Para of the month for Bellingrath Hills is Mrs. Lynsi Chandler and the teacher of the month is Mrs. Dana Russell.  Congratulations to these two ladies for all of their hardwork and dedication.

The Central volleyball team clinched a birth to the state tournament with a three game sweep at Bonnabel Monday night. In the first set, the Lady Wildcats jumped out to a 13-7 lead, causing the Bruin coach to use one of her timeouts. The Wildcats then used runs of 3 and 4 points to jump out to a big lead. Whitney East sealed helped with a 6-0 serving run and Central cruised to a 25-15 victory. Game two was back and forth before a string of 4-0 runs put Central in the lead 11-9. From that point on they never looked back and finished the game on a Danielle Croswell 4 point serving run to win 25-19. With all the momentum and energy the Lady Wildcats jumped out to an 8-2 lead before putting Bonnabel away 25-20 to clinch the victory. Central was lead by Taylor Padgett (7 kills, 1 block), Danielle Croswell (8 kills, 7 digs) and Sarah Zito (5 kills, 2 assists, 1 block). The Lady Wildcats will face St. Thomas More of Lafayette Wednesday 11/12 in the Regional round of the state tournament.

The school board met this evening at Kristenwood.  Routine business included the hiring of an additional school nurse, a report on the progress of roof repair bids at CHS, and a report on the Alternative Discipline Center.  The majority of the meeting centered around preparations to ask the citizens of Central to support the replacement of aging school buildings.

Much of the discussion on this topic centered around the need to discern the will of the people and to transform that will into acceptable plans to build new schools.  In order to ensure that the people are heard, the school board has voted to restructure the Steering Committee on School Facilities.  This is the group who will research and formulate a building plan and associated bond issue to begin building much needed new school buildings.  This committee will present its findings to the School Board for final approval before going to the citizens for a vote.

The committee will be created as follows:  One parent representative and one staff member will be named by the principals of each of our five schools.  Each of our seven school board members will then name two individuals from their district and one “at-large” member from any school district.  This comes to a total of 31 members who will begin meeting and working on this project in late November.

The school board, in an effort to ensure that the most informed decision is made and that the decision is truly reflective of the will of the people, will also consult with two outside firms.  The first will assist the Steering Committee in determining the actual needs of the school system, and the second will assist in learning how best to inform the public and how best to determine what path the citizens of Central will support in the effort.

The video of this meeting can be seen in its entirety below.

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The LHSAA has published the pairings for the state championship football playoffs.  Central (ranked #14 in the state) hosts #19 West Jefferson this Friday night in Wildcat Stadium at 7:00 PM.  Plan on coming out and supporting Central.  Should the Wildcats prevail they will play the winner of #3 Brother Martin and #30 Ponchatoula.  Central would travel to Brother Martin or Host Ponchatoula here in Central.  The full bracket can be seen on the official LHSAA website by following this link:  FOOTBALL BRACKET

One of the most successful seasons in Central Private football history came to an end this  past Friday night as the Oak Forest Yellowjackets were able to score on a two yard touchdown in overtime to take a 38-22 first round victory of the MPSA playoffs.
The Yellowjackets got started immediately taking the opening kickoff and driving 60-yards in 9 plays.  Jonathan Burrell finished the scoring drive with a 3-yard dive into the endzone with 7:59 remaining in the opening quarter.  Landon Curry missed the extra point and the score was Oak Forest 6 Central Private 0.  After being forced to punt, the Rebel defense made 2 big plays to give the offense excellent field position.  First linebacker Travis Richard sacked OF quarterback James Petterson and then senior Thomas Bourgeois recovered a fumble on the Yellow jacket 25-yard line.  The Rebels would take advantage of the turnover to go ahead in the ball game.

CP took advantage of their outstanding offensive line, “the put em away gang” of Matt Overlease, Cam Tate, Steven Whiddon, Andy Kinchen, and Travis Rose with 2 runs that led  into the end zone. Bobby Muse plowed into the endzone on a 1-yard blast after Richard carried tacklers to the one yard line.  Gage Wilkinson added the PAT and Central Private took a one point lead.(7-6).  Oak Forest would answer immediately.  Burrell would return the kickoff to the OF 46-yard line.  A 26-yard pass from Petterson to Philip Ingraffia had the Jackets in scoring territory.  Burrell would bang into the end zone from 3-yards out.  The 2-pt PAT would fail and OF led 12-7.  Senior Chase Metz intercepted a Burrell pass to give the Rebels possession of the football at their 45-yard line.  A 28-yard strike from Jason Young to Brit Myer set the Rebels up at the 23-yard line.  Muse would add his second touch down of the night 6 plays later.  He would rush in from 3 yards out.  The PAT was again and with 3:02 remaining until half time CP led 14-12.

Oak Forest quickly moved down the field.  The big play once again being a long pass reception by Ingraffia.  After taking 3 shots into the endzone with passes form the 6-yard line,  The Yellow Jackets attempted a 25-yard field goal.  The ball hit the cross bar and bounced over to give Oak Forest a 15-14 lead with :12 remaining.  The ensuing kick off was fumbled by the Rebels and recovered by the Jackets.  Travis Thornton would haul in a 35-yard pass from Burrell as time expired.  The PAT was good and OF took a 22-14 lead into the half.

The third quarter saw three Rebel drives end in turnovers.  The Rebel defense, however had stiffened and held the Jackets scoreless the entire second half.  Towards the end of the final quarter, Muse began to break long runs.  He followed a 19-yard run with a 17-yarder.  Young then scrambled for 14 more.  Facing a third and goal from the 16 yard line following a high snap, Young completed a 10-yard pass to Wilkinson.  The Rebels again turned to Muse who again delivered with a 6-yard jaunt into the end zone.  The Rebels would go for the 2pt PAT and Young took the ball into the end zone after a fake to Muse on a counter play.  Following a kick return to the 50-yard line,  the Jackets moved to the 21-yard line.  It was from here that Wilkinson blocked the 39-yard field goal attempt to send the game into overtime.  Oak Forest would stop the Rebels on 4-plays from the 10 yard line.  The game would end 1-play later as Burrell blasted into the end zone for the final score.

It is at times like these that we are reminded that sports both build and reveal character.  As the seniors that led CP to their first undisputed district championship in years felt  their high school careers  come to an end, it is important to remember all the successes that they have achieved.  It is also  important to  remember  the  efforts and the work put in.  This team led by Coaches Mike Longmire, Carl DiJohn, Brian Smith,  Jami Longmire, and Will Spencer will be remembered as CHAMPIONS.

After falling behind 14-7 in the second quarter, Central rallied to beat Catholic 17-14.  Rumor has it that even the parents of the current Wildcat players don’t remember the last time Central beat Catholic.  One report was that it last happened in 1974.  This is also the first time in 20 years that Catholic will not make the playoffs.  Game and season stats can be seen by following these links:  GAME STATS   SEASON STATS

Briscoe passes of 43 yards to Wes Briscoe and 7 yards to Nick Giglio, along with Mathew Thibodeaux’s two PATs gave Central its 14 first half points to end the half tied at 14.  With 5:10 remaining in the third quarter Thibodeaux added a 19 yard field goal which proved to be the winning margin in the game.  Central rolled up 313 passing yards on Briscoe’s 22 for 40 performance, with Dequincy Brown and Shedrick Davis combining for 13 receptions and 220 yards.  Rovell Lee, Josh Johns, Zack Pourciau and Louis Covington combined for 24 tackles and two sacks.

There will be no video on the site this week since you can watch the game on channel 16 at 11:00 PM tonight or at 09:30 Saturday morning.  The win will likely secure an excellent seeding for Central in the playoffs.  The seedings will be announced Sunday at 1:00 PM and playoffs start next Friday night, when Central should be hosting a first round game at Wildcat Stadium.

The Lady Wildcat volleyball team will wrapped up the regular season Thursday night defeating Broadmoor 25-12, 25-13, 25-11. The Wildcats honored its six seniors who helped turn the program from a dismal 5-17 (2007) to a school record 24-6. The next game will be the bi-district game against Bonnabel High of New Orleans. Central travels to face #20 Bonnabel Monday at 6:00. The winner of the game will then advance to the regional round of the State Tournament on Wednesday at the Pontchartrain Center in New Orleans.

Utilizing the core knowledge curriculum and technology equipment located on the St. Alphonsus campus, our kindergarten students are already world travelers at an early age.  Social Studies class is not only lecture, but consists of virtual tours to the places these youngsters study.  In addition to learning that our Earth is divided into seven continents, each having its own diverse plants, animals and structures, students are provided an opportunity to visit these continents and see these unique attributes first hand without ever leaving the classroom.

Recently, our students visited Asia and the Great Wall of China.  They also saw rice fields and observed the giant panda in its natural habitat.  The African tour included a bird’s eye view of the pyramids.  A spectacular light show at the Statue of Liberty, a helicopter ride over New York City, meandering through the Grand Canyon, and watching buffalo grazing in Yellowstone National Park were the highlights of the North American tour.  Further travels to the other continents will occur as these young folks continue their studies.

Thank you, Ms. Feibel and Ms. Webb, for guiding our impressionable students through a fun-filled, worldwide experience.

Mike Forbes, new physical education teacher at St. Alphonsus, discusses expectations and outlines the year’s activities with a group of middle school students.  Mike graduated from Central High School and the University of New Orleans where he attained his Bachelor’s Degree.  His source of enthusiasm is rooted in the fact that he can be involved in different areas of educating the students.  In his capacity as P.E. teacher, he has the opportunity to teach in class and positively influence kids on the field.  We are grateful that Mike decided to join our school community.

On behalf of the Relay for Life and Cancer Survivors in Central, I want to Thank all of you that participated in any any way in the Relay on Oct. 3
We had a very successful event because of all of the many people who worked hard, those who donated money or items, or supported the Relay in other ways.
Thank You, Thank You.

Submitted by: Garnett Brister