Damage to the Pflugerville ISD Transportation Center last week was caused by high winds estimated at 60 miles per hour, according to the Travis County Office of Emergency Management.
Travis County officials released the data on Jan. 26, a day after damage to the district’s bus barn led to a two-hour delay of some buses and the cancellation of other routes that morning. PISD officials encouraged parents to instead drop students off at schools if possible.
The Travis County Emergency Management office also reported that one home was destroyed and damage along Commercial Park Drive and Walnut Park just south of Highway 290 was caused by a tornado with winds ranging up to 100 miles an hour.

The City Council voted 6-0 in favor of a resolution showing its support for the district’s involvement in the Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition. PISD Superintendent Charles Dupre has become president of the coalition, which includes more than one-third of the state’s school districts.

“As we go forward, we can say our city stands with us,” PISD Board President Elva Gladney said during the Jan. 24 City Council meeting.

“We’re glad to walk hand-in-hand with you in service to this community,” PISD Board Vice-President Vernagene Mott added at the meeting.

City Council members said the vote provides verbal backing, but doesn’t include financial support.

– Marcial Guajardo

The district around 7 a.m. Wednesday reported the damage to the bus barn made it impossible for buses to safely leave the area. Officials encouraged parents to drop students off at school if possible, and noted middle school and high school buses would not run that morning.

Shortly before 8 a.m., the district reported elementary school buses would run on a two-hour delay. All PISD schools were reported to have power and operating on normal schedules.

– Marcial Guajardo

Shortly after 9:30 a.m. that Thursday, Hendrickson High School administrators made the decision to keep all students in their first period classrooms, after a “vague report called in” to the school, Hendrickson Principal Devin Padavil noted in an electronic news update that morning.

Students were prohibited from entering hallways and vehicles entering the campus lots were searched by Pflugerville Police. In addition, a “strong law enforcement presence” was noted around Murchison Elementary, Kelly Lane Middle School and Hendrickson.

Students at Kelly Lane and Murchison were also kept inside buildings until an “all clear” call was given by police, which came by 10:45 a.m. PISD officials stated all campuses would operate on normal schedules the rest of the day, and an increased police presence would be maintained at Hendrickson.

Authorities did not disclose the nature of the “suspicious call” to Hendrickson but no arrests were made. Students, however, were prohibited from leaving the campus that day for lunch, as is normally allowed.

Later that day, Travis County Sheriff’s officials noted that Manor High School was evacuated after a grenade scare at about 8 a.m. The grenade turned out to be a non-explosive novelty, but the person accused of possessing the grenade in his vehicle, 20-year-old Jesus Delacruz Carbajal of Austin, was held by authorities. Carbajal, believed to have a Social Security card with a fictitious name, was later charged with tampering with a governmental record, a third-degree felony.

– Marcial Guajardo

Pflag Reporter

Students from all three Pflugerville ISD high schools wrapped shooting Monday on a short film they plan to enter into this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

This marked the second year of the school district’s collaboration with Round Rock-based film producer Midian Films to organize a student project for the famed international film fest in Cannes, France.

“I think we’re all more experienced and that’s really huge for us since last year was kind of a pilot,” Connally High video technology teacher Humberto Perez said. “This year we had a plan, having already been through it one year. It was a little more difficult because we had to incorporate students from all three high schools. It got bigger fast, and that was a huge challenge but they’ve been a very productive group – a great group.”

The program started at Connally last year with the film “Fallen,” which was accepted to Cannes and gave a rare opportunity for a handful of CHS students to attend the festival and present their work.

The district worked with Midian Film founders Dana Glover and Michelle Carter to form the nonprofit organization Cinema Du Cannes to back this year’s student effort, and expand participation to Hendrickson and Pflugerville High.

Connally senior Irving Juarez was one of the select students who got to attend Cannes last year – an opportunity he said was eye-opening.

“It takes you into the world of filmmaking and how it goes from being a hobby to an actual profession,” Juarez said. “People around the world are actually doing this for a living.”

Juarez returned to the project this year as Cinema Du Cannes’ director of operations, and he has his hands in everything from mentoring the film’s co- directors, to helping move lights and assemble equipment. The nonprofit is about to start its publicity push and hopes to raise much-needed funds to send students overseas with their film.

Juarez said the crew learned from the previous year’s mistakes, and despite the addition of students from HHS and PHS, collaboration was believed to be better this year.

“I was watching the DVD from last year, and just looking at the behind-the-scenes footage, and the way the students work – we move efficiently and we know how to work because of last year,” Juarez said.

This year’s film, “Carney’s Darkness” is a 15-minute drama about a terminally ill man’s reflection on life, told through flashbacks. The script was written by Hendrickson High School student Justin Mendoza, and is being co-directed by Paige Marshall from Pflugerville High and Alexis Campanile of Hendrickson.

“From the minute we met, we connected. It’s like our minds are the same,” Marshall said. “We never got the time to actually sit down and talk about what our vision was, so we were kind of playing it by ear.”

After countless script readings and an exhaustive casting process, Campanile and Marshall said they share a vision for the narrative, and direct the film based on the variety of emotions they hope to evoke from its audience.

Last year, all but one of the actors were PISD high school students. This year only one of the film’s 11 cast members is a PISD student, and actors range in age from 10 to 50 years old.

“We were making casting calls all over, and in a matter of three days we had over 70 people who wanted to come audition,” Juarez said.

Glover and Carter act as hands-off mentors to the crew of 53 teenagers, who they said worked well together.

“Honestly it went smoother [than last year],” Glover said. “The group of kids was more cohesive and they worked better together. I think that’s because we had students that had a lot of experience, and students that had no experience at all who were more willing to listen.”

Carter said the students showed progress in their moviemaking I.Q., but that working with teenagers requires the accommodation of the gamut when it comes to their professionalism and interest levels.

“There’s a difference in maturity levels here, and though they all may love film, there are different levels of love for film,” Carter said. “The shots [this year] were set up more cinematically… That’s because of their being able to talk with each other and not feeling threatened by each other. I think more collaboration is there.”

To save time under their strict production deadlines, the students have been editing scenes daily. With the filming wrapped, the crew plans to finish postproduction and have a final rough cut of the film edited by Feb. 8.

Cinema Du Cannes will premiere “Carney’s Darkness” at Connally High on Feb. 17, and plans currently call for a screening at the Tinsletown Cinemark.

Campanile and Marshall said after the hours they’ve poured into the project since late September of last year, they are more excited to view the finished product than they are about the possibility of going to France.

The Cannes Film Festival runs May 16-27. Juarez said he wants his crewmates to know what it feels like to place their film’s promotional card among the hordes of other festival entrants big and small at the Palais des Festivals.

He said the red carpet events in Cannes were so star-studded, catching glimpses of immortal film icons became commonplace after a short while.

“We got to see Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise – everybody,” Juarez said. “There were times we were just laying at the beach and we’d look to our left and a TV crew would be interviewing all over the place.”

By Adrienne Dale

Special to the Pflag

It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and this February about 30 students from the Hendrickson High School Choir will travel to Washington, D.C. to perform at the National President’s Day Choral Festival at the John. F. Kennedy Center.

When the choir had to back out from an invitation to sing at Carnegie Hall last year due to scheduling conflicts, they were then approached to perform for the Presidents Day celebration.

“A lot of times, when groups are invited to go places, other places hear about them,” choir director Kay Peyton said. “We got a call from Music Celebrations and were asked if we would be interested in singing at the Kennedy Center.”

After submitting their University Interscholastic League performances to the director, the choir was approved for the festival.

While the choir has been planning for this trip since January of last year, they are experiencing a bit of a shortfall when it comes to fundraising.

“We have raised about 30 to 40 thousand dollars so far,” Peyton said. “We still have about $25,000 more to go.”

The group was able to teach a guitar class that raised almost $1,000 and received a boost through local business donations. However, a large part of the shortfall was contributed to the severe drought that has plagued the area over the summer and fall of this year.

“We had hoped to raise quite a bit more, but one of the things that hit us was this drought,” Peyton said. “We had hoped to have a lot of car washes and cookouts. But with this drought, that just wasn’t a possibility.”

The group even put out a sort of babysitting service called Camp Rockstar at which students taught and cared for young performers over the summer.

“We were hoping to raise about $1,000 per student so that their portion would only be about $500,” Peyton said. “Unfortunately at this point, the parents

have to pay almost $1,000 per student just so they can attend. We originally had about 60 students signed up, but with the economy and lack of fundraising, the numbers have just dropped.”

Currently, the choir attending this trip will be comprised of students from all four grade levels.

“All of our singers are very good,” Peyton said. “We didn’t need any auditions for who would go or not. It was pretty much who wanted to work really hard and who wanted to put in the time and money.”

Directing the concert at the Kennedy Center will be Andre J. Thomas, director of choral activities at Florida State University. Some of the students have worked with Thomas before when he directed the Texas All-State Choir.

“Dr. Thomas is an amazingly well known and studied man whose specialty is spirituals,” Peyton said. “He is also known for writing a lot of American songs about America. This is a very unique opportunity for our students to go and hear from a young up and coming director.”

The students will leave on Feb. 17 and return on Feb. 21. The concert is slated for Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

There will be a total of six choirs performing, one from New York, one from Alabama, three from North Carolina and Hendrickson.

All choirs will perform together with the set list including John Rutters’ “Gloria,” Howard Hansons’ “Song of Democracy” along with four original songs composed by Thomas.

While in Washington, D.C., the Hendrickson Choir will also be able to participate in the U.S. Military Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

Hendrickson will also be performing its own stand-alone concert at the Fairfax Retirement Home for Military Officers.

Those who want to donate to the Hendrickson Choir may send a check payable to Hendrickson Hawk Choir. The checks can be mailed or brought into Hendrickson High School, 2905 FM 685, Pflugerville, TX, 78660.

The choir will also be hosting a spaghetti dinner fundraiser Friday evening from 4:30-7 p.m. at the Blackhawk Amenity Center, located at 3111 Speidel Drive in Pflugerville.

Beginning in the spring of 2012, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam will replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam. At the high school level, starting with the current ninth-grade cohort, students in their first year of high school will be required to successfully complete a total of 12 end-of-course assessments to meet graduation requirements.

This spring, ninth-grade students will take four EOC exams in core content areas of math, English, social studies and science.

Information sessions will be held from 7 – 8 p.m. on each high school campus and 6:30 p.m. at all middle schools cafeterias.

Sessions:

Westview Middle School: Monday, Jan. 9

Kelly Lane Middle School: Tuesday, Jan. 10

Pflugerville Middle School: Wednesday, Jan. 18

Dessau Middle School: Wednesday, Jan. 18

Park Crest Middle School: Wednesday, Jan. 25

Pflugerville High School Lecture Hall (main entrance): Wednesday, Jan. 11

Hendrickson High School Lecture Hall (Fine Arts Center): Wednesday, Jan. 18

Connally High School Lecture Hall (Fine Arts Center): Monday, Jan. 23

PISD officials said elementary dates are still being added. Check pfisd.net or contact your campus for more information.

Pflugerville staff, parents and community members are invited to attend.

Gov. Rick Perry has proclaimed January as School Board Recognition Month.

Photo by Marcial Guajardo

The Hendrickson High School Silver Dancers performed its “A Tribute to Heroes” spring show May 6-7 at the Hendrickson Performing Arts Center. Pictured: Jayna McGarity, Crystal Gonzales, Ambri’shon Curry and Kymberli Lofton get ready for work.