Mission High Schools

Mission FFA team places near the top at state competition

                For the fourth time in the last five years, the Senior Conducting (Parliamentary Procedure) team from the Mission FFA Chapter has placed in the top ten at the Texas FFA State Leadership Development Event finals.

                The team members are: Jennifer Quintero, president; Vaness Calderon, vice president; Itzel Lopez, secretary; J.C. Martinez, treasurer; Jose Calderon, reporter; Miguel Ceron, sentinel; Johanna Jimmenez, advisor; Rolando Hinojosa, member; Sebastian Martinez, member; Renata Bazan, member.

                Out of 249 teams that competed at the state events, the Mission team placed sixth in the finals. To earn their right to compete at the finals the Mission team placed second at the state semi-finals; first in the Area 10 Regional event; and first in the Rio Grande Valley district event.

                In the last five years, the Mission FFA Chapter Senior Conducting Team has won five district championships, four area championships, placed first in the state semi-finals two years in a row, and placed second in the semi-finals once.

VMHS choir students advance to finals for All-State

                Three choir students from Veterans Memorial High School have qualified to advance to area level auditions for the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) All-State Choir.  The auditioning process began in September and will end with the area round selections to All-State Choir.

                Tess Varlack, Raul River, Jennifer Corona (l-r) will travel to Rockport-Fulton for the area auditions in early January. Only 125 high school singers from throughout the state will be selected for the All-State Choir. The choir performs at the TMEA convention in early February.

                The TMEA audition process places all high schools in the state together. There is no delineation between 1A and 5A high schools. 

VMHS band students advancing to finals for All-State

                Three band students from Veterans Memorial High School (VMHS) have qualified to advance to area level auditions for the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) All-State Band. Demetrius Davis, Benjamin Garcia, and Daniel Solis (pictured l-r) have made it through several layers of competitions to earn the trip to Alice, TX in early January for the finals. Top students selected at the area auditions will get to perform with the All-State Band at the TMEA convention to be held in February.

FFA welding teams from both high schools take first place

                Welding teams from the Mission FFA and Veterans Memorial FFA each walked away from the recent RGV district welding contest, held at South Texas College, as winners. 

                From the Veterans Memorial FFA Chapter, it was the senior welding team that finished in first place in the senior division.  Team members are (l-r): Michael Little, Sergio Salinas, Stacie Martinez, Andrew Valdez.

Mission FFA students advance to state semi-finals

 The Mission FFA Chapter from Mission High School recently participated in the Area 10 FFA Regional Leadership Development events. Their Senior Chapter Conducting Team placed first and has qualified to compete at the state semi-finals to be held at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX on December 2.

                The team consists of: Jennifer Quintero, president; Vanessa Calderon, vice president; Itzel Lopez, secretary; J.C. Martinez, treasurer; Jose Calderon, reporter; Miguel Vela, sentinel; Johanna Jimenez, advisor; Rolando Hinojosa, member; Sebastian Martinez, member; Renata Bazan, member.

                Chapter member Jacob Solis placed seventh in the senior quiz, but will not be advancing. 

VMHS FFA students advance to area and state competitions

                VMHS FFA students advance to area and state competitions

                The Veterans Memorial FFA Chapter recently participated in the Rio Grande Valley FFA District Leadership Development events.  About 20 schools with over 150 students participated.

                San Juanita Machuca placed first in Spanish FFA Creed Speaker competitions and will be advancing to state-level competitions next summer.     

                Three other competition teams placed high enough to advance to the area competitions. The Farm Radio team placed first. This team consists of: Meagan Garrett, Brittany Gernentz, Alyssa Gonzales. The Greenhand FFA Quiz team consisting of Roy Guerrero, Dannell Cerroblanco, Priscilla Cerroblanco, and Janitzy Tornes also placed first and advanced to area competitions.  The Senior FFA Creed Speaker, Meagan Garrett placed second and advanced to area competitions.

                Others from the Veterans Memorial FFA Chapter placed well in the district events, but will not be advancing to area competitions.  The Public Relations team consisting of Antonia Bustillos, Analisa Hernandez, and San Juanita Machuca, placed third.  Also placing third was the Senior FFA Quiz team consisting of Victoria Prukop, Valerie Escamilla, Mark Ochoa, and Lisa Stuart. Ethen Pena placed fifth in the Job Interview competition.