Back Talk Lake Highlands

Will Smith and Tony Romo: More on the slideshow

Thanks to Richardon ISD's communications director Liz Morse, I added a few more pics to the slideshow this morning, so you may want to take a look. (Everyone needs a Friday diversion, right?)

Speaking of slideshows, if you ever have photos of a neighborhood event, we'd love to create a slideshow of them on our multimedia page. Just let us know at blog@advocatemag.com. Or if you have general photos of your kids, pets or life in the neighborhood, upload them here, and we'll post them to the website.

How Will Smith wound up at an LHHS pep rally

So the big question on everyone's minds after hearing that Will Smith and Tony Romo made a surprise visit to Lake Highlands High School's pep rally yesterday was, "Why?" According to Advocate columnist and RISD school board member Luke Davis, "this was, believe it or not, a cold call."

I talked to Davis, LHHS principal Walter Kelly and RISD spokeswoman Liz Morse today about the whirlwind of the celebrity visit. "Will Smith, apparently, when he goes to these towns promoting these movies, he likes to do good," Morse says. "He is philanthropic, and he knows that he can make a positive impact, and he particularly is interested in children."

Kelly says the school received a call Monday afternoon from the advertising agency representing the premiere of his new movie, "Seven Pounds", and was "basically looking for a high school had a high degree of school spirit." They were looking for an opportunity for Smith to speak to a lot of kids at once, Morse says, and with two Lake Highlands teams going to the playoffs, that was appealing to him.

Will Smith and Tony Romo video

YouTube is chock full of video this morning detailing yesterday's visit to Lake Highlands High School by the movie star and the Cowboys star. (Though no Jessica Simpson sightings, apparently). I counted four videos, and no doubt I missed several. This is from mnhaos.

I especially like Smith's sweater and tie look -- almost Richie Cunningham-like. And those cheerleaders in back of Smith? They are quite excited, aren't they?

Still on Cloud Nine from Romo and Smith's visit

     I couldn't sleep last night. Visions of Tony Romo and Will Smith were dancing in my head. I could hear the voices of LHHS students enjoying the day. "Oh my gosh, that was so cool!" said Sarah Thompson of the drill team. "Will Smith hugged me!" raved Caroline Snively of the volleyball team (thank you mom, Sid, for these great photos). "My friends and I watch Will Smith on Fresh Prince of Bel Air on reruns all the time. It was really nice of them to come out and help us get ready for the big game," said Travis Crawford, safety on the football team. "Everyone got loud when Will Smith was getting us pumped up, but we were all completely silent when he had something to say," remembered Austin Jones. "It was very exciting to meet them in person," cheerleader Eden Aune told me. "We got to touch them and ask them questions, and Tony said his pinkie would be 100% in two weeks."

"Tony Romo is my hero," said junior quarterback Ricky Zorn. "He never lets anything stop him - he always believes he can reach his goals." Paige Benton of the volleyball team agreed - "Will Smith was the nicest guy ever. He told us as a team to go after what we want fearlessly, which inspired us as the underdog team." Senior Andrew Atama was impressed - "Will Smith shared advice that Quincy Jones had given him. He said we need to be relentless to get where we want to go." What an amazing experience for these kids.

Will Smith and Tony Romo: The slideshow

Neighborhood bloggers Carol Toler and JJ Pair were both front and center today when Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and actor/musical artist Will Smith dropped in for a surprise visit at LHHS. You can read their takes on the hoopla here and here, and view a slideshow of their photos here.

Was that Will Smith and Tony Romo at LHHS today?!

It’s an exciting time for LHHS, what with the Football, Volleyball, Tennis and Cross Country teams all District champs.  Just in case that weren’t exciting enough for the kids - and the community at large — the Fresh Prince and Dallas’ own Tony Romo decided to drop by the school for a Pep Rally this afternoon. They showed up at LHHS at 2 pm to get the crowd rockin’ and rollin’ in The Pursuit of Happyness for a couple of big nights:  Friday in San Marcos (Lady Wildcats face Austin Westlake) and Saturday in Corsicana (Wildcats against Tyler John Tyler).  

By the way the crowd reacted,  you’d thought the gym was the Wild, Wild West.  These are a couple of Bad Boys that got the fans pumped.  Go Cats!

Tony Romo and Will Smith visit LHHS

Today, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and movie star Will Smith led a pep rally at Lake Highlands High School.

With the Lady Wildcat volleyball team headed to San Marcos for the state semi-finals and the football team going to Corsicana for the second round of playoffs, a pep rally seemed in order. But no one could have ever guessed that these two celebrities would attend, let alone linger and mix with the kids. In the band hall before the pep rally, at the request of Smith and Romo, they answered kids' questions and doled out hugs with no press permitted. Smith had advice for the students, and for the teams in particular - "Be fearless and be relentless." Romo told them from experience, "Every passing moment is an opportunity to turn things around."  Smith and Romo had only one demand - that the day be all about the kids. And the crowd went wild...

Around the web: Public education edition

A regular roundup of stuff that wouldn't necessarily make it on the blog, but is worth noting. Today, public education news -- and, apparently, the DISD isn't the only district with problems.

• The Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD fired its superintendent last week. Superintendent Annette Griffin was ousted after being arrested for drunk driving and then not reporting the arrest. Said one trustee: "It was not an easy decision for me in light of Dr. Griffin's significant contributions to the district over the last decade. But the superintendent must be a role model for the staff and the students. What has transpired was a breach of trust to the board and the community."

• In Lancaster, the board fired superintendent Larry Lewis Monday after he apparently withheld information from the board and tampered with members' mail. He may also have made loans with district money and spent $800,000 to hire employees who were not in the budget. Lewis' lawyer said his client had no knowledge of alleged loans and that there was no need for the superintendent to notify the board about hiring additional employees because there was money in the budget to pay for them.

• The Arlington ISD is on its third superintendent this year. Long-time superintendent Mac Bernd retired in January, and his replacement, Hector Montenegro, was forced to resign in July after questions arose about his dealings with nonprofits that did business with the district. Jerry McCullough has been interim superintendent since.

Technorati Tags: public education,schools,superintendent firings,Carrollton-Farmers Branch,Lancaster,Arlington

Blast off to LHE for dinner and some science

If you head over to Lake Highlands Elementary this Thursday at 5:30 pm, not only can you get a great deal on a hot meal but you can also be blinded by science and mesmerized by math (for those of you who are numerically gifted).  While you dine, you'll be entertained by the world famous LHE second graders too.  Such a deal!

The third annual Science/Math Night at the school promises to be a good meal and a fun time.  The 4th grade parents are again offering up a dinner of steaming hot baked potatoes with all the fixin's and cool crisp salads at the best prices in town.  There will be all sorts of experiments set up, manned by the teachers and guaranteed to test your brain power and sense of adventure.

Rumor has it there will be a visit from 'Rocket Man'.  Who can resist that opportunity?

Thursday November 20th, 5:30 pm, Lake Highlands Elementary, 9501 Ferndale, 469 593-2100

LHHS playoffs for volleyball AND football

  What's a good Lake Highlands family to do?!?  Friday night, November 21, the Lady Wildcat volleyball team will face powerhouse Austin Westlake at Texas State University's Strahan Coliseum in San Marcos at 7 pm. If they win, they'll meet the winner of Amarillo versus Clear Creek Saturday night at 5 pm at the same location for the state championship. But...

Saturday night at 6 pm, hundreds of miles away in Corsicana (take a virtual stadium tour), your Wildcat football team will kick off against Tyler John Tyler. (See this article in the Dallas Morning News documenting similarities between this year's journey and that of the 1997 team.)

Already, the playoffs have split LH families down the middle, as they did when the volleyball team played in Huntsville Friday night during the football playoff game in Plano, and some went north while others headed south to demonstrate their loyalty. This time, some neighborhood organizations are having to scramble to keep neighborhood events from conflicting. "We're adjusting the times of our "Disciple Now" program," said Melissa Alloway, who serves as a discussion leader for youth at LH United Methodist Church. "We scheduled this weekend event months ago, but we know the kids don't want to miss the games. We figure it's a great problem to have, so we are being flexible." Busy weekend ahead, go Cats!