Volunteer Call: Click here to help at CAP on April 15 Click here to chaperone College Signing Day on May 18

MANUAL POST a service of the duPont Manual PTSA March 23, 2015

Backpack Awareness by Pam Smithy, Occupational Therapist and Pinky Jackson, Manual PTSA

In This Issue: 

Robotics Team wins Rookie Award

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March 25 is PTSA scholarship deadline

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Manual Student sings at Sweet Sixteen

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PTA Local Unit Award Winners

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Social Media Gift Card Winners Announced

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Backpack Awareness & Advocacy Team Research

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PTSA Meeting Day Change for 2015-16

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Science Fair Fundraiser

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Support Project Graduation

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Cheerleaders win 1st place

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Athletic Events

Collaboration and Advocacy were the themes of our Founders’ Day presentations. In addition to honoring our Kentucky Lifetime Recognition Award Winners, who we will continue to feature in upcoming issues, we announced the action steps we have taken with our newly formed Advocacy Committee. “Wait...that’s too much weight!” is a common concern about backpacks. So, several students loaned their CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Founders’ Day Co-Chair Molly Wingfield, Alumni Volunteer Tony Sweazy, and Occupational Therapist Pam Smithy welcomed Founders’ Day guests and invited them to try to lift a student backpack.

Robotics Team earns Rookie Inspiration Award submitted by Trish Kline, WCR Board Member Manual’s Winner's Circle Robotics team placed 10th overall with more than 40 teams competing at the St. Louis Regional this past weekend. This is a tremendous accomplishment for a rookie team! They made it to the quarterfinals where the team's alliance placed 5th! They also brought home the Rookie Inspiration Award which celebrates a rookie team's outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering and engineers, both within their school, as well as in their community. The team's next challenge is the Smoky Mountains Regional in Knoxville, TN on April 3 & 4.

Link Up: Underlined items in the newsletter are hyperlinks to more information _____________________ To submit to this enewsletter, email your submission to this address by noon every Wednesday. Please read these submissions guidelines before sending in your article!

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Caring for our Community * Communications and Camaraderie * College & Career Readiness * Celebrating our Crimsons

Backpack Weight Awareness, continued from page 1 school bags, sports bags, lunch bags, etc. so that adult guests could participate in a little something we might call “Students, we got your back”. We encourage you to join in this exploration... Spend a few moments imagining a day in Manual student’s shoes. Extremely hardworking YPAS, HSU, MST, J+C, and VA students who take advanced and college level courses that have very heavy textbooks. Students who strive to have all of the materials that they may need with them at all times. Students who may have classes in 3 different buildings and on 4 different floors. And students who only have 5 minutes to get from one class to the next, so using their locker is difficult if not impossible. We suggest lifting a backpack, trying it on, passing it around. Take time to envision yourself picking it up and also collecting any of these items that you may need, such as your art portfolio, musical instrument, laptop, lunch bag, athletic gear, presentation material, group project, and /or the things you will need for tomorrow’s classes, because tonight… you go to Dad’s house. Then, keep that gear on your back and in your hands and wait for the bus, unload it all from the bus or car and get to class in very crowded hallways, carry it up and/or down up to 4 floors (which is actually 8 flights, with landings in between), go to and/or from the main building, the VA annex, the YPAS building, the YPAS annex. And then get it to sports practice, or to rehearsal, or to your club meeting… and then back home. Every day. As a hard working and ambitious teenager, you likely can do all that. But, should you? We asked Manual Parent Pam Smithy, who is an Occupational Therapist with over 20 years of experience, to share a professional’s perspective. Pam is in private practice and has worked in settings such as Frazier Rehab, Jewish Hospital and home health, so she has seen, firsthand, the repercussions of carrying too heavy a load. As a professor and the Director of the OTA Program at Jefferson Community and Technical College, she stresses PREVENTION. Pam challenged us to help our students consider the long term effects of wearing overweight backpacks to school each day, noting that most of our students think they are invincible. She posed a few important questions, and shared some research findings. Could they be doing damage to their necks, backs and spines? Do you know how much weight the average Manual student carries in their backpack? Do you know how much weight should be in their backpack? According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, over 20,000 sprains, strains, dislocations and fractures from backpacks were treated in hospital emergency rooms, doctors’ offices and clinics in 2013. It is recommended that a backpack should never weigh more than 10% of the student’s total body weight (for a student weighing 100 pounds, this means that the backpack should weigh no more than 10 pounds). In one study, 64% of students reported back pain related to heavy backpacks. 21% reported the pain lasting more than 6 months. According to a study by Boston University, approximately 85% of university students self-report a discomfort and pain associated with backpack usage. The way backpacks are worn affects your health. The height of the backpack should extend from approximately 2 inches below the shoulder blades to waist level or slightly above the waist. It is recommended that individuals always wear the backpack on both shoulders so the weight is evenly distributed. In a study on the effect of backpack education on student behavior and health, nearly 8 out of 10 students who changed how they loaded and wore their backpacks reported less pain and strain in their backs, necks, and shoulders.

Occupational Therapist Pam Smithy

In addition to helping students find ways to decrease their backpack weight, we also need to look at digital textbooks and online learning. It can be complicated to implement an e-system in such a large school. There will not likely be a one size fits all solution. And, there are many other resource needs at Manual. So, we need to research best practices and support work that determines priorities and policies. We need volunteers to help do this. If you would like to join the Advocacy Committee and help move this forward, please contact [email protected].

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Caring for our Community * Communications and Camaraderie * College & Career Readiness * Celebrating our Crimsons

Winner’s Circle Robotics Prepares for Competition (continued from page 1) Our rookie team has been training for almost a year...with each student taking on a specific engineering and strategy role. The students have been offered training on JAVA programming, Solidworks CAD, Electrical & Mechanical Engineering, 3D printing, Arduino, Fabrication, Safety, Web Design, IT, Project Management, Leadership, Business Planning, and Communication. We've just completed our 6 week intensive Build season with many students having committed over 100+ hours to this project. Participating on a FIRST Robotics team offers not only the opportunity to learn more about Robotics and Engineering, but allows students from all of our magnets to get involved and work on an aspect of the team which interests them most...including outreach, marketing, award writing, business plan, etc. Click on this link to learn more about our team. We've had fabulous community mentors assisting the team including multi-patent contributor Frank Luecke, tremendous head coaches, Doug Wingert and Beau Muniz, along with significant sponsor support from NASA, FrankDesign, Big Ass Solutions, Dow Chemical, Ford Motor Company, UAW, National Science Foundation, KY EPSCoR, and the U of L Speed School. Special thanks go out to U of L for giving us unlimited access to their Competition Space, a workshop designated for U of L's competitive engineering teams and also to GE FirstBuild, an open source micro-factory with tools and fabrication equipment that we used to design, prototype, and build our 120 lb robot.

Team Members: Vaannila Annadurai, Umair Bhutto, Conor Blackburn, Roberto Bolli, Caleb Bridgwater, Ryan Carrier, Minoru Chou, Sara Frigui, Yasmine Frigui, Anna Gilbert, Luke Howe-Kerr, Allen Jiang, Benjamin Jiang, David Kim, Austin Kline, Ryan Kline, Emma Kronenberg, Brian Lam, Samuel Naser, Leah Nofsinger, Logan Nofsinger, Elias Oxendine, Maha Pattabiraman, Meena Pattabiraman, Vishal Polepalli, Ben Ragsdell, Abraham Riedel-Mishaan, Camille Rougier, Greg Schwartz, Brian Schweinhart, Madison Sneve, Jane Solinger, Praveena Somasundaram, Brigid Stakelum, Andrew Stucker, Tristie Stucker, Philip Tate, Paul Walko, Robert Watson, Shelley Williams, Brandon Young Team Captain: Brandon Young Head Coaches: Doug Wingert & Beau Muniz Faculty Sponsors: Skip Zwanzig, Noah Eltzroth, Megan Gatewood WCR Board: Tammy Nofsinger, Trish Kline, Ji Kim, Brent & Gail Stucker, Olfa Nasraoui, Rick Williams, Skip Zwanzig, Megan Gatewood, Joe Payette, Faina Kronenberg Team Name: Winner's Circle Robotics #5492 Robot Name: Kentucky Chrome (based off of last year's KY Derby winner, California Chrome)

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1: Emma Kronenberg, Brandon Young, Leah Nofsinger, coach Doug Wingert, coach Beau Muniz, Andrew Stucker, Luke Howe-Kerr 2: Entire team standing outside of FirstBuild 3: Andrew Stucker, Shelley Williams, team captain Brandon Young, Paul Walko 4: Team Captain Brandon Young working on the robot 3

Caring for our Community * Communications and Camaraderie * College & Career Readiness * Celebrating our Crimsons

Chaperones Needed for College Signing Day submitted by Tisha Payne, PTSA Volunteer Coordinator

On May 18th all JCPS Seniors who have been accepted to a college/university, have completed the FAFSA and have met the ACT benchmarks are invited to the YUM! Center for a celebration via the 55,000 degrees initiative. Volunteers need to have Volunteer Records Forms on file by NEXT WEDNESDAY, April 1, 2015. However, if you did that for the 2011-2012 school year, or any year after, you are not required to re-submit. If you have not done that, you can do it online. Please ask parents, guardians, grandparents, alumni, and other adult friends of Manual to help. Here is the link to submit your volunteer form securely online (if you did not do that in 2011 or a subsequent year).

Here is the link to sign up to chaperone on May 18, 2015. Here is the link for more information regarding this process (if you are interested). Don’t wait to join this amazing group of students for this event! The time for this event will be updated as soon as it's made available, but it will be during the school day on Monday, May 18. Please visit the SignUp Genius link for more details. Thank you to all who are generously willing to donate their time to chaperone our wonderful students to this event! That being said, JCPS and the venue requires that every chaperone in attendance has completed the JCPS Volunteer Records Check (volunteers cleared for 2011-2012, or any year after, are not required to re-submit any year after. Please make sure this process has been completed before signing up. We must secure volunteers by April 1, 2015, so don't wait to join this amazing group of students to this event! Thank you!!

Dates and Deadlines submitted by Pinky Jackson, Manual PTSA

April 7, 2014: deadline for PTSA funding requests for the 2014-15 school year. Here is the link to the instructions and the required request form. April 20, 2014, Monday at 8:30am: PTSA meeting in auditorium; everyone welcome. Theme: Advocacy. Email [email protected] by April 13 for agenda time or for a copy of agenda. April 20, 2014, Monday from 11:00am-12:30pm: Introduction to Advocacy. Free training; lunch provided. For details, go here. To reserve a space, go here.

May 18, 2014, Monday at 8:30am: Final PTSA meeting of the school year; in auditorium; everyone welcome. Theme: Gratitude. Email [email protected] by May 11 for agenda time or for a copy of agenda. July 20, 2014, Monday at 5:30pm: tentative date for summer potluck/PTSA meeting. Theme: Welcoming New Volunteers & Board Training August 19, 2015, Wednesday at 8:30am in the auditorium: First PTSA meeting of the 2015-16 School Year! Everyone welcome. Theme: Communications & Camaraderie Email [email protected] by August 12 for agenda time or for a copy of agenda. Monthly PTSA meetings for 2015-16 will be on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 8:30am, unless a school holiday is scheduled. The first few meetings are September 16, October 21, November 18, and December 16. Meetings may occur via conference call if school is closed due to weather, etc.

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Caring for our Community * Communications and Camaraderie * College & Career Readiness * Celebrating our Crimsons

Robotics Team Competes at Regionals

Gift Card Winners Announced

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by Delene Taylor, PTSA Communications Co-Chair

Your PTSA would like to thank all those who have connected with us online! We are pleased to announce the following gift card winners, who were selected at random from all those who connected with Manual PTSA online: Crystal Schiess (Facebook) Laura Moore (Google+) Cassity High (Twitter) Leah Mammen (Instagram) David Gonzalez (Instagram) The cards can be picked up from Michele Bynum in the office. Donated from your Executive Board were $25 cards from Amazon, Qdoba, Starbucks, and two from iTunes - first come, first pick.

Pictured above, left to right: Brandon Young, Mentor Will Funke, Leah Nofsinger, Logan Nofsinger, Coach Beau Muniz

We want to post information that is relevant to YOU, so please tag us and/or share your news and pics. Just search “Manual PTSA”. There are so many wonderful things happening in the Manual community, it can be a challenge to keep up with it all!

Science Fair Fundraising submitted by Rachel Chancy

Pictured above, left to right: Tristie Stucker, Anna Gilbert, Ryan Carrier, Roberto Bolli, Logan Nofsinger, Leah Nofsinger, Brian Schweinhart, Andrew Stucker. The PIT area is in the background.

The online Spring Spirit Wear Store is open. Go online using the PTSA link on the Manual website Order the newest Manual styles and graphics. Sales benefit the Track team, the Cross Country Team, and the PTSA Scholarship Fund. Free delivery to Manual.

Science Fair has an IndieGoGo campaign. Please follow the link (click here) and donate what you can. This money goes to send just Manual students to the Intel International Science Fair. We've had 62 students attend in the last 5 years alone. Manual has a world wide reputation for our bright students. This allows us to make sure all eligible students can attend, regardless of financial circumstances. You can donate as little as $1 and it's tax deductible.

Hurry - the store closes March 31st!! 5

Caring for our Community * Communications and Camaraderie * College & Career Readiness * Celebrating our Crimsons

Regional Science Fair Winners by Amanda Tu, J&C Junior; photos by Ann Schwartz, PTSA Liaison to MST Congratulations to the following students who are moving forward to the next level of competition in the International Science and Engineering Fair. ANIMAL SCIENCE: Sumanth Chennareddy Kelsey Macdonald BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE: Aisha Thapa Diya Mathur and Sophia Korner BIOCHEMISTRY: Sanjana Rane Lavanya Kanneganti BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES: Yam Schaal Kevin Tien CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: Praharshasai Paldugu Cassie Drury

CHEMISTRY Andrew Crittenden Roshan Duggineni COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND BIOINFORMATICS Susmita Chennareddy Rashmi Bharadwaj Gregory and Sarah Schwartz

ENERGY: CHEMICAL Logan Jelsma Matthew Raj, Madan Subheeswar, and Richard Gunasena 3rd place: Govind Krishna 4th place: Rohan Kulkarni ENERGY: PHYSICAL Henry Owen Vishal Polepalli ENGINEERING MECHANICS Taylor Darnell Lindsey Lapinski ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING Akanksha Gupta Conor Blackburn MATERIAL SCIENCES David Yi Ria Jain MATHEMATICS Rishi Talati Sasank Visnubhatla MICROBIOLOGY Tushar Sharma Clayton Wagoner

EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Divija Sharma Maura Appleberry

PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY Jennifer Leung Emily Liu

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS Mukund Venkatakrishnan Joy Li Ben Jiang

PLANT SCIENCES Seohyun Im Camille Rougier SYSTEM SOFTWARE Amit Sahoo and Anirudh Adavi Richard Wilson

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Caring for our Community * Communications and Camaraderie * College & Career Readiness * Celebrating our Crimsons

CAP Volunteer Day for Prom Apparel April 15, 2015 submitted by Jill Jelsma, PTSA CAP Co-Chair

CAP, the Clothing Assistance Program, is a 15th District PTA program which provides a place for families to come and pick out much needed gently-used clothing and new school uniforms so that no student ever misses school and no parent ever misses work due to a lack of appropriate clothing. CAP is completely volunteer run. The current coordinator, Barbara Fischer, is a Manual alumni parent, and she needs our help! If you can stop by for an hour or more on April 15 to sort, hang and arrange donated clothing, please do! Click here for details and/or to sign up to help. If you have any gently-used or new clothing you wish to donate, please feel free to bring it with you when you come to volunteer, or drop it off in the PTSA clothing drive container in the foyer at the main entrance (by center hall). Prom apparel is needed.

Thank you so much to our steadfast volunteers Joanne Taheri, Laurie Oppenheimer, Jill Lauroesch and Jill Jelsma, who helped at our last CAP work day. In order to help get prom dresses ready for students in need, we have scheduled an additional day to help. Come celebrate your taxes being DONE by lending a hand to a very worthy cause on April 15.

Manual Student Coordinates Youth Food Justice Summit submitted by Amanda Tu, J&C Junior and New Roots Intern

Youth Food Justice Summit Monday, April 13; 6-8 pm Bellarmine University (2001 Newburg Road; Louisville, KY 40205), Hilary’s Room in Horrigan Hall Are you a Louisville-area high school, college, or graduate student? Are you interested in food, cooking, social justice, or any combination of the above? Would you like exposure to interesting, meaningful internship and volunteer opportunities with local community organizations? Join New Roots for the first annual Youth Food Justice Summit in partnership with the Bellarmine University Food Advocacy Club. The summit will be a forum for local high school and college students to discuss the issues that plague our food system and the unique ways that youth can tackle these problems. The evening will also feature presentations by local food-related organizations with which Summit participants can pursue internship and volunteer opportunities in the coming months. Read More

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Caring for our Community * Communications and Camaraderie * College & Career Readiness * Celebrating our Crimsons

Manual PTSA Winners Announced by PTSA Board Members Tanya Marquardt, Trish Kline, Shannon Evans, Maria Sorolis, Paula Hutchins, and Pinky Jackson

The Manual PTSA is pleased to announce its local unit winners for the 2014-15 PTA Awards. These winners will be moving forward to the District PTA awards competition. Our individual Outstanding Volunteer is Peggy Loy. Although we can think of several people that are phenomenal volunteers, there is no one more deserving of the “Outstanding Volunteer Award” than Mrs. Peggy Loy. Peggy exemplifies an outstanding volunteer. She has spent the last 15 years volunteering full time - spending 30 hours most weeks, and more on many weeks, helping several groups. She has volunteered for all of her daughters’ sports teams, including swimming, basketball, field hockey, cross country, and lacrosse. She was a Girl Scout leader for four years and had leadership responsibilities for key events and celebrations. She has also overseen multiple fundraising ventures. She has volunteered for several schools’ PTAs/PTSAs, in many roles. She currently volunteers at her church as well, by hosting bible studies and caring for those with special needs. Read more The Hospitality Program is recognized as an Outstanding Special Program. It is amazing how easy collaboration is among people who have taken the time to nurture their relationships. And, nothing nurtures a relationship like a homemade meal, lovingly prepared, and beautifully presented. Because our Hospitality Program is the very foundation of our PTSA work, we recognize it locally and nominate it for a district Special Program Award. Read more The "Stronger Together" Membership Campaign, led by Trish Kline, is an Outstanding Membership Campaign nominee. "Stronger Together" was clearly the best way to articulate the strength of Manual, of our PTSA, and of our work with District, State, and National PTA . "Stronger Together" celebrates the power of collaboration. Just as each of our 5 magnets is an integral part of the educational strength of our school, parents, teachers, and students are key components and vital links in our high school's success! Read more We recognize Penny DeVenuto and Carolyn Judy as winners for their outstanding execution of the National PTA Reflections Program. Although the Reflections Program is something that is done annually at many schools, there are times that special people come our way and make the year exciting and new. This is exactly what has come into our Manual family this year. Our Reflections Co-Chairs, Penny DeVenuto and Carolyn Judy, lead a truly triumphant Reflections campaign. Penny and Carolyn literally gave a breath of fresh air and new life to our Reflections Program. Last school year, we only had a total of nine Reflections project entries. This year we had thirty-four entries! There were fourteen winners at the school level and eleven of those were District winners. Read more The Manual PTSA Founders' Day Luncheon is selected as a local unit Special Program winner. We take our traditional Founders’ Day program and bring something new and creative to it each year. We were able to have surprise presentations for some of our award recipients, who were honored by family members as well as Manual staff members. We had student presenters for each award, and a very special award to longtime volunteer and leader Carol Haddad. Read more Congratulations and thank you to everyone who contributes time, talent, and treasure to our award-winning PTSA!

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Caring for our Community * Communications and Camaraderie * College & Career Readiness * Celebrating our Crimsons

Support Project Graduation submitted by Co-Chairs Missy Wislocki and Teresa Mader, Project Graduation Co-Chairs Project Graduation is a national event sponsored by many high schools and PTSAs for seniors on the night of their graduation. It is an adult –supervised, alcohol and drug free evening meant to keep all of our kids safe on this big night. We would love to have donations of prizes suitable for graduating seniors, such as televisions, iPads, mini fridges, microwaves, GoPro cameras, DVD players, or dorm room furniture. If you own a business or have family that would like to make a donation, please contact us! Gift cards are always welcome as well. If you would like to make a monetary donation, there is a box labeled PROJECT GRADUATION in the front office. Send it in with your student and the office will take care of it! We are also looking for volunteers willing to give their time that evening; sophomore and junior parents are especially encouraged to participate so you’ll have a good idea of what your soon-to-be senior will be involved in! We will need plenty of volunteers to make this night a huge success. We appreciate your support of our seniors. Follow us on Twitter (@manualpg2015) or on Facebook (Dupont Manual Project Graduation 2015) Missy Wislocki [email protected] (502) 741-6921 or Teresa Mader [email protected] (502) 536-1644

Athletic Schedule submitted by David Zuberer WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015 BASEBALL @ Atherton (JV – 5:00 pm) BOYS’ LACROSSE @ Oldham County (Varsity – 6:00 pm, JV –7:30 pm) BOYS’ TENNIS vs. Collegiate @ Seneca Park (JV/V – 4:00 pm) BOYS’ & GIRLS’ TRACK & FIELD @ Walden Relays (4:30 pm) THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015 BASEBALL vs. Waggener @ Derby City Field (Varsity – 6:30pm) **CRIMSON/RAM CARD EVENT** BASEBALL @ St. Xavier (JV – 5:00 pm, FR – 7:30 pm) FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 BASEBALL @ North Bullitt (JV – 5:00 pm) BASEBALL vs. Collins @ Derby City Field (Varsity – 6:30 pm)**CRIMSON/RAM CARD EVENT** BOYS’ LACROSSE @ Collegiate (Varsity – 5:00 pm, JV – 7:00 pm) GIRLS’ LACROSSE @ Nashville, TN SOFTBALL – Tennessee Bash @ Clarksville, TN GIRLS’ TENNIS @ Bullitt East (4:00 pm) BOYS’ & GIRLS’ TRACK & FIELD – Lenny Lyles Invitational @ Central High School SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2015 BASEBALL vs. Holy Cross @ duPont Manual Memorial Stadium (JV – 12:00 pm, FR – 2:00 pm) **CRIMSON/RAM CARD EVENT** BOYS’ LACROSSE vs. Libertyville, IL @ duPont Manual Memorial Stadium (Varsity – 9:00 am) **CRIMSON/RAM CARD EVENT** GIRLS’ LACROSSE @ Nashville, TN SOFTBALL – Tennessee Bash @ Clarksville, TN BOYS’ TENNIS – Kentucky Duals @ St. Xavier (JV) BOYS’ & GIRLS’ TRACK & FIELD – Lenny Lyles Invitational @ Central High School

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Caring for our Community * Communications and Camaraderie * College & Career Readiness * Celebrating our Crimsons

REMINDER: TODAY is the deadline to apply for Manual PTSA Scholarships

Thanks to your membership donations and Spirit Wear purchases, we have been able to increase the number and amounts of scholarships for our students. $625 awards will be given to four Manual Seniors.

The minimum weighted GPA is 3.0 and the deadline to apply is today, March 25, 2015. Download the instructions and application here: http://goo.gl/UaBTeq If you have any questions, contact PTSA Scholarships Committee Chair Denise Mallett at [email protected]

Above: Manual student EmmaLee Kidwell (YPAS Sophomore) sings the national anthem at the KHSAA Sweet Sixteen at Rupp Arena in Lexington. Great job, EmmaLee, and congratulations! duPont Manual Cheerleaders win Two 1st place Trophies Submitted by Mary McDonald, duPont Manual Cheer Board President

Way to go duPont Manual Rams Cheerleaders! The cheerleaders earned a 1st place trophy in both Boys and Girls Regionals. They are judged on floor cheer, leading the crowd, sideline chants, cheering the team on and having school spirit. Go Rams!

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