Although it was Senior Night, the Cowboys effort was not enough to pull of a win, losing to Keller Central, 43-41.

Senior point guard Warren Oishi paced the Cowboys with 15 points, Austin Mankin added 9 points on three three-pointers in the first half, but the Cowboys were held to 14 points over the last two quarters.

After starting the game on a 10-8 run, the Cowboys were held to just 3 more points, as Keller answered with a 6-3 run of their own.

The Cowboy rebounding the entire game was not good, resulting in a slim one-point halftime lead, at 27-26.

Right out of the gate, senior post Jett Raines laid the ball in for two of his eight points on the night. The Keller defense stymied Raines, keeping him nine points under his season average (17.6).

The second half was almost the opposite of the first. Shots did not seem to be dropping for the Cowboys at all, as they were outscored, out-rebounded, and outplayed during the final two frames of the game.

“In the second half there was just kind of a lid on the basket,” Mankin said, “we couldn’t really make plays at the other end when we got stops.”

In the closing seconds of the game, after a defensive rebound by the Cowboys, Coppell inbounded the ball to try to get one final play off before the buzzer. Mankin shot a three that clanged off the rim, but Raines got his hands on it and tried to tip it in, to no avail.

Coppell drops to 22-8 on the season, 8-4 in district play.

Fifteen members of the Coppell High School Swim & Dive Team will travel to The Colony this weekend, Jan. 10 and 11, for the Region II meet. Swimmers who placed in the Top 6 at the District meet on Jan. 28 have advanced.

Among the swimmers advancing to the regional meet are Hayden Henry (200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke), Lauren Kuechler (200 IM and 100 butterfly), Luke Meyer (50 and 100 freestyle), Josh Chanin (100 backstroke), Kristian Chanin (100 butterfly), Shannon Wheeler (50 freestyle) and all of the relay teams.

Henry set school records in the 200 IM and breaststroke with times of 1:55.28 and 58.95, respectively. Altogether, the Cowboys placed 2nd while the Cowgirls placed 4th. The team is pleased by the results at the district meet, as most times were personal bests, and is optimistic about the Region II meet.

With the relay teams included, fifteen Coppell swimmers will represent CHS at the regional meet. If these Cowboys and Cowgirls can overcome fierce competition there, top finishers will advance to the state meet.

Getting to school on time is hard enough for teen drivers who have to battle the roads in order to make it in time for the bell; unfortunately, the usually trek to school is going to meet a new challenge.

One of the busiest roads in Coppell, Belt Line Road, will have its southbound lane north of the Dividend will be closed due to street repairs.

The past couple of days have presented continuous construction delays and  inconveniences for citizens; especially during the heavy traffic time, before school. It has been a challenge for students to work around construction, but thankfully, the worst is over and the road is to be finished by the morning of Feb. 8.

There is still one more day left of construction, and the city of Coppell is urging its citizens to be more aware of the traffic signs and take safety precautions when driving in the morning. It’s better to be late to class then to be injured.

Fresh off of a state championship for the third season in a row, the Coppell Cowboys lacrosse team has begun practice, and will be playing its first game Feb. 17 against Episcopal Houston School.

Coppell Lacrosse practices at Leslie Field to prepare for their game against Episcopal Houston School on Feb. 17. Photo by Jack Ficklen.

Much like the state champion volleyball team, CLAX will be starting the season with a new coach, Alex Poole, who played college lacrosse at Maryland. Poole’s eight years of coaching experience will be complemented by former player and coach of the University of Virginia, Joe Thompson.  Thompson was the Cavaliers team captain in 2005 when they lost in the Final Four in an overtime game against eventual championship winner Johns Hopkins.

This year’s team is made up of 10 seniors, four juniors and three sophomores including second-year goalie Johnathan Ferree, who, as a freshman, stood in goal for the team’s third consecutive state championship.

Last year, the team moved up to Division I competition after previous success in Division II and took it by storm, making it all the way to the championship where they dominated competition. With the end of the 2011 season, came the end of several key seniors’ seasons, including Brandon Mullins and Tyler Landis, who are now playing college lacrosse. Senior captain Zane Zoda is confident, though.

“It is not going to be as easy as last season,” Zoda said. “But we are going to work hard and make something out of this season.”

Poole sees potential in this year’s squad.

“There is some tremendous leadership at each grade level,” Poole said.

Though not a captain, sophomore Johnathan Ferree will be leading the team’s defense and standing in goal. Ferree has been playing lacrosse for six years and has stood in goal since day one.

“Johnathan is fantastic,” Poole said. “He started as a freshman on varsity and won a Division I state championship which is almost unheard of in Texas lacrosse.”

Chase Porter, Austin Watters and Ethan Evans are senior captains who will be leading Coppell’s midfield. Zoda is the only captain on the defensive end, and junior Henry Busch will be leading Coppell’s attack line.

“We have a lot of seniors who kind of got overshadowed by last year’s seniors,” Ferree said, “Four of our captains were juniors last year who didn’t get to play much behind the seniors, and now they have stepped up and become captains.”

Lacrosse has been a consistently produced winning seasons, and with strong leadership from new coaches and new seniors, and the Cowboys hope they can continue their streak at the state tournament.

Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own. – Nikos Kazantzakis

Morgan Hobgood and Chris Reed visit their former teacher, DeLana Attaway 2 weeks after her return from the hospital. Photo by Jodie Woodward.

When Coppell Middle School North teacher DeLana Attaway, was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma brain cancer in December, the news came as a shock to students who had grown close to the teacher who dedicated her life not only to making learning more enjoyable, but to creating a special bond with her students.

“Everyone loves It’s a Wonderful Life, and when you realize your life has touched someone else’s, it is so humbling because you do not think of yourself as anything special—and I don’t think of myself as anyone special,” Attaway said.

Attaway did, however, become someone special for many of her students.

“I had [Mrs. Attaway] in seventh grade; in eighth grade some of my friends and I would go and visit her after school and to her,” sophomore Morgan Hobgood said. “We talked to her about everything we would talk to our best friends about. We definitely considered her to be one of our best friends. It was good to know you had someone you could be comfortable with and say anything to on campus.”

Hobgood received a call over winter break from Attaway’s husband, Dick Attaway. He explained to her his wife’s condition, which had progressively shown more symptoms of the disease.

What first began as simple headaches slowly developed into the loss of her right peripheral vision. Her condition worsened when memory loss began to take place routinely. The Attaways were then sure there was something wrong and decided to get it checked out when cancerous brain tumors were discovered.

A week after Hobgood was informed about Attaway, the monthly newsletter was sent to parents addressing of her situation and condition.

“When my mom read [the newsletter] she broke down and started crying,” sophomore Chris Reed said. “That’s how much she affected even the parents; Mrs. Attaway was a huge inspiration to my mom.”

Reed and Hobgood started a Facebook group to discuss writing letters to Mrs. Attaway to send good wishes and show their appreciation.

“She has been here for us, and I wanted to be there for her,” Reed said. “I thought these letters were a perfect reminder of how much we care about her, how much we love her. I mean, everybody loves to have a hand-written letter.”

The response was enormous, and within an hour Attaway was recognized both by current and former students, even strangers who had formed an opinion on the teacher by ear.

“I got a flood of emails that said, ‘oh, I was a student of Mrs. Attway’s, please let me be in this group,” Reed said. “I did not think it would get this big this fast. I think I was contacted by 40 people in an hour.”

Reed has collected several letters since Jan. 18 but is expecting more from students who are trying to find the perfect words that reflect their feelings.

“I was hoping they could write about memories with Mrs. Attaway; they can say their favorite thing about Mrs. Attaway, they can talk about a funny moment in her class, or funny lessons,” Reed said. “I already got a letter from someone who didn’t even have her.”

Attaway is known for opening up her classroom after school and helping her students with any issues they had, even if they were no longer her students at all.

“My sister came back from school and said Mrs. Attaway had a brain tumor and she could not do anything for a while, so I went to visit her to see how she was doing,” junior Kayla Boyer said. “It was really fun because we got to talk about things we hadn’t talked in a while.”

Helping her students comes naturally to Attaway.

“I look at the people around me and I think—I have been surrounded by so many awesome people as far as growing up, as far as having a ministry with those girls, as far as just being with them and watching them grow up,” Attaway said.

“Letters to Mrs. Attaway” quickly found its way to CMSN. Seventh and eighth grade history teacher Jessica Kindberg is accepting letters from students at the middle school. In honor of Attaway, both CMSN and CMS East is teaming up to host a charity basketball game at Coppell High School on Feb. 20 at 6:30 p.m. Proceeds from entrance fees and concession sales will go directly to the Attaways. T-shirts will be sold for the event as well.

Blue wristbands are also being sold for $5 to help benefit Attaway. The wristbands were an idea of Attaway’s colleague, CMSN drama teacher Brittany Reese.

“The original order [of bracelets] was 200, all of which was sold within a week,” CMSN office secretary Sara Sims said. “All the proceeds will be going toward paying for her medical expenses. The band has her name on it with one of her favorite bible verses, Philippians 54:67.”

A silent auction in honor of Attaway is also being discussed.

Because of the bridges Attaway helped her students build, they will continue to show their appreciation for a teacher who is one of their best friends.

“She has always impacted her students in a positive way because she is really happy and bubbly to have new kids come in every year,” Boyer said. “She makes her kids feel almost like family.”

Attaway is keeping a positive attitude and believes that with her faith and those around her she will be able to fight through it.

“I am just so blown away by the generosity of everybody in Coppell and by the way they are appreciative. I am very thankful,” Attaway said.

After a long summer of temperatures of over 100 degrees for 71 days in a row, the drought conditions in Coppell and the rest of North Texas are officially over.

Over the summer, it rarely rained. Combined with the scorching heat, this created one of the worst droughts in Texas history. The water level of lakes all over North Texas plummeted to record lows, Lake Lavon reached a point where you could see the bottom of the lake in some places. Even that the water of level of Lake Lavon has raised to just over five feet below full pool. This is still relatively low, but it is rising.

Lake Lewisville and Lake Grapevine are still a little below full pool but only by one to three feet.

However, the recent rainfall has helped a lot. Last week we received about four inches of rain in one day – which set a local record for the most rain in 24 hours in the month of January. We have had a lot of help to end these drought conditions in Coppell and the rest of North Texas from the drenching rain we have received in the past month.

The rest of the state, down towards San Antonio and Austin even out west towards Abilene for example, is still drought stricken and could use more rain.

For more information on the rest of the state’s drought condition click here.

As students in high school, some of us, myself included, do not care much about politics until they start affecting us personally.  One of these moments is when you turn 18 and the time to have your political opinion noticed  finally arrives.  While the Presidential Election is not for a while, you can still vote for the next best thing: the mayor of Coppell.

This Saturday, Coppell is opening Municipal Officer Candidate filing until Monday Mar. 5.  Although you are probably not able to run for office just yet, you can be a part of the voting process that begins on May 12.  Of course, to vote you must be a U.S. citizen, 18 years or older and be registered to vote 30 days prior to the election.

You can register to vote online at the State website and find out more about the elections themselves at the Coppell website. Register online as soon as you can and get involved in the political aspects of Coppell.

Sophomore Lauren Cullison helps Cotillion students improve their dancing and etiquette. Photo by Jodie Woodwar

Staff Writer

Every Friday in January and February, middle school students put on their best attire, dancing shoes and white gloves to attend the Jon D. Williams Cotillion in Coppell. Through the program, pre-teens learn the importance of proper manners and the skills needed to be successful as an adult.

Founded in 1949 by Jon and Vivian Williams, the JDW Cotillion would eventually impact over 10,000 young people nationwide. The Williams, both of who were professional ballroom dancers, saw the importance of proper etiquette in youth. Now there are over 47 different divisions of Cotillion across the country that annually holds classes.

Brought to Coppell in 1997 by Kit Whitehill, the Coppell division of the JDW Cotillion regularly serves 365 participants in grades sixth through eighth.

“We moved to Coppell from Dallas in 1993, and my oldest child was going into third grade,” Whitehill said. “We kept in contact with his friends in Dallas, and many of them started doing Jon D. Williams Cotillion in fifth grade. The program sounded great, and our friends spoke very highly of it. I considered driving my children into Dallas to attend, but felt it would be a wonderful program to have in Coppell.”

Whitehill now works at Coppell Middle School East as the In School Suspension Supervisor. After enrolling all three of her sons, who have all graduated from Coppell High School, Whitehill found the program to be extremely beneficial.

“Knowing how to make a positive first impression, having good manners and treating others with respect are necessary skills in order to be a successful adult,” Whitehill said.

One of the lessons taught by the JDW Cotillion is the importance of first impressions and manners in everyday society. With texting and social networking becoming more popular, the importance of manners is as crucial as ever.

“We never have a second chance to make a first impression,” Whitehill said. “Teaching these skills in a safe and fun environment during the pre-teen years gives students the opportunity to become confident and comfortable in social situations.”

The program, which focuses on teaching the participants the importance of proper etiquette as well as basic ballroom dancing, has impacted hundreds of students since it started. The six-week course teaches various styles of ballroom dancing including the tango, foxtrot, salsa and jitterbug. The importance of table etiquette and how to make a good first impression is also enforced.

Some of the cotillion participants choose to take their experience even further. After completing three years of the program, students have the opportunity to become student assistances. Coppell High School sophomore Lauren Cullison is currently serving her second year as an assistant.

“Being an assistant for cotillion is very rewarding,” Cullison said. “It is a great experience because we get great college recommendations and also get to meet a lot of important people.”

Cullison, along with a group of six other student assistants, works during both the sixth grade session as well as the seventh and eighth grade session. The assistants primarily demonstrate the dances and help the students if they have questions regarding footwork.

“It is really interesting to watch the kids and how they react to an unfamiliar setting,” Cullison said. “When the kids are shy, I can just say one little thing like ‘I think your dress is really pretty’ and they then just brighten up and have a boost of confidence. I think that that is one of the biggest things that Cotillion does for the kids; it helps with their self confidence and security around others.

One of the many parents to have sent their children through the Cotillion is Lisa Armstrong. Her son Luke is currently participating in the program as a seventh grader at Coppell Middle School East, and her daughter completed the program several years ago.

“It (Cotillion) has allowed him to meet new people, start conversations and reconnect with people,” Armstrong said. “I am also glad he is learning how to dance. After the end of the six weeks of cotillion, he starts to become comfortable with starting conversations with the opposite sex… I would recommend the program to any parent.”

Every two years, the University Interscholastic League (UIL) realigns the state’s athletic districts. This morning, Coppell was placed in District 5-5A with some familiar foes.

Distrct 5-5A
Coppell
Denton Ryan
Lewisville
Lewisville Flower Mound
Lewisville Hebron
Lewisville Marcus

Coppell is currently in District 7-5A with Southlake Carroll, Keller, Keller Fossil Ridge, Keller Central, Denton Guyer, Saginaw and Justin Northwest.

The traditional rivalry between Coppell and Southlake Carroll will not occur in district play in the new alignment. However, the school is in Region I along with Coppell and they could go head-to-head in the playoffs or non-district play. Additional realigned districts and regions can be found here.

Staff Writer

The Cowboy soccer team started off district play with a 3-0 rout of Saginaw to start district play on Tuesday night.

Coppell dominated the game from the beginning playing a possession oriented game with a lot of short passing, in contrast to Saginaw’s play which tried to work the ball up the field as quickly as possible.

Coppell maintained possession for well over the majority of the game within the opposing half of the field, stopping Saginaw offensive attempts almost as soon as they started.

Tanner Lines earned a hat trick, scoring all of the team’s three goals for the game in the first half, including one in the last two minutes of the half.

Coppell has outscored opponents 13-0 in the past three games this season.

“It feels really good to start out district strong,” Lines said, “It was a good team performance and it gives us momentum into the bigger games.”