Friday Hornet Message 11-21-14

Happy Friday, Hornets!

TEA On Site Report... You may recall this past April the district received a visit fro the Texas Education Agency due to being labeled as Stage 4 for bilingual education/English as a second language, stage 3 for special education and stage 2 for residential facilities. On October 30, 2014, the District received the official report of findings from the TEA. The report included five findings of noncompliance and twenty-seven recommendations/required actions. The district is required to submit a corrective action plan (CAP) to the Board of Trustees and to the TEA by December 1, 2014. Attached is a copy of the CAP that was shared with the Board and will be submitted to the TEA. Additionally, I have attached a copy of the TEA recommendations and required actions.

Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) Meeting... The agenda for the PAC meeting is determined by the staff of Huntsville ISD by forwarding questions to their campus/department PAC representative. This past Monday we addressed questions related to the Catastrophic Leave Bank and the purchase of football tickets. The notes from the meeting are attached.

TLP Grant... This week students were chosen to participate in the upcoming TLP Grant. Congratulations to the students of the following teachers: HIS: Gabrielle Beaty, Michelle Rush, Bridget Smiley, Karol Smith, and Jessica Stolp; MPMS: Sheila Baucke, Amber Bearden, Jamie Nash, Angela Skains, and Meagan Weidenbenner; HHS: David Brockhausen, George Hourahan, and, Keith Jeffcoat.

Texas Association for Pupil Transportation Speech Contest... Please see the attached letter I received on November 19, 2014 announcing a scholarship speech contest for students in grade 9-12.

Tis the Giving Season... I am continually amazed at the giving spirit exhibited by our Hornet staff. The Fall Huntsville Education Foundation Jean Pass Campaign yielded $9,890 from HISD employees. Currently, the district is collecting NEW unwrapped toys for the annual KSAM MASH (Make a Smile Happen) Toy Drive. If you would like to participate drop off donations by December 2nd at any HISD campus or the HAB. Next up... Be on the look out for info on the HISD Buyers' Group annual campaign to benefit the efforts of HISD students participating in the upcoming Walker County Fair as well as a December Food Drive to help stock the Good Shepherd Mission's food pantry.

Hornets in Action.. Cudos to Vanessa Tindall and Cosmo 2 students who spent Thursday morning at the Walker County Center Center giving manicures to anyone interested.

Best of luck to our Hornet/Lady Hornet Wrestling team competing at Cy Ridge and our HHS Choral student performing at UIL Regional Clinic/Concert at The Woodlands.

The Spirit of Thanksgiving... I challenge each of you to think of someone you consider to be really happy. Do they smile more than others you know? Do they laugh more than others you know? Does being in their presence make you happier? What makes this person different? In my opinion this occurs in large part due to one's ability to be grateful and express gratitude. Lets face it, bad things happen to all of us... it is not what happens to us that matters, it is our reaction to it. I hope you each take the time over this Thanksgiving Break to pause and consider what you are grateful for. May we all strive to have an attitude of gratitude!

I hope you each have a wonderful, safe, and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Corny Thanksgiving Jokes:

What key won't open any door?  A turkey!
Why did the turkey cross the road? It was the chicken's day off!
Why did the turkey cross the road twice? To prove he wasn't chicken!
What do you get when a turkey lays an egg on top of a barn?  An egg roll!
What do you call it when it rains turkeys?  Foul weather!
Why did the turkey sit on the tomahawk?  To hatchet!
Why did the police arrest the turkey?  They suspected foul play!
Which side of a turkey has the most feathers?  The outside!
Why do turkeys lay eggs?  If they dropped them, they'd break!
What's the most musical part of a turkey? The drumstick!
What  happened when the turkey got into a fight?  He got the stuffing knocked out of him!
What do you get if you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter?  Pumpkin pi!
What always comes at the end of Thanksgiving?  The letter "g"!

To view the 2014 - 2015 Corrective Action Plan, TEA Recommendations and Required Actions or the TAPT Speech Contest Flyer go to http://goo.gl/k8UhZZ 

Hornet Friday Message 11-14-14

Happy Friday, Hornets!

84th Texas Legislative Session... The 84th Texas Legislature will convene on January 13, 2015. The first day to file bills was Monday, November 10th and over 350 bills were filed on a wide array of topics. I encourage each of you to be informed and active in the political process. More importantly, I implore you to advocate for our profession and our district. One of our parents and Scott Johnson PTO president Julie Hutchison has created a couple of draft letter templates that she has shared with our parents. I have attached a copy of the letters. Please feel free to edit, make them your own and send them to our legislators. Additionally, I have a copy of TASA's recently released 2015 Legislative priorities.

Making Connections... Thanks to Scott Johnson Elementary Media Specialist Jennifer Lott for sharing this moving message with her campus and thanks to SJE Principal, Shannon Williams for sharing it with me!

I just wanted to take a few minutes and send a big thank you to you for all your help with the Book Fair stuff. Allowing students to bring coins, collecting baggie donations, passing out notes, sending students down to shop and most of all being patient with it all.

I feel the need to share some things that happened on Friday. I was able to invite about 256 students down with a "Golden Ticket" through the very generous donation of our student body, two outside donations about 7 teacher donations. All together we raised $1,401.76. The students raised about $ 1100 of that and the rest were teachers and outside donors. I started with an idea and a dream and I decided to dream big with it. I didn't anticipate it being this big. The generosity of our donors was overwhelming at times.

It really blew me away Friday when the students started showing up with their "Golden Ticket." The smiles and excitement from students who had been passing by the Media Center all week and hadn't had an opportunity to come in because they didn't have money. Many came rushing through the door with a big smile just getting to come in and many not knowing yet why they had a "Golden Ticket" and what that meant. When I finally explained what that ticket meant and that they would be able to use it to buy a book, the gasps, hands over mouths and smiles were enough to soften the hardest of hearts. I like the way Mrs. Sapp put it, "It was like Christmas morning." Some of the kindergarten students thought they were just borrowing a book. When I explained that I was putting their name in it and it was for theirs to keep, the smiles were priceless! I have to tell you the story of the little boy either kinder or first, I can't remember who it exactly because there was so many in there at once, who as I was taking his book to scan and put his name in it, he had a dime in his hand and said, "I want to put this money in the box for someone else to get a book." I tell you, I had to fight back the tears on that one. He wanted to give what he had so someone else could receive. Oh if the whole world could be like that. I can't help but be reminded of the story in the bible in Mark of the widow woman who gave all she had, mere pennies, while others gave out of their abundance.

I honestly wish, you all could have been in there to witness and experience the excitement, smiles, thank you's and pure joy.  I did have two volunteers in there with me.  One volunteer was the mother of one of our kindergarten kids and she commented that she had never experienced anything like that and she was excited to have been able to witness it and help kids choose books.  Another volunteer was Suzie Paschal's mother and she had witnessed it for 2 weeks as she came and rolled the $600 in coins the kids brought and came to help students shop.  She kept talking about the kids faces when they figured out they would be able to buy a book with their "Golden Ticket."  She kept commenting on the excitement and disbelief from Kinder to 4th grade that they would be able to shop.

I know I need to wrap this email up and I appreciate you taking the time to read it.  I felt the need in my heart to express to everyone what this meant to our kids. I don't know if you can tell or not but my heart is overflowing.  It was something that was near and dear to my heart as I grew up with no money and NEVER was able to purchase anything form anything that came to our school.  I really wish I could have made sure every child got a book but we were really close.  I think a rough estimate was only about 110 or 120 kids didn't get a book out of the 700 that is great to me.  Not all of our students are what we would describe as "needy." However, I feel that we were able reach those who are.  Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

Hornets In Action... BIG GOOD LUCK to our Hornet Football team versus the Elgin Wildcats tonight at Bowers Stadium. Also good luck to our Lady Hornet Golf team at Galveston, the Lady Hornet Basketball teams at the Conroe & New Waverly Tournaments and Hornet & Lady Hornet Swim team at the Aggieland Invitational. Sting'Em Hornets!


Corny Joke of Day:

What kind of music did the Pilgrims listen to?

Plymouth Rock!

Hornet Friday Message- 11-8-14

Hornets, Happy Friday!

Betcha Didn't Know... Something you may not know is that first time, this year, Huntsville ISD has a class for students who want to learn to create computer based games.  Now, you may be thinking these students will spend class time actually PLAYING games, but you would be mistaken.  It turns out, creating games requires learning programming, coding and other complex and valuable skills.  Many of the students involved in the class are passionate about their future career and would love to talk to you about it.  Some members of the class will be presenting at the December School Board Meeting if you would like to learn more about their work.

Strong Fathers/Strong Families... Our Strong Fathers/Strong Families program held two successful Bring Your Dad to School events this week at Samuel Walker Houston Elementary (240 attended) and Gibbs PK (200+ attended).

Merry Christmas... Well not yet but it is time to begin preparing by getting family photos taken for your holiday cards. For $20, families can get their photo taken and a 8X10 print. Holiday card package options, additional prints and digital images can be purchased. All proceeds go to offset the cost of producing the HHS yearbook.  Pictures will be taken on this Saturday, November 8, 2014, from 9 to Noon in small gym at HHS. For more information contact Mandy Stewart at mstewart01@huntsville-isd.org.

Red Ribbon Week... We had a fantastic district-wide Red Ribbon Week. Kudos to all that are consistently modeling how our students should treat their neighbors and classmates to combat bullying and the use of drugs!

S.O.A.P. Squad... Our S.O.A.P. Squad group is quite remarkable! With a mix of comedy, singing and skits the HHS student group performs for all of our campuses with positive message aimed at having the courage and character to say no to drugs and bullying.  The group is under the direction of HHS Counselor, Danielle Williams, and has been an active part of the HORNET culture for fourteen years. More to come on this group in an upcoming post of the The H Factor Blog.

S.O.A.P Squad in Action

Hornets in Action.... This week we got a double dose of Lady Hornet Volleyball taking on the Elgin Ladycats on Tuesday and the Magnolia Lady Bulldogs on Thursday.  Congrats on a District and Bi-District Championship season!

Hope you all can make it to the big game tonight as our Hornet Footballers take on the Willis Wildkats with the winner qualifying for spot in the UIL Football Playoffs.

Tailgating at Bowers... A group from the high school will be holding some tailgating festivities in the parking lot at Bowers beginning at 5:00 p.m. this afternoon.  All are welcomed to attend! First come, first served!

Corny Joke of the Day:

Do you have any turkeys going cheap?

Nope, all of our turkeys go gobble, gobble!