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!