Mason Nome played some great golf and finished 2nd at the American Junior Golf Association Coca-Cola Junior All-Star at Sugarloaf this week against some older and outstanding players. Nome finished the tournament with a score of 11-over-par 227, just eight strokes shy of 1st place.  Go to AJGA to view the tournament recap. Congratulations to Mason for his outstanding accomplishment!

Junior Kara Hachigan has been named the new Reserve World Champion for the Saddlebred Three-Gaited Jr. Exhibitor division at the Equestrian World Championships in Louisville, KY.  She and her horse "CH Hi on Heir" finished second among the 60 competitors who qualified to compete in this year's final.  The championships showcase the talents of numerous young equestrians and thousands of horses from around the world.  Congratulations to Kara!

The Kinkaid debate team officially began its debate season at Foster High School. There were 48 schools competing, and Kinkaid sent a small group of three debaters to this tournament.  

Senior Nina Kalluri placed in the top 8 out of over 80 competitors.  She lost a close quarterfinal round to cross town rivals Strake Jesuit on a 2-1 decision.  

In addition, twenty Kinkaid debaters spent their summers researching and preparing for this year's debate season at various summer workshops sponsored by major debating universities.  Many of them found significant success including:

• University of Michigan hosted one of the most competitive policy debate camps in the United States.
• University of Texas hosted the largest debate camp in America.
• Victory Briefs Institute sponsored by UCLA hosted the largest and most competitive LD camp
• Senior Tyler Gamble attended the National Symposium on Debate (NSD), another top LD camp.  He placed in the top 32 out of hundreds of students.
• Sophomore Anvi Nandish reached the quarterfinals of Champions Brief Institute in Florida.

• Sophomore Sabrina Bajwa placed in the semi-finals.
• Senior Rikki Bleiweiss placed in the quarterfinals. Rikki was further awarded a Senior Fellowship, recognizing her as amongst the best in the country.  
• Senior Reece Rosenthal placed in the top 32.

• Junior Sita Yerramsetti was the 2nd overall top speaker and a quarterfinalist.  
• Junior Arjun Reddy was awarded 6th overall speaker and he placed in the top 16.

• Senior Nina Kalluri placed in the top 32
• Sophomore Emma Hanan placed in the top 64 out of over 300 students.

The debate team begins the year debating three different topics.  They include:

• In Lincoln-Douglas - Resolved:  a just society ought to presume consent for organ procurement from the deceased.
• In policy debate - Resolved:  The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its non-military exploration and/or development of the Earth's oceans.
• In public forum - Resolved:  On balance, public subsidies for professional athletic organizations in the United States benefit their local communities.   

The Kinkaid debate team is looking forward to another fun and enjoyable season!

-- Upper School Debate Team Coach, Eric Emerson

The Kinkaid debate team recently had an eventful weekend of competition.  The team split up to compete at the season opener for national competition sponsored by Grapevine High School (Dallas) and to compete locally at Elkins High School. 

At Grapevine High School, there were 103 schools in attendance representing 14 states and the District of Columbia.  The Grapevine Classic was a qualifying tournament for the Tournament of Champions, sponsored by the University of Kentucky.  Kinkaid took seven students and five returned with shiny trophies.  Kinkaid debate team’s success included:

•    In Lincoln-Douglas debate, senior Nina Kalluri placed in the top 16 (octo-finals).  She lost her octo-final round to the eventual tournament champion from Westwood High School. 

•    Senior Tyler Gamble and junior Emma Hanan placed in the top 32.  Tyler was also awarded the 13th overall speaker out of 111 competitors. 

•    In policy debate, Kinkaid sent the sophomore team of Sabrina Bajwa and Sam Richey.  Sam and Sabrina placed in the top 16 out of 72 teams, losing a close 2-1 decision.  

•    Sabrina Bajwa was also awarded the 16th overall speaker out of 144 individuals, a remarkable accomplishment for a sophomore. 

•    Michael Sands, senior, and Jason Yang, sophomore, had the record to reach the elimination rounds in Lincoln-Douglas debate, but they failed to advance based upon speaker points.  

Locally, Elkins HS hosted a strong local tournament.  There were 23 schools from throughout Houston in attendance.  Kinkaid had twelve students representing the debate team and Kinkaid found significant success.

•    In novice Congressional debate, first year Collin Lawrence was the winner!

•    In novice policy debate, first year Taqi Hasnain and sophomore Rahul Popat placed 2nd. 

•    In LD debate, first year Sam Segal placed in the top 16 out of 85 entries.

•    In policy debate, the team of sophomore Zubair Mukhi & first year Anna Thomas had the record to reach the elimination rounds but they failed to advance based upon speaker points

Overall, the team had a successful weekend.  As always, many thanks to the Kinkaid parents and faculty for their support.  Special thanks go to co-coaches Jason Courville and Sydney Van berg for their time and effort. 

-- Kinkaid Upper School Debate Coach, Eric Emerson

Senior Falcon offensive lineman and peer mentor Tyler Higby was recently featured on television channel CW39's "Class Acts".  To learn more about this future Michigan State football player's experience at Kinkaid, please go to "Class Acts".

The Kinkaid debate team recently split up, yet again, to compete at a nationally competitive tournament in Dallas and to compete locally.

The Greenhill debate tournament, in Dallas, is widely considered to be a 'major' of high school debate. One hundred schools from 17 states attended. The Greenhill tournament is unique in that it limits entries and only allows the most competitive top teams/debaters to attend.

This year, Kinkaid had the biggest squad in recent history, a testament to the depth of quality competitors that the team has this year. There were 11 students who attended (three policy teams and 5 Lincoln-Douglas debaters). In addition, prior to the open tournament, Greenhill invited Sita Yerramsetti and Rikki Bleiweiss to compete at their round robin tournament reserved for the top 16 debate teams in the country.

The Kinkaid debate team found significant success including:

• Senior Rikki Bleiweiss and Sita Yerramsetti placed in the quarterfinals (top 8 out of 120 teams). They lost a VERY close 2-1 decision to the eventual tournament winner from the Caddo Magnet school (Shreveport). Rikki and Sita bested some outstanding teams on their way to the quarterfinals including Niles North (Chicago), Stephen F. Austin high school (Austin), McDonough (Baltimore), and more.
• Senior Rikki Bleiweiss was also awarded the 6th overall speaker award out of 240 individual speakers. Sita was also the 22nd speaker of the tournament.
• Senior Tyler Gamble placed in the top 32 (double-octofinals) in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Unfortunately, he drew the top speaker and top seed from Harker (San Jose) and he lost a close round.
• The policy team of Sam Richey and Sabrina Bajwa narrowly missed reaching the elimination rounds. They were the 34th seed and only the top 32 debaters advance. They missed by .4 speaker points, a remarkable accomplishment for a sophomore team.

Locally, the Kinkaid team competed at the local sponsored by Memorial High School. Thirty schools from throughout the Houston area attended. Kinkaid had one student reach the elimination rounds. First year Jiya Ghei reached the octo-finals (top 16) in Lincoln-Douglas debate.

Overall, it was a successful, if not exhausting, weekend.

Thanks to the parents who chaperoned the local tournament at Memorial High School. Also, thanks to the co-coaches who worked with the debaters in Dallas.

- Debate Coach Eric Emerson

Over the last three weeks, the debate team competed at two strong local tournaments and traveled to Chicago.

The Kinkaid debate team took advantage of the long weekend by traveling to Chicago to compete at the New Trier Township High School tournament.  New Trier THS hosted a 'mid-major' of high school debate.  There were 102 teams in attendance representing 36 schools from 14 states.  The tournament only offers a policy division, and the top 8 teams receive bids to the prestigious Tournament of Champions (TOC) sponsored by the University of Kentucky. 

The team found significant success including:

• Sophomores Sam Richey and Sabrina Bajwa reached the top 8 (quarter-finals) of the tournament.  They received a bid to the TOC (reserved for the top 72 teams in the country).  They were 5-1 in prelims, and they beat the best from St. Marks School (Dallas), West Des Moines Valley (Iowa), Glenbrook North School (Chicago) and Glenbrook South (Chicago). 
• Senior Reece Rosenthal and junior Arjun Reddy placed in the top 16 (octo-finals), losing a very close debate on a 2-1 decision to Walter Payton College Prep (Chicago).  Reece and Arjun went undefeated and were the top seed coming out of preliminary rounds. 
• Reece was awarded the 2nd overall speaker of the tournament (out of 204 individuals), and Arjun was awarded the 13th speaker. 
  
  

The same weekend, Kinkaid took a big team, both middle and upper school, to the local tournament sponsored by Cypress Lakes High School.  Thirty competitive schools from throughout Houston attended the tournament.  Jason Courville coached the team to significant success including:

• Varsity Lincoln-Douglas - Sophomore Jason Yang received 2nd place.  Jason received significant points towards qualifying for the Texas Forensics Association State tournament.  Kinkaid had two more in the top 8 (quarterfinals) including sophomore Vivian Liu and junior Alex Kalai. Sophomore Anvi Nandish was also in the top 16 (octo-finals).
• Novice Lincoln-Douglas - first year Jack Beaver placed 2nd. 
• Championship public forum - First-year team of Minhhy Truong and Lauren Ho reached the top 8. 

Finally, on the weekend of September 26-27, the team went to Cypress Woods HS, one of the most competitive local tournaments.  There were 58 schools in attendance.  The team’s successes were:

• Varsity policy debate - Junior Sita Yerramsetti and Senior Rikki Bleiweiss reached the semi-finals, losing a close debate to Taylor HS (Katy). 
• Varsity Lincoln-Douglas - Kinkaid had three debaters who placed in the top 32.  They all lost in that round.  The LD debaters who placed include Junior Emma Hanan, Sophomore Vivian Liu, and first year David Liang.
• Novice Lincoln-Douglas - first year Christos Papandreau reached the top 16. 

Next weekend, the team splits up to travel to three locations - Bronx High School of Sciences (NY), St. Marks School (Dallas), and locally at Bellaire High School.  Tyler Gamble will be representing Kinkaid at the Bronx HS of Sciences round robin, largely considered the most competitive Lincoln-Douglas round robin in the country. 

Thanks to everyone who supports the team including, but not limited to, the staff who ensured our safe travel, the teachers who teach the debaters, the coaches who work with the students, and the parents who provide endless well wishes and snacks. 

-- Eric Emerson, Upper School Debate Coach

The 8th grade girls volleyball team defeated Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart 2-1 to win the HJPC Girls Volleyball Championship on October 23, 2014.  Championship team members coached by Beth Rodriguez are: Sarah Grace Carr, Cheyenne Dawley, Grace Elizabeth Hurley, Katherine Jacobe, Caroline Moseley, Onuchi Ndee, Caroline Oster, Callie Rosenthal, Marynell Ward, and Lindsay Wells.  Congratulations girls!

On Saturday, November 1, READ3Zero, the literacy non-profit organization, honored students nationwide at a luncheon and book-signing event for this year’s winners of the I Write Short Stories by Kids for Kids contest and celebrated the organization’s fifth anniversary. The luncheon was emceed by Deborah Duncan of Great Day Houston, and parent of Kinkaid alumni Neil Bush ’73 (fs) served as the keynote speaker.

Two Kinkaid students Sofia Bajwa ’20 and Gina Guerra ’15 entered the creative writing contest and their pieces were selected for publication in the anthology. For Sofia this is her third piece of writing that was included in the annual publication. Gina received the Editor’s Choice Award for her short story Snow Problem.

Congratulations to Sofia and Gina!

Members of the Middle School’s advanced robotics team had their first competition on Saturday November 1^st. The competition took place at the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy Campus here in Houston. Fifteen teams from Texas and Louisiana gathered for this qualifying event. When all the matches were done and the scores were added up we received a very respectful third place finish.

Eighth graders Seb Seager, Julian Meyers, Charlie Finch, and seventh grader Arden Fayard made up the team on Saturday, which was the only middle school team at the tournament.

Good Job team keep up the great work!

The FLL (First LEGO League) robotics team had a very successful day on Saturday, November 8 at the Sugar Land Qualifying Tournament. The FLL competition consists of four events the robot game, the presentation, teamwork challenge and robot design. 

Kinkaid’s FLL team named T.E.C.H. received a second place finish in teamwork and ninth place finish in the robot game. They also performed very well in the other events; receiving scores high enough to earn an overall fifth place finish among the twenty-two teams and a gold ticket that automatically advances our team to the Lone Star Championship bypassing the semi final competition round.

Congratulations to Evan Gibson, Jack Josephson, Sanjit Juneja, Duncan Lambert, Zoe Price, Adrian Riesgo,Arsalan Saeed and Alison Zhang for their great accomplishment and wish them good luck for the December 13  championship.

The Upper and Middle School bands attended the ATSSB Region Band Auditions on November 8 & 9.

Winning a seat in the Region Band means that the student will perform in the All-Region Band on November 15 in Kinkaid's Brown Auditorium. Conductor of the HS Band will be Robert Sheldon, a world famous composer/clinician and Concert Band Editor of Alfred Publications.

The following students won places in the Region Band and many of them placed high enough to go to the next level, Area, and audition for a place in the Texas All-State Band. 

Paula Ajumobi, bass clarinet - Region/Area
James Bay, trombone - Region
Carolyn Bell, clarinet - Region
Noah Chan, French horn - Region
Willy DuCharme, tenor sax - Region/Area
Nicholas Fernandez, flute - Region/Area
TX Harris, bass clarinet - Region/Area
Nicholas Ho, French horn - Region
Saef Iftikhar, percussion - Region/Area
Kanika Kumar, flute- Region/Area
Kunal Kumar, clarinet - Region
Neeshali Odhav, flute - Region/Area
Drew Perlman, percussion, Region
Tarun Srinivasan, clarinet - Region/Area
Faizan Razak, trombone - Region
Jason Yang, oboe - Region/Area
Eric Yu, clarinet - Region/Area

On Saturday, November 8, the Houston Art Society held a juried fall art show. Twenty students from Kinkaid Middle School participated with 22 art pieces. Kinkaid received 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in each of the categories we had entries and acquired a total of 18 ribbons. 

Mixed Media
Matthew McHenry - 1st Place
Eliza Lawrence - 2nd Place     
Lindi Ruthven - 3rd Place
Sally Buck - Honorable Mention
Eliza Griggs - Honorable Mention                         
Andrew DeWalch - Honorable Mention                
Carson Keller - Honorable Mention           
Kate Riley - Honorable Mention                
Sophie Ghauri - Honorable Mention
Alison Zhang - Honorable Mention

Drawing
Kay Masterson - 1st and 2nd place                                   

Sculpture Wire Figures
True Wickman - 1st Place
Carolyn Bivins - 2nd Place  
Kay Masterson - 3rd Place                                                                        
Scott Altsuler - Honorable Mention                                    
Julia Baerenstecher - Honorable Mention                                   

Mask – Sculpture
Caroline Moseley - 3rd Place

This weekend 19 Model UN students competed at Central Texas Model UN (CTMUN) in Austin. All students competed well and three students won the award of "Commended Speaker" for their performances. Congratulations to:

Kaveh Badrei ’16 for playing the role of Lin Biao in The Chinese Civil War

Noah Pintar ’17 for playing the role of US Senator Maria Cantwell

Zubair Mukhi ’17 for playing the role of Li Zongren in The Chinese Civil War

A small group of the Model UN group will be traveling to Budapest for a Model UN Conference hosted by Yale University over the Thanksgiving break. Good luck to those students! 

On Sunday, November 23, ABC Channel 13 featured Claire McCarthy's ’15 volunteer project at Nora's Home.  Nora’s Home was established for organ transplant patients and their families to recuperate after surgery in Houston.

Claire’s project involves painting tiles with the patients.  Once the artwork is completed, Claire brings them to Kinkaid where they are fired in the School’s kiln for completion.  The tiles are then placed on wall at Nora’s Home.  In addition to the currently established wall, the center is expanding their facility with 20 additional rooms, which will include a tile wall as well. 

Please click on the video link below to watch the Channel 13 feature. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQF5TMwRyBw

This fall, Martha House '16 took her love of fly fishing and created a wonderful nonprofit organization called Catch and Give. The first annual Fish-A-Thon tournament raised over $30,000 for the Children's Community School in the small town of Ennis, Montana. With an operating budget around $60,000, the funds raised this fall are truly life changing for the school and town. Martha's organization was featured in December issue of Houston Magazine Buzz.

Read her story below! 

http://tanglewoodbuzz.com/2014/12/buzz-kidz-by-martha-house-age-17/

Mathew Morico ’15, Amy Pascoe ’15 and John Pederson ’15 were 2014 recipients of the W.T. and Louise J. Moran Foundation’s Young Philanthropist Award for their excellence and dedication in volunteer service to the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  

As recipients of the award, the students were given the opportunity by the Moran Foundation to select an item for the Museum’s permanent collection.  The three Kinkaid seniors met with the HMNS curator and they chose a very special fossilized shell to display in the Malacology section of the Museum.

Congratulations to these three seniors!