Advocate staff photo by James MintonThe new co-champion American holly owned by Darrel and Pat Walton, of Zachary, stands 58 feet tall. The tree was added to the Louisiana champion tree list for 2012.

Advocate staff photo by Arthur D. Lauck Poetry slam Episcopal High School students Chloe Matthews, 15, left, and Bria Johnson, 16, perform their poems Friday during Forward Arts Inc.'s ALL CITY Teen Poetry Festival at BREC's headquarters. The five-day festival featured 60 students from nine area middle and high schools. The final round of the festival will be held Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Manship Theatre at the Shaw Center For The Arts. The top six students from that round will qualify to attend the 15th annual Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival in San Francisco.

Advocate staff photo by LIBBY ISENHOWER On the eve of semester finals, East Baton Rouge Lab Academy senior Daquille Hillard comforts Natasha Rankins, a junior, after the School Board voted Thursday to close the school.

Advocate staff photo by ADAM LAUNational Day of Prayer Rosie Sweetser leads attendees in song during Ascension Parish President Tommy Martinez's National Day of Prayer Luncheon at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales on Thursday.

Advocate staff photo by PATRICK DENNIS Members of the McKinley High Fashion Club model some of the fashions they've created for a fashion show Friday name. From left, are Mecca Cortez, 17; Kendell Cannon, 16; and Terreze Williams, 18.

Advocate staff photo by RICHARD ALAN HANNONTo Highland With Love program coordinator Patty Noland, second from left, receives a hug from Highland Elementary School principal Kaye Van Sickle, as fellow program members Sarah Rogers, left, and Carolyn Cavanaugh, far right, look on during the 22nd annual Volunteers in Public Schools Apple Awards at University Baptist Church on Tuesday. To Highland with Love won this year's Crystal Apple Award, given to an individual or group for at least 10 years of outstanding volunteer work.

Advocate staff photo by ADAM LAUCreepy crawlerA fiery-colored caterpillar crawls on a branch overlooking New River Bayou in Gonzales on Tuesday afternoon.

Advocate staff photo by HEATHER McCLELLAND LSU's JaCoby Jones catches the ball at second base as Tulane's Brandon Boudreaux slides during Tuesday's game in Alex Box Stadium Tuesday.

Advocate staff photo by BILL FEIGDrew Patin of Zachary watches his ball while teeing off on the second hole of the second day of Division I-Class 5A boys state golf tournament Wednesday at Copper Mill in Zachary. Patin, the first-round leader, was declared the tournament winner after the second round was rained out.

Advocate staff photo by BILL FEIG Retired LSU Professor Leon C. Standifer holds the French Legion of Honor Medal he received on the French frigate Germinal during Navy Week in New Orleans. Standifer was honored for his military service during World War II.

Advocate Staff Photo by Travis SpradlingLouisiana Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, far right, gets help Monday from Mark Atwood, wearing maroon and owner of Alexandria's Atwood Bakery, to cut the Louisiana birthday cake in Memorial Hall at the State Capitol. Louisiana was admitted as the 18th state to the United States on April 30, 1812. Others include, left to right, Bicentennial Commission member Rosemary Patterson, of Bossier City, and bakery representatives Cody Ruiz, his mother Jennifer Atwood, cake decorator Sharie Harris and Ed Atwood. A statue of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the Montreal native who established New Orleans in 1718, is in the background.

Advocate staff photo by BRYAN TUCKLighting up Pat'sBubba Guidry changes bulbs and repositions lights above the awning at Pat's Restaurant on Main Street in downtown Lafayette. Guidry said he does maintenance work for the restaurant.

Associated Press file photo -- Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play at the 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Sunday.

Advocate staff photo by LIBBY ISENHOWER Neal Auction Company appraiser Bettine Carroll examines a piece of reproduced malaga pottery at the Heirloom Roadshow Sunday afternoon at the West Baton Rouge Community Center in Port Allen. Though the piece is not an original, Carroll valued it at $200 to $300.

Advocate file photoThe Roumain Building on Third Street is recognized as Baton Rouge's first skyscraper. It was built by Joseph Kyle Roumain, great-uncle of Joseph Philip Roumain, beginning in 1912 and completed in 1913. Fifty years later, in 1963, it still dwarfed the buildings around it.

Holding the state flag of Louisiana, Lina PInto, right, and her husband Mauricio PInto dance near the bandstand on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at the Bicentennial Family Homecoming, a celebration of the Louisiana's 200th birthday at State Capitol Park in Baton Rouge, La. Natives of Colombia, they've lived in Baton Rouge since 2001, she said. Both went to college at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, La. Louisiana joined the United States of America on April 30, 1812. (AP Photo/The Advocate,Travis Spradling)

Advocate Staff Photo by Travis Spradling Chainsaw artist Burt Fleming, of Zachary, uses a blade to add details to a wooden crawfish he cut out of a pine log Saturday at the Bicentennial Family Homecoming, a celebration of the Louisiana's 200th birthday on the State Capitol Grounds.

Advocate Staff Photo by Travis Spradling Brothers D'Vaughn English, 5, left, and Deandre English, 4, right, came out of the audience to play a little rubboard with Earl 'Washboard' Sally, left, of Opelousas, and band leader Chubby Carrier, right, of Lafayette, at the Bicentennial Family Homecoming, a celebration of the Louisiana's 200th birthday at State Capitol Park. Mark Metoyer, background, is bass player for the Grammy Award-winning "Chubby Carrier and His Bayou Swamp Band."

Advocate staff photo by LIBBY ISENHOWER Volunteers gathered Saturday afternoon at LSU's Greek Theatre to place about 5,000 handmade ceramic bones across the stage. The bones represent people who suffer throughout the world from war, genocide and other humanitarian crises.

Advocate staff photo by LIBBY ISENHOWER Dylan Salbador, left, and Roshan Patel place handmade ceramic bones across the stage of the Greek Theatre at LSU Saturday afternoon. The bone installment was hosted by the LSU chapter of One Million Bones, a nationwide effort to raise awareness about humanitarian crisis throughout the world.

Advocate staff photo by ADAM LAULSU's Mason Katz celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam against Georgia on Saturday at Alex Box Stadium.

Advocate staff photo by LIBBY ISENHOWER From left: Violinists Hyungie Sung, Jenny Zhang, Elizabeth Copeland and Anna Morris practice with the Louisiana Youth Orchestra Monday night at the LSU School of Music Building.