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This issue is packed full of great news about our schools! Enjoy and don't forget to share it with others! Thank you for subscribing to
TCISD Today.
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Weigh in on what time school should start
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 Texas City ISD is currently conducting a brief survey regarding school start times for the 2017-2018 school year. Please help administrators make informed decisions by completing the School Start Time Survey by clicking on this link. Your input will be valuable in assisting us with establishing the start times for TCISD schools next fall.
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Cougars advance to Regional Tournament
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Good luck to the La Marque High School Cougars as they travel to Waco for the 3A UIL Regional Basketball Tournament. They face Jarrell at 6 p.m. on Friday. Go Coogs! If you can't be at the game, you can listen to a live webcast, 
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Texas Public Schools Week March 6-10
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Texas City ISD is Celebrating Texas Public Schools March 6-10, 2017. A variety of activities are taking place on the campuses so feel free to come and visit.
Download the Flyer
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TCHS robotics headed back to VEX Worlds
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By James Jobe, Engineering
At the South Texas State Champs last weekend, TCHS team 590M, with drive team members Jaeden Johnson and Brett Meyer, were awarded the Judges Award as special recognition for efforts leading up to and during the event. Team 590V, with drive team members Zach Smith and Dillon Harvey, were named Robot Skills Champions for the top combined programming and driving skills challenge score. For the elimination rounds, team 590V were chosen as part of the 1st seed alliance with team 3118B from Clear Creek ISD and team 400X from Ball High School. The alliance went on to win the tournament which featured a final round of robots all from Galveston County. The robotics team will once again compete at the 2017 VEX Worlds in Louisville, Kentucky April 18-22.
The TCHS Robotics team concluded their qualification season at the end of January. Through six qualification events the team brought back 11 awards including 4 tournament championship trophies. The four drive teams made it to the elimination rounds in every qualification tournament. All four drive teams won an event and qualified for the South Texas State Champs on February 25th at Nimitz High School, featuring the best teams from Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and the rest of South Texas.
The TCHS robotics team is seniors Thomas Armstrong, Osvaldo Jimenez, Sam Lopez, and Cameron Alexander, juniors Celeste Lindusky, Jaeden Johnson, Connor Jordan, Ray Sheppard, Brett Meyer, Trevor Murphy, Zach Smith, Dillon Harvey, Alina Stuckey, and Quinn Vicario, sophomore Bo Steber, and freshman Katie Foreman, and Braden Schurwon. Their coach is James Jobe. TCHS grad Jeffery Ciabattoni serves as their volunteer mentor.
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Blocker Boys Choir earns Sweepstakes!
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Congratulations to Blocker Boys Choir and their director, Tee Jo Gasca! They just completed their UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest and earned Sweepstakes! Earning Sweepstakes means they received the highest scores in both Concert performance and Sightreading contest. Sightreading is the ability to read and produce both instrumental and vocal music at first sight. Students performed a song they had never performed or been taught before to earn the 1 in that contest. The concert performance score of 1 was based on songs they had prepared in advance. Congratulations!
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LMMS place in 15 UIL Academic events
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Ten La Marque Middle School students placed in 16 events at their recent Academic UIL Competition!
Congratulations to:
James Caldera :6th place science; 5th place chess
Michael Moran: 9th place maps, charts and graphs
Emily Vicente : 2nd place editorial writing; 5th place listening
Jessica Spahr : 6th place number sense
Cierra McNeal : 9th place math
Alaysia Roy: 6th place oral reading; 9th place number sense; 9th place spelling
Gabriella Lopez: 3rd place science; 10th place oral reading
Trinity Taylor : 7th place math; 6th place listening
Jasmine Ledezma: 6th place listening
Shone Moore: 7th place chess
The LMMS UIL sponsor is Clayton Preston and the teachers are Heather Dummar, Isabella Nunez and Christian Matthews.
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Dual Credit/Collegiate High School at LMHS
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The Dual Credit/Collegiate High School Parent Meeting for the 2017-18 school year is scheduled for Tuesday, March 7 at 6:30 p.m. after the LMHS Open House.
Current sophomores and juniors who are interested in applying for the Dual Credit or Collegiate High School program for the 2017-18 school year should plan to attend this meeting.
These programs enable students to earn high school and college credit simultaneously. Dual credit students can earn 30 or more college credits while in high school, plus they receive a discount on COM's affordable tuition. Collegiate High School students can earn an associate's degree and discounted fees.
Application information will be shared at this meeting.
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Success at Teach Tomorrow state contest
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Texas City High School students earned 5 ribbons and 3 medals at the Teach for Tomorrow State Competition last weekend.
Eleven members of the Texas Association of Future Educators (TAFE) from TCHS attended the Teach For Tomorrow State Competition in Arlington. The following students placed at the State level competing against 1500 others students across Texas:
1st Place Blue Ribbon: Ruby Arnold and Hannah O'Donnell for Project Visualize, Appreciation -Thank You notes to all the teachers and staff at TCHS;
1st Place Blue Ribbon: Lauryn Bellow for Project Visualize, Fundraiser - Raising $130 to buy 235 socks for the Girls and Boys Club;
1st Place Blue Ribbon: Ruby Arnold and Stephanie Valdez for Teacher Created Materials Middle grades 6th-8th - Creating a "Mathopoly" math game using one to two steps equations;
1st Place Blue Ribbon: Adrianna Slowey for Teacher Created Materials High School - Creating a 9th grade science lesson about the structure of elements;
2nd Place Red Ribbon: Kelsey Thomas and Anabel Ruiz for Bulletin Board - Creating a visual and interactive project that teaches kinder level students about the four seasons.
Three students earned medals for placing in the Educational Leadership Fundamentals Test. Cody Gilbert earned Silver and
Ruby Arnold and
Lauryn Below each earned Bronze.
Their teacher is Christina Hartsfield.
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33 TCHS Choir students headed to State
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 On Saturday, February 18, Texas City High School Choir students competed at UIL Solo and Ensemble competition. Thirty-three students made Superior Ratigns (1's) on Class 1 solos, which qualified them for Texas State Solo and Ensemble Competition, which will be held on Memorial Day weekend at The University of Texas in Austin. Three others scored a Superior Rating on their Class 2 solos.
Students making 1s and qualifying for state are: Cameron Mullen, 12th; Marissa Angel, 11th; Makessa Billiot, 10th; Aaliyah Charles-Hollis, 11th; Karen Foreman, 12th; Taylor Harper, 10th; Demi Hildebrand, 9th; Jillian LeMaire, 9th; Chloe Penton, 11th; Bailey Povse, 11th; Christina Ramirez, 11th; Ayanna Ray, 12th; Julia Reed, 12th; Veronica Stovich, 11th; Vanessa Torres, 12th; Victoria Valdez, 9th; Erin Whalen, 11th; Kaylin Zarazua, 11th; Tierney Zarazua, 11th; Nathan Allison, 11th; David Dozal, 10th; Aaron Gracia, 11th; Malik Julien, 11th; Keilan Levewque, 10th; Micah Mannie, 10th; Eduardo Orea, 12th; Daniel Perez, 11th; Javonne Poole, 9th; Kevin Reynolds, 11th; Seth Rogers, 11th; Nicholi Strom-McKee, 11th; T.J. Webb, 12th; Daniel Webber, 12th; Julian Yanas, 10th.
Other students singing Class 2 solos and making 1s were: Riley Rinard, 9th; David Stewart, 9th; and Zayden Wynne, 9th.
Voice teachers for these students are: Derrick Bready, David Smith and Marcy Talley. Choral Directors at Texas City High School are Kathy Skinner and Rico D. Hamilton.
Way to go, Singing Stings!
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TCHS Powerlifting Regional update
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 Members of the Texas City Girls Powerlifting team competed at the Region 4 Meet at Beaumont West Brook last week. Luna Wev, Karen Foreman, Kia Wells did outstanding setting new totals in their lifts. Kia Wells placed third in her weight class!
TCHS has 10 members of the boys Powerlifting team that qualified for the Regional Meet Saturday at Katy Taylor High School. Good luck as they compete:
Royshon Godley, Laquentin Cravens, Santiago Hernandez, Jared Hernandez, Yvan Andrew, John Rinehart, Roberto Torres, Ronald Williams and Bayden Pethtel.
Coach James Shepher said, "The Team has done extremely well this year and we hope to keep it going through Regionals on to State."
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Carpentry headed to State SkillsUSA
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Three TCISD carpentry students qualified for the StateSkills USA competition. We swept the skills competition and took Best of Show in project.
Although the ITC building was not complete, the carpentry teacher, Antonio Blue, wanted his students to experience the competition and now three of them are headed to State
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Carpentry Skills
1st place Julio Rivera (state qualifier)
2nd place Abel Martinez
3rd place Jay Bradley
Carpentry Project
Katherine Garcia (Best of show and state qualifier)
Rachel Gutierrez (Best of show and state qualifier)
Congratulations and Good luck at State!
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Soundsations earn Grand Champion title
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For the last couple of months the TCHS Soundsations have been tirelessly preparing for their competition season. On February 25 they attended the Lone Star Show Choir Invitational in Keller, Texas. This competition is the longest running/seasoned Show Choir competition in the State of Texas. The "Soundsations" were named Grand Champions (1st Place) and also received caption awards Best Vocals and Best Choreography. Two of TCHS students also represented TC well with Julian Diaz (12th grade) winning Best Male Soloist in a Show and Alex Patin (11th grade) winning Best Female Performer.The TCHS Choral Directors are Kathy Skinner and Rico D. Hamilton. The will be traveling to another competition this weekend in Mississippi.
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Youthfest & Duck Derby set for March 25
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There will be 5,000 yellow ducks racing down Sting Creek to the finish line where the Top 10 ducks will win fabulous prizes.
One "Lucky Duck" is worth a chance to win a new Ford car or truck valued at $50,000 sponsored by TNMP.
In addition to the Duck Derby, Texas City ISD choirs and bands will be performing during the Youthfest. The event begins at 11 a.m. and concludes at 4 p.m. The duck launch will be at 3 p.m. Food and fun activities will be available throughout the day.
Stop by Sting Creek, in between the TCISD administration and St. Mary's Catholic Church on 9th Avenue, for a fun-filled family day with many chances to win prizes.
Duck Adoption papers are now on sale and can be purchased from any TCISD student, at any TCISD School, at the Simpson Education Support Center, City Hall, Benny's Liquor and the TC-LM Chamber of Commerce. You can also adopt online.
All 10 Race Winners have a chance to win the "Lucky Duck" Ford vehicle. Prizes include:
1st Place - $2,500 Visa gift card
2nd Place - $1,000 Amazon gift card
3rd Place - 50" HD-TV
4th Place - PlayStation 4
5th Place - $350 MasterCard gift card
6th Place - $300 Sam's Club gift card
7th Place - $250 HEB gift card
8th Place - Amazon Echo with Alexa voice service
9th Place - $150 Whataburger gift card
10th Place - $100 Joe's Barbeque gift card
Ducks are $5 each or $25 for a Quack Pack which includes 6 adopted ducks in the race for the price of five, a souvenir duck toy and discount coupons to Grand Prize Barbeque and Sonic.
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Kohfeldt library is innovative engineering lab
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Kohfeldt Elementary recently had a Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the library's new Makerspace project.
Librarian Cheri Rios received a grant from the TCISD Foundation for the Future to implement this project. It was funded by donor Emken Linton who was present at the ceremony to cut the ribbon. The concept of this is very similar to how our STEM labs work at Blocker and now TCHS but without the high tech lab. It's a great introduction that will help students get excited about STEM education.
"Makerspaces Make Happy Faces" is a project that will convert our library into an innovative engineering lab. This project will provide educationally sound and creative hands-on activities for all campus-wide. Makerspaces, the newest concept in libraries and media centers, provide students with a place where they can gather to create, invent, tinker, explore and discover using a variety of tools and materials. This particular proposal includes a variety of building materials that the students will use to engineer and build projects, including architectural projects, model automobiles and aircraft, the use of simple machines, and coding for simple robots. There are also kits for building simple electrical circuits.
The Makerspaces activities will resemble "center time" with all the centers being project based. Upon arrival to the Makerspace, students will be assigned materials to complete assigned building tasks. For example, students could be given materials needed to invent and build a brand new, alternate form of transportation. The students partner up, plan their creations, build their models with the given materials, then share their brilliant creations with the whole group. These activities teach creativity, exploration, and collaboration, while also developing and enhancing engineering skills at age-appropriate academic levels.
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School Board applications still available
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Texas City ISD is still accepting candidate filing documents for the May 6, 2017 School Board Special Election for District 2. That position is currently held by Mable Pratt, who was appointed to the seat in December. She is filling the place formerly held by the late Manuel Guajardo, Jr. The person elected in May for District 2 will serve the remaining two years of this term before general election in May 2019.
The deadline for filing for District 2 Special Election is 5 p.m. on Monday, March 6, 2017. Candidate filing packets are available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at the Simpson Education Support Center, 1700 Ninth Avenue North. For more information, call Patricia Collins at 409-916-0153 or 409-916-0122.
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Voter redistricting changes to be mailed
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The annexation of La Marque ISD into Texas City ISD resulted in redistricting of school board trustee boundaries. The Voter Registration Department of the Galveston County Tax Office has completed implementing those changes and will begin mailing voter certificates this week to those in the new TCISD Districts 2, 3 and 5 which will be voted on in May. The remaining voter certificates with revised boundaries will be mailed with all other County voter certificates during the mass mail out in December.
Voters in Texas City ISD are encouraged to go online to the school district website to view the maps and determine whether they are in one of the May election districts.
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If you have a question or believe that your voter certificate is inaccurate, please call the Voter Registration Department toll free at 1-888-976-2280 or email galcotax@co.galveston.tx.us with your concerns and you will be contacted.
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Thanks for subscribing! Have a great week! You can see past electronic newsletters in our
Archives section for the TCISD Today.
Sincerely,
Melissa Tortorici
Director of Communications
Texas City ISD
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Fun Facts!
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Did you know that the Stings Varsity Boys Soccer is currently in 1st Place in District?
Did you know that Stings Varsity Baseball went undefeated in the Oldest Tournament in Texas last weekend?
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| Upcoming Events |
Friday, March 3
* LEADS applications due for juniors and seniors at LMHS & TCHS
* LMHS Cougars Basketball Region Tournament, 6 p.m. tipoff in Waco;
listen live
Monday, March 6
* Texas Public Schools Week Activities Begin
* Blocker Tutorials, 2:40-4 p.m. Library
* Deadline to turn in Board Packets for District 2 Special Election, 5 p.m.
* TCISD School Board Recognition Ceremony, 6:30 p.m. at Blocker
Tuesday, March 7
* Blocker Garden Club, 2:50-4 p.m. at St. George's Episcopal
* LMHS Open House, 4:30-6 p.m.
* TCHS Open House, 4:30-6 p.m.
* TCISD Pre-K to 4th Grade Open Houses, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
* TCISD School Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m. (moved from 2nd Tuesday of the month due to Spring Break) * LMHS Collegiate/Dual Credit Parent Meeting, 6:30 p.m. at LMHS
Thursday, March 9
* Blocker Tutorials, 2:40-4 p.m. Library
* ITC Ribbon Cutting & Open House, 5-7 p.m.
* Blocker Open House, 4:30-6 p.m.
* Levi Fry Open House, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
* La Marque Middle Open House, 6-7:30 p.m.
* LMHS Spirit Night at Chick-Fil-A, 5-8 p.m.
March 13-17
* Spring Break
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LEADS deadline 3/3
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La Marque and Texas City juniors and seniors can apply for the Spring Charles T. Doyle Leadership Program. This LEADS event is a scavenger hunt on 6th Street in Texas City. Students will learn about Small Business, Recreation and Tourism, Disaster Planning, Industry, History and
Leadership during an interactive Team Scavenger
Hunt that will take place on April 20. Students who attend both LEADS activities their junior year and both LEADS activities their senior year are eligible at a chance to receive a $1,000 scholarship from Charles and Mary Ellen Doyle. The application is due on Friday, March 3rd.
La Marque Application
Texas City Application
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Chick-Fil-A Night
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La Marque High School Class of 2017 Spirit Night at Chick-Fil-A is set for March 9 from 5-8 p.m. at the League City location. Drop your receipt in the Spirit Night box so the Class of 2017 benefits for Project Graduation!
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Special Ed Survey
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Parents of special education students are asked to please complete a survey on the district website so we can better meet your experiences. Take the
survey now.
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Drafting State Bound
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Vicente Aviles earned a Bronze Medal for his architectural drafting skills at the District competition and is advancing to the State SkillsUSA competition in Corpus Christi! His teacher is Jeffrey Bradley.
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TCHS Indoor Percussion
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The Texas City High School Indoor Percussion Unit placed second in the Tompkins Texas Color Guard Competition. They will compete again this weekend at Magnolia High School. Good Luck!
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Duck Derby Poster
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Congratulations to Alexis Alcocer from Blocker Middle School for winning this year's Duck Derby Poster Contest. She received a $50 Walmart gift card from the Foundation. She is pictured with the Director of Performing and Visual Arts Joseph Figarelli and Blocker Principal Julie Southworth.
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Stingarette Awards
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On February 25, the Stingarettes attended the Crowd Pleasers South Houston Showcase at Clear Springs High School. Over 200 team and officer dances competed in this competition. The Stingarettes competed in three team dances and three officer dances, and ended their competition season with a bang!
The team and military officers earned the following awards:
Team Dances Classic Category
- Super Sweepstakes Award
- Best in Class: Hip Hop
- Best in Class: Modern
- Best in Class 2nd runner up: Military
- Grand Champion 1st runner up
Officer Dances Classic Category
- Super Sweepstakes
- Best in Class: Contemporary
- Best in Class: Lyrical
- Best in Class 2nd runner up: Jazz
- Grand Champion 2nd runner up
The team was also invited to dance in the 2017 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the 2017 Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl. Way to go Stingarettes!
They are under the direction of Ashley Hardage.
Now that competition season is over, the Stingarettes will be preparing for Spring Show on May 4-5.
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Rodeo Rockstar
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Levi Fry Intermediate 5th grader Giselle Alcala is a 2017 Rodeo Rockstar Semifinalist. She will be among 10 semifinalist to perform on the Stars Over Texas Stage at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The public can cheer her on at 5 p.m. on March 14. A panel of judges will select 5 to advance to the Finals. Those 5 will perform on March 21.
Good luck, Giselle!
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Free ACT at TCHS
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Junior students enrolled at TCHS will have the opportunity to take the ACT college entrance test on campus on Wednesday April 19th during the school day. Students can sign up in the counseling suite. Space is limited. There is no costs to the students.
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TSPRA President
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Texas City ISD Director of Communications Melissa Tortorici has been installed as President of the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA). Melissa's assignment has been a three-year obligation:
president-elect in 2016-2017, president
in 2017-2018, and past-president in 2019-2020.
TSPRA has more than 855 members statewide. Melissa was officially installed as president
on February 23, 2017, during the installation ceremony held in conjunction
with TSPRA's annual conference.
She is pictured in the center surrounded by her family. Texas School Business Magazine presented a framed copy of the article they wrote about her.
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TCHS Yearbook
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Texas City High School recently finalized the order for the 2017 yearbooks. Due to low pre-sales, TCHS significantly cut the standard order. This means there is a good chance books couls sell out before the books are delivered. To ensure that your child gets a copy, please pre-pay as early as possible so that a yearbook can be reserved for them. The current price is $70. You can still pay online at Balfour.com or students can can buy at lunch every day until Spring Break.
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Talk About It Tuesday
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La Marque Elementary School offers a weekly live video segment featuring administrators discussing a variety of topics. Tune in Live each Tuesday at 5 p.m. on Facebook for "Talk-About-It Tuesday!"
Like the
LM Elementary Facebook Page
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Senior Scholarships
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 Texas City High School publishes an updated senior scholarship bulletin each month. Click on the link to see the most updated version.
February 2017 Issue
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Hiring Bus Drivers
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Texas City ISD would like to add new routes but in order to do that, we need more drivers. Now hiring bus drivers starting at $16.63 an hour. Apply online.
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Texas City
#communitychallenge
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 Help the City of Texas City earn grant money by having the most points in a 3-month challenge. Please register for the It's Time Texas Community Challenge now. If you work out, you can help earn points every single day by participating in the Texas City #communitychallenge!
For more information about the event, visit It's Time Texas. Registration is now open. Be sure to select Texas City as your community!
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