Zundy Elementary School's 'Sort 'N Slide' Introduces a Year of Character-building Activities
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Zundy Elementary found an exciting way to promote its new House System. They rented an inflatable slide for Friday's "Sort 'N Slide" Day. Students, staff and community partners raced through an inflatable obstacle course and down a slide to reach a spinner that "sorted" them into one of six houses: House of Respect, House of Responsibility, House of Compassion, House of Honesty, House of Perseverance or House of Self-Discipline. Throughout the year, each House will host House meetings to build bonds across grade levels. Each House will participate in character-building activities and team-building exercises. Students will earn points for academic achievement, attendance, positive behavior and random acts of kindness. The House with the most points at year's end will win the coveted House Cup.
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WFISD Staff Members Participate in 'Hotter 'N Hell' Bike Ride
Tamara Bowersock, Fain Elementary Principal Clarisa Richie (center) and Burgess Assistant Principal Donna Martin (right) are pictured here at the Hotter 'N Hell Finish Line after riding 100 miles in the bike ride on Saturday. They were among many WFISD finishers: Trey Law, Alex Alejandro, Bryce Henderson, Oyvind Zahl, and Beth Majewski. Others, like the Wichita Falls High School Key Club, assisted at one of the many rest stops. "It was a long day," said finisher Ms. Richie, "but, as Donna put it, 'What else would we do on a Saturday?'"
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Why Does This Barwise Middle School Reading Teacher Have a 3D Printer in His Classroom?
Barwise Middle School reading teacher Matthew Morkin says having a 3D printer in his classroom "is like having a class pet." Students love it and learn to operate and clean it; he can also use it as a reward for good behavior. Chromebooks are great, he said, but there's so much more technology available affordably to teachers now. He purchased his 3D printer for a couple hundred dollars on Amazon. "It's so cheap to get this stuff now," he said as his printer ran softly in the background. Pictured here, Mr. Morkin holds a 3D-printed badge marked with a Star of David. He printed it to show students the badges worn by Jewish prisoners of the Auschwitz prison camp. It's just one of many ways he's trying to bring to life the book, "Night" by Elie Wiesel, which the class is about to study.
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Hirschi High School Student Wins $10,000 Taco Bell Scholarship
Hirschi High School student Kayleigh Williams cashed in big recently. She received a $10,000 scholarship from the Taco Bell Foundation - and a party to celebrate.
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Kirby Middle School Launches 'Instructional Strategy of the Week'
Everybody remembers things better when they digest them in bite-sized pieces. Tami Davis, Kirby Middle School Middle Years Program/IB Coordinator, and Lisa Bell, assistant principal, are crafting a Kirby "Instructional Strategy of the Week" to remind teachers of all the good ideas associated with the New Art and Science of Teaching Marzano strategies, Seidlitz, Middle Years Program, and High Reliability Schools program. The first one, pictured here, came out this week. "I thought they did a great job!" said Kirby Principal Shannon Cunningham.
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Old-Fashioned 'Show 'N Tell' Activity Still Works -- Even with High School Students
Twenty-five engineering students sat in a circle around instructor Jeff Davis (center), who led the class in a tried-and-true activity: Show and Tell. He asked students to bring a small item to class that represented who they were as a person and to share their story with the class. Many brought jewelry that belonged to a family member or photos of beloved animals. "All my students come from all three high schools and may not know anything about each other," he said. "I wanted to create a symbiotic classroom environment that gets away from the 'I'm a Raider/Coyote/Husky' mentality. I want my students to realize everyone has hurt and pain but also joy and laughter, and that we are not so different from one another." Mr. Davis has 106 students across six classes. "We may be students in engineering, but there is more to learn than what is printed in the syllabus," he said.
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Scotland Park Elementary Art Teacher Preaches Art on Seven Bulletin Boards
Art teacher Christina Scruggs fills seven bulletin boards throughout Scotland Park Elementary with student work and, sometimes, her own campaign for art. She hated to see the boards go empty at the beginning of the school year, so she put up inspirational art quotes like the one pictured here. "The more we consciously exercise that JOY muscle, the better our school days go," she said. "I hope it inspires the kids to be more joyful at home, too." Another new feature of her class: At the end of every art class this year, students shout a quote by Albert Einstein: "Creativity is contagious. Pass it on!"
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Crockett Elementary Teacher (and Students) Get a Surprise When She Breaks Out New Microphone in Class
Crockett Elementary Teacher Britney Prickett purchased a microphone this summer on Amazon and got a surprise when she pulled it out during one of her class's first activities. Students were telling about their summer activities, but many were hesitant to share since school had just begun, so she thought they might be more eager if she introduced the microphone. "The students and I both got a surprise when my first kiddo started reading, and his voice came out as a chipmunk voice," she said. After experimenting with the microphone, the class learned that it can change the voice in many ways. It was a hit. "The kids beg me every day to bust it out," she said.
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Sheppard Elementary Rocks Its Entry
Sheppard Elementary students are in the process of creating a unique river rock display at the school entrance. The entire school read the book, "Only One You," by Linda Kranz. They learned to appreciate their uniqueness, then expressed that uniqueness by each decorating a rock for the entry. Here, second-graders from Stephanie Benson's class are the first to deposit their rocks near the sidewalk.
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Lamar Elementary Staff Members Trust School with Their Own Children
A special perk for WFISD teachers is the privilege of enrolling their children in the school where they teach, when possible. At Lamar Elementary, eight staff members (pictured here) enrolled their own children at Lamar. "What a treat it is!" said Lamar Principal Amanda Garcia. "The programs and atmosphere at Lamar are outstanding. We believe in Lamar so much that we want our most precious treasures to be part of our campus."
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Veterinary Science Students Label Animal Parts
No need to pore over a textbook to learn the parts of a horse. At the Career Education Center, veterinary science students used sticky notes to label a life-sized ceramic horse statue. They labeled the directional planes and anatomical names as they pertain to animals, said instructor Amber West.
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Hirschi High School Student Continues to Lead 'Tech for Teens'
Hirschi High School student Sonya Ganeshram continues to feed her fervor for coding by offering her Tech for Teens group again this year. Classes start Sept. 4. Tech for Teens is her non-profit organization, now in its third year, that helps students in grades 4-8 learn valuable coding and tech skills. The group meets at Midwestern State University, Bolin Science Hall, Room 109 on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Classes are FREE to all interested students grade 4-8. (Invite your students and friends!) This year, there will be two levels of classes that alternate each Tuesday. The Level 1 (beginner) class begins Sept. 4; The Level 2 (advanced) class begins Sept. 11.
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Denver Alternative Center Para-professional Fills Exit Backpacks -- and More
Bob Walker, a para-professional at Denver Alternative Center, is making a difference in students' lives because he truly cares for them, said Denver secretary Tabitha Obermier. The elementary para-professional started - and stocked - a special treasure box for children who meet behavior and work expectations. He makes sure that students at Denver get the school supplies they need, no matter what it takes. He also fills Exit Backpacks, personalized with the students' names, and includes supplies that will help them start positively when they leave Denver and return to their home campus. "Bob Walker is a wonderful man with a kind heart," said Ms. Obermier. "He does so much for the students that is not required of him."
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Rider High School Teacher Creates New Tech Lessons From Home -- with Help
Even a health science technology teacher needs a little help sometimes. Rider High School health science teacher Britany Schmidt turned to instructional technologist Julie Yandell for some help using technology with her lessons. "She has been helping me with hyperslides, a digital escape room lesson and other fun ideas," said Ms. Schmidt. She works on her creative lessons on her laptop at home, where she has another helper: Bandit (pictured here), her 8-month-old Boxer puppy. "He's right by my side, always," she said.
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Curriculum Specialist Gives Purposeful Gifts
Curriculum Specialist Mae Walker keeps a running list of the materials and resources her teachers buy with their own money. This year, she bought many of the items for them and gave them out as door prizes at the first staff development of the year. This year, some of the prizes were so bulky that she delivered the prizes to classrooms. The most popular item was a set of flexible seating floor chairs. Others received pre-made reading and writing games, book sets, cardstock paper and storage bins. "Teachers spend so much of their own money on classroom materials so I like to think winning something they would normally buy brightens their day," said Mrs. Walker.
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Jefferson Elementary Students Simultaneously Play JENGA and Learn About Nouns
Fourth-grade English Language Arts teacher Carly Guilliams created a JENGA station in her Jefferson Elementary classroom where students can review nouns without using a typical worksheet. "Students pick out certain types of nouns in different sentences. When they get the answer correct, they get to choose a JENGA block," said Ms. Guilliams. "I love incorporating games into lessons. They're still learning the content, but they're having fun while doing it."
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Barwise Middle School Introduces 'Pineapple Pop-Ins'
It worked at Rider High School; will it work at Barwise? Barwise Middle School 6th grade reading teacher Amy Yeary is hoping teachers at her school will welcome Rider's Pineapple professional development strategy that focuses on teachers posting their favorite lessons and inviting peers to "pop in" to experience them. "Since Barwise is working toward High Reliability Schools Level 2, we thought Pineapple Pop-Ins would help us work our way toward instructional rounds in an easier, more casual way," she said. Recently, she visited Matthew Morkin's classroom to see how he used virtual reality headsets with footage of the Holocaust museum in a lesson preview of the book, "Night." She said she would be more likely to use the headsets now that she has seen Mr. Morkin use them. She's taking the strategy one step further by posting a QR code along with the pineapple on her door to invite feedback from visitors. "This can be intimidating, but I think more teachers will begin to embrace feedback as a positive," she said.
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Chartwells Brings Back Western Burgers to Secondary Schools
Western Burgers are back! On every third Friday of the secondary schools' five-week menu cycle, you will see WFISD's famous Western Burgers on the menu. The meaty, cheesy, oniony, seasoned wonder encased in a hot bun was invented in the 1970s by Wichita Falls High School food service worker Emaline Anderson. "When Chartwells partnered with the District, we heard so much about the infamous Western Burger," said Marci Spruiell. "It was a goal of ours to bring it back." Chartwells' Executive Chef recreated the recipe to make it as authentic as possible. The next opportunity to get yours is Sept. 21 at any secondary school.
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Burgess Elementary Hosts Former Harlem Globetrotter from Wichita Falls
Motivational speaker and author Nick Moore -- who is also a former Harlem Globetrotter from Wichita Falls -- has traveled the world on speaking tours but was happy to be back home in Wichita Falls Friday to speak to Burgess Elementary students. He wore a "Listen to teachers" shirt and urged children to try to be as excited for school as they are when they go to Walmart because they want their parents to buy them something new. "You'll get something new at school: an education!" he said. He urged students to try hard at whatever teachers ask of them. "Your teachers are only here to help you!" he said. He has been a motivational speaker for 25 years and spoken to 400,000 students and recently wrote his first book, "Never Too Late," available at his website, Smalltownathletes.com.
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Southern Hills Elementary Kinders Turn Math into Something They can See
Kindergartners in Veronica Ard's Southern Hills classroom learned about the numbers one through five by building number towers. "They had to make a tower of snap cubes of the correct numbers on the sheet," said Ms. Ard. They learned to both recognize and represent numbers.
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Milam Elementary Staff Welcome Seidlitz Visitors Thursday
Milam Elementary was recognized Thursday for becoming a Seidlitz "7 Steps Campus." The school is one of four schools recognized this year for its language-rich, interactive classrooms. Burgess, Franklin and Lamar also received the Seidlitz title. Eight more schools will go through the certification process this year: Wichita Falls High School, Kirby Middle School, Barwise Middle School, Cunningham Elementary, Fowler Elementary, Scotland Park Elementary, Southern Hills Elementary and Zundy Elementary.
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Scotland Park Elementary Surprised with Snacks
When Scotland Park Elementary At-Risk Coordinator Joe Clement (pictured far left) visited Rotary Club North to gather volunteers for the school's Read 2 Learn program, he got more than he bargained for. He not only picked up a few new volunteers but also a car load of free snacks, compliments of Rotary Club North members.
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Rider High School Band Concludes Summer Practices with Rousing Performance
It's a 12-year tradition: Rider High School concludes its Summer Band with a special performance at Memorial Stadium for families and friends prior to the first football game. On Tuesday, fans turned out for the free entertainment. Part of the fun is when friends and family join the musicians on the field (pictured here) to learn a few of their moves. This year, even the WFISD Food Truck showed up so fans could grab a bite to eat.
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Milam Elementary Teacher Duplicates 'If You Take a Mouse to School' Experiment
Milam Elementary Pre-K teacher Kristin Lambert read her pre-K students the book, "If You Take a Mouse to School," from the #1 New York Times bestselling series, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie..." by Laura Numeroff. The Mouse in the story asks for a lunch box, then a sandwich, then notebook and pencils. He wants to write words on the board and do a science experiment where purple matter erupts from his beaker. "The mouse makes a volcano with purple lava," said Ms. Lambert. "So, as a group, we made a volcano with baking soda and purple vinegar. We mixed red and blue food coloring to make purple. Then, during "Centers," the students experimented by squirting vinegar into trays of baking soda. They loved it!"
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District in Pictures is a weekly publication developed by the WFISD Community Relations department. If you have events, recognitions or classroom activities taking place on your campus that you would like us to cover, please let us know by emailing Ashley Thomas at [email protected] or Ann Work Goodrich at [email protected]. We would love to include you in our weekly district news.
(Please know that we will do our best to cover every story idea submitted but it may not be possible to include everything every week due to time constraints.)
We look forward to seeing our
"District in Pictures!"
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