The 8th grade girls volleyball team defeated Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart 2-1 to win the HJPC Girls Volleyball Championship on October 23, 2014.  Championship team members coached by Beth Rodriguez are: Sarah Grace Carr, Cheyenne Dawley, Grace Elizabeth Hurley, Katherine Jacobe, Caroline Moseley, Onuchi Ndee, Caroline Oster, Callie Rosenthal, Marynell Ward, and Lindsay Wells.  Congratulations girls!

Students & Parents:  The cast list for the Middle School play "Ransom of Red Chief" will be posted at 6pm, Monday, Nov. 3rd, 2014 in the password-protected portals at kinkaid.org.  Please follow the instructions below to view the cast list.

1. Go to kinkaid.org
2. Click on the Community Login text button and login. 
   
   
3. After one logs into the portal, the announcement will appear in the "Student News & Announcements" section of the portal on the right side of the page.  (See illustration below. One may need to scroll down the page to view this section).

On Saturday, November 1, READ3Zero, the literacy non-profit organization, honored students nationwide at a luncheon and book-signing event for this year’s winners of the I Write Short Stories by Kids for Kids contest and celebrated the organization’s fifth anniversary. The luncheon was emceed by Deborah Duncan of Great Day Houston, and parent of Kinkaid alumni Neil Bush ’73 (fs) served as the keynote speaker.

Two Kinkaid students Sofia Bajwa ’20 and Gina Guerra ’15 entered the creative writing contest and their pieces were selected for publication in the anthology. For Sofia this is her third piece of writing that was included in the annual publication. Gina received the Editor’s Choice Award for her short story Snow Problem.

Congratulations to Sofia and Gina!

Dr. James McLurkin, robotics engineering professor at Rice University, recently visited the Middle School assembly to speak on the nature and significance of swarm robotics. He gave a demonstration with a dozen small robots that highlighted the behaviors of multi-robot systems.

Dr. McLurkin's robotic "swarm" is inspired by real-life social insects like ants and honeybees. He explained to the students that the robots run algorithms and that an algorithm is similar to a recipe; each step builds on the next step to create the desired behavior.

Dr. McLurkin also spoke about the possibility of robots being able to solve problems that humans were ill equipped to tackle such as large-scale exploration of Mars and discovering and rescuing survivors in buildings after an earthquake.

At the end of the assembly, Kinkaid science teacher Mr. Gessell encouraged students interested in learning more about Robotics to join the Robotics club that meets after school on Fridays.

Members of the Middle School’s advanced robotics team had their first competition on Saturday November 1^st. The competition took place at the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy Campus here in Houston. Fifteen teams from Texas and Louisiana gathered for this qualifying event. When all the matches were done and the scores were added up we received a very respectful third place finish.

Eighth graders Seb Seager, Julian Meyers, Charlie Finch, and seventh grader Arden Fayard made up the team on Saturday, which was the only middle school team at the tournament.

Good Job team keep up the great work!

We have some big news! We will have a limited supply of President George W. Bush's new book, 41, with bookplates signed by President George W. Bush. These are available for $100 each, with a two copy maximum per family, please. You can go to the Book Fair link on the Kinkaid website and reserve your copy now. First come first served! Please pick the books up on Tuesday at Book Fair.

Make space on your shelves for new books from Book Fair by donating to the Book Drive led by the Upper School Book Club – Please donate gently used books to benefit low income families of the Houston Housing Authority. Book drops will be located at the Book Fair entrance, and in Lower School, Middle School and Upper School. They will be accepting donations all next week.

Please fill out all of your Book Fair forms. Most forms close on Friday! Remember to buy your Book Fair Bucks for teachers, students and parents!

MONDAY: Book Fair will be open from 8:00 am until 8:00 pm.

TAX FREE DAY!

Shop for books and check out our Goodies Section. We will have Kinkaid Vineyard Vines belts, a Gurple Holiday ornament, a silver Kinkaid charm produced by Jeep Collins, a Kinkaid throw blanket, a wooden tray with the falcon logo and other fun goodies.

Family Night is from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. You can buy Family Night dinner tickets on the Book Fair link on the Kinkaid website. Moderno’s Tacos + Tex-Mex is catering and Mam’s Frozen Ice will be available for purchase for $5 each cash, limited supply.

Meet our Visiting Authors at Family Night! Our 2014 Visiting Authors are Kelly Bennett, Betty Lou Phillips, Leslie Sinclair and Clare Vanderpool. You can still pre-order their books on the website. We also have Ina Garten’s new book, Make it Ahead, with bookplates signed by the author in limited quantity.

TUESDAY: Book Fair will be open from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm.

President George W. Bush’s book, 41, will be released on this day. Please pick up your pre-orders of this book.

Thank you so much to all of the Book Fair chairs, volunteers, Underwriters, Friends of the Library and shoppers for supporting our libraries!!

On Monday, November 3, 2014, Kinkaid Middle School eighth graders gathered to participate in a Skype video conference with Peter Vesterbacka, one of the creators of the Angry Birds game.  Middle School students have been working on a science unit on physics in conjunction with learning about the physics involved the Angry Birds game.

 Mr. Vesterbacka talked about the history of making the game. In 2009, the original game had 63 levels, and now the game has 500 levels.  He mentioned that the Angry Birds game was the 52nd game that the company made, and there are 2.5 billion Angry Birds games downloaded worldwide.  He also said the company is still working hard on keeping things exciting and fresh.

After a period, the company has expanded its focus to the area education.  Mr. Vesterbacka believes “learning should be fun” and that  successful lessons in the classroom can include games.

At the end of the Skype talk, Mr. Vesterbacka asked for questions from the students. One 8th grader asked about what Mr. Vesterbacka thought about the physics involved the Angry Birds game.  While Mr. Vesterbacka said that while the physics in the Angry Birds game wasn’t perfectly accurate, the physics are indeed consistent throughout the game.

The FLL (First LEGO League) robotics team had a very successful day on Saturday, November 8 at the Sugar Land Qualifying Tournament. The FLL competition consists of four events the robot game, the presentation, teamwork challenge and robot design. 

Kinkaid’s FLL team named T.E.C.H. received a second place finish in teamwork and ninth place finish in the robot game. They also performed very well in the other events; receiving scores high enough to earn an overall fifth place finish among the twenty-two teams and a gold ticket that automatically advances our team to the Lone Star Championship bypassing the semi final competition round.

Congratulations to Evan Gibson, Jack Josephson, Sanjit Juneja, Duncan Lambert, Zoe Price, Adrian Riesgo,Arsalan Saeed and Alison Zhang for their great accomplishment and wish them good luck for the December 13  championship.

The Upper and Middle School bands attended the ATSSB Region Band Auditions on November 8 & 9.

Winning a seat in the Region Band means that the student will perform in the All-Region Band on November 15 in Kinkaid's Brown Auditorium. Conductor of the HS Band will be Robert Sheldon, a world famous composer/clinician and Concert Band Editor of Alfred Publications.

The following students won places in the Region Band and many of them placed high enough to go to the next level, Area, and audition for a place in the Texas All-State Band. 

Paula Ajumobi, bass clarinet - Region/Area
James Bay, trombone - Region
Carolyn Bell, clarinet - Region
Noah Chan, French horn - Region
Willy DuCharme, tenor sax - Region/Area
Nicholas Fernandez, flute - Region/Area
TX Harris, bass clarinet - Region/Area
Nicholas Ho, French horn - Region
Saef Iftikhar, percussion - Region/Area
Kanika Kumar, flute- Region/Area
Kunal Kumar, clarinet - Region
Neeshali Odhav, flute - Region/Area
Drew Perlman, percussion, Region
Tarun Srinivasan, clarinet - Region/Area
Faizan Razak, trombone - Region
Jason Yang, oboe - Region/Area
Eric Yu, clarinet - Region/Area

On Saturday, November 8, the Houston Art Society held a juried fall art show. Twenty students from Kinkaid Middle School participated with 22 art pieces. Kinkaid received 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in each of the categories we had entries and acquired a total of 18 ribbons. 

Mixed Media
Matthew McHenry - 1st Place
Eliza Lawrence - 2nd Place     
Lindi Ruthven - 3rd Place
Sally Buck - Honorable Mention
Eliza Griggs - Honorable Mention                         
Andrew DeWalch - Honorable Mention                
Carson Keller - Honorable Mention           
Kate Riley - Honorable Mention                
Sophie Ghauri - Honorable Mention
Alison Zhang - Honorable Mention

Drawing
Kay Masterson - 1st and 2nd place                                   

Sculpture Wire Figures
True Wickman - 1st Place
Carolyn Bivins - 2nd Place  
Kay Masterson - 3rd Place                                                                        
Scott Altsuler - Honorable Mention                                    
Julia Baerenstecher - Honorable Mention                                   

Mask – Sculpture
Caroline Moseley - 3rd Place

At Monday’s Middle School assembly, three Middle School students (Ethan Fang, Suraj Pandit, and Noah Rubinson) gave preview presentations for their TedX talks.  The topics of the presentations included striving for peace, tai kwan do, and special needs children.  The students displayed tremendous confidence and poise while giving their presentation to the audience of the entire Middle School faculty and student body.

These students, along with two Kinkaid Upper School students and one Kinkaid Lower School student, will give "TED talks" at this year's TEDx @ ISAS conference at Episcopal High School on November 15th, 2014.

To watch their talks live on Saturday, November 15th, 2014 between 8:00 am - 2:00 pm, visit the following link: http://new.livestream.com/ehs/events/3557010?origin=event_published&mixpanel_id=f1e6cfbed47e5-05afeec62-43681f0a-2ee000-f1e6cfbed5c28&acc_id=5313150&medium=email

Footage will be available after the event for later viewing. 

On Saturday, November 15, six Kinkaid students from all three divisions presented at Episcopal High School as part of TEDxYouthEHSHouston. This event was part of the fifth annual TEDxYouthday where students gather at sites around the globe to share their passions and spread ideas to spark deep conversations and connections. The theme of this year’s event was “Worlds Imagined.”

Ethan Fang '21 shared why it is important to remember the past and challenged the audience to make the world a better place through the elimination of war and by treating each other with respect. Noah Rubinson '20 shared a personal story and asked students to create connections with people with special needs in order to learn more about yourself. Suraj Pandit '21 discussed the other side of martial arts and how the non-fighting aspects of this activity support traits exemplified by Kinkaid’s core values. Our youngest presenter, Baley Metclaf '23, asked us to see the world through the eyes of reptiles and reconsider their role in our lives. Zach Roubein '16 challenged the age-old notion that we should read instead of watch tv, making the argument that dramatic television allows students to grapple with many moral and ethical dilemmas via the storylines these shows develop. Lastly, Bradlee Few '16 asked us to imagine a world without childhood obesity and provided some alternatives to help combat this issue.

Within a few weeks, these student talks will be posted so that members of the Kinkaid community and the world can view. Congratulations to all of these students!

Kinkaid eighth grade science students recently built mousetrap cars from a basic kit.  Some of the students modified the car design a little.  The students measured distances and times to help them review the concepts of motion including the forces exerted by the mousetraps to make the cars move.  With this activity, the students reviewed all of the concepts covered during the first semester of science in a very practical application.  The students ran the cars and they measured the distances on the sidewalk outside the cafeteria on December 5^th & 8^th, 2014.

Zoom, zoom!  

- Middle School Science teacher Shari Hiltbrand

On Sunday, November 8, the Kinkaid seventh grade speech students competed at the Cypress Falls Speech and Drama Tournament under the direction of Ms. Patty Edwards.  With over 700 students competing from 16 schools, Kinkaid had the highest number of finalists, winning a Sweepstakes Trophy. Students reaching finals had to compete in preliminary rounds and semifinals to be in the top 8 of each division.

TV Commercials
Meredith Huston with Andrew Linhart, 6th place
Sahar Punjwani with Piper Reilly, 7th place

Duet Improvisations
Meredith Huston with Katie Brooks, 2nd place

Humorous
Andrew Linhart, 1st place
Meredith Burpeau, 6th place

Duet Acting
Lee Saunders with Sasha Busa, 4th place
Scott Morey with Andrew Linhart, 5th place
Sofia Bajwa with Alex Nigro, 6th place
Alex Skidmore and Katie Brooks, 7th place

Solo Improvisations 
Alex Caldwell, 2nd place

Oratory
Sahar Punjwani, 2nd place

Individual Pantomime
Andrew Linhart, 7th place

Semifinalists

Solo Mime
Sahar Punjawani
Megan Maclay
Andrew Linhart
Sally Buck

Reader’s Theatre
Russell Burrow, Lauren Hankamer, Adelaide Randall             

Oratory
Sahar Punjwani, Sophia Bajwa                                                    

Duet Acting Katie Brooks and Alex Skidmore
Megan Maclay and Claire Richey
Alex Nigro and Sophia Bajwa
Ryan Erikson and Corbin Kinder
Scott Morey and Andrew Linhart
Derin Baysal and Alex Caldwell
Ellen Chamblee and Carson Keller
Sasha Busa and Lee Saunders
Payton Herleth and Charles Crighton Jeffers
Meredith Huston and Spencer Powers
Strater Zarr and Braxton Robison

Solo Improvisations 
Sahar Punjwani, Alex Caldwell, Russell Burrow and Matthew Riley 

TV Commercials
Russell Burrow, Alex Caldwell, Matthew Riley, Meredith Huston, Andrew Linhart                                              

Humorous
Piper Reilly, Meredith Burpeau, Matthew Riley, Andrew Linhart

Group Improv: Eliza Lawrence, Matthew Bale, Christian Moore, Lee Saunders, Alex Skidmore, Corbin Kinder, Marley Orange, Derin Baysal, Ryan Erikson, Alex Caldwell, Jonathan Mitchell, Matthew McHenry, Jonathan Frumovitz, Michael Camp, Wilson Kelsey, Evelyn Mineo, Scott Morey, Catherine Scott, Brian Shortt, Charles Garrison

Congratulations to all the seventh grade speech students and our finalists.

During last Monday's Middle School assembly, students recognized the life and message of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The program began with a short film by Seb Seager ’19 showing the impact of racism from the 50’s through 2015. Caroline Moseley ’19 beautifully sang a cappella, asking, “Has anyone seen my old friend Martin?” Darius Goodman ’19 spoke to the lasting memory of King’s speech follow by an emotionally packed monologue from “In White America”, the story of a 15 year old black girl and what she encountered when she tried to enter Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, performed by Onuchi Ndee ’19.

Class president Merritt Cozby ’19 introduced special guest Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell. Pastor Caldwell gave a unique and creative speech to help students understand King’s philosophy. Jaelyn Hamilton ’17 closed the assembly with a breathtaking rendition of “Lift every Voice and Sing.”

The MLK program was informative and inspiring. Special thanks to Pastor Caldwell for his tribute.

Hope everyone enjoys their Martin Luther King, Jr Holiday! 

Mary Poppins

Saturday, January 24, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 25, 2:00 p.m.
Brown Auditorium

Based on the books of P.L. Travers and the classic Walt Disney film, this is the story of the Banks family and how their lives change when nanny Mary Poppins arrives at their home on Cherry Tree Lane in London.  Come join our talented cast and crew of 8^th grade students for a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious production and a rollicking good time!  Original music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. Book by Julian Fellowes.  New Songs and Additional Music and Lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.  Produced by special arrangement with Music Theatre International.

Tickets ($10) will be available at the Box Office one hour before each performance.  For more information, please contact the Box Office at 713.243.5442 or box.office@kinkaid.org.

Please congratulate the following Upper and Middle School students who won honors for this year's Scholastic Art and Writing Regional Competition. The Harris County Region received over 1290 submissions this year and awarded 80 gold keys. The work of the gold key recipients will move on to the national competition, which will report the winners in March. 

Art 

Gold Key
Eren Baysal-Photography
Christina Choi-Painting
Morgan Daniel-Photography

Silver Key
Halle Brazda-Photography
Christina Choi-Painting
Charlotte de Marigny-Printmaking
Claire McCarthy-Sculpture
Kristine Yang-Drawing

Honorable Mention
Whitney Burke-Drawing
John Churay-Drawing
Amy Das-Art Portfolio
Robin Kate Davis-Photography X2
Emmy Heyser-Printmaking
Clay Pollock-Drawing
Brooks Thornton-Sculpture

Writing

Gold Key
Emily Ashworth (for an 8-piece portfolio)
Kendyl Bree
Allison Dyer (for an 8-piece portfolio)
John Pederson
Hallie Perlman (for an 8-piece portfolio)

Silver Key
Catherine Baker
Katherine Berman
Andreea Calin
Allison Dyer
Joseph Edwards
Bradlee Few
Zach Roubein
Natalie Thurman

Honorable Mention
Halle Brazda
Emily Grinstead
William Miner
Catalina Parra
Hallie Perlman (for two submissions)
Mitali Sharma

Middle School Honorees
Writing
Caroline Grey Marinell - Gold
Onuchi Ndee - Silver

Art
Sophie Ghauri - Photography - Gold
Sophie Ghauri - Digital - Honorable Mention 

The Middle School girls swim team won the Houston Junior Preparatory Conference (HJPC) swimming championship and set multiple records on February 3, 2014, at the Lamar HS pool.  Both the girls and boys teams combined earned a second place finish overall.  

The Falcon girls earned an astonishing 99 points, 40 points ahead of second place Village School and 42 points ahead of third place St. John's School.  The Falcon boys earned 26 points to take fifth place, but it should be noted the boys team took fifth with only three swimmers Michael Bell, Daniel King and Cameron Rudin.

1^st place finishers:

Audrey Orange (50 Breaststroke, 100 Freestyle)  HJPC records, Kinkaid Records
May Moorefield (100 IM, 50 Butterfly)  Team record 50 Butterfly
Girls 200 Medley Relay (Audrey Orange, Peyton Pivec, May Moorefield, Marley Orange)  HJPC Record, Kinkaid Team Record
Girls 200 Free Relay (Audrey Orange, Peyton Pivec, May Moorefield, Lee Saunders)  HJPC Record, Kinkaid Team Record

To see the meet results, go to HJPC Results.  To see meet records, go to HJPC Records.