‘Park Cities People’ Applauds

McCulloch Intermediate School fifth-grader Harper Morrow, who won HPISD’s 2024-25 birthday card contest. Her design will be featured on birthday cards given to employees each month on the district’s cake day. Morrow was recognized at a recent board of trustees meeting, where she was presented with a framed photo of her card and copies to give family and friends.

Highland Park’s legendary head football coach, Randy Allen.Highlander Stadium’s field was recently named “Randy Allen Field” in honor of his contributions. Allen is the winningest active high school coach in Texas and the second of all time. He has led the Scots to 23 district titles and almost 300 wins, and was recently recognized with the prestigious Tom Landry Award, the highest annual honor given by the Texas High School Coaches Association.

10-year-old Leif Lazenby, who tied for seventh nationally at the recent AAU Junior Olympic Games in Greensboro, North Carolina. Lazenby won a gold medal in his age group at the regional meet by clearing a height of 3 feet, 10 inches. He improved to 4-feet-3 at the national meet.

Jeanne Skartsiaris, whose novel The Magdalenes was recently reviewed by The Dallas Morning News for a Sunday edition, was a 2023 Page Turner Awards finalist, and is a finalist for the 2024 American Fiction Awards. The book, which is set in the Park Cities area and is about overcoming sexual abuse and rising from the pain, was also a first-place winner in fiction at the San Antonio Writers’ Guild in 2019 prior to its publication.