MPISD – News

(L to R) Abril Ramirez, Migel Guerreo, Jordi Bello, Jacori Johnson, Hope Powell, Emyly Lopez

Contact: Kelly Cowan

MPHS Choir students selected for All-Region Choir

         Six Mount Pleasant High School choir students have earned places in the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) All-Region Choir. Seniors Migel Guerrero (6th chair first tenor) and Jordi Bello (8th chair first tenor), juniors Abril Ramirez (3rd chair first soprano) and Emyly Lopez (9th chair second alto), and freshmen Jacori Johnson (7th chair first tenor) and Hope Powell (8th chair second alto) earned this prestigious placement. 

It is the third year in a row for Guerrero and Ramirez to be selected. To earn a place in the choir, each singer had to sing three selections scored by a panel of judges utilizing an online platform, a change from prior years due to COVID-19.

“I am very proud of each of these singers,” said MPHS Choir Director Nancy Vines. “They have diligently prepared not only during class but also on their own time.” 

The students who the judges selected for the All-Region Choir have advanced to Pre-Area auditions on December 1, which is the next level of competition. They will not hold the annual All-Region Clinic and Concert this year due to COVID-19 and health and safety concerns. 

Cade Woods

Kinley Lowry and Genevieve Rubio

(L-R) Tucker Priefert, Boone Priefert, Bowdrie Priefert, with  Nick Riecke

Contact: Kelly Cowan

MPISD FFA students win big at Titus County Fair 

While they canceled much of the Titus County Fair in 2020, COVID-19 did not keep the Mount Pleasant ISD FFA students from competing and showing their animals and ag mechanics projects. Most of the students raised and worked with their animals creating their projects for months. The instructors and students were grateful for their opportunity to present their work and what they learned during the pandemic. In the end, MPISD students brought home four Grand Champion banners, three reserve Grand Champion banners, one Showmanship banner, and a host of other placements and awards.

MPHS junior Cade Woods won Grand Champion Broiler.

MPJH eighth-grader Kinley Lowry won Grand Champion Rabbit with MPHS freshman Genevieve Rubio earning Reserve Grand Champion Rabbit and Senior Showmanship in the Rabbit Division. 

Wallace Middle School sixth-grader Bowdrie Priefert won Grand Champion Hog, and his brother, Tucker Priefert, a third-grader at E.C. Brice Elementary, won Reserve Grand Champion Hog.

MPHS junior Sarah Godfrey took home the Grand Champion banner for her floral arrangement while junior Codi Dennis won Reserve Grand Champion in Floral Design.

MPHS junior Emma Aston won second place in her division with her fire pit for the Ag Mechanics Contest.

 “Many of our students made the sale with their project or animal, which is a huge accomplishment,” said Blake Rice, MPHS Ag Science Coordinator. “The students have had these projects for months juggling school, a pandemic, and caring for something other than themselves. Our FFA students put in many hours of preparation, from grooming and feeding their animals to training them to walk and set up perfectly. Ag Mechanics students worked in the shop in August when school started and put forth effort when the temperature was almost unbearable. I enjoyed seeing our students work and build a skill they can keep with them after school and hopefully into a career one day. The effort put in by the other Ag teachers were key in our successful endeavor during the Titus County Fair. There were many late nights, early mornings, and hours of practice in between.”

MPISD Ag instructors include Susie Hearron, Meagan Raine, Christi Lowry, Slatyr Hunnicutt, and Blake Rice.