, Copelin Windfont, Levi Fontenot, Jonah Griffin, Cash Glover, Johnnie Carter, Nathan O'Flaherty, Gavin Ramirez, Hank Barrientes, and Nicholas Samuel.
The future is bright for the Cougars as they return 8 juniors and 9 sophomores who gained valuable varsity starting experience this year as well as a JV team that won its last four games of the year. Coach Willis wishes you all well, and we’re looking forward to next year.
CHEER
Now to the Crosby High School Varsity Cheerleaders. They kicked off the 23-24 school year by attending the U-C-A Cheer camp at Moody Gardens and taking home trophies for their cheer routines. They had a busy summer and fall, attending parades, cheering on the football team, performing at pep rallies, holding a kiddie clinic for future Cougar Cheerleaders, hosting a record-breaking homecoming dance for Crosby High Students and a fall Powderpuff game.
Now that football season is over, they are busy practicing after school and on Fridays to prepare for their UIL Competition in January and All Star Competitions this spring. You can also find them during the week cheering on the Cougars at the basketball games!
In addition to their busy cheer schedule, they will be holding a Christmas Toy Drive at CHS for the Sloan Meric Foundation. Our cheerleaders are the heart and soul of Crosby High School, and are always there to lend a hand, show school spirit and make Crosby proud!
AUDIO-VISUAL
Our next students work behind the scenes at football and sporting events throughout the year. They are truly unsung heroes when it comes to what fans see and hear. We want to recognize and celebrate the incredible hard work these A/V students and UIL members have put in so far this year. Mr. Fontenot wants them to know that their dedication and perseverance have not gone unnoticed, and he is truly impressed by your commitment to your work. Your hard work has not only brought you personal success but has also contributed to the overall success of our school community. We all want to say keep up the great work and good luck for your project submissions early next year.
CHOIR
The CHS choir program has much to be proud of and the program is more popular than ever. In the past 2 years the program has more than doubled in student participation.
Choir members had an extremely successful Fall Concert, performed for the Veterans Ceremony and were a part of the success with the Musical "The Addams Family." Additionally, 55 students competed at the district level of the “Texas Music Educators Association” All-State competition with 20 students making the Region Choir. And out of those 20 students, 8 are moving on to the State Level of the competition.
The CHS Choir is honored to have been chosen as 1 of 8 schools in Houston to clinic with the Grammy Award-winning choir, The Houston Chamber Singers. They are looking forward to being one of the few programs to take 4 competing groups to the UIL competition this Spring. A big congratulation to Ms. Perez and all the success the CHS Choir Program has accomplished thus far.
VOLLEYBALL
The Crosby Cougar Volleyball team had a great season and although they fell short of making the playoffs, they had some exciting games and showed growth throughout the season.
Two of our athletes joined the 1000 team. Kate Valt as a three-year varsity letterman hit her one thousandth kill this season. Woo hoo!
Samantha Bell Land as a two-year varsity letterman hit her one thousandth assist.
The volleyball team also had nine players earn Academic All District status, and Kate Valt and Kaley Adair were chosen for the 1st and 2nd All District teams respectively.
We are proud of our Lady Coogs and can’t wait to see what next year brings.
FFA
Now to our FFA student-leaders. These Students recently competed in Leadership Development Events for FFA. The following students dedicated their time, energy, and heart to competing in LDE contests to gain transferable skills for their future, while also advocating for Agriculture. The senior FFA Quiz team and Greenhand Creed advanced to the Area competition earlier this month. We are extremely proud of each and every one of you. Thank you for all of your hard work.
JROTC
Finally, our JROTC Cadets. Tonight, Lieutenant Colonel Reeves and Sergeant Rollins wanted to recognize 27 superstars, who are among the top 5% of each category of cadets.
The JROTC battalion has grown to 160 middle and high school cadets, who have participated in more than 70 community service events so far this school year. Four cadets tonight participated in the majority of those community events.
Congratulations to Cadet Second Lieutenant Josephine McAnespy who is being recognized as the top cadet tonight.
Four cadets represent the best cadets on our federal inspection team and six cadets represent the best in competition and state championships with a minimum marksmanship prone bullseye above 90%.
Finally, 10 cadets stand out as the best cadet and leader in their respective JROTC period in high school and middle school.
We are proud of our JROTC superstars and congratulate them for being handpicked and selected among the top 5% in JROTC.
Big thank you’s again to the sponsors and coaches who spend more time with our students than they do with their own families. And parents who devoted time, money, and many weekends and weeknights out watching games, volunteering at concession stands, driving students to and from events. Tonight, we hope we helped make it clear it was all worth it. We're looking forward to even more success in 2024.
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