Isabella Majzun, a 16-year-old acrobatic juggler and sophomore at LHWHS, has earned a spot with Circus Smirkus, the country’s only traditional traveling youth circus!

Isabella trains at Circus Harmony as a member of the elite acrobatic troupe, the St. Louis Arches, under the direction of Jessica Hentoff, juggling coach Richard Kennison and contortion coach Rosa Yagaantsetseg. The Arches perform most Saturdays in the City Museum at 1 and 3 p.m., and during the month of June behind Powell Hall during Circus Flora. With the Arches, Isabella has performed and trained in Israel, Canada, Washington D.C., Atlanta and Portland.

Last fall, Isabella submitted an audition tape to Smirkus headquarters in Greensboro, Vermont, and was called for a live audition in January. She will travel and work with 29 other performers, ages 12 to 18, who represent some of the world’s most exciting young circus talent. This year’s troupers hail from 13 states: California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, as well as Africa and Canada. Their skills include juggling, wire-walking, clowning, acrobatics, Chinese pole, hula hoop, aerials, and unicycling.

The performers will travel to Greensboro for three weeks of rehearsals at Smirkus headquarters in June, then hit the road for a 66-show tour that touches down in 16 cities and towns in the Northeast over the course of seven weeks. As “Smirkos,” they will join fellow troupers in tasks such as taking care of props, selling tickets and popcorn, and working cooperatively with the professional tent crew, light and sound technicians, equipment riggers, costomer, musicians and others who travel with the one-ring show.

Over the years, Circus Smirkus has become known for its theme-based and “story” shows. Themes have included Chefs, Pirates, the Wild West, and Superheroes, while stories have included original circus versions of “Alice Through the Looking Glass” and “Pinocchio.”

This year, Circus Smirkus celebrates its 30th anniversary with “Midnight at the Museum!”, an exhilarating celebration of what happens when a sleepy museum comes to life after hours. Troy Wunderle is the show’s artistic director, and Mark Lonergan the creative director. Wunderle has been Big Top Tour Artistic Director of Circus Smirkus for 19 years, and serves as Director of Clowning for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He is also founder of Wunderle’s Big Top Adventures, LLC. Lonergan is the Founding Artistic Director of Parallel Exit, and Guest Director for the 2015 – 2106 Big Apple Circus production The Grand Tour.

For information and tickets, visit www.smirkus.org, or call 1-877-SMIRKUS (1-877-764-7587) or email info@smirkus.org.

*Top photo is courtesy of Robert Swanson.*

Congratulations to the City of Olivette! On Saturday, April 22, 2017, the City of Olivette, one of the ten municipalities that comprise the Ladue School District, celebrated the grand opening of the new Olivette City Center! The community was invited to tour the new facility, including the official unveiling of a mosaic tree, designed and coordinated by Lisa Roth, art teacher at Old Bonhomme Elementary School. Old Bonhomme students, city officials, first responders and members of the Olivette community participated in creating this piece of art celebrating the community’s growth, strength and individualism.

“The tree mosaic turned out really great!” Lisa said. “I loved the whole process of bringing our community together through art. Each student artist has a tile included in the mosaic, along with every firefighter, police officer, city administrator, family and community members! This is a huge piece of art (10 feet by 28 feet!), and it will beautify the space for many years.”

Each year, U.S. News & World Report releases its list of best high schools in America. This year, Ladue Horton Watkins High School (LHWHS) was ranked second overall in Missouri and 363rd nationally.

In Missouri, 517 high schools were ranked, with LHWHS being the highest ranked public school and coming in second overall behind Metro Academic and Classical High School, a magnet school of St. Louis Public Schools. In the next three public school spots were Clayton High School, Lafayette High School (Rockwood), and Kirkwood High School.

“We know these rankings are only one measure of our school’s success.  However, we have every reason to be proud of our students and staff districtwide,” said LHWHS Principal Brad Griffith. “This level of achievement begins long before our students enter our doors. It is a testament to the support of our parents, our teaching staff from kindergarten on, and a community that truly values education. We are proud to be the culminating point of that experience and are truly honored to receive this acknowledgment of our students’ dedication and hard work.”

The study’s parameters are based on each individual high school’s performance on state assessments and how well they prepare students for college. These rankings may shift after being released as subsequent information is considered.

For more information, visit www.usnews.com.

On April 25, 2017, Old Bonhomme Elementary School students displayed their artwork with a twist. Using modern technology, visitors were able to learn about any particular art piece via QR Codes. Before the show, visitors downloaded a free QR reader on their smart device (mobile phone, iPad, etc.). Then, they scanned the barcodes on the artwork to hear a familiar voice sharing information about the art piece. New this year was the Eagle Innovator Student Technology group’s special showcase of STEM projects in the gym. Check out the video below to see how the event went!

Ladue Junior Jenna Kalishman’s PSA was recently selected as the winner of the St. Louis Cardinals “Great Save Teen” Public Service Announcement contest. St. Louis students were invited to take part in the National Teen PSA Peer to Peer Crime Prevention Project. Students created a 30-second message on any topic that raises awareness with the goal of preventing teen victimization. As a recognized charity of Major League Baseball, Jenna’s winning video and Ladue Schools will be recognized on the field during a pre-game ceremony with the St. Louis Cardinals. You can view the video below:

Congratulations to the 8th grade Science Bowl team, who placed 4th in the nation in Washington D.C. this weekend! This marks the third year in a row the middle school team has ranked in the top 10 in the country. Their 4th place ranking is a new record for both LMS and the state of Missouri!

The team also took fourth place in Cyber challenge (a second competition that they go into not know exactly what they would have to do). The students were awarded $1000 in prize money for the LMS Science Bowl program!

Team members included: Harry Chen (8), Eric Yin (8), William Pan (7), Stephen Jiang (8) and Jason Ding (8).

“Way to represent, gentlemen!” Coach Martin Long said. “I am going to miss the weekly practices with these five great kids!”

The Academy of Science St. Louis Science Fair has released the results from their competition, and the Ladue School District’s students have performed beautifully!

LMS won one red ribbon; Old Bonhomme won four blue ribbons and one red ribbon; Spoede won six blue ribbons and one green ribbon; Reed won five blue ribbons, six red ribbons and 11 green ribbons. To see the results, click here.

Congratulations to all of the students who participated!

Recently, the Ladue Horton Watkins High School journalism students submitted their work from the past year into state and local competitions. Several students placed in the STL competition, with three taking away Best of Show awards. We also had two students, Katie Bry (12) and Audrey Wang (11), receive top honors in the state-wide competition for their work on the Panorama this year.

Missouri Journalism Education Association State Winners
Story of the Year Winner: Features: Katie Bry (12)
Newspaper Design of the Year State Award Winner: Katie Bry (12)
Art of the Year Winner: Illustration State Award Winner: Audrey Wang (11)
Newspaper Front Page Design Finalist: Aaron Greenberg (12)

Journalism STL Award Winners
Best of Show: Art: Audrey Wang (11)
Superior Award: Commentary: Sophia Li (11)
Excellent Award: News Feature: Katie Bry (12)
Best of Show: Sports Copy: Glen Morgenstern (11)
Honorable Mention: In-Depth Design: Katie Bry (12)
Best of Show: In-Depth Design: Katie Bry (12)
Excellent Award: In-Depth Design: Lily Hauptman (11) + Julia Biest (12)
Honorable Mention: Inside Page Design: Sophia Li (11)

At the annual DECA International Competition, senior Xinyu He was a finalist in the Business Financial Series event, which per her in the top 20 overall!

Competitors qualify by earning top scores at the State level and advance to the International Career Development Conference, which was held in Anaheim, California. Fifteen Ladue Schools students competed for international honors against 19,100 students from across the globe.

Students participate in more than 40 events including principles of business administration, business planning and operations, marketing research, team decision making events, advertising, chapter team projects, leadership academies, and entrepreneurship projects.

DECA’s industry-validated competitive events are aligned with the National Curriculum Standards in the career clusters of marketing, business management and administration, finance, and hospitality and tourism.

The annual African-American Recognition Night at Ladue Middle School was another success! The event was hosted by the LMS Diversity Cadre and was held on Thursday, May 4, at the school’s gymnasium. The event is designed to showcase African-American students’ talents and celebrate their accomplishments in the areas of academics, citizenship and school involvement.

Certificates were issued for academics, citizenship, attendance, and service/school involvement. Several students’ vocal, instrumental and artistic talents were spotlighted, as well. The evening was closed with naming the Anthony Warren Diversity Cadre Students of the Year, Jameson Falconer and Udonne Eke-Okoro!

Check out the photos here from this outstanding event!

Rose Coughlin, a sophomore at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, was recently honored with the Aspirations Award in Computing from the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) for her aptitude and interest in technology and computer, her solid leadership ability, her academic history and plans for post-secondary education. She was one of two area girl scouts honored with the award.

To learn more about Rose’s contributions as a girl scout, check out this article on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Ari Willick wins a third place ribbon for in the Target Test (problem-solving) category.

This past week, four fifth-grade math students placed in the top 10 in the state math contest! These students are eligible to participate in the national contest in June!

The Fifth Grade Center’s team (consisting of the four boys below) came in first place overall. They beat the Parkway West 6th grade team by just a few points. Parkway West beat the FGC’s team in Regionals in March.

Individual Overall Scores for FGC team:
1st Place – Adi Jain
2nd Place – Kevin Tang
6th Place – Aric Wang
7th Place – Rohan Suri

Ten students participated overall. Ari Willick (5) won a third place ribbon in the Target Test (problem solving). Abheek Dhawan (5) won a fourth place ribbon in Target. Jonathan Yao (4) won first place overall for 4th grade.

Congratulations to all students who participated!

Reilly Ahearn, a senior at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, has been in the news lately for his achievements as a golf player. On May 8, Reilly shot 7 under par for a round of 65 to win the sectional golf tournament. His score set an all-time state record for being the lowest round ever in a district, sectional or state tournament!

He has already accepted a scholarship to play at UMSL, which is nationally ranked. But behind all of his success was the loss of his mother, the person who offered constant support and drove him to all of his tournaments. See this segment by News Channel 5 for more on Reilly’s story.

Last week, on May 12, the Missouri MathCounts state team competed in the national competition in Orlando, Florida. The four-student team consisted of three Ladue Middle School students and one Parkway student. The Ladue Schools mathletes are eighth graders Jason Ding, Stephen Jiang and Andrew Wang.

As a team, the Missouri team (3/4 Ladue) placed 18th. Jason Ding placed 34th individually, and Stephen Jiang placed 39th. Congratulations to all of the students who competed!

Seventeen Ladue School District students competed in the U.S. Chess Federation SuperNationals VI tournament from May 11-14 in Nashville, Tennessee. This is the largest-rated chess tournament in history, with 5,577 competitors and 1,586 teams from 50 states.

Students competed in tournament sections according to their grade and U.S. Chess Federation rating. Ten students from Ladue Schools returned to St. Louis with trophies from their individual tournament sections.

Ayden Huang (1) from Conway Elementary competed in the K-1 Championship section and finished in 20th place among 191 players. Aaron Lin (2) from Conway Elementary played in the K-3 Championship section and finished 25th in a field of 214 students.

Sahil Chatwal (4) from Spoede Elementary played in the K-8 Under 750 section, and Celina Zhou (3) from Spoede Elementary competed in the K-3 Championship section.

Zachary Barrett from the Ladue Fifth Grade Center played in the K-6 Blitz tournament and finished 3rd among players rated 800 to 899. He also competed in the K-5 Under 900 section and finished 25th among 521 players.

Arya Bhushan (7) and Katie Eisenman (8) from Ladue Middle School competed in the K-8 Under 1000 section, both finishing in 20th place among a field of 249 players. As a team, Arya and Katie finished in 34th place out of 44 teams.

Roshen Chatwal (7) and Joshua Fundler (7) from LMS played in the K-12 Under 1200 section, with Roshen finishing in 22nd place among a field of 365 players. As a team, Roshen and Joshua finished in 49th place out of 69 teams. Roshen also competed in the K-9 Blitz tournament.

Benjamin Liu (7) from LMS competed in the K-12 Under 1600 section, finishing in 16th place out of 490 players. Ian Rothstein (7) from LMS played in the K-8 Under 750 section.

Benjamin Shoykhet (6) and Andrew Teh (6) from LMS competed in the K-6 Championship section. Benjamin finished in 20th place out of the field of 152 players. As a team, Benjamin and Andrew finished in 13th place out of 19 teams.

Iris Zhou (7) from LMS played in the K-8 Championship section.

Sophie Kras (9) from LHWHS competed in the K-12 Under 800 section. Jason Pummer (9) from LHWHS competed in the K-9 Under 1250 section, finishing in 5th place out of 218 players.

Zachary Millsap (12) from LHWHS competed in the K-12 Under 1600 section, finishing in 25th place out of 490 players.

On Sunday, May 21, the high school science olympiad team made history at the national competition at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.  The previous top finish at the national competition was many years ago, when the team finished in 17th place.  This year, the team finished in 11th!

These students put in countless hours of hard work and dedication. They finished in the top six (and were called up on stage) in six different events as well as the one trial event! Patrick Naughton and Kevin Jiang performed spectacularly in optics and finished first in the nation in that event!

Below is a list of all the students who participated.

Luke Biernbaum (12)
Abhay Cashikar (11)
Justin Chen (11)
Anna Cramblitt (12)
Noah Goldman (11)
Kevin Jiang (10)
Akhil Kondepudi (10)
Annie Liu (11)
Charlie Loitman (11)
Patrick Naughton (12)
Seema Patil (10)
Raj Paul (10)
Katie Shaw (9)
Jackie Zeng (10)
Stephanie Zhong (12)
Anna Zhong, Alt. (9)

On Friday, May 12, Ms. Johnson’s 2nd grade class performed in Marvin’s Songfest, an annual event at the school. Marvin, a resident of Ladue Schools and a parent of Ladue Schools graduates, has visited Spoede for the past 18 years to teach students old classic songs.

Marvin teaches the kids oldies but goodies, according to Ms. Johnson. These include patriotic songs (Yankee Doodle, Star Spangled Banner,…), some show tunes songs (My Favorite Things, Do Re Mi, … ), and Disney songs (Whistle While You Work, Zippity Doo Dah, It’s a Small World,…). He also teaches them some real oldies (Sing a Song, Abba Dabba Honeymoon).

Her students practice once to twice a month with Marvin and then put on the songfest in May and invite the entire school, along with parents and friends.

About 20 years ago, Marvin began as Ms. Johnson’s OASIS tutor. Every time he came to pick up the student that he was tutoring, he would come into the room to sing songs to the rest of the students. The following year, he asked if he could just come in and sing with the kids. The rest is history.

Along with being a Ladue Schools community member, he also owned a pharmacy with his brother in Creve Coeur for years. He was known as the singing pharmacist. Marvin is 84 years old and just stopped working this year. He still performs, though, and is part of a group that puts shows every year to raise money for cancer research!

“Marvin is so wonderful and has given a lot of his time over the years to share his talents with us,” Ms. Johnson said. “He is such an interesting and giving man.”