Dragons Bring Home the Honors – May 21 Commendations
The end of the school year is in sight and our Dragons are giving it their all through every competition, awards ceremony, and challenge they may face. If you have group or individual commendations, please send them to Laura Sprague, JCSD Director of Communications. The following commendations and photos were submitted by parents and/or coaches and are not meant to be all-inclusive of every student activity taking place.
Stepping Toward Success Students
On May 15, 10 JHS seniors were honored at the third annual Stepping Towards Success banquet. This banquet is held each year to recognize students who were nominated by a faculty member for improving or maintaining excellence in their academics, behavior, attendance, or overall citizenship. Frequently, many of the recipients have had to overcome obstacles in their lives to turn things around. In addition to the student recognition, a staff member who the student believes has helped them be successful is also honored.
This year’s recipients were: Mohamed Ali, Adina Blazevic, Brandon Blount, Tyler Blanchard, Josh Habel, Andrea Johnson, Dylan LaMar, Kalambayi (Moses) Ntambwe, Mauricio Rios and Sabrina Romero. Staff coordinators for this are Lisa Noe and Jenny Palmer.
Cai, Van Zee Honored by Historical Society
The West Des Moines Historical Society recently selected four area students to receive financial awards as part of the Jordan Scholars Program. JHS seniors Sophie Van Zee and Angela Cai were among the four recognized. Congratulations!
Dragons at the Special Olympics
Many Johnston special education students participated in the Special Olympics up in Ames on Friday, May 18. The JHS students had a clean sweep in their events, earning gold all the way around. Our other schools also had great showings and enjoyed the comradery and team spirit at this annual event.
Dragons Golf
All six of the Lady Dragon golf team members won medals at the CIML Conference tournament. The Dragons were named Conference and Duel Champs! Individual placings were Gault 2nd (85), Dawson 5th (97), Sedivec 7th (99), Chickering 13th (107), Wilde 14th (107), Jordan 16th (108). The Dragons are coached by Steve Smith and Carson Hattel.
State Track and Field
Dragon talent was on display at the Drake blue oval during the Iowa High School State Track Meet. Congratulations to the many student-athletes, coaches, and supporters who gave it their best effort!
Notable performances include:
- Senior Grant Lair is the new state champion in the 800m, and ran a school record-breaking time of 1:53.54. He also qualified as an academic all-state for track and field.
- Junior Joe Schaefer received 4th place in the 800m and also broke the old school record in the 800 with a time of 1:54.55.
- Senior Tom Altier finished 4th in the 3200 and 9th in the 1600 over the weekend and also qualified for academic all-state for track and field within the state of Iowa.
- The 4×800 team of Carsten Thompson, Joe Schaefer, Samuel Schmitz and Grant Lair broke the school record on Thursday with a time of 7:51.26 and received a 2nd place finish. This is the highest finish Johnston has had at state for this relay.
- Jessica and Brooke McKee took third and fourth place, respectively, in the 3000m with times of 10.20.53 and 10.23.65.
Full results of all track and field events can be found here: https://ihsaa-static.s3.amazonaws.com/track/2018/index.htm
Two Dragons Selected for IATC Senior All Star Team
JHS seniors Mackenzie Laughlin and Jessica McKee have been selected for the Iowa Association of Track & Field Coaches Senior All Star Team! This honor reflects the time, effort and commitment they have made to the sport not only this season but across their entire careers in Johnston. The IATC 20th Annual Senior All-Star Track & Field will take place on Saturday, June 9 at 9:45 a.m. at the University of Dubuque.
