Pardon the angle.

Bright and early this morning, during the Dallas City Council’s open microphone session, students from Parish Episcopal School presented a homelessness art project to councilmembers.
The project is part of 29 Pieces, a Dallas-based arts non-profit organization focused on the creation of monumental change through monumental art. The group includes students from Parish, Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School, and Maya Angelou High School. The students presented large murals and posters to the council, answering the question, “If you were a great peacemaker like Ghandi, Mother Teresa, or Martin Luther King, what would you do about homelessness?”
If you happen to be downtown, the project will be on display in the first floor of the downtown branch of the Dallas Public Library later today.

A group of students from Parish Episcopal read the Hunger Games, and their librarian is taking them to see the film today at AMC NorthPark. David McNabb, Parish Episcopal’s spokesperson, said the group of seven upper school students chose to read the book outside of school, and were so excited to see the film together.

I had no idea what The Hunger Games were about until this past week, and from what I hear from my publisher Karen Mordecai, it has some pretty mature content. So I’m going to see the film with the kids, and will get their reviews after.

The film cost $16 though! What?! Does that come with a drink?! Ugh, I hope so.

Ursuline's soccer team has done it again. (Photo: Mark Lund)

The TAPPS soccer finals were delayed by rain in San Antonio yesterday, but Ursuline and Parish Episcopal eventually won state championships. Coincidentally, each squad duplicated the score from its semifinal match.

In Division II, Parish dominated Houston Northland Christian by a score of 6-0. In Division I, Ursuline secured its 22nd consecutive state title by outlasting Houston St. Agnes, 2-0.

The Ursuline Bears are gunning for their 22nd consecutive state soccer title. (Photo: Mark Lund)

The TAPPS soccer championships are being contested in San Antonio this weekend. In this morning’s semifinals, Ursuline and the Parish Episcopal girls both recorded victories.

In Division I, Ursuline blanked Bishop Lynch, 2-0. In Division II, Parish smoked Dallas Christian, 6-0.

Both championship games are scheduled for 10:30 tomorrow morning. Ursuline will face Houston St. Agnes, a 2-1 winner over Fort Worth Nolan on Friday. Parish will take on Houston Northland Christian, which beat San Antonio Christian, 3-0, in the semifinals.

Parish soccer players celebrate a goal against Westbury Christian. (Staff photo: Chris McGathey)

The TAPPS soccer quarterfinals get under way in about 90 minutes, when Ursuline takes on San Antonio Incarnate Word at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton. Ursuline, which competes in Division I, has won 21 consecutive state championships.

Meanwhile, in Division II, Parish Episcopal’s boys and girls teams have both made it to the quarterfinals. The girls will play Tomball Concordia Lutheran at 2 p.m. Saturday at Killeen’s Leo Buckley Stadium, followed by the boys’ game against San Antonio Christian.

ESD hosted a talent show last night for those involved in the diversity club DADYO, which consists of students from the big seven schools: ESD, Jesuit, Ursuline, St. Mark’s, Hockaday, Parish Episcopal, and Greenhill.

Sharon Bales, ESD’s DADYO coordinator, said the talent show will become an annual event since all the schools participated and the students had a wonderful all inclusive spirit.

Teachers from each school judged the competition, and the winner, Daniel Park of ESD, won for his acoustic guitar solo of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” Second and third place included students from Greenhill and St. Marks that showcased their musical talents with guitars, bongos, tambourines and vocals.

I’ve never heard of a high school producing a trailer for one of its musicals. But that’s exactly what Parish Episcopal has done for this week’s production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. You go, Panthers!

Zach Guillot

Meet Zach Guillot. This young Bluffview resident was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in February 2010, when he was 6 years old. Four months later, he received a bone-marrow transplant from his 3-year-old brother. Their family hoped Zach was cured.

Those hopes were dashed last month, when doctors informed Zach’s parents that the cancer was back. Having gone the relative route, the Guillots are searching for a donor outside their family. So they are hosting a bone-marrow donor drive from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at Parish Episcopal School, 4101 Sigma Road.

“It was so great to see Zach as the 2010 Children’s Medical Center Holiday Parade grand marshal, and I want to see him grow up, win an Oscar, and maybe one day lead the fight against childhood cancer,” said Zach’s mother, Julie. “I ask that you all register, because a match can be found not only for Zach but for countless other patients.”

Congrats are in order for Parish Episcopal’s sixth-grade team of Kelly Autrey, Matthew Bransky, Anderson Corley, Charles Finch, Nathan Liddell, and Bailey Robinson. The bunch won first place this weekend at the FIRST LEGO League competition at St. Phillips School and Community Center.

The win secured the team’s spot in the FIRST LEGO League Regional Championship event on January 21 at The Hockaday School. Two other sixth-grade teams have qualified for the competition as well.

FIRST LEGO League is an international competition for students ages 9 – 14 in which students design, build, and program an autonomous robot using LEGO Mindstorms. The “bots” must navigate a field to score as many points as possible in 2-and-a-half minutes.

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The school staff and administrators acknowledged cheerleaders and band members on senior night.