Ponder, Argyle students complete Stay Safe

The fifth-graders from Argyle’s Hilltop Elementary School, a total of 153 students, graduated from the Stay Safe Elementary Program on Tuesday.

And today, the fifth-graders from Ponder Elementary School, a total of 75 students, will graduate from the Stay Safe program at 8:15 a.m. in the school cafeteria.

The two classes are the first of the newly designed Stay Safe program for elementary school children, which is customized to the needs of each school and individual classroom.

The Stay Safe curriculum is focused on a proactive approach in areas of major concern to parents, schools and students. The workbook uses ideas, quotations, questions, situations and stories written by students in Denton County.

The program educates children about alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drugs and helps them learn the social skills they can use to resist peer pressure and ways to take charge of situations.

It includes lessons that were requested by the schools on bullying and Internet safety, in which students learn to avoid online predators by understanding and recognizing the dangers of controlling the information they put online.

OUR LADY OF GRACE HIGH SCHOOL

School named among top Catholic high schools

The Catholic High School Honor Roll recently announced its third annual selection of the best 50 Catholic secondary schools in America.

The honor roll lists schools considered to best maintain high academic standards, uphold their Catholic identities and prepare students to actively engage the world.

Our Lady of Grace High School, a coed school, is among six schools honored in Texas. The school is independently operated with the approval of the local bishop. A first-time honoree, Our Lady of Grace also placed among the top 25 schools for the categories of Catholic identity and civic education.

Nearly 1,300 Catholic high schools were invited to apply to the honor roll by completing surveys that measure academic excellence, Catholic identity and civic education. This year’s list included 20 new honorees and 12 schools that have earned recognition each of the past three years.

For more information on Our Lady of Grace High School, visit www.olghs.org.

To see the Catholic High School Honor Roll lists, visit www.chshonor.org.

PILOT POINT ISD

Student to perform with National FFA Band

Gretchen Ettredge of Pilot Point has been selected to play tenor saxophone in the 2006 National FFA Band. The 80-member band will perform at various events throughout the FFA’s national convention, set for Oct. 25-28 in Indianapolis, Ind.

Gretchen, daughter of Mike and Barbara Ettredge, is a member of the Pilot Point FFA Chapter. She is also a member of the high school marching and concert bands and is captain of the color guard.

FFA band members are nominated by their state associations and selected from hundreds of applicants.

The young musicians will ar­rive in Indianapolis four days before the convention to re­hearse. The band is directed by Joseph P. LaJoye of Hastings, Mich., and is sponsored by the FFA Foundation.