Friday Hornet Message 11-21-14

Happy Friday, Hornets!

TEA On Site Report... You may recall this past April the district received a visit fro the Texas Education Agency due to being labeled as Stage 4 for bilingual education/English as a second language, stage 3 for special education and stage 2 for residential facilities. On October 30, 2014, the District received the official report of findings from the TEA. The report included five findings of noncompliance and twenty-seven recommendations/required actions. The district is required to submit a corrective action plan (CAP) to the Board of Trustees and to the TEA by December 1, 2014. Attached is a copy of the CAP that was shared with the Board and will be submitted to the TEA. Additionally, I have attached a copy of the TEA recommendations and required actions.

Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) Meeting... The agenda for the PAC meeting is determined by the staff of Huntsville ISD by forwarding questions to their campus/department PAC representative. This past Monday we addressed questions related to the Catastrophic Leave Bank and the purchase of football tickets. The notes from the meeting are attached.

TLP Grant... This week students were chosen to participate in the upcoming TLP Grant. Congratulations to the students of the following teachers: HIS: Gabrielle Beaty, Michelle Rush, Bridget Smiley, Karol Smith, and Jessica Stolp; MPMS: Sheila Baucke, Amber Bearden, Jamie Nash, Angela Skains, and Meagan Weidenbenner; HHS: David Brockhausen, George Hourahan, and, Keith Jeffcoat.

Texas Association for Pupil Transportation Speech Contest... Please see the attached letter I received on November 19, 2014 announcing a scholarship speech contest for students in grade 9-12.

Tis the Giving Season... I am continually amazed at the giving spirit exhibited by our Hornet staff. The Fall Huntsville Education Foundation Jean Pass Campaign yielded $9,890 from HISD employees. Currently, the district is collecting NEW unwrapped toys for the annual KSAM MASH (Make a Smile Happen) Toy Drive. If you would like to participate drop off donations by December 2nd at any HISD campus or the HAB. Next up... Be on the look out for info on the HISD Buyers' Group annual campaign to benefit the efforts of HISD students participating in the upcoming Walker County Fair as well as a December Food Drive to help stock the Good Shepherd Mission's food pantry.

Hornets in Action.. Cudos to Vanessa Tindall and Cosmo 2 students who spent Thursday morning at the Walker County Center Center giving manicures to anyone interested.

Best of luck to our Hornet/Lady Hornet Wrestling team competing at Cy Ridge and our HHS Choral student performing at UIL Regional Clinic/Concert at The Woodlands.

The Spirit of Thanksgiving... I challenge each of you to think of someone you consider to be really happy. Do they smile more than others you know? Do they laugh more than others you know? Does being in their presence make you happier? What makes this person different? In my opinion this occurs in large part due to one's ability to be grateful and express gratitude. Lets face it, bad things happen to all of us... it is not what happens to us that matters, it is our reaction to it. I hope you each take the time over this Thanksgiving Break to pause and consider what you are grateful for. May we all strive to have an attitude of gratitude!

I hope you each have a wonderful, safe, and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Corny Thanksgiving Jokes:

What key won't open any door?  A turkey!
Why did the turkey cross the road? It was the chicken's day off!
Why did the turkey cross the road twice? To prove he wasn't chicken!
What do you get when a turkey lays an egg on top of a barn?  An egg roll!
What do you call it when it rains turkeys?  Foul weather!
Why did the turkey sit on the tomahawk?  To hatchet!
Why did the police arrest the turkey?  They suspected foul play!
Which side of a turkey has the most feathers?  The outside!
Why do turkeys lay eggs?  If they dropped them, they'd break!
What's the most musical part of a turkey? The drumstick!
What  happened when the turkey got into a fight?  He got the stuffing knocked out of him!
What do you get if you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter?  Pumpkin pi!
What always comes at the end of Thanksgiving?  The letter "g"!

To view the 2014 - 2015 Corrective Action Plan, TEA Recommendations and Required Actions or the TAPT Speech Contest Flyer go to http://goo.gl/k8UhZZ 

Hornet Friday Message 11-14-14

Happy Friday, Hornets!

84th Texas Legislative Session... The 84th Texas Legislature will convene on January 13, 2015. The first day to file bills was Monday, November 10th and over 350 bills were filed on a wide array of topics. I encourage each of you to be informed and active in the political process. More importantly, I implore you to advocate for our profession and our district. One of our parents and Scott Johnson PTO president Julie Hutchison has created a couple of draft letter templates that she has shared with our parents. I have attached a copy of the letters. Please feel free to edit, make them your own and send them to our legislators. Additionally, I have a copy of TASA's recently released 2015 Legislative priorities.

Making Connections... Thanks to Scott Johnson Elementary Media Specialist Jennifer Lott for sharing this moving message with her campus and thanks to SJE Principal, Shannon Williams for sharing it with me!

I just wanted to take a few minutes and send a big thank you to you for all your help with the Book Fair stuff. Allowing students to bring coins, collecting baggie donations, passing out notes, sending students down to shop and most of all being patient with it all.

I feel the need to share some things that happened on Friday. I was able to invite about 256 students down with a "Golden Ticket" through the very generous donation of our student body, two outside donations about 7 teacher donations. All together we raised $1,401.76. The students raised about $ 1100 of that and the rest were teachers and outside donors. I started with an idea and a dream and I decided to dream big with it. I didn't anticipate it being this big. The generosity of our donors was overwhelming at times.

It really blew me away Friday when the students started showing up with their "Golden Ticket." The smiles and excitement from students who had been passing by the Media Center all week and hadn't had an opportunity to come in because they didn't have money. Many came rushing through the door with a big smile just getting to come in and many not knowing yet why they had a "Golden Ticket" and what that meant. When I finally explained what that ticket meant and that they would be able to use it to buy a book, the gasps, hands over mouths and smiles were enough to soften the hardest of hearts. I like the way Mrs. Sapp put it, "It was like Christmas morning." Some of the kindergarten students thought they were just borrowing a book. When I explained that I was putting their name in it and it was for theirs to keep, the smiles were priceless! I have to tell you the story of the little boy either kinder or first, I can't remember who it exactly because there was so many in there at once, who as I was taking his book to scan and put his name in it, he had a dime in his hand and said, "I want to put this money in the box for someone else to get a book." I tell you, I had to fight back the tears on that one. He wanted to give what he had so someone else could receive. Oh if the whole world could be like that. I can't help but be reminded of the story in the bible in Mark of the widow woman who gave all she had, mere pennies, while others gave out of their abundance.

I honestly wish, you all could have been in there to witness and experience the excitement, smiles, thank you's and pure joy.  I did have two volunteers in there with me.  One volunteer was the mother of one of our kindergarten kids and she commented that she had never experienced anything like that and she was excited to have been able to witness it and help kids choose books.  Another volunteer was Suzie Paschal's mother and she had witnessed it for 2 weeks as she came and rolled the $600 in coins the kids brought and came to help students shop.  She kept talking about the kids faces when they figured out they would be able to buy a book with their "Golden Ticket."  She kept commenting on the excitement and disbelief from Kinder to 4th grade that they would be able to shop.

I know I need to wrap this email up and I appreciate you taking the time to read it.  I felt the need in my heart to express to everyone what this meant to our kids. I don't know if you can tell or not but my heart is overflowing.  It was something that was near and dear to my heart as I grew up with no money and NEVER was able to purchase anything form anything that came to our school.  I really wish I could have made sure every child got a book but we were really close.  I think a rough estimate was only about 110 or 120 kids didn't get a book out of the 700 that is great to me.  Not all of our students are what we would describe as "needy." However, I feel that we were able reach those who are.  Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

Hornets In Action... BIG GOOD LUCK to our Hornet Football team versus the Elgin Wildcats tonight at Bowers Stadium. Also good luck to our Lady Hornet Golf team at Galveston, the Lady Hornet Basketball teams at the Conroe & New Waverly Tournaments and Hornet & Lady Hornet Swim team at the Aggieland Invitational. Sting'Em Hornets!


Corny Joke of Day:

What kind of music did the Pilgrims listen to?

Plymouth Rock!

Hornet Friday Message- 11-8-14

Hornets, Happy Friday!

Betcha Didn't Know... Something you may not know is that first time, this year, Huntsville ISD has a class for students who want to learn to create computer based games.  Now, you may be thinking these students will spend class time actually PLAYING games, but you would be mistaken.  It turns out, creating games requires learning programming, coding and other complex and valuable skills.  Many of the students involved in the class are passionate about their future career and would love to talk to you about it.  Some members of the class will be presenting at the December School Board Meeting if you would like to learn more about their work.

Strong Fathers/Strong Families... Our Strong Fathers/Strong Families program held two successful Bring Your Dad to School events this week at Samuel Walker Houston Elementary (240 attended) and Gibbs PK (200+ attended).

Merry Christmas... Well not yet but it is time to begin preparing by getting family photos taken for your holiday cards. For $20, families can get their photo taken and a 8X10 print. Holiday card package options, additional prints and digital images can be purchased. All proceeds go to offset the cost of producing the HHS yearbook.  Pictures will be taken on this Saturday, November 8, 2014, from 9 to Noon in small gym at HHS. For more information contact Mandy Stewart at mstewart01@huntsville-isd.org.

Red Ribbon Week... We had a fantastic district-wide Red Ribbon Week. Kudos to all that are consistently modeling how our students should treat their neighbors and classmates to combat bullying and the use of drugs!

S.O.A.P. Squad... Our S.O.A.P. Squad group is quite remarkable! With a mix of comedy, singing and skits the HHS student group performs for all of our campuses with positive message aimed at having the courage and character to say no to drugs and bullying.  The group is under the direction of HHS Counselor, Danielle Williams, and has been an active part of the HORNET culture for fourteen years. More to come on this group in an upcoming post of the The H Factor Blog.

S.O.A.P Squad in Action

Hornets in Action.... This week we got a double dose of Lady Hornet Volleyball taking on the Elgin Ladycats on Tuesday and the Magnolia Lady Bulldogs on Thursday.  Congrats on a District and Bi-District Championship season!

Hope you all can make it to the big game tonight as our Hornet Footballers take on the Willis Wildkats with the winner qualifying for spot in the UIL Football Playoffs.

Tailgating at Bowers... A group from the high school will be holding some tailgating festivities in the parking lot at Bowers beginning at 5:00 p.m. this afternoon.  All are welcomed to attend! First come, first served!

Corny Joke of the Day:

Do you have any turkeys going cheap?

Nope, all of our turkeys go gobble, gobble!

Hornet Friday Message 10-31-14

Hornets, Happy Halloween Friday!

Perspective. Many times over the past week or so I have found myself reflecting on this concept. As you know, we have had several members of our Hornet family (staff and students) who have experienced loss in the past couple of weeks. These such events allow for each of us to ponder our own perspective regarding what is really important. As it is customary, most of us are comfortable with reaching out during the initial phase of the grieving process. I encourage  you to routinely "check in" with these family members as each will "hit the wall" at different stages and need our continued support. 

Resource. I recently received an excellent resource from the Texas Education Agency via ESC 6. The document, State of Texas Assessments Readiness (STAAR) Summary of Performance Level Indicators describes the specific knowledge and skills necessary at each performance level. Embedded in the document are links to specific Performance Level Descriptors for each STAAR grade level and each EOC tested subject. I encourage you to review documents that are pertinent to your teaching assignment(s). In order for us to improve performance on the STAAR/EOC we must change our mindset from just passing the test to mastering the test. This mindset will greatly improve the chance for all students to meet their required growth measure. 

Congratulations! Great job to Coach Debbie Hightower, Coach Margaret Bohannon, Coach Sabrina McLain, Coach Gabrielle Beaty and the 2014 Lady Hornet Volleyball team on capturing the District 18-5A District Championship! Best of luck in the playoffs!!!!

Strong Fathers/Strong Families. Huntsville Elementary School hosted our first Strong Fathers event and it was a great success. We had approximately 180 dads or positive male & female role models attend the morning program this past Wednesday. Each dad ate breakfast and attended class with their student.The morning concluded with dads sharing what they witnessed in the classrooms and dialoguing how the process of schooling has changed. I am confident this is a program that can greatly assist us with making meaningful connection with our parent and students. 

Hornets in Action. Best of luck to our Hornet Football team as they travel to Livingston this evening to take o the Livingston Loins! Lady Hornet Volleyball will be in playoff mode against Elgin High School next Tuesday, 7:00 pm at A&M Consolidated High School. Sting'Em Hornets!!!!

Hornet Pride & Spirit! A picture is worth a thousand words!



Corny Jokes for Halloween (Scroll down for the answers)

1. What do Italian ghosts eat on Halloween?
2. What do ghosts eat for breakfast?
3. Why doesn't anybody like Dracula?
4. When does a ghost eat breakfast?
5. What did the bird say on Halloween?
6. What do you call three witches living together?
7. What tops off a ghost's ice cream sundae?
8. What happens when a ghost gets lost in the fog?
9. What is a Mummy's favorite type of music?
10. What is a Vampire's least favorite song?

1. Fettucinni Afaid-o!
2. Boo-Berries!
3. He has a bat temper!
4. In the moaning!
5. Trick or tweet!
6. Broommates!
7. Whipped scream!
8. He is mist!
9. Wrap!
10. Another one bites the dust!

I hope you have an awesome weekend!

Hornet Friday Message 10-24-14- Making Parent Contacts

HAPPY HOMECOMING FRIDAY!

Making contact with parents and guardians....When? How? My best advice would be to make contact early and often. Making contact does not necessarily mean calling to share concerns. It can be by effectively using your teacher website, a group Facebook page, twitter, email, etc. Reaching out in a multifaceted manner creates the environment of openness  and desire to work in partnership for student success. As you know, Parent/Teacher Conference Day is scheduled for October 31, 2014. If you have not already done so, I encourage you make contact with our parents/guardians so they are aware of this opportunity. 

BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Huntsville Hornet Military Marching Band for earning a rating of 1 from all three judges at the UIL Region 9 contest under the direction of first year Director of Bands, John Green. He, Robby Yarber, David Holland with the support of Pamela Ryan Rathke and the HMB Boosters provide an environment and system that allows our students to thrive and experience success. 

Kudos to all who have played a roll in the Hornet Homecoming and Hornet Spirit activities this week. The parade last night was very well attended with people packed all the way down Sam Houston Avenue and 11th Street...indicating the community is feeling the Hornet spirit, too!

Good luck to our Hornets in action today...Lady Hornet Volleyball and Hornet Football at home vs Bryan Rudder. The varsity volleyball team will begin early at 5 pm in the Paul Bohan Gym due to the Homecoming festivities at Bowers Stadium staring at 7:30 pm. Hornet Golf will be in action at Elkins Lake today and at Ravens Nest on Saturday.

Next week is Red Ribbon Week and our theme is "Hornets Mustache You to Say NO to Bullying & Drugs." Join us in wearing RED on Wednesday to show your commitment to being Drug & Bully Free. 

Civic Reminder....VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!
Tuesday, November 4th is election day. The importance of this election for educators cannot be over-emphasized. At times, educators are criticized for not voting , and when they do, some criticize them for voting uninformed. Now is the time for all educators in our schools to begin studying the candidates for statewide offices and their positions on public education. A candidate for an office may declare, "I am the education candidate, " but that does not mean the person favors public education! Wise educators will dig below campaign rhetoric and discover candidates' positions on issues that matter to them. It is important to vote, but it is more important to vote WISELY!! I encourage you to VOTE FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION!

Polls will be open from 7:00 am until 7:00 pm across our state on November 4th to accommodate voters, but early voting began this past Monday. For those of you wanting to vote early, you have trough October 31st. I encourage you to take the time to vote during your conference periods or during breaks.

Corny Joke of the Day:

What did the mayonnaise say when someone opened the refrigerator door?



Close the door I am dressing!

Hornet Friday Message 10-17-14 MAKING OUR BELIEFS OUR REALITY

HAPPY FRIDAY HORNETS!

This week members of our district design team had the opportunity to revisit the Huntsville ISD Beliefs and to discuss the role groups play within a learning organization. Our district beliefs state: 

WE BELIEVE:

• Every student can and will learn when provided with valuable and meaningful opportunities.
• We must cultivate life long learners who are prepared to adapt to future challenges. 
• A highly effective and innovative staff is essential to students.
• Teachers are leaders and designers of engaging work for students.
• Education is shared responsibility of students, parents, staff and community.
• Students must have access to technological resources , flexible learning environments and safe, quality facilities. 

For sometime I have been wanting to create a top ten lists for the district, perhaps you may want to assist me with the task. The first top ten list I would like to create is the TOP TEN THINGS WE CAN DO TO MAKE THESE BELIEFS A REALITY. Please email me your thoughts on this subject. 

I do not know if you are aware but two weeks ago on a Friday evening there was a fire in a local assisted living complex that required emergency response and the creation of a temporary shelter for several elderly and handicapped citizens. Obviously, the normal first responders sprang into action to protect life and property but you may not know that one of the first calls made by the Walker County Emergency Management Coordinator, Butch Davis, was to our Transportation Director, Tim Hooks. That phone led to multiple regular and handicapped equipped buses being deployed to safely transport those in need to Walker County Storm Shelter. Additionally, Mr. Hooks and HHS Assistant Principal Jennifer Graves quickly assembled a team to staff the shelter. The following people helped with the Red Cross Shelter when opened two Fridays ago: Tim Hooks, Jennifer Graves, David Baker, Sally Dowis, Shelley Petkovsek, Rosa Martinez, Stacy Godby, Sherry Odom, Jan Moore, Anthony Griffin, Bobby Davison, Patty Lolley, Leroy Bryant, Clarence Griffin, Ethel James, and Joe Godby (HISD Student). Our district and community are fortunate to have people such as these that are willing to quickly respond to a call for help.

Best wishes for our Hornets in action: HHS Theater-Tom Jones performances on Friday & Saturday, Lady Hornet Volleyball and Hornet Football at College Station on Friday, HHS Choir Regional Auditions on Saturday. This next week is big for the Huntsville Military March Band as they will be competing in the UIL Marching Contest on Tuesday. Our HHS Cross Country team will be competing at the District Meet in Willis on Wednesday morning.

I hope each have a blessed weekend!

CORNY JOKE OF THE DAY:

What do you call out of control photographer? (Scroll Down For The Answer)

A loose Canon!

Hornet Friday Message 10-10-14

Happy Friday Hornets!

Please join me in congratulating our Employee and Educator of the Month from Huntsville High School.  Jessica Ballard is our Educator of the Month and Marsha Pugh is our Employee of the Month.  They will be honored at the regular Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, October 16, 2014!

Also, congratulations are in order for our Director of District Initiatives & Staff Development , Amy Mayer, and iTech, Melissa Thorton, for being verbally notified by the Texas Education Agency that Huntsville ISD is a winner for the comptetive Technology Lending Program (TLP) Grant.  The grant targeting grade 6-12 science and math students, will provide $100,000 of Chromebook and MiFi devices to check out as needed to students for their use outside the school day.  HISD has been checking these types of devices out to students for two years, but there are never enough to go around.  Many parents realize their students need technology to do their homework, but are unable to provide it themselves.  The TLP Grant helps students who would otherwise not have access to the equipment they need to do their schoolwork.  The grant was written to support the classes of up to twenty grade 6-12 science and math teachers.  If you are interested in being part of this new grant, please check out the Key Components document here: http://bit.ly/TLPKeyComponents. Then fill out the application from here: http://goo.gl/701cUC. 

Cool things you may want to share with our parents/guardians and community members are the video daily announcements being produced by our HHS and MPMS students.  The high school video announcements via Stingem Studios are known as The Hive Daily Announcements and can be viewed on YouTube at http://goo.gl/k2JvZq.  The Mance Park TV morning announcements can be viewed on YouTube at http://goo.gl/0l9qMW.  HHS teacher, Mandy Stewart, and MPMS teacher, Laura Campbell, are both doing an excellent job with our students on these programs!

I enjoy providing "shout outs" to our various Hornet groups that have upcoming events and/or competitions.  Please make sure that all of our events are being listed on the district online calendar, so that I do not leave any group out of the "shout out".  The online calendar is located on the main page of the district website.  You can also view it from the link http://goo.gl/5SU0ma.  

Best of luck to our Hornets in action today -- Cross Country at Clear Lake, Lady Hornet Volleyball at home vs Caney Creek and Hornet Football at home vs Caney Creek!!!

I hope each of you have an awesome weekend! 

Corny Joke of the Day:

Where's the cows favorite place to go on a date? scroll down for answer




To the MOOOVIES!