GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY FRIDAY!
RSB3 Member Kaylea Wright Selected as 10th Overall in the ATSSB Symphonic Band! Having been selected to the ATSBB All-State Band, she is attending the All-State Clinic/Concert this week in San Antonio. Great job Kaylea!
GHS Calculus Team finishes 2nd at the 15th Annual Weatherford Coyote Math Championship on February 3rd! Our Calculus team got 2nd place. The team was Smith Graham, Will Walton, Hudson Peavy and Josh McBride. Smith Graham won the contest (1st place), Will Walton received 9th place and Hudson Peavy got 10th place. The precalculus team was Joel Jones, Jake Lanham, Tyler Cook and Tucker Horn. There were over 150 students with 16 schools represented.
Graham FFA Continues Stock Show Success at the Ft. Worth Stock Show. Congratulations for Becca Burgess with her 3rd Place steer and Cade Anderson with his 2nd Place pig. GHS FFA have 35 pigs headed to San Angelo today! Best of Luck and Safe Travels!
GHS FCCLA Students Competing at Regionals- Sadie Walls, Mandee Paulson, Abigayle Yates, Maddie Paulson, Mattie Sullivan, Jaden Perkins, Calder Seebeck and Lizbeth Anaya will be competing at the Regional Competition in Waco this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Best of Luck Ladies!
Lady Blues Qualify for the UIL Playoffs- Congratulations to our Lady Blues on a great regular season! The Lady Blues will play a warm up game in Ft. Worth vs Lake Country Christian this Friday. Next Tuesday they play Sweetwater at McMurry University. Go Lady Blues!
Graham Steers Defeat Iowa Park! The final regular season game will be this Friday vs Vernon. It will be Senior Night. Hope to see you in the gym!
Legislative Update- SB 13 is a bill that will remove the right to use payroll deduction for association dues (ATPE, TSTA, etc.). The Senate Committee on State Affairs will hear testimony on SB 13 on Monday, February 13. SB 13 makes an exception for fire, police and medical services personnel.
From the district's perspective it does not cost us additional resources to allow our employees to use payroll deduction for their association dues. The process of allowing this requires no more labor than already required to set up deductions for health insurance, 403B’s, the United Way, etc. As such, I encourage you to make contact with Representative Drew Springer and Senator Estes to advocate for continuing to allow educators to have the right to use payroll deduction for their association dues.
STUDENT VOICE
One of the most powerful tools available to influence academic achievement is helping students feel they have a stake in their learning. To feel motivated to do something and become engaged in its activity, youth (like adults) generally need to feel they have a voice in how it is conducted and an impact on how it concludes. Time and again, research has shown that the more educators give their students choice, control, challenge, and opportunities for collaboration, the more their motivation and engagement are likely to rise.
It is particularly important for adolescents, who are developing their sense of identity and their ability for complex thinking, to have the chance to affect decision making. Research shows that increasing levels of self-determination give rise to greater integration of the students’ own sense of purpose, interest, and desire with what may be required of them from outside forces.
Student-centered classrooms that capitalize on the power of self-determination can substantially increase achievement and motivation. Promoting student voice also has been linked to other important educational outcomes, including: elevated achievement in marginalized student populations; greater classroom participation; enhanced school reform efforts; better self-reflection and preparation for improvement in struggling students; and decreased behavior problems.
At its core, student voice is the antithesis of depersonalized, standardized, and homogenized educational experiences because it begins and ends with the thoughts, feelings, visions, and actions of the students themselves. This makes student voice profoundly student centered.
Most student voice activities currently in schools consist of less-intensive involvement, in the forms of expression, consultation, and some participation. Increasing partnership, activism, and leadership may motivate more students to make an effort and, ultimately, to succeed.
If any of this information resonates with you, please let me know. I would like to collaborate with a small group of educators to develop a pilot program in our district focused on providing and using student voice to enhance the learning environment. Email or call me if you're interested.
CORNY JOKE OF THE DAY:
What did one canoe say to the other? (Scroll down for the answer.)
Are you up for a little row-mance?
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