By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

Following the fall River Ridge Elementary book fair, more than $5,600 of proceeds were not deposited into the PTA’s bank account until months later, after the discrepancy had been discovered by PTA board members.

PTA Board President Christina Morales said that on April 7, upon realizing the discrepancy, the PTA board closed the books, limiting access to the account, so that a Financial Reconciliation Committee could conduct an investigation.

“On April 7, the 4th VP of Fundraising was informed that the books were closed, and that the PTA did not have access to the account,” Morales said. “The VP went to the bank and deposited a personal check in the amount of $6,544.29. The following day, the VP was removed from the bank account. The board met on Friday, April 11. We then appointed the Reconciliation Committee, and voted unanimously to remove the 4th VP of Fundraising (from the board).”

Morales said while the board realized the discrepancy in early April, members did not know the exact number that had been missing until Friday, April 25, when the results of the  Financial Reconciliation Committee investigation were released. Continue reading →

By SCOTT W. COLEMAN, Four Points News

The Vandegrift girls soccer team last weekend won the Austin area’s first-ever UIL girls soccer championship in a 1-0 victory over Wylie East at Georgetown’s Birkelbach Field. It was the first team athletic title for Vandegrift and the second for a Leander ISD school. Cedar Park’s football team won the Class 4A football state title in 2012.

Lady Vipers hold the 4A state trophy in front of loyal fans after winning the championship game on Saturday. This is the first team athletic title for Vandegrift.
Photo by Scott W. Coleman

By Scott W. Coleman

Junior midfielder Kyndal Howard scored the lone goal in Saturday’s championship game on a header with 2:30 remaining in regulation. Howard also scored the game-winning penalty kick in Friday afternoon’s 2-1 shootout (5-3 penalty kicks) semifinal victory over Northwest Nelson.

Howard was named the championship game’s MVP. On Sunday, the UIL announced that Howard, along with senior goalkeeper Mariah Lechner, sophomore Cassidy Cavanaugh and freshman Kelly Flynn had been named to the Class 4A Girls UIL Soccer State All-Tournament Team.

By Scott W. Coleman

Both Friday afternoon’s semifinal win over Northwest Nelson and Saturday’s title game victory looked a lot like Vandegrift’s other postseason wins. The Lady Vipers won a shootout over Cedar Park in the regional quarterfinal, and went into overtime to defeat Rouse in the regional title game.

After Friday’s win.
Photo by Scott W. Coleman

“That’s the kind of thing that shows the strength of girls soccer in this area,” said LISD athletic director Chris Ross on Saturday. “And it’s only going to get better.” Continue reading →

Lynette Gillis

By LYNETTE GILLIS, Concordia professor, River Place mom

My husband travels a lot for work, which can be tough for a mom of four kids. However, it does have it its perks; sometimes I get to travel with him. Our family has had the opportunity to travel to Australia, New Zealand, England and Canada. The most recent trip was to Dubai.

When my husband first told me about the trip I was not so sure that I wanted to go… surprise, he already bought my ticket. Looks like I was headed to the Middle East for the first time in my life.

As the date approached my anxiety grew. I was leaving our four kids for a week headed to a place where I could not have pinpointed geographically. Dubai is located in the Arabian desert, east of Saudi Arabia and south of Iran separated by the Persian Gulf.

It is one of the wealthiest and most demographically diverse places in the world. Still, I was a woman traveling to a part of the world that I believed to be oppressive to women with laws so strict that any form of public affection, including holding hands with your husband, may land you a year in jail. I was nervous. I left just wanting the trip to be over and wanting to be home safe and sound with my kids. Continue reading →

Susan Arant

By SUSAN ARANT

There are times that the sheer volume of activities in a day can be exhausting. We all have busy lives with hectic schedules and at days end, I relish the time that I can walk through my door and be home.

In theory, being home should provide a sense of calm, yet on a daily basis I used to find myself stepping over an obstacle course of shoes and backpacks and needing to push back stacks of mail to put my bags down.

It occurred to me recently that my real-life sanctuary, was a bit disorganized and my “home Zen” may be a bit out of balance. Continue reading →