Congratulations to all seven BISD middle school art departments for their participation in this year’s Junior VASE (Visual Art Scholastic Event). With more than 1,300 entries from students across multiple districts, BISD had 177 young artists enter 235 artworks for adjudication. Over 75 percent of BISD artworks received a “Superior” rating, with 15 pieces gaining special recognition as Silver Medal winners. Silver Medal winners were:

• Julia Nguyen – Haltom Middle School
• Morgan Layfield & Mary Ho – North Richland Middle School
• Jonathan Pinch – Richland Middle School
• Mandi Inthalangsy – North Oaks Middle School
• Kayla Meyers & Aleyna Holcombe – Watauga Middle School
• Gracyn Conniff, Lauren McMahon, Kairi Merriam, Lauren Moore, Kaylee Rademacher (two pieces), and Yaidmaris Ramos – Smithfield Middle Schoolx
• Idalyis Bunyavong – North Ridge Middle School

Congratulations to BISD’s middle school band members that auditioned for placement in the Region 5 middle school region bands. Competing against students from the Mansfield and Arlington school districts, BISD placed almost 100 students in one of the two region bands. These students will perform on Dec. 5 at the Willie Pigg Auditorium in Mansfield ISD.

Region 5 Middle School Band 1

• Haltom MS:  Matthew Azua, Mateo Deleon, Julia Nguyen, Joseph Nguyen, John Pham, Perla Picon, Madison Sliavongsa and Leonardo Velasquez
• North Oaks MS:  Ayana Anaya, Alexis Halik, Kevin Le, Hayden Merriman, Chloe Jean Rey, Austin Sundara and Brandon Vu
• North Richland MS:  Tai Ha, Zoe Harris, Isaiah Knight, Morgan Layfield, Aiden Mata, Elizabeth Mey and Joshua Walz
• North Ridge MS:  Cole Brown, Ali Gleaves and Josue Martinez
• Richland MS:  Jacob Fritts, Matthew Fritts, Michelle Galan, Zach Hocker, Laisha Luna, Pedro Medrano, Imanol Ortiz, Gino Pellittieri, Tori Perrin, Mason Rushing, Darryn Salinas, Alyse Stiles, Ben Streeter, Davon Taylor, Catherine Tran and Jasmine Tuetkin
• Smithfield MS:  Abby Bouchelle, Parker Boyd, Kaylee Rademacher, Jonathan Schirmer, Parker Visage and Greg Ybarra
• Watauga MS:  Noah Strickland and Andru Wilson

Region 5 Middle School Band 2

• Haltom MS:  Angel Beltran, Eric Delgadillo, Obed Gonzalez, Travis Visounnaraj and Manuel Govea (alternate)
• North Oaks MS:  Alyson Grow, Hania Mirza, Sydney Seig and Briana Hacksisombath (alternate)
• North Richland MS: Michael Britt, Madeline Harris, Sarah Hill, Schuyler Moreno, Steven Nguyen and Julianna Thompson
• North Ridge MS:  David Beavers, Haley Compton, Cameron Fielding, Chanel Finnikin, Aaron Gieder, Joel Polk, Anthony Rodriguez, Lindsey Wheeler and Marisa Perez (alternate)
• Richland MS:   Isaiah Aponte, Ana Carranza, Ana Juarez, Damon Lewis, Diego Lozano, Jocelyn Renteria, Matthew Tolbert, Daisy Amaro (alternate) and Javier Cruz (alternate)
• Smithfield MS:  Cassidy Burris, Rhett Howe, Amie Johnson, Evan Pallanes; Alternates: Lauren Eastman and Lane Henyan
• Watauga MS:  Alaynna Barkley, Anthony Barrett, Patricia Roberts, Alexis Terrazas and Andrea Phillips (alternate)Bold denotes First chair