DENHAM SPRINGS • LIVINGSTON • WALKER • WATSON • AMITE • HAMMOND
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T h u r s d ay, N ov e m b e r 28, 2024
Livingston school system announces Principals of the Year
Darlene Denstorff AROUND LIVINGSTON
Christmas in the Village set Denham Springs Christmas in the Village schedule kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday with the Lighting of Old City Hall and merchants open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The popular Chef’s Evening and Wine Tasting is at 7 p.m. Dec. 6. The Kiwanis Lighting of the Christmas Tree is at 6 p.m. Dec. 12 and the Kiwanis Christmas Parade is at 2 p.m. on Dec. 14. The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra will play in the historic district at 6 p.m. Dec. 19 and a Christmas Alive show is at 6 p.m. Dec. 22. For a complete schedule, visit www. cityofdensprings.com or www. denhamspringsantiquedistrict. com.
Crusade collecting donations Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office has announced the dates for Sheriff Jason Ard’s Christmas Crusade. Deputies are collecting donations across the parish and families in need of assistance with Christmas gifts can apply beginning Dec. 2. Toys will be delivered Dec. 20.
ä See AROUND, page 2G
Charles Salzer SPORTS ROUNDUP
Time to appreciate hard work of area athletes With the Thanksgiving holiday already here and Christmas just around the corner, it’s a good time to appreciate the work that Livingston Parish athletes put into their chosen sports. Not that the holiday season means they will take a break. At Walker High, the Wildcats are trying to extend their football season into December for the second consecutive year. Practically everywhere else, the area’s most prolific sport, basketball, is ready to bloom with practices, tournaments, and individual games taking place during the holiday season. There are also other
ä See SALZER, page 2G
1GN
Community news report
Child Nutrition Department. Each recipe in the competition featured Brookwood Farm’s pork carnitas. A group of volunteer judges were assigned with the task of taste-testing each dish and scoring the dishes on the merits of taste, presentation and student acceptability. The Live Oak High team’s culinary program received a $500 gift card to Webstaurant to purchase small wares for their school’s ProStart kitchen, and each student on the team received a $25 Amazon gift card. The winning students are Andrew Stansbury, Addison Zaunbrecher, Bella Culmone and Jacob Cowart. French Settlement High School earned second place with its carnitas nachos recipe. The school’s culinary program received a portable propane stove, a stainless-steel measuring set, and a ThermoWorks thermometer, which are valued at $200. Each
Livingston Parish Public Schools has announced its Principal of the Year winners for the 2024-25 school year. Honorees are French Settlement High School Principal John Chewning, LPPS High School Principal of the Year; Denham Springs Junior High Principal Justin Wax, LPPS Middle School Principal of the Year; and French Chewning Settlement Elementary Principal Josh Martin, LPPS Elementary Principal of the Year. The three are selected based on their success with students and their work to support teachers, according to a news release. Every year, one principal at each level — elementary, middle/ju- Martin nior high, and high school — are selected as district-level winners and they move on to compete in the state competition. The Louisiana Department of Education will select a top principal in each level, and an overall outstanding principal during a special ceremony following this Wax school year. “We are very proud to present these three principals as this year’s top honorees. They exemplify a commitment to excellence that we expect among our school system leadership,” Superintendent Jody Purvis said. Chewning has served as principal of French Settlement High School since 2020, where he has worked to create a positive, inclusive environment for students and staff, according to the release. Student scores, including ACT scores, have grown at his campus every year for the past four years, and FSHS consistently ranks at the top of the parish’s graduation index. Under his leadership, the school has added a medical nursing lab and certification program, HVAC certification, and sports production and news program. He also has revamped the school’s ProStart culinary program and gained recognition
ä See COOK-OFF, page 3G
ä See PRINCIPALS, page 3G
PROVIDED PHOTO
Volunteer judges for the 2024 LPPS ProStart Culinary Cook-off mark their scores for the various dishes served by the competing culinary students. They are, from left, Corey Berner, vice president of Operations for Gold Star Foods Central Region; Allen Cole, a K-12 specialist for Acxion; and Spencer Harris, supervisor of LPPS Child Welfare and Attendance; LPPS Career and Technical Education Coordinator Staci Polozola; and Chancy Vaughn, LPPS child nutrition program coordinator.
School culinary teams compete in cook-off Winning team has recipe on Curbside Café menu Community news report A pork taquitos recipe prepared by the Live Oak High culinary team won over the judges in a Livingston Parish public schools cooking contest. Thirty-two culinary students representing five high schools in Livingston Parish squared off in a best-dish competition for the chance to have their food item selected to be on the district’s Curbside Café menu. Those schools competing in the ProStart Culinary Cook-Off included two teams from Denham Springs High, French Settlement High and Springfield High School, and one team each from Live Oak High and Walker High. The competition was Nov. 13 at the district’s Professional Development Center in Satsuma and was sponsored by the district’s
Robots, rockets, lizards draw crowds at STEM Expo BY VIC COUVILLION
Contributing writer
Robots, computers, rockets, bubbles, snakes, lizards, Legos, electricity, even LIGO — somehow-related experiences were on display Nov. 16 for teens and youth of the community at the annual STEM Expo hosted by the Tangipahoa Parish Library System at its Hammond Branch. The expo drew large crowds of children and teens, accompanied by their parents and other family members, to an hourslong experience with the many and varied subjects that make up the STEM acronym: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. STEM enthusiasts representing a number of disciplines manned tables where the visitors were invited to enjoy interactive activities. Barry Bradford, executive di-
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rector of the Tangipahoa Parish Library System, said the expo, held every year, is the system’s contribution to the promotion of an interest in the sciences. “Through our annual STEM Expo, we invite young people to get engaged in the sciences and learn some new things while also hopefully being encouraged to one day consider a career in the sciences,” Bradford said. Bradford said the expo is just one more way that the library system seeks to engage the public in positive experiences. “Our staff really enjoys events such as this. We are always trying to make the library as relevant to the public as we can and offering the STEM experience is a very popular reason for our patrons to come to the library.”
PHOTO BY VIC COUVILLION
Hammond High Magnet School students, from left, Terlynn Robson, Sage Gautier and Julia Bellina are involved in the school’s award-winning Torbotics Team. ä See EXPO, page 4G
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