Natalie Waters has been promoted to Highland Park High School’s choir director effective Aug. 18. She has served as assistant choir director at HPHS since 2005 and as Highland Park Middle School’s choir director since 2007. Waters previously served as assistant choir director at Abilene High School.

“I am delighted that Natalie Waters has been chosen to serve as choir director for HPHS,” said HPHS Principal Patrick Cates. “She is a gifted teacher and director who enjoys a wonderful working relationship with her students. We are fortunate that she will bring her experience, talent, and energy to continue the traditions of our award-winning choir program.”
Waters earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Texas Tech University and will complete her master’s degree from Southern Methodist University in August of 2009.
“I am so excited to begin this next year as the choir director at Highland Park High School,” Waters said. “This year’s seniors are the freshmen that I started with here in HPISD. It is amazing to have the chance to spend my first year as director with students I already have a relationship with and to guide them to the next level of memorable music

making.”

Waters and her husband of three years, Dr. Jarod Waters, reside in Dallas.

Clark’s interviewed Elwonger before, for a story she wrote about the DARE program at McCullough Intermediate.

Apparently, ‘Officer Hollywood,” [the nickname a group of sixth graders gave her] didn’t like the story, because when Clark contacted her and asked to talk about the recent controversy, Elwonger said she didn’t think too highly of Clark’s reporting skills.

“You’re probably going to slant this like you did the other story you wrote about me and stab me in the back. With a knife.”

I’m not exactly sure how the DARE story was slanted, but for someone who wanted to be in the spotlight of the small screen, she sure is shy of Park Cities People.

And by the way, poster “JC,” you’re wrong about SMU taking the logo from Ford. They took it from us. [Sorry, it's a .pdf, but scroll down or search "Ford Mustang" in the document, you'll get the story]

Also, I don’t think SMU will be putting its lawyer pants on to fight Mustang Realty, they’re a pretty big athletics sponsor at the school.

The SMU Athletic Department and the University Park Library will host a “Story Time With The Mustangs” on Tuesday, June 17, at 6:30 p.m. at the U.P. City Library near the corner of Hillcrest and Daniel. SMU’s DeMyron Martin, Thomas Morstead, Emmanuel Sanders and Andrew Galloway will read stories and sign autographs for the children in attendance.

Sorry for the late notice, if anyone wanted to attend, but I just received this release a few minutes ago myself.

Should there be an age limit?

1. There were two fire trucks (my favorite, the hook-and-ladder, was there) and three police cars on the southbound Central Expy. access road just south of Mockingbird this morning around 9 a.m. Couldn’t tell if it was a fire or a car accident they were addressing, as the road was closed and traffic was diverted back onto Abbott. Anyone got details?

2. Remember last year’s rainy June? According to official totals, Dallas got 11.1 inches of rain this month last year, far above our 100-year average of 3.23 inches in June. It had been 25 years since Dallas saw more rain in a single month, and 80 years since we saw a rainier June. Heck, the Trinity River was five feet above its flood stage on June 30, 2007. Isn’t the Trinity flooding over the levees one of the seven signs of Armageddon? Granted, its June 4, but for the record, Dallas has a rain-meter reading of 0.00 so far this month.

3. How about an update on the SMU men’s basketball team, which went on a safari yesterday in South Africa’s Pilanesburg National Park are part of their 15-day trip to Africa and the hometowns of three of its players — Papa Dia and Bamba Fall (both from St. Louis, Senegal), and Mouhammad Faye (Dakar, Senegal). Monday they visited Soweto, South Africa, the hometown of Nobel Prize Winners Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. The whole team took a 3-hour anthropology class called People of Africa in preparation for the trip. They return home from Johannesburg tomorrow. A chronicle of the trip and player diaries are here.

4. Five day after HPHS graduation and nothing has shown up on the local police reports about any house-party busts or underage drinking. After a busy May with multiple stories on underage drinking, it’s a welcome change. We have enough other things to report on.

The YWCA of Metropolitan Dallas Board of Directors recently elected Dr. Cathy Bryce, superintendent of schools for the Highland Park Independent School District, as its 2008-2010 board president. Dr. Bryce succeeds Ka Cotter, retired Staubach vice chairman, who will remain on the board and executive committee as immediate past president.

 

“Cathy Bryce’s induction as president comes at an important time in the YWCA’s history,” said Cotter. “As 2008 marks the 100^th anniversary of the YWCA in Dallas, Cathy will be the first president of the YWCA’s second century of service to the community. And as the last president of our first 100 years of service, I am confident that her distinguished record as an educator and administrator will lead this organization to even more great things.”

 

Dr. Bryce started her career in 1975 as a choir director and English teacher in Arapaho, Okla., before moving into school administration in 1987. She was named superintendent of schools for Weatherford ISD in 1997 and held the position until joining Highland Park ISD in July 2001. Dr. Bryce currently serves on the Legislative Committee for the Texas Association of School Administrators, on the Executive Committee for the Texas Schools Coalition, and as chair of the Texas LEAD Center. In addition to the YWCA, her community involvement includes the Advisory Council of the Elisa Project and the Advisory Board of the Dallas Museum of Natural Science. She is an ex-officio member of the board of the Highland Park Arts, a member of the Board of Directors for the Circle Ten Council of Boy Scouts of America and a member of the Park Cities Rotary Club.

 

“Dr. Bryce’s strong track record as an advocate for children and the community and her four years of service on the board make her an excellent choice for president,” said YWCA CEO Barbara Mosacchio. “She has overseen dramatic improvements in student achievement, knows how to mobilize the community to take action on critical issues, and has the familiarity with fund-raising campaigns and organizational finance to lead a top-tier agency like the YWCA.”

 

As Dr. Bryce focuses on her new duties as president, Ms. Cotter remains committed to serving the YWCA and will continue to serve as a member of the executive committee of the board. During her tenure as president, Ms. Cotter led the YWCA toward several important milestones. Under her leadership, the board achieved its highest level of fundraising ever and adopted a gender-neutral position for the agency. As a result, the YWCA welcomed its first male directors in its 100-year history to the board in 2007. Cotter led the agency through the launch of its centennial celebration and will join Erle Nye in leading the YWCA’s upcoming endowment campaign.

 

“Ka has been an amazing example for me to follow,” said Bryce. “She and I both joined the YWCA board in 2004 and have worked closely together during the past four years. I truly admire the way Ka has led the agency, and I am thankful that she will be continuing on with us as immediate past president. Her deep understanding of the YWCA’s purpose and her passion for the women we serve make her a priceless resource.”

Dear HPISD Parents & Friends,

Last night’s WFAA-Channel 8’s 10 p.m. newscast included the story we’ve been waiting to see about Sam Davison being wait listed at Vanderbilt. In the end, Sam was accepted to Vanderbilt, so congratulations are in order.

This story has been on hold for more than a month, so we were glad to see it air. To watch the story, click here: http://www.wfaa.com/video/index.html?nvid=251163 (There will be an ad before the story, so hang in there!)

Way to go, Sam!

The district, the Overheardian says, claims to be “going in a different direction.” Word is that the guards were not giving any advance warning, nor were the principals at those respective schoos who had to issue the dismissals.
Parents are upset . . . stay tuned.