Raintree Village July 2017

PRIVATE SCHOOLS
ST. JOHN XXIII NEWS
ST. JOHN XXIII COLLEGE PREPARATORY BAND EARNS SWEEPSTAKES AWARD AT TAPPS
The St. John XXIII College Preparatory band earned a Sweepstakes Award at the TAPPS State Concert and Sight Reading Contest held in
Temple, Texas on April 21 st . The band, under the direction of Mrs. Wendy Elko, received a Superior rating on stage and a Superior Rating in
sight reading, which qualified them for the award. Tying with Beaumont Monsignor Kelly High School, the band also placed second in the
6A category, making the results even sweeter with this all-time top honor for the band at the state contest.
Each school performs from a prescribed music list in front of a panel of judges, who rate their performance between I (Superior) and V
(Poor). In TAPPS 6A on stage, bands are awarded points based on the difficulty of the music along with the judges’ rating and only receive
points for Superior ratings. Following the stage portion, the bands must play a piece they have never seen before in front of a second panel
of judges, with only a 10-minute verbal instruction period by the band director. Again, only a Superior rating is awarded points.
St. John’s band earned 110 points for their stage portion, 50 points for their sight reading portion and 25 points as Sweepstakes winners
for a total of 185 points, tying them for second place with Beaumont Kelly. This is a great accomplishment for our band program and bodes
well for the future of the music program at St. John XXIII.
ST. JOHN XXIII COLLEGE PREPARATORY STUDENTS LEARN HOW TO BE STREET SMART
St. John XXIII College Preparatory hosted members
of Stay Alive From Education (S.A.F.E) at their
campus recently to present Street Smart. S.A.F.E is
a non-profit organization sponsored by Silver Eagle
distributors and Anheuser-Busch that is dedicated
to making young adults aware of the dangers of
driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs,
texting while driving, not wearing seat belts and the
trauma associated with these dangers. Taught by
certified paramedics, Street Smart helps audiences
better understand the consequences of their
actions and in turn, aims to reduce the number of
accidents and fatalities each year.
The Street Smart program took the students into
the real-life drama experienced by firefighter/
paramedics as they work to save the lives of
individuals who have made poor choices when
it comes to drinking or using drugs, texting and
driving or the non-compliance of seat belts.
Featuring photos and descriptions of real-life
trauma incidents during the presentation, the
paramedics led a discussion on the importance of
students making responsible decisions concerning
28 Raintree Village | July 2017