Smell the Coffee

GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY FRIDAY

Special Olympics Pep Rally Today at Newton Field Stadium! If your schedule will allow, please join us at the stadium this morning to celebrate our 39 Special Olympians! The pep rally will be at 10:00 a.m.

Graham High FFA Teams Qualify for State! The range team placed 4th at area and qualified for state next week! Poultry missed state by one spot placing 6th. Milk and horse also represented the chapter well placing 13th in a competitive area.State Cotton at Texas Tech this Saturday: Kolton Gough, Hiram Fuentes, Riley Wyatt, Gustavo Ramirez. State Plant Identification at TTU this Saturday: Jake Holland, Shanna Gleason, Cecil Isham, Terry Wainscott. State Range at Tarleton next Thursday: Jake Holland, Shanna Gleason, Terry Wainscott, Joseph Wendel.

Congratulations to our Track Regional Qualifiers! Hunter Dooley (shot put), Jasmine Sims (long jump, 100m hurdles, 300m hurdles, 1600m relay), Morgan Shook (pole vault), Chloe Menard (triple jump, 800m relay), Nicole King (shot put), Jack Hays (discus), Will Walton (3200m), Finis Smith (100m, 400m relay, 800m relay), Wesley Martin (400m relay, 800m relay), Chase Gilmore (400m relay, 800m relay), Adam Groves (400m relay, 800m relay), Cassie Russell (800m relay, 1600m relay), Rosie Schaffer (800m relay, 1600m relay), Summer Croxton (800m relay, 1600m relay). We are so proud!!! Love those Lady Blues and love those Graham Steers!!!

Sixth Grade Band Earns First Division Rating at Sandy Lake!- Congrats to our 6th grade band students on earning a First Division Rating with Straight 1's at Sandy Lake.

GHS Yearbook Selected for Gallery of Excellence! Congratulations to the GHS yearbook staff and Mrs. Sanders! The GHS yearbook has been selected for the Gallery of Excellence. We are proud of our staff and students!

The Pioneer Elementary Habitat Area 10th Anniversary Celebration Tomorrow! Join us at 1:00 TODAY to celebrate 10 years of learning in our schoolyard habitat.  Students will be releasing 300 butterflies, planting a tree and enjoying cookies and cake.

Lady Blues Softball at Home Tonight vs Vernon for the District Championship and Senior Night! Varsity game will begin at 6:00!  Hope to see you at the ballfield supporting the Lady Blues!

Graham Steer Baseball at Home Tonight vs Vernon and at Home Tomorrow vs Krum.  The JV team plays at 4:30 and Varsity will play at 7:30. The Saturday games will begin at Noon with the varsity playing the first game. Go Graham Steers!

GPEF Pistols & Pearls Event- The Graham Public Education Foundation is gearing up for Pistols and Pearls on April 29, 2017! The RSVP’s are coming in and everyone is getting excited for such a fun party that benefits a great cause. This year we have some amazing raffle and auction items, as well as a delicious meal of lobster and beef tenderloin. No worries about the calories... you can dance off the food to the live music of The Wonders!

Tickets are still available. You can either mail in your RSVP to 400 Third Street or call 940.549.0595 to get your name on the list. You can drop off your check at that address as well. If you are not able to come, we are still accepting donations. A donation of any amount is welcomed as we are about to decide on which grants we fund for the Graham ISD staff and students.

Thank you all for your support, and we hope to see you there!

Mid-Sized District Administrator Share and Exchange- On a routine basis a group of districts in our area participate in these meetings to discuss challenges, ideas, etc. Burkburnett ISD will be hosting our next event and would like to invite you to a special Mid-Sized District Administrator Share and Exchange meeting on June 5, 2017 at Burkburnett High School, 109 West Kramer Road, from 8:00-3:30. Burkburnett ISD is hosting their first edcamp for teachers, administrators, and other education professionals in our area.

An edcamp is a user-generated “un-conference”. Teachers, technologists, and administrators will gather to talk, discuss, and share practices. This professional learning experience is designed to provide participant-driven dialogue with colleagues. Sessions are not planned until the day of the event and participants can volunteer to facilitate a discussion of their choosing.

Burkburnett has invited our district administrators and teachers to participate in their first edcamp Burkburnett.

This free event will begin with breakfast at 8:00 in our high school cafeteria. This will be a time to brainstorm topics you would like to learn more about or topics in which you would be willing to facilitate discussion. Session ideas are written on sticky notes and placed on the conference board at the front of the room. If you are willing to facilitate a discussion, you write your name on the sticky note with the topic.

Session ideas are quickly categorized, sorted, and consolidated to meld into the conference schedule and the first 50-minute session will begin at 8:45. The first session is followed by a keynote session with George Couros, author of The Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity. Participants will go to lunch on their own from 11:15-12:30 while administrators will have a working lunch session to discuss and share ideas and practices.

After lunch, participants will take part in three more 50-minute sessions of their choosing and finish out the day with a Knowledge Smackdown. The Smackdown will be a time when all participants have an opportunity to gather and share out a quick tip, trick, tool, strategy, resource, or practice learned during the day.

To save your spot for this fun-filled learning day, go to https://goo.gl/1FNZuF to register. Participants will receive 6 hours of professional development credit. It’s fun...it’s free...and it’s a great way to learn from other educators!

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE…A WHOLE NEW MEANING!

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.

She let them sit and boil without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft and mushy. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardened egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee.

The daughter smiled as she tasted its deep flavor and inhaled its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What's the point, mother?" Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - boiling water - but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin, outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong? But with pain and adversity, do I wilt and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit but, after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship, trifling social media posts or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside, am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water - the very circumstance that brings the adversity, the pain, the hardship – into something quite wonderful. When the water gets hot, it releases its fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you for the better.

When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity?

ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN? (Somehow, wake up and smell the coffee takes on a whole new meaning)

Have a nice day...unless you have already made other plans!

Corny Joke of the Day:

What do you call a pony with a cough? (Scroll down for the answer)

A little hoarse!