Carry On!

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

The week has been packed with activities. Our theater and band programs blessed us with great performances this past week! We have so many talented students and awesome support for these programs.

Mark you calendar for 7:00 p.m. on Monday, December 14^th to enjoy the GISD Choir Christmas Concert being held at the Graham Memorial Auditorium.

Safe travels and good luck to our Lady Blues BB team in the Chico Tournament and to our Steer BB teams at the Albany & Santo Tournaments.

Board Meeting Notables-

• The Board approved amending the budget to allocate $400,000 from the district fund balance to go toward building a new Ag Science Animal Project Center.
• The Board approved the recommendation to amend the 2015 – 2016 school calendar.  A copy of the amended calendar can be found on the the district website. 
• The board approved the hiring of Kasy Sams (Woodland), Bridgett Gray (GJHS) and approved Dr. Colleen Netterville as the Director of Special Education & Special Programs.

Congratulations to Michelle Lowrey!  She is the Texas State Winner in the 2015 – 2016 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest.

 

We have several team members that are retiring in December.  Best wishes and happy trails to Cathy Bohn, Lynda Spring, Xan Holub, Rhonda Cavett and Glenda Schupp.  They are to be commended for their years of service to the students of Graham ISD.

As we approach the Christmas holidays and the end of the calendar year it is easy to become overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done.  I encourage you to take a deep breath and carry on!  I hope you enjoy the poem below.

    

Carry On!

by

Robert Service

It’s easy to fight when everything’s right,

And you’re mad with the thrill and the glory;

It’s easy to cheer when victory’s near,

And wallow in fields that are gory.

It’s a different song when everything’s wrong,

When you’re feeling infernally mortal;

When it’s ten against one, and hope there is none,

Buck up, little soldier, and chortle:

Carry on! Carry on!

There isn’t much punch in your blow.

You’re glaring and staring and hitting out blind;

You’re muddy and bloody, but never you mind.

Carry on! Carry on!

You haven’t the ghost of a show.

It’s looking like death, but while you’ve a breath,

Carry on, my son! Carry on!

And so in the strife of the battle of life

It’s easy to fight when you’re winning;

It’s easy to slave, and starve and be brave,

When the dawn of success is beginning.

But the man who can meet despair and defeat

With a cheer, there’s the man of God’s choosing;

The man who can fight to Heaven’s own height

Is the man who can fight when he’s losing.

Carry on! Carry on!

Things never were looming so black.

But show that you haven’t a cowardly streak,

And though you’re unlucky you never are weak.

Carry on!  Carry on!

Brace up for another attack.

It’s looking like hell, but – you never can tell:

Carry on, old man! Carry on!

There are some who drift out in the deserts of doubt,

And some who in brutishness wallow;

There are others, I know, who in piety go

Because of a Heaven to follow.

But to labor with zest, and to give of your best,

For the sweetness and joy of the giving;

To help folks along with a hand and a song;

Why, there’s the real sunshine of living.

Carry on! Carry on!

Fight the good fight and true;

Believe in your mission, greet life with a cheer;

There’s big work to do, and that’s why you are here.

Carry on! Carry on!

Let the world be the better for you;

And at last when you die, let this be your cry:

Carry on, my soul! Carry on!

Corny Joke of the Day:

What do reindeer hang on their Christmas trees?

Horn-aments!

Try

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Kudos to physical therapist, Christa Cretors, for stepping up to help solve a safety issue for one of our students!

Work on the stadium began this past Monday. By weeks’ end all of the aluminum and metal should be removed.  The project should be completed prior to the PK Relays. 

Best of luck and safe travel for our Lady Blues basketball teams competing in the Mineral Wells and Jacksboro tournaments this weekend.

Mark you calendar for Thursday, December 10^th.  Our band programs will be presenting their Christmas concert in the GHS gym.  The event will begin at 6:00 p.m.

Try

It’s amazing how much of our personal virtue come from one little word: “Try.”  Trying something for the first time often calls for courage.  “Try, try again,” on the other hand, demands us to call upon the lesson of perseverance we learned as youngsters from Watty Piper’s , The Little Engine That Could. 

Far to often people are afraid to try.  They are fearful to try new ideas, new things, to go to new places, to meet new people.  This apprehension of trying, places restraints on themselves and the teams they work with.  Lack of try can lead to wasted human potential.  Without the determination to try, great ideas, solutions and relationships may never come to fruition.

Trying can provide a feeling of freedom, of empowerment, of elation.   Trying leads to self-discovery, to discovering capabilities and strengths you didn’t know existed within you and discovering your core values and beliefs.  Trying helps us find our “fit” in the world in which we live. Trying builds confidence, belief in you, perseverance… grit!

How can we assist our students to begin to try?

• Create plans to start that include incremental steps to accomplish.
• Create an environment that encourages purpose and persistence by foreseeing instances for the student to stumble or possibly fail.
• Be there to provide the encouragement or assistance for the student to stand up, brush himself/herself off and try again.
•  Celebrate individual success, no matter how small the success.
•  Encourage self-reflection.

Always remember our success as educators begins one student at a time.  From the words of Mother Teresa, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

Corny Joke of the Day:

Why did Santa's helper see the doctor?
 

Because he had a low "elf" esteem!

The Spirit of Thanksgiving

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"!

I Thank You

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Per the district calendar, it looks like we don’t have any athletic action going on this evening… hope this allows everyone to have a relaxing weekend!

This coming week we have a lot going on for a short (1.5 days) week.  Good luck to our elementary and junior high UIL groups that will be traveling to Abilene Wylie for competition on Monday.  Also, best of luck to GHS FFA Issues Team as they compete in the FFA Area contest on Tuesday, November 24^th.  Also on Tuesday, we have our junior high girls and high school girls/boys basketball teams at home against Breckenridge. 

I Thank You

Sometime ago a friend shared a speech with me called "Powerful Phrases for Positive People." These are very simple -- but powerful -- phrases we all like to hear: "I'm proud of you." "I believe in you." "I trust you." "I love you." "You can do it."

With Thanksgiving Day approaching, we all should be focused on another one of these powerful phrases, in particular: "I thank you." We can never wear out that phrase. It should always be on the tip of our tongue if we are truly grateful to others who help us each day and to God who has richly blessed us with more abundance and freedom than any country in history.

Despite God's abundant blessings, we're often too slow to give thanks and too quick to complain. Maybe we're so focused on ourselves and busy with our lives that we forget to give thanks. Or maybe it's because many of us in America have become complacent with a level of luxury and leisure beyond the imagination of much of the world's population.

We tend to take our blessings for granted, like the story about a homeowner who hired a real estate agent to prepare an ad to sell his home. The homeowner was reading the ad in the paper about his home's many attractive features. He called the real estate agent to say he no longer wished to sell. When asked what changed his mind, the homeowner said, "After reading your ad, I realized I already live in the house I always wanted to live in."

In this season of Thanksgiving in particular, it's time to count our blessings and pull out that simple phrase, "I thank you."

I hope each of you experience a blessed Thanksgiving holiday!

Corny Joke of the Day:

Which side of a turkey has the most feathers?

The outside!