Talk of the Neighborhood highlights Central Texans’ achievements.

* Applause *

* Boy Scout Troop 498 members George Hazlett Long III, Tyler Scott Underwood and Russell Bumpass received their Eagle Scout rank and were recognized with an Eagle ceremony on Dec. 12.

George is the son of George H. II and Pam Long of Chalk Bluff. He graduated from Connally High School in May. His Eagle project was the cleanup, beautification and erection of a picnic area at Lost Oak Lagoon at Lake Waco.

Tyler is the son of Sharen Underwood of Hewitt and Kevin Underwood of Axtell. He graduated from Midway High School in May. His Eagle project was the construction of a bridge on a bike trail in Cameron Park and beautification of that area.

Russell is the son of Robert Bumpass and Kay Bumpass, both of Waco. He graduated from La Vega High School in May. His Eagle project was the beautification and cleanup of a bike trail in Cameron Park.

* Class Acts *

* Thirty-five Midway Middle School students were named to the All Region VIII Middle School Choir after auditions at Temple High School. Selected were:

Seventh-graders — Mark Bell, Abby Bennett, Katie Coley, Jose Diaz (alternate), Kade Miller, M.J. Morris, Mckenna Scott, Haley Snider, Elaine Sury, Brionna Watkins and Sarah Williams.

Eighth-graders — Sara Albers, Evan Arnett, Timothy Arterbury, Matthew Barry, Bethany Blattman, Matthew Boles, Gabriella Carbonara, Sean Clark, Katie Clemmer, Madison Horner, Colton Jackson, Maggie Kearney, Will Lancaster, Chase Maqueda, Laine McGinty, Heath Nielsen, Maggie Polk (alternate), Abby Jo Pozek, Rachel Reneau (alternate), Nick Salinas, Ethan Scott, J.P. Shafer, Blair Sivess, Shannon Tooker, Kayla Torp, Alex Tullos and Dalton Woods.

* Four Midway High School teams won top honors in this year’s WordMasters Challenge, a national competition requiring close reading and analysis of prose and poetry. Participating with 526 other school teams, Midway’s ninth-graders tied for eighth in the nation in this year’s second meet, while its 10th-graders tied for ninth place, its 11th-graders placed fourth, and its 12th-graders tied for sixth place. Teams were supervised by Marsha Alvarado and the students’ English teachers. 

Several students won individual honors. Seniors Alex Gilbert and Dylan Pacheco and juniors Chad Davis, Maggie Fernandez and Matthew Williams earned perfect scores in the meet. Sophomore Paul Koester was one of the 41 highest-scoring 10th-graders nationwide, while freshman Alyx Tighe placed among the 51 highest-scoring ninth-graders. Sophomores Kenzi Cocke, Kristen McKerall and Allison Schroeder were among the 115 highest-scoring 10th-graders.

Freshmen Joseph Bennett, Jan Johnson, Worth Loughlin, Chance McGilvray, Claire Smith and Dylan Kries, and juniors Camden Brown, Charles Bussell, Andrew Chang-Gu, Rebecca Fielder, Jack Harris, Ivonne Sandoval and Evan Plante earned honorable mention.

* In the Military *

* Army Pvt. Jash D. Willis, a 2009 graduate of Midway High School, has graduated from One Station Unit Training at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga. The training consisted of basic military training and advanced individual training. He is the son of Ronald O. Willis Sr. of Waco.

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