GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY FRIDAY!
COVID-19 Information- Please visit this site for the GISD COVID-19 procedures, protocols, and lab-confirmed cases.
Graham Steer Cross-Country- The Graham Steer Cross-Country team finished second at the Hirschi CC meet. Marcos Herrera was 2nd place overall with a time of 17:40. Congratulations!
Lady Blues Volleyball- The Lady Blues are 1-0 in district play with their Tuesday victory over WF Hirschi. The team will play WF Hirschi this afternoon at 4:30 pm in Graham vs WF Hirschi. GO LADY BLUES!
Graham Steer Football- The Steers will be at Newton Field this evening facing the Everman Bull Dogs. Kickoff is 7:00 pm. Tickets must be purchased online at https://www.grahamisd.com/272594_2. Please take the time to read the information in the Protocols for Purchasing Tickets and Attending Games At Newton Field document. CASH WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AT THE GATE. SHOULD YOU ARRIVE WITHOUT ALREADY PURCHASING A TICKET, YOU WILL NEED TO USE YOUR SMARTPHONE TO PURCHASE TICKETS. The game will be live-streamed on the PositiveRadio.net Facebook page. GO STEERS!
Make Sure You Are Registered to Vote- Have you checked recently to make sure you are registered to vote? October 5 is the deadline to register to vote in Texas for the November 3 election. Visit VoteTexas.gov to check your status and find information on registering if you are not already. Don't forget these other important upcoming dates:
October 13: First day of early voting
October 19: Educator Voting Day
October 23: Last day a vote-by-mail application can be received (not postmarked)
October 30: Last day of early voting
November 3: Election Day! Mail-in ballots also must be received by this day
With COVID-19 still affecting every aspect of education in Texas, it is important to elect pro-public education legislators working in the best interest of you and your students. Before casting your ballot, learn more about the candidates by checking out their profiles on Teach the Vote. This instructional video from ATPE Senior Lobbyist Monty Exter explains how to search for candidates on the site. You can also follow ATPE's TeachtheVote.org advocacy blog and Twitter account for updates on the latest election and legislative news.
Longest Line of Rubber Ducks Guinness World Record- The longest line of rubber ducks consists of 19,919 ducks, and was achieved by the Rotary Club of Graham, Texas (USA) in Graham, Texas, USA, on 19 September 2020. The rubber ducks spanned 5,497 feet and it took over 30 minutes to walk the entire path. Graham ISD students and employees played a significant role in earning this world record. Several staff members assisted with placing the ducks and picking them up after the event… most notable staff were Natalie Husen, Sarah Kidd, and Michelle Lowrey as they served as logistics and certification specialists. We are blessed with great people! Students from the GJHS National Junior Honor Society, Lady Blues Softball, Graham Steer Baseball, and Graham Steer Basketball also assisted with the event. Teams from Graham ISD assisted with 4644 ducks being “adopted” and earning $9448.00 from the Graham Rotary Club. The Lady Blues Softball team led the way with 2160 duck “adoptions.”
Grace…
Grace is a word educators have heard quite a bit the last five months. In May, Commissioner Morath promised “grace” as school leaders began to prepare for the new school year. In several conversations recently superintendents have expressed the hope that parents and community members would provide “grace” as the new school year began. Grace is not a concept that educators have been comfortable discussing in past years.
In a devotional I read earlier this past week, Gwen Ford Faulkenberry took a look at grace in a way that was new for me. Ms. Ford teaches a freshman college English class. She said that in her class she had a sixty-year-old student who taught her a thing or two about grace. It seems that this man had dreams of college after high school graduation, but Viet Nam interrupted those plans. While his return home didn’t include college, he never relinquished the dream.
The years after Viet Nam was difficult for this man. He was haunted by nightmares that drove him to alcohol addiction. His family left him. Finally, he got professional help, and he learned that he had PTSD. One solution to his problems he learned was to free himself from isolation. He decided to leave the four walls of his home and reconnect with society; therefore, using the G.I. bill he enrolled in the English class to try to fulfill his dream of college.
Ms. Faulkenberry said that if anyone deserved to focus on the misery of his life this gentleman could. Instead, he brought enthusiasm to the class that encouraged not only the teacher but many of the students as well. He had an “attitude of gratitude” the author says. When questioned about his newfound positive attitude, the man stated that it was by grace that he was still alive. In his mind grace intervened when his family left him because it forced him to get help. He says he found grace at the Veterans Administration hospital where he went for that help. It was by grace he discovered he had PTSD, and grace gave him the strength to fight against the darkness in his mind.
I hope that each of you, like the freshman college student, receive the grace you need each day to make the most of the opportunities presented to you so that this will be an outstanding school year for you, your staff, and the children of your schools!
Have a nice day…take care of yourself and others!
CORNY JOKE OF THE DAY
Why are parallel lines depressed? (Scroll down for the answer.)
Because they have so much in common but they will never meet!
