BRIDGE CITY — A mantle in Bridge City High School class of 2006 salutatorian Leah Nicole Moss’ parents’ living room is filled with some 50 academic University Interscholastic League (UIL) medals she won during her high school years.

There were so many of them her mother, Patti Moss, who had packed them away in the wake of Hurricane Rita, has yet to unpack them all.

The daughter of Buddy and Patti Moss of Bridge City, Leah was a member of the 3A Calculators Application 2006 state champion team, and a member of the second place general math and fourth place number sense teams at this year’s UIL state meet.

Leah received full-ride scholarships to attend several schools in and out of the state of Texas but chose to live at home and to attend Lamar University.

She was awarded the Mr. and Mrs. M.W. McMaster and several other scholarships to attend the university.

“I wasn’t quite ready to leave the area,” Leah said.

She plans to major in business and she would one day like to one day manage musical artists and produce works for a major Christian music label.

Leah is serious about her dream and has written about 20 songs herself and is working with a Houston quartet to produce a CD. She also is known for her extensive collection of “I Love Lucy” memorabilia which she began collecting when she was 3.

Among the awards and honors bestowed on Leah this year were: National Merit Scholar commended, awarded to some 16,000 student nationwide, National Hispanic Scholar, and the President’s Education Award. She was also recognized by the Who’s Who Among American Students program her freshman through junior years.

Asked what she learned from her high school experience, Leach said, “I think the most I learned about was to respect the teachers, because they will take you a long way if they know you respect what they do.”

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