LHHS

The Lake Highlands High School Alumni Association will host their third annual awards presentation dinner at Royal Oaks Country Club on Sunday, April 19. The organization was founded in 2014 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the school and connect classmates, uphold traditions and highlight the accomplishments of former students and teachers at The School of Champions. Five alumni will be honored.

Chuck Carona, Dr. Philip Huang and Kristi Scales Sutton will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award, Patti Clapp will receive the Wildcat Award and Pete Grieder will receive the Distinguished Service Award.

Carona earned a spot in the Wildcat Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the school’s first graduating class and the first all-district basketball player from LHHS. He went on to become an assistant principal at Lake Highlands Junior High and LHHS, later serving as principal at J.J. Pearce and Dean of Education at Dallas Baptist University.

“For those of us fortunate enough to know Chuck during the early years, he had already exemplified leadership, humility, integrity and thoughtfulness toward others,” wrote previous Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Roy Gene Evans, Andy Anderson and Carona’s sister, Martha Lammers, in their joint letter of nomination. “Chuck’s life has been a continuous effort to develop youngsters, instill honesty, promote integrity and set them on an upward path. It is this legacy of nurturing, cultivating and educating young minds which we wish to see honored.”

“He was always someone we all respected and looked up to as a model of great integrity and humility. Besides, he could make a basket from any angle or distance,” continued Anderson. “When you’re around Chuck, he’s more interested in you than going on about himself. A buddy’s favorite expression is ‘Conduct flows from character,’ and Chuck is an A-1, real life example of that.”

“As a new teacher and coach at LHHS in 1978, I immediately noticed how the faculty members viewed the leadership of the principal and assistant principals with admiration and respect,” added former LHHS principal Dr. Bob Iden, another past recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. “His calm, positive, good-natured interaction with parents, teachers and students helped reinforce and perpetuate a strong sense of community, and a climate of cooperation on and off campus — even in the most trying of circumstances.”

Huang serves as director and health authority for Dallas County Health and Human Services, where he navigated uncharted waters during the pandemic. He’s long been a leading voice in public health policy, advocating for issues such as tobacco-use prevention and smoke-free environments. He served as medical director for Austin Public Health and spent time as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Dr. Huang’s three-decade career in public service exemplifies the qualities this award seeks to recognize: outstanding achievement, strength of character and dedicated citizenship,” wrote Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. “His accomplishments in public service and medicine serve as a model to inspire and challenge today’s youth, reflecting the spirit and values of Lake Highlands High School alumni.”

“In 2014, our city faced the intense scrutiny and operational strain of the Ebola crisis,” agreed former mayor Mike Rawlings. “That experience underscored a truth I carry with me: communities need public-health leaders who communicate transparently, coordinate across agencies and act decisively. Dr. Huang exemplifies those traits.”

“The specific achievement that makes him a quintessential inspiration for LHHS students is his steadfast, ethical leadership under extreme pressure,” wrote RISD superintendent Tabitha Branum. “He has demonstrated that the pursuit of scholarship (M.D. from UT Southwestern, M.P.H. from Harvard) can be directly translated into a life of service that protects and sustains an entire metropolitan area.”

“Dr. Huang’s example is not simply one of professional success but of a life dedicated to using his knowledge to solve humanity’s most critical problems,” Branum continued. “He shows our students that an education from Richardson ISD and Lake Highlands can lead to a career of local impact with national significance.”

Scales, who has continued using her maiden name during broadcasts, graduated from LHHS in 1985 and now shines as the sideline reporter for Dallas Cowboys Radio. She often calls it her dream job, since her childhood days were famously spent sneaking away from Forest Meadow Junior High to catch a glimpse of the Boys in Blue at practice. She was the first female color analyst for NFL radio, and she’s expertly covered Super Bowls and international games, including those in London, Toronto and Mexico. She’s missed just one game in 35 years.

“I have seen her do nearly every job imaginable, all as though she invented them,” wrote “Voice of the Dallas Cowboys” Brad Sham. “She is publicly recognizable as the sideline reporter on Dallas Cowboys radio broadcasts, but her superpower is her personal relatability. She finds common ground with famous athletes, millionaires, security guards, ushers and people in the checkout line who didn’t know but are about to learn they have a new best friend.”

“She did not invent sideline reporting, but she did perfect it,” agreed Keith Whitmire, fellow LHHS graduate and respected sports journalist. “Kristi goes above and beyond her peers by providing constant sideline updates and reactions. Viewers might see a TV sideline reporter only a couple of times per game. Kristi is a consistent presence on the Cowboys radio broadcasts with instant injury and lineup updates as well as game analysis. The preparation she puts into every game is evident to the listener.”

“Kristi likes to say that her earliest association with the Cowboys was peeking over the fence at the Cowboys’ old practice facility on Forest Lane. Then she and her friends would ‘dumpster dive’ into the Cowboys’ garbage bin for cleats, jerseys and anything else a kids would treasure.”

Clapp was a PTA leader before her election to the RISD school board, where she served as president. She’s also past president of the American Cancer Society of Dallas, the Community Council of Greater Dallas, the Dallas Commission on Children and Youth, the Dallas Republican Forum, Executive Women of Dallas, Friends of the Dallas Public Library, Tejas Girl Scouts Council, Texas Center for Education Research, Trinity River Authority and Women’s Council of Dallas County, among other civic organizations.

“Patti’s service was marked by a devotion to helping all children succeed and a dedication to excellence in every aspect of the district, including academics, fine arts and athletics. Her advocacy for children and their parents continues to this day,” wrote former RISD trustee Luke Davis and his wife, Paula. “Patti’s commitment to fair elections is unrivaled. She has been a stalwart election volunteer for decades. Every Lake Highlands voter has probably met Patti when they voted. Our community is blessed to have such a fierce defender of our right to vote.”

“Patti is a servant leader who leads by example and encourages others to become involved in the Lake Highlands community and beyond,” they continued. “The breadth and depth of her hands-on service have touched countless Lake Highlands residents. We are grateful for her friendship and for the fact that she seems to have no intention of retiring.”

“Patti’s lifetime commitment to education ranges from early childhood education, K-12 advocacy and higher education to workforce development and her long tenure as a Richardson ISD Trustee,” agreed Jenny King. “Her work and her high community profile, as well as her respected reputation, has either directly or indirectly improved education and opportunities for students in the LHHS feeder pattern.”

Grieder was named Richardson ISD Coach of the Year and Texas Wrestling Regional Coach of the Year before being inducted into the Texas Wrestling Hall of Honor and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He earned 89 tournament championships and had 175 state qualifiers, with 30 straight years of state qualifying athletes.

“Under Pete’s dynamic leadership, the LHHS Wildcat Wrestling program had the winningest record of any sports program in Richardson ISD history,” Iden wrote. “In the process of not only building championship athletes, he also instilled in them values of hard work, sportsmanship, confidence, and grit.”

“But I believe that Pete’s greatest service was in teaching mathematics to his students,” Iden continued. “As an algebra and geometry teacher, most of his students were freshmen and sophomores, and would sometimes struggle with mastering important foundational high school math concepts. But with his calm, encouraging demeanor and the patience of Job, he promoted student success by ensuring all of his students understood the concepts so that no one was left behind.”

“My favorite thing about Coach Grieder is that he would never yell or berate athletes to get results, which sadly was very common with other coaches,” wrote Clark Baker, who wrestled for Grieder before graduating in 2003. “He was a calm and confident leader that believed the way to lift his students and athletes up was to be supportive and to teach his wrestlers to take responsibility and accountability for their own performance and their contribution to the team.”

Sponsorship opportunities and tickets will be available online March 1. You may join the LHHS Alumni Association here.