Steer Nation Message 5-13-22 Clean Your Windows

GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY FRIDAY!

Graham ISD Board of Trustees Approves Recruiting and Retention Plan- In January 2022, the GISD Board of Trustees requested that the superintendent create a plan to address the changing needs of the district in regard to recruiting and retaining high-quality staff. Specifically, as it pertains to the teaching staff.

The superintendent created a committee consisting of one teacher with 1-3 years of experience, one teacher with 5-10 years of experience, one teacher with 15+ years of experience, one elementary principal, one secondary principal, two school board members, the Mayor of Graham, the Economic Development Director of Graham, the assistant superintendent for Human Resources, and the assistant superintendent for Finance.

The committee's purpose was to gather information and ideas that may improve the district's ability to recruit and retain high-quality staff to work and reside in Graham ISD and the community of Graham, Texas.

Using the input gathered from the committee, the superintendent created a Recruiting and Retention Plan. The plan was presented to the Board on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. The plan includes information related to many of the ideas brought forward by the committee.

The Board approved the recommendations to implement the below items for the 2022-2023 year.

• Salary Increases of $500,000 which include:

• A 3% raise from the midpoint for all staff.

• Adjusting the entry teacher salary to $42,000 and the entry teacher salary for 25 years of experience to $62,000.

• Equity salary adjustments for all current staff to ensure they are making a salary greater than or equal to a new hire with the same years of teaching experience.

• Provide a $1000.00 stipend for all teachers who have a Master’s Degree.

• Provide a $1000.00 stipend for all employees who have a Doctorate/Ph.D.

• One-Time Compensation- Christmas Bonus

• New Hire Sign-On Bonus

• Employee Referral Program- Click this link to make a referral

• Create a Grow Your Own Program

• Change the Method Used to Create the Academic Calendar

• Contract with TASB to conduct a comprehensive Pay System Review biennially.  

• Create a GISD marketing Plan

 

The above items reflect an annual investment of approximately $700,000.00!

Graham Steer Baseball- Congratulations on the Bi-District Championship. Good luck today and tomorrow in the Area Playoff Series vs Argyle. All games for this series will be played at Brock High School. Game 1 is today at 7:30 pm. Game 2 is at 1:00 pm on Saturday. Game 3, if needed, will be played approximately 30 minutes following Game 2. Tickets for the games are available at this link- https://www.brockisd.net/athleticticketing. GO STEERS!

 

Clean Your Windows…

When I was a young child my mom and granny would hang our laundry on lines in the backyard. Although not so common today, this message focuses on cleaning up our own issues and judging others less!

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the laundry outside. “That laundry is not very clean,” she said, “She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.” Her husband looked on but remained silent. Every time her neighbor would hang her washing to dry, the young woman would make the same comments. 

About a month later, the woman was surprised to see nice clean laundry on the clothesline and said to her husband, “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this.

The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows."

Lesson: If our windows are dirty we will see others as dirty also. What we see in others is indeed a reflection of our inner selves! So it is with life that what we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look. It is easy for us to discuss other people, their lives, and things that really don’t even concern us. We tend to forget… our own window may not be all that clean!

Have a nice day… take care of yourself and others!

CORNY JOKE OF THE DAY

What is the biggest type of ant?  (Scroll down for the answer.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elephant!!!

 

 

Steer Nation Message- Bluebonnets Are Blooming

GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY FRIDAY!

Election Day- Tomorrow- Saturday, May 6th- The polls will be open tomorrow from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. Do your part… cast your vote!

Graham Steer Baseball Bi-District Playoffs- The Steers will play Glen Rose this Friday and Saturday. Game 1- 7:00 pm on Friday at Glen Rose. Game 2- 2:00 pm on Saturday at Graham. Game 3 (if needed) at Graham. GO STEERS!

GHS Band Concerts- The GHS Jazz, Symphonic, and Wind Ensemble will be performing on Thursday, May 19th. The performances will begin at 6:00 pm at the Graham Memorial Auditorium.

Lady Blues Track- Congratulations to Mary Lyndell Graham on setting a new school record in the Mile Run with a time of 5:25 while competing in the UIL Regional Track Meet!

GJHS One-Act Play- Congratulations to the cast and crew on earning a rating of 1 with their performance of Lafayette!

Bluebonnets Are Blooming…

What Texan doesn’t know that the Bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas? That was taken care of in 1901 when the Texas Legislature debated which plant to name the state flower, and the bluebonnet beat the Prickly Pear Cactus and the Cotton Boll for the recognition. The Bluebonnet got its name from the flower’s individual bloom’s resemblance to the sunbonnets the pioneer women wore to protect them from the grueling Texas sun.

President Lyndon Johnson’s wife Lady Bird encouraged Americans to take pride in their area by beautifying the countryside. After leaving Washington, D.C., Lady Bird extended her beautification efforts by encouraging the Texas Department of Transportation to plant native plants along Texas highways. In Central Texas, the bluebonnets seemed to thrive and spread.

Bluebonnets pop up along Texas roadways and fields, making for an incredible sight each spring! This year there was concern that the harsh winter of 2021 and the drought conditions of 2022 would hamper the return of the state flower, but the flower is thriving this Spring!

The book Legends and Lore of Texas Wildflowers shares a popular legend of how Bluebonnets came to be so widespread across our state.

This legend tells of a time when the weather was particularly unkind to the Comanche, the Indigenous peoples of Texas. The people had suffered a devastating flood followed by a severe drought. Summers were harsh with high winds and dust storms. The winters were cold with blizzards. Food was scarce and many Indigenous tribal members starved. Disease swept through the tribe. The elders determined that the Great Spirit was angry with them.

Nothing that the Comanche’s Wise Men or Medicine Men did helped to alleviate the people’s plight. Suddenly, one evening as the leaders sat around a fire, the Great Spirit spoke to them. The Great Spirit told them that their selfishness had caused the situation that they were in, and it told them that the only solution was to burn the tribe’s most prized possession and spread the ashes to the four winds.

Unbeknownst to the council, a young girl named “She-Who-Is-Alone” was nearby, in the darkness. As the wise men hesitated and argued and debated the most prized possession to sacrifice, the child knew what to do. Her prized possession was a cornhusk warrior doll, a gift from her mother who had died from the famine. When everyone was asleep, the girl snuck out of her teepee, gathered hot coals from the fire, and climbed a nearby hill. There she gathered twigs, and using the hot coals, started a fire. She lifted the warrior doll over her head and offered it to the Great Spirit. She tossed the doll into the fire, watched it burn, and then, when the ashes had cooled, scooped them into her cupped hands and let the wind carry them.

The next morning, the tribe awoke to a landscape that was covered in Bluebonnets, one that the night before had been barren. It was clear that the Great Spirit had forgiven them, and the tribe renamed the little girl, “One-Who-Dearly-Loves-Her-People”.

Just like the Bluebonnets that return year after year regardless of the weather, Texas educators are a hardy bunch that withstands challenge after challenge to provide their very best for the school children of the state year after year. Clearly, Texas educators should be named “Ones-Who-Dearly-Love-Their-Students”!

Thank you for creating a beautiful landscape in our schools!

Have a nice day… take care of yourself and others!

CORNY JOKE OF THE DAY

What did the digital clock say to its mother? (Scroll down for the answer.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look ma! No hands!!!