W.T. White senior Deidre Thornell has won the Texas round of the Colgate Country Showdown, a singing competition that showcases the nation’s most promising country music talent. Thornell will now advance to the next round of regional competitions in New Mexico. If she wins there, she will go to Tennessee for the televised national competitions and a shot at $100,000.

The 2009-2010 Hillcrest High School National Honor Society  has been announced. This year’s members are: Jorge Alvarez, Catherine Asay, Stephen Ashworth, Blake Atwell, Cimajie Best, Joey Blatt, Marlene Brioso, Luz Cobos, Patrick Crowling, Neal Daulton, Donielle Demus, Molly Fisher, Sarah Fisher, Stephanie Gore, Emily Gray, Alejandro Hernandez, Taylor Hinojosa, Carlos Jimenez, Spencer Klein, Surata Kloss, Alix Kohrs, McKenna Lelah, Marco Lopez, Andrea Marshall, Victoria McKay, Crystal Meraz, Aleni Mostarac, Paul Peters, Nancy Ramirez, Ruben Rodriguez, Michael Rubin, Yameni Sarabia, Katherine Sartain, Lauren Schuller, Madeleine Sherrington, Kelly Stein, Naghmeh Taeffi, Brooke Tomlin, Rigoberto Velasquez, and Maya Warnock.

New York-based artist collective Creative Time and Grammy-winning new music ensemble eighth blackbird are the inaugural recipients of the 2009-2010 Meadows Prize at Southern Methodist University. The prize includes housing for a one-to-three-month residency in Dallas, transportation expenses, studio/office space and project costs, in addition to a $25,000 stipend. In return, recipients are expected to interact in a substantive way with students at the Meadows School of Arts and collaborating arts organizations, and to leave a lasting legacy in Dallas, such as a work of art that remains in the community, a composition or piece of dramatic writing that would be performed locally, or a new way of teaching in a particular discipline.