Hey, hi, hello, and welcome back! It feels like it's been forever since my last post. There's so much to catch up on! So, let's do a re-cap post and get up to speed. Let's re-cap December...December was crazy busy (hence the blog post a month late...oops!). There was obviously a plethora of holiday programs at the elementary schools, but on top of that, we held our first ever, district-wide, Fine Arts Extravaganza. The showcase featured artwork from elementary up to high school students (which was available for purchase), as well as theater, dance, band, and choir performances throughout the high school. Performance venues were located in the Auditorium and new Robotics arena. Hot chocolate and holiday treats were also served by our culinary arts students. The showcase had a huge turnout, with members of the community enjoying orchestral, choral, and band music; as well as enjoying theatrical and dance performances by the theater arts program and our GHS Flaming Flashes. Art displays were located throughout the building. What else happened in December you ask? Well, along with the opening of the new Bowie Elementary School in November, we held a community Open House event on December 8th to show off the new building! I can't even explain how cool it is to walk through the new Bowie. Having gone to Bowie myself as a kid, the transformation is unreal. It was kind of mind blowing to walk through the building with the Principal, Dale Mason, and have him explain to me that the hallway that I was standing in was once the library, or nurse's office, or what have you #nostalgic Another cool thing about the Open House? There were speakers from Congressman Ratcliffe's office, Senator Bob Hall's office, and Representative Dan Flynn's office who each presented a flag or token to the Principal. After the speeches, Mr. Mason presented gifts from the originial Bowie building to Lyndon Stromberg for his work on the James Bowie statue, and to the Tillery sisters, Amy Tillery and Leigh Anne Brown, whose father was the very first principal of Bowie Elementary. Major tear-jerker. Moving onto the present...That basically sums up December (more or less). January promises to be an eventful month as we prepare for a lot of changes in the comng months. Stay tuned for upates as they happen!
Oh yeah! We now have a monthly newsletter! If you'd like to receive regular monthly updates, you can click here to sign up! (Don't worry it's totally free). The content does differ from blog updates. Happy New Year everyone! If you didn't already feel like this year was flying by, I bet you do now. September is over and it's #HoCo2016 tonight at 7:30!! How the heck did Homecoming get here so quickly?! Last night, Greenville High School held a community pep rally at the stadium and it. was. lit. Personally, I think we need to do that every year before Homecoming. I liked that wayyyy better than doing one in the gym (not that those aren't great)! If you missed out on last night's pep rally, don't worry! I've included plenty of pictures to satisfy your need for #teamspirit All photos are courtesy of Andrea Foote. And congratulations to this year's Homecoming court! Good luck to you all tonight! First Row:
Jade Sickels (9), Sahara Quintero-Martinez (12), Randi Decker (9), Abigail De Leon (12), Gabriela Hernandez (12) Second Row: Nakaya Wilson-Harris (11), Jordan Burden (10), Brittani Gilstrap (12), Karissa Ballard (12), Tara Brown (11), Jade Jacobs (10) Third Row: Melvin Mapps (12), Ryan Driggers (12), Channing Hemingway (12), Isaiah Dean (11), Nicholas Mapps (10) Fourth Row: Payton Franklin (10), Jakwan Allen (11), Derrick Givens (12), Kye Walker-Heard (9), Quindrevian Anderson (9), Tylyn Brown (12) Oh hey Monday! Back so soon? I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! It flew by for me and Monday came just a little too soon. BUT, all is right with the world because there are some big things coming in the next month, so I'm pretty excited to start planning for them. Just a quick little sneak peak of upcoming events: (more about all of these later!)
And these are just the major events! We also have "Spirit Nights" at every home football game, featuring one of our elementary schools (this Friday will feature Carver!). Seriously, if you didn't already have enough reasons to LOVE fall...now you do :) Move over Pumpkin Spice Latte! And speaking of Carver, last Friday, Mr. Jefferies made a trip to Carver Elementary to tell students all about what it means to be the Superintendent. These students could not have been more mesmerized y'all. I think half of them may have thought he was the President! #mustbethesuit Mr. Jefferies told them all about what he does and decisions he makes as the Superintendent of GISD. I'm not sure who enjoyed themselves more, the students or Mr. Jefferies! Jeff Anderson speaks to teachers at Wesley Martin. Also last week, some of our k-12 teachers had the chance to work with Jeff Anderson, a.k.a the "write guy". For over 25 years, Anderson has been working with teachers and students, sharing his passion for writing and grammar and inspiring them to find their passion for English! It was pretty cool to watch teachers become students again. Mark of a great teacher, they never stop learning! Now let's rewind all the way back to Friday, Sept. 2nd. Recent Greenville Football Hall of Fame inductee, Ricky Simmons, spoke to the Greenville High School football team about passion in football and working hard to achieve your dreams to pump them up for the game and help them set bigger goals in life. Simmons is a Greenville grad and was such a dynamic speaker. I loved hearing about his journey from Greenville H.S. football all the way to the NFL before drug and alcohol abuse ended his career prematurely. His message was powerful and touched everyone in the room (including me and I am definitely not a football player). GHS Football Hall of Famer, Ricky Simmons, addresses the GHS Lions Football team. All in all, September has been a pretty great month! Stay tuned for next week's post to learn more about upcoming events!
Photo cred: Orion Casper
Well hello there! Welcome back to school! The first week of school has come and gone in a total flash in my personal opinion. Football and Volleyball are already in full swing and I've already started putting together plans for Homecoming! #timeflies Am I right?
And speaking of Athletics, there are some BIG changes coming for the Athletics department! (Don't worry, nothing bad!) More about that later :)
In other news, earlier this year, Solvey (formerly Cytec) sponsored a new scoreboard for the Travis/SGC gym! It was sorely needed y'all and the new board looks awesome! Thanks again Solvey!!
That's all for this week! But don't worry, there will be plenty more blog posts to come as we continue into the new school year! Oh, and if you missed this little gem from the team at Lamar, check it out below! #yourewelcome
This week, the Greenville High School Solar Car Team, the Iron Lions, competed in the National Solar Car Challenge that raced from Texas Motor Speedway to Mendota Heights, Minn. The team finished in first place, logging approximately 671.1 miles to be named national champions with a 121 mile lead over their other competitors.
Whenever the teams were stopped, if there was another team that needed help with engineering or car maintenance, the Iron Lions were quick to jump in to help with welding parts or anything else that needed to be done. Mr. Pitts told me "this isn't just a race about competition; it's about cooperation." These students definitely embody that mindset. Two Solar Car team members were also inducted into the Solar Car Hall of Fame this year. Inductees are chosen from among solar car teams nationwide. Only those who truly “embody the spirit of the Solar Car Challenge” are inducted into the Hall of Fame. That description could not be more fitting of Ty White and Anakin Settle, both GHS students, that were two of only EIGHT students inducted nationwide. Very very cool! For the full story on the Solar Car victory, click here. Congrats to the Iron Lions on an outstanding victory!!!
Hey, hi and hello! I hope everyone had a fun and safe Fourth of July weekend! It's been a short week for us here because of the holiday so there's not too much to report, but I wanted to share a few cool things with you all.
That's all for now! Have a wonderful week!
Yes, you read that right! Madness!! It's a common misconception that school is "out for the summer". What you don't know is that summer time is used for planning, prepping and tons of events and activities. Even as I sit here typing (in an office...and not pool side....) there are lots of events, camps, trainings and planning meetings going on! Last week, Destination Imagination held their annual summer camp where students worked on their critical thinking, teamwork and creative reasoning skills. After seeing the pictures, I'm wishing that I could go back to being that age and go to camp! #justkidding #notreally This week, the Elementary Summer Art Camp is happening and I can tell you from experience that this camp is ridiculously fun. I was also surprised by how advanced the art techniques that students are learning are. Students learn the basic principals of color, texture, scale, and proportion, as well as teamwork and collaboration. Summer Art Camp 2015 Other events coming up this summer are the Summer Police Academy, held at the Greenville Sixth Grade Center, and the NJROTC mini-boot camp, which will be held in July. More details on those two later! Our ACE program is also very active in the summer. It's one of our few programs that stays open on Fridays. Next Friday, June 24, GISD ACE will be hosting their 4th Annual Summer Showcase at Lamar Elementary from 12-2 PM to show off all of their projects. Parents and students are invited to attend! ACE Community Partners Drug Free Greenville, W. Walworth Harrison Public Library, The YMCA of Hunt County, and the North Texas Boys & Girls Club will also have displays. Cheer Performances, Movie Screenings, Robot Theater will have scheduled presentations from 12:30 on and displays will include Project Wild, Google CS Design, Raspberry Pi, Art, Dash, Dot and Ozo Robots, and Electrical Engineering. Our students from the ACE News Team will be filming the event as well. Summer ACE students prepare to fly kites. That's all for now!! Stay tuned for more updates throughout the summer.
Has it been totally crazy over the last two weeks, or is that just me? So grab your third cup of coffee (still just me?), get comfy in your chair, and let's catch up! As a re-cap, both VEX and FIRST Robotics competed in World Championship Tournaments a week ago. ALL of our robotics teams did exceptionally well and all of the coaches have told me that they are extremely excited to begin working with their students for next year's challenge. You can read about their victories and awards on our website. Congrats everyone!! Two of our Destination Imagination teams, GHS Improv and GMS Structure, will compete in the DI Global Finals in 3 weeks! They'll travel to Knoxville, TN on May 23-25th to compete against teams from all over the world. You'll hear more about that after they compete. Keep up the hard work DI! On April 13th, six Greenville High School second year culinary arts students competed in the NTCC Culinary Arts Competition in Pittsburg, Tex. The Students competed in two Categories; the Food Fight competition, which consisted of three distinct parts, and the Edible Book competition. GHS culinary students performed exceptionally well, bringing home first place in both competitions, as well as winning awards in separate categories. You can read their full story on our website. Congratulations on your win culinary arts!! This past weekend was the 85th annual Floorshow at Greenville High School, featuring the GHS Flaming Flashes and GHS Lion Pride Band, The theme this year was "Floorshow Idol" based on the popular show, "American Idol". Full story and pictures to come! Last but not least, the GISD Teacher of the Year finalists have been chosen and are as follows:
Elementary: Tina Smith (Bowie), Diana Smith (Carver), Vickie Thomason (L.P. Waters), Lisa Redd (Crockett), Jeanette Allison (Travis) and Courtney Sommers (Lamar Elementary). Secondary: Rebecca Aronow (Greenville Sixth Grade Center), Cheryl Dennis (Greenville Middle School), George Sellers (Greenville High School) and Diane Roman (Houston Education Center). Each of these teachers were chosen by their campus and will compete for the district Teacher of the Year prize (one elementary and one secondary) and the chance to advance to the regional and state Teacher of the Year competition. Please congratulate each of these teachers on this wonderful achievement! That's all for now! Stay tuned for next week's post! Happy Friday everyone! As you can see, we had some robotics competitions this week. Unsurprisingly, all of our teams, from sixth grade to high school, did very well at the VEX CREATE U.S. Open in Council Bluffs, Iowa. We have a reputation to uphold #cocky #noshame You can read all about their performances here and here! Okay, now I'm going to take you back in time. On Friday, April 1st, Vance Clarke from the Air Force Association and Joe Foss Institute gave a presentation to 36 GISD ACE students from the Sixth Grade Center, Middle School, and High School. The presentation focused on the importance of education in leading a successful life. Mr. Clarke stressed responsible actions, citizenship, setting goals, and hard work. His presentation included photos of his experience in the Air Force as well as an artifact from the Korean DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) and concluded with a Q&A session with the students. Thanks to Joe Foss Institute for partnering with Greenville ISD ACE to teach the importance of patriotism, citizenship and good character. While we're time traveling...Last Friday was the annual Greenville Educational Enrichment Foundation Spelling Bee! I love all of the costumes and team names! My personal favorite team name was "AB/CD Highway to Spell" (I see you Middle School!). I was cracking up when I saw that one, although all of them are pretty darn good! Congrats to Houston Education Center on their victory and thank you to everyone who came out to help raise money for teacher grants! Now back to the mostly present. This past Wednesday, Greenville FFA members took animals to Lamar Elementary 2nd graders to discuss habitats, care, and different characteristics of different animals. The students listened to the FFA members talk about the daily care of dogs, lambs, pigs, and rabbits – they also talked about characteristics of each species. The students were very interested and asked several questions, a true sign that you have their attention, am I right? Jameson Tharp pushes a toy car using magnets at the LP Waters Science Fair. Last night was the first ever L.P. Waters Science Fair! If you think science can't be cute, just go watch 3 and 4 year-olds make projects using the laws of inertia. So. Stinkin. Cute. Our Pre-K classes, ACE program and other community groups sponsored science booths for students and families to explore. Students enjoyed touching slime and snow, moving race cars with magnets, and witnessing science experiments as they traveled through exhibits. That's all for this week! Have a safe and (maybe) dry weekend!
Let's all just breath a collective sigh of relief that a week of testing is almost over. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Better? I know testing is a stressful time for students AND teachers alike. It seems like everyone is on edge during testing. Like I'm going to walk down a hallway and see a teacher with bloodshot eyes and part of a muffin in their hair or something...Okay not really (maybe). And yet, even in the midst of all of the stress, good things still happen! This week was no exception. First, Adrienne Emerson, Robowranglers coach, received the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award at the Robowranglers most recent competition, the Dallas Regional. This award is very prestigious/exclusive. It's presented to an outstanding mentor in the robotics competition who best leads, inspires, and empowers their team using excellent communication skills. The award is only given to one mentor at each regional throughout the season. Each recipient is eligible to win the World Championship Woodie Flowers Award later in April at the World Competition. In order to be considered for the award, students must submit an essay nominating someone from their team, “which made it all the more special to receive” said Emerson. You can read about the Robowranglers most recent win here! Right now, the Robowranglers are in Canada competing in the Waterloo Regional. More on that later! Pictured with Christine are Bowie staff members and Ila Gilstrap, former Bowie teacher of 46 years, who received the 2016 Person of Distinction Award. Did I mention there were several awards this week? This week, Christine Sandlin, a Bowie Elementary Crossing Guard for 13 years, was awarded the 2016 Unsung Hero Award. Christine, who will be 87 in June, has served the Bowie students through rain, wind, heat, snow and sleet since 2003. Always going above and beyond, she also crochets caps for the children that don’t have warm clothing. I don't know about you, but that warms my heart. In a world where we are bombarded with horrible images and stories daily, it's nice to be reminded that there are amazing people in this world. The GISD Finance Department won the Meritorious Budget Award for the fourth consecutive year as well! The Meritorious Budget Awards (MBA) program promotes and recognizes excellence in school budget presentation and recognizes exceptional school business officials' skills in developing, analyzing, and presenting a school system budget. After a rigorous review by professional auditors, the award is conferred only on school districts that have met or exceeded the program’s stringent criteria. I love when "behind the scenes" people receive recognition for their hard work. Make sure you reach out to our Finance office to congratulate them! Remember this moment? It's when our GHS Lion Pride Band won the coveted Sweepstakes Award for the first time in over 30 years! Well, this week, Director of Bands, Joel Weisberg, received a very kind and encouraging letter (pictured below) from the Assistant Director of Music for the University Interscholastic League (UIL). Y'all...That. Is. Cool. To take the time to not only notice that record, but then to write a congratulatory letter to the band and Director? Kudos UIL. That's all for now! See you again for next week's post!
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AuthorSydney Hanner is the Director of Community Relations for Greenville ISD in Greenville, TX. Archives
January 2017
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